Then & Now [OMB || Cesar Diaz]

then - 3

Layla wandered the huge halls of Freeridge High, trying to find her next class. She was looking for honors English, meaning she had to leave the freshman wing to go to the sophomore wing. It made her slightly nervous to already be tossed in with the older kids but she reminded herself to just remain cool. It's not like her classmates would literally eat her alive.

While looking down at her schedule to see what classroom number it was again, she accidentally bumps into a strong back. "Oh! I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologizes to the guy she bumped into.

"No prob-...Layla?" Cesar recognizes as soon as he turns around. "Hey!" He happily greets her.

"Hey!" She smiles in relief. Finally, someone she knows! "Thank God you're here," she sighs.

"Having trouble finding your class?" He knowingly asks.

"I️ knew I️ shouldn't have skipped orientation," she frowns. "Do you know where freshman honors English is?" She asks him.

Cesar takes a look at her schedule for her and smiles. "Looks like we got the same English teacher," he smirks at her. "Sadly, not the same class time though," he shakes his head, disappointing her. "Maybe we could study together sometime."

"Are you asking me out on a study date?" She asks him with a giggle.

"Obviously," he says confidently as he leads the way to her English class. Once they arrive, he turns around to face her, leaning against the lockers in front of her. "So what do you say?" He asks.

Layla smiles teasingly at him, pretending to think it over. "I️ don't know...I️ think you're more of a distraction than anything," she laughs, playfully shoving him aside. "We would never get any actual studying done."

"That's the fun part!" Cesar yells out behind her as she enters her class with a giggle. As she looks around, trying to choose a seat, she noticed a couple people look at her before whispering to their friends beside them, making her raise an eyebrow as she sits down in the middle of class. What's going on?

She went through her next two classes with ease before making her way to the courtyard for lunch, texting Danna to try figure out where she is.

"Lost again?" Cesar says behind her, spooking her. He laughs as she jumps in fright.

"You're not...funny!" She swats at him. "I'm just trying to find my friend," she tells him. "But this school is so huge and confusing," she sighed.

Cesar nods as they walk side by side. "I️ like how much shorter you are than me," He comments, poking her cheek to be annoying. Layla playfully bites at his fingers, making him swiftly pull his hand back. "Ah!" He yelped as she giggles, going back to texting her friend. "You know, they say shorter people are meaner cause their closer to hell," Cesar says, making Layla glare at him before rolling her eyes.

"Cesar!" They hear from behind them. They both turn around to see a two black teens, one guy and one girl, and another Hispanic boy but he was shorter than Cesar. The girl runs up to him, but stops short when she sees Layla. "I️ was worried about you!"

"I'm fine Monse," Cesar laughs off. "I'm just talking to my new friend Layla," he introduces. Layla gives everyone a shy wave, unconsciously getting closer to Cesar. "Layla this is Monse, Jamal and Ruby," he points to them. "Guys this is Layla." Layla smiles sweetly while trying to avoid Monse's glare and focused on Jamal and Ruby's lovestruck gazes instead.

"There you are!" Layla heard Danna say behind her. They both squealed and hugged each other before looking back at the audience they've amassed. "Danna, this is-"

"Cesar Diaz," she eyes him up and down. "Hi, I'm Danna," she waves at him. She then looks over at the rest of them. "Hey," she smiles, not wanting to be rude.

"Hi," Monse offers a fake smile before letting it drop. Jamal and Ruby both wordlessly waved.

"Dude! How ware you already getting the hottest chicks?" Ruby whisper-yelled, as if Danna and hear couldn't hear them. Both girls giggled, making Ruby playfully wink at them.

Monse looked between Layla and Cesar and said, "Um...a word?". She dragged him aside, leaving the two girls with the other two boys.

"And there were four," Layla said, making the guys laugh for an excessive amount of time. "It wasn't...that funny," she chuckles slightly.

"You guys weird," Danna comments. "What do you think they're talking about?" She asks them as she pulls out a piece of gum and offers one to Layla.

Ruby and Jamal both looked at each other, as if saying "should we tell them?". "Monse and Cesar..." Ruby says in a high pitched tone, "they have a bit of a complicated history-"

"They've had sex before the summer started. It's not that complicated," Jamal interrupts, making Ruby smack his arm.

That bomb made Layla's heart drop. "Oh..." was the only thing that came out of her mouth. "Are they together? Or...."

"No!" They both answer and shake their heads vigorously. "It was a one time thing-"

"What are you guy's talking about?" Cedar asks once him and Monse join back into the group.

All four of them eyed each other, unsure what to say. "Nothing. We were all just getting to know each other a bit better," Layla tells him.
Cesar smiles at this whole Danna smacks her arm and gives her a warning glare. "Wanna walk me home this afternoon Cesar?" She asks him.

Cesar, unable to resist her, says, "It would be my pleasure."

"I'll see at the front gate after school," she smiles, letting Danna tug her away from him. Cesar watches her leave before turning towards the group, who were all giving him stranger looks. "What?" He asks.

After school, he and Layla walked side by side towards her home. Cesar started looking a bit antsy the more they walked away from school. "You okay?" She asked him, noticing him fidgeting a lot.

"Yeah! Yeah, it's just...I️ don't usually come this way," he says.

"Scared you're gonna get lost?" Layla jokes.

"More like shot," Cesar mutters, making the smile fall from her face.

She looks away from him now. "So it's true?" She asked. "You're in a gang?"

Cesar stopped in his tracks, making her stop too. "Where'd you hear about that?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"I️ didn't know it was a secret?" Layla looked up at him in confusion. "Were you just not gonna tell me?" She asked him.

"No! I️ mean- yes? It's complicated-" Layla watched as he stumbled over his own words. Cesar finally calmed down and took a deep breathe. "I'm not...in a gang, I'm just...gang affiliated," he mutters.

Layla crossed her arms. "And that's somehow better?" She scoffs.

Cesar sighs and runs a frustrated hand through his hair. "I️ don't expect you to understand-"

"Then why don't help me understand?" She asks.

Cesar looks down at her. "I️ don't know Layla..." he says. "Look, I'm gonna be honest. I️ like you, a lot," he admits, surprising her. "And we may be friends now but I️ definitely wanna take things a lot more farther...if you let me."

"But in order to do that," Layla speaks up. "You have to let me get to know you," she points at him. "Let me inside your world."

Cesar looked hesitant. "I️ don't want you to know my world," he shakes his head. "As a matter of fact, I️ want to get you away from my world."

Layla looks at him thoughtfully. "How do you plan on doing that?" She asks him. They continue walking towards her house.

"I️ have a plan," he says confidentially. "My brother's still in jail. As long as he stays there I️ can go through the rest of high school as just being affiliated. Once I graduate, college. And then I️ never have to look back here again."

So much for that plan.