Sofia hadn't stopped thinking about Oscar since her encounter with him the previous night, and it was driving her absolutely insane. She was starting to rethink her decision about getting in the car with him last night and thinking that walking the streets of Freeridge was the better choice. It only took one conversation, and he was back on her mind. She felt like a high school girl daydreaming about her crush, and it wasn't right. Oscar was terrible for her, and she needed to remind herself of that.
The sound of her phone vibrating caused her to jump and tear her away from her thoughts, but she ignored it. When Sofia studied her phone was her biggest distraction because anytime she stopped to check, it would be another hour before she started again. It was really an issue that she would probably never learn to fix, and she learned to accept that. It only meant that she couldn't look at her phone when she studied even when Ruby spammed her it with cute dog videos. Sofia swore he only did that when she studied, or so it seemed that way. "Sofia," her mother screamed from the other room, "come help with dinner."
Sofia let out an annoyed sigh, "coming, Ma." There was no arguing with her mother. If she asked you to do something, you did it. Sofia picked up her textbook from her lap and closed it, knowing that her studying was done for the afternoon. There was no way she would be able to get back into the swing of things now. Pushing herself off the bed, she headed out of her room and out the door, and into the living room where her mother had all the dishes laid out on the table.
"Thank you, Mija," her mother placed a kiss on her cheek as she passed by her. Sofia watched as her mother grabbed her purse and car keys. "I'm running to get the twins from a friend's house. I'll be back in an hour."
"Okay, I'll be here," Sofia smiled watching as her mother went to open the door, but before she could, Ruby walked with an annoyed look on his face. She noticed that Olivia wasn't with him. "Hey, Ruben, where's Oliva?"
"With Cesar and Monse getting a tour of the neighborhood," Ruby sighed, walking to the couch and throwing his bag on the chair beside him. Sofia noticed the bitter way Cesar's name came out of his mouth but decided to ignore it, "and it's Ruby now."
"Oh, already," Sofia chuckled, spreading the bread out on the pan, "that was fast."
"I'm undeserving of the name Ruben," Ruby muttered under his breath, but she still heard it, and it caught Sofia's attention. Her hand's stopped moving and pulled away from the soft dough. Without much care, she grabbed a napkin and wiped away the leftover yeast. She dropped the napkin and walked over to her brother.
"Hey," her voice was gentle as she sat across from him. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine." Sofia could tell that it wasn't. He was in a clear state of distress. Ruby never tried to hide his annoyance from others. Sofia assumed he liked the attention.
"Ruby, what's going on," she questioned, making sure he was okay. "What's wrong, hermanito?"
Ruby pushed up from the couch, his eyes wide open and almost glazed over. "What's wrong," he nearly shouted his voice breaking, "what's wrong? Everything's wrong, Ana! I tried to help get Cesar out of the gang by talking to Oscar, but I just got him prompted. Promoted! Olivia wants to spend all her time with Cesar and never with me. She thinks he's so great when he's not. What does he have that I don't? He wears axe body spray!" Sofia's mouth was half open at her brother's revelation. She had no idea that Cesar was in the Santos or that Ruby had a crush on Olivia. What surprised her the most was that he went to talk to Oscar on his own.
"Ceaser's in the gang. He was jumped in," Sofia shouted back causing Ruby to realize what he said and sit back down, "and you talked to Oscar?"
"Yes," it sounded more like a question than a statement, "but you didn't hear it from me."
Sofia blinked once, still trying to process the information, "why would you talk to him?"
"Because we were trying to help get Cesar out of the gang," Ruby explained in a much calmer state of mind than he arrived home in. This only confused Sofia more. She didn't understand why they sent Ruby.
"Why would they send you?"
"Out of the three options, I was the best choice."
She had to agree. Jamal and Monse wouldn't have been good options. "Why did you send anyone to talk to Oscar at all? How did you think that was a good idea?"
"We thought it would help, okay," Ruby threw his hands up, "and it didn't, obviously. Which why I'm not deserving of the name Ruben."
"Aw," Sofia laughed at him, putting the pieces together, "you are deserving of it, Ruby. I promise, there's no talking to Oscar."
"Yeah, how would you know," Ruby questioned his sister, unimpressed by what she had to say.
Sofia visibly stiffened at his comment before shaking her head, "you do realize that I know him, right? We did go to the same high school, and that I've been friends with his family for years?"
"Right," Ruby rubbed his eyes with his palms, "I've just been so caught up with-"
"Olivia," Sofia winked, thinking that's what he was going to say, but it wasn't, "she's cute. I don't blame you."
