Chapter 22: Nightmare
Ander was running late for school. By the time his sneakers skidded across Las Encinas's hallway floor, he was only one of the handful of students still lingering around before first period.
After swiftly retrieving some books from his locker, Ander began making his way to the classroom – then he stopped short.
At the other end of the hallway stood an unfortunately familiar-looking petite girl with long flowing dark hair and that distinctive frown on her striking face.
No. No fucking way.
His hand involuntarily balled into a fist and his eyes narrowed at the sight of Marina walking up cheerfully to the girl who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but where she was right now.
Ander stood there, frozen, as he observed Marina striking up a conversation with Reina Velásquez. Reina's stiff posture slowly relaxed as the two girls continued chatting.
Suddenly, Marina stopped talking, as if she had sensed that someone was watching. She turned until her gaze landed on Ander. She waved at Ander enthusiastically.
Reina swiveled her head too. When she spotted Ander, her expression became a mix of somberness and wistfulness. Like a wounded deer that wasn't sure of its survival.
That was it. Ander couldn't take any more of this.
He pivoted and began walking in the other direction. Forget about class, which would've required him to walk past her. He sure as hell wasn't in the mood to deal with any potential drama right now.
This girl was like a nightmare that kept coming back to haunt him.
Ander had no idea why Reina was at his school. Dressed in Las Encinas's uniform. Nonchalantly ever-present in Ander's world, no matter how hard he tried to avoid her.
What Ander did know, however, was that he wasn't sticking around to find out about any of it.
He meant what he said to Omar – he was done with her.
Ander strolled into Samuel's apartment on Saturday night, hesitating as he saw the crowd.
His eyes scanned for Christian, who had told him about the party during last period on Friday. But Christian was nowhere to be found.
Ander knew that Omar was supposed to be here too and was about to send him a text when a voice spoke up, "What are you doing here?"
Ander turned around to see Samuel wearing a surprised look.
"Christian invited me," Ander explained to Samuel. When Samuel didn't respond, he continued, "I see he didn't tell you."
Ander awkwardly held up the bottle of rum he'd brought – something that he'd taken from his dad's immense liquor collection at home. But it was just one bottle. It wouldn't be missed, right?
"Never mind. Don't worry." Samuel smiled slightly at Ander. "I'll introduce you to everyone. Come on."
Ander followed Samuel to the kitchen, where Omar was standing with a cigarette in his hand.
"Omar," Samuel said. "This is my friend, Ander."
Ander could tell that Omar was trying his best to keep a straight face.
"Nice to meet you," Omar drawled and extended a hand to Ander.
Ander shook Omar's hand casually. "Likewise. You look familiar."
"You don't. Andres, was it?" Omar asked innocently.
"Ander," Samuel corrected Omar.
Two can play at this game, Ander thought with a smirk.
Squinting at Omar, Ander said, "You're Roman, right?"
Omar merely nodded, an amused smile on his lips.
Samuel had apparently given up on the conversation. He took Ander's jacket and left Ander alone with Omar.
"Andres? Really?" he said, chuckling.
Omar shrugged as he took a long drag from his cigarette. "Samuel doesn't know about me. Anyway, it was kinda fun, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. It's actually turning me on," Ander pronounced.
The next moment, Omar was leading him to the bathroom.
Closing the door behind them, Omar then opened his palm to reveal a small plastic packet containing several pale pink pills.
"I've never tried this before," Ander muttered, unsure.
"It's easy. Just put it into your mouth and swallow." Omar took a tablet and placed it on his tongue.
Ander moved in to kiss Omar, a rush of desire coursing through his veins. He felt the pressure of Omar's tongue against his, transferring the pill over.
As Ander swallowed the powdery pink sensation, Omar pulled away.
Still smiling, Omar said, "I need to go back out there and find some of my customers. Let's continue this after."
Ander let out a loud breath. "You can't just leave me like this," he protested.
Omar chuckled. "If you're horny now, just wait until the pill hits you. See you later.. Andres."
Ander shook his head as Omar made his exit.
Okay, time to mingle.
Making his way to the living room, he spotted Christian who was starting up a game of Spin The Bottle.
As he got closer, he saw that Marina was seated on the sofa, giggling as she waited for Christian to get the game going.
Then Ander froze when he glimpsed the girl sitting beside Marina, who was sipping a glass of wine. Unsmiling. Her dark eyes observing her surroundings without much interest.
What the hell was Reina doing here? It appeared that his nightmare was indeed never-ending.
"This is getting fucking ridiculous," Ander muttered under his breath.
Not wanting Reina to notice him, Ander switched directions and strode to another side of the apartment.
He ended up near the windows, gazing at the streets down below for a couple of minutes.
"Thirsty?"
