Yes, I know, it's been forever, and I apologize. Exams just got over and that was my main priority for a few weeks. However, I'm back, which means ANOTHER CHAPTER! Enjoy my friends, and don't forget to review!
Bright lights and fancy decorations were hung and placed all over Tasnia's backyard. The back porch, which usually was empty, was now covered in tables that were either surrounded by chairs or covered with food. People of all ages crowded the area, enthusiastically talking to one another. In the midst of it all, a teenage girl stood talking in very fast Spanish to an elderly couple. She wore an elaborate pink dress that was fitted down to her hips, and then proofed out and landed at her ankles. The skirt part was made of a pink mesh material while the top consist of a bedazzled sequin design. Her dark hair cascaded down her back in simple waves that framed her face and fell just below her shoulder blades. On top of her head stood a small, silver tiara that sparkled in the sunlight.
"Oh, Tasnia, mi nieta! Cuánto han cercides!" said the elder woman as she reached up to pinch Tasnia's cheek with her extremely long fingernails. "Recuerdo cuando era una niña pequeña."
"Ah, por favor, abuela!" Tasnia said with a frown, dodging her grandmother's claws. Her grandfather laughed merrily, and clasped his hand onto Tasnia's shoulder. Though still a bit annoyed, Tasnia smiled up at her grandfather and gave him a hug. "Gracias por vienen."
Tasnia had a strong relationship with the people she knew. She had a lot a family, all of whom she loved, but she never had a lot of friends. She was rough, tough and honestly preferred to spend her time with books instead. As she looked around her backyard, she observed that only a mere 5% were kids her own age that she called her friends. Amina, Ricardo and Diego had been Tasnia's best friends since the first day of elementary school, and they had been friends ever since.
However, the four were considered as outcasts at school since they liked to read, and actually tried to do well in class. In Uxmal, nobody cared about grades because all graduates had the same fate. Because of the fact that Uxmal was so isolated, and the nearest cities were run by robots, kids had ended up staying in the city and doing their parent's jobs once they graduated from high school. These jobs consisted of farmers, store clerks, clothes makers, and blacksmiths. They had no choice. It was either that, or have the city disappear like a few of the other Mexican cities. Despite of this, however, Tasnia and her friends had other plans. They all shared the same dream, and vowed they would do anything to get there.
That dream was to become a Starship Ranger. Everyone thought of them as crazy because of this dream, considering that it was almost impossible now a days to get in (the robot wars rose their standards), but the four didn't care. When they were little, they would always pretend to be Starship Rangers, and would attack the imaginary robots and save the day. Tasnia's parents knew about her dream, and supported her 100%, but one of the requirements to be a Starship Ranger was to graduate high school with grades over 90%. Classmates saw this as too much work, but the four saw it as a challenge they were ready to face.
Tasnia spotted her friends by one of the numerous food tables. They seemed to be having the usual competition of seeing who could eat the most tamales. Tasnia politely excused herself from her grandparents and made her way over to the table, only to see Ricardo and Diego stuff three tamales down their throat at once. Tasnia laughed
"¿Quién está ganandan?" Tasnia asked Amina, who was watching the scene with amusement.
"Ricardo," answered Amina. "Él ha comida quince!"
Tasnia laughed as she watched Ricardo go for the now sixteenth tamale. He noticed her looking at him, and gave her a wink before slipping the tamale into his mouth. Tasnia rolled her eyes, but gave Ricardo a small smile. Amina noticed this and gave Tasnia a sharp nudge on the arm, which earned her a death glare from Tasnia. Ever since Ricardo had asked Tasnia to work with him on a science project, Amina had this assumption that Tasnia had a crush on Ricardo. No matter how many times she would bring it up, though, Tasnia would deny it, and threaten to chain her up to a tree and "accidentally" feed the key to her perro.
"Este es numeró dieciséis!" announced Diego as he picked up another tamale. "Prepara a ser derrotado!"
Ricardo laughed as he picked up his seventeenth tamale and easily ate it all in one bite. Diego looked at his friend in mock-disgust as he took two more tamales and stuffed them both in his mouth at once. Tasnia was going to say something about the two boy's likeliness of getting sick, but before she got the chance, her mother's voice rang throughout the backyard.
"Atención! Atención, por favor!"
Tasnia looked up toward the house to see her mother standing next to her father, a microphone in hand. The guests turned towards the speaker, and Tasnia's mother announced that it was time for the traditional father/daughter dance. With a smile, Tasnia excused herself from her friends and made her way towards the patio, where her father was waiting for her.
"Ah, mi hija bonita," he exclaimed as the two took the position for the first dance.
Tasnia looked up at her father and gave him a smile. She noticed that he already was starting to cry, but hid it well. Tasnia's father was very good at hiding his emotions. He was, in fact, a Starship Ranger when he was younger, but gave it up so that he could be with his wife and have a family. Senor Mercardo looked to be in his mid forties. He had a lot of thick, graying black hair that was combed to the side, bushy eyebrows that almost covered his small black eyes which sparkled from the in-holding of tears.
"Tengo una sorpresa para mi hija," he whispered as the Mariachi band started up. The two started to sway to the music, and Tasnia looked up at her father with eager eyes. "Más tarde," he added.
The party had been going on for the past four hours, and was still going on strong. Tasnia had been in the center of attention for the entire time, and she hated it. She was no use to many people fussing over her like her mother did. Eventually, she was able to sneak away from her mother's siblings and escape the party for a little while. She slowly approached a tree in her front yard and sat on a swing that hung from a low branch. As she thought about it, Tasnia decided that the Quinceañera hadn't been all that bad; she was expecting way worse.
