c.73
"María."
"María."
"María," grasping onto consciousness, my mind made me aware of my name being spoken in a whisper. I opened my eyes.
Gazing back at me, there the boy was. As he pushed a few strands of hair from my face and behind my ear, I could better see the smile forming on his mouth.
I gave a faint, "hey."
He stared at me, and I stared at him, for a moment in silence.
With little hesitation, he pressed his thumb against the very bottom of my lower lip, dragging it to my chin. I didn't know what to anticipate, but I was content with it.
"You're pretty."
In a diffident but still lazy fluster, I fought the urge to cover my face with the blanket bundling me, the blanket he must have put there while I slept. Instead, I only diverted my eyes, my cheeks most likely some shade of maroon, or at least they looked that way in my imagination.
"What time is it?" avoiding acknowledgment, in my mind, I still soaked up the admiration.
With understanding, he didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by my avoidance.
"12:14 p.m."
"Did you wake me up for lunch?"
He nodded, "my mother requested the food be brought to our rooms, but I was thinking you and I could go somewhere outside to sit and eat, what do you think?"
Smiling now, I agreed with the idea.
~~~~
As I brushed out the newfound tangles in my hair, there was a knock on my door. Walking over, when it opened, the boy grinned, two plates filled with food held in his hands.
I smiled, "I'm just brushing my hair, you can come in if you like."
Nodding, he followed me obediently, pushing the door closed with his foot. He sat the plates down and watched me quietly as I went back to the vanity.
"Do you think I should change?"
Turning my head to look at him, his expression had dropped, he slowly shook his head, saying, "no, absolutely not, you're already beautiful the way you are, what makes you question that?"
I scoffed, holding in a laugh, "I'm talking about my clothes, should I change my clothes?"
"Oh," he started to blush, from what I presumed was embarrassment, "still no... because y-you already look nice."
•
•
•
Walking out of the room, I had tried to take my plate from the boy, but he insisted on holding both.
"So where are we going?" I followed in his footsteps.
As a doorman opened the door to the outside for us, I thanked him quickly.
"You'll see."
Rolling my eyes, I thought back to all the times this scenario had been played through in the past.
"Is there ever going to be a day where you give me an actual answer, you've responded with that more than once."
"I can't say, but maybe you should stop asking one of these days."
Going down step by step, I felt a smile form on my lips, "never."
In my peripheral vision and then a glance, there the elderly woman was, watching from a window, watching us with intent. Stopping, I gave her a small wave, making sure my manners were good. She mirrored my action, a pleased look on her face as she did so.
"You coming?"
Gradually letting my focus come back to him, I flashed her a quick, but soft smile as I gave him my attention, "yep."
Taking the corner of the house, we walked down a couple of steps, and there it was. A truly mesmerizing sight. A large fountain with what looked like blue jewels covering the bottom as tile. Around the build were bushes and bushes, rows and rows, of flowers and plants. With two streams going down the sides and connecting into a small creek at the bottom, it was like a daydream.
The sun hit all the right places, leaving enough shade to keep the wind a nice temperature in the absence of sunlight. Although it was fall, today it hadn't felt like it until we were sat there, in the calm atmosphere.
Handing me the plate, the boy sat on the edge of the fountain, and I did the same. As I bit into my grilled cheese, he ate his sandwich. It was very simple food, but I figured that that was because it was requested.
"It's so perfect out here," I said in between bites, making sure not to speak with food in my mouth.
Techno nodded, muttering something under his breath.
I watched two squirrels chase each other from tree to tree, jubilant and gaily playing a game of tag. Birds could be heard singing a distance away, chattering in chirping.
The trees were so tall, most likely having seen the youth of the land, the people come and go. From a great ways away, there the other mountains stood, just like this one.
Neither of us dared speak.
•
•
•
Having drifted to the ground, my head rested on the stone. With an outstretched arm, my hand lazily touched the water.
Waves of nostalgia washed over my senses and through my body. But this time, I allowed it to overwhelm me.
Like a daydream, I was sent back to a past hidden far from memory. A hum, so youthful and child-like. Taking me but a moment to recognize it as my own.
Chatter surrounded me, people surrounded me, yet, I couldn't find myself to care. Leaned over the old stone, both hands played with the moving water. Laughter grew closer as arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a loving hold.
"Mi amor," a woman playfully whispered in my right ear, a voice barely familiar, "no sabes cómo comportarte."
I giggled, "Mamá."
Looking up to see her, the sun's shine blinded my eyes. The bliss began to fade out with a ringing. Her smile was the final thing I saw before I fell back into reality.
Engulfed in warmth, I was all too familiar with this feeling. As the boy pulled me closer to his chest, I could hear his heart beating.
"Hey-hey, I'm okay" I quietly said to him.
"María, y-you weren't responding."
