A few seconds later, Lucas stared at her, mouth still open. “What was that?”
I love you.
She caught the words before they came out of her mouth. She just stared at his eyes, wondering if he was thinking the same thing.
Lucas closed his eyes as he came in for one more kiss, although shorter. “I’ll call you later.”
Another kiss before he finally left, and she got into her car. She thought about her birthday coming up, and she realized Lucas was the best thing that had ever happened to her. The best gift. She couldn’t stand to lose him now.
chapter twelve
“Hey, just two and a half weeks left until your birthday,” Mayra said as they drove home, interrupting Ariana’s thoughts on last year. “Did you know that?”
They were driving home from school. Jimmy was at practice.
“It snuck up on me this year. I forgot all about it,” Ariana said. She focused on the road and tried not to think about last year’s birthday. It made her want to gag at everything that had happened.
“It’s your eighteenth birthday party. How could you forget it?” Mayra teased.
She shrugged.
“So are you doing anything?”
“I don’t know. I guess just a family dinner like last year. I don’t know if I feel like doing much.”
“We can go to my house again if you want. Rent some movies.” Mayra said while she looked at her phone.
Ariana wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard. It reminded her too much of Carlos.
Mayra glanced at her. “Or, hey. Let’s go out. Double date. Dinner and a movie.”
Ariana nodded and smiled at Mayra. “That sounds fun. We can still do the family dinner, just on a different day.”
“Yeah.” They turned into their subdivision. “So I wonder what Lucas is gonna get you for your birthday.” She drew out the first syllable.
She sighed. “I actually haven’t told him yet.”
“He doesn’t know your birthday is coming up? Didn’t he ask you when your birthday was?” Mayra asked.
“Don’t get all…” Ariana searched for the right word. “You sound like my mom when I don’t sort the laundry right.”
They laughed.
“Still! How does he not know? Don’t make me do something about this.” Mayra was dead serious now.
“I guess it just never came up. I’m gonna tell him.”
“When?” They were in her driveway now. Ariana put the car in park.
“I don’t know. Soon.”
Mayra stared, squinting her eyes a little.
“I will.” She put her hands on the steering wheel, trying not to look away.
“Oh, hey. You know what?” Mayra said out of nowhere.
Ariana couldn’t help it. She smiled. “What?”
“My mom said she might get me a car soon. She got a raise, and she’s been saving up. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Then I can finally get a job, and I’m gonna need a car for college anyway.”
“That’s great,” Ariana said. She didn’t mind at all giving Mayra rides, but she knew she’d much rather have her own car. She still remembered the feeling of not having the freedom to do anything or go anywhere on her own.
Mayra made to get out of the car, hooking her bag on her shoulder.
“Hey,” she said as a thought popped into her mind. “How’s it going with you and Jimmy? Have you guys decided on anything yet?”
Mayra looked out the window, leaving her arm on the bag handle. “Still just friends.” She was out of the car now, about to shut the door.
“Is that what you want, though?” She didn’t want to pry, but she also wanted to be there for them. The both of them.
“I have no idea. I really like him. It’s not that. I just don’t want to mess anything up.”
“You know I’ll always be your friend. No matter what,” she said. “Him too.”
“I know. I just,” she paused. “I don’t want to ever lose him. In any way.”
“Well, you’ll never what could happen if you don’t try.”
“That’s what sucks about the whole thing.”
“So the friend thing. Whose idea was that?” Ariana said.
Mayra sat back down. “Both of us. Mostly mine. He kinda wants to give it a shot. I’m still not a hundred percent sure, though.”
“Are you worried at all what people would say? You guys are almost two years apart.”
“Not really. It’s not that. There are a few couples like that at school, and come on. We’re about to go into real world. Age doesn’t really matter anymore.”
“True. And he’s sixteen now. Since last spring. Almost seventeen,” she said.
“Yep,” Mayra said. “We’ll see, I guess.”
Finally, Mayra went into her house.
###
“So Ariana’s birthday is next week,” Mayra told Lucas. They were in Spanish again. Ariana gawked, looking up from her Spanish verbs worksheet.
Lucas looked at her. He didn’t look like he was having fun. “Your birthday is next week?”
Now Mayra looked at her, wincing. “You haven’t told him?”
Now they were both staring at her. She put her pencil down. “Can you guys stop looking at me like that? It’s like I’m being cornered.” She glanced around. Maybe she’d said that a little too loud, especially since everyone was really quiet today. She saw a couple of people stare from the corner of her eye.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucas asked, reaching for her hand. But she grabbed her pencil and began working again.
“It never came up. I was going to tell you this afternoon. Until Mayra opened her mouth,” she whispered. She stared at Mayra.
“It’s in less than a week,” Mayra said, not whispering. “Of course I’m going to say something.”
Ariana just shook her head. “We need to finish this study guide. The test is tomorrow, remember?”
She heard Mayra sigh and get up. Less than a minute later, she had the bathroom pass and was headed out the door. She heard it click quietly. The other groups were talking lightly as they thumbed through the Spanish textbook looking for the answers. Mrs. R had clearly said that the test would not be a “walk in the park.” Ariana had an A in the class, but she wasn’t about to start slacking off now.
