Frida pulled her slingshot back and released it, launching a water balloon at a Persian cat. The poor feline was soaked from ears to tail. The white-furred animal hissed at the blue-haired girl, but couldn't claw at her face because she was on the roof of the Rivera family home, obviously with Manny.
The two children laughed at their feline victims. They kept shooting water balloons, even at the cats that were already struck. As soon as they ran out, they stopped their laughter and sat on the floor.
"So, what now?"Frida wondered.
"I don't know. We've been running out of ideas lately…"
"I know! We gotta get our game back, dude! But how…"
Manny shrugged. "We could think of ideas…"
There was complete and utter silence upon the rooftop of the house.
"Let me say that again. How can we get our game back?"
"I just said-"
"I refuse to sit here and think! Thinking of plans is for nerds!"
Manny rolled his eyes. "Ok then genius, then what do you think we should do?"
"We could raid your refrigerator…"
"Nah, I'm not hungry…" Manny stated.
"Dang! We could go look at puppies? I love puppies!"
"Frida you look at puppies everyday…"
"So? It's fun!"
Manny raised an eyebrow, "its fun to watch puppies sleep and beat the crap out of each other?"
"Hey shut up!" Frida snapped.
Manny snickered. He loved teasing Frida about her daily life. Frida on the other hand, hated it.
"Come on Manny, just think of something!"
"I thought thinking was for nerds…"
"Ah!" Frida screamed with frustration. Manny chuckled. "You really irritate me sometimes, Manny Rivera!"
Manny smirked. "That's the joy of it all, my dear Frida."
Frida sighed. "How about you change into El Tigre and we just go somewhere?"
"You had me at change!" Manny spun his belt buckle. Green flames transformed his usual clothes into a tiger costume, changing him to the simple, civilian Manny Rivera into the famous El Tigre. "So where do you want to go?"
"Who knows who cares?"
"Good point. Want to go to the Miracle City volcano then?"
"We always go to the Miracle City volcano. There's nothing there but rock and lava and big white letters. Plus there isn't anything we can do there." Frida pointed out.
"So? It's better than doing nothing."
"I could always get my guitar and we can write a new song together…"
"Why? You don't have any gigs coming up. Besides, I'm not going to write songs while I'm El Tigre. That's just a waste."
Frida crossed her arms. "Fine. What do you want to do then?"
"Fight crime? Commit crimes? I don't know something!"
"Let's go rob a bank, then." Frida suggested.
El Tigre shook his head. "Nah, that's too old school. Robbing a bank is for, like, 3 year-olds."
"Steal loot from Sartana?"
"Done it before. All times ended badly."
"Name one time it ended badly!" Frida dared.
"Sartana attacked the carnival and almost killed Zebra Donkey. You got kidnapped. She attacked my house!"
"I said name one time. Not every time. Okay, how about… Ambush the Flock of Fury?"
"For what? They haven't committed much crimes lately. They're like, on vacation or something."
"Confiscate Django of the Dead's mystic guitar?"
"Why would we do that?"
"So I can use it to fight crime with you? Or maybe even commit crime!" Frida grinned evilly.
"That's selfish."
Frida rolled her eyes. "Take your dad's bronze boots of truth?"
"Done it before. And we broke them causing him to go into a deep depression." Manny reminded her. "We don't want that again, do we?"
"Steal grandpapi's sombrero of chaos?"
"Done it. Puma Loco actually went loco."
Frida was getting frustrated every time Manny revealed how poor her ideas were. She didn't understand why he didn't want to repeat anything.
"Get Davi to do our bidding?"
"Last time we did that he almost got us killed."
"Hang with Raul?"
"We don't even know where he is!"
"We can look for him?" Frida added.
"That'll take too long."
"Fight zombies in Calavera?"
"What? That's child's play!"
Frida groaned. "Eat Dr. Jalapeno's guacamole monster?"
"I told you I'm not hungry."
"Something involving Señor Sinestro?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know! Fight his horse? Steal his suit? Kick his butt?"
