Lola watched as her family mingled with the Santiagos and Casagrandes. When it was revealed that the family was invited to a potluck/baby shower, they was expectedly excited and accepted their invitation. All of them except...well, who else? Lola saw nothing about accepting an invitation for a friend's get-together, but the problem was this: the person who sent the invitation was not a friend. Yes, she knew her as she did the same; but no, knowing her through small talk and occasional visits to the hospital didn't mean they were friends. In the end, Mrs. Santiago was just an acquaintance to the family as a whole and not just her, making the invitation (to her, anyway) feel empty and hollow. As a result, she was the only one who preferred to be the only wallflower.
Of course, she was only half right.
"I take it social mingling isn't your thing, chica?"
Her head shooting up in surprise, Lola turned to her left and saw that she wasn't the only wallflower. A boy around her age who was presumably one of Bobby's siblings, he had black hair styled in a faux hawk, a missing tooth, a red hoodie, navy blue jeans, and white high-tops. Amazingly enough, he wasn't the only thing she saw. She also saw something in him. Something...else. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something within this boy that caught her off guard and her attention right off the bat.
"Uh...no, it's not. I honestly don't know anyone who isn't my family here."
"Hmm. You know my primo, Bobby, do you not?"
"That's different. He frequents my older sister on more than one occasion. We never became properly acquainted."
"I see." He sighed lovingly at the mention of said older sister, "Ah, Lori is quite the chiquita bonita, no? Why she chose Bobby over me, I'll never know."
Lola shot the boy a befuddled grimace, something he didn't notice as he continued daydreaming about Lori. Rolling her eyes, she decided to keep the conversation going.
"First of all, that's too creepy...even for Lucy's tastes. Secondly, I pretty sure Lori prefers only men in her age range."
"I'm perfectly aware of that fact, chica. I just can't help myself; her looks and physique tend to be the center of attention when she steps into a room."
"Uh-huh. Listen, I know I just met you and first impressions are unfair, but...you really seem like a creep, chico."
At that one word, a ball dropped. The boy stopped his incoherent rambling and turned around to face Lola with a look of bewilderment plastered all over his face; the girl herself wore a look of terror instead, as if she did something wrong and unintentionally offended him. Little did she know...he wasn't.
"W...what?"
A look of amusement suddenly replaced his look of perplexity, "Are you flirting with me, chica?"
A look of bemusement suddenly replaced her look of trepidation, "What?! No, of course not! I was just – "
That feeling Lola abandoned the moment she first laid eyes on the boy came rushing back to her at full force. As stated earlier, there was something about him that was hard to explain. Then again, he was probably feeling it, too; who's to blame?
"Actually, it depends. Are you flirting with me, chico?"
... Wait, where did that come from?
"Well...if I was, was it working?"
... Yes. Oh, yes.
"Very."
An awkward silence laced with tension between the two of them followed soon after. It was an awkward silence which Lola decided to break with a formal introduction.
"Lola."
"¿Perdón?"
"My friends call me Lola."
A formal introduction which Carlino returned, complete with the hand shake.
"My friends call me Carl."
A few hours later, and it was evening; the Loud Family was fixing to head home. Of course, they would visit for the next few days for the upcoming baby shower. Lincoln and Lori were the last to leave the apartment complex, having said their goodbyes to Ronnie Anne and Bobby, respectively. Or, so they thought.
"Dad!" Lana called from the backseat, "I can't find Lola anywhere!"
At that, as if it occurred by chance, Vanzilla broke down – as in, the engine burned over and the tires fell out. The couple exchanging uncertain glances ("You don't suppose the Santiagos will let us stay for the time being?"), Lynn Sr. and Rita unbuckled their seatbelts and headed out of the van. Simultaneously, Carlos and Frida ran out of the building with Carlota in tow.
"Mr. and Mrs. Casagrande, it seems that we lost our daughter Lola," Rita chuckled in embarrassment.
