I'm so sorry for the delay. Read end notes.
"Let's go before Mari knocks down the door," Natalia grabbed her boyfriend's hand and made her way downstairs.
"Day two of grounding, done!" Natalia plopped on her couch/bed for the weekend. She stared at the clock which read 12:00am. "Only 24 more hours and I can text again and be in my own bed!" She laughed.
Jesus sat on the love seat, playing a video game. "What? You don't like being here?" He smirked.
"No, I love it. My bed's just super comfy and soft and wonderful!" She said.
Mariana sat on Natalia's lap and laid her head on her shoulder. "I'm tired," she yawned.
"Well you should be," Natalia giggled. "You had an eventful day with Garrett," she nudged her friend as she laid her arms on Mariana's lap.
"Shh," Mariana covered Natalia's mouth with her hand. "Nobody knows about that yet. Just you and Callie," she informed her friend. "Come with me," she grabbed Natalia's hand and dragged her upstairs.
Natalia giggled as Mariana dragged her upstairs.
"Do I hear laughter? You're not supposed to be having fun," Stef tried to act sternly but failed.
Natalia laughed harder as Stef spoke to her.
Mariana pushed Natalia into her room and closed the door behind her. She took the headphones off of Callie much to her protest.
"What the heck, Mariana?" Callie turned her music off.
"I need to tell you guys about my date with Garrett," Mariana hopped up on her bed and slightly bounced. "Ask me how it went," she ordered the girls.
Natalia rolled her eyes as she smiled. "How did it go, Mari?"
Mariana smiled. "Absolutely," her smile dropped. "Horrible. He was so nice in the beginning but...I don't know. I don't think he was right for me. He started talking about his ex and what he wish he did right. And then, get this, he made me pay."
"Why would any guy do that?" Callie should her head. "That's just stupid."
"Are you ever going to go back out with him?" Natalia asked her.
"I don't know," Mariana fidgeted with her hands. "It sounded like I was just a rebound to me. I think he just broke up with his girlfriend."
"Honestly Mariana, I think he did," Callie said, grabbing her hand. "You don't deserve a guy like that."
"I just, I don't know," she shrugged. "Everyone's paired up; Moms, Nati and Jesus, Jude and his friend Connor. Hell, even Callie and Brandon have each other," she ran her hand through her hair. "I just feel like the odd girl out," she finished.
"How do you know about that?" Callie asked nervously, taking her hand away from Marianna's.
"Oh honey," Natalia waved a hand in the air. "We all know about that. At least Jesus, Mariana and I do; we're still keeping it from Jude and the moms. That's you guys' responsibility. Now, why do you feel like that, Mari?"
"How the hell-"
"You guys aren't exactly sneaky. I can hear you guys making out whenever I get up at 3 or 4 in the morning to pee," Mariana laughed.
"Well then," Callie crossed her arms over her chest and grumbled.
"Anyways," Mariana spoke again. "I dunno," she responded to Natalia's earlier question. "It's true, though. Everyone's paired up."
Callie and Natalia didn't know how to respond to Marianna.
Mariana shrugged. "Let's just go to bed," she got up.
It was Monday, Natalia's grounding was officially over, but she was in her second day of grounding. She had just finished cleaning the bathroom when she got a text.
She took off the rubber yellow gloves she had on and took her phone out of her back pocket of her cut off denim shorts.
"Babe, I'm skipping with the guys. We're going to the movies to see that new action movie that came out last night. Wanna come? :)" read the text from Jesus.
Natalia bit her lip. She knew he would get in trouble, so she didn't want to go, nor did she want him to go. "Honey, I don't think you should go. Moms will find out; you know they will. Just watch the movie after school." She hit send and put her phone back in her pocket. She put the cleaning supplies in the closet outside of the bathroom. She jolted with surprise as her phone rang. "Hello?" She answered as she made her way downstairs.
"Nat, why don't you want to go? We're not going to get caught. We have an assembly today and then after is my gym class and we have a sub today, which means the sub will make us watch a movie." Jesus' voice was pleading. "Plus, I got Matt covering for me when they do role call in gym anyways."
"Jesus," Natalia sighed. "I just think it's a bad idea. Maybe we shouldn't test your moms' patience. Lena is still mad at me for the Kelsey thing and I wouldn't want her to get even more mad at me. Or you," she added as an afterthought.
Jesus sighed where he was at, sitting in the passenger seat of his friend's car. "Nati, are you serious? Fine, I'll stay in class," he said as he reached for the door handle.
