BEAUTIFUL DISASTER ➸ OSCAR DIAZ [2]

NINE

"IS HE THE reason you don't wanna talk about Oscar?" Cesar says in a teasing tone as he bumps his shoulder against mine. I force a small smile onto my face as my eyes drift over to where Mateo and Sam are standing and talking. Maybe he is the reason, but is he a good enough reason? He seems nice and all but will he ever be able to replace Oscar's spot in my heart? Will anyone? "Hey, why do you look so upset?"

I look down at the short maroon dress that's hugging my body and exhale a deep breath. I found this dress at the bottom of my closet and when I did, I cried for at least half an hour. "I'm wearing Olivia's dress, we were the same size. I guess I forgot about it when I was packing up her stuff."

Cesar solemnly nods his head as he places his hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, Cami. We all miss her."

I shake my head as I give him a tight-lipped smile. "I'm fine Cesar. Tonight's about having fun! So let's do that. Ruby's been talking about winning the dance contest for a while. Who's he dancing with?"

"Jasmine," Cesar answers my question in an amused tone. "They've been practicing for a while together."

I raise an eyebrow as the DJ calls out their names. "Jasmine? Doesn't he hate her?"

"I guess not." I guess there's a lot I don't know about Ruby anymore.

Mateo finds his way over to Cesar and I, and slowly the rest of the crew joins us as well. We cheer Ruby and Jasmine on as they do their epic dance. Who knew my little brother was such a good dancer? That's something I should know but lately, I've been a pretty pathetic excuse of a sister.

I feel Mateo's arm go around my shoulders and a few seconds later, his hot breath is fanning my neck as he says, "Did I tell you how gorgeous you look?" I swallow past the lump that's forming in my throat as I shift my attention towards him; he's reminding me of Oscar. He was always whispering in my ear and kissing my neck and playing with my hair. No, Camilla. You have to stop thinking about him, he has a new girl now. Mateo turns my body towards his own and watches me with a smile across his face. This boy genuinely likes me but I can't stop thinking about my stupid ex. Holy shit, I did the same thing with Oscar. "Hey, where are you lost?"

Mateo's gentle voice snaps me back to reality; the reality where I'm no longer dating Oscar because of my own dumb mistakes. So basically, a pretty stupid reality. I push the thoughts of my past lover to the back of mind and force a smile onto my face. "I was just thinking. But shh I wanna watch Ruby's dance. I've been such a bad sister lately, this is the least I can do."

"Cami, you're not a bad sister," Mateo whispers as he cups my cheek, and I'm just surprised that I can hear him over the booming music. "You're an amazing person and I know for a fact that Ruby loves you with his entire heart." Why does it always come back to this; people having to convince me that other people do love me. I'm fed up with this. "We've only known each other for a short time, but in that time I really do think that we've made some sort of connection."

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, "Mateo-"

But he doesn't give me the chance to speak. "I know you've been hurt in the past before but I won't hurt you like Oscar or Elijah did. If you'll just give me a chance, I'll show you that I can treat you better than they ever did or ever will." I stand in front of him in shock at his words. How does he know about them? Sam would never tell him. He takes my silence as a yes and hastily kisses me as the crowd around us cheers loudly.

"Mateo!" I gasp, rapidly pushing him away as if he has some sort of disease. I can't believe he just did that. "Why did you- how did you- how do you know about them?" I say through shallow breaths. However, before he has the chance to answer my question, I spot Ruby over his shoulder stumbling outside with Cesar and Monse. "Wait, give me a minute." I excuse myself and run outside to join the trio. "Ruby, what's wrong?" I ask quietly as I close the heavy school door behind me.