Lucas kept writing in silence along her. She snuck a glance at him, and he caught her eye. He didn’t look mad. Just serious.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked. It took her a few seconds to gather what he had just said, he had been so quiet.
She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal?” Now he was looking at her again, disbelieving.
She said what was on her mind before she chickened out. “It just brings back bad memories anyway.” She wrote down an answer for question eighteen, looking back from the book and to her paper.
“Of course it’s a big deal, Ariana. It’s your eighteenth birthday. And I wanted to know about it. I want to spend it with you.” There was a pause. “If that’s what you want.”
She breathed out. “Of course I want to spend it with you. I just don’t want it to be a big deal. Mayra said we could go out on a double date. Dinner and a movie.” She touched his hand. “Do you want to go with me?”
“Duh,” he said. They smiled.
“My mom will probably cook something that weekend too, so you’re invited.” She squeezed his hand.
“You’re gonna have birthdays the rest of your life, you know,” he said with a smile. “You can’t let one person ruin them all.”
She smiled as she looked at him.
They began working, but Lucas said something else. “So what do you want for your birthday?”
Ariana finished copying a definition then looked up. “I don’t want to sound cheesy or anything, but all I want for my birthday is you.”
“Okay, that was so cheesy,” Lucas laughed. “Seriously, though. I want to get you something.”
“Really. I
don’t want anything. I just…want to be with you.”
Lucas squeezed her hand. “That’s a given. But just so you know, you’re begging for a crazy gift.”
###
“Happy birthday, sis,” Jimmy gave her a big squeeze and lifted her effortlessly into the air. Their dad, who was watching an action movie on the couch, just laughed and shook his head. Ryan had just arrived, and he smiled but didn’t move. He had already given her an awkward hug.
She struggled to breathe. When Jimmy finally put her down, she hugged him back.
“Thanks,” she smiled. She fixed her purple floral dress and matching purple cardigan. Her parents had taken her shopping last weekend for her birthday, and she couldn’t wait for Lucas to see her in her new outfit.
She wandered into the kitchen, where her mom was making her favorite meal: enchiladas potosinas. She salivated just thinking of a huge plate of the tiny orange tacos right in front of her with a side of fajitas. Her mom was finishing up chopping lettuce and blending her homemade salsa. Any minute now, she’d start frying the tortillas for the enchiladas.
“Tienes hambre?” her mom asked.
“Starving,” she replied in Spanish. She leaned on the kitchen counter and observed her mom move about. She made a mental note to learn how to make enchiladas before she moved out. Or got married.
“What time is Lucas getting here?” her mom asked as she carried stuff to the dining table.
“A few minutes, probably,” she replied. They had gotten out of school for the weekend a couple of hours ago, but he had gone home to take a quick nap.
She walked back into the living room and sat down next to her dad. He put his arm around her neck and brought her close. She let herself lean on his shoulder. Jimmy and Ryan were on the other sofa.
“So how’s basketball going?” she asked.
“Good. Tryouts are next week. Ryan’s trying out again this year. I finally convinced him.” He put his feet up on the coffee table and put them back down again when their dad shot him a look.
“You’ll probably make it, right? Ryan too, I bet. ” she said.
“Hope so,” Ryan said. “I didn’t get to play much last year.”
“You will,” she said.
Ryan had gotten taller too, and now he was almost six feet. What are Jimmy and Ryan eating? she wondered. Oh yeah. Everything.
“That’s the plan.”
“You guys better come to all our games. First one’s next month,” Jimmy said.
“We’ll be there.”
“You too, Dad?” he asked.
“I’ll go to as many as I can,” he said. “But you’d better win. Or there’s no point in me going.” They laughed.
There was a knock at the door. Ariana jumped up to get it, hoping she didn’t trip in her new pair of high heels.
She opened the door. It was Mayra.
“Oh, hey.”
Mayra came in for a hug, shifting a present she carried to her side. “Happy birthday, best friend. How does it feel?”
“Honestly? Like any other day.” She put her hands at her side.
“Except now you can legally do whatever you want,” Mayra whispered with a grin on her face.
Ariana laughed. “There is that.” She glanced behind her, but her dad was distracted by the TV.
“This time next year, we’re going to be in college. Can you believe that?”
Ariana shook her head.
“Deciding our schedules. If we go to class or not. What time to go to bed. Whether to eat our vegetables.”
“Don’t get too crazy there, Mayra,” Ariana said.
“Oh, that’s just the PG stuff,” she replied with a wink. “Anyway, happy birthday, and here’s your present.”
Ariana took it and looked at it. “Should I open it now or wait?”
Mayra shrugged. “Up to you.”
“I’ll wait. Savor the surprise.”
Ariana stepped out of the way so Mayra could come inside. “It’s not much, but I hope you like it,” Mayra said, nodding at the present.
“I know I’ll love it.” She shut the front door but not before giving one last peek outside. No Lucas.
