. ⋆ ⭑✧*:･ﾟ

"Andres! Vamos!" a distressed Violeta Hernandez pulled up in front of the school driving her mothers old four-door Honda. It was black, and there were scraps and dents all over it, but it was all Violeta had, and for an eleventh grader with no job, it was good.

"Ay dios mio, why are you yelling?" Andres yelled back as he walked toward the car waiting for him on the curb. Cora trailed behind, laughing to herself.

"Why am I always yelling? I'm a Latina! That's why!" Violeta unlocked the door and Andres climbed inside.

The Hernandez's didn't like to get into the details of it, but Violeta was pregnant. It was obvious, as she was getting bigger and bigger by the month, but they avoided the topic as much as possible. Violeta's pregnancy was just a stupid mistake, Violeta meant to be safe, but things didn't work out the way they always do. Now she was due to be a mother in a couple months and the father decided he didn't want anything to do with it. It was hard for Violeta to do, but she fully cut him out of her life.

"Have fun!" Cora waved Andres goodbye as he hopped into his mom's car. Andres' older sister Violeta looked at Cora, very tired and very pregnant. "Gracias por el regalo de cumpleanos," Cora offered a toothless smile. Violeta smiled back. 

"No big deal! Feliz cumpleanos!" Violeta waved before taking the car out of park. Andres gave Cora a small wave too before they sped out of the parking lot, Violeta almost hitting a curb. Cora only smiled bigger at the sight.

"She's going to end up running over a kid someday. It'll probably be Ruby," a boys voice spoke up from behind. Cora turned around, the grin on her face having no chance of going away. 

"I don't know who Ruby is, but probably," Cora agreed. Cesar laughed, making her laugh. When their laughter died down, he watched her with pursed lips. Everything about her was intimidating like he might say the wrong thing when he opens his mouth. 

"Wow," he accidentally says out loud when Cora walks up to him, hands on her backpack straps like a young schoolgirl. 

"Que pasa?" Cora asks. Sometimes she doesn't mean to talk in Spanish, but she can't help the urge to speak it. And besides, considering where they live, there's hardly ever anyone who doesn't speak it or who isn't familiar with the language.

Cesar shrugs and looks around briefly. He's mostly nervous about looking Cora in the eye. "Nada. My friends decided to be jerks and walk home without me, so I'm stuck wandering around like an idiot," Cesar laughs at his own stupidity, but Cora finds it cute.

"Want some company?" Cora asks, licking her lips. "I'm super sure I don't live that far away from you."

Cesar's eyes widen, and then he nods, multiple times, enthusiastic. "Yeah, yeah, that'd be great." She only smirked at the cute boy. 

"Woah," his eyes trail to her chest. 

"Yeah, I know, I love this shirt too."

"No, I mean, your necklace," Cesar points out. The stupid grins on their face are gone when the necklace Cora is wearing is brought up. 

"Oh yeah, my sister just gave it to me, for my birthday," Cora gives Cesar a tightlipped smile before she picks up the charm and rubs it between her thumb and index finger, obsessed with the texture. She finally releases it to lay back on the valley of her chest.

"Your sister? Wait a minute," Cesar stops mid-sentence, confusing Cora. Cesar leans in and whispers so no one walking nearby can hear. "Is your sister Lola Valdez, La Diabla?" Cora nods.

Lola Valdez was pretty notorious, and despite her young age, she'd been around the block. She was petty and ruthless and crazy, and that must've been the reason Adam Deluca fell in love. There weren't a lot of girls like Lola, to begin with. Lola showed no pity, and there was a handful of people who she cared about. She was strong, holding out for her family and her gang. With La Diabla as your older sister, your peers would be shitting themselves.

"That is so cool!" Cesar whispered the stupid smile back on his face. Cora smiled too, mostly happy that he had thought so. 

"And your brother is Spooky, no? I guess that makes you royalty," Cora dusted imaginary dirt off his shoulder.

"The only royalty here is you, princess," he said as Cora's grin expanded. She then linked her arm in his as they began to walk down their block.

⋆ ⋅ ☆

Have you ever seen a hungry cheetah prepare to track it's prey down, ready to kill it? Cora looked a lot like that as she watched Cesar Diaz ever since that fateful day he decided to bump into her in the hallway. Well, he didn't decide to, but fate did.

And ever since that day, Cesar and Cora became closer. Not really as close as Monse or Jamal or Ruby were with Cesar, or how Andres was with Cora, but they were now on the same level. So whether it was a nod in the hallway or laughing at a joke cracked during P.E., Cesar and Cora always found a way to keep each other insight. It was this unspoken attraction that kept them on their toes and at the edge of their seats.

It was also an unspoken knowledge that they were affiliated with the same gang, and maybe, just maybe, someday they'd be part of the next generation of it. Cesar was still holding out hope that he wouldn't be.

