The Spanish Lady, in which we go on vacation in Spain, and spend our time doing tourist-y things.
SASSMASTER
Okay, for the record, I didn't mean to kiss her! It was just an instinct. No, not Sienna... nor was it AJ because ew, I'm not a pedophile or something! No, no, I kissed Marcy. I kissed her when the plane landed in Spain, because she was right there and I was so happy to be alive. The place went through a bunch of turbulence, and the moment we were safe and sound, I leant over and just gave this sloppy, gross kiss. She laughed, sure, but I still feel like it was an awful idea... mostly because Liam keeps telling me it was.
Thing is, I do this a lot. The whole, irrational decisions thing. I'm an impulsive person that doesn't know what things are called, and sometimes offends people by telling them truth, but that's fine, because them knowing the truth is worth the five minutes they're pissed at me, most of the time. The point is, I don't really think things through as much as I should.
"Are you in love with Marcy?"
"No, AJ."
"Are you going to kiss her again?"
"No, AJ."
"Do you fancy her?"
"No, AJ."
"Why'd you kiss her, then?"
"I was happy."
"You didn't kiss me when you were happy."
"That's different."
"How?"
I was caught off guard. Why was it different? Other than the fact that AJ is way too young for me to be kissing, was there even anything different about it? My first answer was going to be 'because you're too young,' but at the last second, I changed my mind.
"Because we're family."
AJ was silent then, probably pondering things. Maybe she was wondering about her mum, and how Sienna probably gave her lots of kisses. She seemed like that kind of parent. AJ opened and closed her mouth more than once, like a fish, but after a moment, she just smiled, like she understood.
"I don't think an airplane was the proper place to proclaim your undying lovw for Marcy," Zayn teased, reaching over to put his arm over my shoulders. I shrugged him off and rolled my eyes, because he's bothersome. "Oh, come on, I'm only teasing."
"Whatever," I huffed, crossing my arms. I looked away and turned my nose up to the cieling of the lobby as we walked through the hotel.
"How is she?" Zayn asked, winking devilishly. I rolled my eyes at him and jabbed him in the ribs with two fingers. "Don't be a-" Zayn cut himself when his gaze cast over AJ, who was smiling innocently up at us. "Meanie."
"You're the meanie," I retorted. I stuck out my tongue, which earned me a gasp from Zayn.
"So, I thought we could go to the fancy pool, and then we could go see an opera, and then Harry, Niall, and I were planning on golfing, so you four can do whatever you please while we're away. I wrote a list of family-friendly things that we wouldn't mind missing," Liam blabbed, running his finger over an itinerary for Sienna.
The pool wasn't crowded or anything, and nobody really gave us any trouble. A few girls came over and we took a few awkward shirtless photos with them, but otherwise, everyone kept to themselves and took their "sneaky" phone pictures from afar. AJ asked why people were watching us, so Liam told her that they thought her swimsuit was nice and they wanted one just like it. The questions pretty much stopped after that.
"Hey, Kissy McGee," Niall said, waving his hands in front of my face. "You want a Pepsi? I'm taking drink orders."
"Can I have a water instead?" I asked. I decided to let the Kissy McGee remark slide, for now.
"Sure thing," Niall said. "Wanna come, AJ?"
AJ nodded and jumped out of the pool. Niall didn't wait for her, the way your older brother doesn't slow down for you when he takes you with him to the mall. I should know; I'm an expert at being an older brother. AJ grabbed a towel from under my feet and wrapped it around herself as she ran after Niall, whose strides were twice as long as hers.
"What's this opera called, Liam?" I adjusted the sunglasses I was wearing, because the position of my head changed slightly. Now was my chance to catch a tan. I'd been waiting in London for spring to finally arrive, and the sun was reluctant to shine over there. Here in Barcelona, though, the spring had sprung, and the sun was a sensation I'd so dearly missed.
"Something Spanish," Liam shrugged. "Niall will have to sit in the middle, translate for us all."
"Why'd I take German in school?" Sienna asked, shaking her head. "I don't even like Germany that much. Spain's where it's at."
"Agreed," Zayn sighed. He and I were having a lovely time tanning, although if any two members of our band didn't need to tan, it'd be Zayn and myself.
Sienna, Liam, and Harry were all chilling in the hot tub, which was to my left, and before they left to get drinks, Niall and AJ had been in the actual pool playing a game with some girls our age.
"Where what's at?" Harry wondered. I looked at him over my sunglasses, and he laughed. "What's the opera about?"
"A lady that fools a bunch of men into being in love with her or something," Liam says. "I think maybe there's something about a war too."
"Sounds like..." Harry tapped his chin in thought. "What's that film with the war and the girl and the pop star and whatever?"
"Oh, yeah! It's an old one, right? A musical?" Sienna asked.
"Yeah, yeah, like that!" Harry said. He looked completely distressed that he couldn't figure it out. What was this illusive musical? Knowing Harry, it was probably some obscure indie film shot in black and white that no one has ever heard of, except the people that were going through their hipster phase at the time of its release.
