Page 102 of As the Rain Falls
“What is this? A gang?” I laugh, but it sounds uncertain. I’m not quite sure about where this is going. It feels a little scary to be hanging out as a group. “Am I supposed to make a blood pact, or something?
Tony places the cigarette between his lips and inhales deeply, tilting his head to the side before finally shrugging. The flame at the tip starts to burn a little brighter, but the smoke that comes out from his nostrils makes soft little waves towards his face. l can’t help but stare as he exhales sharply and pulls it out a moment later.
“Relax, Rivera.” Antony's eyes soften. “We’re not that hardcore yet.”
“Yeah,” Mateo agrees. “Leave the blood pacts to Santiago’s minions.”
Santiago is a name people often talk about. I don’t know much about him besides the fact that he’s got a lot to do with the drug being distributed in town. His face remains a complete mystery to me. I don’t think I’ve ever met him, but I don’t want that to change either. I’d rather not be getting into trouble anytime soon.
“Right, no blood because it’s creepy as hell. Just tell us something about you.” Antony leans forward, tapping ash off hiscigarette. It falls onto the floor, right next to him. “Something nobody else knows.”
“So, a secret?” I ask, crossing one leg over the other. “What kind of secret accounts for this?”
“Honestly, any kind.” Antony shrugs his shoulders, his eyes flicking to Mateo before locking on me. “We’re not picky.”
“Just something real. That’s the deal,” Mateo adds. He leans back as the smoke curls around his face too, flying up towards the ceiling. “Something personal, or embarrassing… You choose. We don’t care. The point isn’t to embarrass you, Cassie. It’s just... It’s about trust.”
“Trust?” I echo, still unsure. I shift, suddenly aware of how dry my throat feels. “You guys are really weird.”
“C’mon.” Antony’s grin falters for a second, but he quickly recovers. “We’re not asking for your deepest, darkest thing, just... a little something, you know? A small confession.”
“Oh, yeah?” I raise a brow in defiance. “And what was your confession when you got initiated?”
“Well, there wasn’t any because it was just Antony and me.” Mateo’s expression softens just a bit, understanding why I’m reticent to give in this fast. “Maybe we should give you a secret too, so it’s fair trade.”
Antony looks between us, considering the idea for a moment. I can see the wheels turning inside his mind, trying to weigh the pros and cons of actually saying something honest about himself. He strikes me as the kind of person who doesn’t show his cards until you do, which is exactly the kind of attitude I’d associate with Lucia.
He takes a long drag, then flicks the ash off into a corner further away from him this time around.
“Alright. Fine. I’ll go first, if it’ll shut you both up.”
Quietly, he leans back against the wall, letting the smoke swirl around him. Mateo’s smirk widens, and I set my Coca-Cola asideon the floor, feeling my stomach tighten with anticipation.This is fun,I realize. I’ve never had fun with boys that didn’t involve some kind of kissing before, but this isn’t leading to that. The only boy I’d maybe want to kiss isn’t even here.
“Lucia and I used to make videos together,” Antony starts, his voice light but guarded. “And before you get any ideas, Mateo, they weren’t porn movies. We were children, alright? So no funny business.”
I snort, not expecting that. “Really? Wait! Was Lucia Evans a theater kid?”
“Yeah.” Antony grins, but there is a softness to his smile that tells me he feels proud of her for it. “We’d take turns filming each other singing our favorite songs—bad choreography, even worse quality, I’m telling you. We even uploaded some of them to YouTube, and I can’t take them down because I don’t remember the password to the account anymore.”
“That’s a little embarrassing,” Mateo chuckles. “You’re not even a good singer.”
“I know,” Tony blushes. “But I like to watch them because she sounds nice. It was fun to do it with her. We were… we were cute kids together and shit. It’s not about being cool when you’re that little.”
Silence stretches out, a weird feeling of nostalgia filling the room. Mateo is the one to interrupt it, clasping his hands together.I’m too busy trying to picture this smaller version of Lucia acting in a silly way. Her older self came across as more intense, at least to me.
“Okay. My turn.”
I roll my eyes at his dramatic ways. “Let’s hear it, Mr. Prodigy.”
The brown haired boy leans back, looking like he’s preparing for a big reveal. His expression becomes a little more serious, which causes me to think he might actually drop something that catches me off guard.
“I’ve been dead before.”
“Damn,” Antony lets out a low whistle. “Like, actually dead?”
“A-ham.” Mateo nods.
“Like,deaddead?” I wonder.