Manny gave Frida a displeased look.
"Fine… Stop El Oso from robbing the bank?"
"But he's not robbing the bank…"
"Can we just do something? God! Finding something to do with you is as easy as translating what a cat is saying!"
"But…"
"What?" Frida screamed.
"…It's not easy to translate what a cat is saying… At all…"
Frida face palmed herself. "That's the point, genius…"
"Oh… Well… Want to go to the arcade?"
Frida paused. The arcade? Why didn't she think of that? Out of all the things she loved to do, playing video games was probably number 10 on that list.
"Let's do it!" Frida exclaimed.
Manny was no longer El Tigre once again, as a matter of fact the only thing that came out of transforming into El Tigre was getting to the arcade faster. Manny and Frida played every single game in the arcade at least 20 times before realizing the time.
"Crap!" Frida shouted.
"What?" Manny was curious.
"Dude! It's 9:30!"
"What?" Manny was shocked. "It was 5:00 just a second ago!"
"Well apparently a second was 4 and a half hours ago…"
The manager of the arcade walked up to the two teenagers. "Hey, it's closing time. Get out."
"Excuse me?" Frida put her hands on her hips.
"I said get out."
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Frida pulled Manny in front of him. "This is El Tigre."
"Yes, and I'm the manager. Get out."
"Don't talk to Manny like that! He can claw your face off! Come on Manny!" Frida nudged him. "Claw his face off!"
"Frida, I'm not going to claw his face off. Besides, we should probably head home anyway."
"See? Your friend has the right idea. Now get out." The manager demanded.
"No! You can't tell us what to-"
Manny grabbed Frida's wrist and began to drag her out of the arcade. "Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. She's just a little cranky, that's all. It won't happen again, I promise!"
"Cranky? I am NOT cranky!" Frida growled.
Manny dragged Frida down the staircase outside of the arcade. Frida kept trying to run back inside, but couldn't outmatch Manny's strength. He threw her on the sidewalk.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"What is wrong with you? Why are you so pissy?"
"Because that guy was telling us what to do! He shouldn't be bossing you around! You're El Tigre! El Tigre should be able to do whatever he wants!"
Manny looked at his punk friend disapprovingly. "Frida, being a super isn't about having control over everything."
"Sure it is!"
"No, it's not. That's what's known as an abuse of power. I would know. It's happened before."
"Since when did you become a teacher?"
Manny spun his belt and pinned Frida to the cement sidewalk. Flames were burning in his pupils. Frida gulped.
"If you don't stop acting like this, there will be consequences!" El Tigre threatened.
"Since when did you become my dad?"
El Tigre growled. "I'm serious. If you don't, you'll be sorry."
"Ok, ok! I'll stop!" Frida swore.
"You'd better…" El Tigre let go. Frida was shaking with fear. This didn't go unnoticed. "I'm sorry, Frida. You just don't normally act like this. It's a bit out of character for you."
"No Manny, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted so aggressive." Frida apologized.
"That's okay Frida. Everyone gets aggressive sometimes and they can't help it. They just have to accept their problems and not let it get to them." Manny explained. Frida looked at him like he was speaking Japanese.
"I don't understand. If we have to accept our problems, then why did you threaten me?"
"To get you to stop acting like a completely different Frida. It was like I didn't even know you anymore… Like you were a completely different blue-haired goggle-wearing rock star."
"I see…" Frida lied.
"Good."
"Hey Manny, do you want to go stargazing?"
El Tigre tilted his head. "Stargazing?"
Frida blushed. Luckily it was so dark Manny wouldn't be able to notice. "Well, yeah. I mean, it's a clear night for once. It's usually cloudy. And look!" Frida pointed at the sky, "We can finally see the stars!"
El Tigre took a second to think about Frida's offer. It was highly unusual for her to want to go stargazing. She wasn't that type of girl who enjoyed participating in cheesy activities. He shrugged. "What the hell, let's do it!"
