Chapter 20: Aftershock
Ander could taste blood in his mouth.
The unpleasant metallic flavor was all he could detect right now. The rest of his body had become numb.
Even as he pulled back his fist and threw yet another punch at the random San Patricio boy in front of him, he barely registered the impact.
It was as if most of his senses were in suspension...
Which would explain how startled he was when he heard the loud wail of approaching police sirens.
"Ander! Let's go," Guzmán urged, shaking his shoulder.
"Run!" Polo chimed in, his sneakers slapping the floor hard as he took off.
Ander's eyes wandered, flitting from one face to another. Finally they landed on Reina, who was alerting the San Patricio students about the sirens too.
"Just go," Ander heard Reina instructing Matteo and Noel urgently. "I'll take care of this."
For a second, Ander and Reina locked gazes. He saw her hair, messy and coming loose from a ponytail. Then the wild look in her eyes.
She's scared.
He'd never seen this side of Reina. Should he stay and help her...? But what could he do anyway?
"Ander, move. NOW!" Guzmán yelled.
Two adults were walking briskly in the direction of the lingering students – a middle-aged man and a woman in her forties, both looking very severe and furious. Probably teachers.
Ander had no choice. He ran.
Under the inky night sky, his feet moved quickly to tail Guzmán and Polo ahead. The three of them didn't stop until they reached a dimly lit bus stop ten minutes later.
Guzmán spat out some blood onto the asphalt before planting himself onto the bus stop's metal seating. "I'm going to kill those San Patricio jerks the next time I see them."
Leaning against one side of the transparent walls and catching his breath, Polo uttered, "That's for sure."
"Just get rid of Matteo and leave the rest, man. Matteo's the biggest shithead," Ander said hoarsely, collapsing next to Guzmán.
"How did the fight start anyway?" Guzmán asked with a frown. "Don't tell me it has something to do with Reina."
"It was just something stupid," Ander responded.
"Something stupid related to Reina?" Guzmán persisted.
Ander was quiet, and Guzmán swore under his breath.
"She's nothing but trouble. As is anyone from San Patricio. Why do you keep hanging out with her?" Polo wanted to know.
"I won't anymore," Ander muttered. And he decided that he meant it. He was done with Reina and the whole of San Patricio – his life was better off without all the drama.
"Good," Guzmán said.
Polo drew his phone out to make a phone call. "I'm getting a driver to pick us up. Both my moms are in Munich for business right now, so we'll have the house to ourselves. There's a first aid kit somewhere, I'll get the helpers to find it..."
Just then, Ander's phone rang. When he saw Omar's name flashed on the screen, he declined the call.
A few seconds later, Omar called again.
Heaving a sigh, Ander set his phone to silent mode and shoved it into his pocket.
"If that's Reina calling you –" Guzmán scowled.
"It's not," Ander replied swiftly. "I can't wait to get ourselves cleaned up. You look like shit."
Guzmán chuckled. "Oh you look worse, my friend. Believe me."
By the time Ander left Polo's house, Omar had left him two more missed calls and nine text messages.
It wasn't that Ander intended to ignore Omar completely, no. But it had been a crazy, heavy, shitty night.
Ander was physically and emotionally drained.
All he wanted to do was to fall into bed and not wake up for the next five days.
As he walked, he scrolled through Omar's messages.
'Hey, weren't we supposed to meet up tonight?'
'Did something happen?'
'Why aren't you picking up my calls or replying my texts?'
'Ander?'
'Hello?'
'Fuck it. Don't respond then. You're a dick who's wasting my damn time.'
'I'm just a joke to you? Am I?'
'I'm turning off my phone. So don't bother doing anything.'
'We're done. Bye.'
Once Ander saw the last of Omar's messages, his thumb tapped on the button to delete all of them.
The fact was, he was a huge mess. A mess that nobody should have to deal with. Maybe it was better for him to be alone, free from any romantic ties with anyone.
Deep in thought, Ander didn't notice the figure sitting on the front steps of his house until he was merely a few feet away.
"Omar?" he said, squinting.
"Hi." Omar stood up slowly. When he got a good look of Ander's bruised face, he sucked in his breath and asked, "What the hell happened to you?"
"Got into a fight. No big deal," Ander told him with a shrug. "What are you doing here? How did you even know where I lived?"
"Christian," Omar responded.
"And how did he – never mind, I don't even want to know."
"For a fight that wasn't a big deal, you sure have a lot to show for it," Omar observed. "On your face. On your arms."
"My right ear is still ringing too," Ander admitted. He sighed and walked over to the steps, dropping into a sitting position. Omar joined him, sitting back down and staring out into the distance.
"I thought you were done with me," Ander spoke.
"I thought I was too. But then I got worried that something might've happened. Like maybe you got kidnapped. Or run over by a car."
Ander chuckled. "I do feel like roadkill right now actually."
"Good." Omar smirked.
"You know, you didn't have to come."
"Too late."
"For future reference then."
"If this is going to happen again, I'm out of here."
"I wouldn't blame you."
Omar leaned back slightly and gazed at Ander. "So are you going to tell me what went on tonight?"
Under the glow of the porch light, Omar's eyes shone with curiosity and openness.
"Do you really want to know?" Ander questioned.
More like, are you ready to know?
"Hit me," was Omar's prompt response.
So Ander dove into the full story. His first encounter with Reina at Maison club. The dare game that began between himself and Matteo. The weed-induced evening with Reina where they ended up in bed together. The subsequent dare that led to the cheer punishment. And finally the fist fight that had taken place with San Patricio tonight.
Ander didn't hold back on any of the details. He didn't know if Omar was going to hate him for all of this, but he was too tired to cover anything up.
Omar exhaled loudly as he took in everything that Ander had shared. "Well, shit."
"Yeah," Ander muttered, running a hand through his curls absent-mindedly.
Shit was definitely an appropriate word to use here.
"And I thought my life was the exciting one, being a drug dealer and all," Omar pronounced with an ironic smile.
"So yeah. I totally understand if you walk away right now."
Omar raised an eyebrow. "I think... I might stick around for a while."
"Really?"
"But I have to ask you one thing."
"Okay."
"You and Reina – that's over now? Like, for sure?"
"For fucking sure," Ander affirmed. "In fact, if I'm lucky, I would never have to cross paths with Reina Velásquez ever again in this lifetime."
Omar let out a hollow laugh. "I hope you didn't just jinx yourself."