June
If there was anything I wasn't expecting, it was to see Valentina standing there, cursing quietly, laden with bags, dressed in a short skirt I hadn't seen before. At first, I thought I was imagining it. I'd been so distraught by seeing the JFK sign on the information board, I'd convinced myself she was walking out to greet me.
But she was there.
She was really there.
I didn't understand how — or why — or any of it — but she was there, and I could finally hug her again, after seven months of phone calls and Skype conversations. I was so happy my whole body was shaking, and I was crying and smiling at once, and I didn't know it was possible to feel this grateful.
"June! Look, look, look! Isn't he cute? I swear I've already seen ten hot guys, and we haven't even left the airport!"
I didn't really care what she was saying. I wasn't even jealous when she kissed Nathan on both cheeks, I didn't even tease Sam when she did the same to him and he turned as red as the bra strap escaping from underneath her shirt. And when she told me she was staying for ten days, ten days, I could've jumped up to touch the sky.
Mom and dad were just as thrilled to see her. Dad even had tears leaking from his eyes, and he wasn't able to stop them. While mom had pretended Nathan and Sam had nothing to with this, I'd seen dad thanking Nathan so extensively the poor guy hadn't known what to do. I didn't need words though, he could see it in my eyes, I knew he could. This was more than I'd deserved, and I didn't know it was possible to feel so lucky that maybe, maybe mom should've called me Felicia after all.
Dad took us all out to dinner, his treat. Sam obviously felt uncomfortable in the modest restaurant he had chosen, but Nathan seemed relaxed, laughing almost as much as Valentina.
"Vale!" I'd said, roaring with laughter so much my stomach was hurting. "Leave that poor waiter alone, won't you? I thought you were here for me, not to find yourself another heart to break!"
Mom had scowled. "Eres igualita a tu madre!"
"I've missed you too, tía Romina," Valentina had said, and even mom couldn't help but smile.
While Valentina continued to flirt with our waiter, out of pure rebellion, I realized she was a Jennifer too when it came to boys. Everyone thought she looked beautiful; guys and girls alike had fallen for her body alone, but most had never tried to see past it. Suddenly, I understood why she preferred the ones who treated me normally. At least, that was some kind of criteria to judge a person's character by.
"So, I'm thinking we have to go to the beach, June. I don't know if people surf this time of year, but I definitely want to try — oh, and I have a present for you, one of my old bikinis, it doesn't fit anymore — yes, yes, don't worry, it's perfectly modest, really, what do you think of me, Romina? — June, there's this really famous castle here, Hearst Castle, it's supposed to be amazing — we should definitely go see it..."
I didn't really care what she wanted to do. As long as I had her by my side the whole ten days, I'd do anything. It was only now she was finally sitting next to me I realized the full extent to which I'd missed her. Yeah, Sam was great, and Nathan was as well, but neither of them would want to discuss with me how much my period pains hurt, or how pathetic teenage boys looked when they grew themselves a flimsy excuse for a mustache.
A chilly breeze played with Valentina's and my hair as we left the restaurant, me recounting a story to Nathan and Sam about how she and I had run away together when we were little to go see Belvedere Castle. Valentina and I were laughing so hard I was barely able to get the words out. Automatically, I followed Nathan to the Mercedes.
"Aren't you two coming with us, nena?"
Immediately, my smile disappeared. I turned around, seeing my dad standing there with my mom, his shoulders drooping, his face lined and old again, something Valentina's arrival had been able to cure briefly. Valentina was standing in the middle, looking from them to us three.
Us. I was supposed to use that word for my parents and me. Again, I felt the guilt running through my veins — what an awful daughter I was.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dad — I just thought, with you two having to work tomorrow..." A painful silence stretched out between us. Never before had my dad seemed so out of reach than at that moment, when he was standing right in front of me.
"I can bring them by your house when you're done with work tomorrow, Mr. Guevara," Nathan said. "What do you think, June?"
"Yeah," I said, trying to sound cheerful. "Yeah, dad, I think that's a good idea. It's just, Vale and I won't be going to bed for quite some time, and you and mom both need your sleep..."
Dad didn't say anything. Was he realizing the same thing I was? "¡Venga, vámonos, mi corazón," mom said, taking his arm. "Let the kids have their fun while they can." She smiled at Valentina, drawing her in for a hug. "It was so good to see you again, Vale."
"Yeah, I know, I know... I'll see you both tomorrow."
