Then & Now [OMB || Cesar Diaz]

now - 7

Her dad was on the front getting mail when Latrelle and her pulled up. "Oh shit," she mutters.

"What?" He asks.

"He's definitely gonna bitch at me for this," she mutters. "Thanks for the ride," she tells him before getting out. He speeds away as soon as he does.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Her dad angrily yells as she walks past him to get inside.

"Just getting a ride from an old friend," she tells him.

"He is not your friend. He is a convicted felon and gangbanger!" He exclaims. "One day Layla, you're gonna get yourself killed," he tells her, making her look at him in disbelief.

"Dad!"

"And I refuse to just sit here and watch as you associate yourself with these low lives," he points. "If you keep this up, I'm gonna send you to Atlanta for the rest of the school year," he threatens.

She scoffs and walks passed him, heading into her room and shutting the door behind her. She starts on her homework and while FaceTiming Danna.

"I️ don't know Lay, maybe he has a point..." she says. "Be reasonable. You know Olivia's quince scared all of our parents. He's just tryna watch out for you," she explains calmly.

"Yeah but telling me I'll die behind my own decisions is a little bit too much isn't it?"
She scoffs.

"Well, do you wanna go shopping for homecoming dresses?" Danna asks. "Take your mind off things?" She suggests.

Homecoming was around the corner. It's crazy how fast things move. "Yeah sure," she agrees "I'll see later," she hangs up to get ready.

                                   * * * * *

"I️ thought retail therapy was supposed to make me feel better," Layla said as she quit skimming the racks.

Danna stopped to look over at Layla with a dress in her hands. "What's wrong?" She asked.

Layla sighed. "It's just, except for freshman year, I️ always went to homecoming with Cesar..." she tells her. "No, even freshman year I️ was attached to him. Now he's dropped out and we're on really weird terms with each other," she tells her. "It's just crazy how fast things change D," she looks up at her.

Danna frowns. "Layla...are you ever gonna get over him?" She asks him truthfully.

"I'm sure one day. But not anytime soon," she tells her.

"You two are on two very different paths," Danna tells her. "Maybe when we go to college next year, you'll finally learn to let him go. Since we will be surrounded by many different college hotties," she says the last part jokingly, bumping her hip. "But seriously...I️ know he's your first love, the same way Ruby was mines. But at least me and Ruby acknowledged the problems when it was presented to us. You and Cesar keep clinging on to each other despite knowing it's not gonna work."

Layla listened to her friend as they walked out the store to head to the food court. "I️ got it. Why don't you try going out with someone else?" She suggested.

Layla winced at the idea. "Nobody in Freeridge will even get within ten feet of me without worrying about getting their ass beat by Cesar and the Santos," she reminds her.

Danna nods over to the fountain that was in the center of the malls, a group of guys sitting around, talking and laughing as they watched teenage girls pass by, attempting to flirt with them. "Then maybe it's time you look outside of Freeridge," she advises her.