-Mari's POV-
I got out of bed and stretched. I feel so much better than yesterday. I am ready to take on school. I walked to my closet and started browsing my closet. I pulled out a short black skirt. I decided to pair it with a white button up sleeveless top. I grabbed my white sandals and put them downstairs by the door. I ran back up to my room and grabbed my black rose earrings, my black rose bracelet and my necklace. I set all of my clothes on my bed and went to my bathroom. I showered. I dried off. I walked to the sink. I combed through my wet locks. I put some gel in my hair and decided to leave it down. I applied nude eye-shadow and brown eyeliner, as well as brown mascara. I put on some lip gloss and walked back into my bedroom. I started putting my clothes when I heard a knock at the door.
"Hold on! I am still getting dressed!" I said in a cheery voice. I don't know why but I am super excited for school today. I buttoned up my shirt and zipped my skirt up and ran to the door. I opened it and there Gil stood.
"Hey Bella, Roma wanted me to make sure you got up. He is already downstairs with the rest of the guys." He said and I nodded.
I went back to my bed where my earrings and necklace and bracelets were. I put them on and then went back into my closet to grab my purse. I ran downstairs and into the kitchen.
"Good morning!" I said as I waved to them. I saw lukas sitting on Roma's lap. He was giggling and then he looked at me and started reaching for me. I smiled and took him from Roma. I scooped the little boy up and kissed him on top of the head. He started sucking his thumb and rested his head on my shoulder.
The guys all waved and went back to their breakfast. I walked further into the kitchen and grabbed a banana. I started to peel it when I heard the phone ring.
RING...RING...RIN- "Hello, Maribella speaking." I said.
"Hola Maribella, tengo un promblema." My father said from the other line. (Hi Maribella, I have a problem.)
"What's wrong dad?" I asked him.
"Well, they want to keep me here for a while longer. We are way behind schedule with things and I might not be home until mid may." He said.
"Mid May? Why are they keeping you there for two more months?" I asked worry filling my voice.
"I already told you, we are way behind schedule. I will call you every night until then okay. I will be able to pay any bills from here."
"Well actually I have been staying at the Vargas household for the past week." I said in a timid voice.
"Why?"
"Well, I have something to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Well, I am sort of, kind of, the new caretaker of an orphaned infant which makes you his legal guardian."
"How on earth did that happen! How are you going to take care of it all by yourself while I am gone?"
"That is why I have been staying at the Vargas house, all of my friends have been helping me take care of Lukas and their grandfather bought me all the supplies I needed for him because he owns the store. Well I actually bought it but it came at a really really discounted price because he owns the store. I have already been keeping up with Doctor visits for Lukas so I would say things are going pretty good right now. Sorry this all happened. I didn't really have a choice, I mean I can't just leave the little guy. I have a lot of support Dad so I think I can do this." It was silent on the other end for about two minutes. I held my breath the entire time.
"Well, I can't wait to meet the little guy. Well, I have to go. I love you, bye." The line went dead and I turned around and took a bite of my banana, All the guys were staring at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Who was that?" Al asked.
"It was my dad, he won't be home for two more months. Is it okay if I stay here for awhile?" I asked Rome.
"Of course it is okay. You are part of the family. If you need anything we are here for you. " He said. I thanked him and went to the front door to put my shoes on and grab my backpack.
"Well, shouldn't we be getting to school?" I said and the guys all nodded and made their ways out of the house and to their cars. I have work today. We all have work today. I am excited. I sat in the leather seat right next to Roma and held his hand.
We arrived at the school and we all got out of the car. Roma held my hand as we approached the trunk to grab our bags. We continued holding hands and walking close together as we entered the school building. The boys were greeted with their regular swarm of fan-girls that Roma and I weaved our way through so we could make our way towards our lockers. We put our books and everything that we didn't need in the metal boxes and closed our locker doors.
"Hey when is our modeling job at the mall, like when do we have to be there today?" I asked Roma.
"I believe he said 7-9 and we said we would work every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We also said we would work the second Saturday of every month. So we will have time to do homework before and band practices too if we want to. "
"Oh, don't you guys have soccer practice every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school?" I asked him.
"Yeah but that is only from 1:45-3:45." He said. I nodded.
"I am going to watch you guys practice today but I will probably run home and Grab lukas first."
"Okay, after work can we study together for our English test? I really don't understand the book." He said. I nodded and we made our way back to class.
I sat down next to Roma and We held hands. I opened my book and scanned the pages. The bell rang and students filed in. Antonio sat on the other side of me and class began.
"I've graded everyone's projects. I am happy to say that the class average was a 92%. It seems as if we need to do more creative assignments like that every time we have a project. Everyone understands the book better that way." He said. He passed our grade sheet back to me.
"What did we get Bella?" Antonio asked.
"We got, 100%!" I said as I waved the paper in front of his face.