When it was time for the small graduation dance for the school to celebrate the eighth graders going into high school, Cesar went with his group of friends while Cora went with Andres as a way of reminiscing old times and saying hello to new memories.  

Cora and Andres had attended many school assemblies and parties together, but that didn't mean they spent the whole event tied hip to hip to each other. They'd divide and conquer on the dance floor, and normally dancing with Cora helped girls take notice of Andres, although he only ever had his eyes on one girl.

This dance was no different, except the atmosphere was lighter and the people were more alive. Teachers were happy they were getting rid of their troubled students, and those students were excited to trouble their new teachers the coming fall.

Cora danced swiftly to the beat of the music, making sure her hips moved to every beat. The dress she wore hugged her figure, maybe a little tighter than usual, but she had borrowed it from Violeta. Violeta had been letting Cora use a lot of her clothes since they were similar in size, but now Violeta was pregnant and couldn't wear the majority of her wardrobe. Which was fine, because Cora could and she loved the hot pink bodycon dress she was wearing to the party.

"Hola there, hermosa," a voice that had become all too familiar to Cora greeted her. The young girl only turned around to face him, a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye when she looked him in the eye. 

Cesar's attention moved from Cora to another girl for a split second. "I didn't know Monse could let loose like that," he pointed in a crowd of people dancing near them. Cora followed his finger and saw the dark-skinned girl who hung out with Cesar often, Monse, dancing next to none other than Andres. While Andres was smooth and especially good at dancing, Monse wasn't as smooth. She looked like she was trying too hard to impress Andres.

"Is she really though?" Cora asked, her mouth curled into a face of discomfort. Cesar laughed at her rude comment, shaking his head. "I'm serious, Cesar. She needs help!" and her sentences were only met with more laughter from Cesar.

"How about we forget about Monse," Cesar stepped closer to Cora, taking her hands in his. "And we can let loose ourselves," his body inched closer to her's as she stood there waiting for the next move.

He leaned in closer to her, so they were cheek to cheek, and he whispered in her ear, which was barely heard over the loud song playing. 

"We could make a few memories of our own," Cesar suggested, his hands moving higher up so they were no longer holding her hands but her biceps instead. Cora smiled and moved her lips closer to Cesar's ear, even though it was unnecessary. Normally girls would swoon over Cesar and his smooth words, and as much as Cora wanted to, she didn't. She just wasn't made that way.

"I'd like that," Cora whispered, retracting her face from his. She giggled when she saw the look of shock plastered on his face, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped. She pulled him closer to her, his hands on her waist and her hands on his shoulders as they bounced to the beat of the music. 

"I'm starting to think pink is your colour," Cesar said after a while.

"Please, everything is my colour," Cora winked.

"Do you think we could get out of here?" Cesar whispered. Cora nodded, then took his hand and lead him out of the gym and into the hallway. She pushed his back towards the wall, both of them giggling. She shushed him with a kiss, grabbing the collar of his shirt.

His fingers traced her shoulders, fiddling with the skinny straps on her dress for a minute before his hands grazed her back and stopped at her lower back. Cora raked her hand through his thick black hair, the other hand holding his jaw, her thumb resting under his chin. The hallway was dim, the only light source coming from the lights in the gym leaking through the window of the door they were outside of. The loud music was now muffled. Their kiss was full of passion and hunger, weeks of lighthearted flirting and secret glances in classes all leading up to this moment.

And then it was interrupted by a boy knocking at the door.

Cesar and Cora both pulled back from each other out of breath. "Hold on," Cesar mumbled, eyes locked on the boy standing on the other side of the door. Cesar walked over to it and opened it, Cesar and Cora stepping through to immediately meet with the loud music again. "What's up, Jamal?"

"Something bad is going to happen, I can feel it," Jamal told Cesar, before looking at Cora for the first time. "Hey, there," he smiled awkwardly. Cora giggled and waved.

"Jamal, nothing bad is going to happen," Cesar calmly spoke, his voice low. "This is the graduation dance!" Cesar waved his hand around, motioning to the gym full of people. Some were sitting on the bleachers, some were dancing freely on the floor and others were aggressively making out with others. 

"I'm going to high school!" Andres shouted nearby. He was still dancing with Monse, his right hand holding her left. "Peace out, bitches!" he yelled, to which others cheered and raised their cups of punch in agreement. Even Monse was cheering and having fun.

Cora stood, arms crossed, laughing at the situation. They were going to high school, and they had no idea just how much was about to change.

⋆ ⋅ ☆

[ DEDICATED TO disneyology
thank you for listening to my
omb rants on the daily. te amo! ]

CHAPTER ONE
2,005 words

TRANSLATIONS
vamos — come on
ay dios mio — oh my god
gracias por el regalo de cumpleanos — thanks for the birthday gift
feliz cumpleanos — happy birthday
que pasa — what's up
nada — nothing
la diabla — the devil
hermosa — beautiful

PUBLISHED april 14, 2018
EDITED may 28, 2020