"Excuse me," a female voice said from behind me. I prepared my fingers to sign an autograph, but when I turned to smile, the girl attached to the voice wasn't looking at me, but rather at Sienna. "Do I... do I know you from somewhere?"
Sienna's eyes went wide, and it seemed like she wanted to duck under the water and wait until the girl left. "No," she squeaked.
"Do you know a Gabriel Baker?" she pressed, slight urgency in her voice. Sienna shook her head quickly. "I could've sworn you looked just like... oh, never mind, I'm being silly. Sorry to bother you like that!"
"It's fine," Sienna said, feigning the acceptance of her apology. Truly, I think she was relieved that the girl gave up, because she let her whole body go limp in the water. When she noticed all of us looking at her, she said, "What?"
"Well, who was that?" Liam asked.
"I believe that was Gabriel Baker's daughter," Sienna said evenly.
"Who's that?" Zayn asked. He moved his shades from his eyes to the top of his head, where they helped to slick back his hair and keep it out of his face, which must've been nice. I'd been for a nice shower and only just prompted to take off the sweater I'd thrown on. My fringe was starting to stick to my face in the heat, and I'd kill for a way to keep it out of my face without sparkly hair clips or a pink headband or something.
"A very rich man," Sienna said simply. I felt the gears unlocking and turning in my head. I understood. Sienna robs Gabriel Baker, Gabriel obsesses over her, Gabriel finds out who she is, but can't prove it in court, Gabriel's daughter recognizes her from months of her dad discussing Sienna at the dinner table, Sienna travels to Spain in the same week, they recognize each other.
"Oh," Liam said. He looked sorry that he asked. Sienna stayed silent. I think Liam forgot about Sienna's other life. Beside the fact that she'd been doing a pretty decent job of taking care of AJ, she was also a criminal and a thief and a con artist. Maybe he let his guard down. Maybe it was my jokes about fancying her, about her working for a non-profit organization... maybe those made him a little too comfortable.
Niall and AJ came back carrying trays of drinks on their shoulders like waiters. Niall leaned down and handed me my drink and said, "Your water, sir."
"Thank you, my good man," I said. He nodded, so I nodded back. "Waitress!" I called. AJ spun around to look at me. "Will you come squeeze the lemon into my mouth for me?"
"Yes, sir," AJ laughed. She set down her tray and walked over, carefully avoiding the deep puddles of chlorine-laced water that were slowly evaporating all around. "Tell me when," she instructed, lifting the tiny wedge of citrus from the side of my glass. I opened my mouth, and she squeezed. At first, nothing happened, but then a good amount of pulp and droplets landed on my tongue, and I felt my features twisting into a puckered scowl.
"When!" I announced. AJ laughed as I lifted my glass and took a large gulp of the water to wash it down. "Thanks," I said. "I'm not sure how good an idea that was."
"How good are you at swimming, AJ? Like on a level from shallow end to the deep end?" Niall wondered.
"The ocean," AJ said proudly, putting hands on her hips.
"Do you want to race me? I bet I can win!" Niall laughed. AJ bit down on her bottom lip.
"You're probably way faster than me; I'm so tiny," she said, looking down at her feet. Niall's were right next to hers, long and rabbit-like with those skinny, slightly crooked toes of his. AJ's feet were chubby and small by comparison.
"You'll never know until you try, sweetie," Niall said with a smile, leaning down to her level. "Now, I think that you should race me. You know what? If you don't win... you can keep trying until you get better. For me, I think I've reached my limits as far as speed, but you're still young! You've got time to improve. So, what do you say?"
"I don't know," AJ said, looking down at the little wedge of lemon still between her fingers.
"Princess AJ, will you please do me the honor of racing me?" Niall begged. He tilted his head to one side and poked out his bottom lip. With a sigh, AJ nodded and Niall grinned. He stood up straight again and took her tiny little hand inside of his. She tossed me the lemon wedge and waved as he led her over to the side of the pool. They were racing the short way, so they wouldn't disturb the other people in the pool.
Niall jumped in first, and then held out his hands for AJ to jump into. Once they were both in the water, Niall pointed to the other side. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but assumed they were racing to the other side and back. AJ nodded, and suddenly, they both ducked under water and began to swim.
I sipped on the water and watched them go. Niall switched strokes repeatedly. He started out doing butterfly, but then he switched to a backstroke, and then to freestyle. By the time he touched the other side, AJ was halfway back, and I knew Niall was doing it on purpose, but I was truly impressed by AJ's speed. Once she reached the other end and smoothed her hair out of her eyes, Niall began swimming normally, to make it seem like he'd been trying all along. He tapped the wall and came up to his feet, where AJ was grinning at him. They high fived, and then began splashing at each other.
"She's pretty good," Zayn noted. I nodded. Who knows, maybe in ten years or so, we'll see her holding up a medal at the Olympics.
