july, twenty-twelve.

"AT THE END OF AUGUST, you, Oscar and Dominique attended a school field trip to Las Vegas, is that right, Miss Bishop?" Mathew asked, walking slowly up to me as I sat at the podium once again.

I nodded, "Yes, that's right."

"And can you tell the court what happened at this field trip?" Samuel prompted.

I thought about it for a moment. So much happened. So much I couldn't say. "I would say that's where Oscar and I first began our relationship," I fessed up. "Romantic relationship, I mean."

"Can you explain what that means?" Samuel asked.

"We kissed."

"And that's all you did?"

"Yes," I answered, honestly. "That's it."

Samuel nodded, a small smile on his lips. He flipped through his notepad, settling on a page before looking back up at me. "During this trip you guys stayed at the Grand Isle Motel located just a few minutes outside of the city, correct?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's the one. It was right off the highway."

"There's a front desk worker and tenant there that goes by the name Jesse McCormick," he said and I froze. I could see Dominique and Oscar slightly tense just as I did. Samuel held up a photo of him. "Does he look familiar to you?"

"Um, yeah," I nodded. "He was working the night we got there. He lived on the same floor that Dominique and I stayed on."

"Funny," Samuel noted, bringing the picture down. "How would you know that, Delilah?"

Oh, fuck.

"I-I saw him go in the second night we were there," I tried to save. "When Oscar and I were by the pool."

"Hm, interesting. Well, how would you describe this man?" Samuel asked.

"He seemed a bit weird," I answered, honestly. "Kind of dorky. The dungeons and dragons type, if you know what I mean. But he was nice."

"He ever seem a bit jumpy at times?" Samuel questioned.

"Well," I paused, thinking about it for a moment, "Now that you mention it, yeah, a bit."

"I'm not surprised," Samuel chuckled, "Most men dealing in the work of counterfeit government documents tend to act that way. Jesse had a record for selling and distributing counterfeit bills, IDs, social security numbers and birth certificates out of his room. Did you know that, Delilah?"

"Oh my God," I feigned surprise, shaking my head. "No, I had no idea. The most I ever talked to him was when he switched out Dominique and I's room key. He had given our teacher the wrong one."

Samuel eyed me suspiciously, but nodded. "I see. And what time of night was this?"

"Around twenty minutes after we arrived that night," I recalled. "Maybe a bit after ten?"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

( a game of constellations.)

august, twenty-eleven.

      "SO, HOW MANY PEOPLE DO you guys think have died here?" Dominique questioned, looking around the barely lit motel.

      Our whole class stood in the parking lot, separated by small friend groups as we waited for Mr. Davidson to return with our room keys and assignments.

      "At least fifty," Oscar replied, surveying the building along with Dominique. "I'm guessing mostly by suicide."

      Dominique and I looked at him, eyebrows raised. He looked over at us and shrugged. "What? It's in the statistics. Most people who check into motels are going through it like divorces and shit. They get hella sad and wanna off themselves."

      "Damn," Dominique said, turning back to the building. "Sucks for them. But how many people you think got like... murdered, murdered?"

       "I don't know," Oscar answered, honestly. "I bet most of them were affairs gone wrong, though. Like a man cheating on his wife and the other woman is in love with him and threatens to tell and then the guy loses it and suffocates her with a pillow and leaves her body in the tub for the cleaning lady to find. Or something more crazy like some pedophile getting a naive little girl to meet him here and shit goes south. Or maybe-"

      I hold my hands up, shaking my head with my eyes squeezed shut to try and block out the pictures Oscar made enter my mind. "Okay, okay, no more, please!" I opened my eyes and looked up at him. "I actually want to be able to sleep tonight, thanks."

      Oscar and Dominique began laughing at me and I crossed my arms, trying to ignore them as Mr. Davidson finally walked up from the direction of the check in office. "Okay kids, I got the keys and my list of assignments!"

      Everyone formed a half circle in front of him as he began listing off names and handing out keys. "Oscar and Joey, you two will be in 247. Here's your key."

