𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙍𝙊𝙊𝙈 ᵒˢᶜᵃʳ ᵈⁱᵃᶻ

005 | run wild

ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯

"Come on, I don't have all day", Spooky hissed as Alessia and Julez climbed onto the back seat and Cesar got in the passenger.

"Sorry. Jamal next." Oscar nodded and started the car. Alessia watched Julez drool over the fancy car and resist the urge to put her elbow on the window like she was in an old movie. Her hair flew with the wind and she enjoyed every second of it. Alessia just wished she'd brought a tie.

"So, how exactly are you going to fit three more people in here?", she asked after a while and immediately got elbowed in the ribs. She looked up and saw Spooky watching her through the rail view mirror, a sly grin on his lips.

"I'm sure you fit in the trunk", he answered, not allowing his voice to sound of sarcasm. Alessia let her eyes widen and pointed at him.

"Oh, funny!" Spooky laughed and silently shook his head. He took a turn, her question remaining unanswered.

"This is Jamal's place", Cesar finally said when the car came to a stop again, interrupting the awkward silence. Julez looked to the side stared at the house in amazement. „I sent Jamal a text, he should be out in— there he is. Climbing... out of the window."

They all watched quietly as the lean boy threw his bag to the ground first and then clumsily shimmied himself from window sill to pipe to ground. He laughed in triumph and ran towards the car.
"My dad wanted me to work a shift now, but I fled", he explained, breathing heavily.

"We saw that", Cesar responded, a bit stunned.

"Hello Mr Spooky", Jamal gasped as he saw Cesar's brother, shocked as if there was anyone else that could've driven this car. Alessia was waiting for him to salute or something.
"Get in before I change my mind", Spooky groaned and Jamal ripped open the back door.
"Oh", he said, staring at Julez and Alessia. "Forgot about our guests."
"Yeah, sorry, this is going to be a bit of a squeeze", Julez apologized, already sliding towards Alessia. Jamal looked at Cesar, who simply gestured him to get in.

„Well, don't mind if I do", Jamal whispered, mostly to himself, what caused Alessia to raise a brow. She felt the look in the rear view mirror again, but decided to ignore it.

„I'm Julez, this is Alessia." Julez smiled at Jamal and shook hands with him— not insinuated by her, but funny to watch. Alessia shared a look with Cesar, who grinned a bit embarrassed.
"Okay", Cesar exclaimed, interrupting the now awkwardly long handshake, „Monse texted me that she's waiting at Ruby's, so that's the last stop before the mall." Spooky nodded and drove off. Obviously, he knew all of Cesar's friends enough to know where they lived. Alessia let herself find this sweet for a moment before realizing what this likely actually meant.

It was only a short drive and as soon as the car stopped again, Cesar turned around in his seat. "So, first of all, please don't worry about Monse. She's a smart ass and doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut, so she can come off as rude." Now it was Spooky who snorted and within a second, everyone was looking at him. Julez looked just generally attentive, Cesar a bit pressed and Jamal downright terrified. Alessia smiled and quietly shook her head.

"And second... Monse won't like sitting next to people she doesn't know. It's... a thing, I'd rather not get into it. So, it'd be best if the two of you shared the passenger seat for the rest of the ride. I know it's not ideal, but it's only ten minutes." He did look like he was incredibly sorry, but Alessia cared more about Julez, who looked terrified. She shot Spooky a disapproving look through the rear view mirror, which he picked up with a scoff.

"If the princess isn't comfortable with sharing seats, she can feel free to take the bus", he snarled, somehow sounding threatening, offended and amused at once.

Alessia clicked her tongue, unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car. Julez followed her and took Alessia's hand out of reflex. Alessia squeezed it tight before walking around the car to switch seats with Cesar. Because she was heavier, Alessia decided to take Julez on her lap. Julez didn't seem to love either option, but complied.

As they were still adjusting their position, Alessia suddenly noticed Spooky's hand coming towards her chest. Her fight or flight immediately kicked in, but because Julez was sitting on her legs, she couldn't do either.

"I wouldn't if you want to keep those", Alessia hissed instead, piercing Spooky's hand with her gaze. He rolled his eyes.

"Relax." Alessia was about to debate the utter stupidity of him telling her to relax, but then he grabbed the seatbelt that was awkwardly hanging around Alessia's shoulder and buckled it. Alessia felt a bit embarrassed, but would have rather died than show any of that. She wrapped her arms around Julez to simulate some safety for her as well.

"What's happening here?", a female voice suddenly asked and a moment later, a girl appeared next to the car, closely followed by a small boy.

"Monse", Cesar greeted her nervously, "this is Julez and Alessia." Julez waved at the new girl and Alessia nodded in her direction. Not her best work, but all she could do without letting go of Julez. Monse first looked at them, then at Cesar, one brow raised in suspicion.

"Okay, not that anyone seems to care, but I'm Ruby. Could we get in now? I have a very important perfume to buy", the small boy now contributed to the conversation and got into the car within the same motion.

"I agree with the worm. I don't have all day", Spooky added and demonstratively turned on the engine. Without second thought— aside from a dirty look by Ruby, directed at Spooky —Monse squeezed into the seat next to Ruby and remained silent for the rest of the ride. At least Alessia thought so. She couldn't turn to check if they were whispering or sharing notes even if she tried. However, she did feel continuous stares coming from her left. She ignored them and hugged Julez tighter.

This definitely was the most uncomfortable she'd been in months, but she tried to focus on the positive. They were about to find out where to buy groceries. They had made something like a friend on their first day. And if anything went wrong, they had Antonio, who was both willing to kill and die for either of them.