Page 73 of Pride High 2: Orange

Omar returned his attention to the nightstand, even though he didn’t need to. Cameron could make a dopey-looking hat out of construction paper and Anthony would probably wear it around town while ranting about how great his boyfriend was. “He’s going to love it, man.”

“Really?” Cameron’s relief was transparent. “Thank goodness. Hey! I still need to add a finishing touch.” He opened the drawer and took out a stack of metal stencils. “Which one of these do you think he’d like most?”

Omar flipped through them. Animals were the theme. Most were easy to dismiss. Only a couple were cool. “This one,” he said, handing Cameron a stencil of a dragon. “Or the tiger or whatever the cat one is supposed to be. I guess that depends on the color of paint.”

“Stain,” Cameron murmured while eyeing the dragon doubtfully. He finally set it aside. “The big cat it is.”

He returned the stencils to the drawer before covering it all up with a sheet. They were walking toward the stage when a booming voice stopped Omar in his tracks.

“What areyoudoing here?”

Omar was already glaring when he turned around. Although he soon started laughing, because Diego’s hair was sticking up in all directions, and his face had been painted to resemble some sort of dog.

“Holy shit!” Omar said while shaking his head. “You look ridiculous!”

Although when Diego glared in response, ridiculous edged closer to scary. “At least I can wash it off,” he grumbled. “There’s nothing you can do aboutyourface.”

“Hey, I’m handsome,” Omar said, jerking a thumb at himself. “My mom tells me that all the time.”

Okay, so it wasn’t the best comeback. Diego didn’t seem to hear him anyway. He was glaring at Cameron now. “Figures that you two would be friends.”

“Figures that you still don’t have any,” Omar shot back.

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” They all turned as Ricky approached. The little traitor walked right up to Diego and stood at his side. “Is everything okay?”

Diego grunted. “I was just about to wipe the floor with Jafar here.”

“It’s Jafari,” Omar stressed. Ever since the stupidAladdinmovie had come out last month, people had been calling him that, which was probably racist. All he knew for sure is that it pissed him the fuck off. “You’d know that if you weren’t so dumb. How’s freshman year the second time around?”

Diego bristled, his hands clenching into fists.

“That’s enough!” Ricky said, stepping between them. “Be nice to each other!”

“Be nice tohim?” Diego growled.

“You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into,” Omar said to Ricky while shaking his head.

“I do,” Cameron interjected. “Why does it have to be this way? You used to be friends, right?”

“Whatever,” Omar said. At the exact same time as Diego, annoyingly enough. He crossed his arms and stared at the nearest wall.

“Mr. Gomez?” a voice shouted in the distance. “Donotkeep your audience waiting!”

“Ms. Deville sent me to find you,” Ricky said. “It’s your scene.”

“Fine.” Diego made sure to knock Omar with his shoulder as he brushed past him.

“Such a dick,” Omar grumbled.

“You werebothbeing dicks,” Ricky said before he chased after Diego.

He looked to Cameron for support but didn’t get it. Even though they should be on the same side. Judging from what Anthony had told him, Cameron knew how crazy Diego was. Who chased someone around a grocery store while knocking shit over?

“Can’t you guys bury the hatchet?” Cameron tried.

“Try askinghimto do that,” Omar said, nodding in the direction Diego had disappeared, “and you’ll end up with a hatchet in your back. Hasn’t Anthony told you about the worst summer ever?”

Cameron shook his head. “What happened?”