Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
chapter one
chapter two
chapter three
chapter four
chapter five
chapter six
chapter seven
chapter eight
chapter nine
chapter ten
chapter eleven
chapter twelve
chapter thirteen
chapter fourteen
chapter fifteen
chapter sixteen
A Letter to You, the Reader
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Unbreakable Love
Yesenia Vargas
Copyright © 2013 Yesenia Vargas
All rights reserved.
ISBN:
ISBN-13:
Cover by B Designs
Proofread by the Eclectic Editor
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and the punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
To my daughter, the light of my life.
chapter one
“Come on, Ariana,” Mayra said over the phone. “Just ask him. You never know. Maybe he’ll let you go to the party.”
Even Mayra, Ariana’s best friend, didn’t sound very hopeful.
“My dad is never gonna let me go. He won’t even let me stay alone at home when he goes to the store with my mom. Can you believe it? I’m almost seventeen years old, and I have to go everywhere with them. It’s so embarrassing. I mean, what do they think is going to happen? That I’ll be suddenly kidnapped while they run to the store for tortillas?”
Mayra giggled. “At least your parents are actually awake when they’re home.” Ariana knew Mayra hardly saw her mom, but she still wished her parents were like Maryra’s.
“But no. They’ll let Jimmy stay here by himself all the time. Just because he’s a guy. I bet they would let him go to the quinceanera.” Suddenly, Ariana felt a little jealous of her brother, even though she knew it wasn’t Jimmy’s fault. She moved the phone to her other ear.
Ariana had wanted to go to Regina’s special fifteenth birthday party more than anything. Everyone was going to be there. Plus, she had already told practically everybody at school that she would be there, making this bad situation even worse.
“Too bad Jimmy probably wouldn’t go with you, even if you asked. He’s such a loner. He better learn to talk more if he wants to make friends in high school this year. Or get girls.”
“Please. You should see him. He’s a magnet or something. The girls come to him whether he wants them to or not.”
“Come on, Ariana. The party starts in a few hours. Ask your dad,” she urged. “I know. Why don’t you tell Jimmy to ask for permission? He can ask for both of you. I bet your parents will let you go if he goes.”
Ariana thought for a second. She sighed. It was now or never. She knew she should have asked her parents at least a few days ago. But she had been too nervous, knowing they would immediately tell her no. She was way too young to be going somewhere by herself, at least according to them. But maybe if she caught them in a good mood, they would let her go for a few hours with Jimmy.
Whether she was going to be at the biggest party of the year depended on a lot of different factors, and she didn’t like that. The odds were against her. But she had to try.
“Okay. Let me go talk to Jimmy, and we’ll ask my mom and dad together. I’ll call you back in about twenty minutes.”
“Yes! Okay, try to not to take too long. I’m gonna go change.”
“I’ll try not to. Thanks for the added pressure, Mayra. That’s so typical of you.”
Mayra laughed, brushing off Ariana’s sarcasm.
“I can’t believe you got Luis to pick you up.”
“He needed someone to go with,” Mayra said. Ariana could practically see her friend smiling.
“Okay, gotta go,” Ariana said.
“Okay, call me back. Bye.”
Ariana placed her cell phone on her desk and thought about how she was going to do this.
She got up from her desk chair and walked over to her bedroom door. It was slightly ajar. The house was quiet except for the sound of the television coming from Jimmy’s room next door. All she could hear was screaming and gunshots. Vile. She rolled her eyes but left her room and walked down the hall.
She knocked on his door and went right in.
“Hey, it’s me,” she said. She was in luck—he had been decent enough to put on gym shorts today. He didn’t have a shirt on, though. He was stretched out on his mattress, and his feet almost reached the footboard on his tiny bed. “What are you doing?”
Jimmy didn’t turn to look at her, too engrossed in his movie. He grunted in response.
“Hello…” She walked in front of the television, knowing he would be annoyed.
“Move! It’s getting to the good part!” he said, sitting up and throwing a pillow.
She sat on the corner of his bed before he got mad and pushed her out of his room. “So you doing anything later?” she asked. He stretched out again.
“Nah. Why? You want something?” His eyes were still glued to the screen.
“Well, I had this idea. I don’t know if you want to help a sister out,” she said, making designs with her fingers on the sheets but glancing at Jimmy out of the corner of her eye.
“What is it?” Jimmy asked, sounding bored. Now there was the sound of a chainsaw coming from the television. Ariana hated gruesome movies, but she couldn’t help sneaking a peak at the screen. Some lady was screaming her head off as a maniac killer went at her face with a chainsaw while she was strapped down to a chair. It reminded her of going to the dentist. She grimaced and turned away.
