RIDE OR DIE ➸ OSCAR DIAZ [1]

TWENTY TWO

"JAMAL PAY ATTENTION!" Ruby exclaims as he sits down next to Jamal, who's typing away on his phone. "This is a billion dollar idea!"

"Ruby chill out." I sigh as I stand up, earning a look from both of them.

"Don't tell me you're leaving," Jamal says worriedly, glancing from Ruby to me.

"I'm going to go for a walk. Ruby's giving me a headache." I give Ruby a pointed look, which he completely ignores. "I'll be back in a bit."

"No, no, no!" Jamal exclaims, abruptly standing up. "Don't leave me alone with him!"

I laugh and pull open the front door. "Bye Jamal," I say over my shoulder, as I walk out the door. I close the door behind me and inhale the fresh air, before walking down the driveway and onto the sidewalk.

Ruby's been obsessing about some 'billion dollar' app all day, and I can't take it anymore. And it doesn't help my case that Jamal won't listen to him, which makes him repeat everything he says at least three times. At this point, I'm practically an expert on his app.

I pull my phone out of my back pocket and send Cesar a quick text. The last time I saw him was in the hallway before first period at school, and he looked extremely nervous about something.

Cesar💪
iMessage
Monday, November 1st. 4:15 pm.

yo C you good?
I saw you at school and you looked nervous bout something

I frown at my phone, waiting for his response but there is none. He usually texts me back immediately. I sigh and put my phone in my back pocket, and just enjoy the slight breeze as I walk down the street.

Even though we're in the middle of a heat wave, I still think the weather outside is beautiful. The sun warms my tan skin, and the light breeze makes my hair flow behind me. I look around the street and see little kids playing outside, which makes me smile and reminisce my childhood. I want to go back to when I was nine years old and had no worries or troubles in life and everything was simple.

But my tiny bubble of happiness is crushed when a car slows down beside me. I keep my brown eyes on the street in front of me, not wanting to engage in a petty banter with whoever is driving the car. I hope that the person will drive away when they notice that I'm not giving them any attention, but that's not the case.

"Hey yo Cami, why you walkin' so fast?" My heart drops and I stop walking. I spin around so fast that I almost fall over. I pray that it won't be him, but it is. He flashes me his award-winning smile, sticking his head out the driver side window. He hasn't changed since the last time I saw him, and his face still makes my heartbeat quicken.

"Elijah," I whisper, my breath shaky and uneven as I stare at the boy who's inflicted nothing but pain upon me for the past year. The first two years of our so-called relationship were beautiful and were what everyone wanted. But sometime during the last year and a half, something changed in him and he became the monster everyone warned me of. "W-What're you doing here?"

"I heard you're kickin' it with those broke ass Santos now." He scoffs, rolling his dark eyes as he steps out of his car. I subconsciously step backwards, my breath hitching in my throat. He doesn't seem to notice though, as he walks over to the passenger side door and opens it. He smiles at me, gesturing towards the open door. "Come on, we've got lots to talk about."

What the fuck. "Elijah you can't just show up after months of us being broken up, and act all friendly as if nothing happened between us," I say, trying my best to stay calm even though I want nothing more than to take off screaming in the opposite direction.