It's my birthday!

"Gracias for coming with us!" Theresa calls out after Yuri, who's walking to his car after their short but sweet smooch. "It was a lovely Valentine's Day Eve!"

"It truly was. Thank you for inviting me to go bowling with you all! Good night!" Beaming, he blows her a kiss.

She returns the gesture while smiling brightly. "Night!"

"Espera…" Flaca jogs up to him. "Yuri…"

"Marisol? You all right?" He faces her.

"After I creamed you? Hell yeah, dude!" Flaca teases him. They both snicker, but then she gets serious again, pursing her lips. "Yo real talk, my papi didn't want me just cause I'm a girl. So if you got a problem with that, you gonna have to stay away from my mom."

He nods. "I actually think you're pretty awesome. I don't know what your dad's problem was."

"He had Fuckboy Disease." Flaca rolls her eyes. "So did my mami's other ex. It took her like, a year to recover. Por favor, don't waste our time or yours if you're planning on being a scumbag, okay?"

"My mother raised me right." Yuri holds her gaze and raises up his right hand. "I solemnly swear I will never hurt any of you."

"Well...breakups happen. It's cool if y'all ain't compatible later on or whatever...but just don't lead her on and shit, ya know?"

"I won't, I promise. We're taking things slow anyway," he assures her.

She folds her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow at him. "You ain't gonna ask her to marry you within a month of dating?"

"No! Ma would probably give me the idea of proposing to a woman before I think of it myself."

"Good…'cause that's one of the biggest red flags in a relationship, movin' too quickly."

"I know." Scratching the back of his neck, he winces. "Believe me, I do."

Flaca takes a few steps back, shoving her gloved hands into her jacket pockets. "Awesome! Have fun tomorrow!"

"Thanks, you too!"

"Mom says to come back inside!" Marco shouts.

Rolling her eyes, Flaca glances over her shoulder. "Be there in a second, weirdo!" She turns back to Yuri and they wave at each other before he gets into his vehicle and drives away.

"Why were you interrogating him?" her younger brother asks as she jogs up to the building's front doors.

"No quiero a Mami ser con un otro pendejo para al resto de su vida. Duh!" She pushes Marco inside and they head to their place.

I don't want Mom to be with another asshole for the rest of her life

"That explains it…"

"I have survivor's guilt, too," Diablo confesses as he and Blanca sit up in bed together. "Keighlyn meant so much to me, but it was more like she was my sister or a really close friend. I had no romantic feelings for her, as hard as I tried, my heart couldn't get into it, I felt like something was missing there. She wasn't you. I've been in love with you since we were kids…no woman I dated or had sex with, ever matched up."

Blanca raises an eyebrow and lifts her head to look at him. "¿Seriamente?" She plucks a tissue out of the box on his nightstand, blows her nose a few times, and throws the Kleenex in the trash.

Seriously?

"Mm-hm."

"I dreamed of you all the time since we met, even when I was with Dean and he wasn't abusive yet…I felt awful about it until he started hurting me…fantasies of you and I together kept me happy while I slept…I sobbed so hard when I woke up and saw who I was next to. Sigues en mis sueños."

You're still in my dreams.

"You're in mine, too, mi vida. The first one of us I had was when I took a nap in the hospital."

"Oh?" She chews on her bottom lip. "What were we doing, exactly?"

Diablo squirms. "I don't wanna make you uncomfortable…especially since we haven't…"

Blanca giggles. "No te preocupes, tengo sueños sex sobre nosotros todo el tiempo. Was I in your first wet dream?" she teases him.

Don't worry about it, I have sex dreams about us all the time.

"Sí," he murmurs, blushing. "Another time, I imagined we were running toward each other in a field of flowers and then you landed on top of me…you wore a yellow summer dress with a multicolored butterfly pattern and your hair, oh, it was all around you, the tendrils blowing in your face, and we made out like there was no tomorrow, I stared into those beautiful eyes of yours, I could almost taste your lips…knowing you had a boyfriend already, it killed me, yo trató lo mejor todo lo posible para no enamorarme de ti, realmente hice... pero ya era demasiado tarde."