Ander glanced over his shoulder to find Marina grinning and holding two tall glasses containing golden yellow liquid. Thankfully, she was alone and Reina was nowhere to be seen.
"It's vodka orange. Pretty good," Marina elaborated.
Ander accepted the drink and took a quick swig before saying, "Did you invite her?"
"Who? Reina?" Marina pursed her lips. "Yeah, I did. Is there an issue?"
"You don't know what happened at the football game against San Patricio?"
Marina shrugged. "You guys got into a fight there. Guzmán told me."
"So you also know that it started with Reina and her troublemaker boyfriend, right?"
"Well, Reina got expelled from her school because of the fight. Her boyfriend dumped her too. She's just looking for a fresh start at Las Encinas. What's wrong with that?"
Ander blinked.
Matteo broke up with Reina? Could it be true?
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud commotion followed by shrill shrieks from the living room.
Marina got curious too. "What's going on?"
Ander and Marina walked over just in time to see Bianca Salvador splashing Reina with vodka orange from the glass in her grip.
Reina stood in shock, looking down at her stained crop top.
"Fucking bitch," Reina seethed. "What is your problem?!"
Christian rushed over to her with some paper towels but Reina pushed them away angrily.
Bianca looked at Reina with contempt. "Are you too stupid to figure it out? You're my problem."
"Ladies, my two beautiful ladies. Can we just enjoy the party together?" Christian said hastily, shooting both of them a wide yet nervous grin.
"Are those two fighting over you?" Marina whispered at Ander, unable to hide her amusement.
"That's crazy," Ander intoned.
"I can't think when your dumbass face is distracting me," Reina told Bianca coolly.
Bianca narrowed her eyes and hissed, "You forget that you're no longer at San Patricio? We don't welcome expelled scums from there."
"Uh oh. Reina is going to get herself clobbered by Bianca and gang," Marina predicted as two other girls appeared next to Bianca, looking ready for a catfight. "We'd better do something."
Ander sighed. "I don't know..."
Marina didn't wait for Ander. She stepped forward and planted herself in between Reina and Bianca. At that point, Christian decided to retreat back to join the crowd watching the entire scene with intense curiosity.
"Go away, Marina," Bianca instructed.
"Not until you break up this little gathering," Marina replied with a half-smile on her face.
Bianca's frown deepened.
Oh great, now Marina is going to get clobbered too.
Ander rubbed his face in frustration. Marina had left him no choice.
He slowly walked into the middle of the chaos, taking everyone by surprise.
"Ander?" Bianca shifted her focus to him. "Please tell me you're not here to defend this slut."
"I'm just here to ask you to quit it. This is supposed to be a party," Ander told her in a neutral tone.
"Oh Ander, I know. I'd like to have a good time too." Bianca shrugged her slender shoulders. "But it's hard when there are trash people from the shitty San Patricio school."
"It's fine. We're just leaving anyway," Marina chimed in. "Come on, Reina."
Ander was extremely relieved when Reina dutifully followed Marina through the hallway and out the front door.
Bianca smiled smugly then sidled up to Ander. "Now we can start having fun..."
Ander took a step back. "Uhh, excuse me for a minute."
He quickly left the apartment too. As he walked down the stairs, he sent a text to Omar, asking him to come down too whenever he was ready.
Ander saw Marina and Reina sitting and chatting on the sidewalk, their legs stretched out languidly.
"Ander! Come join us," Marina coaxed, her giggles echoing in the quiet night air.
"I'm fine," Ander answered, keeping his distance. He retrieved a cigarette stick from the pack in his pocket and proceeded to light it up.
"Bianca is the worst, isn't she?" Marina murmured to Reina.
"She fucking ruined a limited edition Balenciaga top, that's all I know," Reina growled. "That's one psychotic bitch. And this is coming from me."
Marina asked, "So how did Bianca get triggered anyway?"
"She called me a two-timing slut for seducing Ander when I had a boyfriend," Reina stated with a roll of her eyes. "As if anyone cared to ask for her opinion."
Ander coughed while Marina broke into a hearty laugh.
"But umm, Ander, thanks for diffusing the situation," Reina added.
Ander glanced briefly at Reina. "I was helping out my friend – Marina," he said pointedly.
Reina nodded, looking away. "Yeah. Of course."
Ander was three puffs into his cigarette when Omar appeared.
"Hey," Omar greeted Ander. When he realized that Marina and Reina were there too, he raised his hand in an awkward wave.
"Let's get out of here," Ander told Omar.
Omar shrugged. "Lead the way."
"Bye," Ander said to the girls before walking down the street with Omar. He was eager to salvage the night that had taken an unexpected turn earlier at Samuel's party.
Like it or not, unexpected things always happened when Reina was around.
And that was just one more reason on top of a very long list of why Ander needed to stay the fuck away from Reina.