Arizona:
Well, this is getting frustrating.
For the past week, Cassis and Natalia have been avoiding each other. Natalia's dance tryout even got postponed, and Cassis isn't giving me any answers. I don't know what's going on, and I don't like it. Charlie and my best friend have been distant, too, which makes this all a billion times more weird. And fishy.
I wonder if I can catch Natalia at her locker.
Most of the day passes unfruitfully, what with her running off every time she catches me coming her way. Though, finally, I catch her just before dance, having snuck up from the other end of the hallway. I swiftly turn her to face me, and place both of my hands on either side of her on the lockers, trapping her.
"You're coming out with me after school. I don't care what your plans were. They're mine, now."
The brunette gives a sigh, letting it be known she does not like being trapped. "Arizona, I have work after school. Why don't you go with Cassis to whatever it is your doing or going." She turns to close her locker, moving my arm aside.
Turning, I lean back against locker next to mine, turning the lock on mine. "Well, maybe I wanna hang out with you. Can't you come after work? We'll have a sleepover."
"I have babysitting after work. My parents are going out to dinner." Natalia says, her demeanor showing no room for budging.
Not budging, either, I counter. "Then I'll come over and we can babysit together."
Natalia looks for a way out, "I..my..Just don't bring anyone else." She finally gives in, clutching her book to her chest.
I raise an eyebrow. "Why? Who would I bring?"
"Cassis." Her eyes cast to the ground, her bottom lip getting chewed on in the process.
Itching my shin, I ask, "And why should I not bring Cassis?"
Natalia's brow furrows, "You don't know what happened?" The brunette turns away, her cheeks flushing.
"Nope," I answer, opening my locker. "Our blonde friend has been ignoring pretty much everyone, and it's kind of getting frustrating." I strip out of my shirt, trading it for my dance tank. "Will you tell me what happened, since you seem to know?"
The brunette shakes her head, saying, "It's not really my place to say. Maybe you should ask her boyfriend."
I sigh. "Yeah, maybe. Hey, what's your address? So I can get there, later." Natalia gives me her address, telling me not to get there much before 6pm. "Sure thing. Not before six. Gotcha." Pulling on my dance shorts quickly, I shove my things into my locker and shut it. "Love you, bye!" I kiss her cheek before running off to the north wing, leaving Natalia alone.
In the hall, I spot a familiar head of chocolate curls. "Charlie! Wait up!" The handsome hunk of boy turns, breaking away from the line of footballers. He glances back at his time, telling them to go ahead without him. I meet him halfway and watch the team file out of the door. It shuts loudly.
I cross my arms. "What the fuck is up with you three? You're all avoiding each other like the plague, and no one's telling me shit."
"Who is 'you three'?" Charlie raises his brow, unsure of who I am talking about.
"You, Natalia, Cassis...?" I prompt, waiting for him to clue in.
Realization dawns on him, "Oh, Jone's girl. She walked in on Cassis and I having..sex." He shrugs, acting like it is nothing to him. "She must have liked it, she sure did watch for a while, you know, longer than 'I'm sorry for walking in and leaving' type thing. She just stood there."
I, likewise, just stare at him, gaping. "You had sex with her? She let you have sex with her?"
Charlie pulls me aside to an empty room. "She claims I raped her. I didn't even go into that hole, just so she cant be her little uptight bitchy self."
"You fucked her up the ass?" Jesus Christ. Cassis, my apparently gay best friend, would never go for that, so, yeah, it was definitely rape on Charlie's part. "You're such a dick," I hiss, unable to believe I loved this boy. And, yes, I mean loved, because I definitely don't, anymore. "Jesus, Charlie. I cannot believe you would do that." I shove his chest, disgusted by this hot, handsome hunk of football meat, and storm out of the room, heading for dance.
I let off a lot of steam in dance. I'm not even sure Cassis notices me fuming. It makes sense, now. They're both just super embarrassed and don't know how to talk about it. Well, I'm going to fix that.
"Cassis, we're hanging out, tonight. No buts," I add in quickly as we enter the changeroom. She just nods, not really looking stoked about it. I give her Natalia's address without telling her what it's for, and tell her to meet me there. They can figure their shit out, and I can go have some fun of my own.