"Oi, Jesus!" His friend yelled from the other car. "You gonna let your girl dictate your life?! Just cuz she didn't want to go, you're gonna let her take away your fun?" He shook his head as the other boys laughed at Jesus.
Feeling like he had something to prove to his friends, he got angry. "You know what? Whatever, Lexi. You're just thinking of yourself, like you always do. I'm going to the movies whether you like it or not!" He hung up the phone, feeling prideful as his boys clapped him on the back and cheered at his comment.
Natalia stared at her phone in shock. Did he just yell at me? She thought. Then realization same to her. "Did he just call me Lexi?" She said out loud. Her eyes narrowed as she suddenly flared with anger. She threw on some flats as she angrily grabbed her car keys from the hook. She slammed the door behind her as her phone rang again. "This better be you calling to apologize, Jesus, because I'm literally minutes away from kicking your ass," she hissed into her phone as she jammed her key into her ignition.
"Um, no?" Mariana sounded confused as she walked through the quad with Callie. "What happened? What did Jesus do?" She asked.
"I'll tell you after I'm done with your brother," Natalia hung up the phone as she drove through center city. She muttered underneath her breath as she pulled into the movie theater, her wheels screeching as they did. She jumped out of her car and stomped to the front of the theater and began impatiently tapping her foot, her eyes scanning the crowd for a familiar beanie covered head.
Guffaws and laughter could be heard from a group of boys as they walked in the doors of the theater. The voices hushed as they saw Natalia standing in anger.
"Damn, that's yours, Foster?" One of them muttered, his eyes scanning Natalia's body. He kept checking her out, his eyes repeatedly moving up and down. She wore a white crop top with words written on it, her tanned and toned stomach showing. Her denim shorts were cut off, showing her tan legs that somehow elongated her legs which was odd, considering her short stature.
Jesus nudged his friend in the stomach, his eyes ablaze with anger. No one was allowed to check out his girl. No one. He walked closer, his anger from a minute ago fueling his words. "What the hell are you doing here, Natalia?"
She raised her eyebrow at his use of her full first name and the tone of his voice. "Did you seriously forget what you called me on the phone or are you just that short-minded?" She crossed her arms over her chest.
Jesus' face got red with anger as his friend laughed at Natalia's comment. "What are you talking about?" He was trying to keep his anger at bay but he was close to failing.
"You called me Lexi, you idiot," Natalia hissed at him.
He scoffed. "No I didn't,"
"I'm not deaf and it happened a few minutes ago, so I'm pretty sure you called me Lexi," she said sarcastically.
"Bro, she doesn't own you. Let her know who's the boss in the relationship," his friend from earlier patted his shoulder, clearly trying to add fuel to the fire for his entertainment.
Jesus, too masked by his anger, didn't see that it was a ploy for the boys' amusement, took his friend's words to heart. "Maybe that's because you are like her," he narrowed his eyes as he got angrier. "You're always trying to control me, just like Lexi. Newsflash, I'm not some puppy you can order around. You're acting like a complete bitch, just like Lexi. I'm surprised you two weren't related, you're so like her," he chucked darkly, feeling more prideful as his friends jeered behind him.
Natalia's face was full of complete shock and pain as the weight of his words came down on her. Tears welled in her eyes as her hand reached up and slapped him. "Screw you, Jesus," a tear fell as she pushed him and his friends out of the way as she left the movie theater.
"Attaboy!" Mitch, the friend who made the comments earlier, cheered.
Jesus bit his lip as he turned his head to see Natalia wiping tears off of her face as she ran to her car. Did I go too far? His anger washed away as soon as he saw her face fall. "I think I should go talk to her," he started to pull away from his friends.
"Are you stupid?" Mitch grabbed his shoulder. "She just can't take the fact that you're finally acting like the leader in the relationship. She'll learn in time," he patted Jesus' shoulder. "Let's go watch this movie!" He cheered.
Jesus nodded and threw on a fake smile, but his thoughts were with Natalia, knowing he had in fact, gone too far.
"Nati, can you pass the chicken?" Mariana asked, her hand reaching out for the plate.
"Sure," Natalia grabbed the plate and passed it to her. She took a bite of her own chicken.
"Does anyone know where Jesus is at? He hasn't called and I haven't seen him since school," Lena asked, motherly concern in her voice.