      Oscar walked up to grab the key before returning next to me. Mr. Davidson made it down his entire list before he got to Dominique and I. "And last by not least, Dominique and Delilah, you guys will be in 232." He held out the last key and Dominique went and grabbed it.

      "Tomorrow will be our first day and it's gonna be long. We'll meet at this same spot by the bus at 7:30 then head down the street to the diner for breakfast before heading into the city to start our tour. Be here on time or you get left behind and you lose the points for the day, therefore making your grade go down and you don't want that, so just be out here when you're supposed to be." Everyone nodded and he smiled. "Great. I'll be in 115 if any of you need me, but I'm begging you, please don't need me. Good night."

      Mr. Davidson turned away from us and headed to his room along with everyone else who grabbed their luggage and made way to their rooms. Dominique, Oscar and I headed to the stairs, our suitcases and bags on our shoulders and in our hands.

      "I can't believe this place doesn't have an elevator," Dominique complained, a grunt escaping her lips every time she tugged her giant suitcase up one step.

      "There's only two floors, Dominique," I stated dryly, following behind Oscar while trying not to leave her too far behind.

      "More than one floor requires an elevator," she said, another grunt as she moved up one step.

      I rolled my eyes and shook my head, patiently waiting on her to finish getting up the stairs. Oscar was long gone to his room by the time she made it to the top, sweaty and out of breath.

      "For someone who has sex in a supply closet every morning, you're very out of shape," I noted, beginning towards our room.

      "Shut up," she managed out between her heavy breathing.

      I laughed, stopping when we reached our door. I put the key in and went to twist it, but it didn't turn. I frowned and tried again and again and nothing.

      "It's not working," I said, jiggling the key in the lock hoping it would magically click into place.

      Dominique squinted her eyes and stared at the key closely before groaning. She gestured at it, annoyed. "Because he gave us the wrong damn key. It says 233 not 232."

      "What?" I held up the key and looked at the plastic tag attached that definitely read 233 in bold numbers. I sighed. "We have to go down to the office and switch it out."

      "I am not lugging this thing back down the stairs," she declared, quickly.

      "Just leave it here. No one is out and I'm pretty sure the only people staying here is our class." I began walking back to the stairs, grabbing Dominique's arm as I pulled her with me. We walked back downstairs and walked to the front office, the bright light emitting from the large glass windows. I pulled the door open, letting Dominique enter before I followed behind her. The door closed softly behind us and we looked around the overly colorful lobby for any sign of life, but no one was around.

      "Where's the worker?" I asked, trying my best to peak around the hallway behind the desk.

      "I don't know, but it looks like a teletubby puked in here," Dominique criticized, surveying the bright rainbow walls and yellow furniture with her nosed turned up.

      "Wait, do you hear that?" I said, ignoring her previous statement. She quieted down and listened, the sound of a man's voice echoing from a back room.

      "Look man, I'm not arguing with you about my prices... No,  I don't do that shit man. If that's what you want I got a guy you can call, but I can't help you... Okay, I get off work in an hour meet me at my room and we can get started."

      The guy emerged from the back. He was around my height, chubby with bright red hair and thick rimmed glasses. I could see freckles on his face before disappeared behind the counter as he held his phone to his ear, not even noticing us.

      "Alright, bring it in cash... I'm looking now... Yeah, your file is still here... Okay, bye."

      His phone landed on top of the counter with a clash before he rose up a few second later, his back turned to us and a yellow file divider in his hand. He began sifting through it, still not noticing Dominique and I. Dominique gave me an 'are you serious' look and I shrugged, shaking my head. She rolled her eyes, turning back to the guy.

      "Hey, homeboy!"

      The guy's soul practically jumped out of his body, all the papers in the file going flying as he finally turned to us. His pale face turned red quickly, almost matching his hair.

      "I'm not guilty!" he yelled in defense, his hands going up in the air.

      "I don't know what you're talking about and I don't really care. My friend and I need to exchange our key," Dominique stated.  "You gave us the wrong one."

      He slowly put his hands down, looking us suspiciously. "Wh-What? Is this some kind of game you're playing?"

      "No, we're in 232 and you gave us 233," I said, tossing the key to him.

