"ma, ya me voy," the youngest of the navarra family yelled to her mother, victoria.
"por favor esperanza, be careful," victoria bellowed from her at home office.
as soon as the door opened, it closed after the short, glasses wearing girl. she had been late to meet up with her friends at the party that was happening a couple of blocks over.
⌑
even from half a block away, she was able to hear all the commotion coming from the house that was holding the celebration for seniors. as she walked past the house, she noticed the familiar faces of derek and eva – her older siblings – drinking in front of the party house.
she finally spotted her friends standing on crates, discussing where the glue of the pack was.
"something bad is happening. i can feel it. i knew this was a dumb idea," jamal's anxious state was showing brightly.
"damn, wanna smoke a joint, j?" the short latina asked before climbing up on a crate next to ruby, peering over the wall also.
"we can't see him 'cause he's being stealth," ruby stated rolling his eyes at the anxiety-filled boy.
"no doubt. he's got this. when has cesar ever disappointed?" monse expressed, looking for cesar in the crowd of teenagers.
"mmm, fourth grade. kickball tourney. we lost," jamal declared as he made eye contact with the afro-latina.
"only 'cause i picked the kid with no skills," a voice that was all to familiar stated, making the four turn around, "and i'd pick you again," cesar voiced tossing a can of beer to the tallest of the group.
walking up to the four, he stated, "loyalty trumps victory, compa," handing the rest of the alcohol to everyone else.
"take it in," cesar said as they all skimmed through the crowd. "this is about to be us. this is high school."
the five took a sip of the bitter drink and all made a face of disgust as the bitterness touched their tongues.
"ruby, do you think mario is going to actually marry angelica one day?" esperanza asked the boy to the left of her. when suddenly, her right hand had been caught in cesar's, making her glance down and their intertwined fingers, the ghost of a smile was written on her face.
"no idea. mario tells me jack," ruby shrugged as jamal began to laugh.
"what about the time he said angelica has a dangler?" jamal inquired making both monse and esperanza stifle a laugh.
"but he said that," jamal began.
"in private!" ruby cut him off, "time and place dude."
taking in the sight of the dancing teens, esperanza felt cesar pull her closer to him, by putting his arm around her shoulders.
"oh, guys, check out huerita at nine o'clock," ruby claimed, nodding his head a bit to the girl he was talking about.
"monse, if you were a girl–" ruby started before getting cut off by both girls.
"she is a girl," esperanza said as monse claimed "i am a girl."
ruby continued, "yeah, but if you were a girl like that, would you wear underwear?" making monse roll her eyes and esperanza lightly hit the boy in his arm.
shortly after, cesar whispered in esperanza's ear "¿qué hay de tí?" making the girl slightly blush, moving her glasses up to hide it.
"me estás tomando el pelo, verdad? of course i would," esperanza replied looking up at the boy she had caught feelings for over the years they've know each other.
tuning back into the conversation that was happening next to them, jamal had started having one of his infamous football spirals.
leaving esperanza's side, cesar had crouched down next to jamal, who had his head between his legs whimpering , trying to calm the boy down, "jamal, cte is not in your future."
getting down from the crate, esperanza and monse began to rub jamal's back, also trying to soothe him.
excitedly, ruby turned around saying, "guys, check out my game. huerita just gave me the nod," motioning his head in a similar movement, when one of the gangsters at the party grabbed onto his neck.
"are you eyeing my girl, cabrón?"
to which ruby replied with a quick, "no. god no. i'm not into blondes."
standing, cesar cooley said, "easy. he does your mom's taxes. mrs. guzman, right?"
ruby started to nod and give information that no one else knew. standing next to cesar, esperanza states, "seriously, dude?"
not even a second later, another member came up to help his amigo, then glanced at cesar and esperanza, before talking to his friend.
"yo, what are you doing, ese? that's spooky's little bro, dawg. and that's cráneo's hija," which made the one holding ruby's neck let go. ruby was trying to catch his breath as he stood by cesar and the crew.
"i didn't realize it was you, homie. hey, listen, tell spooky and calada sad eyes sends respects," to which both affiliates gave a quick nod.
jamal, monse, and esperanza all gave each other a look as ruby was giving thanks for cesar's brother and esperanza's father.
"don't. thank god for better things," cesar replied, speaking the short latinas thoughts.
as the gang was taking in what just happened, a gunshot was heard from not that far, making the group both duck and run. everyone at the party – including the navarra twins, set off running in different directions.
