Ruby gives him a glare. "She's making Mario cry," Liliana says, joining into the conversation. "My brother doesn't cry."
The teens look back to the window to see Mario with tears streaming down his face. "Doesn't look like it to me."
Cesar ventures off to talk to Monse. "You ready for summer?" Jamal asks Liliana. "Yeah," she says with an unsure tone, looking away.
The trio look back towards the window. They see Mario heading back inside and hurry towards the couch.
"Here comes waterworks."
Mario walks in. He sighs and looks at the group of friends. "Were you guys spying on me?" Three of them shake their heads no. One nods his head vigorously, not being able to keep a secret. One just nods her head shamelessly.
Mario breaks out in tears. "You okay, homie?" Cesar asks. "Yes. No. I don't know. Look at you. On the verge of high school. All the excitement. All the firsts. First parties, first football games, first love. Want me to drop some knowledge?" Mario says as he stands in front of the group.
"Not really."
"High school, it's the foundation for the rest of your life. Any false starts could lead to your own dead end. Now sure, you guys are smart, setting curves and all that, but you still have to go hard, 'cause there's only one chance at a first impression. So, do you want to sit on the sidelines or play in the game?" Mario rants.
"I just don't want to die," Jamal and Liliana say together.
"Is Mario high?"
"Yes, he's high on life and memories and some seriously good indo," the older Martinez says and laughs.
"What I was saying is, work hard, put your heart out there, even if it's broken by some bitch you've known since Mr. Estrada's seventh grade social studies." Liliana looks at everyone in way that questions if Mario was serious.
"Anyway uh, what I was saying, and you may want to write this down. Don't go into high school without back-up. You guys need to stick together to survive. Got it? I'm going to college, mofos!"
"Now, kiss my class ring," Mario says as he leans his hand towards Ruby. Ruby reluctantly kisses his hand and Mario walks off.
The teens mutter incoherently about what just happened when suddenly Mario walks back."Damn, I almost forgot. One last thing: don't bone Monse or Liliana." They all laugh.
"Why would anyone want to do that?"
💰
Liliana opened the door to her dark house as quietly as possible. She entered the house and took off her shoes. A light flicked on and she flinched.
"Lili, is that you?"
"Yeesh, Grammy, you scared me!"
"Well, you scared me! I was waiting on you to get back. I got super worried when I heard the gunshots!", the older woman says as she sits at the kitchen table.
"Sorry! We got a little carried away. Monse's going to writing camp and we wanted to spend time all together before she left," Liliana explains as she walks towards the kitchen table to sit by her grandma.
"Well, did you have fun?"
"Yeah, I had fun, but I feel a little weird. It's like starting tomorrow, everything changes. I'll be the only girl in the crew for a while and that's a little unsettling. And also, I just really have a weird feeling about everything in general. I don't know. I feel like I'm speaking gibberish," the teen finishes.
"Liliana, it is totally fine to feel that way. In fact, I'm totally glad you're comfortable enough to talk to me about your feelings. You're starting highschool after this summer! I'm sure by the end of the summer you'll feel better about everything, okay sweet girl?" Her grandma responds.
"Yeah, I understand. Well, I'm pretty tired so I think I'm going to go to bed," Liliana says yawning and starting to get up.
