Chapter 24: One True Vice
Ander could think of several other things he'd rather be doing right now.
Like waxing his legs.
Or watching the Twilight movies a second time – Polo had forced him and Guzmán the first time.
Or even accompanying his dad to the Rafa Nadal tennis museum.
Anything really, instead of this.
At school on a Saturday. Operating as free labor in washing cars. Under a sweltering summer sun.
Plus, it didn't help that he was stuck in the same team as the one girl he didn't particularly want to be in close proximity with.
"Refill!" Christian requested, nodding at the empty pails.
"Okay, okay," Ander answered, pausing in his task of wiping dry the windscreen of a massive silver Bentley sedan.
"It's okay. I've got it," Reina chimed in, already making her way to the pails.
Ander checked his phone before resuming his task – it was 2PM. It felt like he'd been stuck in this suds-filled, automotive exhaust scented torture for an eternity and a half.
If his mom wasn't the principal, he would've blown off this entire thing already.
"Hey!" Reina's piercing yell made everyone turn, including Ander.
He saw that Guzmán and Polo were standing near Reina, who was glaring at the two boys.
"What?" Guzmán asked, his face pure innocence.
"Excuse me. You deliberately kicked our pail," Reina spat, gesturing at the pail that laid on its side in the middle of a huge puddle of water on the ground.
"Did I?" Guzmán shrugged before proceeding to kick a second pail that was filled with water. "Oops."
Polo snickered, while Marina sighed, placing her hands on her hips.
For a second, Ander swore that Reina was going to run up to Guzmán and beat him up – or at least try to, in her petite body frame. Ander seen that kind of fire in Reina's dark eyes before, and it usually didn't end well.
Then Reina let out a laugh. A throaty, full laugh that sparkled with amusement.
Ander stared at her. Oh no. This is worse than I thought. She's gone crazy.
"Guzmán, look," Reina said with a smirk. "I know you hate me for all the shit that I've caused. And now I'm at Las Encinas and you have to see my face all the time. It sucks, but yeah. I can't undo the past and I can't whisk myself out of this school even if I wanted to."
"So?" Guzmán taunted, unimpressed.
"So even though there's not much I can do... I can offer you this," Reina replied as she bent down to retrieve the water hose. "I'll give you exactly one minute to drench me. But once time's up, you'd better run. Because if you don't, I'll come after you with the hose."
Guzmán gave her a gaze filled with incredulity. "Seriously?"
"Yes." Reina tossed the hose at Guzmán, who caught it easily in his hand. "Come on. Ready when you are."
Christian cleared his throat, not wanting to miss out on the action. Holding up his phone, he said, "I can time it. 60 seconds."
"This is stupid," Guzmán scoffed.
"You're not tempted at all to aim that hose at me?" Reina challenged, smirking. "Be honest now. All that anger and annoyance that's been building up inside... No?"
Rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, Guzmán exhaled sharply. "All right. What the hell. Let's do this."
Christian whooped. "Okay. Who's recording this on their phone?"
Reina and Guzmán glared at Christian.
"Never mind that." Christian shrugged and grinned. "Go, Guzmán."
Without skipping a beat, Guzmán turned on the hose and blasted Reina with a strong stream of water.
Reina gasped at the initial shock of being hit by the water but recovered swiftly. She tilted her head nonchalantly as she got drenched from top to bottom, unwavering in her standing position.
Ander was surprised by how well she was taking it. And it looked like Guzmán's frown was lifting – as if this entire hosing thing was somehow washing clean the bad blood that had persisted among all of them these past few months.
"50 seconds now," Christian announced.
"55 seconds..."
"... And 60!" Looking up from his phone, Christian beamed at Reina and Guzmán – then a look of uncertainty crossed his face.
"Uhh Guzmán, you need to stop now," he prodded with a chuckle.
Ignoring Christian, Guzmán kept his eyes on Reina. A devilish grin bloomed on his lips as he continued the spraying.
Ander turned to Reina just in time to see her quickly moving to grab another hose nearby.
The next moment, Reina was gleefully spraying Guzmán in retaliation.
Polo didn't waste time. He reached down to seize a pail filled to the brim with water and splashed it all on Reina.
"Now, that's not very nice, Polo," Marina exclaimed, laughing. She jogged over to the next team, who had all become spectators at this point, and took their hose.
Marina returned and began dousing Polo generously with her hose.
Soon enough, various schoolmates decided to join the water fight.
Realizing that this had morphed into something fun, Ander looked for an available hose for himself.
Done.
His next mission was to determine his first victim.
He noticed Reina's back inching closer to him. She didn't see him as she was busy backing away from Christian, who was approaching her with a pail of water and cackling.
"Christian, I thought we were friends. I got you the giant cookie, remember?" Reina said sweetly.
"Did you now?" Christian played dumb, pretending to think.
