A/N

I AM SOOOO SORRY I haven't been able to update for the longest time. School stuff. Arg. It kills me. Please don't hate me.

MAJOR THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO'S REVIEWED! CAN'T MENTION Y'ALL COZ YOU GUYS ARE TOO MANY BUT I REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE THE COMPLIMENTS AND SUCH. You guys are great. Thanks for the support! J

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CHAPTER X: The Stranger

Present Day

To this day, I can still remember the feeling of that kiss. When Tony's lips touched mine, I felt as though they belonged there, with my own. He'd tasted like Coke and gum and smelled slightly of sweat mixed with cologne. It was heaven for my senses. I'd seen stars and felt as if I was floating on air. I can never experience again fully that kiss now, even if I spend all day remembering.

I touch my lips gently with my finger, wishing I can live that moment again.

My first kiss. Heaven and hell in one stroke. If I'd known…If I'd known…

If I'd known I was signing three death warrants with that kiss, I would've stopped.

I would've stopped seeing Tony.

I would've stopped waiting for him every day.

I would've not wasted my time looking for him in school.

Maybe they'd have lived. Maybe I'd have seen Bernardo marry Anita and have children. Maybe Papa would not have died so early from losing his only son. Maybe Riff would have found the right girl and have a family of his own. Maybe Tony would have seen his son, Alexander…his grandchildren…Joaquin, Isabel…Maybe we'd have raised them together. Maybe we'd have had more children…

Maybe…Maybe if I hadn't loved him…

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1958

Tony and I froze in that moment, with his lips against mine, and I felt as though time had stopped. When we separated, I could only look into his eyes, lost in those pools of blue, my breath catching in my throat.

"Oh…" I stuttered. "Oh…Oh my…"

I held a hand to my beating chest and Tony immediately looked panicked.

"I—I'm sorry, Maria…" he started. "I don't know what came over me…I…I…oh Maria, I don't think I can hide any longer how I feel about you! I had to…I just had to show you…I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," I told him, my heart still beating wildly. There was no one else in the world as far as I was concerned. It was only him and I. Looking at each other. Our breaths coming in short pants. I could still taste him on my lips. I licked them, enjoying the fact that he'd just been there, at the same time in disbelief at what had just happened and needing proof of it taking place.

"Maria…I…I love you. I could never forget you since I first saw you that day…in school…with Riff and all the guys. You…you own my heart like no other girl has done before! I…I can't explain how fully I love you, Maria, but I do…I do…"

I stared at him in wonder and in disbelief, unable to understand everything he has just told me but still catching enough to think that what he'd just said was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard.

He loved me?

He loved me?

"Oh…Oh Tony…" I said, unable to utter anything else from shock.

He loved me!

"Tony…Tony…I think…" I tried to say. "I…I am in love with you too,"

Tony's face broke into a beautiful, wide smile and his eyes sparkled. That moment…oh that moment I felt as if I were in heaven.

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"I feel pretty…oh so pretty…"

I practically flew across my room as I danced lightly on my feet, humming a song I'd made up. I truly felt beautiful. In Tony's eyes, I could see that I was the only thing he saw, that he adored. I felt the same way for him. I had no idea exactly how love worked seeing that I'd never been in love before, but I was certain it gave one a sort of ethereal feeling. I felt as if, if I had leapt from my bedroom window that instant, I wouldn't fall, but I'd float and dance on clouds all over Manhattan.

The memory of Tony in front of me, being so close to me, kissing me…the very thought of it made me want to squeal in delight and laughter. I blushed from the tips of my ears to my toes. I could feel him on my lips, I could hear his lovely voice in my mind, I could smell his scent…he was just perfect. He was magnificent. He was more than I could ever ask for and I didn't care if he'd ask me to go with him that very instant. I would. I really would. I knew him well enough by then to know that he would take care of me. I trusted him with my whole heart.

Oh, yes. I was in love.

I sat on my bed, immersed in my delicious thoughts of Tony, when I heard a sound coming from the room outside mine.

Someone was breaking in!

Immediately, I banished Tony from my mind, paralyzed in fright. It was late. Mama and Papa were already asleep and wouldn't hear. Bernardo wasn't home. My heart raced like that of a dying bird's as I gingerly got on my feet and tentatively approached my door to listen. My first instinct was to hide under the bedcovers and pretend that I wasn't in the room in case the intruder went inside, but my feet seemed to be attracted to the door. Lightly, I placed my ear on the wood, my breathing quick and shallow. I was frightened to death. Tony had already left! Who was going to help me if it were a killer?