"She likes Cesar," Ruby sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. He couldn't compare to Ceaser, at least in his head.
Sofia pursed her lips, thinking for a brief moment, "how do you know? You're just assuming that because they're friends. I could say that about you and Monse cause you're friends and because she's a girl and you're a guy. Stop making excuses for things, Ruby." Her words seemed to surprise him but didn't affect him much, if at all. Ruby dismissed her words and waved his hand.
"Whatever, I know I'm right. They're always together, always laughing," Ruby sighed, "I need to start my homework anyway." He stood up and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. He didn't so much as cast her a second glance.
"Ruby," Sofia tried, but he was already up and brushing past her and heading for his and the twin's room which was now partly his. She knew how much Ruby hated sharing a room and that Olivia taking over his room was driving him crazy. Sofia had no idea what to do to help Ruby, but she knew that she was going to do whatever she could.
~~~~~~~~~
That night Sofia was studying in her bedroom. She hadn't spoken much to her family after Ruby and decided to keep it that way. In all honesty, she was still shocked that Oscar had jumped Cesar into the gang. It was bound to happen eventually, but he was still just a child. Suddenly Sofia's phone rang causing her to jump. Turning over onto her side, she grabbed her cellphone and was shocked to see the name on the phone. Angelica's caller ID was blinking on her screen. Taking a deep breath, the brunette answers the call.
"Hey," her voice was wary. The two hadn't spoken since Angelica and Mario had ended.
"Hey." Angelica responded, "it's been a while."
"Yeah, it has," Sofia agreed itching the back of her head.
"So, how have you been," Angelica was never one for small talk, and Sofia knew the girl well enough to know that she wouldn't call after not talking for this.
"Good, I've been good."
"Good." Angelica responded, "good."
Sofia sighed, "so, did you call for something, or what?" It came out harsh, but she didn't mean it that way.
"Yes, actually," she hummed into the line. "There's a party tonight," Sofia almost laughed at her. "And I wanted to know if you wanted to go?"
"No," Sofia spoke, "I hate parties." It was true. Angelica had always been more into parties than Sofia.
"And," she giggled. "I haven't seen you in ages-"
"You know where I live," Sofia cut her off, not wanting to hear any argument she had on her going to a party tonight. "And you haven't called or even texted me."
"Sofia," Angelica's tone was now much harsher. "We've been friends for years, and we are going to this party. I'll be there in thirty minutes. Wear something nice."
"Angelica," Sofia laughed at her, "no, I have homework."
It didn't matter, "thirty minutes, see ya." That was the end of the phone call. Sofia didn't have a choice, and it shouldn't have been much of a surprise because Angelica was that type of person. How the phone call had gone was a summary of how high school was.
Sofia stood up and walked to her door. In one swift motion, she threw it open. "Ma," she called to her mother, "I'm going out with Angelica in a little bit, okay?"
"Okay, mija." Her mother glanced over her shoulder at her, "be safe."
"Always," with that, she stepped back into her room and slammed the door shut. Sofia had thirty minutes to get ready for a party that she didn't want to go to in the first place. Walking over to her bed, she opened her dresser and pulled out her makeup. With little time she quickly began applying a natural look. Sofia was never one to try and impress at parties, but she didn't want to show up like she just woke up.
It took her nearly twenty-five minutes to do her makeup, and by then, Sofia was rushing to pick an outfit. She hadn't even walked to her closet when there was honking outside signaling that Angelica was here. "Shit," Sofia muttered grabbing some clothing from her closet. "Shit, shit." Her hands grabbed a pair of short light blue shorts and a black tank top. On her way out, she grabbed a pair of earrings. "Bye ma," Sofia shouted rushing through the house. She stopped at the front and grabbed a pair of soft pink heels.
"Bye," her mother shouted after her, but Sofia was already out the door. The Martinez girl ran down her driveway barefoot to her long-time friend who was waiting. She grabbed the metal door handle and yanked the car door open before sliding inside.
"Took you long enough," Angelica laughed. "You look cute."
"Thanks for the hesitation," once she settled in the car, she slipped on her remaining articles.
"You look good," she confirmed, "it's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too," Sofia nodded looking over at her. Angelica looked good, but then again, she always did. Her long black hair was let down, and she was wearing big gold hoops with a tight black skirt. "Who's party is this?"
"Diego's," she began, "from high school a year before us. It's supposed to be more of a kickback, but I'm down with it."
"Great." Sofia sighed leaning back in the seat, "great."
~~~~~~~~~
Sofia took a deep breath as she followed her friend into the backyard of the house. It was much more than a kickback. There were at least forty to fifty people here already hanging out both inside and outside. "Hey, relax," Angelica smiled wrapping an arm around her, "it's gonna be a fun night. Now, we are both single, and it's going to be great."
