Aria's POV
Alex and I were in the kitchen with Dr. B and Lydia, watching Lydia struggle to reach the top shelf of the cabinets
"Here you go, Lydia. A little gift to grab those hard-to-reach items." Dr. B smiled, handing Lydia a clamper thingy.
"Magnificent." Lydia giggled as she clamped a cereal box from the top shelf.
"Wow. So when I get older, will I be easily amazed, too?" Alex asked
"I don't know. Let's try it out." I shrugged, picking up a banana and handing it to him.
"Nothing." He sighed, shaking his head in fake disappointment
I giggled, snatching the banana out of his hand and plopping it back into the decorative bowl on the counter
"Hush, papito. Leslie has been so helpful!" Lydia snapped, walking out of the kitchen
"That's true. Now, Lydia won't need you to come over and get jars down from the top shelf." I added, knowing it would freak the older man out
Dr.B took the clamper and snapped it in half, before offering Alex a fist bump, "Whoops."
I rolled my eyes, as Elena walked in with her friends, leading her to the front door of the apartment
"What a nice group of...human friends." Dr. B noted, as we watched the door shut behind them
Alex and I looked at him weirdly, "I heard about the pronoun thing. Now I'm terrified to speak."
I rolled my eyes and walked into the living room, where Lydia was looking the teen girl up in down with a smirk.
"Why are you smiling?" Elena asked her
"I think someone has a crush on her". Lydia smirked, wiggling her neatly groomed eyebrows
"That, I can 100% agree with. You were giving that girl all kind of eye." I joked, making Lydia happy, and Elena annoyed
"Dani? No, I don't! I don't even know her! You have a crush on her!" Elena argued
"No, no, no. When it comes to detecting romance, I am like cousin Autensio at the beach with his metal detector." Lydia said
"So you found nothing and you're sweating through your shirt?" Elena asked
"I predicted Alex and Aria." Lydia argued
"Wait, What?" I asked, avoiding eye contact with the boy behind me, who awkwardly cleared his throat
"You will be married in the future." Lydia shooed off, waving her hands like it was the most obvious thing in the world
"To other people, yeah." I argued, attempting to cover up my embarrassment
"No, no. To each other." Lydia continued, refusing to back down
"So...back to Elena." I sighed, finally excepting defeat
"Don't be bashful. I think it is fantastic to be young and in love and to flirt. And by the way, I can teach you things because your flirting is de madre. At least Aria and Alex can flirt." Lydia said
"Let's not focus on me, Okay?" I begged, Alex quietly agreeing, still behind me
"I wasn't flirting. And we're not talking about this. Besides, Mom says I'm too young to date." Elena replied, annoyed, and hoping to escape back to her room
"But never too young to flirt. When I came out of my mother's womb, I winked at the doctor!" Lydia smiled
Elena glared at her but Alex and I laughed, as he finally moved to sit next to me on the green couch.
"I guess you always had a thing for doctors, huh?" Dr. B asked
"Eh, I got over it. I will teach you to flirt. If they say something clever, laugh loudly, throw your head back, an reveal your perfect neck." Lydia declared, allowing her neck to be slightly more visible
"I'm a fan of the specific compliment." Alex spoke for the first time in awhile
He smirked, before turning toward me and putting his arm around my shoulder, "I really like your shirt. It's a great color on you."
"Thanks, Alex." I smiled, as Lydia and I started laughing nervously.
I cleared my throat, moving from his grasp, and gathering up all my confidence, "Like Alex, I go for the single thing they like most about themselves, while adding a little flirty touching."
Lydia giggled at my methods, while she watched me turn to Alex, "Wow, I love your hair ."
I used my finger to gently play with one of his front curls, while color began to creep up his neck, "It's so soft."
I gave him a flirty smile, removing myself from his personal space, while Lydia started clapping.
"Will you two stop flirting with each other? It's beyond creepy." Elena asked
Penelope interrupted our flirting class, as she walked inside the apartment loudly slammed the door shut
"Oh, Welcome home! We are flirting! Qué fun!" Lydia cheered
"Mami, when are you not flirting? Are you doing your famous..." Penelope trailed off, imitating Lydia's flirting laugh.
"Classic. That's how I get pork loin at half price." Lydia nodded
"Wait, what's going on?" Penelope asked
"Elena has a crush." Lydia smiled
Elena tried to get up and leave but Penelope stopped her, "A crush? Uh uh. No. I don't need to remind you that while you're in school, there is no time for dating."
"She's gonna be in school until she's, like, 21." I spoke up, quickly earning a glare from the working mother
"Lupe, don't crush her crush." Lydia agreed with my statement, patting my shoulder
"You're the one who taught me this! You and Papi constantly made me focus on school. And I hated it, too, but it ended up being a good thing. And now I pass the annoyance on to you. Elena, I'm sorry, but you can't date." Penelope scolded
"Fine, can we be done now?" Elena asked
"Look, people get crushes. Maybe you see this person and instantly your knees get weak and your brain starts to melt, and you think maybe I'm not dead inside. Why did I wear granny panties today? You can't think of anything else because you want them so much. Well, too bad! We shut that crush down! Because we don't let anything get in the way of our education. Even maldito crystal blue eyes!" Penelope ranted
"Are we still talking about Elena?" I whispered to Alex who shrugged in response, just as confused
"Oh, you are so strict. And very specific." Lydia sighed, annoyed with her daughter's attitude
"I don't care. School comes first, dating comes never." Penelope finished, finally shutting up everyone else in the room
"Okay, Whatever!" Elena groaned, walking off from the rest of the group
"Ay, Lupita, Elena can't help it if she has feelings. Besides, flirting can be fun, and it doesn't hurt anyone." Lydia said
__________
The next day, after school, I sat at the kitchen table in the Alvarez apartment with Elena, working on my Chemistry homework
"So, are you gonna ask Dani out?" Alex asked Elena, pulling back a chair to join us at the table
"What? No. It's just complicated, okay?" Elena sighed, trying to focus once again on her homework
"I get it. You don't have a crush on Dani and you don't want to talk about it." Alex smirked, knowing should would crack easily
"Okay, I do have a crush! I do, I do, I do!" Elena exclaimed
"Woah! Act like you've been there." I sighed, embarrassed for the older girl
"I haven't been there! The pool of local lesbians my age is not big. They could all fit in one pool." Elena argued, embarrassed by her previous outburst
"Be a pretty sweet pool." Alex smirked, making me hit him in the back of the head.
