I still couldn't believe it. Olivia died. On her birthday. One minute we were all happy and dancing and the next my friend was dead. Ruby had been struggling since that day. The Prophets were still around. They weren't going to be leaving my brothers or the rest of the Santos' alone. Especially me. There was a memorial outside of Ruby's house for Olivia. I was currently at home with Spooky. "It's not safe here, mana." Oscar said to me and I looked at him.

"When else am I meant to go?" I asked him and he looked at me. I had nowhere.

"I don't know. Somewhere safer than here." He said to me and I looked at him. I couldn't go to Jamal's we had a fight. He wasn't there when it was Olivia's party.

"Look, I'm going out. I'll be back later." I said to him. I was going to Ruby's. We were going to be having a send off for her.

"Stay safe and keep out of trouble." He said to me and I looked at him. I'd try to but danger always kept coming my way.

"I'll try but who knows." I said to him and he gave me a smile before I left. Since that day I always felt like someone was watching me. My every move. It was dark as well so that put the levels up even higher. So I took a detour. I saw that Jamal was coming out of his house.

"Y/n, I thought we were meant to be at Ruby's." He said to me and I looked at him.

"We are but I didn't want to be alone. Besides we need to talk anyways." I said to him and he looked at me. I could tell that he was confused by all of this.

"I guess we do." He said to me and I looked at him as we walked down the street.

"Where were you that night? And don't try and come up with an excuse or change the subject." I said to him and he sighed as we walked.

"I didn't want to say anything until later on." He said to me and I stopped walking.

"Just spit it out." I said to him he stopped in front of me.

"I was looking for the roller world money. And I found it." He said to me and I put my hand to my head. I then started walking.

"You put that money before your friends. That was the one night that you needed to be there as well." I said to him and I kept walking.

"I wanted to prove that that money was real. I'm sorry I didn't go to the party." He said to me and I looked back at him.

"It's not just about the party." I said to him. Walking alway. I knew he'd be behind me. When we made it to Ruby's there was a random pregnant white girl here as well. I shortly found out she was Mario's girlfriend and that was his doing. We all sat at the table and looked at her as she slurped on her super big gulp from 7-Eleven.

"I'm so sorry about your recent loss. My heart goes out to all of you. And as a beneficiary of white privilege, these kinds of tragedies are, like, foreign to me. So on behalf of my people, I am sorry for keeping your people down." She said and that's when I got closer to Jasmine.

"This gringa is crazy." I said to her and she leaned in closer to me.

"I completely agree with you on that." She said said to me and that's when I looked back at Mrs. Martinez.

"Okay, um, thank you, Amber. We- -We appreciate that." Mrs. Martinez said to her. Out of every person Mario could've picked. It was this one.

"Mama, this all looks amazing." Amber said and that's when we all gasped. She did not just say that. Cesar was really missing out.

"Jamal, can you pass the bread?" Mario asked him and that's when Jamal went into a frenzy.

"What bread? I don't have any bread." He said and he was really spiraling.

"I know you don't, but can you pass it?" Mario asked him and that's when Jamal picked the bread up and passed it to Mario.

"Why are you so jumpy?" Jasmine asked and I looked at her.

"It's a long story." I said to her, she was thankfully sat in the middle of Jamal and I.

"I'm not hiding anything." Jamal said to her buy he was hiding something from all of us.

"I didn't say that you were." Jasmine said to him

"Good. Because I'm not. I'm not hiding anything hidden or found or finding anything found or hidden. I'm living my best life out in the open. I have no secrets." Jamal said and that's when Jasmine looked at me. The boy was crazy.

"I do. And I feel like I should clear my conscience since we're about to come into the new year, and, uh, I'm about to be the mother to a 'whitina.'" Amber said and I visible felt my jaw drop. She did not just say 'whitina'.

"A what?" Abuelita asked that's Jasmine and I looked at Amber.

"A white Latina." Jasmine and I said at the same time.

"Okay, so there were not a lot of POC in my high school, which is really a shame, because there's a lot to learn when you just break down those cultural barriers. Anyway, I can't believe this part of my personal history, but- -" Amber started and all I wanted to do was leave. This girl was ignorant.

"Babe, right now is probably not the best time- -" Mario started before Ruby covered his mouth with his working hand.

"Continue." Ruby said to her with a smile.

"Gracias. So, I had this friend and he was Latino. Or Hispanic. Which one is it? Whatever. It doesn't matter. It's all the same, right, babe? Anyway, we called him 'Ockie', and I thought it was just short for 'octopus,' because he had an extra finger, but it wasn't about the finger. It was because every time a teacher took roll, he'd go, 'Aquí!'" She said and that's when all of our jaws dropped again. "The finger was just a coincidence. Is that effed-up?" She asked before scoffing. Mrs. Martinez looked like she was about to blow.

