CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The next morning, Nina left before Oscar could wake up. She cared for Oscar without a doubt but she couldn't help but feel a little frightened with what happened. Call it being over exaggerated with her calling him out that he almost died but what if there would come a time where things got serious. She meant what she said when she didn't want to lose him either.
Nina had ordered Cesar to tell Oscar to stay at home and even taught him how to dress his brother's wounds. Every now and then she would even send in Victoria to do the work. Needless to say she was avoiding him after the incident. Which was advantageous on her part since he was practically on house arrest.
Oscar would walk over to their house to check up on her. Though they would text, Nina's responses were dry. It angered him how she was avoiding him like this.
She would leave early, even sometimes sneaking out the back door to remain unseen. Some of the Santos would visit the bodega but Angelica would cover for her as she simply hid out the back. Brentwood was a good cover for her as well. Oscar couldn't simply go check every house she would usually go to, cos that wasn't Freeridge anymore.
Oscar had enough. First it was over the stupid jumping Cesar into the Santos fight and then this. He thought she cared. If she cared for him at all then she wouldn't leave him like this. Especially after he decided to finally open his heart to her. Which was something rare for him.
"Oscar just leave her alone. She clearly just wants space," Cesar reasoned going after his brother who was about to leave the house.
"Space?! If wanted that she could've just said so!" He snapped at Cesar before making his way to the other house. He skips his way to the door and goes straight to her window.
This entire time she's kept her blinds shut but Oscar saw the illumination of her desk lamp seeping through its cracks. "Nina, open up!" he banged on the window.
Nina, being in hiding, jumped at the sound of his booming voice and the banging of her window. She was in the middle of revisiting advanced calculus for her tutorial session tomorrow in Brentwood. She didn't need this kind of bs and disturbance.
"I know you're in there!" his voice boomed again. "Open the fucking window!"
She groaned running a hand through her hair and face. After readjusting her glasses she was about to open her window until Oscar ended calling her name again, probably waking up the entire block.
"Shhhh!!!! Shhhhh!!! Oscar shut up! The twins are trying to sleep," she sneered in whisper opening up her blinds and her window.
"Why are you avoiding me?" he asked with a scowl. She understood his anger, she would be angry too if he was avoiding her like this.
"What are you talking about. I just texted you, fool," she replied showing him her phone.
"A haha you sent three hours ago," he growled which Nina found a little funny. She did her best to suppress her giggle but it only made things worse. "Look, I ain't playin'! Why are you avoiding me?"
"Oscar, I've been busy."
"Busy hiding."
"Ay, cabrón. You try revisiting and studying advanced calculus. It's been giving me a headache the past few hours and you banging on my window and shit ain't helping. So, cut it out," she complained. Though she really was telling the truth, that story only covered up her ass for today.
"Oh yea? Then what have you been doing for the rest of the week?" he challenged raising his eyebrow.
"Like I said, I've been busy."
"With what?"
"Oh my God, can you even hear yourself right now? If you wanna talk wait until tomorrow morning," she said shutting him down by closing her window and shutting her blinds.
"Don't try me, Nina," he threatened.
The moment she closed her window she felt like she's made a mistake. But it's not like he was actually going to stay right outside her window. Right?
What Nina didn't know was that he did exactly that. At least up until she had turned off her desk lamp and went to sleep. She didn't even bother checking her window again to see if he was still there.
She had to be up early tomorrow just so she could avoid him. Though she had a hard time sleeping these past few days. Even if she didn't witness Oscar getting hurt she would have these flashes of images of him getting hurt. She would even find herself crying sometimes.
Oscar was her friend whom she cared for so so so much. She would forget that he was the leader of the Santos but she didn't need that kind of reminder seeing her friend hurt.
She felt the same with Cesar. After getting to know that kid for four years and the affiliations he had with the Santos she couldn't help but feel protective over him. That's why she got so mad at Oscar for jumping Cesar into joining the Santos. That's why she was so angry. And it sucked how she had to hurriedly apologize the night Oscar got shot.
That feeling of anxiety crept into her chest mixing in with the feelings she had for Oscar. She wanted to be ready. She really did. Because she cared and felt for him all too much. She wanted nothing more than to be with him now but she just felt so scared and she needed reassurance. Reassurance that only Oscar can give.
Oscar was right. They needed to talk but Nina wasn't sure if she was ready for that either.
Even though she felt like her body had just succumbed to sleep her alarm goes off reminding her that she needed to be out early to avoid Oscar. She hurriedly takes a shower and gets dressed. At one point she peaks outside her window to check if he was outside or on his lawn. The only thing she saw was a bunch of cholos already drinking. At seven in the morning.
Victoria and the kids were already up for breakfast but just like the past days she had skipped it and made her way out. Her heart sank only to find Oscar already at her porch smoking one of his cigarettes. When Nina approaches him he takes a drag before putting it out.
"That's littering," Nina said flatly. "Did you seriously just sleep outside my house the entire night?"
"We need to talk," was all he said.
Nina sighed and walked past him though that didn't do much cos she knew he was following her. "Nina! Hey, I'm talking to you!"
