"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 never thought I would say this but I'm actually glad to be back at school," Natalia took her shoulder bag off of her shoulder and set it on the lunch table in front of her. "I have done nothing but clean both houses all day and drive myself crazy by watching soap operas." She shook her head. "If that's the life of a housewife, then I definately do NOT want that," she chuckled.
"While you're happy to be here, I want nothing more to go home," Mariana put her head in her hands. "I'm so tired of school. Thankfully Easter break is only a week away." She sighed.
Natalia rubbed her back. "Then after that, it'll be spring break," she nudged, trying to cheer her best friend up.
"Oh, I can't wait until spring break!" Mariana cheered up. "I'll be spending all my days at the beach, scouring for boys and working on my tan," she did a small dance in her seat.
"See, you just have to look on the bright side," Natalia laughed.
"Natalia! Mariana! You have to come quick!" Callie sounded out of breath. "Jesus is about to get in a fight!"
Natalia shot up, leaving her shoulder bag on the table as she ran out out the room, following Callie. She turned and saw Mariana and the few students in the cafeteria rushing after her. She saw Jesus arguing with Mitch, the guy from Monday.
"C'mon, Foster! Don't let some bitch control you!" Mitch was chuckling, not being fazed by Jesus' anger. "Obviously she told you to say this to me. Don't let her control you." He crossed his arms over his chest, an amused smirk on his face.
"First of all, she's not a bitch and second, you're the one controlling me, not her!" Jesus was struggling against Brandon's arms, clearing wanting to attack Mitch.
"She's clearly a bitch if she's telling you to blow off her friends."
Natalia was furious at Mitch's words, so she stepped forward, pushing herself in between her boyfriend and Mitch. "Okay, I did not tell him to blow you guys off. I just asked him to tell you guys to have at least an ounce of respect for me because clearly you don't have any." Her hands shook at her sides. Yeah, Jesus and I definitely need a stronger dose of our medication, she thought.
"You don't have any respect for me or any woman; you're calling me a bitch left and right and you're telling your pathetic friends that the man is the leader in the relationship. Mitch, it's the 21st century, not the 1900s, women don't need to serve anyone. A relationship is 50/50, not whatever the hell you think it is. I can see why all your ex-girlfriends dumped you within a few days of dating you," she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're honestly replusive."
The crowd was cheering at Natalia's small declaration.
Mitch was furious. He looked around to see all of his friends laughing at him and pointing at him. He saw the crowd also laughing at him, happy that he was finally getting what he deserved. He was livid. I'm not going to let some bitch ridicule me. He rushed towards Natalia, lifting a fist and slamming it into her face. "Bitch," he muttered as his fist fell back against his side.
Natalia stood, watching Mitch take in everyone's reaction. She bit her lip. I think I've gone too far. She opened her mouth to apologize when she felt a heavy force slam into the side of her face. Her head turned at the force of the punch and she felt the pain beginning to rush towards her face as she tasted a rust-like liquid in her mouth. She grabbed at her face and with her other hand as she brought her hand to her lip and nose, pulling her hand back when she felt liquid. She opened her eyes to see a small puddle of scarlett red liquid on the tips of her fingers and in the middle of her palm. "Oh my God..." she whispered. "You punched me," she said in fear. She didn't want to look up at Mitch, for fear that he would hit her again.
The crowd, the Foster family included, stared in shock as they saw Mitch reach his hand behind to punch Natalia again.
Brandon, in a rush of anger, went behind Mitch and grabbed his fist, twisting his arm behind Mitch's back, in a way that his mother and father both taught him. He grit his teeth as Mitch struggled against him. "Get Natalia to the nurse," he grunted, losing grip of Mitch. He felt Mitch struggle less as some of Brandon's friends helped restrain Mitch. "Let's take him to Lena's office," he ordered.
"Wait," Mariana's voice made him stop. She walked towards them and stood in front of Mitch. She reached her hand up across her chest and slapped him with the back of her hand. "That's for hitting my best friend, pig." She spat at him before going to Natalia's side.
"Let's go," Brandon said, walking forward and using his knees to push Mitch forward. He saw someone join him at his side. "Jesus, go with the girls. Natalia needs you right now. I've got this," Brandon shook his head as Jesus didn't move. "Go, Jesus. Trust me." Brandon sighed in relief as his adoptive brother was doing as he said. They slowly reached Lena's office and Brandon threw Mitch in.
"What is going on here?" Lena got up from her desk as she walked to let Mitch up.
"Don't help him up, Lena," Brandon said in disgust. "He punched Natalia in the face."
Lena's face was filled with shock. Her face turned stern as she realized that she had to be a Vice-Principal now, not a concerned mother who wanted nothing more than to console Natalia. "Explain. Now."
"Ouch," Natalia winced at the anti-bacterial cream that the nurse just applied on her eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, honey," the nurse spoke as she dabbed at the open wound. "Just a little bit more and it'll be all done," she put down the cotton ball and picked up a small bandage.
