Worlds Divided | j. baker

thirty

From down the hall, Ruben spotted Alondra walking with Jordan and Olivia, and decided to sprint full speed at her. "Alo, look! I got a 97 on my Spanish test." He beamed, showing Alondra his paper with the red grading in the corner. "I think I spelled my name wrong, so technically I got 100."

By now, the three had stopped walking, but the twins were confused. "Wait, you spelled your name wrong?"

"Not on purpose. I got nervous and forgot the E."  He explained.  "But look, I passed.  Last time I got a 42."

"I thought you grew up speaking Spanish like Alo?"

"No, dad says it's ghetto." Immediately after he said it, Ruben glanced to Alondra because that was her first time ever hearing about that. "Can you help me make Mexican food? I need extra credit and I don't want to make a burrito like everyone else."

× × ×

For the first time in about a week, Alondra was in Shawn's apartment, but this time, it was filled with boxes. "Dude, you just got out of the hospital. What do you mean you're leaving?"

"Before I was almost killed, I was going to go to Louisiana to live with my aunt and take Maya with me. They know I'm not dead. They're going to come back, and next time Maya might be with me. I'm getting out while I can." Shawn explained. All of his stuff, at least the important stuff, was stacked and in the living room. "I can't take everything, mainly just our clothes and Maya's toys."

"Is it safe for you to be traveling that far after you just got shot?"

"I'm not leaving for another two days, and my mom's driving. I'll be fine."

After everything that happened with her family, Alondra just couldn't accept that one of her best friends was also leaving. "Yeah, across the country! In a different timezone." She exclaimed. "I mean, I get it though. You can't really get out of this life without getting out of Crenshaw, but I don't like it."

With a sigh, Shawn put down a small box he was carrying and turned to Alondra who was just sitting on the arm of the couch.  "I don't wanna leave either, my whole life is here.  But we both know I'll die if I stay here."

Shawn went back to packing boxes, and Alondra looked at Maya coloring before sighing. "I hate gangs."  She mumbled.  "And why are you moving boxes?  You have one arm."

"I can't just sit on my ass all day."  Alondra let out a deep sigh with a pout and reluctantly stood up to help him fill boxes.  "What are you doing?"

"I might as well help if I can't make you stay here."

× × ×

"Hey, Alo." Olivia dragged out. Alondra was minding her business and laying on her stomach as she did Spanish homework, that she clearly didn't need, when the Baker girl called her. "So like, you didn't hear it from me, but there may or may not be a girl from Malibu talking to Jordan at our house right now." Liv said. At this moment, she was trying to keep her voice to a minimum because she was spying on the two in the backyard from the kitchen.

"Yeah, doesn't he have friends in Malibu?"

"Well, yeah, but remember the drug tests they had to take? He may or may not have told me that he was smoking weed with her after homecoming. I don't know why he's trying to take my title of school junkie, but okay."

Olivia was trying to lighten up the situation, not really knowing how Alondra was going to react to her almost boyfriend smoking with another girl and the two now talking at his house. "Wait, after homecoming? I was with him until three in the morning after homecoming." Alondra sat up in her bed and Olivia went silent at the new information. "I'm gonna order an Uber to have some words with your brother."

The 3 beeps that signaled a call ending was the next thing that Olivia heard.  She sucked her cheeks in and looked at her phone screen before turning to the backyard.  "Oops."  The next thing she did was sigh before moving to the pantry to grab a packet of popcorn and the fridge to grab a bowl of fruit. 

Somehow, within minutes, Alondra was ringing the doorbell and she expected Olivia to open it, but instead it was Ripley with Jordan a few feet behind her. Olivia was on the couch and peaked her head around the corner to watch everything, making sure she wasn't seen as she put popcorn in her mouth. Ripley sent Alondra a small smirk and walked by with her head up while Jordan stood there like a fish out of water.

"The fuck was she doing here?"

mad bc I saw that when I put translations, wattpad either gets rid of the comment or moves it away from that section so u cant see it 🧍🏽‍♀️

^ this why i say to stop the "please update" comments like ok lemme put aside my exams quizzes and essays for u 😃

anyways college is a bitch🙄 shouldve became famous instead