"I need to get to work, Oscar!" she yelled to him as a reply.
"Don't make me do it Nina!" she heard him say.
"What could you possibly do?"
She didn't expect what happened next until Oscar started yelling on the top of his lungs like a mad man. "One time when Nina was six, she had a crush on this boy named Francis. Francis said he was into ballerinas and Nina said okay. So what does she do? She starts spinning and spinning like the ballerina she pretended to be forgetting about the full lunch she had-"
Nina stopped in her tracks with her eyes going wide. She turns on her heel and marches over to Oscar. "Don't you dare finish that story, Oscar!" she yelled but Oscar didn't listen.
"So she keeps spinning and spinning but then she starts crying because Francis wasn't looking. But Nina didn't stop spinning she barfs all over-"
"I said enough," she cuts him off by running over to him and placing her hand on his mouth. She was red with embarrassment and she could hear the Santos on his lawn already laughing their asses off. "I told you, never to tell that story to anyone else," she said through grit teeth.
"Now you wanna talk?" he taunted raising his eyebrow. Nina only huffed crossing her arms over her chest and listened to what he had to say. "Why are you avoiding me?"
There it was.
"I get shot and then you nurse my wounds, cry to me how much I just scared the shit out of you, kiss me then you decided to stay the night before ghosting me just like that?!" Oscar raised his voice as Nina tried to take a breath.
"That's not really how ghosting works-"
"I ain't joking! You said you cared for me. So why'd you decide to leave me hanging like that huh? After everything you said with your apology? After how much I felt that I needed you?" Oscar was fed up.
That moment they had got to him so much and it felt so sincere that he found himself just succumbing to the feeling that Nina was giving him. It hurt him that he was left hanging so suddenly.
Oscar yelled even more. "Why'd you do me dirty like that huh? WHY?!?"
"BECAUSE I LIKE YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"
"AND YOU THINK I DON'T?!?"
Their screaming match was put to a temporary end after the end of that exchange. The cholos on the lawn betting if they were going to finally end up together right then and there. Cesar overheard the yelling across the street and decided to tune in. A smirk appears on the teens face after their confession as a mini victory dance played in his head.
"You what?" Nina blinked in shock making Oscar run a hand over his head. Her face felt hot in all the stress.
"Why do you think I can't stop looking through your window? Why I keep wanting to see you? Why I keep kissing you? Every time you're away I can't stop thinking about you, I can't stop missing you," he reasoned still leaving her in a state of shock. "Goddamnit, Nina. You were supposed to be the smart one!"
"Has it ever occurred to you how scared I was of telling you how I feel?" tears were beginning to well in her eyes. Always so goddamn emotional.
"I knew from the very beginning that I had feelings fo you but sometimes I forget that you have street cred. Everything felt so real to me when were together to the point I forgot that you were Spooky," she started crying.
"It took me awhile to realize how if I were to pursue you and maybe fall in love with you I had to accept the good with the bad. I didn't know if I was ready for that, Oscar," she continued as she wiped away her tears.
"Because, I care about you so so so much that it hurts sometimes. It really does. One moment I could feel so high all these small moments. But then you jumped Cesar into the Santos and a few days later you get shot and I-I was terrified," she was crying so much now that she had to cover her face with her hands. She hated crying in front of people. It made her feel vulnerable.
Nina groaned putting her hands over her eyes. Damn all these emotions. "And I am just so torn and scared about your safety and well being because I like you so fucking much. So much shit goes on with you and the Santos and it just fucking scares me because I care about you so fucking much."
Oscar softened seeing her cry and pour out her feelings the way she did. And the fact that her cheeks were flushed and her nose was already red from crying. "Are you always this cute when you cry?"
"Oscar!" Nina said in annoyance removing her hands from her eyes.
"Hey," he cooed pulling her into his chest. "Look, I was scared too. I didn't want to drag you into this. Cos this life ain't easy. God, Nina, you deserve much more than just an ugly ass cholo like me," he said sincerely though his comment at the end made Nina laugh. The sound made Oscar feel a little lighter.
"And you're right, this shit is crazy and messed up," he nodded. "But you gotta trust me on this and what I do. Have a little faith in me, Nina."
He gently places both of her hands on each side of her face to make her look at him. "I promise to leave you out of this. And I promise to continue protecting you. I will leave you out of this, tienes mi palabra."
His words made Nina smile. Though what he said wasn't an earful like she had hoped, it was more than enough hearing the assurance she needed. This was something worth risking, she thought to herself. She'd have to learn to accept him entirely eventually. This was something she was willing to learn and understand.
"Okay," Nina nodded slowly as Oscar furrowed his eyebrows. "Okay?" He asked.
"Okay. I trust you and everything that you said," Nina said sincerely. "I'm sorry for avoiding you I-I was just scared b-but I know now that I can trust you," she offered a small smile and hearing that made Oscar smile too.
"And, if its any worth to you. You ain't no ugly ass cholo, Oscar Diaz. As a matter of fact I think you're hella sexy, chubby areas and all," Nina joked poking his stomach making him laugh.