"It looked like he managed to punch you twice," Mariana winced with her friend as she looked at the wound.
"He had a ring on his pinky and it cut my lip." Natalia felt the cold bandage go on her eyebrow. "I think the punch just cut my eyebrow. Am I going to have a swollen lip?" She turned to the nurse.
"Just for tomorrow, honey," the nurse grabbed another cotton ball. "I need to wipe away all of the blood from your lip. But I won't be using any of the anti-bacterial cream on it." She began to wipe Natalia's bottom lip. "How's your nose?" She asked.
Natalia took out the rolled up tissue out from her left nostril. "It's only a little bit of blood so I think it's okay now," she said.
"Are you in pain?" Mariana asked, sitting next to her best friend, holding her hand.
"Not really," Natalia said honestly. "It's just a numb feeling now. It occasionally throbs but other than that, it's okay. At least until tomorrow." She sighed. She looked at Jesus who was sitting by the door in silence, his head down. Sighing again, Natalia took out her phone and texted Jesus. Are you okay?
Jesus took his phone out of his pocket. He typed out his reply. I didn't protect you. I'm supposed to protect you. I stood there as he punched you. I could've stopped him.
Natalia rolled her eyes as she saw his answer. It all happened so fast. I don't blame you at all. No one thought he was going to hit me. Baby, I don't blame you. She wrote again to reassure him.
I still should've stopped him.
Jesus, stop it! He hit me so fast that I didn't even know I was hit until I saw the blood on my hand. One minute, I was saying he was repulsive and the next second, I had blood dripping from my face. No one could've done anything to stop it. Please. I don't want you blaming yourself. I'm just glad you're with me now.
"Okay honey," the nurse put a bandage on her lip. "You're all done. When you get home today, put an ice pack on it if it still hurts a bit." She took out a note pad and wrote a pass for them. "Miss Adams wants to see you three in her office." She tore out the pass and handed it to Mariana.
"Thanks Nurse Jackie," Natalia said.
"No problem, sweetie."
The three teens got up and began to walk to Lena's office. Jesus took Natalia's hand in his, intertwining their fingers. The bell rang, dismissing students to their next class. As Natalia walked, she noticed the students staring at her face.
Feeling annoyed, Natalia rolled her eyes. "Yes, I have cuts on my face. Stay tuned until tomorrow and I'll have bruises on my face." She sped up, wanting to get to Lena's office.
Jesus chuckled. "At least you're still in your joking mood," he rubbed his thumb on the back of Natalia's hand.
"Well, everyone's waiting for me to break down crying and I don't want to give them that satisfaction so I'm just gonna laugh it all away," Natalia shrugged.
"And that's a good place to take it," Mariana smiled. "I'm going to get your backpack. You left it in the cafeteria, I'll meet you in mom's office." She turned around and made her way outside.
"I'm really so-"
"Don't say it. You don't need to be sorry for anything," Natalia looked at Jesus. "It's not your fault, please believe me. I'm the one who confronted him and said the things to set him off, not you. Please honey, I don't want you to blame yourself," she rubbed his hand with her own.
Jesus sighed as they reached his mom's office. He lifted his hand to knock on her door.
"Come in," Lena's hectic sounding voice came through the door. "And close the door behind you."
The young teens entered her office and saw Lena with papers stung all around her desk and her hands in her hair.
"Mom, are you okay?" Jesus reached out to his mother, worry written on his face.
"I'm not sure, honey." Lena looked down at the file opened on her desk. "Where's Natalia?" She looked up.
Natalia stepped to the side and slowly looked up at Lena.
"Oh sweetie," Lena's face softened. She walked around her desk and brought Natalia in a fierce hug. Her hand smoothed down her straight hair, trying to calm herself down. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, as good as I can be," Natalia shrugged. "Nurse Jackie can't give me any pain-medication because I'm still underage so my face still hurts a little bit but other than that, I'm okay," she sat in the seat in front of Lena.
Lena walked over to her son and hugged him tightly as well. She grabbed his face in her hands as well, checking it for any cuts or bruises. "Mitch didn't hit you?"
Jesus shook his head at his mother as he sat next to Natalia and waited for his mother to sit at her desk. "He wanted to, but he didn't get the chance," he said.
"Okay," Lena sighed, putting her head in her hands as she sat in her chair. "Mitch gave me his side of the story, now I need yours." Lena brought out a paper and pen, ready to write their account of the story. "Jesus, you may start," she gestured for him to begin.
Jesus took a breath before he began to speak, "I was walking to lunch and I saw Mitch; I wanted to talk to him and tell him that if he didn't respect Natalia or our relationship, that I'm not gonna hang out with them anymore."
Jesus continued to speak until his side of the story was told. Mariana came in as he finished.
"You're right on time, Mariana," Lena spoke as she took out a new piece of paper to write on. "I need your side of the story," she uncapped her pen.
"Natalia and I were sitting in the cafe, and then Callie came in..." Mariana began.
