Prologue
1595 Words
"Take a shot Bruno!" said a man sitting at the far end of the table.
Everyone at the long table became silent and stared at the boy sitting at the other end.
"He is scared, chicken!"
They all roared with laughter.
Bruno felt cornered by all the ten eyes staring at him waiting for an answer. Deep down, he was in regret for entering the brutal truth or dare. If his father knew he was at the infamous bar, La Reina, he would send a whole army to fetch him.
"Bruno." A boy sitting beside Bruno called.
They looked at each other for a brief moment.
"Dare." Bruno answered claiming that he wasn't just a rich kid from the prestigious neighbourhood of Beverly Hills. Like them, he also had some balls of courage.
They cheered, raised their beer mugs and toasted.
"Juan Pablo, give the boy a dare." A man said and winked.
Juan Pablo smiled. "Okay Anselmo."
He wandered his eyes around the bar filled with many drunkards, gang members and prostitutes. His eyes landed on a tall blonde woman sitting by the counter drinking tequila. He winked at her and she sent a flying kiss.
Juan Pablo pointed at her. "Make out with with her like you do with Blanca!" He laughed seeing Bruno about to vomit his heart out.
She was pretty but to Bruno's eyes, she was disgusting.
Bruno rocked his head sideways. "No Juan Pablo!" He looked at her again from head to toe. "Certainly not, she is below my status. She's a prostitute."
He wondered if his best friend was even serious or the alcohol got into him.
"What status? Come on man, it is just once. Blanca doesn't have to know." Juan Pablo tried to persuade him. "I mean look at her."
"No!" Bruno disagreed in fury.
"Is Blanca, Angel Altamira's daughter?" Anselmo asked pretending he didn't know.
Bruno nodded twice.
"Then I have a better one for you." Anselmo said. "I want you to leave your little girlfriend and date her twin for a period of three months. She's not a p********e and she's in your status."
"That's a good one." A guy sitting on Anselmo's right hand commented.
"That is unacceptable!" Bruno slammed the table and rose from his seat.
"Sit." Anselmo ordered placing a gun on the table and pointed it to Bruno. "This is downtown; we don't follow the rules of Beverly Hills. If you don't do it, here is a revolver with one bullet. Take your chance."
He rotated the gun in his index finger and stared at it with passion.
Juan Pablo encouraged Bruno. "You cannot do the Russian Roulette. It is lethal. Just do the dare."
Bruno pulled Juan Pablo closer and whispered. "I should have never come down here with you."
"No time for regrets, your life or your lover."
Bruno let go and stared deep into Anselmo's eyes. "I will do it."
"Shall we continue gentlemen?" Anselmo asked placing his gun back in a pocket.
The silence in the table broke, they cheered and drank beer.
Bruno folded his arms and reclined back on his seat. "You know, this isn't fair at all."
"What is not fair is your father demolishing our homes to build a shopping mall." Anselmo announced.
Bruno sat upright. "So this is your revenge. Leave me out of it and face Juan Karlos."
~~~***~~~
Blanca eagerly waited for the bell to go off to lunchtime. She sat on the desk covering her cheeks with her hands and stared at Mr Martin wondering if he didn't feel the heat wave. Blanca was agitated and just wanted him to stop teaching. It was way too hot to learn Physics, she grumbled.
Finally, the bell went off.
Blanca got up and took her vintage bag from the chair. It matched the pink sweatshirt and the grey swag pants she was wearing. She had long black hair; blue eyes; small perfectly shaped lips and a light Mexican skin. She was Hispanic, a math genius and the head cheerleader. Why wouldn't she be the head cheerleader with her perfect small hips? It was beauty with brains.
She sashayed down the hallway with her two friends or rather her little minions, Lola and Veronica, each on her side. They talked about what to wear for Prom. Everyone was head over hills. It was just a few months away.
Blanca hoped to be the next homecoming queen following her family tradition. Her elder sister was crowned; her mother was and even her grandmother! It would be evil of her if she didn't get the crown. Ever since middle school, her mates knew the crown would be given to her.
