On Friday I went through all the clothes that I never wore since I spent a lot of time in pajamas and uniform. I settled on jean shorts and the nicest spaghetti strap shirt I could find. It was cute, it was white, loose and went past my waist, and it had lace flowers. It was a little bit see through, but I put on a black bra and I was satisfied. I put on some sandals and pulled my hair up in a ponytail after I straightened out my waves. Ray and Matthew both wore jeans a button down. I swear these two were meant to be best friends.
We pulled up to Victor's house and he had saved us a spot in the driveway. There were cars parked all along the street. Victor walked us to his backyard and it was packed with people. The front of the house was covered in trees and shrubs, so it covered most of the house, but the backyard was huge and open. There was a raised patio with a grill surrounded by a group of men yelling at each other about when to turn the meat. When you walked down from the patio there was a long inground pool with water sprouting out the middle and looping back down. Past the pool was a fire pit surrounded by built in seating and additional chairs to accommodate the extra people.
"Why don't you guys have a pool?" Matthew said.
"We do, we just never go in the backyard." I said. "Our house is unkept, no one services the pool or cleans the backyard or anything. Only the front yard gets done."
When we first bought the house, my dad had the backyard looking like a dream. Pool was serviced weekly, patio was freshly painted and furnished, along the fence were flowers in woodchips. We didn't have a firepit, but he had cement laid in the back-half of the backyard and had a covered little patio built with a projector and screen for us to have outdoor movie nights. After my mom started changing, we stopped going in the backyard because she didn't want to go out and wouldn't let us go either. She always thought we would fall in the pool or break something. Eventually we just forgot about the backyard all together.
"This is a nice backyard." I say to Victor, "You know, when you told us about the whole car thing, it sounded like you couldn't afford a car."
Victor laughed, "You see, the way it works is I had a savings account for my car, but once things happened, I opted for private school. My parents wouldn't give me both. So, my savings now pays for my school. My parents weren't handed things growing up, so neither are we."
"Got it."
I noticed a DJ just about done setting up close to the patio. Before we could get to where Victor was taking us a loud, intoxicating thumping vibrated through the ground and everyone started cheering.
Victor led us to a long table filled with an assortment of drinks. There were bottles of soda, juices, alcohol, water bottles and stacks of cups all lined up neatly.
"Drinks?" Victor shouted. "You can have a drink or a drink drink."
I looked to Ray and he nodded, "Don't forget the rule, three drinks max on the mixed drinks."
Victor poured me and Matthew a mix of rum and what I assumed was coke, I didn't get a good look at what it was he was pouring. He offered a cup to Ray, but Ray didn't drink when he had to drive.
Two women walked over to us and stood next to Victor. They both resembled him, one had thick, tightly curled hair and the other had long straight hair. All three of them had the same skin tone and black hair.
"Are these the twins you told us about?" The one with the curly hair said. The three of them stared at us.
"Yup, these are them."
"And the boyfriend?" The straight haired one nodded towards Matthew.
"My name is Matthew." He said and shook their hands.
"Yeah, sorry guys, these are my sisters." He pointed to the curly haired girl, "This is Vivian." He switched to the girl with the straight hair, "And this is Adriana."
We all shook hands and the girls stared at Ray.
"Just a reminder, he is a minor." Victor told his sisters.
We stood there and talked with his sisters for a little while. They asked us about our upbringing and how we managed to be so close without driving each other crazy. We gave them vague details about our childhood but did tell them our bond was so tight because Ray stepped up as more of a parent when our parents were going through things. Ray and I took turns telling our different parts of growing up and they looked between us amused. Then they asked about how Matthew and I met. That was when Matthew took over and told the story of us first meeting in the movie theater and the history with Ray.
With each story came more questions from them. I liked them, they were nice to us and seemed to take a liking to all of us and took us around to meet their family while Victor went and greeted his friends from his old school. When they introduced us to their mother she hugged us thanked us for volunteering to drive Victor to and from school. Ray being the one who drives reassured her it was okay and that we didn't need gas money when she offered. She was very sweet and looked way too young to be anyone's mother.
Eventually they brought us back around to Victor and his friends. There were five of them. He introduced us all and I almost instantly forgot their names, I just knew three of them were girls and two were guys. I think one girl was named Jenn and I think I heard the name Joey for one of the boys.