"Nardo! Be quiet! You might wake Maria!" came a hushed whisper from the outside. It was said in a voice I would recognize even in my sleep.

Anita and Bernardo?

"Lower your voice, Anita! If she wakes…I do not want her to see me…not like this…"

I suddenly felt confused. I was no longer scared, now that I knew it was my brother and Anita fumbling in the darkness of the living room, but a feeling nagged at me. Something was not right. I pressed my ear harder on the wood to hear what they were talking about.

"You and your Sharks…"

"Not too hard, Anita! Ow!"

"Hush! Your Mami and Papi! I've told you, Bernardo, I've told you a million times…"

"Now is not the time to discuss this…"

"Someday this will bring grief to your family and to me! I just know it…"

"Anita!"

I couldn't take listening to the fragmented conversations any longer. Without thinking, I pulled my bedroom door open and walked into the living room. It was still dark, as they had not turned on the lights, but Anita had lit a lamp and it provided enough illumination for me to see them both jump as a reaction to my appearance.

"Maria!" they both said, sounding surprised. I could see Bernardo was on Papa's chair and Anita was by his side with something in her hand.

"I thought you were a burglar! Or a killer!" I said, approaching them, suddenly remembering the fright I encountered earlier. "You frightened me!"

"Mika, why aren't you asleep? What are you doing up? And why are you still in outside clothes?" Bernardo asked in quick succession. I could feel his eyes study me from head to toe. I was tongue-tied and froze in my steps. I couldn't tell him about Tony!

Anita stayed silent, which was strange. I turned to Bernardo to tell him a white lie when I saw his face illuminated by the lamp. I wasn't able to look at it close enough since it was too dark, but now that I was near them, I could see that he was hurt. Terribly.

His face had taken a beating. One of his eyes was starting to swell and his lip was bleeding. There was also blood coming out of his nose. He looked as if he'd been pummeled by a tree: In addition to his face, his shirt was torn and bloodstained and on his arms and hands were tiny cuts.

"Nardo!" I exclaimed, not able to hold back my fright at the sight of him. "What happened to you?"

"I got into a little accident…you need not worry," he told me.

I could see in his eyes that he was lying.

"Bernardo, tell me the truth," I said, almost in tears at his state. I'd never seen my brother hurt before as, in fights he'd been involved in, in Puerto Rico, he'd always won. And, if he were hurt, it would only be a scratch. It had never been like this. After years of looking at him as somewhat of a god, I was suddenly reminded of my brother's mortality. "What happened to you?"

"Go to bed, Mika. I'll be all right in the morning," he told me, ignoring my question. He looked pained and was struggling not to raise his voice. But I wasn't going to stop until he was able to give me an answer.

"Have you been fighting, Nardo? Have you been in a fight with your friends?" My voice was rising. I was frightened to death for him. Manhattan was not Puerto Rico. People were different here, the customs were different. He could get in trouble. He could be caught by the police. The police were Polacks. They imprisoned immigrants easier than they did other Polacks.

"Is this why you leave every night? Where do you go, Bernardo? What happened to you…? What's going on?"

What I heard from Anita earlier echoed in my mind: Someday this will bring grief to your family and me…Sharks…told you a million times…

What was going on? Suddenly, everything seemed to be questionable: Bernardo leaving every night, his 'meetings' with his friends, the whispers between him and Chino, the looks they gave Polacks, even the black bands they all seemed to wear around their wrists. I'd never seen Bernardo without it after arriving in Manhattan. What were they up to? What were they doing? This had never happened back home. Something was out of place.

I reached out to touch his face, to see how bad his wounds were, but what he did next surprised me: Bernardo actually slapped my hand away. Hard.

"DON'T!" he said angrily. I withdrew my hand, suddenly frightened of him. He was now vicious and looked as if he'd hit me again if I provoked him to.

"BERNARDO!" Anita hissed, bringing control to the situation. She looked as shocked as I felt about my brother's actions. I was more upset, however, by the look he had in his eyes. In them I saw something that I'd never seen before, and it was something that terrified me. He was suddenly a stranger to me. I suddenly felt the urge to cry. Bernardo had never even dared as to raise a hand to me before. Now he had hit me.

Anita's voice seemed to have worked on him, as his expression suddenly softened, looking most apologetic.

"Mika, I…"

I didn't wait for him to say anything else. I burst into tears and fled to my room, leaving every good memory of what had happened between Tony and I earlier that night shattered in my wake.

My brother was a stranger.

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A/N: More next time! Be sure to stay tuned!