“That was fast. He must really like you,” Mayra said.
“You think so?” She bit the inside of her lip to keep herself from breaking out into a smile.
“Yes! You are so pretty. You just don’t know it. And you don’t take advantage of it. If you wore a little more makeup sometimes, I don’t know, updated your wardrobe…”
Ariana scoffed.
“Kidding. It’s all about your attitude, about how much confidence you have in yourself. If you think, ‘I’m hot,’ you start acting like you’re hot. Then you will be hot,” she said. “Like today, you got a ton of compliments. You just seemed different. Do that every day, and Carlos will be fighting a dozen guys to get you. And I haven’t even started on your personality.”
Maybe Mayra was right. Maybe with a little effort, she could really be as confident as Mayra, who was so grown up even though she was technically younger. Maybe then her parents would let her have more freedom.
“So you gonna accept his friend request or what?” she asked.
“You don’t think it’s too soon?” she asked, the mouse hovering over the accept button.
“Of course not! That’s for the first phone call or text,” she said. “And that’ll be coming soon enough.”
Ariana pushed her shoulder playfully and clicked on accept.
“Just don’t message him or anything. He has to make the move now,” she said.
She nodded, a little nervous but excited at this new thing that had started in her life.
***
A couple of days had passed, and Ariana wondered when Carlos would text her. They were now friends on Facebook, but there hadn’t been any contact there either. She had seen him a few times in school, but they always been walking in opposite directions to class with only enough time to smile at each other.
She was stretched out on her bed. Her math homework was laid out in front of her. She had gotten one problem done, but she couldn’t seem to stay focused. It had taken her twenty minutes to do just that one. At this rate, she would be done four hours from now. She knew enough math to figure that out. She checked her phone one more time even though it the volume was all the way up. Nothing.
She put it down and continued working. She was finishing her second problem, now completely engrossed, when she got a text message.
Hey, Cinderella.
It was Carlos. She smiled and seriously thought of jumping on her bed but settled for thrashing her legs. She started texting back. Wait, she thought. Was there a rule to texting guys? Was she supposed to wait a certain amount of time? Probably. She should have asked Mayra. Oh well. A minute would have to do.
Hey, Prince Charming :)
She tried going back to her math, but her eyes kept wandering back to her phone screen until it lit up again.
;) What are you up to?
She thought about how to respond. Should be she be honest and say she was doing homework? What would he think of that? She wished she sounded cooler but shrugged and texted back.
Math. My fave. NOT.
She smiled, hoping that was witty enough.
Maybe you could tutor me sometime because I HATE math.
Her mind started fantasizing what it would be like to tutor Carlos. One on one. She imagined a super hot make out session with him, math books forgotten as he put his hands on her waist and pulled her close—
Someone barged into her room. It was her mom, with a neat pile of folded laundry. Her screen was black. Good. She went back to math, pretending to focus.
“Qué haces?” What was she doing?
“Matemáticas.” Her mind went blank as her mom hovered after setting the clothes down on the bed.
“Héchale ganas.” Try her best? Of course she was. After she got done talking to Carlos.
“Si, mamá.” Her mom left the room after patting her on the shoulder.
She picked up her phone. Where was she? Oh yeah. Texting a hot guy who was into her. She still couldn’t believe it. She thought of his smile, his perfect white teeth, and the pencil he always had behind his ear.
She thought she should be a little mysterious.
Maybe ;)
A few minutes later, when she was finally on her third problem, she got another text.
It was Mayra. She had to admit she was disappointed.
What page are those math problems on??
She sighed and replied. Of course Mayra didn’t know what the math homework was.
Another text. From Carlos.
What are you doing this weekend?
He wanted to know what she was doing this weekend. Was he about to ask her out somewhere? Not that she’d be allowed to go. She wasn’t even allowed out with Mayra. She hated the thought of having to say no to him. He might think that she’s not interested.
She thought for a moment.
No plans.
She wondered what he would say now.
She was on her seventh trig problem by the time her phone notified her of another text. She had started to get worried. Maybe he had been working up courage again. She relived that moment in her head before looking at the text. It was Mayra.
HELP. Math is killing me!
“Oh, Mayra,” she said as she called her.
Throughout their over-the-phone tutoring session, she checked her phone religiously for texts from Carlos. But none came.
After Mayra finally knew what she was doing in math, Ariana decided she needed some tutoring herself. She made sure she wasn’t being too loud and checked that her door was still closed.
“Mayra, you’ve dated guys and stuff. You know more than me. So you gotta help me out here.”
“What’s up?”
“Me and Carlos were texting today before I called you, but he didn’t text back anymore. What the heck does that mean?”
“What were you guys talking about?”
“Well, the last thing that he asked me was what my plans for the weekend were. I said none yet. Then he never replied.”
Silence.
“Hello?” She checked the screen. Mayra hadn’t hung up.