I leave the school on my own, catching a ride with one of the other dancers. Dad's still away. I let myself in and head for the shower, intending to get all dressed up tonight. I'll take my clothes over to Natalia's house and change there, once the two of them actually start talking to each other.
I shower with soap that smells of sweet, satsuma oranges, and get dressed into shorts and a fitted shirt. Packing a dress into my bag for later, I call a taxi, and pull together my face.
Soon enough, I find myself in front of a pretty garden that belongs to an okay house in the middle of a bad neighbourhood. Yes, Natalia's family is poor. For sure. But, they definitely like their garden, as it is well kept. I step out of the car after paying the guy, and walk up to the door to knock.
Natalia answers with a little girl on her back, another one tugging at her arm. "These are my sisters, Maria," she tilts her head down to the one tugging her arm, "And Sophia."
My eyes fall to the little one, and I grin. Squatting in front of Sophia, I wish I had a little sister. "Sophia, do you like princesses?" Sophia nods, rubbing away the hair that falls into her eyes. "Well, then. Let's be princesses, today, then. Okay?" I hold out my arms, hoping she'll let me pick her up.
Sophia walks forward, her body fitting between my arms. I lift her up and kiss her cheek, grinning. "Okay. What were you princesses up to?"
"Barbies," Maria grins from behind Natalia's head. "Mine has blonde hair. Sophia's has brown hair. Natalia bought them for christmas last year. She says if we are good she'll get us another one.
"And have you been good?"
Sophia nods her head, her eyes wide. One could tell from her face that she wanted another barbie doll to play with. "Pink dess."
Maria pipes in, "Sophia likes pink dresses. My barbie doll has a blue shirt with green in it and white pants."
I giggle, remembering when I once played with dolls. "I'd really like to see both your Barbies. Will you two princesses show me?"
Maria jumps off Natalia's back, running for her room. Sophia whines, her arms outstretched in the direction Maria ran off in, wiggling to get free. "Barbie. Me show." Natalia takes a deep breath, shutting the door behind me.
"I'll be in the room next door." The brunette says when she's brought me to the girl's room. I set Sophie down carefully, letting her run over to her doll. They both come running and jumping back to me, Barbies in little hands.
Sophia holds hers as if it were a baby doll. Maria shows me her barbie that has a small sticker of a heart on its leg. "I gave her a tattoo. Her boyfriend is a rockstar."
"I have a tattoo," I tell them. "What are your dolls' names?" I crouch, sitting my ass on the floor to be level with them.
Maria's eyes widen, "You have a tattoo?"
Sophia smiles as she swings her doll back and forth, "Soapy."
It takes me a minute to get that she means "Sophie." I giggle, straightening out the pink dress. "Yeah, I have one. You wanna see?" I tug the neck of my shirt down, away from the back of my shoulder. Maria stands on tip toes, attempting to see the tattoo. I tug the shirt down a little more, twisting where I sit so that she can see the simple cross. "See?"
"Cwoss." Sophia says, her fingers running over the ink while Maria runs to her dresser. She pulls out a sticker sheet, taking a small one off and sticking it to her barbie. She comes over and shows us the barbie, now with a cross sticker on the back of it's shoulder. "Wike you," Sophia says, pointing.
I giggle, pulling Maria in for a side hug. I wish I had a little sister. "Yeah, like me. Except, I'm not blonde." Glancing around their room, I ask the girls, "What other toys do you have?"
Sophia runs to the closet, pulling out a small bucket of Polly Pockets. "Natty toys." She says as she dumps them to the floor. I grin, wondering if I still have my toys from when I was little.
"Polly Pocket was my favourite toy when I was your age. I had quite the collection." I pick up a little figurine and put her into her clothes. Maria picks up the one with orange hair, dressing her. Sophia runs back to the closet pulling out different Polly Pocket buildings.
"Wots of Polly." She says, bringing them to me.
"Ooh! Oh my gosh! Let's dress them all up," I say excitedly, actually having fun with the two little girls.
Sophia jumps up and down, happy, while Maria takes a seat, dressing up one Polly doll at a time before placing them into the Polly house.
Eventually, Natalia rejoins us. I hold up a Polly. "Isn't she pretty?" I giggle. Patting the seat on the floor next to me, I return my attention to the girls and their toys.