I tried my best not to fall in love with you, I really did…but it was too late

Blanca laughs lightly. "Sí, you failed miserably. Same here, though."

He smirks. "I'm glad!" They brush noses then lean in together for a kiss, cupping each other's face. "Felíz noche antes de San Valentín, mi amor."

Happy night before Valentine's Day, my love.

She continues beaming as they pull apart. He ghosts his lips along her knuckles and then they share a tender gaze. "It finally is..." Keeping her hand on his shoulder, she pecks him on the cheek. She leans back and stares at him for a moment, taking in everything about him that makes him so special to her.

"Sí..." Diablo cocks his head to one side as he grins wider and strokes her hair. "What is it, beautiful?"

"Nada, sólo eres...mi hombre guapo. I can't believe how blessed I am to have you." Blanca lowers her eyes to her lap and then glances up at him again, this time, feeling slightly bashful.

Nothing, you're just...my handsome man

"Oh, querida...I'm the luckiest guy in the world because you're by my side, en mi corazón, and you're just...you're such an amazing woman!"

They press their lips together passionately, over and over.

She's so used to this now; waking up next to Diablo every morning and just living with him in general. It's been a week and a half since Blanca and her girls were rescued off the streets. Suddenly, it hits her.

"Valentine's Day..." she whispers to herself. She sees that it's six-forty-seven in the morning and beams at her boyfriend's sleeping form. Doing her best to yawn quietly, she rolls over so her back is to him. His arm is still draped lazily over her waist and she curls into him while resting her eyes. When his alarm goes off for ten to seven, she jumps, but then relaxes.

He mumbles something and either turns it off or presses snooze. Squeezing her gently against him, he kisses her shoulder. "Buenos días, my Valentine," he tells her, stroking her arm.

She giggles and rubs her eyes fully open. "Mmm, good morning to you, too, y felíz día de San Valentín, baby. ¿Podemos sólo quedarnos en la cama todo el día?" She flips onto her back and they gaze lovingly at each other, beaming.

Happy Valentine's Day. Can we just stay in bed all day?

"Oh, I wish, mi reina, pero tenemos que trabajar." Diablo cups her face and strokes her cheeks. He gives her a tender kiss and then they press their lips together intimately.

but we have to work.

She rolls her eyes. "Lo sé. Al menos tenemos hasta las siete para estar aquí juntos."

At least we have until seven to be here together.

"Muy cierto, Blanquita." They watch the sun rise over the horizon together, her in his embrace, their hands joined over her belly, and their legs tangled in front of them.

Very true.

After years of hell, she feels so calm and relaxed with her Diablo. She hasn't experienced such a worry-free, peaceful beginning to her Valentine's Day since she was thirteen and planning a simple movie date with her first boyfriend. Even though Tim made her happy-not elated, just content- and Dean wasn't all that horrible at first, she needed everything to be perfect and she felt nervous about being in real relationships. She didn't want to blow it, but today, she knows she won't. Blanca trusts Diablo with her whole heart and soul. She's fully aware that he'll make the evening exciting, he'll never hurt her, and he loves her unconditionally. She feels the exact same way about him.

Red trays of heart shaped cookies have been decorated with red pink and white frosting, some in cute designs and saying XOXO. Maria holds up two burnt cookies and gives Maritza a disgusted look. "Who put you in charge of baking? Seems like beauty's your only talent."

Maritza scowls at her. "I did my best, okay? Everyone needs to participate in cooking class, and it ain't my fault that the timer didn't ding when las galletas were done!"

The Health teacher, Ginger, stands before them. "Gimme a break, you and Miss Gonzales were so busy yakkin' it up that you didn't bother to listen for 'em. Your mothers would be appalled! Not to mention Red, or Judy King, the celebrity chef, in case you never heard of her." Frowning, the heavyset woman points to the garbage can. "Dump that batch and start over."

"That's so wasteful..." Groaning softly under her hard stare, Maritza does as she says.

