Austin

After dropping off Stephanie from her house I was able to get back to my room without any confrontation from Sarah. I lie in bed thinking about the moment Stephanie and I shared today. It felt like nothing else in the world matter but being with her and being close to her. Her body pressing up against me felt like she was a part of me and I never want to let her go.

At school we continued to keep our distance which is torturing thing to do. Stephanie left a note in my locker with an address on it and it said to meet her there. I spent the entire day watching the clock and waiting the day to be over. When Spanish class came around I was able to not look at the clock and glance over at Stephanie grading papers for Mrs. Nunez. She's wearing a see through button up shirt with a tank top underneath it giving her the appearance of a teacher. When class ended I casually walked out of the class room and passed Stephanie. I head to the exit but I get hold up by Megan.

"Hey Austin, do you have a minute?" She says shining her pearly white teeth.

"Sure Megan, but can you make it quick I got to get home."

"Well the volleyball team has a game tomorrow night and if we win our team makes it in the championship finals so I was hoping you would be there to support the team including me."

"Yeah of course I'll be there." Stephanie's a part of the volleyball team maybe I can surprise her by showing up.

"Great, I'll see you there tomorrow."

I head outside to my car and drove out of the parking lot. In my rear view mirror I see Stephanie's car following behind me. After parking our cars Stephanie immediately drags me through a wide alleyway filled with stands and stores.

"Where are we?" I ask trying not to resist.

"This whole row is filled with stores where nearly everything is handmade. Maria and our family are the only ones who actually come here to buy things."

"Interesting, what kind of stuff do they make?"

"Typical stuff like jewelry, plates, bowls, furniture, paintings and they're not that bad for handmade. It's been around since before I was born." She suddenly stops, "Come on," she says grabbing a hold of my wrist.

She leads me into a store that looks like it could've been a library once, but instead of book there are different types of antique items.

"¿Quién está ahí?" An elderly man comes through a curtained doorway.

"Soy yo Stephanie." She says with a smile on her face. They talk to each other in Spanish for a few minutes then she turns to me, "Este es mi amigo Austin." The elderly man takes my hand to shake it, "This is Don Pedro he lets me work here during the summer." They say a few more things in Spanish before Pedro slowly walks back through the curtain. Stephanie turns back to me, "So feel free to look around."

A few minutes of silence go by as I stroll through the store and see a lot of well made items. I catch up with Stephanie after a spin around the store and she breaks the silence between us, "So tell me about your mom."

"You want to know about Sarah?"

"No, I mean your real mom." I could feel the hesitation in her voice like she was afraid to ask.

I nod my head, "She left me and my dad when I was eight years old. She just took off with another man and didn't even say goodbye or try to work things out with my dad." I take a breath before continuing, "I tracked her down when I was fifteen years old. When I found her she was already remarried and had kids. I just wanted her in my life, but all she said to me was that she wasn't my mother and that she had a new family."

Stephanie steps towards me and puts a hand on my cheek, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to get in your business."

"No, it's okay. I trust you enough to know these things." I pull her in to hug her but it's cut short when Pedro came back through the curtains. He sets a tray of jewelry on the counter and says something to Stephanie then walks to the other end of the counter.

Stephanie laughs and turns to me, "He says take something for gift to someone."

I can already tell where Pedro is going with this. I look at the tray and immediately grab a necklace. It has a cross pendant with blue and white stones forming the T formation and a heart wrapped around the middle. I unclip the necklace and wrap it around Stephanie's neck.

"Austin, you don't have to-"

"I don't want to hear it, this gift is for you."

She smiles then reaches passed her necklace and pulls a beaded necklace over her head and places it around my neck. "Then here's my gift to you. It's a Rosario, to protect you."

Stephanie and I spent the rest of the day looking around. It took us awhile to finally say goodbye but when we did it was already dark out. I don't bother sneaking in since dad and Sarah are going to be late coming home. I head into the kitchen where Brenda is cleaning up.