"Ay chica! Estoy muy feliz!" He said making a silly face.
"I knew we would do a good job. We are a great team." I said.
"Hey we should be partners for all of our projects!" Antonio said and Roma and I nodded.
The rest of class was spent playing jeopardy as a review game for our test. Antonio, Roma, and I won the review game and got the bonus points. We left 1st period and walked through the halls to our next class.
-Roma's POV-
We walked the halls and I heard whispers as we walked by. Girls spreading rumors about Maribella, boys wolf whistling and commenting on her appearance. I was getting frustrated. I shouldn't be. What is wrong with me? Normally I don't notice this maybe I am just worried. I shake all my negative thoughts a way and put on a smile. I am dating the prettiest girl in the universe. I shouldn't be freaking out. As we were walking I noticed that girl staring at Mari. She was smiling a wicked smile and the glanced up. I looked to what she was looking at and I saw a bucket in the rafters. Mari was about to walk under it. The girl snapped her fingers and a boy pulled a rope. Just as he did that I pulled the both of us away from the bucket and kissed her on the lips. The bucket fell on the ground and not a single drop of water fell onto her. She is wearing white today so that could have been bad.
There were whistles and cheers as a look of confusion spread acrossed Mari's features.
"Roma? Why did you kiss me so suddenly?" She asked me.
"Turn around, carefully." I said. She did what I asked and saw the hallway drenched with water luckily no one got wet.
"What happened?" She asked. I pointed to the girl who has been bugging Mari and she glared at us. I just smiled and waved before turning into our next class followed by Mari.
-Time Skip: Lunch-
The Lunch room was buzzing. Maribella and I walked to the table and sat down next to the guys. Alfred was telling stories to the group. Feli was cuddling with Ludwig. Everyone in the group looked genuinely content.
"I heard the news. Dude, why'd you kiss her in front of the entire school? That's so unlike you." Alfred stated right as we took our seats.
"That girl who has been bothering Mari had something planned for her so I had to make sure nothing bad happened. At the time that was the only solution I could come up with." I answered. Al nodded his head and went back to telling stories while the others either listened intently or did homework and such.
I pulled out my lunch. Feli made cabbage, bean& farro soup the night before and I decided to take it to school.
"Hey Mari, I am going to go get a spoon from lunch line. I will be back shortly. Do you need anything?" I asked her. She nodded and smiled sweetly at me. I chuckled and walked away.
As I made my way to where the spoons were I saw that wretched girl who caused the Bella pain. My stomach lurches just looking at that girl because of the images of Bella that pass through my head. Her lying bruised and bleeding on the bathroom floor. Clothes, tattered and unwearable. Tears falling from her eyes and the most desperate and heart-wrenching looks on a human being. All those images ran through my head at the sight of this bully. The girl started making her way towards me. I simply looked away as if I had not seen her at all. I grabbed my spoon and napkin and right as she was about to speak to me, I turned and left. Paying no mind to the girl, I made my way towards my group of friends. I sat back down and draped my arm around Maribella who looked as cute as can be in one of the outfits we got from the store we now work at.
-Time Skip: Soccer Practice (Sorry for all the Time skips, There shouldn't be too many more in this chapter.)-
I went into the locker room. I walked over to my locker and pulled out my uniform. I changed and put the rest of my things away. I walked back out of the room and spotted Maribella on the staircase looking for me. I trotted over to her and gave her a hug. I rested my head on top of hers and took in her scent. She smelled like vanilla and almonds today.
"Do you want me to give you a piggy back ride?" I asked her. She giggled and shook her head no.
"I am wearing a skirt. I do not want to be flashing what I've got to the entire student body. I also want to stretch my legs after being trapped in those god awful people prisons they call desks. I will hold your hand though." She replied. I chuckled and grabbed her hand.
We walked out to the fields together. I walked her over to the bleachers and sat down with her. I still have like 20 minutes before practice starts.
"Hey Roma, I am going to go get Lukas and drop my stuff off at home since I don't have any homework. You can come along if you think you wont miss any practice." She said.
"I can't. It takes like 10 minutes to walk home from here and by the time you get everything you need and grab Lukas I will be like 5 minutes late to practice."
"Oh, well maybe next time then. I will be back soon." She said before kissing me on the cheek and waving. God she is so wonderful.
-Mari's POV-
I made it home and threw my bag on the floor by the window to the right of the front door. I went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. There sat Roma's grandfather with little Lukas. When he saw me he smiled.
"I am glad you're back. I need to go to work." He hands me baby Luka and runs out the door and to his car. I cuddle the little guy.
"I missed you soo much, you don't even know." I said as Luka cooed and played with my hair. I grabbed my glass of water. Once I finished it I took Luka, put him in his stroller, grabbed some snacks and liquids for the little guy, grabbed some toys to occupy him and the rest of his necessities and then we were on our way to go watch the guys play soccer.