      He caught it, looking down at it before it all clicked. "Oh, you two are with the school!"

      "Yeah, now can we get the right key?" Dominique asked, impatiently.

      "Oh, oh yeah!" he smiled, much more relaxed now. "Just give me a second."

      He walked over to the back wall where multiple keys hung up on hooks. He put the key on the one labeled 233 and grabbed the key under 232. He passed it to Dominique who took it from him quickly.

      "Thanks," she grumbled, heading towards the door.

       "Thank you," I smiled, nicely.

      A gross smirk slipped on his lips and he leaned against the counter in a way I think was supposed to be seductive. "Maybe you could, uh, give me your number as a thank you."

      I couldn't help but laugh as Dominique shook her head, quickly grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the lobby. "Nah bro, her boyfriend crazy. He'll kill you. He be on that gang shit."

      I could see the smirk instantly dropped off his face through the window as Dominique pushed me in the direction of the room, following behind me without looking back at him.

      "Dominique, what the hell," I laughed, as we walked back towards the stairs.

      "White men cannot be trusted, Delilah," she shook her head. "Especially ones like that. He looks like an incel. He'd probably be the one to kill you in this bitch."

      "Well, just so you know Andre isn't technically my boyfriend yet," I said, relishing in the fact it wasn't completely official until I got back home.

      "I wasn't talking about Andre," she replied, taking the lead as she ran up the steps to the room and leaving me behind.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

the next afternoon.

      I loved Los Angeles. It was my home and I had never in my seventeen years of life ever left it. I knew the world was bigger than LA, but I don't think it ever registered completely until this trip. Looking around at all the lights and buildings and people, it was similar to LA, but it was so different. I was sure my eyes were huge as I tried taking it all in, Mr. Davidson's voice in the background as we walked down the strip.

      "America was built on capitalism and it's what it continues to stand on," he lectured. He was turned towards us, walking backwards as we followed him. Although, I doubt people were paying much attention. Everyone was too focused on taking pictures and videos and posting it. "One of the biggest money magnets in this country is Las Vegas itself. All the money spent in the country flows into the US commerce system to then be distributing and spent all over again. Plenty of people come here just to spend and win money - hence all the casinos around. It's where people go to get rich, but most of them end up poorer than they were when they came. Don't be those people."

      "Fuck dude, I can't wait until I'm twenty-one and can play the slots," Dominique sighed, sadly from next to me. Oscar and I looked over at her.

      "Did you not just hear him?" I asked, incredulously. "You'll just end up losing all your money. I read the slots are fixed anyway so like one-in-three thousand ever win."

      "You're such a Debbie downer," she complained.

      "It's called being realistic."

      "Well, I still wanna play the slots when I turn twenty-one."

      "Why wait 'til you're twenty-one?" Oscar questioned and Dominique and I looked over at him.

      "Maybe because you gotta be twenty-one to even get inside the door," Dominique said in a 'duh' tone.

      "Not if you got a fake ID."

      "You have a fake ID?" I asked.

      He shrugged, "Depends who's asking me."

      Dominique scoffed. "Of course the gang leader has a fake ID."

      "I'm not the leader," he corrected, defensively. It became quiet among us as we stopped with the group while Mr. Davidson began lecturing about one of the buildings we were in front of. I looked between the two of them as they both listened to Mr. Davidson. Or at least pretended they were listening.

      I noticed Oscar move his tongue over his front top teeth, his mouth still shut. It was something that Oscar did when he was upset, I came to learn. Among many other things about him. Like how he loved dancing bachata or how when he smiled his left dimple was deeper than his right. I learned he could sing - like really well (I also learned that hearing him sing was my favorite way to fall asleep). I learned he played cops and robbers with Cesar whenever Cesar asked.

      I learned he had nightmares about not returning home to Cesar - about not returning home to me. I also learned through a conversation one night after Oscar had a little bit too much to drink at a party and he was being more honest than he normally would ever be that he never wanted to be a leader. He just wanted to provide for his brother and for him to do that it meant becoming something he never wanted to be. It meant turning into someone dangerous.

