WEST COAST 18+

16.

W E S T C O A S T

Daniela felt like shit and has been stuck like that for the past week and a half. Yeah, Georgie got caught up in the vandalism thing, but his story checked out that he was in class when the school concrete walls were being spray-painted.

Despite Marcus being in attendance with Ashton during that time, Marcus lied to the principal and threw Georgie's in there. Marcus didn't like Georgie since he was telling Ashton to stay away from him. Marcus couldn't necessarily touch Georgie without Enrique coming after Marcus's older brothers, so he did the next best thing: lie on him.

Even though Ashton was mad that Marcus pointed the finger at his friend, he took the fall for the entire thing. He didn't want to upset Marcus by getting him in trouble, so he took that week suspension alone.

Ashton knew Marcus was the type to jump people, and he ain't wanna be his target and back getting bullied at school. 

Ashton was stuck on chores with no access to friends while Daniela sulked around with the scene replaying itself. Daniela looked like an ass, more than pissed with herself once the truth came out. She had wished she never stopped at the González's home.

She didn't even want to be seen by Enrique the way he was so mad at her, Daniela walking on the other side of the street so they wouldn't cross paths. She did catch up to Georgie not too long after that day, apologizing for how terribly she handled things. She had the right to be mad, but not the right to act like that. Daniela knew she was wrong, and she expressed that in a sincere apology.

Georgie didn't hold it against her, more forgiving than his older brother.

Daniela didn't want to send her apology through Georgie. She wanted to say it to Enrique's face—say sorry directly to him...once she stops running from him. Then they can talk.

"Where ya friends at?" Georgie asked Ashton, sliding his lunch tray on the table. The seats were empty, and it felt like a ghost town in this corner.

"Probably went to tag another wall," he mutters, forking his salad.

Georgie took a seat across from him. He was trying to listen to Enrique and respect his wishes, but seeing Ashton eat alone made him a little sad.

"Why didn't you tell your sister from the start it wasn't me?" Georgie asks, both of them suffering because the grown adults were mad at each other. "Now we gotta pretend we ain't friends because of them."

Ashton brought his gaze to his. "You still wanna be my friend?"

"You my boy," reaching over to dap him up, Ashton smiling big.

He mentions, "on the bright side, my sister let it go." He figured this out this morning when she asked if he thought Georgie would even acknowledge him after this.

Georgie sighs, "Yeah, but Enrique's not. He holds grudges for a while," Ashton nods, Georgie continuing on, "you can't keep hanging with them."

Them as in Marcus and his friends. "They're cool," Ashton defends.

"Cool enough to get you to steal and spray paint the school?" he asks, and Ashton's shoulders drop.

Ashton claims, "It's no different than what you're gonna have to do. One day you're gonna be just like Enrique. Me, I'm just being a kid and having fun." 

Georgie rolls his eyes at the insult. "You think after dealing with a kid like Marcus, he's gonna let you walk away from him?"

"He's not in a gang."

"But he doesn't like when people turn their back on him," Georgie informs. "I've known him since middle school, and he has no problem making your life hell."