. ⋆ ⭑✧*:･ﾟ

Cora rubbed her temples as she looked straight into the fan. California weather was hot, so hot. And Cora was hungry, so hungry.

"Cora, me and the boys are going to go pick up a part, hold it down," Adam quickly said as he picked up a set of keys and walked out before giving Cora a chance to reply.

Cora was spending the day at Adams work, where she helped out pretty often, especially in the summer when she found herself free more. Cora was good at reeling in costumers and Adam valued that.

Cora had been sitting on the stool behind the counter for about seven minutes or so before a car pulled up in front of the building, Cora perking her head up to see what kind. It was nice, older, and an impala. She was shocked, to say the least when she saw a familiar face pop out of it and swiftly walk up to the closed booth she was sitting in. "How are you doing, hermosa?" he took off his sunglasses.

"Dios, isn't that Oscars?" she gawked and pointed out the window. Cesar nodded with a grin. "Babe, are you even allowed to touch that thing?"

"Relax, babydoll. I'm just getting it ready for him," he walked towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"So the rumours are true," she said aloud. Cesar nodded. "I'm sorry," she said in a whispered voice.

Cesar shook his head. "It's okay."

"You're right," Cora smiled at him. "It is gonna be okay. Because you got me."

Cesar smiled affectionately at his girlfriend and bent down to kiss her. Lately, things had been rough, but the only thing that mattered was that he had Cora. She was the rainbow and the pot of gold that came after the storm.

"You wanna get out of here?" Cesar asked. "Lunch break?"

Cora nodded. "Please! I am starving!" Cesar laughed at her behaviour, and Cora smiled at how happy he looked. Making sure Cesar was happy quickly became a top priority of hers in the time she'd been spending with him.

Cora and Cesar spent the remaining of the summer attached to each other like a pair of Siamese cats. Wherever she went, he did, and vice versa. They definitely took advantage of all the free time the summer had to offer. Every day the couple grew tighter and stronger and they planned to go into high school being the power couple they knew they were.

Cesar often swung by the car shop to grab Cora for lunch and the two would get burgers together. Sometimes they'd sit at old metal picnic tables outside the burger joint or find a private place to eat. One day Cesar drove Cora up to a small cliff overlooking the city. It was a nice and shaded area, and probably even more beautiful at night, so he knew his girl would love it.

Cora did. She begged Cesar to take her there as many times as he could. Cora would sit comfortably with her legs on Cesar's as she ate. That particular day she had brought a plastic container with leftover pasta Adam had made the night before for her and Cesar to share.

"Be sure to tell Adam thanks." Cesar grabbed a fork Cora handed him.

Cora nodded. "I will. God, I don't know what I would do without Adam." she shook her head and dug her fork into the spaghetti first. "He's the best cook I've ever known." Cesar laughed.

"How are he and Lola doing?" he placed a hand on Cora's knee as he started chewing on his own bite, making a mental note of how good it was.

Cora didn't know exactly how to answer that, and she thought by the expression on her face that Cesar could tell. "I mean, you can tell they're not as happy as usual. Though, what I'm used to is seeing them carefree. They're part of the Santos, but they're not used to having Oscar around anymore. They're struggling to pull their heads out of their asses."

Cesar nodded, watching the way Cora acted. "I'm sorry."

Cora furrowed her eyebrows and reached a hand out to caress his face. "Oh no sweet pea, don't be sorry. None of this is your fault." Cesar leaned into her hand. "Please don't ever feel sorry."

"If it's not my fault, who's is it?"

"Someone up there who has it out for the city of Ridgewood." she pointed up into the sky. "But we're not going to let them get to the best of us." Cesar nodded.

"I don't know what I would do without you," Cesar said after a minute.

"I don't know either." she smiled and pulled her hand away. "Now, eat your food before it gets cold."

Cesar giggled. "Yes, ma'am."

After they ate they just watched the cars driving by. "What's the dream, baby?" Cesar asked.

Cora got soft at the thought popping into her head. "Disneyland."

Cesar shook his head and the two burst into a fit of laughter. "Disneyland it is."

When they weren't at the cliff, they were spending time together in town. They often walked by the flower shop where Cora's godmother worked so Cora could say hi and Cesar would buy her a rose every now and then.

Cesar always walked Cora home and waited until she was inside before walking away. He knew there was a change coming, he could feel it, but he tried to keep it together. If Cora could do it, so could he.

Soon enough, Oscar came back. It was unplanned, yet everyone was prepared to go back to the way things used to be. Cora heard Lola and Adam arguing more and more. Lola didn't want to be stuck in this life with Adam forever, then he'd remind her that they had no choice. Most of all, Lola didn't want that life for Cora.

Cora deserved to go to a nicer school in a better area and study the things she wanted to, like music and dance. She deserved to argue with her big sister about sharing clothes and embarrassing her in front of her friends instead of arguing over who got to carry the gun and what to do if someone shoots at you. It was a life Lola wouldn't wish on anyone.

It all happened so fast.

Cora didn't deserve to get jumped, but she did. It happened one day before the same happened to Cesar, and it broke her heart that she couldn't warn him, but it was inevitable. Cora knew that. The lifestyle they lived was one they couldn't escape. Cora knew that.

Along with Oscar randomly showing up, a new attitude of Cesar's did too. He had to act more tough than usual, leaving almost zero time for Cora and Cesar to be together. All they had now other than laughing at inappropriate jokes told by the other boys was the secret glances stolen when no one was looking.

They did after all have that unspoken thing from the beginning.

A couple times Cesar snuck into Cora's room at night and stayed with her until she fell asleep. He apologized over and over again for his actions towards her but she told him to stop. Deep down it hurt her to see he wasn't the same charismatic boy she had come to know, but she knew there was a reason for everything.

Adam resumed his position as Oscar's best friend, but that didn't stop Oscar from making the occasional comment about how pretty Lola was. Lola herself wanted to slap the shit out of Oscar for saying things like that, and especially in front of Cora, but she restrained herself.

Cesar let his brother, the Valdez sisters, and Adam believe he actually hit it with Monse before she left for summer camp. Cora didn't mind, she was just more confused about Andres and Monse more than anything.

Andres and Cora became more distant. It stung a little, but she knew in no time they'd be hanging out at school together again like the good old days. From what she heard, things with him and the random girl from Lola's birthday party sizzled out anyways, but Cora still didn't tell him about Monse and Cesar. She knew Monse and Andres obviously had a thing and if Monse wanted to tell him something, then that was Monse's right, not Cora's.

Cora had a lot of restless nights. She tried to get back into a healthy sleeping schedule, but it was hard. She was trying her best, knowing high school was going to be tough.

And even though she wouldn't admit it, she was struggling a little bit. 

⋆ ⋅ ☆

[ NOTE y'all,, i did it. i finished the summer au part of this story,
next chapter monse comes back from camp! ]

CHAPTER SEVEN
1,522 words

TRANSLATIONS
hermosa — beautiful
dios — god

PUBLISHED october 3, 2018
EDITED february 19, 2020