"You've been at school for two weeks and you only managed to make three friends?" One of the girls laughed.
"Let me tell you, when I started school, all I heard about were these three." He pointed at us. "She was dating him, she got into a fight with her brother, her brother beat up her boyfriend and now they are all best friends and the girls can't stand her and the boys want her. The girls want both of these guys but no one can have them." Victor pointed his finger between each of us as he told them.
"You two got into a fight?" A girl said pointing at Ray and Matthew. I recounted the long history between the two of them and the events of the last fight.
"So now you guys are cool?" One of the guys said.
Ray and Matthew both nodded. "A lot of things have happened over the last few months. Once everything was out in the open, it was easier to accept that my baby sister was going to date this guy. He makes her happy and that's what I want for her. Can't be mad at that."
"But dude, aren't you mad he came at you like that?" The same guy said to Matthew.
Matthew shrugged, "Nah, I expected it would happen when he eventually found out. The more time I spent with her, the less I cared about what he might do. And I knew if I couldn't accept her brother, then I couldn't be with her. We all moved past it." Matthew said.
"The funny thing is, after everything was said and done, they actually get along really well." I told them. "Even if they won't openly admit it."
"So how does Victor fit into this?" A girl said.
The three of us looked at him and we laughed. Victor told them about his quest to find out information about me and his plot to get me alone. He, thankfully, left out the part about my freak out and just said that he respected my relationship and so on. Victor's sister, Vivian, came and asked all of us if we were going to dance. I could tell the alcohol was getting to her and I was on my second cup so I went with her and Matthew came along.
I wasn't the biggest dancer and all of the music was in Spanish, but I did what Vivian did and it was easy enough. The three of us danced swaying our hips to the music vibrating through us. Matthew was behind me and Vivian was in front of me. I felt very aware of Matthew's hand on my hip and his breath on my neck, it was... a turn on. There were moments I could tell it was affecting him too because I could feel his lips brush softly on my neck at times.
I realized I hadn't checked for Ray, when I looked up I saw him and Victor talking. The other people were gone, I assumed they were dancing. I was surprised at how easily Ray had taken to Victor since he told me he hated him the first day he spoke to me.
Vivian went to get another drink for herself and Matthew turned me around to face him and kissed me like it was our first kiss all over again. I wrapped my arms around his neck and this urgency fell upon us to lock lips desperately in the middle of this dancing crowd. I could hear my heartbeat racing in my ears because I realized what this feeling was that fell over us, desire.
"Hey love birds, save that for later." Vivian said with a drink in her hand.
I went to pull away from Matthew but he kept me in place letting me know it was not a good time to pull away, which was when I realized what it was that I was feeling against me. Oblivious old me thought maybe he had something his pocket.
Vivian laughed at us and jumped excitedly when the next song came on because apparently it was one of her favorite songs.
When Vivian and I were tired we went to have a seat on the patio where Ray and Victor were sitting. Vivian, Matthew and I rubbed cold water bottles on our foreheads to battle our sweat.
"Bout time, thought I lost you guys." Ray said.
"Vivian loves to dance." I said.
"You guys are fun." She told us. "Victor why didn't you invite them over sooner?"
Victor rolled his eyes, "I just met them."
"How many have you had?" Ray asked me.
"Two." I said and he nodded.
"Aww," Vivian cried, "That is so cute, he looks out for you like a parent."
"Yup, always has." I told her.
Their mom came over and asked us if we ate. When we told her no, she pushed all to go eat and to make sure we get meat from the grill. She walked us through each tray and told us what each one was. She was adorable. She had a thick accent, but perfectly understandable. Then I think she yelled at Victor for not offering us food sooner. She spoke in Spanish to him, but he replied in English.
"They were dancing Ma, what did you want me to do?" Victor said annoyed.
His mother, whose name was Laura, rolled her eyes and raised her hand as if she was about to hit him.
The night was probably one of the best nights I've ever had. We all danced, I reached my three-drink max and had a great time. I liked Victor's family and friends. They were all cool and down to earth. They weren't rich snobs like the people at our school. I mean they had money, but they were kind and not pretentious.
When we got home Matthew and I went to bed both feeling the high of the exciting night we had. We lay facing each other in bed quietly staring at each other. I knew he was thinking about the same thing I was, the moment we had on the dance floor.
I lay my hand on his cheek and caressed his face, his skin felt warm underneath mine.
