It Was Always You

Ch. 10 For Life

Angela was running late to the hotel where Lino's wedding was being held. She cursed under her breath as she saw Rosa's name splash across her phone's screen; she'd been calling nonstop for the past hour. She ignored the call as she pulled into the hotel's parking lot. Juice had kept her up on the phone the night before. She didn't mind, though. She could hear a party going strong in the background of his call and was happy he'd found a quiet corner to talk to her instead of joining in on the craziness. As soon as she parked, she spotted Rosa running towards her. Rosa threw open the door wearing way too much make up as she stuck her head inside the car. "Eight A-M, Angela Ruiz! You were supposed to be here at eight A-M!" Rosa shouted, her voice way too loud in the small space of the car. "Not eight-thirty, eight."

"I'm not that late," Angela argued, rolling her eyes at her best friend. "And what the fuck happened to your face?"

"Fuckin' make up artist is insane! You should see Soli! Also you left me alone with Soledad, and if I stay with her any longer, I'm gonna murder her," she stated, tapping her foot as she watched Angela grab her bag. "Also, also look at this fucking ugly tracksuit we gotta wear!"

Angela took in forest green, velour tracksuit, with a raised eyebrow. Rosa's name was embroidered on the front in gold, but it wasn't spelled quite right. "Rolo?" she asked, around a laugh.

"Don't laugh too hard, Angelo," Rosa said, tossing her the tracksuit she was meant to wear. "Soledad's gift as maid of honor. Fuckin' bitch spelled our names wrong on purpose."

Angela grimaced, she'd managed to avoid her high school nemesis at all wedding events mostly because she didn't go to the events. She couldn't go to the shower at the Mayan clubhouse nor could she go to the Bachelorette party that was at one of clubs in Oakland the Mayans owned. The few events she could go to, Soledad couldn't because she was busy at her fancy ass assistant job. "Lovely. Glad to know we're still in fuckin' high school. We should be on Lino's side anyway. They're all still asleep I'm sure."

"Yeah, but unfortunately, we weren't born with dicks so we gotta put on the fancy dress and look pretty.  Plus, we're here for Vanessa, who desperately needs us, so buck up buttercup and let's go, Angelo," Rosa insisted, pulling on her hand and dragging her towards the hotel.

Angela smirked when she realized that embossed on Rosa's butt in big gold letters was the word, 'Juicy'. Oh Juice was gonna love those. She was excited about the tracksuit now. "How's Soli anyway?"

"Soli's uh...she's here with Esai," Rosa said on a grimace. "Which she's been bragging about all morning."

She was surprised by her own reaction to that information. There was no hurt or anger; she was just indifferent. She didn't give a shit what either of them did. In fact, she felt a little sorry for the other girl. "Don't know if I feel worse for him or her."

Rosa raised an eyebrow as they got in the elevator. Her dark eyes studying her face for a moment. "Shit, you're in deep wit Juicy fruit, huh? Saying Soli and Esai's name in the same sentence used to piss you the fuck off. You really don't give a shit."

"Nah. Not even a little," Angela said on a laugh. She didn't even want to see Esai, and she definitely didn't care that he was there with the girl that had made her life hell in high school. "They deserve each other."

She laughed too, nodding her head in agreement. "Amen to that. You think you can fix my makeup 'fore the ceremony? They made me look like a fuckin' bruja." (Witch)

"Yeah, I got you," Angela said, looping her arm through Rosa's as the headed inside the room together. There was one girl in the living room area of the large suite that Angela recognized from Vanessa's beauty school who working on Jimena, a girl from they'd all gone to high school with. Angela nodded her greeting to both of them. She hung up her dress in the closet with the rest of the dresses. "Where's Ness?"