"You suck!" Badison guffaws from a nearby table with Charlene, Zirconia, Nicole Ecklecamp, Shruti, Akers, and Raquel Muñoz.

"Hey, shut the fuck up!" Flaca yells balling her hands up into fists.

Charlene flips her off. "Don't worry, you're an idiot, too...but ugly. No wonder why Ian didn't want you."

Flaca sets her jaw and lowers her gaze.

Badison nudges Charlene with a smirk. "She had a cookie with his name written on it in red icing at a party last year, hoping he'd show, but he didn't. Called herself a real dumbass...because she is one."

"Maybe that makes her smart, if she realizes she's stupid..." Nicole ponders.

Maritza shrieks and begins to lunge at Badison, but Ginger holds her back.

"You're dead meat, you fuckin' whore! I'll fuck your ass up!"

Badison just snickers at Maritza's threat. "Come at me whenever you feel up to it, I'm ready."

"Hey, ladies, that's enough! Miss Ramos, you're gonna work with me after school. If you can't learn how to make edible food, you'll wash dishes for the rest of the semester. Class dismissed."

"Hmm, I dunno...Valentine's Day has always been a sore spot for me." Gloria sighs sadly as she and the others work in the kitchen's backroom. "I never had anybody good enough to celebrate it with. They've all been losers."

"Tienes a Fahri ahora," Blanca points out. "Y yo tengo a Diablo. No one really knows this except Karla, but I lost my virginity on this holiday when I was fourteen." She chuckles bitterly. "That was all before Dean started being a cunt. Still, I regret it to this day. I hate the fact that I enjoyed my first time, since it was with the completely wrong person."

You have Fahri now and I have Diablo

"Well, that's okay. Everyone's done stupid shit at that age," Aleida mutters as she slices onions. "All that matters is you grew up, unlike Gloria."

"Oh, that was harsh. Look who's talkin', you big, immature baby!" Gloria retorts icily. "I didn't take Leon from you, he's all yours."

Aleida glares at her. "You certainly made a grab for him...not too long after you said you wouldn't dare do me dirty like that."

"How would I know you'd go back to him? I thought you were hooked on Cesar."

"Whatever, puta," Aleida snaps. "You don't fuckin' get it."

"Mierda, not this again," Blanca mutters. "I'm tired of being in the middle of your squabbles! You two are acting colder to each other than the weather outside-"

"Oh really? Thanks for noticing," Aleida quips.

Gloria points at her. "Talk to her, she's the one who picked a fight for the same reason. In fact, she does it every fucking day, constantly reminding me of one shitty mistake after another that I've made. I don't know how many more times I can apologize and try to make things up to her."

"You're both acting like children," Claudette scolds them. "Work this out between the two of you when you're not at your job."

Gina narrows her eyes into a glare. "Yeah!" She and Norma wear matching withering expressions and keep ignoring them.

"Ha!" Gloria gestures to herself. "Me? I'm doing my damned best to keep the peace."

Aleida scoffs. "It's always the perpetrator who wants to simmer things down and take negative attention off themselves."

"You're overreacting," Red tells her sharply. "Now, I was mad at my sons' regular babysitter Jelina when she started seeing Dmitri after our divorce, and we were best friends. Then I realized too late that I should let them be happy, I'm the one who broke things off. Don't be one of those women and ruin your friendship with her. Jelina will never forgive me for shouting at her, calling her a betraying cunt...and pushing her into a wall. She hates that we have almost the same name."

"Leon and I got back together," Aleida reminds her.

"Right, so what's the point of being angry at Gloria? She's learned her lesson. He loves you, it's clear."

Gloria nods and gives her a thankful smile. "¡Gracias!"

"Now, why don't we just keep going with our conversation from earlier?" Blanca suggests. "About our first times having sex."

"Karla y yo nos vimos obligadas a...just be glad you weren't," Aleida mumbles, finally backing down from Gloria.

Karla and I were forced to...

"I am...it's just the guilt of not saving myself for the right dude when I had the choice," Blanca mumbles, cutting already washed potatoes into cubes.