The brunette takes a seat behind Sophia, brushing her hair while the little girl plays. "You guys want pizza or mac and cheese, tonight?"
"Pizza!" Maria screams with a bright smile.
Making my Polly waddle over to Sophia's Polly, I say in a Polly voice, "Do you like pizza?"
Sophia's Polly nods its head as she picks up a hair band for Natalia to use in her hair. Attached to the hairband is a pink bow.
"What kind of pizza do you like?"
"PEPPERONI!" Maria squeals excitedly. Sophia looks up at Natalia, "Same Natty." The little girl leans back into her sister, a little hand covering her mouth as she yawns.
Still talking for Polly, I ask, "And what does Natalia like?"
Sophia looks up at her sister, waiting for the answer. Natalia's favorite pizza depended on her mood. Sophia liked to be like her big sister, her favorite changing along with hers. "Tonight it is cheese."
Dropping the Polly voice, I say, "I like cheese. Cheese is pretty spiffy." I start changing my Polly's outfit. "Maria, do you like cheese pizza?" Maria giggles, exclaiming with a duh. Natalia, finished with Sophia's hair, tells the girls that she'll start on the pizza. She leaves me to keep the girls company, playing with the Polly Pockets.
A male voice comes from the room across the way, "Can I get a water, someone, please?" I glance behind me towards the door.
"Who's that?" I ask the girls, wondering who the voice belongs to.
"Jose," Marka say, her doll being placed in the pool. "He is our cousin," She stands up, holding her hand out. "Do you want to help me bring him water?"
"Only if you two princesses help me up." I hold out a hand for each of them to yank on. Sophia furrows her brows, shaking her head. Instead she turns around and plays with dolls. Maria holds out her other hand, taking both of mine.
I help her pull me up, making it seem like she did all of the work. Wondering why Jose can't get his
own water, I follow Maria into the kitchen. "Natty," Maria tugs on her sister's shirt as she opens the pizza boxes, "Can you hand a cup, please." Multitasking, Natalia hands her a cup. Maria steps up on a stool to fill it with water before we head to Jose's room.
We enter a room lined with books. It's kind of dark, and I kind of like the setting. It would make for a nice photograph, I think. In the bed, a boy sits, not really looking at us directly. "Well, hello."
"Hello." He says, a small smile coming to his face. "Did we get a french maid?"
I snort. "German, actually. Why? Did you need something cleaned off?" I tease back, grinning mischeviously at him. I take the water from Maria, letting her go play, and approach the bed. The boy stares ahead, his hand outstretching in front of him.
"I wouldn't know. Does my room look like a disaster?"
Putting two and two together, I realize he can't actually see. Coming to sit by him, I carefully place the water in his hand, then place a hand on his leg. "Oh, I wasn't talking about your room."
His eyebrow raises, "Then what were you talking about?"
Quirking an eyebrow of my own, I stroke up along the inside of his thigh. "What do you think?"
Clearing his throat, the teen brings the water towards his mouth. "I think that you sound like you are very pretty."
I blush slightly, finding the compliment flattering; even from a blind guy. "Well, you're not so bad, yourself," I tell him honestly, patting his leg before pulling it away.
He looks away shyly, placing his glass down. "What is your name?"
"Arizona. And I'm not actually a maid."
"I know. Natalia said she had a friend over." Jose leans back against the headboard. "You are suppose to help with the girls. Looks like you aren't doing your job." He teases.
With a snort, I get off the bed. "Well, fine, then. I'll just leave you all alone." With a grin, I punch his arm lightly, and head for the door.
"Punching the cripple, that isn't nice." He comments.
About to flip him off, I turn in the doorway, but stop. He won't even see it. Instead, I look at him with a small smile, leaning in the doorway. "You're not a cripple," I say softly. "You just have eyes worse than an old lady."
I leave the room, finding the girls playing around in the living room. I head into the kitchen, finding Natalia. "Your brother- I mean, your cousin's a cutie."
Resting against the counter, the brunette plays with the ends of her hair. "And what does that mean in Arizona terms?"
I shrug, sitting up on the counter next to her. "Uh... I dunno, just... He's cute, and he's got humor?" I swing my feet in the air playfully. "I'm glad I came. I kind of wish I had a big family."