“Anyway,” she said. Jimmy was staring at the screen, a smile slowly forming on his face as the screams got even wilder. “I want to go to this party later. But I need your help.”
“What do you need me for? Just go ask Mom and Dad,” he said.
“You know they’re not going to let me go.”
“Sure they will. They’d love to accompany you anywhere you want to go.” He smirked in her direction.
“Ugh. You can’t be serious. I cannot go to the biggest party of the year with my parents. Come on, Jimmy. You have to help me. If you ask if we can go together, they will probably let us go. Please, pretty please? Your big sister needs you.” She knelt on her knees by the bed as if she were praying. She put her hands together and looked at him.
He finally looked at her.
“You’re that desperate to go to that dumb party?” he asked. His mouth was slightly open. “Why do you and Mayra care so much what people think about you? It’s not like you’re going to spend the rest of your life with those people. You’re only gonna be with them for two more years. Less. Then you’ll never see them again.” He turned back to the television. He started flipping through the channels.
Ariana sighed. This was going to be harder tha
n she’d thought.
She stood up and crossed her arms. “Okay. What’s it gonna cost me?” she asked, rolling her eyes.
“Now you’re talking,” Jimmy said, putting down the remote to pull the back of his gym shorts down a little to scratch his butt.
“Dude, gross!”
“What? This is my room. I can do whatever I want,” he said, using the same hand to grab the remote again and continue surfing.
“Come on. Are you gonna help me or not?” she asked. She was getting impatient. The party was going to start soon, and she hadn’t even chosen something to wear.
Jimmy turned off the television and thought for a moment.
“Get me a date with Mayra,” he said, finally.
“Are you serious?” She stared at him, willing herself not laugh.
“I’m serious, all right?” He looked at her, waiting to see if she would accept his conditions.
“I didn’t know you liked Mayra,” she said.
“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. It’s none of your business, really.”
“What makes you think Mom and Dad will even let you go out with her?” she asked.
“Who says they have to know?”
Ariana shook her head.
“Well, if I do convince Mayra to go out with you, and believe me, I don’t even know if she will, then you have to promise to treat her right. She is my best friend,” she said.
“Let’s just say you don’t have to worry about that, big sister.” He smiled.
Ariana was older by a year and a half, but sometimes it seemed like they were twins. This was one of those times, even if Jimmy was being difficult. Even if one had to give first in order to get.
“Okay, whatever. Go ask Mom and Dad, then,” she said, impatient.
“Watch and learn from the master.”
***
Jimmy got up from the bed and walked out of the room. Ariana followed him down the hall and to the right, where the living room was. He got his flip flops from the mat near the front door, slipped them on, and walked out the front door. She smiled a little because he didn’t even care who saw him without a shirt. Maybe he was doing it for Mayra. She lived down the street, and perhaps she was waiting for a sign.
Nonetheless, she followed him outside, grabbing her flip flops as well.
It was a nice day out. It was fall, but it was still sunny, with the perfect breeze where you didn’t need a jacket and weren’t sweating either. She looked towards Mayra’s house. She wasn’t outside or at her window after all.
Jimmy headed toward the side of the house, where the shed was. Her father had built it. He was always working on some sort of project in there. Jimmy went inside, but she hung back. If she went in, she might ruin things, but she could hear the conversation from outside.
She could hear her mom in there too. Ariana's stomach had a few butterflies. She really hoped she would be at that party in a couple of hours.
“What are you guys doing?” she heard Jimmy ask.
“Just organizing some tools.” Ariana heard the clang of metal being moved around.
“Hey, Pa, Chuy and Ryan invited me to this party later. Do you think I could go?” he said.
“What kind of party?” her mom asked suspiciously.
“Just some quince from this girl at school. It’s his cousin, that’s why he wants me to go. He needs a friend so he won’t be bored. And he said they could use some help afterwards cleaning up.”
“I don’t know, hijo. You’re a little young to be going to those parties alone,” their dad said. She could hear him moving some stuff around in the shed.
“You don’t have to worry, Pa,” he said. “All of Chuy’s family will be there. You guys know them. Besides, you can drop me off. And if you want, I can get Ariana to go with me. We can take care of each other. She probably wants to go too because Mayra will be there.”
“Hmm.” Her dad didn’t sound convinced.
“Maybe we could go as a family,” her mother suggested.
Ariana covered her hand with her mouth to stifle a gasp.
Going to that quince with her parents would be twice as bad as not going. She was starting to regret this idea.
Arian heard Jimmy stammer a bit before going on. “It’s okay, Ma. You and Dad don’t have to do that. You guys need some personal time.”
Ariana rolled her eyes but smiled.
“Why don’t you guys get ready, we’ll get ready, and you can drop us off and go out to a nice dinner. And you can just call if you want to check up on us.”
