Junior Year, Snow Day
Her alarm clock blared, and Carina groaned, a hand emerging from under her blanket to hit the snooze button. She had been dreading this day for weeks, ever since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution unit in her U.S. History course. She hated learning about the downfall of the environment, and had put considerably less effort in, meaning that the test that day most likely wasn't going to go well. Carina had been meaning to study the night before but it had been Visitors' Day at her dad's care facility, and she'd ended up staying long after Andrew went home. She still felt guilty about putting him in there, and didn't feel like she could leave when he asked her to stay. Carina reached for her phone, as she usually did first thing she after woke up, a habit that was going to be hard to break at this point. There was a text from Maya. The school called and there's a snow day. You and Andrew want to go sledding? Love you. Carina smiled, immediately feeling the weight of the impending test lift off of her shoulders. They could spend the morning at the park, the afternoon getting lunch and hot chocolate, and then still have time for a late afternoon study session: the perfect day. Sí, bambina. We will meet you at the parco in half of an hour? Ti amo. The response from Maya was almost immediate. Sounds perfect! With that Carina was out of bed, almost to her bathroom.
"Andrea!" she yelled into the hallway, "Nevica, amico, ma andiamo in slittino con Maya e Mason!" (Snow day, buddy, but we are going sledding with Maya and Mason.)
Carina pulled Maya in for a kiss, giggling at the feeling of the snowflakes on their lips. They'd been in their own world since they'd gotten there five minutes before. Andrew and Mason were off towards the other side of the park, where they'd found some of their friends from school, so it wasn't as if they minded. There had been other snow days since Maya and Carina had started dating, but Lane had always taken advantage of them to force Maya into more training. The one good thing about the way things had been between Lane and Maya since she'd come out was that at that point, he didn't feel comfortable forcing Maya to do things. Mixed with Maya's chapstick, the snow tasted sweet on Carina's tongue. Before she knew what was happening, Maya had tripped and pulled them both down into the snow. Maya shrieked and yanked the sleeves of her jacket down; they had been rolled up before. Carina maneuvered them so she was on top of Maya, and pinned her arms down, leaning down to kiss her. Maya managed to free herself, rolling away. She immediately began to move her arms and legs back and forth in snow angel formation, giggling, and smiling mischievously at Carina. Carina rolled her eyes playfully, as if to say "what have I gotten myself into," and smiled back. She crawled over to Maya, and lay next to her, making a neighboring snow angel. Maya found Carina's hand with her own, interlocking them, and guiding their hands together across the soft wonderland beneath them. When their angels were done, they rose, still holding hands, and admired their handy work. As was to be expected, their angels looked more like they shared a wing than that they were holding hands, but it was still sickeningly adorable. Carina and Maya's eyes fell upon each other, sharing a longing look.
"Want to sled?" Maya whispered.
"Sí," Carina nodded.
"Okay," Maya replied, pausing before, "I call the back!" She sprinted off towards the tree they'd propped their sled against.
"Hey!" Carina yelled, running after her. However, she soon stopped, distracted by the image of Maya running away from her, of her perfectly shaped legs. She'd seen Maya run before at her meets, of course, but never from this close. When Carina finally reached the tree, she pinned Maya against it, not allowing her to escape this time. Placing her hand behind Maya's head as a cushion, she aggressively pushed Maya against the tree, catching her lips with her own. Maya smiled into the kiss, kissing Carina back harder.
"Get a room, My!" One of Maya's teammates called from where the team was making snowmen. Maya flipped her off, and they all laughed.
"You all are just jealous you don't have a beautiful Italian girlfriend like me!"
"Whatever! Go back to eating each other's faces!" Maya smiled. She loved being able to joke around with her teammates. She usually only ever got to do it during school hours, because her dad was not a fan of "slacking off" during practice. Half the time during school they were all so focused on their work that, that was all they could talk about, even during lunch. The team often went out to pizza after a win, and Maya was excited to finally be able to do that now that Lane probably wasn't going to force her to come home with him. Carina touched her hand to Maya's arm to get her attention. She'd placed the sled at the top of the hill, all ready to go.