      Admittedly, that was something I knew before his drunken confession. Looking at him now with his slit eyes and clenched jaw it was obvious. And even more so later when he would change the conversation almost immediately after giving me an emotionless and quick answer whenever I even brought the topic up.

      I had called him out on it once. Asked him why he never wanted to speak about it with me. Why he always changed the topic by asking me questions. Even told him that I wanted to listen to what he had to say - that I cared. In response all he told me was, "I just like hearing you talk, Little Bird." I wanted to say that couldn't be all there was to it, but he gave me this smile, the kind where his left dimple got so deep and his eyes sparkled and the thought instantly left my mind.

      Oscar quickly learned that looking at me like that made me lose my train of thought. And he definitely used it to advantage in countless situations.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

that night.

      Hours later, my legs were officially made of jello and I was beyond grateful to be collapsing on the firm and creaky bed as Dominique clicked the light between our bed on.

      She fell back on her mattress, her thick twists spilling over the edge of the bed as she stared at the ceiling. "I love Las Vegas. If weed was legal here, I would move here in a heartbeat."

      "Move to Colorado. It's legal there."

      "Bitch, I'm not moving to fucking Colorado."

     I started laughing as Dominique's phone began ringing. She fished it out of her pocket, a smile forming on her face as she looked at the caller ID. She quickly pressed the accept button and brought the phone to her ear. "Mariana, baby, how are you?... I wish I was there with you, too."

      Unlike most people, I knew when I wasn't needed in a room and quickly got the hint to find somewhere else to be. I walked over to my suitcase and picked out my swimsuit, going in the bathroom to change into the one piece. I grabbed my pile of old clothes and set them on my bed, grabbing my towel and quietly sliding out of the hotel room as Dominique continued speaking to Mariana, not paying me any attention.

      I walked down the corridor until I reached Oscar's room. I knocked on the door and waited a few moments until it opened, a shirtless Oscar appearing. "Delilah, what's up?"

      "Are you busy?" I asked.

      "I'm on the phone."

      "Oh."

      "Why?"

      "Oh, uh, I just wanted a pool buddy," I responded, a smile forming on my face once more as I waved him off, trying to hide my embarrassment.

      "Oh."

      "If you get done with your phone call soon, I'll still be down there. Just join me if you feel like it."

      I didn't give him the chance to respond before walking away towards the staircase that led to the pool. I heard his door close when I got a few steps away and rolled my eyes at myself. "Real smooth, Delilah."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

thirty minutes later.

      The pool was deserted, giving me the perfect opportunity to enjoy it's peace. I floated aimlessly on the top of the water, looking up at the stars. It felt like there was so many more of them here than back in Freeridge.

      I was in the middle of trying to find constellations when a loud scream broke me out of my trance followed by a giant splash next to me, scaring me into standing straight. I watched as Oscar rose from the bottom, breaking the surface. A giant smile formed on my face as I splashed water at him.

      "You jerk!" I exclaimed, earning a laugh from him. "You interrupted my peace."

      "I like making big entrances," he shrugged.

      "Yeah, I noticed," I said, getting another laugh from him.

      There wasn't much light besides the built in lights that lit up the water in the pool and the moonlight from above. The moving water moved across our skin gracefully as we floated in the water across from each other.

      "Is everything okay back home?" I asked, remembering his statement from earlier.

      "I don't really wanna talk about back home," he said.

      "Okay," I nodded. "What do you want to talk about, then?"

      "Anything else, really."

      I was sure something had happened, but I didn't to pressure him further. So, I let it go. "Okay," I shrugged. "Can you float?"

      "Can I what?" he asked, confused.

     "Float." I leaned on my back, letting the water lift me up to show him. "Like this."

      He tried doing what I did, but failed when the water brought him down. I laughed and shook my head, getting back on my feet. "You're thinking too much about it. You have to let the water carry you. You're too stiff."

      "First, I have a flat ass and now I'm stiff, any other ways you want to insult me?" Oscar joked and I shook my head.

      "Not at the moment, no. But I am not a psychic, so the future is a mystery."

