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Trey's cell rings.
"We need to finish this discussion. Don't answer it," I say, but my words fall on deaf ears as he gently nudges me aside.
"Hey, man, what's up?" His eyes go wide. "No way!"
"What?" I ask anxiously. "Who is it?"
"I'll be right there," Trey says. "Yeah, I got it. All right." He hangs up the phone. "Vic's in trouble."
Panic swells in my chest. "What happened? Where is he?"
Trey starts packing up the food. "Jail."
Chapter Nineteen
VICTOR
"I'm tellin' you I didn't do anythin'."
I look at the shiny silver nametag with OFFICER THOMAS STONE engraved on it. He's a big dude who acts like he's some sort of FBI agent or something as he sits across from me in an interrogation room. He was the one who cuffed me and shoved me in the back of his squad car an hour ago.
"Listen, Victor," he says as he looks me straight in the eye. "I'm going to be completely honest with you. Getting in a fight with Matthew Bonk isn't a good idea. His father is a valued community member."
"I'm tellin' you I didn't touch his Jeep. I was just there to get my sister, and Bonk stood in the way. He swung at me first. I don't know why the hell I'm the one sittin' here and you just let him go."
Officer Stone sighs. "Everyone in this precinct knows about the troubles you've been in. Your record isn't squeaky clean. Witnesses said you came there with your fists swinging and Matthew didn't throw a punch."
"Everyone there was from Fairfield, Officer. Of course they'd take Bonk's side."
"Are you saying the witnesses were lying? All of them? Even your own sister?"
"Yeah. That's what I'm sayin'." I lean my head back, tired of trying to prove to this guy that I didn't come there looking for a fight. I went there to fetch Dani so she didn't get into trouble.
The officer has pegged me as a troublemaker. Nothing I say or do is gonna change his mind.
Officer Stone leaves me, then comes back with a thick file folder. "So tell me, Salazar. Do you have gang ties?"
"No. Just because I'm Mexican doesn't mean I'm a gangbanger."
"I know that. But troublemakers like you look for trouble. You need to stay clean, Salazar," he says. "Or you'll find yourself locked up for more than a couple of hours, especially since your father wasn't too keen on picking you up. I think his exact words were 'let him walk home.'"
Officer Stone escorts me to the front, where he says I'm free to go. When I'm released into the lobby, my friends are there waiting for me.
"What happened?" Ashtyn asks frantically. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I answer, not wanting to talk about it.
Trey pats me on the back. "You scared the shit out of me, man."
Monika is standing next to him. It hits me that I forgot about the cake in my car. "I'm sorry I ruined your night," I tell them. "And your cake."
"It's okay," Monika says.
I notice that she's not looking straight at me. Instead, she's staring at the floor.
"We're just glad you weren't charged," Trey says. "But if you were, we'd bail you out, bro."
Because we all know my old man wouldn't.
"Thanks, man." I look at Derek and Ash, Monika and Trey, and Bree and Jet. I don't know how to tell them that without them I'm nothing.
"It's cool," Jet says. "All you have to do is name your first born after me and we'll call it even. You can call your kid Jake Evan Thacker Salazar. Or Jet. Or JT."
I chuckle, because Jet's not joking. "Yeah, well, straight-up that'll never happen."
Trey drives me home. I'm sitting in the backseat feeling like something is up with Monika. She's sitting in the front seat staring straight out the window. She hasn't looked at me or talked to me since the police station.
When Trey stops for gas and it's just Monika and me in the car, I break the silence. "Is everything cool between us, Monika?"
She doesn't look back at me. Instead, she keeps looking forward. "Why did you ask that?"
"Because you're actin' hella weird." I don't want her ignoring me. Hell, her friendship keeps me from going insane most of the time. She probably thinks I'm a fucking loser for getting arrested tonight. "Just so you know, I didn't start the fight with Bonk if that's what you're thinkin'."
She glances at me. "I don't think you started that fight. I know you better than that. It's just..."
"What?"
Her gaze is intense now, as if she's trying to tell me something that words can't express. "Do you ever wish things were different?"
Oh, hell.
Time stops.
I open my mouth to answer even though I have no clue what I'm going to say when Trey suddenly opens the door and slides into the driver's seat.
"Gas is ridiculously expensive," he says. "I feel like my wallet just got violated."
Monika chuckles quietly.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," I mumble.
There's electricity in the air between Monika and me, but Trey seems oblivious. He yaps the entire rest of the ride about gas prices and then goes on a rant about hybrid and electric cars that I only partially hear because I'm too focused on wondering what Monika was trying to hint at with her loaded question.
After Trey drops me off, I'm still thinking about Monika's question that I never answered. I walk into my room, knowing I'll be going over our unfinished conversation for hours and probably won't get much sleep tonight.
A pissed-off Dani is sitting on my bed.
"I hate you," she tells me.
"I don't care," I tell her. "Bonk's just hangin' with you to get to me. He's a snake."
She crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at me as if I'm the one in the wrong here. "You don't know anything about Matthew."
I roll my eyes. "And you do? That's a joke. What, you met him like five minutes ago?"
"I don't care what you think about him, Vic. Oh, and just so you know, Matthew and I are going to homecoming together."
"The only person Bonk loves is himself. And just so you know, you're not going to homecoming with him. He's our fucking rival, Dani. He would lie, cheat, and steal if it meant beating us. Hell, he already stole our quarterback, and we'd be screwed if Fitz didn't step in as QB."
"You don't control me," Dani says, huffing and puffing like a typical fourteen-year-old girl. "I can do what I want, when I want."
"Not with Matthew Bonk, you can't."
She storms out of my room, but I don't tell her what I want to say. I might not be able to control her, but since mi'ama isn't here I can sure as hell do my best to make sure she doesn't make mistakes that'll ruin her life.
I should know. I've made mistakes that have ruined mine.
Did I make another one with Monika tonight?
Chapter Twenty
MONIKA
Sunday morning when I wake up, my first thought is Vic. He never answered my question in the car last night. I held my breath, wondering if he'd say something to reveal that he might have an ounce of feelings for me.
Ugh, what am I doing?
I should be thinking about why my boyfriend wants to hold off talk of us breaking up until after homecoming.
I drive to Trey's house to finish our conversation from last night. Trey might not want to have The Talk, but ignoring our problems hasn't made them go away.
As usual, the front door to his apartment is open. I peek my head inside.
"Hello?" I call out as I clench my hands into fists to work out the aching bones in my fingers that are reminding me that I'm more frail than I want to be.
I don't hear sounds except for running water.
I walk further into the apartment, hoping nobody notices my slow-moving limbs. Trey must be sleeping. I peek into his room, but he's not there. I hear him cough in the bathroom; his distinct cough that I'd recognize anywhere.