"Stai bene, bella?" (You okay, beautiful?)
"Yeah I was just thinking about how good it feels to be able to just be myself with my teammates without having to worry about my dad." Carina smiled, and brushed some of Maya's snowy hair off of her cheek.
"I am so glad, Maya." Maya kissed Carina deeply. Then she dropped onto the sled, and opened her arms. Carina laughed, and sat down in front of her, bringing Maya's arms tight around her stomach. Maya pushed with her feet, and off they went, screeching as they shot down the hill.
Hours had passed, and Maya and Carina were on their twentieth trip down the hill. They had wiped out almost every time, but they didn't care. That was part of the fun of it. They were pretty much the only ones still there; the park had cleared out for lunch about fifteen minutes earlier. Mason, Andrew, and their friend, Benji, were climbing a tree while, Patricia, the last of Maya's teammates, Benji's sister, was watching them to make sure they were being safe. Patricia and Benji's mom was on her way to pick them up for a family event, and as soon as she arrived, Maya, Carina, and the boys were headed into town for a late café lunch. All Carina had been able to think about, other than Maya, since finding out about the plan for the day was the first taste of hot chocolate on her tongue. She and Maya had managed to find the only café in Seattle that served authentic Italian hot cocoa, while exploring the winter before. It wasn't as good as Carina's regular place in Italy, but it was as close as it was going to get in America. Andrew had yet to go, and Carina couldn't wait to see what his opinion was. Although she was sure he was going to love it, because she tended to be pickier than he was anyways. He'd immediately taken to American food, whereas Carina was still struggling after a year and half.
"Thinking about the hot chocolate?" Maya asked as they made their way back up, hand in hand. Carina smiled; Maya knew her so well.
"Of course."
"I honestly cannot believe it gets better than that. You better take me to Italy one day, so I can taste literal heaven."
"I do not know what makes you think me taking you to Italia is not a given, Maya Bishop."
"Oh, is it?"
"Sí!"
"I can't wait." Carina leaned in close, her lips against Maya's ear.
"I cannot wait to be able to kiss you appassionatamente in public without the company being such prudes." Maya's breath caught in her throat. Carina was flirty enough in America, she wasn't sure she would be able to handle unfiltered Italy Carina, especially since she was trying to wait until post Olympics for anything more than over the clothes touching. Although Maya wasn't sure how much longer she could uphold that anyways.
"Breathe, bella, I was only slightly being truthful." Maya's breath caught again, the way Carina had said it making her more attracted to her, if that was even possible. When they reached the top of the hill, Patricia and Benji were walking towards the street, Andrew was dropping out of the tree, and Mason was drawing in the snow with a stick.
"You boys ready to go try the best hot chocolate and sandwiches in Seattle?" Maya asked.
"Sí," Andrew replied.
"Yes. I still don't know how we've managed to live in Seattle our whole lives and never know about this place before," Mason said.
"We didn't have two very cultured Italians in our lives before." Carina and Andrew laughed.
"You're so right, My." They four of them made their way towards the lot around the corner where Carina had parked. Mason and Maya had walked, so they wouldn't end up with two cars. The park was only about twenty minutes from their house so it had made the most sense. Carina's grandmother had sent her $100,000 for Christmas, as a thank you for handling everything with her father and the care facility, with which Carina had bought her dream car, a Porsche. Maya still felt weird getting into it every time. Her dad had three fancy cars, but they were for his own collection, and were never driven. Therefore, Maya had always seen them but never been able to ride them. Riding in Carina's Porsche was making all of her childhood dreams come true in one, because it was one of her dad's 'off limits' cars, and she had a girlfriend who she was in love with. She imagined Mason would have a similar experience riding in the Porsche for the first time, minus the girlfriend.
