RIDE OR DIE ➸ OSCAR DIAZ [1]

THIRTEEN

A HAND GRABS my arm and yanks me off the path to my first class, and drags me towards a group of kids. It takes me a second to realize that the person that grabbed me is Monse. "Uh what's up?" I ask awkwardly as we come to a stop in front of Ruby and Jamal.

"Someone needs to talk to Oscar," Jamal says hastily. "And even though Monse wants to do it so bad, she can't because she physically can not control her tongue. So we decided that you should do it!"

"Me?" I ask, staring at them with confusion as I furrow my eyebrows. "Why me? It's your idea."

"Because you're his girlfriend." Ruby says in a duh tone. "Besides, you're the only one he'll actually listen to."

"You want me to convince my boyfriend, that runs the gang, to let his younger brother out of it?" I mush together with they said and create one sentence out of all of it. The three of them nod their heads eagerly making me scoff. "Forget it."

Their expressions change dramatically and Jamal's the first one to speak. "Why not? It would really help Cesar."

I clench my jaw as I fold my arms across my chest. Oscar won't listen to me, he doesn't listen to anyone. "As much as I want to help Cesar, this is Oscar we're talking about. He doesn't listen to anyone." I say, my words coming out harsher than I meant.

"He'll listen to you," Monse says almost immediately after the words leave my mouth. "He acts different around you."

I sigh as I think over her words. She's right, he does act different around me. But that doesn't mean he'll listen to me. "I'm sorry guys," I say, giving them a tight-lipped smile. The three of them start talking over each other, yelling out random reasons for why I should be the one to talk to Oscar. But I don't say anything and walk back onto the path that leads me to my first class.

An arm slings around my shoulders, sending a wave of panic through my body. "Yo girl, why you walking so fast?" I whip my head to the side and see Sam's grinning face.

Exhaling the breath I didn't realize I was holding in, I roll my eyes. "You scared the shit out of me Samuel."

"That, my amazing friend is my best impression of he-who-must-not-be-named." Sam winks leading us down the hallway to math, which we luckily have together. I inhale a sharp breath and force out a small laugh so he won't know how offended I am by his words.

"Why do we still talk about him?" I ask, trying my best to not let my anger seep into my voice. "Can't we just let it go?"

Sam glances at me with furrowed eyebrows. He nods his head, dropping his arm from around my shoulders. "If it bothers you that much then yeah, I'll stop. I just thought that if I made jokes about him, then it would make it more bearable." He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck as we stop beside our math class.

"No Sam, it doesn't make anything better. I don't want to hear his name or anything about him again." I clench my hands into fists, inhaling deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. He makes me so mad. I don't want anything to do with him ever again. Those were the worst three years of my life.

"Okay, let's take deep breaths." Cesar mumbles into my ear, massaging my shoulders. I jump in surprise, turning around to face him. He gives me a small smile, his hands resting on my shoulders.

"Where'd you come from?" I ask, glancing at Sam from the corner of my eye. He hesitates for a second before walking into the classroom, leaving Cesar and me in the hallway.

"Down the hallway," he gestures behind him. "It looked like you were going to punch Sam." He chuckles, dropping his hands from my shoulders and leaning against the wall. "Did he mention he-who-must-not-be-named?"

I exhale a breathy laugh, a smile finding its way onto my face. "You know me so well Cesar," I say, holding my hand against my chest dramatically.

He smiles and shrugs, looking down at his feet. "I just pay attention to people." He inhales a deep breath before lifting his head and looking at me once again. "I should probably get to class."

I nod my head. "Yeah, go learn something." I lift my hand to mess up his hair, but he grabs my wrist halfway through the air and glares at me.

"Not the hair Cami." Cesar huffs as I pull my wrist out of his grip. He pulls me into a quick hug and mumbles, "I'll see you later."

He rushes the way Sam and I came from, not giving me the chance to respond. I furrow my eyebrows and watch as he disappears into the crowd of students that are rushing to their classes.

"PLEASE CAMILLA, YOU'RE the only one that can talk to Oscar!" Ruby pleads as he stands in the middle of my room, annoying me as I help our mom's friends daughter officially move all her stuff in.

"Ruby I have to help her move in." I roll my eyes as I tie my hair up in a messy ponytail. "Stop annoying me."

"Talk to him tomorrow morning." Ruby says, rushing to the doorway and blocking my way out. "Before school." He adds.

"Ruby," I groan as I fold my arms over my chest. "I said no!"

"Why!" He whines. "He's your boyfriend, you're going to see him tomorrow morning anyway. Please, Camilla!" He tries to emotionally blackmail me, by giving me an adorable pout.

"You're not five anymore Ruby. That's not going to work." I scoff with a roll of my eyes. "Now move."

"Uh excuse me." Ruby spins around so fast, that he almost falls over. Behind him is Olivia our mom's friends daughter. She smiles politely at him, glancing towards me over his shoulder. Luckily for her, she hasn't had the pleasure of meeting Ruby yet because he's never home.

Ruby doesn't move, he doesn't say anything. He just stares at her. "Mijo, let the girl move in!" Our mom scolds from the living room, snapping Ruby out of his trance.

"M-My bad. Why don't I help you!" He says hastily, offering to help set her stuff up around the room. I snort and roll my eyes, causing him to look over his shoulder at me.

"Oh don't mind me, keep trying to flirt." I tease, making his face go red. Olivia nervously glances between us, forcing out a small laugh. With a soft sigh, I say, "I'll talk to him Ruby, don't worry." If it means that I'm helping Oscar, then I'll do it.

"Ruben," Ruby says hastily, turning back towards Olivia. "I'm Ruben."

I raise my eyebrow, walking towards them. I fold my arms over my chest as I watch them amusedly. "Since when?" I ask with a scoff.

"Since always!" Ruby exclaims before stomping out of my room. Well, it's not technically mine anymore. Olivia and I's room. I laugh, turning around to face Olivia. But before I have the chance to talk to her, Ruby sticks his head into the room. "And thank you for agreeing to talk to him."

A/N : I know I know, I haven't updated for a while but I just literally have not had any time. I was in Ottawa during the weekend (oh btw I'm Canadian, for those of you who don't know) and I couldn't update because my laptop wasn't connecting to the hotel's wifi for some reason. and school also started this week and it's just so exhausting. I'm honestly so sorry for not updating I promise I will do better next week. I might post another chapter today as well so keep an eye out for that.

moving on, I've been working on a Noah Centineo story because I love that guy and I will be publishing that soon. that reminds me, my updating schedule is Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday just so you guys know.

aLSO WOW WE HIT 1K READS WTF IM SHOOK ????? THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE THAT'S READING THIS CRAP WTF IM LIKE SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
-h