"Mario?" She said to him and he hummed in response. "Can you help me in the kitchen, please?" She asked him and he was done. We then got left at the table. Shortly after they left to the kitchen. Jasmine joined. Followed by Ruby then Amber herself. That's when the door went.

"I wonder who that is?" Jamal asked and I looked at him.

"Could be my brother. He's not here." I said to them and that's when Monse looked at me.

"If it is then he went to talk to Oscar first." Monse said to me and she must've started walking with him. They were staying together. Once dinner was over Jasmine and I went to talk with Amber. Get more intel on her.

"Ah! So tell us, what does it feel like? Like you have an alien in your belly?" Jasmine asked and we all started laughing together.

"At least it's not like Alien where it'll dig it's way out." I said and we started laughing again.

"Actually, we don't care how it feels. I've been working this family a long time. She's known for long she practically is family. So don't think your little baby trap is gonna get you in tighter than us." Jasmine said and I looked at Amber.

"Because trust me, we will always be tighter in this family." I said to her and that's when Amber sat up and got closer towards us.

"Listen, putas. Don't come at me. I got a brick in my bag." She said and that's when Jasmine and I shared a look with each other.

"Damn, bitch! That's my line!" Jasmine said and I looked at her.

"Who knew you both had the same line." I said to them with a smile.

"Game recognize game. Is that how you say it?" She asked us and she needed to stop the questions.

"Next time, Sony undercut yourself. If you don't know it, don't show it." Jasmine said to her and that was good advice.

"Say it with confidence, not with doubt." I said to her and she nodded at the two of us.

"Noted." She said to us both.

"Okay. Okay, we can work with what you got. So, tell us. If you squeeze them titties hard enough, does milk come out?" Jas said to her and I started laughing. Me and Jasmine had gotten a lot closer since that night. I was thankful for that.

"I don't know." She said to us and I take it she hadn't tried that yet.

"You're a gringa, so it's like soy, almond, or some good shit like that." Jasmine said to her and that was true.

"Maybe even coconut if your luck." I said and that made me want some coconut milk.

"Good point." Amber said to us.

"Are you gonna eat the placenta? I heard about this girl who turned it into a powder..." Jasmine said before we continued on with our conversation. We still had a few hours to go before Midnight.

"I'm gonna go talk with Jamal." I said to Jasmine and she looked at me.

"That's a good idea. You two really need to talk." She said to me and I saw Jamal heading into the kitchen. I heard him talking with Abuelita so I waited for them to finish.

"Jamal, we need to talk." I said to him and that's when he looked at me. He knew we had to at some point.

"¡Todos! It's almost midnight." Mr. Martinez said and I looked at Jamal.

"Guess we'll talk next year." He said to me and we walked into the main area.

"I wanna say something really quick before the new year rings in." Ruby said to us all and I stood beside Jamal.

"You got 30 seconds." Mr. Martinez said to him.

"Okay. Um...I know you're worried that I'm just fronting and putting on a good face, but I'm not. No, I'm not a victim. I'm a survivor." Ruby said to us and that was a good way to see it.

"Yeah!" Jasmine said to him.

"And I don't want to live the rest of my life in fear or with regret, 'cause it's a choice. And every day we can choose to focus on our gifts instead of our misfortunes. We can choose to...to turn our worst tragedies into our greatest blessings, and we can choose to love instead of hate. By the way, shout-out to whoever brought that pie. Tonight, I want to look to my future and not my past. Tonight, I want to make every second count 'cause tonight I'm alive and okay." Ruby said and we all started to cheer. That was one hell of a speech.

"Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!" We all shouted before we had the firecrackers going off. We all then started to cheer apart from Ruby. He went outside. I followed him.

"Ruby. You okay?" I asked him and he went over to the memorial. He was crying. "I know. That must've brought back a lot. Come here." I said to him and I wrapped him in a hug. That he accepted.

"I'm not okay. It should've never been her." He said to me and I then saw Cesar appear.

"It should've been me." Cesar said and it should've been no one.

"I'll leave you guys to talk." I said to them and I walked back in. I could hear Cesar crying behind me. I didn't know what to say but they needed to talk. I then got the others so we could all pay respect to Olivia.

"Olivia...I'll never forget your kindness." Cesar said to the picture of her.

"Your encouragement and support." Jamal said to her.

"Your willingness to see the good in people." I said to her a sad smile.

"Your beautiful heart." Ruby said and he started sobbing again.