"I feel it, too," Gloria adds. She stirs rice in a pan of boiling water, adding salt to the food and tossing a little over her shoulder. "At least we used a condom, but it's just, the experience...it's something you remember for the rest of your life. My god, catorce…the same age as Elena. You was just a baby!" She tsks. "Mi tía was right about waiting 'til marriage."

"Not necessarily. My ex husband and I had Yuri a year after tying the knot, and I felt nothing for him the first time, or the second...or third. Not like the spark I have with Pavel. Oh, that man..." Red chuckles to herself with a blush and the younger ladies smirk.

"Then why did you say yes to his proposal?" Claudette wonders aloud. She cranks open a big can of mixed vegetables.

"America," Red says simply while she uses a finger to taste a chunk of the meat substitute. "Although he was a desperate hamster, Dmitri dreamed of moving here, and I wanted more than what I had in Russia. In his twenties, Pavel was a wimp, except under the sheets. Now, though, he's grown up a lot! Dmitri, however..." She scoffs and waves dismissively. "He's not much of a father, first of all, and as a husband? Forget it. He moved on quickly after our divorce...and it prompted Nicky and Lorna to hook me up with Pavel again all those years later. They were just ten, but so full of hope...especially Lorna, ever the romantic. Nicky mostly wanted me to be happy."

"Aww!" the others chorus.

"Ninguna de nuestras primeras veces eran con personas con las que planeábamos quedarnos por el resto de nuestras vidas," Gloria points out.

None of our first times were with people we planned to stay with for the rest of our lives.

"Actually, I...I did think I'd marry Dean," Blanca confesses quietly, concentrating on digging the bad spots out of the cheese. "Y hice."

And I did.

"That motherfucker ain't importante," Aleida tells her after a beat. She blinks rapidly and climbs up onto the counter. "Stupid onions tryin' to make me cry. Anyway, fucking's just that...fucking. You get a baby if you a dumbass and don't play it safe, pero there ain't always no real love involved. That's why dirty shit like rape, drunken one-night-stands, and prostitution all got sex in common."

"She's right, yo," Gloria murmurs. "Maybe it'll be like a new thing with people we're really en amor with."

Blanca nods, considering her. "Karla felt that way con Ramón. Ella dijo que estar con él era como su primera vez. She doesn't count her gang rape at all."

She said being with him was like her first time.

"Yeah, it was nothin' special. When Leon and I screwed in high school, he was slow...not rough in the ass like Cesar, Ricky, or the others." Aleida sighs dreamily, remembering. "I wasn't used to that at all. It was weird at first...Leon said he wanted to pleasure me. I told him to just plow it in me, but nah...he made me orgasm five times in a row. Also, he took his sweet old time kissing my scars and asked me if the purplish-red fingerprints some pedo rapist left on my thighs were still hurting. He was gonna kill that son of a bitch, but too bad I didn't know the ice cream man's name. Bastard fool changed his job and where he lived, too. So we never even found him, but Leon somewhat healed me."

"Wow," everyone breathes out.

"Okay!" Red claps a few moments later. "Everything looks done."

"Yep..." Claudette scoops a slotted spoon through the rice and inspects it. She shakes some out onto a used cutting board, blows on the small bunch of food, and puts it into her mouth. "Tastes fully cooked to me!" She washes her hands and then they plop the meal into trays. Two table pans of rice and vegetables are soon laid out on the counter.

Gloria puts a serving spoon in each tray and rolls up the middle curtain of the window. Blanca peers out at the bustling cafeteria. She notices her daughter and Flaca taking money from other students after giving them makeovers, and smiles.

"Neat way to earn cash, huh?"

Blanca turns to Gloria. "Mm-hm."

Toward the end of lunch, Maritza leans towards her girlfriend. "You wearin' 'em?" she asks, referring to the first present she'd given Flaca today, a pair of neon pink lacy panties.

"Mm-hm, and I feel hella fine and totally cool! I'm all set for tonight." Flaca winks at Maritza, biting her bottom lip suggestively.

"Eeek! My nipples just hardened!"