"C'mon Christian. You know that Polo stole my hose," Reina pleaded. "You wouldn't hurt a defenseless, innocent girl like me, yes?"
Ander grinned and quietly sneaked up behind Reina. Christian seemed to notice but kept his gaze at Reina so as not to alert her.
Then with perfect coordination, Ander blasted Reina with his hose while Christian quickly walked up to Reina and dumped the entire pail's content over her head with a flourish.
Reina squealed in shock once, then twice.
Christian and Ander broke down in endless guffaws.
Whirling around, Reina blinked away the water from her eyes and caught sight of Ander. "YOU! Ander Muñoz!" she uttered in a betrayed tone.
"Nice one, man," Christian declared, reaching over to give Ander a high five.
This was followed by a hard whack on Ander's arm from Reina.
"Hey, easy," Ander told Reina, still laughing. "Don't be a wet blanket."
Christian heard and howled in amusement.
Reina huffed but her expressive eyes were sparkling, giving away her own amusement. "Well played. I'll have to return the favor."
Ander gazed at her with one eyebrow lifted. "Can't wait."
Later that night, Ander was taking a long drag from his cigarette as he surveyed the people who walked past him to enter Kluster. Some were familiar Las Encinas faces, so he nodded briskly at them.
A silver Mercedes Benz sedan pulled up and a moment later, Reina emerged.
"Ander! Where are the rest?" Reina asked, fluffing her hair with one hand. She looked extra pretty, dressed in a pink glittery camisole top and a tight short black skirt.
"You cleaned up well," he remarked with a grin.
"With all that water, why wouldn't I?" she quipped without missing a beat.
Ander chuckled. "Come on. The gang's inside and these people are already half sloshed in there."
"I'll catch up quickly enough," Reina said confidently. "Is your boyfriend here too?"
Ander gave Reina a cool smile. "What boyfriend?"
"Oh please. You don't need to play coy with me. You and Omar were exchanging extremely lusty looks that night. Outside of Samuel's building."
That got a laugh out of Ander. "He's got some business appointments tonight," he said.
"Ah. I need to arrange a business meeting with him soon too," Reina replied with a knowing smile.
Ander led the way in. Kluster was a club converted from an old theater with a different DJ hosting each night. Saturday was undoubtedly the best night and the crowd tonight was larger than usual.
Soon the two of them reached the gang's table on the third tier of the club.
"Reina! You're finally here," Marina exclaimed happily. She immediately passed a fresh glass of champagne to Reina.
"Mm, I needed this," Reina purred.
Marina nodded. "We all did after that exhausting charity car wash today. But it might have been worth it just to see Azucena's face when she appeared in the middle of our water fight."
Ander grinned, remembering how horrified his mom looked. "Including the fact that she made us all clean the school washrooms as punishment?"
"Absolutely," Marina and Reina responded in unison. They looked at each other then burst into giggles together.
"Those two are such BFFs all of a sudden," Guzmán commented as he walked over to stand beside Ander.
Ander grabbed his champagne glass from where he'd left on the table before going out for his smoke, clinking glasses with Guzmán. "Like it or not, it seems like Reina is part of the gang now."
Guzmán rolled his eyes but grudgingly conceded, "She's all right. I guess. Could've been someone worse. Like your diehard fan, Bianca."
Ander laughed. "Cheers to looking on the bright side of things."
"GUYS! Picture time," Marina yelled, gesturing at Ander and Guzmán.
She then turned her attention to the rest. "Polo! Carla! Lu! Get your asses over here right now. And where is Christian?!"
Ander ended up next to Reina as everyone squeezed in, with Marina in the middle.
"Ander! You need to get closer in," Marina instructed as she checked her phone camera that was held up high.
Reina eyed Ander. "As long as you're not planning on dumping your glass of champagne on me..." she muttered, a smirk playing on her lips.
"I can't guarantee anything," Ander teased before closing the gap between them.
Reina made a "tsk" sound but rested her hand on Ander's shoulder, smiling for the camera.
Marina counted down for the photo. "3, 2, 1... Say champagne!"
"Champagne!" everyone shouted.
"Perfect." Marina inspected the photos on her phone. "These are going on Instagram."
"Ooh, I love this song," Reina announced as the DJ announced his break and the club speakers began blasting Dua Lipa and DaBaby's Levitating.
Reina set her glass down and glanced at Ander. "Come on! The dance floor beckons."
Ander hesitated for a second, remembering how he had sworn to never have anything to do with Reina ever again. And throughout today, he'd somehow forgotten that resolution.
Was this girl destined to be his one true vice for the rest of his life?
"I won't bite – much," Reina cajoled with a playful laugh.
It's just dancing. You do it all the time with other people. No big deal.
"Okay, whatever. Let's go," he agreed.
Surrounded by the dance floor's moving bodies and the song's infectious beats, Ander started to relax.
