Chapter 2: I Feel Pretty (Maria POV)

Maria quickly moved down the street heading towards the subway. Even though she had been in New York for a month, she still managed to get lost heading to work. However, she managed to leave early, and had no troubles on the way there. This may be the first time she will arrive to work without anything getting in the way.

It had already been an exhausting morning. Anita made her stand forever while she pinned the dress she was making for the upcoming dance. Maria had been looking forward to this all week. That is, until Bernardo began making demands of her night. Not only did he dictate that her dress would be "modest", which meant not to show her womanly figure or color that might attract attention, but he also insisted she be escorted by his friend Chino.

Chino wasn't a terrible person. He was kind, polite, and smart, but he never spoke unless Bernardo was present. It was like she was invisible to him. Bernardo and Anita continued to push them together. Anita would always say how well he would do, and what a provider he would make, but they never saw how much Maria wanted a love like theirs. Anita's eyes lit up when Bernardo walked into the room, and he seems to look at her like she was everything to him. Chino could not, and would never, make her feel like that.

As Maria had the subway entrance insight, a gust of wind rushed past her, taking her mother's hair ribbon with it. Maria had no choice but to chase it down. It was the only thing she had left of her mother that she had brought with her to New York. She ran and reached out, but the ribbon just slipped through her fingers and floated further down the street. She rounded the corner but came to a sudden stop only too late before colliding into another person.

The two fell into a pile on the sidewalk, with Maria underneath the unknown person. As the person finally rolled off Maria, she was about the apologize for her actions, but the words never came. Her ability to speak vanished the second she looked into his blue eyes. She didn't know how, but while her voice went silent her heart began to go into double time. She suddenly felt cold, except where his arm was wrapped around her; there felt hot.

"Are you alright, Miss?", the boy said.

"Exscusa, por favor.", regaining her speech, "I didn't mean to run into you. I was chasing my hair ribbon, and now it seems it's gone. I hope you are alright…" the girl said frantically.

The boy held up the ribbon, "You mean this?"

"Gracias! I thought I had lost it.". The girl began to tie the ribbon into her long dark hair. "Please, forgive me. It's just this ribbon belonged to my mother… it's very special to me. I know it seems silly…".

"Yes… No, I mean I understand. It means a lot to you. And no harm done".

"Thank you again…", she said

"Tony… my name's Tony"

"Thank you, Tony.". Her face suddenly felt hot, and her knees quaked.

Tearing her eyes away, she glanced at her wristwatch. If she didn't leave now, she would be late; if she was late, she may not have a job anymore.

"Forgive me, I'm late for work. I must go!", she said as she began running towards the subway entrance. She briefly heard him say something else, but she couldn't go back to find out. She managed to get onto the right subway in record time, and as she sat there, she replayed the interaction with the boy. Tony. Even the thought of his name made her tingly all over. A part of her wished to go back and see if he was still there, but it didn't matter. What, was she to think this boy felt the same? A boy like that probably had a girl. A white girl. And even if he didn't, Bernardo would never allow it. Maria wielded all thoughts of the boy, Tony, leave her as she went into work.

Maria began cleaning the various floors with more vigor than usual. She tried to concentrate on her duties, but thoughts of Tony creeped back in. Those blue eyes seemed to turn her to mush, along with his sculpted face and lush lips. Maria couldn't believe she was having such thoughts. She pondered if she should attend confession tomorrow for impure thoughts. As her shift ended, Maria finally surrendered to her overactive imagination. She laid in bed that night dreaming of might have happened if she had turned back around to the beautiful boy. A boy she would probably never see again, except in her dreams he plagued.

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