Mayra was wearing jeans, boots, and a nice top with a navy blue cardigan. She went over to the couch and shook Ariana’s dad’s hand then said hi to Jimmy and Ryan before heading into the kitchen to see what Ariana’s mom was up to. She saw Ryan elbow Jimmy in the ribs.
She followed Mayra, and the three of them chatted a bit before the doorbell rang just a few minutes later.
“Lucas,” Mayra said with a grin as Ariana went to go get the door.
“Hey,” he said after she opened the door. She went in for a quick kiss on the lips before inviting him in. He had a wrapped present in his hands. “This is for you. Happy birthday.” He gave her a long hug and only let go of her when Jimmy whistled from the living room. Ariana didn’t want to see the look on her dad’s face, so she kept her back to him and took the present.
“Thanks. I’ll open it later. I wonder what it is.” She looked at him for a clue, but he only winked and took her hand as they walked inside. This time, Lucas shook her dad’s hand.
“Hola. Como esta?” he greeted.
“Bien, bien,” her dad replied with hardly a glance.
Lucas gave Jimmy and Ryan some kind of secret bro handshake, and she maneuvered him into the kitchen to say hi to her mom and Mayra. Lucas shook her mom’s hand as her mom smiled.
“Como estas, Lucas?” she asked.
“Bien. Gracias,” he said.
He nodded at Mayra. “Hey.” Mayra just smiled and went back into the living room.
Ariana took Mayra’s present from the kitchen table and headed to her room. She dropped off Lucas with Jimmy.
“This is a great movie,” she heard him say as she walked down the hallway to her room.
She put the presents down on her bed. There was a tiny bag from Jimmy, a small rectangular-shaped box from Ryan, and her parents had given her a hundred dollars in cash (gas for the rest of the year, they joked), which she had hidden in her purse. She put the presents together and smiled at them. Lucas’s was the biggest. She couldn’t wait to open them later on her own.
She went back into the living room and sat down next to Lucas and Jimmy. Mayra was also sitting on the couch. Not long after, her mom called them into the dining room. Mayra helped set the table, Jimmy and Ryan gave everyone a soda, except for her dad, who had a beer, and Ariana carried plates of food to each person.
She looked at Lucas. His mouth was slightly open as he looked at his huge plate of enchiladas. “I cannot wait to eat this,” he said. “Your mom needs to come over to my house.”
Ariana laughed and sat down next to him.
“Your mom doesn’t make these?” She pulled her plate closer and opened her soda.
“Nope. Not where we’re from.”
Her mom finally came into the kitchen to join them.
“Buen provecho,” her dad said as he dug in. Jimmy opened his soda and took a swig before grabbing a taco in each hand and eating.
Ariana waited for Lucas to taste the enchilada. She saw him chewing and close his eyes briefly before turning to Ariana. “This is like my new favorite food. No joke.”
She smiled and began eating. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her birthday last year, and all the horrible things that had happened after. When she had been with Carlos. Now, all of that lay forgotten as she had birthday dinner with the people she loved the most.
chapter thirteen
Lucas and Ariana were at Lucas’s car. Lucas and Ariana watched Jimmy, Mayra, and Ryan walk down the street from Mayra’s driveway. They were walking him home. It was late. The movie they had watched at Mayra’s house had just ended and her parents had called for them to head home. Her birthday had turned out pretty good.
She grabbed Lucas’s hands and put them around her waist. Then she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. When they finally pulled away, he smi
led. “Did you have a good birthday?”
“The best,” she answered. “I can’t wait to see what you got me, by the way.”
He looked down and smiled, taking her hands in his. He brought them to his mouth and kissed them slowly. His eyes were closed. Ariana remembered to close her mouth before he opened his eyes and looked at her.
“I just can’t believe I found someone like you. You’re the best thing that could have happened to me.”
She shrugged, not finding an adequate response to that. She settled for kissing him on the cheek and trying not to blush.
“Any guy would die to have a girl like you. You don’t do drama like so many other girls. You actually try in school and don’t think you’re the best thing that happened to the world. One day, when my mom meets you, I know she’s gonna love you.”
“Uh. Way to bring on the pressure there, Lucas.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry. We can wait a little longer, although it would only be fair considering what I went through.”
She shook her head and laughed. “But it was worth it, right?”
“Eh…” he said.
“Lucas!”
“I’m kidding. Of course you’re worth it.” He kissed her again. A few minutes later, she rested her head on his chest and heard his heartbeat. She closed her eyes. She never wanted this night to end.
“Hey,” he said after a while.
“Hm,” she said, eyes still closed. It was chilly outside, but she was warm in Lucas’s arms.
“Did Wendy ever bother you again?”
She looked up at him.
“I never asked you, and you never mentioned anything else. That’s all.”
She shook her head. “She makes faces at me, but I ignore her.”
He nodded and hugged her again.
“Jimmy and Mayra sure have taken a while,” she said.
“What’s up with those two?” Lucas said. “They have a thing for each other?” They turned to the street, but saw no one. It was dark out, and if they didn’t get back soon, she’d have to go looking for them. Her parents would probably call any minute, wondering where they were.
Unending Love Page 10
