❶❸
The door abruptly swung open, making the girl jump. Oscar squinted his eyes at Marisol, who stood on the front porch.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, instantly regretting that she had came over, "are you busy?"
Oscar looked over his shoulder, taking a look at the group of men in the living room before shaking his head, "Nah. What's up?"
He closed the door slowly, stepping out of the house.
Marisol couldn't hide the sadness in her voice as she spoke, "I just really needed someone to talk to, and Athena's on a date right now-" Marisol stopped herself, feeling the tears begin to form again.
Oscar stared at her, his eyes searching the girl's face, her sadness passing itself onto him as well. He was probably the last person she would ever come to, so he knew that whatever was bothering her had to be serious. Oscar took her hand in his, leading the teenager down the porch steps to his car, "Come on."
He opened the door for her, watching as she got inside, "Where are we going?" She asked.
He made his way around to the other side, quickly hopping in before starting the car. The Santo put his arm around Marisol's seat as he turned to back out of the driveway, "Out."
"What are we doing here?" Marisol chuckled as they got off of the car. She closed the door, following him as the two walked through the entrance.
"It's where we always go," he shrugged, walking beside her.
He had brought her to the park where they used to play as kids, knowing that it would slightly cheer her up.
"Used to go," Marisol corrected. They began to walk around the football field, the lights blaring brightly in the nighttime.
"I saw what happened yesterday," Oscar broke the silence, looking over at the girl as they continued to walk, "that was your mom, wasn't it?"
Marisol placed her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, nodding her head.
"Yeah," she coughed, looking down at her feet, "it was." Oscar remained quiet, not knowing what to exactly say without upsetting her. The girl didn't wait for him to respond though as she continued, "I still can't believe she had the nerve to just- show up like that, like it hasn't been over a decade."
The brunette dryly laughed, shaking her head, "You know she tried to accuse my father of being a bad parent?" Marisol looked up at Oscar, her eyes turning dark with anger, "Her, out of all people! Like she was mother of the year, or something."
Oscar let her vent, knowing that that was the best option when Marisol got upset like this.
"She goes by Julia now too," she ran a hand through her wavy hair, the wind beginning to pick up, making her eyes squint, "her hairs all straight and blond, almost like she designed herself into this new person and now? She wants me and Monse to live with her. She's already got Monse convinced it's better."
"Maybe it is," Oscar cut in. Marisol stopped walking, making Oscar pause as well.
She tilted her head at him, "Are you serious? How is that any better?"
Oscar shrugged, "Think about it, you really think you and your sister are any better growing up here? You're being offered a ticket out, Mari, you'd be stupid to not take it."
"Were you not listening to a single word I said?"
"Of course I was, but at a certain point you need to put your anger aside, and start thinking about what's best for you and Monse."
Marisol scoffed, "That's ironic coming from you considering your brother's on the streets."
"You know what," Oscar turned around, beginning to walk away from the girl, "just forget it."
Marisol let out a deep breath, realizing how much of an asshole she had become for the past couple of days. She ran up to Oscar, taking his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers, "Wait, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to say that, it's just- it's been a rough week." Oscar sighed, forgiving her for the moment. Marisol grinned, nodding towards the swing set behind him, "Push me?"
After a couple of hours spending their time at the park, the pair found themselves back on the football field.
They both were laid flat on their backs, their eyes looking straight up at the sky as they eyed the stars.
"You remember when we were kids and I dared you to climb that tree in your backyard?" Oscar reminisced, chuckling as he rested back on his arm as his other hand sat still on his stomach. Marisol's head next to his.
She began to giggle, nodding, "Yeah, then Athena wanted to try and ended up breaking her arm."
"Your tía was so mad at me, I couldn't come over until it healed." The two bursted into fits of laughter, remembering how full of anger Athena's mother was after they had come back from the hospital.
"I miss those days," Oscar sighed, his eyes remaining straight up.
The girl glanced over at him, the cold grass tickling her ear as she stared. "I'm sorry I never wrote to you," Marisol apologized, her chest beginning to ache.
"Don't worry about it."
But, Marisol continued, "I was just so angry at you for being so dumb, for leaving."
"You hold one hell of a grudge, huh?" Oscar looked over, raising an eyebrow at her.
The girl thought about her anger: towards her mother, her father, even towards Monse. Her chest felt as if it was going to concave as Marisol realized how much time and energy she wasted living with hate, "I do, don't I?"
The girl turned back to the sky while Oscar continued to look at her.
"Hey," he whispered, "what happened in the past, you can never change but what matters most is how you let it affect your future. You can spend your life hating people for what they did or what didn't do to you, but in reality we all end up in the same place. None of that is really important in the end."
Marisol sighed, "You give really good advice, when are you going to start taking it?"
Oscar didn't reply, not wanting to start this argument with her again. The two sat in silence for a few moments before an abrupt wave of water rained down on them.
"Fuck!" Oscar quickly stood up, "I forgot about the sprinklers!"
Marisol began to laugh as he tucked his chain into his shirt, trying to protect it from the droplets. Her hair began to cling to her face and neck as the clothes stuck to her skin.
"Come on," Oscar told her, getting ready to head back to the car.
Marisol grabbed his arm, pulling him back to her, "Not yet."
He gave her a questioning look.
"Remember when we would come here in the summers," Marisol reminded him, trailing her hand down his arm, her fingers lingered to his palm, "it used to get so hot and back then, we couldn't afford air conditioning so-"
"We'd come here to cool off," Oscar's fingers twitched from her touch before allowing his to interlock with hers.
"My dad always wondered where the water stains in the carpet came from for years," Marisol smiled to herself.
Oscar stepped forward, taking the girl's face in his hands. Marisol didn't know how to react to what she knew was about to happen, but she let it.
She didn't back away when he connected their lips, or push him away when he pulled her closer to his body. She didn't fight the overwhelming feeling in her stomach and electricity that flowed throughout her body, to her fingertips. She didn't debate if she should let herself embrace him, even if she knew it wasn't the right thing for them to do.
im so glad with how this story is progressing tbh i feel like they kind of kissed earlier than i normally make characters do in my other books but then i remember like nah its not too weird cause marisol and oscar have literally known each other since they were kids and im gonna give some backstory that will make some more backgrounds of their relationship with each