There was silence. They were thinking about it. At least they hadn’t immediately shot down his idea.
“Going out to dinner would be nice, viejo,” she heard her mom say. She even used her special nickname for him.
Her dad sighed. “Okay, I guess. You kids are growing up too fast. I don’t like this idea of you two going to a party by yourselves. When we were your age, things were different.”
Ariana rolled her eyes. There was a pause.
“We will drop you off and pick you up,” she heard her dad say. “But I better not be hearing anything about detention or failing grades. Or Ariana dancing with everybody there.”
“Thanks, Pa. Don’t worry. I’ll go tell Ariana.” He left the shed.
She smiled at him as he approached and reached up to give him a big hug. She ran inside to call Mayra.
***
About an hour later, Ariana and her family were about to head out the door. She smoothed down her dress one more time as she walked into the living room.
“You look really nice,” her mom said with a smile. Her mom was dressed up too. Ariana’s dad was standing next to her, but he just crossed his arms and stared at her. She knew he wouldn’t like the cutout in the back of the purple dress, even if the front was completely cleavage-free. He muttered something about “never be acceptable in my day” but didn’t say anything directly to her.
Jimmy walked out of his room and joined them. He had used a ton of hair gel to make his hair look messy, and he was wearing dark wash jeans and a fitted dress shirt. Of course her dad didn’t have anything to say about him.
They headed to the car.
On the way to the party, she tried to strike up some conversation.
“Hey, dad. Are you guys watching the Mexico versus Panama game next week?”
“What, Ariana?” Her dad was trying to listen to what her mom was saying. She looked at Jimmy, but he was texting someone.
“My Puerto Rican friend keeps telling me how great that Chinese restaurant is. Maybe we should go there,” her mom said.
Ariana gave up and just stared out the window.
She texted Mayra when they were five minutes away. She looked at her phone before putting it up. Jimmy and Ariana had begged the whole summer for cell phones, and her parents had finally caved when Jimmy and Ariana had said that the phones were all they wanted for their birthdays, even though Jimmy’s birthday wasn’t until in the spring.
Ariana hadn’t mentioned anything to her friend about having to go out with Jimmy as a payment for obtaining permission to go to the party. Ariana kept that information to herself, deciding she’d tell Mayra at the right time—most definitely not tonight.
Ariana thought again about the deal she’d made, imagining Jimmy and Mayra going out. She decided to push that thought out of her mind as she looked at Jimmy and envisioned him and Mayra holding hands or kissing.
“What?” Jimmy asked, turning towards her and seeing the slightly disgusted look on her face.
“Oh, nothing,” she said quickly, turning back to the window. It was sprinkling rain. She watched a few drops hit her window and stick.
Jimmy gave her a look like she was the dumbest person in the world. She smiled.
Her parents parked outside the salon where the party was being hosted. They were kind of late, but that was okay. That meant the party was just getting started.
“You don’t have to pull up all the way at the front. There’s
too much traffic. Just drop us off here, Dad,” Ariana said, reaching over his seat to look at him.
Some teenage boys she barely knew passed the car; they were dressed in tuxes and yelling and laughing loudly. Her dad gave a disapproving look like he wanted to roll down the window and tell them to stop.
“Okay, Pa. You guys have a good time. We’ll call you when the party’s over and we’ve helped clean up so you can come get us. Have fun.”
“But not too much fun. We’ll probably pick you up before then,” their mom said.
Jimmy patted their dad’s shoulder and winked. He stared back, and their mom smiled and shook her head.
Her dad went back to staring at the boys who were going through the front doors of the salon. There were disco lights and loud music coming from inside. There was even a beefy-looking security guard, maybe to keep fights from breaking out.
Her parents looked like they were regretting their decision to let them go.
“Maybe we should all just go watch a movie. Spend some family time together,” her mom said before they could get out.
Jimmy spoke up. He knew what was at stake. “It’s okay, Mom. You and Dad have a romantic night together. You guys need it. Don’t worry about us. I’ll take good care of Ariana.”
He opened the car door and got out.
Her dad rolled down the window and their mom smiled from inside. Ariana also got out. “We’ll be fine. Promise,” she said.
“Okay. Call us if you need anything. You know, if the party gets too wild and you don’t feel safe, just call and we’ll come and get you right away,” her mom said.
Ariana smiled. “We will, Mom. Bye.”
“Don’t drink or do drugs. Even if your friends pressure you!” she said as their dad rolled up the window.
After a few more doubtful seconds, they finally drove off.
“Ugh. Finally,” she said, heading inside. Jimmy fell back. She stopped and turned to look at him, impatient to get inside and meet Mayra.
Unbreakable Love Page 1
