We Come Alive 5

What You Wanna Believe

Later that Sunday, Manny was rocking Esmeralda in her stroller while listening to Jose, Ethan, who they got out the facility, Diego, Clover, Jacob, and Andrew talking and laughing while they waited on Stephen at a cafe so they could all go to the mall together.

"Alright, alright. Listen." Clover said loudly so they'd listen to her. "I told Dante we needed to talk and he invited me to his cousin's Selena's quinceañera. So...can someone come with me?"

Manny flipped her hair to look at her best friend. "Selena? I was invited to the party." She revealed.

Jose, Ethan, and Diego all nodded their heads agreeing with Manny, showing they were all invited too. Clover frowned in confusion.

"What? All of y'all?"

Manny nodded shrugging. "Yeah. My mom knows her aunt."

"My mom knows her sister." Diego mumbled, sipping from the straw that was stuck in his drink.

Jose stretched his arms. "She's my third cousin."

Ethan leaned against the wall behind him as he raked his hands along it. "My families going, but I was thinking about it."

"Were you two invited?" Clover asked, pointing at Jacob and Andrew.

Jacob scoffed and motioned to his face. "No. I'm white. What would I do at a quinceañera?"

Andrew snickered at Jacob's explanation. "Go to the party, let us know how it goes. I'll probably be having dinner with my fiancée's family while y'all are having a grand ol' time dancing away the night."

"That's why I'm single." Jacob sighed. "Who has time for that?" He groaned. "It's a waste."

The boys all laughed while Clover and Manny were in their own little world. Diego noticed their absent minds and got their attention by knocking on the table.

"What?" He chuckled. "Thinking about your offer?"

Clover shook her head, locking her phone and putting it down on her lap. "No. What do y'all think I should do?"

Jose shrugged. "I think you shouldn't take it. You don't even know what you're getting into. They're taking advantage of you. They just want to be able to say that you're on that team. In my mind, you'll probably play...two, three games as starter then ride the bench cause they'll come up with some excuse. Southern was there to give you a realistic chance and realistic point of view of what you'd actually do. Not hype."

Diego nodded, but reached across the table when she seemed to tear up at the thought. "Don't be upset. It's what they do. Lie now, screw you later."

When Clover looked over to Andrew, he made sure they didn't make eye contact. Clover looked at Jacob who just shrugged his shoulders. Ethan just looked out the window, tuning out the conversation since he wasn't going to college any time soon.

"I won't take it." She sniffled.

Clover got up and walked off to the bathroom, Manny on her heels. Andrew reached over and pulled Esmeralda's stroller closer to make sure the baby was calm.

Andrew picked up Esmeralda, held her against his chest, and looked at his friends. "Y'all are wrong for that."

~**~

Tuesday morning while everyone else in athletics was at a meeting with the school board, Victor stayed back and was on his way upstairs to the second floor to go to the storage room to do inventory, when he was met with a pleasant surprise.

Victor caught Clover doing an intense workout during her free period. She was doing pull ups on the bar with her back to the door.

"Hey!"