"And your unconditional friendship. You're the second and one of the only girlfriends I've ever had. And...until I met you, I never knew what I was missing." Monse said and I side hugged her. We then saw Ruby put a present for her on the ground. "You should unwrap it." She said to him and Ruby looked at us.

"Yeah?" Ruby asked us and I looked at him.

"Yeah." We all said to him and that's when Ruby gave it to Jamal to open. It was a dictionary. Spanish to English. We then started to laugh other than Ruby.

"What? What's so funny?" Ruby asked him and it was something that Olivia needed.

"Oh my gosh, Ruby." Monse said to him with a smile.

"It's practical." I said with a smile.

"What?" He asked us.

"That is a terrible birthday gift." Monse said with a smile.

"Why? What's so terrible about trying to better someone's skill set?" Ruby asked and it was definitely something she needed. Her Spanish was not very good.

"I'm with Ruby. The girl was many things, definitely not a linguist." Jamal said with a smile. She needed a lot of help with that.

"Yeah, she once called horchata..." Cesar said and I looked at him with a smile.

"'Horacha.' Wasn't just once." Monse said and I remembered that time well.

"I miss her." Ruby said and we all did a group hug. I missed her as well.

"Guys, I've been hiding something." Jamal said to us and I knew what would be revealed from him.

"Me too. I've got nowhere to go." Cesar said and I take it that Oscar wouldn't let him home.

"You said that your brother was- -" Monse started before Cesar cut her off.

"No, I lied. I'm...dead to him." Cesar said and I didn't know that's how it was going down.

"But not to me. We'll figure it out. I promise." Monse said before she kissed him. "Oh, right. This happened. We've been hiding this too." Monse said and I looked at Jamal.

"Jamal and I were hiding too. Although we're rocky for now." I said and that's when everyone looked at us. I saw Jamal look at me with a small smile. Love instead of hate right.

"Anyways, as I was saying before y'all interrupted me- -" Jamal started and he was then cut off by Ruby.

"Well, I've been high...all night." Ruby said and I looked at him with a smile. I could tell.

"Are you kidding me! Are you...kidding...me? I'm literally trying to tell you guys something! Something important! Something monumental! Something that could probably- -No, scratch that. Positively will...positively change your lives! And y'all keep interrupting me...like some dumb comedy run! What is wrong with you people?!" Jamal shouted at us all and we just looked at him.

"Okay! Tell us." Ruby said and that's when Jamal shook his jacket.

"No. I'm done." He said to us and I think he was being serious.

"We'll shut up." Monse said to him.

"You don't deserve to know." Jamal said and we all knew he'd tell us eventually.

"Please." Cesar said to him and he straightened up.

"Fine. I found the RollerWorld money." He said to us and that's when we all followed him home. And there it was in his closet. The money. "You know what? I don't know why I'm being so quick on the draw. I think an apology's in order." Jamal said to us and I looked at him shaking my head.

"Why?" I asked him and he looked at me.

"For what?" Monse asked him. At least I wasn't the only one confused.

"For what? For all of my mistreatment. I'm tired of being an afterthought. For once, I'd like to be a 'before-thought.' Or just a thought. Not one of you has ever said you're sorry for the shit you've said to me. Y/n, I'll let you off for reasons." He said and I guess I was getting a special perk.

"We're sorry." Ruby said to him.

"Can we see the money now?" Monse asked him and he wasn't liking that.

"Seriously? That's all you got?" Jamal asked them and it looked like it.

"What do you want us to say?" Cesar asked him and whatever it was. We knew wouldn't happen.

"How about, 'Jamal was right'?" Jamal asked them and that's when they started moving their mouths with no sound. "No, you can't just move your mouths. You gotta say it." He said to them and I might as well join in.

"'Jamal was right.'" We all said together.

"Jamal is not the biggest, fakest liar ever." He said and that was something else for us to say.

"'Jamal is not the biggest, fakest liar ever.'" We all repeated back to him.

"Jamal is the real glue...of our crew." He said to us, how much longer was he going to do this for.

"'Jamal is the real glue of our crew.'" We all said to him.

"Jamal's big mouth is not as big...as Jamal's big- -" He started and that's when we all looked at him.

"I'm not gonna say that." Monse said and I looked at her.

"I'm not either." I said to him. He then pointed at his head.

"...big intuition." Jamal said and it wasn't what we thought it was.

"Look, we get it. You're the man." Ruby said to him and Jamal looked at him.

"Thank you. We can proceed. So. Now. Ladies and gentlemen...without further ado, I present you with..." Jamal said before he started to scream. "The money is gone!" He shouted. That was just great. Clearly it wasn't in a safe spot.