I pushed the little stroller near to where Artie was reading his book on the bleachers.
"Hey Artie. I see you still can't play. When do you get that thing off anyway?" I asked him. He chuckled and looked up from his book.
"In about a week or so. I see you brought the little man to view the guys." He said. I nodded and we talked until the practice was over.
Roma came over after he showered and cleaned up from soccer. I waved goodbye to Arthur and took Lukas and Roma home.
-Time Skip: First Day of Work-
We entered the store. I was shaking. I am soo nervous. I have never been a model before. Am I even good enough to be a model. Roma looked over at me and noticed my deer in headlights like expression. He chuckled and gave me a big squeeze.
"Bella, you don't need to be worried. You look good in everything you try on so all you really have to do is smile and have fun. We are all modeling together so that should take some of the pressure off of it and add a little fun." He said with a reassuring smile. I am really glad I have him. We walked back into the dressing rooms. The manager was smiling. He pointed us to our rooms.
"You all already have your outfits picked out for you. You can mix and match anything in that room if you please. We only need you to model three or four outfits today so chillax and have fun."
I walked into the room and automatically started picking and choosing my outfits. He said our first picture would be casual like hanging out at the park with friends. I picked a pink shirt that faded to blue at the bottom. I paired it with light blue, jean short-shorts. I grabbed some pink sparkly toms and some other accessories. I wore a pink panda hat, a blue handbag, some pink and blue earrings, a dream-catcher earrings, as well as some bracelets. I walked out of my room and spotted the guys already waiting for the manager to show us what we were supposed to do. The manager came to us and ushered us into a room that was set up with a photographer. We all walked into the middle of the room and just started making poses as the photographer instructed us. All of us were smiling and goofing around and giggling. The photographer and manager of the store looked pleased as well. After about twenty minutes of taking pictures we went back to our dressing rooms to pick our next outfits. Next the manager wanted us to wear something that we would wear to school or to go on a simple date. I already started pulling clothes while my idea of what to wear formed in my mind. I pulled on a spaghetti strapped floral dress that went slightly higher than mid-thigh. I put on a jean jacket, a leather shoulder bag, light brown heels (to match the bag), a dark red beanie, a golden owl necklace, feather earrings, and then I made my way back out to the room with the photographer and manager. I was the first one back in the room which was surprising considering the fact that it took me 10 minutes to find everything I wanted and get it on.
"Wow, you are really good at picking outfits little miss. You have a really unique sense of fashion and the fact that you can pick something out as elaborate as that outfit and get back in here in 10 minutes is astonishing." The manager said. The photographer nodded in agreement.
The guys walked into the room and we started taking fun pictures again. In one of the pictures the photographer wanted us all to dance around and just look like we were having a good time which wasn't hard considering this job alone is super fun. After about 45 minutes the manager finally asked us to go back to our dressing rooms and find out final outfit. He wanted us to wear something that we would wear to a school banquet or an important dinner. I already had exactly what I wanted to wear in my mind. I picked out an aqua skater style dress. I grabbed a brown stringy crocheted vest, a brown shoulder bad, brown boots, pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, and a fancy bracelet. I walked back to the room and again I was the first one there. Either the guys are indecisive or really slow. I walked into the middle of the room and waited for the guys to get back. What was taking them so long. After awhile Roma came in. The manager asked the photographer to take pictures of the two of us together. We took a ton of pictures of the two of us. One picture I kissed Roma on the cheek and he had this adorable blush on his smiling face. Finally the rest of the guys joined us.
"I see you all finally decided to show up." I said as a looked at my pretend watch.
"Well it looks like you guys already started without us anyways." Gil said with a chuckle.
"Well, atleast you all look snazzy. You sir look especially sharp." I said as I hugged Roma.
The manager motioned for us all to commence taking photos again so we complied. We all had a good time. After the last half an hour was over we all headed back to our dressing rooms to change into our original outfits. After I was changed back into my outfit I walked back to where the manager was standing. He was smiling. In a few minutes the rest of the guys joined me.
"I want to thank you guys for agreeing to be our store model's. I really do appreciate it. You guys were great today. As a token of my appreciation, and because we had an awesome first day, I am letting you guys keep the three outfits you picked out today," He said with an even bigger smile than before. We all cheered and walked back to our dressing rooms to grab our outfits. I really love the outfits I picked. They were so cute. I really like this job, I can let my fashion creativity flow and wear what I choose. I even get paid for it. This job is the best. I walked over to Roma and hugged him.
"You were way right." I said.
"What was I right about?" He asked me.
"That modeling with you guys would take the pressure off. I really had a lot of fun today. I can't wait to see where this goes," I uttered.
He chuckled and took my hand. We all walked out of the mall that was closing around us and into the parking lot. We got into our cars and drove home. Today was a good day.