𝙒𝘼𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙍𝙊𝙊𝙈 ᵒˢᶜᵃʳ ᵈⁱᵃᶻ

011 | enjoy the silence

ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▯▯▯

"Honestly, you have to see their basketball court. It's massive! And I heard their team's not shit as well. Oh, and there's a chess society. I'm thinking of joining them, too", Julez beamed on, clung around Alessia's arm, as they took the turn into their street. Alessia had only been half-listening for the most of it, but now she couldn't help but raise her brows. Julez hadn't played a game of chess in her entire life, not that she possessed the patience or strategic thinking to do so.

     "You... what?"

     "I've always wanted to be part of a society. It would look great on my resume, too!"

     "You do realize that a big part of joining a chess society would be to actually know how to play chess, right?" Alessia didn't ask in order to mock her friend, she just truly questioned if Julez was aware. Sometimes seemingly obvious things like this went over the girl's head.

     Julez let out a big sigh, stopped in her track and tilted her head in order to shoot Alessia an accusing glare. Alessia immediately raised her arms in defense, but she didn't revoke her question.

     "It can't be that hard if all those nerds are playing it", Julez then mumbled. "Besides, guys love explaining things to women. I'll be better than all of them in no time."

     "Well, that I do not doubt. Will you enjoy it is the question. I know how fast you drop things that don't excite you anymore and if this school is anything like our last, joining a club is kind of a permanent commitment." Alessia had always avoided joining clubs of any sort. If she wanted to find a hobby she'd do so in her own home and if she wanted to spend more time on school grounds than absolutely necessary, she'd find a machete and chop her own head off. A bit drastic, one might suggest, but she felt very strongly about it.

     "I'll make it work. Monse also told me they only meet once a week. Well, mandatory meetings. I guess they probably meet everyday, but, you know. Nerds."

      "Yeah, nerds. And soon you'll be one of them", Alessia chuckled, making Julez jokingly push her away. They went on laughing until they reached their house. To Alessia's disappointment, she wouldn't be able to simply go inside and have a nice afternoon. Antonio was there, leaning against the door, looking rather unhappy. His usual expression, honestly.

     "You're late", he said instead of greeting them. Julez pulled him into an unsolicited hug before Alessia could make her immediate anger known.

     "I'm sorry, did we have an appointment?"

     "Cesar got home almost half an hour ago. Why didn't you go with him?" Alessia rolled her eyes, making Antonio grab her shoulders frantically. "Seriously, Aly, you'd be much safer in his presence. Both of you." Julez smiled at his regarding of her. Alessia wiggled herself lose of his grip and went for the door.

     "If you have to know, I needed to go to the bathroom. It was urgent." An unfamiliar chuckle made Alessia frown and Antonio turn around in a haste. Alessia wasn't sure if her brother had always been this easy to startle. He probably didn't, either, but it was not nice to look at.

     Behind him, seemingly out of nowhere, Oscar had appeared, wearing the same stupid gray shirt with those even more stupid high socks. The Santos tended to look like cheerleaders in their free time but if Alessia told them that, there was a risk they'd stop. And that would ruin this perfectly hilarious view.

     "If you're thinking of making a habit out of appearing on our property unannounced, don't", Alessia hissed. Julez had moved closer to her the second she'd seen Oscar and the way Antonio was standing beside him, somehow taller but looking so small in comparison, was devastating.

     "You really aren't much of a charmer, are you?"

     "What do you want?", Alessia asked, ignoring the scolding look coming from her brother. In the distance, she saw Cesar coming out of his house. He seemed to think about waving to them but ended up stopping on the porch with a displeased expression. Oscar put an arm on Antonio's shoulder which was probably supposed to look friendly but ended up seeming like a threat.

     "I guess Antonio hasn't invited you to join us tonight?"   

     Julez' eyes lit up. "A party?" Oscar looked amused by her childlike reaction.

     "Exactly", he answered, mimicking her smile. Alessia and Julez looked at each other, definitely not expressing the same emotions. Antonio looked miserable. Like he'd hoped to prevent them from even getting an invitation.

     "What are you celebrating? 10 years with the best deal on thigh highs?" Now Antonio looked like he wanted to chop Alessia's head of with a machete. And his own, too, probably.

     "Watch your mouth", he hissed, instead and somehow that made Alessia's heart drop. 

     "Don't worry about it, it's all in good fun. Right, Alessia?", Oscar asked. The way he said her name made Alessia's skin crawl. The grin on his face was halfway a smile and halfway a threat, entirely unnerving.

     "Totally", she answered, hoping her own smile looked even half as fake as it felt. "But sadly, we have plans."

     Julez shot her a panicked look. "No, we don't."
     "Yes, we do. We have that... thing. With your parents."

     "Oh, yeah, they canceled." Alessia felt stupid. Julez smiled. "I rescheduled it for next week, so, we're free."

     It was quiet for a bit and then Alessia finally cracked the door open. She regretted not having done that in the first place. They could've just gone inside and ignored everything happening outside. Nobody would be angered, nobody would be disappointed and Antonio wouldn't have taken Oscar's side.

     "We'll think about it", she murmured and pulled Julez towards her. "I guess we won't be able to get a good night's sleep anyway."

     "Unlikely. Your brother is a mean karaoke singer", Oscar responded, sounding completely nonchalant. Antonio still looked uncomfortable, but more accepting this time.

     "Alessia, I still need to talk to you", he said, quietly. Alessia couldn't suppress a mocking laugh.

     "That's too bad."

     "Come on, don't be a child." Alessia could only scoff at that. Surprisingly, it was Oscar who pulled Antonio aside, murmuring something that didn't look like approval. Antonio ended up nodding, as he probably always did, and then followed his messiah back to his house. Alessia pulled Julez inside the house and took a deep breath.

     "This is going to be fun", Julez said, but she didn't sound as excited as she probably hoped. It wasn't everyday that you got invited to a gang's garden party. Of course, neither of them had any idea, but they could imagine that there wouldn't be much of their dignity left after tonight. Through her room's window, Alessia could see the crates of beer that were piled on the front porch, along with the heavy grill that had been pulled from the garage. 

     Oscar and Antonio parted ways while still on the street. That reminded Alessia that she didn't even know where her brother actually lived. Maybe he was homeless. Maybe he resided in one of the trailer parks at the edge of the city.

     Oscar went up the front porch, where Cesar was still standing. They started to argue about something and Alessia couldn't help but notice the frantic pointing towards her house. For a second, she thought to meet eyes with Cesar, his gaze looking entirely panicked. But that was probably just her imagination.