"I don't know how I got so lucky." I whispered to him.
He grabbed my hand and pulled it to his lips and kissed my hand. "I'm the lucky one."
I leaned in and kissed him and the same urgency washed over us as he pulled me closer and kissed me like he never has before. I felt my body push against his and I wanted more. In the back of my head I worried if I was doing the right thing because I knew the alcohol influenced my decision a little bit, but I also feared if I didn't follow this now I may never get it back.
I craved skin to skin contact and reached to pull his shirt off, he didn't stop me. As I moved my hands lower he stopped me.
"You don't have to do that."
I put my finger over his lip and pulled off my own shirt. His eyes fell upon me and I could see him hungering the way I did. He pulled me back and let me undress us both.
When he got on top of me, I felt a hint of my memories trying to push themselves through but I took everything I had to push them back. I knew it was the alcohol that allowed me to push this aside, but it was what I wanted. I wanted to be able to tell my mind "No!" And I did. I allowed myself to focus on us and our bodies working together putting everything we had into this moment we thought may not happen. Once we were both satisfied I fell asleep in his arms like I always did and was able to keep the memories locked up.
I woke up to my phone ringing. I fumbled around my nightstand looking for it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, you guys up?" I looked to see who was talking to me, it was Victor.
"I don't know, why?" I mumbled.
"My mom told me invite you guys for breakfast. I told her you guys were probably sleeping, but she is watching me to make sure I call you. She is cooking."
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "Yeah, yeah we'll be there. Give us like thirty minutes, I have to wake the guys."
"Alright, see you soon."
I looked over to Matthew who looked to be sleeping, until he spoke. "Victor?"
"Yeah, his mom wants us to have breakfast. I can't tell her no."
"I agree." He opened his eyes and looked at me. We were both still naked. He kissed my shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, I was worried. While last night was fun, I just want to make sure nothing was triggered is all."
I kissed him. "No, I was able to control it better than I thought. I'm just happy I was actually able to have those feelings. I've tried, and it bothered me that I couldn't. I guess the alcohol helped, but I am glad it did to be honest. I feel better about the whole sex thing now."
I threw some clothes on and went to wake Ray up before my shower.
"Come on, Victor's mom wants us over for breakfast."
He huffed. "You guys were fucking loud last night."
I froze, embarrassed. "What?"
"You heard me. I had to put on headphones."
Thankfully my dad was away for the weekend on business or something. I never asked, he just told us when he would be back and we said okay.
"Sorry." I said shyly. "I didn't know."
"We'll talk about it later." He mumbled. Pretty sure I was in trouble.
When we showed up to Victor's house the food was just about ready. We greeted everyone in the house, which was like six people we had all met last night. Among them were Vivian and Adriana, both looked happy to see us.
"Did you guys have fun last night?" Victor's mom asked us. I had forgotten her name, so I had to wait for someone to say it.
"We had a great time." Matthew said, "It was exactly what we needed."
She smiled, "Good, good, now tell me about you all. Who are my son's new friends?"
"Ma, come on, is that why you invited them over?"
"No, but they are nice people." She turned to me, "Now, tell me, what are your parents like?" She smiled.
Ray and I looked at each other. "Mami!" Victor said, "That isn't something they want to talk about!"
"What mijo," she said innocently, "I want to know what they do, who they are, maybe even have them for dinner. Clearly, they raised good kids."
Victor opened his mouth again but I put my hand up. "It's okay," I told him, "She can know." I said softly. Matthew rubbed my back because he knew I hated talking about my parents but it was normal for parents to be curious about other kid's parents. "You see, Mrs. Gomez, my mom left recently, like last week." She gasped. "Her and my father didn't... agree on...well I guess me and he asked her to leave."
She grabbed my hand, "Aye, I am so sorry. Every child needs a mom."
I shook my head and focused on keeping myself calm, "No ma'am, not every child. Not if it's her. You see, Ray and I were brought up different. When we were younger, there were events and Ray started taking care of me. My parents were going through a lot, so Ray raised me pretty much."
She looked up at him and her eyes were so sad, I thought she would cry. She got up and hugged Ray and he hugged her back. "You did good." She said to him.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"But you guys are the same age?" She said.
"Yup, he is five minutes older. He just matured faster and turned into an adult." I said like it was normal.