Sure the dress was way too poufy and pink for her liking and it was something that she wanted to throw into the bonfire and watch as is slowly burnt to ashes. And obviously her heels hurt like hell, and she would rather be using them as darts rather than actually trying to walk in them. Eso seria divertido, she laughed to herself.
Tasnia's alone time soon came to an end, however, when her mother came running towards the front of the house and calling for her to come back. With a sigh, Tasnia rose from the swing and reluctantly headed back to the party. However, once she stepped into the back yard, her mother had cornered her, and started harassing her about why she wasn't dancing with any of the suitable men.
"Es lo mismo que encontrar su esposo futuro ahora!" she scolded. "Vas, vas! Quiero verte bailar con un chico antes la fiesta es más!"
No amount of begging was going to get Tasnia out of this one. Her mother had it in her mind that Tasnia would find her "future husband" at her Quinceañera ever since she was born. Señora Mercardo had made sure that tonight; there were quite a few options for her daughter, which annoyed the heck out of Tasnia. She wasn't into looking for her husband just now, but it was tradition, meaning she had to do it.
As Tasnia wandered aimlessly around the party guests, she felt a warm hand land itself on her shoulder. Confused, she turned around and saw a very familiar head of dark red hair. Ricardo was standing behind her with a single red rose in his hand. Tasnia's eyes widened at the rose. It looked healthy and strong and as red as Ricardo's hair. It was unlike any sort of flower grown in Uxmal (they usually died from the heat and lack of water). He looked down at his feet, a bit shy, which was very unlike him.
"Hola," he said in an attempt to sound sexy. It made Tasnia want to puke. Sure, Ricardo could be sexy, but not when he was trying to be."Esto es para ti." Ricardo held out the rose to Tasnia, and she forced herself to smile, just to be polite. ¿Qué demonios? She thought as Ricardo gently attached the rose to Tasnia's crown, making sure he didn't prick her with the thorns. "¿Le gustaría bailar?"
Tasnia thought a bit before answering. Her first response would have been "no", but considering the fact that Ricardo was her friend; she figured she had nothing to lose. Plus, her mother would see her dancing with a boy and finally get off her case about "looking for an appropriate suitor."
Ricardo very cautiously placed his hand on Tasnia's waist, as if he was worried what her reaction would be. Her first instinct was to back away and punch his lights out, but this was Ricardo. Her best friend since she was seven. He didn't mean any harm. Deciding to follow along with the act, Tasnia snaked her arm up to his shoulder, and the two intertwined the fingers of their free hands. Ricardo pulled her in close to him, much to Tasnia's horror, and they started to sway to the music.
Being this close to Ricardo made Tasnia shivered all over; she was surprised he didn't ask if she was cold. In fact, Tasnia was feeling quite warm. And for some reason, she felt a heard of butterflies erupt in her stomach—something she never felt when she was around Ricardo. As much as she wanted to tear herself away from his arms, she found that she couldn't, which scared her even more.
Ricardo released Tasnia's hand and placed it on her other hip. The butterflies grew more intense and, to her horror, Tasnia found herself taking her free hand and wrapping it around Ricardo's neck. The change in position caused the two teenagers to come even closer together, yet, they weren't touching. Tasnia was getting even more nervous. She felt her palms get sweaty and she could have sworn that sweat was rolling down her forehead. She knew she wasn't hallucinating when Ricardo leaned in even closer because she could feel his breath tickling her lips.
"Te he gustado para algún tiempo, ahora," he whispered. "He estado esperando para momento justo."
Tasnia was shocked. Out of everything Ricardo could have said, he chose to say that. She felt her heart jump into her throat, and she was so warm, she felt like she was about to faint. Before anything else could happen though, the two were interrupted by Señora Mercardo. At the sound of her voice, the two teenagers jumped a mile apart. Ricardo refused to look at both women, but Tasnia had the guts to look her mother in the eye. She could tell her mother was trying to look at her in a disapproving manor. However, Tasnia could see that her mother was thrilled about the scene in front of her.
"Tasnia," she said. "Hay alguien de tu padre y yo queremos para cumplir."
Without hesitation, Tasnia left Ricardo and followed her parents, who were headed towards the house. She did feel a bit bad, blowing him off like that, but he deserved it. Tasnia saw her father standing in front of the house with another man. He was dressed in an all grey uniform, had a big, black zapper around his shoulder and a black bandana tied around his forehead. He was much older than Señor Mercardo, had grey hair and a wrinkly, dried up face that, to Tasnia, looked like a dried up apricot, but he had sharp eyes that showed no sign of weariness.
"Tasnia, les presento a usted Lieutenant-Commander Keevers. Keevers es un Starship Ranger."
Lieutenant-Commander Keevers stuck out his hand for Tasnia to shake, which she took immediately and shook firmly. She straightened up slightly under his gaze and tried to keep a straight face.
"Mucho gusto, Señor Keevers," she said and professionally as she could.
Tasnia had the hardest time keeping her emotions in. It was her dream to become a Starship Ranger one day, just like her father, and now, she was meeting an actual Ranger! This was literally her dream come true. Despite of her tries, however, her excitement must have showed, for Lieutenant-Commander Keevers smiled at her and patted her on the head.
Suddenly, there was a loud "pew" sound and Lieutenant-Commander Keevers feel to the ground. Dead. Tasnia gasped, her eyes set on the body as it lay motionless on the ground. When she looked up, she saw the right behind him was tall, metal figure; a robot.
Starting then, all hell broke loose.
