Aria's POV
"Why can't I get this stupid jump!" I sighed loudly, after landing harshly on the floor
Eric laughed before bending down to offer his hand, "First of all, the jump is amazing. Second, as funny as it was to watch you fall I think you're psyching yourself out."
Lifting myself off of the floor with his help I offered him a smile, "I'm sorry. It's just the dance is tomorrow and I'm terrified to mess up."
"Come on, Aria. We've been working on this for months and nailing it almost every time. There's nothing to be worried about. Your family and friends will be there to support you, and I'll have your back the entire time." He confessed packing up his practice stuff
"Speaking of family and friends, since all of mine are in relationships do you want to come over and judge romance movies and binge Chinese food?" I asked, packing up my stuff along side him
"Food and romance movies? Sign me up." He laughed
Once we got to Schneider's apartment, I grabbed the mini projector while Eric ordered a load of Chinese food.
"Alright, I say we go up to the roof. There's a perfect wall for the projector and there's a bomb ass moon tonight." I smiled
"Race ya." Eric said, snatching the projector and sprinting out the door
"We just got done working out, why are we running?" I groaned, chasing after him
"Woah." Eric said, opening the door to roof to reveal an elaborate love set up
"I swear I didn't do this." I responded with a small blush.
"Hey, Mrs. Alvarez. Guy I don't know." Eric greeted, drawing my gaze to Penelope standing in front of Max who was on one knee
"Hey, kids. Wait. Was this your set up?" Penelope smiled
"No. No. We just came up here for movies and Chinese food." I said
"Who the heck set this up?" Eric questioned
"Maybe Alex or Elena?" I guessed
Penelope shook her head with a small laugh, "No. Alex is too lazy to do this. Elena would freak out about all this waste. I also just saw them both downstairs."
"Did we interrupt something?" Eric asked, clearly still embarrassed
"No, don't worry. And to answer your question...yes. A thousand time yes!" Penelope responded to Eric then Max
"Mommy, congratulations!" Elena cheered, running out from behind us with Alex following after her
"Where did they come from?" I gasped, checking around me
"Max and I are not getting married." Penelope clarified to her kids
"Oh thank goodness. I thought we interrupted something important." Eric sighed, placing a hand over his heart
Penelope smiled before continuing, "Max and I love each other very much and we are deeply committed to each other, but we're never getting married...like, never."
"Okay, but if Max didn't do this and neither did we, does that mean it was you two? Are you guys dating?" Elena gasped, turning to Eric and I
I awkwardly coughed, noticing the small look that crossed Alex's face, "No. It wasn't us. No one knows who did it."
As if on cue, footsteps were heard coming up the steps making everyone grow a bit nervous, "Someone's coming. Hide."
We all raced to hide behind the giant solar panel. Lydia's voice was heard from behind the panel, allowing us to asses who it was.
"Oh, I've been waiting so long to do this." The older woman sighed, making all of us freak out
"I'm just glad we're finally doing it." Dr. B continue, making the situation much worse
"Should we just jump off the roof?" Penelope questioned making everyone nod their head in agreement
"Leslie, help me take this top off." Lydia continued, chasing Penelope to freak out
We all jumped up from our spots as Penelope cried, "No, Mami. Keep your top on."
"What are you doing? Don't scare an old man like Leslie like that!" Lydia cried as we walk moved from our original hiding spot.
Penelope grew quiet when she noticed the urn Dr. B held in his hands, "Are those Papi's ashes?"
"Yes. And this top is hard to get off." Dr. B sighed
"I heard voices. Are we starting?" Schneider asked, joining everyone on the roof along with Avery
"Yes. Come in. I was about to call you all to come up here." Lydia began, "And, Schneider, the roof is perfect. Thank you for helping Leslie decorate."
"Hey. There's nothing we Alvarez's won't do for each other." Schneider smiled, making me laugh
"Mami, I... what's going on?" Penelope asked, confused about the whole situation, "I thought you scattered Papi's ashes in Cuba."
"Well, that was the plan. But after we got there, I couldn't do it. It was not the Cuba that I remembered. Everything was still there. But it wasn't home anymore. I guess I wanted to walk back into a photograph. But you never can. Berto wanted his final resting place to be at home and I realized wherever we are...is home." Lydia spoke, embracing her daughter and grandchildren
"That's beautiful, Mami. I'm so glad you're doing this up here." Penelope complimented
"Actually, it was Leslie's idea to spread Berto's ashes I'm the rooftop garden." Lydia said
She gently took the urn from Dr. B and led everyone to the small cubicle of multiple flower plants.
"Since the first day I met Lydia, she always spoke so lovingly of Berto's zucchini. At first it made me uncomfortable. Then I realized she was talking about his garden. And I thought this is the place he should be." Dr. B clarified
"Papi loved coming up here. He stayed for hours, playing flowers and growing vegetables. Even at night, I'd find him working up here. I know it I'm my heart that this is where Papi would want to be." Penelope said, allowing her love for the idea to be known
Lydia gently the urn to Alex, in order for him to say a few words, "Abuelita always says I remind her of you. I get it. You were a good looking man. I'm going to try really hard to live up to who you were."