Frida's heart skipped a beat. Manny actually wanted to do something Frida found to be romantic. Perhaps he liked her back after all! In her head, she was screaming with joy. But outside of her thoughts, she remained calm. However, she wondered if she could keep her feelings under control for long.
Frida and El Tigre were now on the top of a hill, staring up at the stars. Frida's legs dangled from the hilltop, while El Tigre just lay on the grass. Frida's heart was fluttering about her chest like a butterfly. She was smiling, and biting her lower lip at the same time. As for El Tigre, he has a simple blank expression on his face as he staring at the sky with his hands behind his head, using them like a pillow in order to relax. His eyes were half shut and his legs were crossed. Clearly the tiger-dressed boy was bored to death while the sapphire-eyed girl was enjoying herself. Manny wanted to open his mouth and tell Frida how boring this was, but he decided to let her have fun instead of ruining it for her. The two children just sat in silence for a while, observing the stars and the crescent moon.
"Hey Manny…" Frida decided to break the silence.
"Finally!" Manny thought, relieved. "Yes Frida?"
"I'm having a great time…" She admitted.
"Yeah, me too." The rebellious teen lied.
"Aren't the stars pretty?"
"I suppose."
"They're so sparkly… It reminds me of jewelry."
"Jewelry?" Manny was surprised.
"Yeah, I mean, jewelry is all sparkly and junk."
"Please don't tell me you're one of those girls…"
Frida turned around. "Huh?"
"One of those girls who's obsessed with jewelry." El Tigre sat up.
"No, of course not! If I was, I'd be wearing it."
"True…" Manny agreed.
Frida turned her attention back to the sky. "When I said jewelry, I meant, like, diamonds."
"Oh! That makes sense! I like diamonds. They sure are worth a lot! And they're tons of fun to steal!"
Frida giggled. "You would think that, Manny."
The two sat in silence once again. Eventually, El Tigre scooted next to Frida. And eventually he put his arm around her like he did earlier in the afternoon. Frida's face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Manny? What are you doing?"
The emerald-eyed boy looked down at her. "You looked cold."
"A little." Frida admitted.
"Do you want to borrow my bandana to keep you warm?" Manny offered.
"No…" Frida put her head on Manny's chest. "This is just fine…"
"Whatever you say."
In her opinion, Frida thought Manny's chest was warm. Probably because he was wearing a mask and long-sleeved clothing while she was dressed in a skirt and a sleeveless tee-shirt. Either way, she enjoyed having the chance to show off her affection. At this point, she thought Manny felt the same way.
"I love you…" Frida whispered.
"W-what?" Manny stuttered.
Frida looked up at him. A shocked expression was on his face.
"I said I love you…" Frida repeated.
Manny's shocked expression turned into an uncomfortable one. He let go of her. "Oh…"
"Oh?"
"Listen, Frida, I'm sorry but, I don't feel the same way. I just see you as a really good friend."
Frida didn't speak. Her heart was broken, shattered, even destroyed. "So… You led me on?"
"What?"
"You put your arm around me and let me put my head on your chest only for me to find out you don't like me back?"
"I was doing it because I thought you were cold and tired."
"If you don't like me, then who do you like?"
At this point, Manny found it awkward just to be speaking with Frida. "You don't want to know…"
"Yes I do…"
"No, you don't. You'll hate me if you found out…"
"Manny, I just want to know…"
"Frida, I can't tell you. You'll kill me…"
Frida put her hand on Manny's shoulder. "How could I kill mi mejor amigo?"
"You would if you found out…" El Tigre mumbled.
The punk teenager hugged him. "I won't hate you. Just please tell me…"
"Promise?"
Frida's eyes sparkled. "I swear."
El Tigre gulped. "I-I like… Zoë."
xx
OH SHIT! Okay, here's where the real drama gets started. I bet you can't wait to see what happens next, huh? I know I'd be excited. :D And I know I submitted this chapter a bit early, but I just couldn't help myself! Also, I just finished chapter 5 so that'll be up in a few days. I'll get started on chapter 6 soon! Until then, R&R!