"I think he's at the movies with a group of his friends. I guess he forgot to call you," Natalia shrugged, not knowing why she was covering for him. She stared at her plate in disgust as she remember his earlier. "I just lost my appetite, Lena. I'm sorry," she pushed her plate away from her. "Can I be excused to finish the work Marianna have me today?" She asked.
"Yes, sweetie," Stef nodded. "Go ahead," she said, knowing something wasn't right with Natalia.
"I'll be in your room, Mari," she got up and all but ran to Mariana's room.
"Does anyone know what's wrong with Natalia?" Stef asked.
"No," Brandon shook his head. "She's been like that ever since we came home from school. Did she say anything to you, Mariana?" He turned his head to his sister.
"Nope," Mariana shook her head as well. "I'll ask her after dinner, though," she said.
The door suddenly opened and then shut quickly as steps could be heard shuffling through the house to the kitchen. Jesus emerged from the doorway, his eyes searching through the people sitting at the nook. "Where's Natalia?" He asked.
"Up," Stef was interrupted by her son already rushing out of the room. "stairs..." She finished. "Why do I think Jesus had something to do with this?" She sighed.
"Should we spy?" Mariana was already standing, Jude by her side, ready to rush upstairs.
"No," Lena said sternly. "Whatever it is, they will work it out by themselves." She took a bite of the chicken. "Besides," she said after she swallowed. "I have a feeling we'll be able to hear them," she pointed above them. "Mariana's room is right above here," she smiled.
The rest of the Foster family giggled quickly before quieting hearing voices coming from above them.
"Natalia, I'm sorry," Jesus barged into the room Natalia was in.
"Get out, Jesus."
"I didn't mean it. Any of it, I don't even know why I said it."
"I said get out, Jesus."
"Nati, please."
"Get out!" Natalia yelled. "Why the hell do you think you have the right to talk to me after what you said?" She stood up, moving from her sitting position on Mariana's bed.
"Please Nati, I swear I didn't mean it," he said, putting his hands on her face, his thumbs rubbing her cheeks gently.
She slapped his hands away. "You compared me to your ex-girlfriend and then proceeded to call me a bitch," she hissed at him.
Jesus sat on the bed in defeat, his hands running across his face. "I don't know why I said those things. My friends were laughing at me cuz they said that you were the boss in the relationship when it should be me in charge and I guess I just listened to them," he admitted.
"So you yelled at me only to impress your idiot friends?" She scoffed. "Clearly they aren't your friends if they told you to disrespect your girlfriend." She crossed her arms over her chest. "God, Jay. You made me feel like crap. I did nothing to you. I just said it wouldn't be a good idea because I knew your moms would find out and then all of a sudden, you're all 'me man, you woman' on the phone."
"I know, okay!" Jesus stood up in a burst. "I'm an ass, a jerk, an idiot, the worst boyfriend ever...you can stop me at anytime," he said to his girlfriend.
"No, keep going," Natalia smiled sarcastically.
"Please Natalia," Jesus wrapped his arms around her waist as he stared into her eyes. "I am completely sorry. I didn't mean to say any of that. My anger just got the best of me and I let my friends control my anger when you were only trying to help me. I'm so so sorry. So Natalia, please? I'm begging you. Forgive me?"
Natalia melted as she saw the sincerity in his eyes. "Are you going to hang out with those guys more?" She asked hesitantly.
"Yeah." Jesus nodded. "Babe, they're my friends," he said.
She shook her head. "Not when they use you for their own pure entertainment, Jay. Friends don't do that. Especially not at the expense of your relationship."
"What? So you're going to tell me to stop hanging out with them?" Jesus asked.
"No. I'm not saying that." Natalia said. "I'm asking you to let them know that you're not going to be the butt of their jokes. And that you're not willing to risk our relationship for their amusement." She looked up at him. "I can't tell you to stop hanging out with them because they're your friends but can I at least ask that of you?"
Jesus nodded. "I'll tell them. And if they have something negative to say about that or you, then they're not worth my friendship." He said. "So is this you forgiving me?"
"For now," Natalia smiled. "Until you do something else to piss me off," she laughed.
"Hey! It won't always be me," he exclaimed.
Natalia puckered her lips. "Shut up and kiss me," she mumbled.
I'm so sorry I didn't post last week. I had writers block and I was busy with school. I'm so sorry. Truly. I hope you guys can review and also leave me any suggestions for what you want to see happen in the storyline. Thanks for reading guys. If I get a good suggestion or a good idea, I'll post this Monday.