"Yeah," Sofia still wasn't too sure, but she went along with it. Parties weren't her thing for several reasons, and one being that Angelica had a bad issue of leaving her. "Just, don't leave, okay?"
"Never," Angelica smiled at her. Sofia sighed in relief at her words, eyes searching the party when they landed on an all too familiar face. Sitting on an old leather couch was Oscar, a girl sitting beside him. He hadn't seen Sofia yet, too busy talking to one of his friends. In the blink of an eye, Oscar tore his gaze away from his friend, and his eyes locked with Sofia. She quickly looked away and back at her friend.
"Um, maybe we should go home."
"What?" Angelica gave her a funny look, "we just got here. Let's have some fun."
"Angelica, please," Sofia spoke, but it was no use. The girl loved her parties, and it only took her a second to get distracted.
"Look, it's Tori," and just like that, Angelica had left Sofia. They had only been at the party for five minutes, and her friend had already run off to find someone else. Sofia could have easily followed Angelica over to Tori, but she didn't. She didn't like Tori or her group of friends. Sofia sighed before turning around and heading towards the small table full of alcohol. If she was going to be stuck at this party, she might as well enjoy herself with a drink.
The doe-eyed girl grabbed a random bottle and began to pour herself a cup, not caring what was inside. Once she was satisfied with what was inside, Sofia set the bottle down. Sofia debated going over to Angelica and the group of girls, but she didn't want to. Listing to girls talk about one-time hookups wasn't her thing. She preferred making a real connection with someone rather than hooking up at every Freeridge party.
Taking a sip of her drink, she leaned against the table and watched everyone at the party. Everyone seemed to carefree and having a good time, and then there was Sofia. Maybe her brother was right, and she really was uptight. Her train of thought was cut short when a familiar voice interrupted her, "hey." Her attention shifted to Oscar, who was approaching her, "what are you doing?"
"Um." Sofia shifted nervously, "drinking." She lifted her drink to show him, and he chuckled.
"I meant over here by yourself," he clarified what he actually was trying to say.
Sofia sighed, "I've been ditched already." She was referring to Angelica, who had already made some better party friends. "But that really isn't surprising."
"Yeah," Oscar agrees knowing they used to have these conversations. His eyes shifted over to Angelica who was talking to a group of girls, "to be honest, I was surprised to see you here."
"Really," Sofia spoke up.
"Yeah." Oscar shrugged, "you were never much of a partier." It was true. She wasn't a partier.
"Only the ones Angelica dragged me to," like where Sofia was right now at a party that Angelica dragged her to. "And she ditches me every time. You would think I would learn."
He smiled at her, "it's not so bad." Oscar stepped closer to her, and she noticed this. Her guard went on high alert.
"Parties only ever got me in trouble," Sofia laughed feeling the heat rush to her cheeks. She wasn't talking about getting yelled at by her parents like Oscar was thinking, she meant boy trouble, and he was that boy.
Oscar stepped closer leaning on the table next to her, "I'm glad you came. It's good to see you."
Sofia looked up at him, not knowing what he was doing. "Me too," she looked away realizing how close they were, "why are you here. This isn't a Santos party."
"I can't just hang out at the house," Oscar said, "plus all the boys are here." Sofia pursed her lips looking at the yard again, her eyes flickering from person to person. "What are you drinking?"
"Something in a bottle," she didn't exactly know. "I just poured something, so I had something to do with my hands."
Oscar laughed at her revelation, "that sounds about right."
"Hey." Sofia swatted his stomach out of habit, "that was rude."
"I'm just saying," Oscar stepped back, "you haven't changed. You're still the same, Sofia." Sofia swallowed the lump in her throat and found herself growing nervous. She had to remind herself that the person in front of her was a different person. This wasn't the same Oscar.
"I've changed," she challenged hiding her smile with her cup. It was an involuntary insecurity that she didn't even notice she had, but Oscar did. He didn't look impressed, "what? I have!"
"Whatever you say."
Sofia rolled her eyes, "like you know me so well."
Oscar opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off, "hey, Spooky!" It was one of the Santos, "come here."
He glared at the man but didn't object. He turned back to Sofia going to speak when he was cut off for a second time, "go on. I'll see you around." He had heard that before and she had said that before and then years went by. Sofia didn't give Oscar much more than that before she turned around and began walking back to Angelica. Her mind racing with the conversation she had just had with Oscar, already regretting it. She was going to find Angelica and spend the rest of the night by her side.