CHAPTER 15
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"Two more minutes," Fezco mumbled, pulling Estrella back as she tried to finally get up and out of bed to get ready for school.

Fez had woken up a few minutes ago to Estrella trying to escape his embrace and had convinced her to stay in bed for two more minutes with him about 3 times.

She laughed a little and didn't even protest against it this time, she knew she wouldn't win with him.

Fezco smiled at her surrender and tightened his arm around her, then slightly opened his eyes to look at her.

She noticed him opening his eyes out of the corner of hers, so she turned her head to face him and laugh.

"You're gonna make me late," She told him. "But I don't mind. If I can skip first period then I won't have to take the midterms exam."

"Oh nah, you got a exam today? Shit, I forgot bout that....nah you not missing that shit," He shook his head and loosened his hold on her. "You can go. But you gotta give me a kiss first."

Estrella laughed a little and pressed her lips onto his before moving over him to get up.

"That's really all I needed to say for you to let me go?" Estrella asked with a laugh as she walked to the drawers.

Fezco stared at Estrella as she opened the drawer that was her's, admiring her like he always did. He watched as she bent down a little to pick up her makeup bag off the floor, getting a little flustered since she was only wearing one of his t shirts and some panties.

"Fuck," He mumbled to himself and glanced down at his sweats. "Um, yeah yo grades important ma."

"I'm probably gonna fail that shit," Estrella laughed a little and closed the drawer, feeling Fezco's arms wrap themselves around her waist from behind in a hug.

"Nah you gon be good," Fez said as he rested his chin on her shoulder, unknowingly pressing his dick against Estrella's butt.

He slipped his hand under the shirt Estrella was wearing, which gave her goosebumps and butterflies.

"I got a lil problem though."

Estrella laughed and put her hand on his as he moved it along her side, "You always have a lil problem."

"Well you always walkin round looking this fine and shit, it's kinda hard not to," Fez mumbled in her ear.

She laughed again and glanced up at him, pulling his hand out from under her shirt, "You wanna join me in the shower then?"

—$—

"Oh good morning," Estrella smiled at Ashtray as she walked into the kitchen, surprised to see him up and ready before her.

"Morning," He mumbled back from where he was eating his cereal, wiping the sticky lip gloss residue Estrella left on his forehead after giving it a kiss.

She laughed at his reaction and glanced down at the two other bowls of Froot Loops he had prepared for her and Fezco.

"You should have waited, I was gonna make you pancakes," Estrella told Ashtray.

She learned that Ashtray's favorite breakfast food was pancakes about 5 years ago, after he had eaten a whole stack of them at iHop.

Estrella and Fezco were 12 and 14 when they walked into iHop behind Marie, each of the kids holding one of 6 year old Ashtray's hands.

Hector had been serving a 2 month long sentence at the county jail due to driving under the influence and also being armed, so Estrella was staying with the O'Neils at the time.

It was Ashtray's made up birthday, so Marie took the kids out to iHop.

And now since Estrella knew he liked pancakes, she would make him some every morning that she woke up at their house and had the chance.

"We're out of pancake mix," Ashtray informed her as she sat down in a chair. "I did all my homework last night."

"Cool, me too," Estrella said and began eating the cereal Ashtray had prepared.

He stared at for a second and rolled his eyes, then shook his head at her which made her laugh.

Fezco picked up Estrella's backpack off his floor after getting dressed and looked in the mirror one for a minute.

He stepped a little closer to the mirror, staring at the freckles on his nose, more specifically at the one that Estrella favorited.

His heart warmed at the thought that she paid enough attention to him to notice that one of his freckles was shaped like a star.

He'd never noticed that before. Not even he paid that much attention to himself. Nobody did, except for her.

She stared at him almost as much as he stared at her, she could probably draw a portrait of him off of her memory. And she would accentuate the star shaped freckle on his nose the best she could as her signature.

He grabbed his car keys before walking out of his room, checked on his grandma for the second time that morning, and then walked out to the kitchen with Estrella and Ashtray.

"Yo y'all ready for school?" Fezco spoke, glancing at his girlfriend and his little brother as they argued over the PSP she had promised him.

"You said I could have it if I did my homework," Ashtray stressed.

"Yeah but you could have done it all wrong, which will only worsen your grade and what I would like to see is at least a C in every class," Estrella told him.

He scoffed, "Who are you to be judging my grades? The future valedictorian of your class?"

"Actually I might be, I have a 4.2 GPA right now," Estrella informed him.

Ashtray scoffed again, genuinely impressed with her GPA.

"Don't one up me, I could have a 4.2 GPA too if I tried."

"Okay so then try," Estrella encouraged with a laugh, glancing up at Fez as he sat down in the chair next to her.

"Fezco tell your girlfriend she's a scammer."

"Fez tell your brother he needs anger management."

Fezco ate a spoonful of cereal and looked between the two for a second.