      "You're lucky I don't have any good insults for you," he declared.

      "Because I'm perfect," I said, feigning vanity.

      "What they say is true is then," he said.

      "And what do they say?"

     "That you're perfect."

     "I'm not," I shake my head. "I don't think anyone is."

      "I think you're pretty close."

      I looked him in his eyes that were sparkling in the moonlight. The eye contact was too much for me to take, so I had to break it with a chuckle. "Can we-Can we just float?"

      "I can't float, but I'll hold you up, how about that? Make sure you don't sink," he offered, holding his hands palm up.

      I slowly nodded. "Okay."

      I tipped back on my back, letting Oscar slide his arms under my back to hold me up. I was aware I didn't need his assistance to float and I know he knew I didn't need it either, but we both let it happen because he could tell something was wrong with me and he didn't know any other way to comfort me. And truthfully, I just wanted to be held.

      It was silent for a long time, both of us just looking up at the stars until Oscar spoke, his eyes still on the sky. "You're upset." My eyes flickered to his face, his eyes soon looking down at me. "What's wrong?"

      I asked him later how he knew something was wrong with me that night. He told me that when I'm upset I get really quiet which is unusual because I love talking. It turned out he was learning a lot about me just as I was him even so early in our relationship.

      "You don't want to talk about home."

      "I'll make an exception for you," he smiled down at me and a small smile slipped on my lips.

      I laid there silent for a few seconds more before I said, "I don't want to be with Andre."

      "Then don't be with him."

      Joanna's face popped into my mind. "I have to. I have to say yes."

      "You don't have to do anything, Delilah. If you only remember one thing for the rest of your life, remember that," he told me. "You don't let these people boss you around, make you into something you're not. All people want is to bend you and mold you into what they want you to be. Don't let them."

      "Is that what they're doing to you?" I asked, softly.

      He didn't answer me - looked back up at the stars instead and pointed, "I think that's the big dipper."

      His dodging of the question was answer enough for me, so I let it go. We made a game of finding constellations instead. Although, the game kind of went South when we realized just how little of the constellations we actually knew, but we didn't want to stop playing. We didn't want our night to end, so we made up our own constellations instead.

      "That one kind of looks like a fish!" I pointed out at the made up constellation.

      "Let's name it," he said.

      "I had a fish when I was little. Her name was Cleopatra."

      "Alright then, Cleopatra it is," he laughed, causing me to laugh at little me's odd choice of names.

       "That one kind of looks like a bird," he pointed out.

      "Did you ever have a pet bird we can steal a name from?" I asked and he shook his head.

      "Nah, no bird. Besides the injured ones Cesar tries to bring home sometimes."

      "What?" I laughed. "No way."

      "Yeah, he really wants a pet. He cries his little eyes out everytime I make him release it back outside."

      "Aw, poor Cesar. Maybe I should bring him a pet bird one day."

      "Please, don't," he begged.

      "What the fuck are you guys doing?"

      Both of us snapped our necks towards Dominique who was standing at the edge of the pool.

      "We're naming constellations! Wanna join?" I asked, getting back on my feet and looking at her.

      "No," she answered, simply. "I want to play a game."

      "What game?" Oscar questioned.

      "Come on guys, we can't come to Las Vegas without playing poker!" she exclaimed, pulling a box of playing cards from behind her back and holding it up. "And look what I found in the room!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

      "Full house!" I exclaimed, setting my cards down on the table and pulling the pile of betted money towards me.

      It wasn't much, just fifteen dollars that was going to be returned to everyone as soon as the game was over since we weren't playing seriously, but regardless I was happy to win... again.

      "Dude, what the fuck?" Dominique groaned, throwing her cards down.

      "I only had a pair," Oscar sighed.

      "This is the sixth time in a row. How are you so fucking good at this?" Dominique questioned as I stacked the fifteen dollars on the other fifty I had 'won' previously.

      I shrugged. "I used to play with my dad when I was little all the time. He taught me all the card games. I guess I just got good at it."

      "Good is an understatement," Oscar shook his head. "You haven't lost once."