Dad looked at me one last time. Mom didn't bother.
Only when Nathan said my name softly, I saw he'd opened the door for me. Valentina and Sam were already seated, talking a bit too animatedly with each other. "I didn't mean to..." I whispered, watching their car disappear into the many lights of the city.
"I know," he said, offering me a small smile. "And he knows too."
But what was left unspoken, hurt the most, because neither of us could deny it.
My mom didn't know.
"June... You told me they were loaded, but... o my god! This must be the most expensive house I've ever slept in!"
We were in my room, planning to change into our pajamas after an hour of chatting and laughing with the guys. It was late, and both of us were extremely tired from the exciting day we had. I hadn't known reunions cost this much energy.
"You're right," she continued, sitting down on my king size bed and starting to take off her boots. "I need to seduce Nathan and marry him. We should devise a plan! Like, how to make a guy fall for you in ten days."
For some reason, my body tensed at the idea, and I dropped one of her bags, which I had been moving to the walk-in closet. Shit. "I don't know, Vale," I said. "He's not like the usual guys, you know? He's just... I don't know."
"Yours?"
I turned towards her so quickly I lost my balance for a moment. She was smiling at me smugly, eyebrows raised. "What? — No, I meant..."
She laughed. "You're all red, honey. If you thought you were going to be able to hide it from me..."
"And what is it I'm supposed to be hiding?"
"Tsk, you've been spending too much time with lawyers." She stared right into my eyes — I tried to fight it, but she knew me too well. "Sexy, older, handsome lawyers-to-be who hold doors for you and drive you around in fancy cars."
"If you're talking about Nathan, then—"
"Then you're going to have to admit to me that you're completely, madly and deeply in love with him!"
"Shh, keep your voice down!" My eyes moved to the door, as if expecting he was going to walk right through it. My heart was pounding, I could feel the blood being pumped through my body.
Valentina started laughing harder. "Oh, I knew it... I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"
Heat rose to my cheeks, and my movements became rigid. "Nathan is a friend of mine. I am not — I am not in love with him." But as I was saying it, my stomach was saying the total opposite. Something I had been denying was trying to fight its way out, and I did not know how to keep it there.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Oh, you so are."
"I told you — I'm not!"
"So if I go to him right now and kiss him, you wouldn't mind?"
I fell silent. My left hand formed a fist without my permission once again, my body tensing with each teasing step towards the door. My mind was sending me images of Nathan and Valentina entangled, his hands in her dark, long hair, and my stomach lurched again. No no no — "I don't care," I said. "But he wouldn't go for it anyway." Or would he?
"Are you sure?" She had her hand on the doorknob. For the first time in my life, I fully understood Sam's desire to kick someone when they annoyed you. "Really... sure...?"
"Yes. I'm not in love with him, and he can do whatever the hell he wants." Except for sleeping with my cousin, because only the thought of it caused my heart to thump painfully tightly.
She opened her mouth, and I was preparing myself for another smart attack, when she closed it and went back to the bed. "Okay," she said. "If you say so, it must be true. And I have a guy back home, anyway." Wait. Was she actually giving up? That couldn't be true, could it? And yet, she was now rummaging through the contents of one of her suitcases, clearly looking for something. "Look what he gave me." She held up a small top-like thing made out of a thin, see-through material. "I mean, what am I supposed to do with this? New York winters are way too cold to be sleeping in anything less than a T-shirt."
Confused about the sudden change of subject, I took the nightie from her. Obviously, it was meant to make you look sexy, not to sleep in. It would be absolutely stunning on her. How would it look on me, though? "Maybe it's not for sleeping," I said.
"And what would you know about that, hm, gata?"
I thought about the party. "Nothing. Not yet, anyway."
She narrowed her eyes. "Not yet? Are you planning something?"
"No. I just meant it will happen sometime. In the future." Nathan didn't lie to me — if he said there'd be guys who would be wanting to kiss me, I believed him. I didn't look so bad anyway, it was just my body not listening to me getting in the way.
There was a glint of something in her eyes, and I felt like a fool for falling for her tactics. "With Nathan?"
Oh no, she was not doing this again! I picked up a pillow and threw it at her as hard as I could. For once, I didn't miss. "Hey!" she shrieked.
"You deserved it."
"I think you forgot how dangerous I am..." And I exploded in a fit of giggles while she repeatedly slammed the pillow in my face.