"Damn, girl," Flaca murmurs, fanning her face. She and Maritza giggle together.

"Hot for O'Neill?" Maria asks snidely in passing. "We all know you banged your art teacher last year so he'd give you an A."

Flaca flips her off and the others throw her dirty looks. "Seriously, what's your problem? Yadriel dump you for his other Maria 'cause he found out you used to fuck Miguel on the side?"

"Aw, and on Valentine's Day, too? So depressing..." Maritza pouts and runs her finger down her cheek, miming a rolling tear.

"Actually, no, Yadriel just bought me flowers from his cousin's funeral," Maria quips. "I'm sick and tired of y'all's PDA. Poussey and Franziska are canoodling in private, maybe take some hints from them."

"Don't hate cuz we're beautiful, hate cuz you're not," Flaca mutters. She and Maritza do a little hair flip and wave at Maria.

"Yes girls, go off!" Elena cheers. Everyone boos at Maria as she storms away.

"Fuckin' idiot." Ceci scowls, shaking her head.

"Yo, I think this is our chance, E." Katie smirks and Elena's face turns red. "Sadie Hawkins dance tonight...you can totally invite him to be your date without it being awkward!"

"What's weird about asking a dude out? It's not the fifties!" Taystee spreads her arms. "Look, in the play Hamilton, taking place in the seventeen-hundreds, Eliza introduces herself to Alexander-"

"Sí, after her sister points her out to him! Then he ends up cheating on her! Mira, I may have sang 'Helpless' in the winter talent show with Ceci and Darius and impressed the hell out of Serge, but I'm not as bold as Eliza...or forgiving. If this guy screws me over, we're done! It doesn't matter how fine-lookin' he is," Elena whispers.

"You've been dreaming of this moment since the summer before last when you saw him shirtless at Maria's pool party," Ceci reminds her. "You and her primo doin' it on a big, white bed...y bailando con él también. He was there a few times at her slumber parties, playing video games with Yadriel while we chicas hung out."

and dancing with him, too.

"The only reason I didn't have him at my seventeenth was because he was on vacation with his parents and I was afraid he wouldn't have participated in Spin the Bottle since he had a girlfriend anyway," Daya murmurs.

"It was heartbreaking to see them together, even though I kinda knew it wouldn't last. That catty bitch Gaby was no good for him," Elena states. "Good thing they split up last month!"

"Just in time, too...a threesome with an older guy once we hit fourteen has been on our bucket list for a while!" Cat nudges Elena, whose eyes widen.

"What?! Girls, no," Maritza advises them. "Either way, you'll get hurt...if there's two boys, you gonna be real physically sore after, like more than usual, and he might focus on one of you more than the other, and you'll be sad and hella emotional."

"Mm-hm! Also, chicos mayores can be bad luck, just look at me and Ian!" Flaca chimes in.

older guys

"Sí, y mi mami y su ex," Maritza continues. "They had a six year age difference. She was thirteen...and I fucking wish he was arrested for statutory rape."

The girls give her sympathetic smiles and Flaca squeezes her hand.

"Bennett and I were seven years apart, y'all know how that turned out!" Daya adds. "He expected me to cook for him like his little housewife, and I ain't takin that...I was depressed a lot while I was with him...I had no clue of how we'd be normal. Me and my man are close in age now!" She looks at Adarsh across the cafeteria, who offers a quick smile, and they wave happily at each other. "Speaking of which, I gotta spend some time with him, it's the day of romance, after all! If you decide you like Sergio enough after grinding on him, Elena, then Adarsh, me, Claire, and Paolo can do a group thing with you."

"Yeah, could you tag along, like tonight? I might feel a little more comfy."

"Sure, no prob!" Daya gets up with her food and squeezes Elena's shoulder fondly before departing.