"And then he punched me," Natalia finished her side of the story, shrugging as she said it. "He was going to punch me again but Brandon restrained him and he took Mitch to your office," she left out the part that Mariana slapped him. Jesus, Mariana and Natalia agreed, to keep Mariana out of trouble, that they wouldn't mention it.
Lena sighed. "Mitch will be getting two weeks of suspension. It's up to you, Natalia, if you want to press charges," she informed the young girl. "You may sign yourself out to go home, if you'd like," she offered.
Natalia shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. Everyone knows what happened and my face will be worse tomorrow, so I can deal with it," she said.
"Alright," Lena sighed again. "I haven't told Stef yet; I'm not exactly sure how to without her coming here and attempting to arrest Mitch herself," she looked at the kids. "You're dismissed," she said, taking on her Vice-Principal role.
"Guys, I'm home!" Stef opened the door to her house and called out to her family. She took off her police vest that she always wore and set it on the coat rack next to the door. Her eyebrows furrowed as no one responded back to her. "Guys? Lena, honey?" She walked into the living room and saw no one. "B? Jesus? Mariana?" She walked into the kitchen and saw no one there too. "What the hell is going on?" She said aloud. "Callie? Jude? Natalia?" She reached the stairs and set one foot on the stairs and then stopped moving when she heard voices.
"No amount of make-up is going to cover all of this up, Mariana," Stef heard Natalia hiss from upstairs.
"Shh, we don't want mom to hear you, Nat," Jesus shushed her.
"We have literally less than 30 seconds guys," Callie had a worried voice.
"And you guys have 30 seconds before I charge up there and find out what's going on," Stef yelled.
"Honey, before you see Natalia, please don't overreact. Just let us explain," Lena spoke from the top of the stairs.
"25..." Stef crossed her arms over her chest and took another step up the stairs.
"Why don't I explain it first?" Brandon spoke, coming closer near Lena.
"No, just let her see it. I don't know why you guys are trying to cover it up," Natalia sounded annoyed. "She's going to find out anyways."
"19..." Stef took two more steps.
"Maybe we should just listen to Natalia," Jude's innocent voice spoke.
"Yes! Let's!" Natalia agreed with Jude.
"15..." Stef was halfway up the stairs.
Lena came downstairs and grabbed her wife's hand. "Come sit with me," she dragged Stef to the living room and sat her down.
"Lena, sweetie," Stef spoke sweetly, holding her partner's hand in both of hers. "What the hell is going on?" Her voice took a sharp tone.
"You'll see, mom," Brandon came downstairs next and took a seat next to his mother. He took her hand in his.
Lena saw the look in Brandon's face as she grabbed her wife's other hand.
Stef noticed her wife and her son take her hands. "Why does it feel like you guys are restraining me?"
"Uh..." Brandon looked around for something to say.
"Just relax and remember to relax when you see Natalia," Callie came downstairs and sat in the reclining chair.
"I honestly don't think Stef'll react the way you guys think she will," Jude hopped down a few steps, smiled at Stef and sat next to his sister in the reclining chair. "Hi Stef," he waved at her.
"Hi sweetie," Stef said in a skeptical voice. "Can someone tell me what is going on?"
"You'll see in a few seconds," Mariana came downstairs. "Please don't overreact even though I think you should but Natalia doesn't seem to agree with me," she sat on the floor on front of Brandon, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Obviously this has something to do with Natalia. Can someone tell me what is going on?" Stef asked, her face fell as realization came over her. "Oh my god," she let go of Brandon's and Lena's hands as her face fell into her free hands. "Natalia's pregnant, isn't she?" She looked at everyone in the room. "That's what you guys are trying to hide, aren't you? Oh my god," she repeated.
"Honestly, Stef," Natalia's voice came from the top of the steps. "Don't you have faith in me? No, let me go, Jesus. For god's sake, she thinks I'm pregnant," she stomped down the stairs and walked into the living room. Her cut up and bruising face came into the light. "I'm not pregnant," she glared at Jesus as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, coming from the stairs behind her.
"Sweetie," Stef stood up and walked over to Natalia, grabbing her face. "What happened?" She turned Natalia's face, seeing the cuts and bruises. Her tone of voice changed, "who did this to you?"
"That's where we need you to sit, mom," Jesus told Stef. He sat her down and launched into the story.
As Jesus finished, Natalia spoke up. "But I don't want you to press charges."
"Like hell, you're not! That's assault!" Stef got up from the couch and began pacing. "He deserves to rot in jail for what he did! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw him in jail!"
"Because it was my fault!" Natalia yelled. "I antagonized him! It always is my fault. It was my fault Mitch hit me and it was my fault Jason hit me too! It's always my fault," she repeated.
Silence creeped up in the house.
"Who's Jason, sweetie?" Lena asked softly.
Natalia's eyes scanned at the concerned people in the room. She looked down and fidgeted with her hands. "My ex-boyfriend," she whispered.
"Wait a minute," Mariana spoke. "You had an ex-boyfriend...who hit you?"