Alphabet Soup
Chapter One: A is for Alphabet Soup!
Lovina woke up Monday morning feeling as if she was hung-over with a dosage of vodka and fruit punch. Her head throbbed; every so often the pain would beat against her noggin which made her cry out in pain when a single ray of light entered her vision. A feverish chill racked her weakened body causing her to pull her sheets closer towards her, not that it really helped. She still felt cold.
"I knew it was a bad idea to go walk out the house without an umbrella." She moaned, wiping the pool of snot collecting above her upper lip.
Fortunately her younger brother Feliciano wasn't around to keep obnoxious noise in her head, as her grandparents ventured about the city since the crack of dawn. Lovina smiled inwardly; at least she could recuperate in peace for once.
Suddenly a knock interrupted her sleep…damn she spoke too soon…
It seemed as if the knock gotten louder every second she spent in bed trying to ignore it. Well damn this person!
"I'm coming!" she croaked. Lovina regretted sliding off the side of her bed; the cold wooden floors burned her feet. The light-headed, dizzy sensation washed over her , making Lovina nauseated. She hoped she wouldn't have to spill last nights' dinner on her floor.
Lovina dragged herself down the hallway towards the source of the echoing knocks at the front door, just to reveal a young man about her age greet her with a bright Colgate approved smile, and a small basket of tomatoes.
"Ah, Buenos Dias signora, my name is Anton-"Lovina slammed the door in his face. If she were anyone else, she probably would not have rudely cut the guy off with the slam of her front door, but contently stare into his lush, emerald green eyes that would hypnotize any girl desperate of a boyfriend. However, Lovina was not like most girls her age. Lovina would rather push that idea aside and strip any attractive male of his pride. Who said girls had to act like the damsel in distress?
So when Lovina saw men pop into her view, preferably ones that talk, walks, and acts like the one at her front door, she would shut down the opportunity to affiliate with him, on instinct of course.
With her chest swelling with a sudden burst of satisfaction, Lovina grinned to herself, and then stalked off into her bedroom.
xXx
Antonio clasped his bruised nose in one hand while the other clasped onto the small basket of tomatoes. "Aye Santo!" he cursed under his breath. All he wanted was to send these tomatoes to his neighbors under his mother's request!
Just recently, Antonio moved into the rowdy city of Chicago. Therefore, he had no friends, barely any family, and seldomly struggled speaking the language from time-to-time.
Before moving into America, Antonio heard rumors about how rambunctious Americans behaved. He didn't actually believe in these rumors, until some of the stereotypes proved how significant they were in the culture of the city he moved into.
Chicago was nothing like Barcelona. That was one thing Antonio had in mind throughout the entire trip. That, and he couldn't wait to see his new home. Unlike his older siblings, Antonio looked forward to the new chapter in their life, even if his started with a rude awakening when a sickly girl slammed her front door in his face without a second thought.
He wasn't obnoxious was he? Did he stink? Did he smile too much? What if she was just in a bad mood? Antonio shrugged. He liked to think of all the possibilities why people did what they did; however, pondering about such nonsense on a stranger's front porch does not benefit him in any way.
Antonio rubbed his sore nose in his sleeve, drawing a bit of blood from the internal wound. Great, now a nose bleed.
If he were to come back home with a bloody nose, his mother would raise an unholy fit. Antonio sighed; he guessed he had to be persistent with this one.
Antonio wearily raised his fist to knock on the door for the second time, but before he could the door slammed open once again. Antonio quickly covered his nose, feeling the blood ooze from his nostrils. 'This is awkward.'
The girl glared up at him, not that it intimidated Antonio. Instead he secretly awed at her beauty, like the way her small nose crinkled up when she frowned at him, or how her glassy hazel eyes seemed to pierce right into his soul. Even the gravity defying curl that jutted out from her hair made her appear more…attractive?
"Aye que linda," he muttered under his breath; however, that comment did not slip past her radar no matter how deaf she was at the moment.
"I am not cute." She pouted. Antonio chuckled, "Oh, I didn't know you knew Spanish! My name is Antonio," Antonio was going to shake her hand, until he realized that it was covered in blood.
Lovina stared at him unbelievingly. So not only is he bastard, but he's also a dumb, tomato bastard…
Antonio laughed sheepishly, "Well…uh, I just moved here, and my mother wanted me to come to the neighbor's house and send this as a gift. Personally, I'm not even sure if you like tomatoes but she insisted. I'm sure you could make use of these somehow..."
Antonio handed the basket of vegetables to her and started off back to his house without another word. He swore he never felt so awkward talking to a girl in his life!
Lovina glanced down at the basket at her hands, and back towards his leaving form down the sidewalk. Maybe becoming friends with the bastard may not be such a bad idea, and maybe perhaps tending his wound would not be such a bad idea either. After all, these tomatoes sure did look good. I wonder if he would send me some more if I become friends with him...
" Oi, bastardo!" To her amusement, Antonio jerked his head at the sound of her voice. Lovina slipped on her shoes and chased after him down the street, passing by neighbors in with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders until she finally met up with him near his house.
"I finally caught up with you, bastard." she heaved. Maybe running wasn't such a smart idea, oh well, too late now. As Lovina recovered her breathing, Antonio politely remained silent, waiting patiently for her to speak. Oh yes, take your sweet time, it's not like you broke my nose or anything!
"As nice as a Lady your mother seems, I don't think she would appreciate it if her son came to her door step with a bloody nose. Come by my house, and I'll make some tomato soup."
Antonio grinned, maybe this girl isn't so bad after all...maybe. "I have some alphabet noodles. We can use that for the soup?"
Lovina scowled, "If you must. I don't know what the deal is with alphabet soup."
"But it's fun! You get to make words and stuff! " Of coarse, only Antonio ever indulged in his childish tendencies.
"You're so childish!"
"Aw, don't be mad."
"I'm not mad, I'm just annoyed!"
"Same thing!"
-And here goes the start of the lovely couple, not that they knew that they would become a couple, but it's waiting to happen sooner or later.