The opera called for fancy clothes and combed hair. This was not something I liked about operas. Liam said my white wool sweater and some nice pants were fine, but that I couldn't wear Chucks or anything else comfy. I had to borrow some shoes from Harry, but those were so long and narrow and uncomfortable.
Our seats were up in a private balcony, and there were little binoculars resting along the banister. I sat between Zayn and Harry, as I so often did. To Zayn's left was Niall, then AJ, then Sienna, and finally Liam, who was sitting on the end. Harry was next to Marcy, which made me anxious, because she was so damn close to me. What if she was cross with me for kissing her?
The opera began with a very long and orchestrated introductory song, which I was doodling on the palm of my hand during. By the time the curtains opened, my hand was almost completely blue, and I'd run out of room. Enter a beautiful young woman and an average-looking man in fancy old-fashioned attire. They began to sing, and I perked up when I realized it was in Spanish.
Foreign movies and songs were always fun, because you could make up your own words based on their tone and actions. By their facial expressions and the mood of the piece, I guessed they were singing about being in love.
Suddenly, more people arrived, all of them in average old-fashioned clothes. Maybe they entered the marketplace or the city. There were soldiers around, too, and when the man left the beautiful woman alone, she began singing to the soldiers. Harry gasped, but it was in a mocking tone, so I snorted in laughter. Zayn covered my mouth, so I swatted his hand away.
When the man returned, the woman ran to him and hugged him, so I was pretty sure she was seducing the soldiers. I don't know, maybe she was just telling them about how lovely the man is. Niall looked utterly invested in the story already, so I figured my first theory was correct.
After what felt like a few hours, I was starting to fall asleep. Not much else happened, really... A few soldiers died, the woman ran away with a con artist or something, and the man was crying with a wounded peasant girl or something. I couldn't really tell what the nature of their relationship was. At one point, I thought she was his daughter, but then she kissed him on the lips, so I ruled that out.
"Niall, what's happening?" I asked for the fifth time.
"Luna is injured, and Ricardo is nursing her back to health," Niall whispers. Okay, so Ricardo, the man is helping wounded Luna, the peasant girl and his girlfriend (?) while crying about his ex-girlfriend Marisol, who ran away with Sergeant Pepper or whoever.
Suddenly the lights began to flash, and there was rumbling and hissing, so I assumed there was a storm. AJ hid her face in Niall's chest. At some point, she'd lifted the arm rest between them and spread out across his lap and her own seat. I wish I was small enough to do that.
"Little lady, it's just a storm," I whispered. AJ peaked up at me from down the row and smiled a little. Without listening to the noise and singing, you'd think we were at a silent rave. We should go to a silent rave. "Harry, we should go to a silent rave," I whispered.
Harry shot me an odd look. "The day I have a lizard baby pop out of my belly button is the day we go to a silent rave, Lou."
"When are you due? Nine months? Or have you been keeping this from me?"
"Oh, look, someone died," Harry whispered, pointing at the stage. Sure enough the little peasant girl, Luna, has just died. This is probably due to the fact that all Ricardo did to try and help her was sing about how much his heat was hurting (yeah, I know Spanish) and how he was going to be angry if she died.
"Darn it, she was my favourite," Zayn said sadly.
"Mine's Sergeant Linto," Harry said. So, not Sergeant Pepper, then. Huh.
"Shhh," Niall scolds. He watches with glassy eyes as Ricardo carries Luna off stage, saying something about a river.
"Only the moons die young," Harry said, clutching his heart with mock sadness.
"Now Ricado is lonely," I said sadly.
"He's still got his hand," Zayn muttered.
After the opera, we went out for a picnic in the park. It was evening by then, almost six-thirty. We'd have to be in for sound check in ten or fifteen minutes, so we were guzzling water and as many non-dairy foods as we could get our hands on. Sienna and AJ were having cream cheese on crackers, which sounded really good to me, but alas, I couldn't have any.
"Why did that mean lady leave that nice man?" AJ asked me, leaning onto my shoulder.
"In the opera?" I asked. She nodded. "Well, she fell in love with Sergeant Pepper."
"Sergeant Linto," Niall muttered.
"Sergeant Linto," I repeated, not even batting an eyelash. "I'm sure they're very happy together up in the hills of wherever they were meant to be."
"But what about the man? The opera ended before he found anybody new," AJ said, furrowing her brow.
"That's not true, he had Luna, the poor woman," Zayn said.
"She died," AJ deadpanned.
"Ricardo married a princess, they had a baby, and they named her Luna," Niall concluded.
"Are you sure?" AJ demanded.
"Positive. Now, are you ready for a concert?" Zayn wondered. AJ smiled and nodded. "Come on then." He got to his feet, and we all followed his example. AJ stuffed two more crackers into her tiny little mouth, took my hand, and we followed Zayn back to the van.
"Are there going to be a lot of people at the concert?" AJ asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"More than fifty?"
"Way more than fifty, little lady."