      Truth is, every time I played against my father I always lost. He was the king of poker (and every other card game, really). It's all the Prophet$ seemed to do in their free time. Card games and rolling dice on the street was their favorite pass time. I just caught on after awhile.

      It was the same with Joanna. Although, she was way better at bluffing than me, but compared to Dominique and Oscar who seemed to have limited experience in the game it probably seemed as if I was an expert.

      "Well, poker is a luck game mostly," I reminded them.

      "And a lying game which surprisingly you're really good at," Dominique pointed out.

      "Practice, I suppose."

      "And practice makes an expert," Oscar added.

      I chuckled, shaking my head. "I'm no expert, trust me. I used to say the same thing about my Dad, but OG told me that everything above amateur looked like expertise to a beginner."

       "I'm not a beginner," Dominique stated.

       "Me neither. I play this shit all the time at my house and you more talented than of them idiots I play with. I think it's more than luck with you," Oscar said.

       "What are you trying to say?"

      "That if you took this shit foreal you could win some big money," he replied, simply, sitting back in his chair, his eyes on me.

      "What? Like an online poker room or something?" I chuckled, not taking them seriously.

      Dominique and Oscar exchanged a look before looking back at me, smirks on their faces. "Why play in online poker when there's hundreds of casinos less than ten miles away?" Dominique hinted.

       "Yeah, hundreds of casinos we can't get into," I reminded.

       "With one of these you can," Oscar said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of rectangular plastic. He held it up and I recognized it as a fake ID. It was a picture of him, but the name read Antonio Ramirez.

       "What? No, you guys are crazy," I shook my head. "It's whatever playing with you guys and family, but a real casino? No way."

       "Oh, come on, Delilah!" Dominique pleaded. "Just this once. We're in fucking Las Vegas! And you got a talent. It's like a match made in heaven."

       "She's right," Oscar butted in, my eyes flickering to him now. He looked at me, cool and calm as if he and she weren't telling me to commit a felony. "When the hell are you gonna come back here? Probably never. It's a one time opportunity."

       I sat for a moment, thinking it over. It was unbelievable I was even listening to them. "I mean, even if I wanted to, which I am not saying I do," I emphasized to them, both of them just giving me a knowing smile in return, "I don't even have a fake ID to get in."

       "That guy from the front desk the other night. He was sketchy. I bet he would know where we could get something like that," Dominique recalled.

       "I wouldn't doubt it," Oscar stated. "He works a fucking motel in Las Vegas. He probably comes across this kind of shit all the time."

       "We talk to him tomorrow, then. Then on our last night we go back into the city and get filthy rich," Dominique smiled, evilly.

       "Delilah, you in?" Oscar asked, noticing me being uneasy about it.

       I knew it was crazy and unsafe and probably the stupidest idea we could have come up with being here. But sitting there with their eyes on me, looking at me like I was their last hope I couldn't say anything but, "Yeah, I'm in."

       They celebrated, Dominique running over to hug me and kiss my cheek repeatedly. Oscar stood up from his seat. "Okay, tomorrow night hunt the punk down and get him to make us our IDs. Tomorrow when we go back into the city we should try and scope out a casino. Probably do some research, too."

        I stood up and followed him to our door. "Sounds like a plan."

        He could tell I was still worried over it. So, when he opened the door he turned to me, looking me in the eyes. "It's going to be okay, Delilah. I promise."

       I gave him a small smile and a nod before bidding him goodbye and closing the door behind him. I turned back around to see Dominique standing there. "He's right. It'll be okay. Don't worry."

       They weren't wrong. Things were okay. For some time. Until they weren't. Until everything went to Hell. Looking back we were insanely stupid to think it wouldn't catch up to us. Everything always caught up to you eventually.

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇ author's note ⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

delilah about to commit whole felonies...... but its with oscar and domimique soooo its acceptable

do u guys think oscar is being a bad influence on delilah??

i only have like half this book outlined soo sorry for the slow updates im trying to not write too far into it so that if i wanna change something or add something i wont have to come back and edit chapters. but im working on getting it all planned out so faster updates soon?? hopefully???