SUNNYVALE

(4) CRYSTAL DOES DRUGS AND MOJITOS

Crystal walks through the busy streets of Westside, amused by the various scenes : local kids of 13 dealing some cheap drugs already ; thugs being run after by the police - that here, in Sunnyvale, only makes arrests in the West... ; half-naked girls in plain sight, trying to buy money for themselves... No, the West wasn't a place for fairytale, but for people who wanted to survive.

There was so much loss in this part of the city that it was written all over the walls in blood : in Crystal's case, it was a younger brother who died of leukemia because her family didn't have money for the expensive treatment. Not a day would go by without Crystal thinking about him, and wanting to fight back against the very system that privileges those with money over the poors' lives.

She enters the abandoned coffee shop at the very edge of the city, taking deep breaths: she knows what she is doing is wrong, but the terrible truth was that she did not really stand a choice. She needed to provide for her family. 

"You're late" a voice says behind her.

Crystal turns around, before rolling her eyes: Kelley is nonchalantly leaning against a wall, making fun of her friend's scarily face. 

Shaking her head in disbelief, Crystal then responds:

"You're such a bitch."

"I know" Kelley concedes, smirking, "people always tell me it's my highest quality. Anyway, you brought the drugs?"

"Obviously I brought 'em - who do you think I am? Sister Theresa ?" the dark-haired sarcastically lets out, annoyed. 

"Great: now let's get down to business - according to my calculations, we should be making around 500 dollars per week if the business kicks in rapidly..."

"And have you thought about the concurrency, Kels?" Crystal interrupts her, obviously thinking about the bigger picture. As the brunette sighs, she adds: "I mean, there are gangs in the Westside, and they ain't joking around."

Kelley frowns.

"Are you chickening out?" she then asks, aggressive. 

"Of course not" Crystal says, before taking a map out of her bag and putting on the table well enough for the both of them to see it clearly. As Kelley gets closer, a smirk grows on her face, as her friend continues: "I'm saying, why try and sell where it's already crowded when you've got rich kids right around the corner?" 

Kelley's eyes widen, as she starts getting excited.

"You're a fucking genius, Dunn!"

"I know, but there's a bad news though."

"Which is?"

Crystal sighs.

"We don't know shit about the East: I mean, which kids could be messed up or turned around? Which neighbourhoods could be our selling point ? Shouldn't we try and find someone from there who would sell for us? I mean-"

"Yeah, I got your point, but I've got an idea" Kelley interrupts her, quite amused. 

Before her friend can say anything, Kelley undergoes to cross multiple areas of Eastside by putting small crosses on it. In the middle of it, was a very special house that recently had been renovated.

Of course, this psycho would come up with a crazy solution, Crystal thinks to herself, before confidentially saying:

"Hell no - not going there."

"Hear me out: Julie Johnston is the perfect information bank!" Kelley insists, nodding her head. As Crystal shaking her head no, she continues: "I mean, she's just recently moved from the East, she knows everybody since she was a freakin' cheerleader, and if she gets caught she ain't one of our friends so we won't have to save her."

"And why would you assume that miss-perfect-hair-and-face would help us?" Crystal asks, dubious. She then goes on: "I mean, she basically is a princess."

"Give me three days and I'll convince her, Dunny" 

Crystal nods, beaten. 

"Alright, surprise me then."

***

Exhausted from her day, Crystal returns to The Circle - the bar especially built for the youth of Westside - in order to get some free drinks and chill out. When she gets there, she immediately notices that it would be a pretty calm day: most of the young people of Westside were at a protest in the East - to which Crystal did not want to take part in, because we all know what happens to Black people when they go to riots in America: they get arrested first. 

Quite annoyed by this whole situation, she immediately goes to the bar and orders her usual - mojito with extra-alcohol - and sighs.

She hadn't noticed the insistent glare from someone next to her: when she finally does, it kind of annoys her that it is Julie Johnston, shyly sipping her own drink. The blonde seemed exhausted and quite lost: she must've had the worst first day of the histories of first days, since she used to be the head cheerleader, only to now be enemy number one in the West. Crystal can sense her hesitation from where she was sitting.

Rising her eyebrows, she therefore asks:

"You know you're not really welcomed in those kind of places, right?"

The blonde nods, visibly hitting a new low in her mental health.

"Oh, trust me, it's the story of my life" she then says, before taking a big sip. Wincing - probably because her drink was all alcohol - she then adds: "So, go on: insult me, I don't fucking care: I didn't chose to come here in the first place."

"You said your dad lost his job" Crystal immediately says, quite curious, "earlier, at school. Wasn't he, like, the mayor's right hand?"

Julie lets a sarcastic laugh out of her throat, before drinking again. 

"Turns out disagreeing with her majesty has its consequences" she then elaborates, shaking her head, thoughtful. 

"What did he disagree with?" 

"Mostly the destruction of Westside High, but also disparities within the two parts - he really thought he could turn things around."

"Why do I have the feeling that you're only telling me that because you want me to accept you?" Crystal asks, confused. 

Julie rolls her eyes at her, before answering:

"I told you: I don't care about any of you Westsiders accepting me, because I know you won't. All I want is to get out of this living hell."

While Crystal takes a few seconds to think this through, Julie pays her due to the barmaid, before getting up and turning toward the dark-haired. 

Before she can add anything, Crystal declares:

"Well, in that case, let me buy you a drink, Princesa, because you really look like you could use one."

Julie nods, before sitting down again. 

The two girls talked for hours, and if both were surprised by this sudden turn of event, they just 'clicked', like they say: there wasn't a single awkward silence, and Crystal's anger, as well as Julie's despair, just vanished. When The Circle closed, they even took a walk by the river that was delimitating the two parts of town, talking about their lives and everything else: Crystal talked about her shitty childhood and her multiples jobs, as well as her dream of integrating a pro soccer team one day - therefore the time she spends training ; Julie mentioned her dysfunctional family (her mother left her father for another right after he lost his job and she cut all contacts with her daughter) and her toxic previous relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Zach, who is the captain of Eastside High's soccer team. 

And, somehow, when the two girls went their separate ways, they couldn't help but hug each other for a minute. 

This might as well be the beginning of a beautiful yet complicated friendship...