"I'm crushing on Serge like crazy...I call him that because it sounds strong and sexy. He's only just turned seventeen, and I'm almost fifteen...Flaca and me are gonna celebrate our joint quinces in June, so four months from now. I do need a bodyguard, should Herrmann rear his ugly head again. I've had a thing for Sergie since I was thirteen, I'm always stalkin' his MySpace page and waitin' until he's finally single," Elena admits, still blushing. "He said I was a beautiful singer...but I don't even think he remembers my name...I'm so shy to add him. I-I can't even talk to him in person, not more than a few shaky one-word replies if he speaks to me." She puts her hands over her supposedly burning cheeks and avoids their gazes. "Pero primero tengo al menos que hacerme amiga de él para que no sea extraño bailar con él esta noche o ser mi cita para mi quinceñera. Plus...I wanna fuck him. He's hotter than hell, god damn!"

But first I have to at least make friends with him so it's not weird to dance with him tonight or be my date for my quinces.

"Stuck between a rock and a hard place," Cat notices aloud.

"You're gonna need to open your mouth eventually," Katie says. "I like him, too, ya know...but not as much as you. I hope no one has grabbed him yet."

"Honey, he's right there!" Daisy hisses, tilting her head toward a Hispanic guy with a faint mustache and beard, short, curly, dark hair on his head. "Just go up to his table and say hello!" He's wearing a puffy black jacket over a long, untucked white shirt, baggy blue jeans, and flashy Air Jordans as he walks with a swagger. Elena stares, mesmerized. She bites her lower lip; Maritza's shocked she's not gaping or drooling. Under the gold bling around his neck, is a tattoo bearing something Maritza can't decipher. He has his hands in his pockets as he spins around, sits, and starts chatting with friends.

"Daaayumn, she's got it bad," Maritza comments quietly to Flaca, who giggles.

"You want me to pull an Angelica?" Ceci asks. "You can't just keep looking at him like a moron on drugs. He'll see that and think you're weird, borderline creepy."

Elena moans. "Okay, gracias, I'm weak in the knees, so I can't walk right."

"That's gonna happen after you do the nasty," Flaca warns her, and she tosses up her middle finger while pursing her lips.

"Just don't tell him I like him...and wanna marry him and have his babies..."

Ceci winks as she stands and cups her hands over her mouth. Elena covers her eyes and shrinks in her seat. Maritza and Flaca both rub her back soothingly to calm her. "Yo, Sergio!"

He turns to face them with a friendly grin and gives Ceci a nod in acknowledgement, jerking his chin up at her. "'Sup?"

"Hey, um, I was wondering if you had a date for the Sadie Hawkins Dance?"

"Nah, I was gonna skip it. I didn't even think you were into that."

Ceci shrugs. "I'm not, but..." She glances back at Elena, who mouths, please ask him. "Would it be cool if-"

"We went together?" Elena finishes her question bravely as she rises to her feet, using the tabletop for balance. "I-I meant just me...um, me and you. The dance. Going there." She's breathless by the time she finishes. "Juntos. Yeah."

He looks over at her, his smile broader. "Hey, sure! It's been a while since a cute girl asked me out."

"Stop flirting with her, man, she's already flustered!" Ceci reprimands him lightly. The others snicker and Elena beams at him.

"Lo siento," he says, striding over.

The boys behind him cheer. "Yeah, get some!" one of them says, but he ignores this idiot.

"Yo, shut the fuck up, Luis!" Maria's other cousin Alonzo lectures him.

"Not cool," Yadriel says stiffly.

"I knew he was too soft for this crew," Chickie Junior mutters.

"Hey, where you goin'?" Big Leo asks. "Bros before hoes, remember? This ain't West Side Story."

Sergio points at him firmly. "You're pissin' me off, you better watch your mouth, boy. You don't talk like that about girls or women."

"Oooohhhhh!" the guys chorus. Her eyes sparkling with admiration, Elena puts her hand on her heart, most likely swooning, and her friends laugh at the douchebags.

"That was smooth," Ceci whispers to Maritza.

"Mm, yeah!"

"Lamento lo de algunos de esos tipos, pueden ser imbéciles," Sergio says warmly, turning back to the girls. His eyes are locked on Elena's, though, and his lips curl up into a smile again.

I'm sorry about some of those guys, they can be jerks.