Elena got up to sit on the couch and we followed her, "I just...I assumed that coming out was going to be the difficult part, but now that I like someone, I just...I don't even know if Dani's gay. What if she's not? I don't want to be the gay girl that asks out a straight girl. That's such a trope."
"Huh. Gay dating sounds tricky. I just toss out a couple of "sups" and see who responds. Being a straight dude is the best." Alex smiled
"Like the world didn't already no that." I snapped, earning a high five from the older girl
"What I'm really afraid of is that I'll ask Dani out and she'll give me one of those.."Oh..." Elena explained
"What does that mean?" Alex asked, leaning further back into the couch
"It means, I'm not gay and you think I am and now we have a situation." Elena rushed out, confusing both of us
"You got all that from, Oh"?" I laughed, leaning gently against Alex's arm
"I'm just scared. What if she runs away or something?" Elena asked
Lydia dramatically opened her curtain, signaling she'd been listening to our whole conversation, "So instead, you are running away?"
"Abuelita! Can't a girl have a moment of privacy?" Elena asked
Alex and I moved back for the table, giving them their own space, "I live behind a curtain. When are you going to understand this? Elena, love must be bold."
"Well, I'm not sure I should be bold. I've been told, by more than a few people, that I'm "a lot." Elena said
"Who?" Lydia asked
"Mostly you." Alex peeped from the table, making me laugh
"It's always been easy for you guys. What if no one ever likes me?" Elena sighed
"Ah. Well, it has not always been easy for me." Lydia admitted
"What?" Alex and I asked, both shocked by her sudden revelation
"Havana, 1958, I was madly in love with a young boy from the country, Flavio. We were both 14. And he look so majestic on that tractor, with a cigar dangling from his lips. And I, looking ravishing with a cigar dangling from my lips. And one day I decided to let him know of my feelings. And he laughed and he drove away." Lydia explained, sharing her story
"That's terrible." Elena sighed
"Oh, I was devastated. I salted the soil with my tears and a beautiful rose grew there." Lydia smiled
"Really?" Alex asked
"It's a metaphor. But, yes, really. And as I walked home, I heard the healing sounds of the mambo and I followed my ears to this little dance hall. And there is where I met Berto." Lydia reminisced
"So you're saying you never would have met Abuelito if you hadn't put yourself out there and been rejected by Flavio?" Elena asked
"Exactly! Because in love, you have to make yourself vulnerable." Lydia said
I snuck a glance at Alex, who caught me, offering a small smile as I looked away in embarrassment
"But it's just really hard." Elena said
"No. No, mira, this is what you do. You offer Dani a cookie. And if she doesn't want it, the It'll be like she's rejecting the cookie, and not you. And for God's sake, who wants to be with somebody who doesn't even want a cookie?" Lydia asked
"Yeah. Maybe you're right. I mean, it beats what I've been doing. Just staring awkwardly and smelling her hair as she walks by." Elena sighed
"You could do better." Lydia agreed
"Thanks, Abuelita." Elena smiled, getting up to head for her bedroom
"That was really nice of you to tell her that story, Abuelita." Alex said, getting up again to join her on the couch
"Mentiras. That was my sister Maruchi's story, and you know what? Frankly, I'm a little insulted that you three believe that happened to me." Lydia said, making me laugh
__________
After an hour of begging, I moved to sit on the couch with Alex, helping him finish his math homework.
"Alex, you're not doing it right." I scolded him, laughing at his concentration
"What am I doing wrong?" He asked, defensively
"Well, first of all you're not even doing your work, you're doodling. Secondly, you haven't carried the five, so you aren't finished." I sighed
"Can't I just copy yours? Then, we can have more free time." He suggested, bored with his work already
"No, but I will help you." I offered, holding my hand out for his notebook, and begs to erase his mistakes.
I looked up when I felt like someone was staring at me, connecting eyes with Alex, "What?"
"Nothing, it's just.. your hair is blocking your face." He smiled, hesitating as he tucked some loose hair behind my ear.
"Thanks." I blushed, smiling at him as we kept staring at each other
I noticed Lydia and Penelope staring at us, "What?"
"Nothing." They both replied with large smiles
"Okay, It's getting late. I should go." I sighed, collecting my stuff, handing Alex's notebook back to him, "See you later, Alex."
"Bye, Ari." He smiled
I smiled and waved at Penelope and Lydia before shutting the door.
I leaned against the door... I am falling hard for my best friend.
___________
Okay, this is crazy. You guys requested so many shows and I've literally watched like all of them. I love that we have so many show in common, especially The Umbrella Academy. Y'all keep up the great taste in shows!