A group of guys walked towards them. The girls stopped. Blanca smiled at Bruno, her boyfriend, the captain of the soccer team and one of the hottest guys at Beverly Hills High.
"Please come with me." He said.
"Okay." Blanca agreed. "I will see you both later."
"You will find us at the gym. Bye Bruno." Lola said making a seductive pose to Bruno.
He ignored as always.
"Bye Bruno!" Veronica waved with her free hand as Lola pulled the other.
"I don't know why she always gets the good ones!" Lola complained silently making sure Veronica didn't hear her.
Blanca and Bruno turned back and walked down the hall. She wrapped her left arm around his waistline and dug her head on his shoulder. He put his hand around her neck.
They got to the locker room. Bruno told the guys to give them some space. They didn't resist as he was their captain. She turned and leaned to kiss him but he drifted his head away. He let go of her waist.
"What was that all about? Don't you want to kiss me?" Blanca asked staring into his eyes.
"I have something to tell you." Bruno said.
She motioned for him to speak.
"Blanca, we have been together ever since 9th grade. I loved you from the first time we saw each other at the gym and I will always-
She cut him. "I am confident about your love for me, so get to the point."
"Okay."
"Damn this is tough!" He hit the locker behind her. It was either his life or the Russian roulette.
"I want us to cut out for a while."
"I don't understand you Bruno."
"Let us break up for-
"ARE YOU NUTS?!" She shouted unfolding her arms and pushed him away. She sat on the bench and looked at him. She couldn't believe it.
"You say you love me but why are we breaking up?" She stood up and touched his face. "Is it my parents? Did you meet a new girl, better than me?"
"Calm down. It is far worse than that."
Blanca raised her hands, sighed and carelessly let them down. "Then tell me what it is Bruno?"
"I will only put you at risk. It is deadly."
"Do you even hear yourself Bruno? What did Juan Pablo show you this time?"
She thought Juan Pablo had a hand in it as always since he liked her.
Bruno touched her hands. "He has nothing to do with it. I assure you that by Prom we will be together."
She stared into his eyes with burning rage unbelieving his words.
-------
Bruno went to the soccer ground after his Math class and joined the squad in the warm-up session. He sat on the grass and did some sit-ups. It had been a week since he broke up with Blanca or talked with her. He wondered if Aurora spoke to Blanca about his proposal. No, he said, Blanca would have confronted him already. He looked at Blanca while she practiced her cartwheel. She was perfect, he thought.
Juan Pablo whistled at Bruno. He turned and checked what Juan Pablo was showing him. It was Aurora, Blanca's identical twin. They were duplicates of each other. Blue eyes, small lips... But she wasn't academically gifted like Blanca. She was average.
Aurora was passing by back to the school building. Bruno ran after her. He stopped when he saw Blanca wouldn't see him and called for Aurora to come.
"Hey, can we talk?"
"Well make it snappy, I have a class in ten."
"I won't take long." He touched her hands but she let go. "You still haven't answered me. I love you Aurora."
She laughed heavily in disbelief. "I overheard Blanca tell Lola that you both broke up because of some 'deadly' issue. So you didn't leave her because you love me."
"I had to lie to her. You know how she is. I didn't want her to come after you."
She looked into his eyes. He became nervous seeing how quiet she was. "What do you say Aurora?"
"But Bruno she is my sister, you know. We can't do such to her an-
"What about what I want to have in my life? I want you to be mine. I like you Aurora!"
"I like you too Bruno, but-
He kissed her to convince her.
"Blanca shouldn't find out about this."
"I don't care about Blanca, she won't hurt you." Bruno assured her. "Aurora, I care about you a lot."
She drifted away. "Bruno, look, I have to go. I don't want detention this weekend. You know how Mr Martin is!"
They laughed. She gave him a light kiss on his check.
"Bye Rita." Bruno said.
Her cheeks reddened seeing he had already come up with a nickname.
She walked away to Mr Martin's chemistry class.
- Writer