"Está bien, lo sé." She rolls her eyes.

"Is it okay if I get you at seven-thirty? Since the dance is at eight?"

She nods, appearing a little less bashful now. There's only a pink tint on her cheeks. "I arranged it with Daya, her boyfriend Adarsh, and Claire and Paolo...maybe we can carpool with them? You can drive...ya sabes...si tu quieres."

you know...if you want

"Fine with me! Forgive me for never asking, but you're Elena, right?" He holds his hand out and she wipes her sweaty palm on her jeans. Then, they shake.

She's speechless for a second while he strokes his thumb across her knuckles before releasing her hand, until Maritza softly kicks her leg under the table. "Sí...Elena Mendoza. Mis amigas y hermana call me Ellie, for short. So do mi mami y mi abuela...everyone close to me, really." She beams as he sits across from her.

"That's neat! I'm Sergio Ruiz, but I guess you knew that already?"

"I've heard it before, yeah. You got a nice tattoo!" she comments, sounding highly impressed as she gestures to the inked flames around a skull and crossbones on his muscled bicep. "What's that say there?" She points to her own collarbone.

He lifts his necklace. "Only God can judge me! Maria got me into religion, so..."

Elena chuckles. "¡A mi abuela y tía abuela Lourdes les gustará eso! Who did it for ya?"

My grandma and great-aunt Lourdes will like that one!

"Boo...¡la artista del tatuaje más genial de la historia!"

the coolest tattoo artist ever!

"That's where I went, too," Flaca jumps in, pointing to the unfilled teardrop tattoo under her eye. "Kidding! It's just más eyeliner. None of us chicas got inked underage."

Most of the group laughs, but Elena and Sergio appear to be a bit annoyed. "Yo, can't you see there's some mad vibin' goin' on between us?" she asks, her voice hushed.

"Lo siento, I was testin' him to see if he's easily distracted, looks like he ain't," Flaca mumbles low enough that he won't be able to hear her.

"Gracias." Elena redirects her attention to Sergio. "Awesome! So, what music you like?"

"Rap, hip-hop, rock and roll, Latin...you?"

"Yo también, anything that's got a good beat, really!"

Maritza gets up and pulls Flaca along. "¡Nosotras vamos a ir ahora!" The others then leave Elena and Sergio to talk by themselves until the bell rings.

We're gonna go now!

By the time four-o-clock rolls around, Blanca is ready for her date with Diablo. Gloria and Red had both closed their little stores to save time since they're all too busy. As she inspects her half pony with tendrils on either side of her face and her makeup that decorates her eyes, cheeks, and mouth, he walks into their room, wearing a black tuxedo. Standing by the doorway, he gazes at her softly.

She sets her lipstick down. "¿Qué, mi amor?"

What, my love?

"Sólo ester admirando tu belleza," he responds, striding over to her. Dressed in a bright pink flowery evening gown and gold high heels, Blanca rises, and then they embrace.

Just taking in your beauty.

"Muchas gracias, you're handsome, too!" She smiles and clasps her hands behind his neck. He toys with her gold chandelier earring, and then, they share a passionate kiss. He runs his hand up and down her back.

"De nada. Thank you, darling." He guides her to their bed and they sit close together on the end of it. Still staring at her earnestly, he wraps his arm around her shoulders and she cuddles into him, resting her head against his chest. His heart beats at a smooth rhythm and the vibration against her cheek is incredibly soothing.

"You're welcome," she murmurs.

Diablo caresses her locks, making Blanca want to melt. "How's my girl doin'?" He's so suave in his manner of speaking, too. She tries to inhale and exhale evenly and her heart skips a beat. She gasps in and out a couple times to catch her breath.

"Bien, querido...I'm excited!" She covers her flaming face for a second and giggles; it's like she's thirteen again, young and in love, except that she's more positive than ever that he's a keeper and he'll take things slow with her like he's been doing all along.

"Oh, I am, too." Diablo presses his lips to her temple and they linger there for a few minutes.

He really is perfect, she thinks dreamily.

Thanks for reading and reviewing, Juliette45!