Sitting up to look into his eyes, they were filled with worry. Hugging him by the neck, he held onto me by the waist, "I'm okay, I mean it, I'm better than okay."
"I saw my mom."
•
•
•
"What did she look like?"
Wiping off the dirt from my clothes, I paused at his question.
"I'm not sure," I said in all honesty, "but she had long hair, and... I think I have her smile."
We spoke about my daydream memory all the way back to the hallways. Only stopping when we were interrupted by someone I had never seen before.
~Techno's POV~
"Hey, Techno."
That voice, I knew exactly who that voice belonged to. Spinning around, she stood with arms crossed.
"Trinity?"
She looked a little different since the last time I saw her; with short black hair, rather than long and brunette; a few extra piercings; and a new style overall.
She shrugged with a smirk on her lips, "in the flesh."
After giving her a quick hug, she seemed to have noticed María. Trinity stood more than half a foot taller than María, reminding me just how small she was.
"Hello there... are you María?"
"Y-yeah," she looked confused, and I probably did too, "how do you know my name?"
"Lily's told me about you, it was just a guess, I didn't know what you looked like."
Interrupting their conversation, I asked, "Lily told you about her?"
Ignoring me, Trinity kept on, "I assume nobody's mentioned me to you?"
"No," the younger shook her head, "I have no clue who you are."
"Figures, my name's Trinity, I'm one of Techno's older cousins."
"Are you the one getting married?"
With an almost disgusted look on her face just from the idea, she responded, "hell no, that would be my sister."
"You're real good at relaying basic information," the older girl playfully smacked the back of my head.
"Ow," I scoffed, "that was uncalled for."
Again, she ignored what I said and went back to talking with the other. "Also, I'm only just turning nineteen in October, so marriage isn't in my interest at the moment-"
~Trinity's POV~
She really was pretty. And the by way Techno looked at her, he saw that too.
"Also, I'm only just turning nineteen in October, so marriage isn't in my interest at the moment-"
"Trinity!"
Twirling around, I rushed towards the voice's owner, wrapping my arms around the young blonde.
"Lily!" I smiled, "I was gonna text you back, but I ran into these two."
Lily focused on them, a grin on her face as she nodded to me, "so you met María."
"Mhm."
•
•
•
Sitting on the floor of Lily's room, I had parted ways with Techno and María when Lily dragged me away.
"So those two," I raised an eyebrow, "are they dating yet?"
"Pfft- no, but I'm hoping something will happen on this trip."
"Speaking of which, how's Ari, is she here?"
I smiled at the mention of her name.
"She's doing well, unfortunately I couldn't bring her with me to the estate, but she booked a hotel and will be able to spend time with us, she's also allowed at the wedding."
"I can't wait to see her again, she's literally so cool," the girl said, and I agreed.
~Techno's POV~
"Now that I think about it, you've never really told me who will be here, like who in your family will I meet during the trip?"
"Umm," I thought to myself, "well, there will be a lot of close and long distance relatives, from now on I'll tell you how I'm related to them before introductions."
She mumbled a "thank you" as she walked over to her luggage to unpack, my phone buzzed. I took it out of my pocket to see a text message from Lily.
"Lily said to meet her and Trinity by the fourth floor west wing entrance in an hour and a half, they want to go out on the town, do you want to go?"
"Hell yeah!"
~~~~
~María's POV~
3:02 p.m.
Following the knocks on my door, I went over and opened it.
"You changed clothes," Techno noted, almost like it was meant to be to himself.
"Yeah," I gave him a smile as I looked him in the eyes, "what do you think?"
Wearing an off-the-shoulder, white see-throughie lantern sleeve top with black high waisted jeans, and black lace up boots, I had my hair in a braid to finish the look.
"Y-You look really nice."
He meant it, I could see it in his eyes, he meant it.
It was never really something I did, wear an outfit like this, especially the shoes, but that didn't mean I didn't like to dress up.
"Thank you."
"So... umm, you ready to go?"
Grabbing my small bag and putting on my shoulder and across the body, I gave a nod, "I am now."
"Great," as we walked out the door, he made sure to close it behind us.
Walking down the long hallway, we eventually were in the sights of the other two and one extra person, Chris.
"Look at you," Trinity was the first to see us, "you look actually stunning."
(A/N- HAPPY HALLOWEEN [& DAY OF THE DEAD]! By the time this chapter comes out, it will be close enough to Halloween [and Day of the dead] for me to say that. Tell me, what did you think of the longer chapter?
I love you so much! ❤️)
(Hamster Fact: Hamsters are not cheap, the initial purchase price may not be all that much, but when treated with proper care, the expenses will grow; this does in no way, mean that you shouldn't own one, but it means maybe reconsider getting a hamster if you don't want to have to accommodate to its needs in the first place.)
(-Hamster)
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