"Hey Brenda, how are you?" I ask taking a bottle of water out of the fridge and take a seat at the counter.

"I'm good, where have you been?"

"I was out with Stephanie." I can help but smile at the thought.

"Again, you must really like this girl."

I take a breath, "I do, and she's amazing." I start playing with the Rosario that Stephanie gave me. I look at Brenda's face and notice that she seems like she wants to say something, "What's wrong, Brenda?"

"I can't be sure but I think something happened to that girl. I can see pain in her eyes from something that's been with her for long time. I think you should be careful. Painful things tend to come back to haunt people."

I thank Brenda for the advice but I already know about her painful time during sophomore year and I will be there for her if that pain comes back.

Stephanie

Today is game day and an important day for our team. It's the semi-finals and if we win tonight's game then we are in the finals for the championship. I put on my kneepads when coach comes out of her office to make a last minute speech to the team.

"Alright girls, we've made it this far and I don't intend have that end tonight. You girls fight hard even with your difference between all of you, you manage to overcome it for the sake of the team. Now let's follow our team captain out to victory."

I finish tying my shoes and lead the way out of the locker room into the school gym. I reach the benches when I look at the home side of the bleachers then spot Carlos with Alex sitting beside Maria along with the rest of my friends, cheering their hearts out as usual. I look over at the next section of bleachers to see Austin sitting next to Jake and the rest of them. I send him a smile to see if he notices me and he returns with a smile of his own. The team lines up then we make our way pass the net to shake hands with the opposing team and then we do warm ups.\

The game goes on for a long time. We've tied up twice but now we're ahead with a score of thirteen to eleven.

"We're up two points but that doesn't mean we take it easy on them remember these girls play their hardest when they're near losing. So go out there and dominate to victory. Let's go!"At the sideline coach is telling us what tour next move is and sends us back out.

The team stands in formation with it being my turn to serve the ball. I spike the ball over the net. The opposite team manages to bring it back over but Megan spikes the ball down hard giving us another point. We need one more point to win this whole thing and move forward. I spike the ball with force and get it over the net. The opposite team hit it twice then a red head player jumps to slam it down towards me. I try to hit it up to another teammate but the ball smashes right to my face and at the bone of my cheek. I touch it and feel it begin to bruise. I look out into the audience as see a lot of worried faces especially from Austin.

"Steph, are you okay?" Coach shouts from the sidelines. I nod my head and wave her off so she won't take me out of the game. We're so close to winning that I can't sit on the bench and watch our team go to victory without me.

"Is that all you got?" I call out the red head that hit me.

She shrugs her shoulders, "Let's find out."

I back up into formation and wait for the opposing team serves the ball. When the ball comes to our side, Megan and I manage to fake a serve throwing them off our game but they block the ball back over on our side then we manage to save the ball from hitting the floor. I watch the ball get hit back over to our side but when Megan hit the ball up to pass it over to another teammate she accidently hits near out of bounce and I quickly run to the sideline to hit it over the net. The ball comes back over and I realize that I had left a hole in the formation giving the other team a point.

I walk back to my spot, "Nice going." Megan says sarcastically.

"Well maybe if you keep the ball in bounce I wouldn't have to leave the formation." She says something else but I ignore her and stand in my spot.

The ball bounces back and forth numerous times. Megan pushes me aside to spike the ball over the net but I manage to get back up and spike the upcoming ball straight down on the white line of the court giving us the win. I always love winning because the team is always so emotional over the win they forget to shun me from it. As we're celebrating the entire side of the home jump off the bleachers to celebrate with us. Carlos and the rest of my friends come to give me a congratulatory hug for the win.

I feel a tap on my shoulder then I turn to see Jorge, "Congrats Steph," he wraps his arms around me, "you worked hard for it."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it Jorge."

I put on my sweatshirt and head out with the group. I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. It's a text message from Austin:

Congrats, wish I could say it to in person.

I look back inside the gym and see Austin watching me. I smile and text back:

Maybe u can Jmeet me in the back of the school.

