Big News

One week had passed since the misunderstanding, and even thought things were not that easy with Diego, I had to keep my distance away from him not because of Ricardo but for me. I needed to get Diego out of my system and if I continued being his friend my feelings for him would have developed.

 Ricardo drove me home after our lunch date,
       "Do you want to come in?" I asked him.
       "I would but I have the dance rehearsal." he replied.
       "Oh, how is that going?" I asked him.
       "Great, I'm getting better. I need to get it right before next Saturday."
       "You'll do great." I open the car door.
Before I got out the car, Ricardo got my hand, "What happen?" I asked. "I love you Reyna." I smiled. I kissed him. "Yo tambien te quiero." I slowly got off the car and walked up to the gate; I look back and waved bye. Ever since he told me he loved me, I felt like I had to say it back but a part of me didn't want to because I didn't love him. But that didn't mean I didn't like him, I did and a lot, doesn't that count for something? We have been together for almost a year and I still couldn't figure out how I truly felt for him. Stupid right? Why continue with the relationship if I don't know how I felt for him? In high school, I was simply a teenage girl who could not make up her mind and followed what her head told her rather than her heart.

I walked into my house and as I walking up the stairs to my room, my mom called from her room, "Mija, something came for you." She rushed out the room, "I think it's something important." I grab the letter, OMG!. "Mom, its from the program that applied to." A few months ago, I had applied to New York University, for a summer program that allowed me to explore the life as a college student and even though I had made up for USC, I wanted the chance to travel and see the world outside of Los Angeles. I open the letter, "We are pleasure to inform you, Reyna Martinez..." I started to scream. "Que dice?" my mom asked me. "Mom, I got in." I could not believe it. I had my doubts about it because this program is a rigorous program and out of 1500 students who apply, they only accept 60. I wanted to cry, all my work and dedication to my work was paying off. I went up to my room to look over the rest of the packet, this can't be right. I told myself when I saw the departure date. May 29, 2011. I leave to New York in less than a month? I cannot believe this, I'm going to my miss my own graduation ceremony and grad night, two things that I was looking forward to. Now what?

"Karla!" Erika shouted. "What?" she came running from the kitchen. "What happen?" she asked. "You have a visitor." Karla walked outside, "Oh, hey what are you doing here?" she asked her friend Jesse. He stood up from the steps, "Just came by to see if you wanted to hangout tonight?" he asked. 
       "Sure, what do you have in mind?" she asked.
       "Karina and Jocelyn are having a small get together at their Karina's place."
        "Sounds fun let me ask Erika if she wants to come." Karla went back inside to ask her older sister if she wanted to join them. Jesse was one of Karla's best friends, but for Jesse, Karla was more than a friend but he knew he had no chance with her because she like someone else.
         "Erika!"
         "What?"
         "Jesse invited us to Kari's kick back, do you want to come?" Erika look at Jesse who was standing in the door, she knew she would be the third if she went, so she decided to say at home.
         "C'mon, you need some fun in your life." Karla told her.
         "I have a lot of homework, maybe next weekend."
         "You're no fun. Okay, I'll be home by 2."
Karla grab her jacket from the coat closet and left with Jesse.
I didn't know what to think at the point of my life. I had a decision of the life time, the opportunity to travel to NYU and spend a whole summer life as a college student or stay here and share one of the lifetimes moments such as Prom and Grad Night with Ricardo. I was confused and I just needed to see what Ricardo thought what should I do? I know a girl shouldn't depend her future because of a guy but I liked Ricardo a lot and his opinion counted as much as mine did.