"Hey, don't fat shame me," he says with a smile slowly leaning in to give her a kiss only to be stopped by Nina's hand.
"Yo, did you even brush your teeth? Haven't you been staying outside all night waiting for me?"
"Ay, Nina I took a shower and everything. Solo dejame besarte," he whined making Nina giggle before placing her lips on his. They smiled into the kiss ignoring the cheering Santos from across the street. Oscar's hands slid down to her waist while Nina hooked her arms around his neck to pull each other close.
"Y'all better not start making babies on the street!" Gabriel shouted from across making Nina laugh and break the kiss. Oscar rolled his eyes, bummed out that their moment was ruined.
Cesar slapped Gabriel's arm making the cholo wince. For a teen he was hella strong.
"¿Esto significa que soy tu ruca?" Nina smirked looking at his lips again. Was he always this good at kissing?
"Up to you, mamas," Oscar nodded making Nina smile again as his hands were still around his waist.
"Well then my answer is yes," she hummed before leaning in to kiss him again.
Cesar smiled and fist bumped Sad Eyes who had witnessed the entire thing as well. "Aight bitches pay up!"
-
Nina had this stupid smile on her face as she read about Vocabulary. She was going to be teaching English next to those prepping for the SATs. God was she happy.
Oscar took her out for breakfast before taking her to Brentwood earlier that day. Even though Nina scolded him saying he shouldn't be doing anything yet. It even worried her that their fight that morning could've busted up one of his wounds.
Now he was chilling with her in the bodega, ignoring Nina's protests about he should go home and rest. He was resting, outside, with her.
But every now and then he would go to the back to make some calls for business. Maybe even take Nina with him for a quick make out session. Even though they made things official a few hours ago they couldn't get their hands of each other.
"Soliloquy," Nina said aloud reading one of her booklets.
"A long serious speech that character in a play addresses to the audience to express the character's thoughts," Oscar answered making Nina turn her head towards him.
"It's like you copied that out of the dictionary. Who are you?" she joked.
"Seventh and eighth grade spelling bee champ, that's who I am," he said to her proudly making her laugh and nod. Nina laughs putting down her things before attending to a customer. Turns out it was only Angelica.
"So you guys boning yet or what?" Angelica shrugged putting her hands on the counter. "Well technically you guys have already boned."
Nina rolled her eyes while Oscar just snickered. So everyone knew about us hooking up during those Santos parties? Nina looked at her, now, novio.
"Angelica, I'd like you to meet my ruca," Oscar says confidently before placing a kiss on the side of Nina's head making her feel a little giddy.
"Damn, it took you over a month to land Nina?" Angelica raised her eyebrows. "That's gotta be a new record there, Spooky."
Nina furrowed her eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Other hynas go crazy for him. Saying the sex is amazing when it comes to him, I don't know," she shrugged in disbelief.
"Well, they ain't wrong about that," Nina muttered making Angelica choke and Oscar laugh. "Wait, does that mean you two have hooked up before?" Nina suddenly snaps her head to face them.
"No," They answered in unison with a hint of disgust.
"I've been with Mario majority of my high school life," Angelica added.
"What happened to you two anyway? I bumped into him the other day said you two were over," Oscar asked.
"I mean he's going off to Berkley which means I'll barely get to see him. I'm not into the long distance thing," Angelica shrugged before taking a bag of chips from the counter. She opens it and starts eating it.
"That's $5.50."
"So? It's my bodega."
"It's your tío's bodega," Nina corrected.
"Yeah, whatever. Have fun boning you guys!"
Oscar and Nina really did spend most of the day in the bodega. Nina was surprised that he didn't get bored. He found the time the to brush up on his spelling skills by borrowing one of Nina's books.
Anybody who walked into the store figured out about the two of them now. Not long later the Prophet$ had gotten news about Spooky's new girl and what followed later was the entire block. All in all, it really was a wise decision for Spooky to be driving Nina all around town when she needed. It saved any early occurrence of getting rolled up on the Prophet$ just for the sake of spiting the Santos.
Not long later the two were on the way home. All the cholos on the lawn were now gone. Nina was about to walk back to her house until Oscar called out to her.
"What no goodnight?"
Nina smiled and walked back to him. She places a sweet kiss on his lips before pulling away, "Goodnight, papi," she teased with a smile on her face.
Oscar knew it was a joke in reference to when they made cookies. But he liked it when it came from Nina's lips. "Goodnight, baby."
They went into each other's houses not knowing that they had eyes on them from down the street.
"So it's true, they are dating," Jamal sighed in disbelief as they watched the two of them kiss.
"No. No. Nooooo," Ruby exclaimed. "First it's Cesar now it's Nina. Nina! How the hell could he go after Nina? I thought I had the claim on Nina?!?" he added in frustration, all the while doing his best to ignore his heart breaking a little.
"Dude, you're 14. But yea, what kind of evil does Spooky have to be to go after Nina?!?"
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YUP issa definite win for Oscar and Nina AYYYYYYYEEE!!! Tell me what you guys think :)))
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