When she served breakfast, she served Ray first, then her husband. Her husband complained about being served second and she complained that a seventeen-year-old matured faster than he did. I didn't get it, but I laughed at them.
She asked Matthew and I about our grades and she seemed satisfied with me being an A student and Matthew being a B student. When she asked Ray, I almost choked on my food because his face looked panicked like he was worried he would fall from her good grace. He looked to me for help.
"Mrs. Gomez -"
"Laura, please."
"Laura, Ray is not the perfect student, but I am sure he averages about a C. He is working on picking up his grades before we graduate. As you can understand he missed a lot of his childhood, so he is kind of catching up." I said politely.
She seemed satisfied. "Yes, yes you are right." She shook her head. "Children raising children." She mumbled something in Spanish.
"Mami!" Vivian said. "Sorry," She said to me, "She is just really bothered about your parents. She doesn't feel it was the right thing to do."
Ray and I slowly shook our heads. "I agree, she is right. But you know what Laura, I would have been a different person had my parents been more involved. Ray taught me well. We would both be different people, and I don't think it would have been in a good way." What I was implying was that we'd be snobby and less humbled if we had a normal childhood. "We are okay with how things turned out." I smiled at her.
She calmed down and thought about what I said. Laura decided I was right.
"Who cooks dinner if your mom isn't there?" Adriana asked.
Ray, Matthew and I laughed. "We cook dinner. Even when our mom was there, we did all the cooking. We've been cooking since we were like eleven." I said.
Laura looked around at her own kids and huffed like she was disappointed.
"Please stop telling my mom about you guys." Vivian said. "She is going to wonder why we aren't more like you."
"Going to! I already am! They raise each other, they cook, they probably clean up after themselves."
I held in my laugh and just put more food in my mouth.
After breakfast, Ray, Matthew and I helped clean up the kitchen with Victor, Vivian and Adriana.
"Do you guys want to go in the pool?" Adriana asked us.
We looked at each other. When this happened, it was a thought process between us, first to make sure no one had plans, then to make sure everyone was okay with doing said thing. It was our eyes that we communicated through. I don't know how we knew, but it was just how the three of us read each other.
"Sure." I said.
"See!" Victor told his sisters, "That's the weird thing I was telling you about!"
The sisters looked at us, "Yeah, that is weird. You guys are like inside each other's heads." Adriana said.
I laughed, "Yeah, I guess. It's just our discrete way of communication." I turned to Ray, "Do I have a bathing suit?" I said to him.
He thought for a few seconds, "Don't think so. Last year when gave away our old clothes, I am sure we gave away our swim suits too."
"Mall?" I asked them.
"I want to go!" Vivian jumped.
All six of us packed ourselves into Ray's car for the mall. Vivian was like a child in a candy store, she wanted to stop in all the stores and look at clothes. Victor and Adriana had to drag her out of Forever 21 and watch her like a child so we wouldn't be there all day.
When we got back they set up a volleyball net across the middle of the pool after turning off the fountain. Adriana set up the stereo on the patio and Laura set out a pile of towels for us on one of the chairs. When she headed back inside I heard her yelling to her husband to start the grill to make us lunch. It felt weird being parented by someone else's parents, but I kind of liked it.
"Sorry about my mom, she moms everyone." Victor said.
"It's okay, I kind of like it. Reminds me of how my mom used to be."
Our first game was Matthew, Ray and I verse Victor, Adriana and Vivian. They kept arguing with each other when someone did something wrong or let the ball drop. We ended up winning and they complained our telepathic abilities gave us an unfair advantage. Second game we did boys verse girls and the girls won. We switched it up each game until we were too tired to continue playing. We had to stop half way through to eat lunch then went right back to playing.
When we finally got out and showered we sat by the fire pit until dinner was ready. While we were by the fire pit I found out that Vivian was twenty and Adriana was twenty-three. They told us that their parents grew up poor and came from Puerto Rico. Their father went to get a business degree and opened his own tile business. When that was successful he opened a home remodeling business and a warehouse for making kitchen cabinets. However, he never forgot how he grew up, and said he wasn't going to raise spoiled kids. He told all his kids they had to work once they graduated and he would only pay for their college if they decided to go.
After dinner Vivian wanted to watch a movie, we did. I fell asleep probably about thirty minutes into the movie and we ended up staying the night since no one could seem to wake the three of us up enough to move after the movie was done.