“Hm.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Could be that something came up and he never got a chance to reply. Maybe he somehow took it as a hint that you’re not interested. Maybe he’s thinking of the right way to ask you out. I don’t know. Just give it some time. Who knows? Maybe he wants to ask you in person.”
“Yeah. You’re right. I’m not going to get my hopes up, though.” Her voice faltered at the end. Not how it was supposed to sound.
“Don’t start that, Ariana. Just wait. You’ll see soon enough that this guy adores you.”
Ariana tried to believe that, but it was hard to do when she didn’t get a reply from Carlos for the rest of the night.
***
The next day, Mayra and Ariana met up and walked down the hallway to their next class. There were students walking around and chatting as they headed to their classes after lunch. One guy ran through the hallway, almost knocking Ariana down.
“Watch it!” shouted Mayra.
“Sorry!” came the yell from around the corner. The guy was long gone.
“What I was about to say before I was almost knocked over was that you make it sound like we’re already a couple or something.” She shook her head but forced her smile back on her face.
“You practically are! This is the beginning of something beautiful. Ariana's first real actual, breathing boyfriend…” She stared off into space as she said it.
“Oh my gosh… Don’t ever say that out loud. Like ever again.” They reached their lockers and began spinning the dials. Mayra opened hers first. They put books in and took books out.
“He is so into you.” Mayra smiled, practically jumping up and down. It seemed that neither of them could believe this was actually happening. But nothing is happening, she thought.
She stared at Mayra, her smile gone.
“You really think so?” She noticed her breathing, in and o
ut, in and out.
Mayra hugged her. “Ariana, you are an awesome girl! Look at you.” She twirled her around. “You’re a catch, girl. Any guy would be lucky to have you. And I guarantee you that Carlos is heads over heels for you. I can tell.”
They smiled.
“Thanks,” said Ariana. They walked to class.
“Have you seen him today?”
“A couple of times, but from far away. He smiled at me, but that was it.”
“Hm.” They walked into health class and took their seats. “Maybe he’s just waiting for the right moment. Where he can get you all to himself,” Mayra said, lifting her eyebrows and smiling.
“Yeah. Never.” School would have to be where Carlos would see her if he wanted to see her. “You know my parents would never let me see him or any other guy outside of school.”
“You’re going to get your license soon, though, right? Maybe you’ll find opportunities to see him once you can drive.”
Ariana thought about that. It was a possibility. She’d have to think of a way to get her parents to let her go out on her own. Something school-related. There were still almost two months before her seventeenth birthday, when she’d be able to get her full driver’s license. Some of her friends were already driving around. She’d had her permit for almost two years now, but she only drove with her parents.
“So what about you?” she asked Mayra. “How are things coming along with that guy?”
Mayra winked. “Good. He asked me out, but I haven’t replied yet. Making him wait.” The bell rang, and one last person walked in.
As the coach went to the front of the class and talked about the neurological consequences of drinking as a teenager, Ariana imagined her life after getting her license. After high school and in college.
She pictured herself meeting up with Carlos or having him pick her up at her apartment (she liked the sound of that) for a date. Getting home whenever she wanted. If she wanted.
As she pretended to take notes along with everyone else, she realized her first step would be to get a car.
***
Ariana was walking by herself to her science class that day, glad that she had at least gotten a good grade on her math homework, when she heard a voice behind her.
“Hey, Cinderella.”
She stopped walking but didn’t turn around. She felt someone behind her. A hand on her elbow. A gentle tug. She turned around. There he was. The perfect white smile, perhaps not as bright today. But the pencil was still there behind his ear. Carlos shifted his books to his other arm.
“Hi,” she said.
“Where you headed?” he asked.
“Biology.”
“Mind if I walk you?”
No one had ever walked her to class. Then, Mayra’s voice was in her head: He is so into you.
She sure hoped so, because she was into him. Their arms brushed each other as they maneuvered their way toward the science wing of their high school.
“Sorry I never got back to you the other night. Something came up that I had to take care of.”
“Everything okay?” She looked at him as they walked together.
“Yeah. A buddy needed something was all. By the time I got home, though, it was really late, and I didn’t want to wake you up.”
“It’s okay.”
She looked at him. They were in the science wing. They stopped.
“What class are you going to?”
“Art.” He smiled sheepishly.
“Carlos! That’s across campus!”
“I know.” He kept smiling. “I just couldn’t pass up the chance to walk you to class. I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me or something.”
“I’m not mad. Why would I be mad? Promise,” she said. Maybe she was a little sad. But that was long gone now. “You’re going to be late because of me. You should be mad at me.”
“Nah. How could I be mad at you?”
He was so sweet. She wished she could kiss him.
“Get to class, Prince Charming,” she said softly.
“Yes, Cinderella. But I’ll see ya later, okay?”
She nodded. He reached over to her and tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Bye.” He started walking away.