He grabbed a handful of the ashes, gently tossing them into the small garden before handing it over to Elena
"I wish you could see me now, Abuelito. I mean, you were old fashioned, but you were old fashion and I knew you would have accepted me." Elena said, repeating what Alex has done before handing it to Penelope
"I miss you everyday, Papi. But you never seem far away because I see you in the kids. Papito's smile and Elena's spirit, you're always there. You'll always be with us." She stated, handing it over to her mother for the last farewell
Lydia gently wiped the tears from her face, taking a seat on the edge of the garden, "My dearest Berto, this is nothing I would not do for you. Juntos para siempre, mi amor." Lydia finished, placing the last hand of ashes over the garden, "You can rest now. You are home. I'll see you tonight."
After finishing their goodbyes, everyone slowly made their way back to their apartments for the night. Eric and I decided it would be a better idea to eat the Chinese food and then go to bed early for our performance tomorrow night.
____________
"Let's go, kid!" Schneider yelled from the living room, as I struggled to put my sweatshirt over my costume
I quickly stuffed every item I need in my bag, before rushing out the bedroom to where Avery and Schneider were waiting.
"Alright. I might vomit, but let's get this over with." I sighed
"Don't be down on yourself. You've been practicing forever and the Alvarez's are very excited to see you." Avery smiled, leading us out the door
"At least they're giving us about an hour to warm up. I don't know if the Chinese food last night was a great idea." I joked, shoving my stuff into the trunk of the car before getting into the back
"Lydia is especially excited to see the dance. Maybe a bit more excited to see Eric." Schneider commented, driving down the busy streets of Los Angeles.
After about a twenty minute silent car ride, consisting of multiple mini panic attacks and stressing about the state of my hair.
All the nerves I was feeling gathered in the pit of my stomach as the car made its way into the parking lot of the dance studio. Schneider dropped me by the front door and went to look for a parking spot with Avery.
"Oh, thank goodness. You're here." Eric called, rushing his way over to me the moment I walked inside
"I know. I know. Traffic. Let's go practice." I said, as we rushed to one of the many practice rooms
Practice was going well, until teachers started rushing into practice rooms letting us know we had five minutes to be back stage.
"We got this." "I'm gonna vomit." Eric and I announced at the same time
"At least we're last." Eric sighed
"We're last? So we have to watch everyone else and get even more nervous. Great." I sarcastically replied
Watching everyone else's performances made the butterflies in my stomach so much worse. I peaked out into the audience noticing the Alvarez family besides Schneider and Avery.
About an hour had passed, before one of the stage managers approached us, "One minute."
"Screw it. Let's do this." Eric declared grabbing my hand as we, somewhat, confidently made our way onto the stage
I made my way to the front part of the stage, squatting down in front of Eric as the light came up on the two of us.
The music began, and we instantly began our routine, trying to nail every jump, twist, and flip.
The song ended as I sat on top of Eric's shoulder, beaming with pride that we had hit every beat of our routine.
Eric gently dropped me to the floor, giving me a tough hug as the audience erupted into applause.
We quickly shuffled off of the stage, so the sponsor's could give a speech of thanks to everyone who had attended.
"Oh my Gosh. We did it!" I cheered, jumping into Eric's arms for another hug
"You were incredible." Eric complimented
"Are you kidding me? You moved so beautifully." I smiled, ignoring the blush that tinted my cheeks
We quickly grabbed our stuff before making our way to the crowd of family and friends of the dancers. I grabbed Eric's hand, leading him through the crowd in search of anyone we knew.
"I see my parents by the door. I've got to go see them before my mom has a heart attack of excitement. Call me tomorrow?" Eric asked
"Of course." I smiled, giving him a final hug before making our separate ways through the crowd
"Aria!" Someone called, making me turn my attention to where Alex stood with everyone else
I smiled, rushing through everyone to reach my friends in family. Alex, instantly, picked me up in a tight hug with a large smile on his face.
"You were absolutely incredible, mi amada." He smiled, making me blush for the second time at night.
Despite wether or not he realized the name he had used, it made my heart skip a beat as I looked at the boy I still harbored feelings for.
"Thank you, Alex. Maybe next time you can make our costumes. Your mom told me about your design classes." I smiled, making him laugh before Lydia interrupted us
"Oh my goodness. You remind me of my younger days of dancing. The tears messed up my beautiful eye make up, but it's all for you." Lydia cried, wrapping me in her small motherly arms
"I love you, Lydia. You're going to make me cry." I joked
"Now I must go find Eric. That boy ascended from the Heavens." Lydia cried, taking Elena and Penelope with her
"I knew you were going to do amazing, kiddo. You two were the best on that stage tonight." Schneider smiled, embracing me in one of the many hugs of the night
I laughed, before he noticed a stand selling sweets and dragged Avery with him to come purchase some for everyone.
"Seriously, you were really amazing." Alex complimented, bringing my attention back to him
"I'm surprised you didn't bring Nora. She told me she really loves dance." I laughed
"I don't know how happy she would have been seeing how much I stared at you on that stage." He smirked, with a small blush
"Brave words, Alvarez." I replied, trying to cover my nerves
"Well, it's true. I forgot how much I like making you nervous." He smiled, throwing his arm over my shoulder and leading me over to everyone else
I joined him in laughter when we noticed the flowers and abundance of sweets in Schneider's arms. The love of family and friends flowed from the group, and made really clear how much love I was surrounded by.
_______________
Wow. Long time since I've updated and I'm super sorry for that y'all. Summer's here so I will be trying to update as much as I possibly can.