"that was a .38," monse claimed as jamal stated, "no, it was a .45," while ruby argued. "it sounded like a .44," to which esperanza declared, "wrong!"
another gunshot was heard, el grupo yelled in unison, ".357!" as they ran back to ruby's house.
⌑
once the group got to ruby's house, monse and esperanza sat on the couch, and were talking about how their summer was going to be.
"you got into writing camp? oh, god i'm so happy for you," the latina hugged her best girl friend.
"what about you? anything special for the summer?" monse questioned her.
"no, just going to méxico, tú sabes," esperanza replied, monse nodded.
"quieres algo? i'm going to the kitchen,"
"no, i'm good," and with that, esperanza went to get some agua fresca from the fridge.
"qué estás pensando en esa cabeza grande?" cesar asked as he walked up to the petite girl drinking her agua.
"nada. just that i'm leaving en la mañana para méxico," esperanza shrugged her shoulders. brushing off the trip she makes once a couple years.
"plus, i won't get to see you guys, y no puedo hacer eso," she continued as she looked back at cesar, who was leaning against the counter.
"well, ven a mi casa esta noche, i have something for you," he smiled as he remembered his gift he had gotten the tiny girl.
just as she was about to reply, jamal stated quickly, "here comes waterworks," making the standing teens run to the large couch.
since there was no room for esperanza, she opted to sit on cesar's lap. just as she sat, she felt him wrap his arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall off.
as soon as mario walks through the door, he questioned the kids that sat infront of him, "were you guys spying on me?" to which everyone shook their heads 'no' and jamal, not being able to keep a secret, nodded his head. making ruby elbow him to say 'no'.
then mario began to cry, making esperanza and monse glance at each other, while cesar asked, "you okay, homie?" in which mario replied with, "yes. no. i don't know," before marching to stand infront of the five.
"look at you. on the verge of high school," mario began, becoming excited for the kids he's seen grow up. "all the excitement. all the first. first parties, first football games, first love," getting silent for a second then declared, "want me to drop some knowledge?" to which all the teens said things along the lines of 'not really'.
however, this didn't stop mario from basically ranting to the five.
"high school, it's the foundation for the rest of your life. any false starts could lead to your own dead end. now sure, you guys are smart, setting curves and all that, but you still have to go hard," he nearly screams, "'cause there's only one chance at a first impression. so, do you want to sit on the sidelines or play in the game?"
jamal spoke up saying, "i just- i just don't want to die."
monse then asked, "is mario high?"
"most likely," the mexican besides her answers.
"yes, he's high... on life and memories... and some seriously good indo," mario chuckled after his own statement. "what i was saying is work hard, put your heart out there, even if it's broken by some bitch you've known since mr. estrada's seventh grade social studies," he rants.
"dios mío," esperanza whispered to herself.
"anyway, uh... what i was saying, and you may want to write this down. don't go into high school without back-up. you guys need to stick together to survive. got it?" mario examined all of the teens faces as they nodded in agreement.
suddenly, mario bursted out, "i'm going to college, mofos!" startlingly the youths infront of him. "now kiss my class ring," he demanded as he stuck his hand out to ruby. not knowing what else to do, ruby quickly kissed the ring, then sat back down.
just as mario walked away. the teens gathered and were questioning what they had just witnessed, when mario walked back into the room.
"damn, i almost forgot. one last thing: don't bone monse or esperanza," he claimed before walking out again. the whole gang bursted into laughter at mario's statement.
"why would anyone want to do that?" monse asked out loud as esperanza agreed.
⌑
after everyone went home, esperanza walked into her casa, to be greeted by her mother and father, sitting in the living room, watching a corny telenovela.
'eva and derek must be in their rooms' espy thought as she said her 'holas' to her parents before heading to her room to 'sleep'. just as she closed her bedroom door. her phone dinged as she received a text from someone.
cesar
vas a venir?
espy
sí, give me 5 minutes.
soon the girl had climbed out of her window and walked to the house that was just a house down. knowing the routine, she walked to cesar's window and knocked. opening his window, he helped the small girl into his bedroom.
"i leave in a couple hours," esperanza stated as cesar grabbed the gift he had brought her.
"i promise espy, esto será rápido," looking at the girl he had slowly, but surely fallen for. "go ahead. ábrelo," he encouraged as he sat down next to esperanza.
esperanza opened the gift and was at a loss for words. cesar had given her a necklace with his name written on it.
"cesar, you shouldn't have," she began, looking at the absolutely beautiful regalo he gave her.
"anything por mi princesa," he smiled as he started to lean in to kiss esperanza. slowly, the peck had became just more than that. soon, it had become a very heated make out session.
⌑