“Bye.”
She walked into biology, still in a daze. She took her seat in the second row and got out her notebook and pencil.
She realized Carlos still hadn’t asked her out, but then another thought came to her. Maybe he had just been asking about her plans for the weekend, and she’d read way too much into his question. But he had also walked her to class and touched her hair. That had to mean something.
“Ariana, are you getting these notes?” Mrs. Hutchinson asked, giving her the look.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said. She scrambled to write down every insanely long sentence on the slide before the teacher went on to the next one.
This was her least favorite class. No Mayra. Hardly anyone she knew. No cool teacher. Mrs. Hutchinson was one of the least popular teachers in the school.
But she didn’t have time to mentally complain as Mrs. Hutchinson took them through slide after slide for over an hour. The one thing that had made it better was the fact that she had seen Carlos. She itched to tell Mayra what had happened.
***
Ariana walked into math. She hugged her books to her chest, a little nervous because she had added some soft curls into her hair and done her makeup.
She kept her head down and went to the third row where she and Mayra always sat.
“Hey, Ariana.”
She stopped and looked behind her. It was Juan.
“You look really nice,” he said with a smile.
“Thanks.” There was a huge smile on her face, and she decided to keep walking to her seat.
She set her things down and looked at the worksheet on her desk. There were at least twenty math problems.
Mayra took a seat next to her and looked at her with raised eyebrows. She looked at Juan and then at her.
“He’s just being nice. You know Juan,” she said as she wrote her name on the math worksheet.
“Yeah, but he’s right, you know.” Mayra winked. “Somebody’s spending extra time getting ready in the mornings,” Mayra whispered as the teacher walked past.
“Maybe a few extra minutes.” More like forty-five minutes, she thought. She’d straightened her hair before curling it and applied eyeliner and lip gloss.
The bell rang, and the teacher shut the door. Everyone got quiet except for some whispers.
“Pick a partner and work on these problems.” The teacher headed to his desk.
Mayra scooted her desk towards her and began writing her name on her worksheet.
“So did you and Carlos talk last night?”
“Just texting.”
“What’d you guys talk about?”
“Just asking each other stuff. Getting to know each other.” Ariana stared at her notes and then glanced at the first equation, chewing her pencil.
***
After classes were over, Ariana and Mayra were headed to the school bus as usual when Mayra suddenly gasped.
Ariana had been so deep in thought—she was a little disappointed that she hadn’t seen Carlos after all—that she didn’t realize at first what was the matter. She turned to where Mayra was looking and felt her stomach sink.
It as Carlos. At his usual spot. Talking to a couple of guys and leaning on his car. His arms were crossed and he laughed at something. Ariana couldn’t help but smile.
It was then that Carlos turned in her direction. Had he seen her?
“Go over there! What are you waiting for?” Mayra said.
“What? No way!” She started heading in the opposite direction, towards the bus, even though her legs wanted to go to where Carlos was.
“Ariana, go!” Her tone had changed to serious. She was pretty sure she had a few minutes before the buses left, but she couldn’t get her legs to move. What the heck wo
uld she say to him? She had to leave.
She turned to look at him one last time. He turned in her direction again. Their eyes met. He smiled. She smiled back without realizing it. He was waving.
“He saw you! Wave back, wave back!” Mayra whispered.
She turned to her friend.
“Mayra,” she said slowly. “Shut up.”
Mayra’s mouth fell open as Ariana waved back, smiled, and began to walk over to Carlos. Mayra caught up.
In all honesty, Ariana had no idea what she was doing. She was halfway through the parking lot when she heard the buses turn on.
Ariana turned around, and her mouth fell open. She had never missed the school bus before in her life. Now, the buses were pulling out of the school parking lot, and she was not on the bus.
As the parking lot emptied, she suddenly had a bad feeling in her stomach. Her parents would kill her if they found out about this. Her pace slowed down as she realized this, and the smile disappeared from her face. But she had no choice now but to keep walking up to Carlos.
What had she just done? She couldn’t take it back. What was done was done. Jimmy would wonder where she was.
She kept her gaze on Carlos but whispered to Mayra. “Crap, Mayra. I can’t do this.”
“We’re fine,” she whispered back quickly.
If her parents found out she had missed the bus because she was talking to a guy, they would flip. She would be grounded for life, forever mopping floors and washing dishes.
She would be worse off than the real Cinderella. At least she had a fairy godmother. She only had Mayra. Mayra, who was crazy and outspoken and daring. Who did things without thinking. But never seems to get in trouble, she thought.
She looked at Mayra, who stared right back. “What are you waiting for? We’re not gonna catch the bus now. We’ll figure it out. Maybe he can give us a ride home.”
And with that, Mayra trudged on ahead to where Carlos was standing.
Carlos looked a bit confused and began walking over to them.
Unbreakable Love Page 4