Reina danced flawlessly, tossing her head along to the rhythm of the song.
Ander did his best too, losing himself in the DJ's wicked mix.
The song dissolved into the fervent introduction of a new, faster song with heavy bass lines.
The crowd cheered and Reina added her own whoop with hands thrown upwards.
Ander had to grin at Reina's energy. Perhaps this was why he kept being drawn back to her – he couldn't help feeling more alive when he was with her.
Just as the third song began, Ander's phone buzzed repeatedly in his back pocket.
He decided to take a look since he was expecting to hear from his mom anyway – then he discovered that he had actually received several text messages from an unfamiliar number.
Unknown: Ander Muñoz
Unknown: Ready for the 3rd challenge?
Unknown: I challenge you to steal San Patricio's most treasured trophy.. Our basketball championship trophy that we have won for 10 years in a row
Unknown: If you succeed, you get anything you ask for
Unknown: But if you fail, you'll need to come with me to a secret place. Blindfolded. No questions asked
Unknown: Do we have a deal?
Unknown: -M
Ander frowned. "Is this from Matteo?" he wondered out loud.
"What?" Reina asked, unable to hear what he said against the loud music.
Ander shook his head then made a sign to let her know that he was leaving the dance floor.
Reina tilted her head up toward him and spoke in a raised voice, "I'm coming with you."
By the time they'd escaped the noisy dance floor and took the stairs up to Kluster's private rooftop area, Ander had sunken into a foul mood.
"What is it?" Reina wanted to know, picking up on his mood.
Ander exhaled and showed her the text messages. "I assume these are from your boyfriend? Or is it your ex now? Whatever."
As Reina read, she sighed. "Yeah, that's Matteo's number."
Ander propped his elbows on top of the glass railing, staring out into the night. "I'm so sick of this game that he wants to keep playing. Why can't he just leave me the fuck alone."
"His ego's been severely bruised. He's going to be relentless in trying to bring you down."
Ander turned to look at Reina. "So is it true that he broke up with you?"
Reina's eyes grew even darker than usual. "He did."
"What a dick. After you protected his sorry ass and took the blame for the entire Friday night game's fight?"
"He... He has become this person I don't recognize anymore."
Ander exhaled sharply. "So do you think I should agree to the challenge? I'd just need to make sure I win. Then I can tell Matteo to stop this whole damn thing and go get an actual life."
Reina didn't answer immediately. In fact, her expression became troubled.
"Reina?" he prompted her.
Biting her lower lip, Reina murmured, "I don't – I don't think it's a good idea."
"Really?"
Reina nodded her head slowly. "It's too dangerous. San Patricio has top notch security measures around the school. And we don't know what else Matteo has got planned – he wouldn't have suggested this challenge if he didn't have a definite edge in it."
Ander took a moment to consider it. He hated the idea of doing a third dare of course, but was there any other way to get out of this whole entanglement with Matteo and his underlings?
"Matteo is honestly the scariest person I've ever met," Ander intoned.
Reina emitted a hollow laugh.
"I think it's a good thing you and him are broken up. I mean, I'm no expert. But what you had with Matteo? It couldn't have been a healthy relationship..."
"Yeah well, I was hardly the perfect girlfriend either. Kate suggested that I brought out the worst in Matteo," Reina muttered.
Ander shrugged. "And maybe he brought out the worst in you too."
Reina's eyebrows shot up. "I never thought of that."
"Maybe that's why things happened the way they did.. on the first night we met."
Out of nowhere, Ander's mind played the memories of him talking and laughing with Reina at Maison. And their lips locking in a drunken, enraptured state. Like the rest of the world had melted away and it was just the two of them, lost in each other.
He added quietly, "Maybe you'd been looking for a way out even back then..."
Reina stared at Ander, unblinking. Before she could reply, her phone rang from inside her clutch.
When she fished out the phone and saw the caller's name, her face darkened.
In one swift motion, she rejected the call and returned the phone to the confines of her clutch.
"Reina?" Ander prodded. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. I just – I gotta go."
Ander looked at her in confusion, but Reina had begun walking away.
Why is she always blowing hot and cold? And why am I so bothered by it still?
Ander didn't have the answer. He stood there feeling bewildered for about 30 seconds before deciding to go after Reina.
He spotted her just as she was exiting the club. He followed her through Kluster's wide front doors and managed to catch her on the sidewalk.
"Reina, wait up," he said, grasping her arm gently.
Reina paused and turned around to face him. "Ander, I'm fine. I just have something I need to do urgently at home."
Ander released her arm. "Oh. Okay, as long as you're really fine..."
Reina merely threw him a faint smile. "Go back in and enjoy the rest of the night."
"Right." Ander nodded, feeling embarrassed about his overreaction now.
Reina was about to say more, but her eyes darted to something behind him.
"Ander, watch out!" she cried out shrilly.