I look at him check his phone then a smile comes across his face and he nods.

"Oh crap, I forgot my gym bag in the locker room. I'll be right back let me go get it."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Carlos asks.

I shake my head, "No, está bien.It'll be quick just give me a minute."

"Bueno, hurry up then."

I jog into the girl's locker room. Luckily, no one is in here. I pull up my hood and head to the other door that leads to the other side of the gym where the back exit is. I look around and spot Austin waiting at the far end of the school, opposite the parking lot, where not many people are walking by. I casually walk over to Austin until I'm just a few feet from him I begin to jog. I run into his arms and instantly feel his lips on top of mine.

"Congratulations on making it to the finals." He whispers in my ear.

"That's seriously the last thing on my mind right now." I say in between each kiss.

My heart suddenly stops and horror of chill rushes over me when I hear a familiar voice, "Hey Austin, party at my house come on."

Austin walks pass me to cover me out of view, "Yeah man, I'll meet you there."

My hands begin to shake when I feel his eyes on me, "Oh, you getting with one of the member of the volleyball team."

I speed walk to get around the corner and out of sight but I run into Jake, "Sorry Stephanie I didn't see you there."

"What, Stephanie?"

The only thing keeping me from showing my face was my hood, but I don't have anywhere else to hide. I slowly turn my head to see Derek once again after so many years.

He laughs, "Well long time no see." He scans me up and down, "Wow, puberty has done wonders for you." He starts to step towards me, but I take a couple steps back. I look at Austin who is confused at what's going on. "So tell me how's Carlos doing?"

"Get the hell away from her!" I hear Carlos coming up behind me from around the corner. Without even thinking I wrap my arms around Jorge's waist as he was coming up beside me.

"Whoa Carlos, take it easy. Is this any way to say hi to an old friend?" He says sarcastically.

"You stay the hell away from my sister." Carlos looks over at Austin, "I already warned your friend here about…" he suddenly stops in midsentence which worries me.

Derek grabs his attention again, "Come on man, share your little sister…just like you did for me."

Carlos's fists tighten up, but I grab his shoulder. He looks at me and without speaking he knows what I'm saying. I don't want them to go at each other again. He takes my hand off his shoulder and leads me away from the group. I look back at Austin who looks either confused or worried maybe even both about the whole situation. What will he think about now?

"You know what you did and as God as my witness you'll get yours soon enough." I hear Jorge say before he starts walking behind us.

I hear Derek laugh loudly, "You should watch yourself Jorgie would hate for something to happen to you."

The ride home was nothing but awkward silence. Jorge drove Maria and everyone else home. Carlos never looked at me the whole ride but I know he's angry; his knuckles are turning white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. I don't know if he's angry with me or with Austin or the fact that he had an unpleasant reunion with Derek. Once we reach home I knew that I will be in store for something loud. I walk into the house first but as soon as the door closes behind Carlos he begins his ranting.

"What did I tell you about that cabrón? I told you to stay away from him. What's wrong with you?"

"I have stayed away from him."

"Don't lie to me. I know that's bullshit." He's bluffing he can't possibly know anything.

I shake my head continuing to deny it, "You don't know what you're talking about."

He scoff, "Oh no, then why was he wearing your Rosario. I saw it around his neck." That must be why he stopped in midsentence when he looked at Austin, "You've been lying to me from the very beginning and you've been with that white boy."

"You want to know the truth, Carlos?" I don't think he'll understand the truth but he has to know now.

"All I ask for is the truth from you from the beginning." He shouts.

"I love him okay I want to be with him and I don't care if he's white." I shouted my feeling to him everything I never told him he now knows.

He keeps shaking his head as if what I'm telling him is a lie, "You're young you don't know what you feel." I tried to explain but he cuts me off, "Just go to your room and stay there. I don't want to talk about it tonight especially after what just happened. Go!" He points towards the stairs.

I decide to call it a night and not attempt to argue with him now. I can't help but cry after what happened. What if Austin finds out the truth? I don't want him to know this way.