They'd finished ordering and were sitting at one of the tables by the window. It was nice to be able to watching the city go by as they ate, and also the snow. Carina had gotten her usual, a small hot chocolate and a Pane e Panelle. There was something about the combination of the sweet flavor from the cocoa and the savory flavor from the chickpea fritters that was most delicious. Andrew had gotten his favorite sandwich from back home, a Porchetta Abruzzese. Carina was proud of Maya, because she usually went for the safest sandwich but that day she'd picked a Piadiana, which was full of arugula, an acquired taste. Mason, as to be expected his first time, had ordered a Panino al Prosciutto, which was just ham. Carina was hoping that Maya was going to like the arugula because she had a lot of recipes from home that she'd wanted to cook for Maya, but was worried that she wouldn't eat because of the unique ingredients. Maybe if she liked arugula, she'd like the others too.
"What's the difference between American ham and Prosciutto?" Mason asked, breaking the silence. The three others laughed, giving each other a look.
"You will just have to be paziente and learn for yourself. I can assure you that you will most certainly taste a difference, and it will be very bene," Carina replied. If there was anything she'd loved more than discovery the café's hot chocolate the year before, it was watching Maya taste Italian ham for the first time. The way her eyes had lit up; Carina had never seen her look at anything like that before except Carina.
"Maya, should I be worried? Why do I feel like I'm being set up?"
"Don't look at me, dude. You just gotta be patient like Carina said."
"Andrew?"
"Patience is a virtue, Mason." Mason looked around again, before finally giving up. He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Fine, don't tell-" before he could even finish his sentence, the sandwich had been placed in front of him. His eyes lit up just at the smell. Carina was conflicted on where to look, because she wanted to see what Mason's reaction to the Prosciutto would be, but she already knew he was going to like it, whereas she didn't know if Maya was going to like the arugula. She decided to look at Maya, considering she actually had stock in the outcome. Maya took a considerable bite, much bigger than she ever would have a year before. Carina was very proud of her for that one, working through the issues she had with eating before it became a more permanent problem. Maya's face immediately soured; she tried to hide it but Carina had already seen it. Carina laughed, and Maya's face turned bright red. Carina found her thigh under the table, and squeezed it.
"It is okay not to like it, bambina. A lot of people do not," she said.
"Yeah, but those people don't have wonderful, amazing, Italian girlfriends who wanted to cook authentic Italian meals for them."
"Sí, but your wonderful, amazing, Italiana fidanzata who wanted to cook Italiano authentico meals for you understands, and does not want to make you eat anything you do not like," Carina replied, "I am still very proud of you for branching out of your zone of comfort and trying it."
"Comfort zone. But thank you, Car, I love you."
"See, bella. Your Italiana fidanzata is not perfect," Carina squeezed Maya's thigh again and she smiled, "I love you too."
"Can you two stop forgetting we're here?" Mason asked, Andrew nodding in agreement. Maya and Carina broke their gaze, turning back to their brothers.
"We didn't see you there, sorry," Maya said. Carina laughed, and the boys rolled their eyes.
"So, Mason, what did you think of the Prosciutto?"
"Oh, it was heaven."
It was post study session, and Carina was driving Maya home. They'd dropped Mason off earlier, because there was an art project that he'd wanted to work on when he didn't have to worry about homework.
"Do you feel better about the test now?" Maya asked.
"Sí, I do. Grazie, bella."
"Of course. What else am I here for if not to help you learn U.S. history?"
"To do this, I presume," Carina said, leaning in to kiss Maya briefly before turning back to the road. She pulled up in front of Maya's house.
"Would you like me to walk you to your door, bambina?" Maya thought on it for a second.
"I would really like to say yes, but I am worried about what my dad might do if he saw you, not because I am worried about what he might do to me, but because I'm worried about your well-being."
"Maya, breathe, it is okay. I will just stay here until I know that you have gotten in safely."
"Okay. Thank you. Truly," Maya kissed Carina with so much passion that she almost fell backwards, "I love you."
"Ti amo, bella. Text me when you get to your room."
"I will." Maya squeezed Carina's hand, and left the car, blowing a kiss as she made her way up the front walk.