Cemetery Boys(36)

“Oh, you know, just plotting,” Maritza said casually.

Yadriel glanced from her to Patrice, once again wondering how she could remain so calm and lie so easily under pressure when he always broke out into a cold sweat.

Patrice just laughed and shook her head. “Okay, weirdo.” She smiled before waving at them to follow. “Come on, we grabbed one of the picnic tables in the quad.”

“Coming!” Maritza scooped up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She gave Yadriel a shrug.

He sighed but followed her lead. There was no reason not to, and, besides, ignoring Julian for the next twenty-five minutes sounded like a good idea.

Julian groaned his protest but trudged after them anyway.

The girls piled up on a picnic bench in the quad, laughing and talking together while Yadriel sat on the edge, forcing himself to eat the sandwich he’d bought from one of the snack stands on break.

Julian leaned against the tree that provided the table with shade, arms crossed and expression surly, but his dark eyes continuously searched the crowds of students as they walked by.

“Is everyone going to the Halloween bonfire at the beach?” Alexa asked the group, and it exploded into excited chatter.

Yadriel rolled his eyes, which caught Julian’s attention.

“What, you don’t like bonfires?” he asked with an amused grin.

Yadriel gave a small shake of his head as he took another large bite of turkey and white bread.

“Or do you not like parties?”

The flat look Yadriel discreetly cut to Julian said, Both.

The Halloween bonfire was a tradition. Students from all the local high schools ended up there. It was a game of cat and mouse with the cops, on account of the loud music, huge crowd, and, of course, illegal substances. A secluded part of the beach was chosen last minute and sent out via a wildfire of text messages.

Maritza was always trying to talk him into going, but Yadriel avoided it like the plague. The last thing he wanted to do was hang out with a bunch of drunk and high idiots running around near fire and riptides.

Not to mention, Día de Muertos started at midnight on Halloween, so he had his own tasks and responsibilities with his family back at the cemetery.

Julian chuckled and wandered over to Yadriel’s side. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Do any of you know Julian Diaz?” Maritza suddenly asked, interrupting the conversation about Halloween costumes.

Yadriel sat up straighter but tried to not look too interested in the topic.

Meanwhile, Julian appeared all too eager to listen to what a group of girls thought about him.

Alexa, who always wore high-end hair extensions and a permanently sour expression, made a disgusted sound at the back of her throat. “Ugh, yes,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He’s got a hot face—”

Julian’s smug grin was unbearable.

“But he’s so obnoxious,” she added.

Yadriel’s sharp laugh made him choke on his sandwich.

Julian scowled. “Tch, whatever,” he huffed indignantly. “The important part is I’m hot.”

“He used to play on the boys’ team with that other guy, Omar, right?” said Letti as she juggled a soccer ball between the toe of her shoe and her knee. “They’re like best friends or something.”

Omar? Yadriel tried to conjure up the face that matched the name in his head, but failed. He could remember seeing Julian around school, but he couldn’t remember what his friends looked like.

“Ooh, that was him?” Maritza said, looping her rose-quartz rosary around her finger idly.

“Yeah, he was really annoying,” Patrice agreed as she braided a chunk of Maritza’s pink-and-purple hair. “Always messing around and kicking balls over to our side of the field.”

“That doesn’t sound like me,” Julian grumbled petulantly.

“He beamed me right in the back of the head once and then laughed about it,” Alexa said.

“Okay, that does sound like me.”

Yadriel did his best to turn his laugh into a cough, but Alexa noticed and sniffed indignantly, sticking her pointy nose in the air.

“Why do you care about Julian Diaz?” Patrice asked.

Maritza shrugged. “Yadriel was curious about him.”

All four sets of eyes swung to him.

Heat flooded his cheeks. “Uhhh.” He looked to Maritza for help, but the amused flash in her eyes said she was enjoying watching him squirm. “We, uh, we got assigned a group project together,” he finally managed to lie. “And I haven’t heard from him.”

“Good luck with that.” Alexa snorted.

Julian scowled. “I don’t like this one,” he said.

“He, like, never shows up to class,” she explained.

“That’s only half true,” Julian tried to defend himself.

“Hasn’t he flunked out by now?”

“I heard he got sent to juvie.”

“Hey!” Julian tried to interrupt. “I’ve only been arrested once, and that guy totally dropped the charges after my brother offered to fix his car!”

“I was going to try to get his number from one of his friends,” Yadriel cut in, trying to steer the conversation toward something useful.

Letti caught the ball and shook her head. “Nooo, you don’t want to go messing with them,” she warned. Unlike Alexa, she actually sounded sincerely worried.