"Why don't yall both tell each other to shut the fuck up."

—$—

Estrella stared down at her feet as she walked on the sidewalk, making sure she wouldn't step on any lines or cracks on the pavement, then remembered that her dad always warned her to be alert and looking ahead instead of at her feet while she walked alone.

She was walking home from school after a boring ass day, one earphone in–which was another tip from her dad–and listening to Kali Uchis.

Fezco and Ashtray had a deal to get done so Fez couldn't pick her up, which gave her the opportunity to go home and get the PSP she had promised Ashtray.

Their little argument this morning was just her being annoying. Of course she was gonna give it to him. She just hoped that after giving it to him, he'd keep doing what he did to get it.

Plus she was also going home to ask her dad for $50 so she could get her nails done.

Fezco promised her that he'd take her to the nail salon after one of her nails broke off yesterday while they were play fighting.

He felt really bad about it because he knew she loved her nails, but she assured him it was fine because they were all grown out and busted already and she was gonna get new ones soon.

Estrella slowed her pace once hearing the familiar paletero bell, glancing behind her to see the local ice cream man walking up the sidewalk, pushing his cart.

She dug into her pocket for a dollar before walking back his way and having a small conversation with the paletero before continuing on her way home, short a dollar but with an horchata paleta bar in her hand.

She walked into the alley she always walks through as a shortcut, feeling a little weird once she noticed a familiar truck parked in the alley.

There were never any vehicles parked in this alley, so that was the first thing that didn't made any sense. The second thing was that, this was Nate's truck. What the fuck would Nate be doing in this part of East Highland?

As she walked passed the truck, Nate came into view from where he was leaned on the hood of his truck, his head turning to look at Estrella the second he saw someone in his peripheral vision.

"Hey Star," He greeted her, the same way he always did and smiled.

Estrella glanced at him for a second before she kept walking, ignoring his question.

"Where you headed?" Nate asked and began walking to match her pace. "You on your way to your boyfriend Fezco's house?"

Estrella still didn't respond and sped up a little, which annoyed Nate.

He harshly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him, pulling her a little too close, which made her push him away and into the alley wall.

Nate was quick to push himself off the wall and grab Estrella's wrist again, "Can you fucking relax?"

"Can you fucking let me go?" Estrella retorted. "You're fucking hurting me."

Nate stared down at Estrella as he loosened his grip on her wrist, but still tight enough so she couldn't run.

"I don't wanna hurt you, Star. But you make it so hard not to," Nate told her.

"What? What do you want, Nate?" Estrella asked and noticed the folder that Nate held under his arm.

"I'm gonna cut to the chase; I want your help," He answered and followed her eyes, then grabbed the folder from under his arm.

"With what?"

Nate stared at Estrella, looking her up and down for a second. "I'm sure you've noticed that I haven't been at school in a while, and I know that you know why."

"Yeah because you were abusing Maddy," Estrella nodded.

Nate sarcastically laughed, "No I wasn't."

"Then what else would you call what you did?"

"You mean what Tyler did," Nate raised his voice, speaking over Estrella and earning a confused look from her.

"Who the fuck is Tyler?"

"Tyler's the guy that strangled Maddy," Nate told Estrella. "Well, that's what you're gonna tell the police."

Estrella laughed, "Oh really?"

"Really," Nate nodded.

She laughed again and attempted to walk off, only to be pulled back even harsher.

"I'm not fucking playing Star," Nate warned.

"I don't give a fuck. I'm not telling the police shit if it means saving your psycho, abusive ass," Estrella scoffed, making Nate laugh this time.

"Then I hope you'll do it to save your dad's drug dealing ass, huh?" Nate suggested. "Would be a shame if your houses was raided again, wouldn't it?"

"Thanks for the heads up Nate," Estrella smiled.

"You're welcome princess," He smiled back and handed her the folder he was holding. "If your house being raided isn't enough for you, then maybe your boyfriend catching your case is. Open the folder."

Estrella stared up at Nate for a second, her heart dropping to her stomach once she fully comprehended what he said.

She dropped her paleta at Nate's feet before nervously opening the folder and pulling out several printed out pictures of her and Fezco together on different occasions, along with printed out screenshots of her texts with Maddy.

"I have another folder with a copy of every photo you're looking at," Nate told her. "If you don't do what I say...shit isn't gonna look pretty for Fezco. Nothing looks pretty after being put on a sex offenders list."

"Sex offender?" Estrella raised an eyebrow.

"You do know that someone over the age of 18 can't legally fuck a minor, right?" Nate asked her.

Estrella knew that. But she didn't know it could land Fezco on a sex offenders list. He was only a year and a few months older than her. It wasn't like he was some 60 year old creep.

"It's considered rape," Nate informed her and smirked. "So unless you want your boyfriend to end up on a list..."

Estrella stared down at the pictures as she thought about Maddy. She was definitely in on this, but she wasn't sure if she was in on this.