"Hmm. What a coincidence," Frida rubbed her chin, "It seems that we lost our son Carlino as well."
Upon hearing those words, a simple solution was conjured up in Lincoln's empty mind as a simple smirk crossed his face. Departing from the van as he began to laugh, this action of his caught the attention of the adults as he set foot into the building, understandably confusing them. Heading upstairs and reaching the floor of the Casagrandes, he scouted both of the rooms until he reached Carlino's. Pressing his ear against the door, his eyebrows shot up at the sound of giggles and what appeared to be Latin Pop/Cha-cha-chá music. That smug smirk grew ever so slightly as his hands snaked up to the doorknob, which he turned ever so slowly and pushed it open to reveal...
"A-HA!"
An impromptu dance session engaged by Lola and Carlino, who soon jumped apart the moment Lincoln burst through the door.
"Ah, Lincoln..." Lola spoke through gritted teeth, "What are you doing?"
"I was just looking out for a sister of mine. Also, it's nighttime already."
"It is?" Carlino cocked his head in confusion before he and Lola glanced outside to find the moonlight shining in. "Ay, caramba. Well. So..."
"So..."
"I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Actually..." Lola and Carlino turned to find a still smirking Lincoln, "Vanzilla might've broken down, so Mom and Dad are going to take it to get it looked at. In the meantime..."
Lola immediately recognized the tone of her brother's voice and scowled at Lincoln as she approached him. "Uh, no, no, no. I know what that tone means."
"Uh, I don't."
Her eyebrows lowered in contempt at Carlino's comment as she listened to what Lincoln had to say.
"Don't worry, Lola. I won't say anything. Although, I expect you two to be on your best behavior while we're staying here." Lincoln turned tail to leave, but not before adding cheekily, "Oh! Before I forget...don't get any ideas, okay?"
Lola and Carlino both blushed, the latter watching the former hurling her tiara at a retreating Lincoln. Performing a face palm and shaking her head as she groaned in frustration, she turned to face her dance partner.
"Sorry, Carl. My brother can be...a dick sometimes."
"It's okay. My sister's the same. So...you're staying here for the time being?"
"I guess so. Lincoln said that our van broke down somehow, so our parents are going to have it checked out."
"Now what, then?"
"Well, you just said it: we might staying here for the time being. I just don't know for how long."
Carlino rubbed his chin and an idea came to mind, "Ooh! There's something we should do!" Walking over to whisper his idea into her ear, Lola gasped and turned to face him.
"That's actually not a bad idea."
"What, you thought it was going to be?"
"No, of course not! I just thought the idea was going to be something embarrassing like – "
Lola's returning blush was intensified by eleven. Oh, no, Lola. Don't you dare finish that thought.
"Like what?"
"Ah, I'll tell you later. Shall we get ready for bed?"
"Right. Sí." A silence occurred, followed by this question: "Are we sleeping together?"
SMACK!
Carlino stumbled backward after being whacked in the head. Lola shot him a glare, which turned into a smirk that eerily resembled her older brother's.
"We'll see. I just hope I get Linky's approval."
Carlino was even more stunned into silence when Lola sent a wink his way before leaving to use the bathroom. He ran his hand through his hair, muttering to himself:
"Santa mierda. ¿Qué cojones he metido?"
He then followed her.
A/N: I won't tell you what the last translation means, but... Anyway, sorry if this seems rushed. I will add more scenes if their first meetings feels forced and strangled by the red string. Seriously though, there needs to be more "Carlola" stories out there. "Once Smitten, Twice Shy" by Weavillain is a perfect example.
The plot of this story is basically a heist film in the vein of Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and Out of Sight (1998) and a stylized action flick reminiscent of Kill Bill (2003/2004) and John Wick (2014-present). Lola and Carlino team up to rob a bank just for fun, falling in love along the way. Sounds simple and cliché enough, right? But wait, there's more! Remember Lola's crush Winston and Lola's rival Lindsey Sweetwater? Yeah, you should remember them.
Well, until next time...