And after a few seconds, her mind traced onto Fezco.

Fezco wasn't at all what Nate was going to make him to be if she didn't do what he said.

And she wasn't about to let this ruin his life, when it should be Nate.

"What do I have to say?"

—$—

Fezco looked up from the blunt he was rolling on the counter as Estrella walked into the store, a smile appearing on his face the second he saw her.

"Wassup princess," He greeted her as she walked to the counter.

Estrella smiled back and engulfed him a huge hug, making him step back a bit as he hugged her back.

"Wassup with you?" Fez asked with a small laugh as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I just missed youuuu," She half lied. She did miss him.

But she had been worried about him ever since her encounter with Nate a few hours ago. She was worried for Fezco even though she was doing what she needed to to keep him safe.

So hugging him was extremely comforting. Plus, his hugs were the best.

Fezco smiled down at her as she glanced up at him, "I missed you too mama," he said before leaning down to give her a kiss.

"Is Ash in the back?" She asked after pulling away and holding up the gift bag she had brought with her. "I brought the PSP," She whispered.

Fez laughed and nodded, "Yeah he in the back, and he doin his homework too."

"So proud," Estrella smiled and broke her hug with Fezco to go into Ashtray's cooler, Fez following behind her. "Hiiiiii!"

"What the fuck you want," Ashtray said while he graphed a decimal on a graph.

"Ash," Fezco kissed his teeth at him. He had been trying to get him to be nicer to Estrella, and while he was a little nicer, some of his words still came off as mean.

Estrella didn't take it that way though. She knew that he loved her deep down. Or not so deep. He was super sweet sometimes.

"I brought you somethingggg," Estrella excitedly said and placed the gift bag on top of his paper.

Ashtray furrowed his eyebrows at the bag before glancing up at Estrella and Fezco.

"Open it," She urged and nudged his arm, making him drop his pencil to open the bag, hoping it was the PSP.

Ashtray took out all the tissue paper, his face lighting up once he saw the device and all the games for it underneath it.

He took it out of the bag and took a good look at it, making Estrella nervously glance at Fezco, only to quickly look back at Ashtray once she felt him pull her into a hug.

"Thank you," He mumbled as she happily hugged him back.

"You earned it," She told him and laughed, cherishing the moment as she couldn't even remember the last time they had hugged without her initiating it.

Estrella glanced at Fezco again and smiled, only to find him smiling at the sight in front of him.

He fell in love with Estrella a little more every time she interacted with his little brother.

—$—

Since there weren't many people going into the store that day, Fezco left Ashtray in charge for a few hours and took Estrella to the nail salon like he promised.

Fez waited in his car for a little over an hour while Estrella got her nails done, passing his time by watching funny videos on Instagram and selling weed out of his car since a few of his regulars had been hanging out in the shopping plaza that Estrella's favorite nail salon was located in.

He was sealing another blunt he just rolled to smoke later when he noticed Estrella finally getting up out of her seat through the salon's glass windows, watching as she gave the nail tech the $100 bill he had given her before she went in.

Fez insisted on paying for her new set since he had broken her nail, but he would've paid either way, he was spoiling her a lot lately.

He knew she was spoiled all her life, he was trying (and succeeding) to live up to the expectations that Estrella probably had set because of her dad.

Literally any chance he got, there Fezco was, spoiling and spending his money on his princess.

And since he was paying, Estrella let him pick the color she would get.

Estrella walked out of the salon after collecting her change and quickly got into Fez's car.

"You wanna see?"

"Yeah I wanna see," Fez nodded and held his hand out, having Estrella place her's in his so he could see her new set of tapered square shaped glittery purple french tips–he had picked purple.

She smiled as he stared down at them, nodding his head in approval, "Aren't they pretty as fuck?"

"Not as pretty as the girl who got them," Fezco nodded and met eyes with Estrella's, laughing a little, which revealed the little gap between his two front teeth that she found adorable.

Fezco pressed a kiss onto one of her fingers, making her lean closer to him to give him a real kiss.

"I like them though ma."

"Me tooooo," Estrella said as she grabbed her phone from her pocket to take a picture. "Thank you for them."

"It ain't nothin," Fezco told her before starting his car.

Estrella snapped a picture of her nails, her phone dinging due to receiving a text.

iMessage–Fuck Nate.
818-***-****

iMessage–Fuck Nate.
This is my burner phone number

iMessage–Fuck Nate.
Call me whenever you can tonight

"Damn who hittin yo line like that?" Fezco asked with a laugh after hearing three continous dings.

"Maddy," Estrella lied.

"She do all that multiple texts shit like you?" Fezco laughed, recalling how his phone continuously dings when Estrella texts him because she likes to send her texts in different messages.

She claims it adds more character to what she says. And though it doesn't really make sense, it does add more character.

"Yeah," Estrella mumbled as she read the texts Nate sent.

iMessage–Fuck Nate.
But make sure you're alone.