Karla and Jesse arrived to the Karina's house, "Hey you guys made it. So the beer is on the cooler and anything stronger is on the table by the garage." Jocelyn said. Karla seemed to be intrigued by the game the guys where playing, so she got closer to watch,  "Can I play?" she asked. One of the guys who was next to her said, "Are you sure you have what it takes?" Karla laughed. "Well just tell me what to do and I'm sure I can do it." she said. The guy told her the rules while Jesse stood there watching her.
       "Hey Jesse." Jocelyn approached him. "Hey." Jesse turned around and took a seat in the couch and started talking to Jocelyn. "Are you sure you don't want a beer?" she asked. "I'm good, I'm the designated driver."
Karla grab the ball, and gave her best shot; the ball went in the cup and the guys just stared, "So what were you saying?" she said. "Beginners luck." Karla continued playing and by the end of the round she only had to drink twice while the other time had no cups left. "She's in my team." one of the guys from the other team said. "I think I know you." her beer pong partner told her. "Yeah I'm Karla, from your class." she smiled. Karla grab other beer and open it. "Really?" he asked. "Are you just stand there and ask me questions or you going to play?" the guy laughed.
After a few rounds, Jesse decided to stop her before she got drunk,
     "Karla, come on, let's sit down." Jesse got Karla by the waist.
     "I'll be back." she told the guys.
    "Where are you going?" Sergio, the guy who she had been playing all night, asked her.
    "Sitting down." she smiled.
After a long day,  I decided to treat myself with a long bath and a movie; it had been a while since I dedicated some alone time. As I was drying my hair, my phone started to ring, it was a call from Diego; I pressed ignore call, I didn't know what else to do for him to stop bothering me, I didn't want to cause anymore problems between Ricardo and I. I turned off my phone and put it away. I got some popcorn and put on a movie on. The rest of the night was perfect.
Sergio approached Karla, "Hey, can we talk?" Karla smiled, "Sure." Jesse grab her waist, "I'm okay." Karla told Jesse. "I'm just making sure." he replied. Jesse grab a beer from the cooler, "Wow." Karina joined him in the couch. "What?" he asked. "You really like her, huh?" Karina asked. "No..."
Karina grab the beer from his hands, "I know you Jesse and you don't drink." It was getting late, "Karla, let's go." Jesse told her, "Okay." Karla slowly walked towards Jesse, "Bye."
On the way home, "I had so much fun." Karla said. Jesse looked at her, "What is wrong?" Karla asked. "Nothing," he replied, Karla grab his hand, "You'll find her." Karla started to talk gibberish. Jesse laughed.

The next morning,
I heard noise coming from the kitchen, I grab my phone to check the time and it said 8 in the morning, who could it be at this hour, I thought. I went to the bathroom to wash my face and fix my hair, "Do you know what's going on?" I asked Daniel as he came out of his room. "I have no idea." I walked downstairs, as I turned to the living room I saw my friends sitting there, "Good morning." Lucy said, "What's going on?" I asked. "Well your mom called us last night and told us to come in this morning." Melissa told me. "Mom!" It was strange waking up from bed and finding myself in a room surrounded by my friends. I found my mom in the kitchen making what seem to be a brunch. A bowl of fruit, toast breaded, eggs, bacon, orange juice, were all set in the dinning table, "Mom what's going on?" I asked. "Well I invited your friends over." she smiled. "I know, but why?" I asked. "We need to celebrate your accomplishments and why not a brunch and plus you have news to tell them." I gave my mom a look, "Mom, really?" I had planned how I was going to break the news to my friends especially to Ricardo and speaking of Ricardo he was not here. I felt something touching me, I turned around, "Good morning babe." he kissed me. Oh great. I look horrible, "I'll be right back." Why did my mother do this to me? I mean, I appreciated the gesture but I was not ready.


While everyone was waiting for the brunch to start, Karla decided to do some exploring around the house. When no one was looking, Karla decided to go upstairs to Daniel's room, she knocked,
       "Hey Daniel." she opened the door, "Karla, hey."
        "Can I come in?"
Karla growing up had always had a thing for Reyna's older brother, Daniel; even though she knew she had no chances with him, she never gave up that one day he would fall in love with her.
        "Sure thing, how you been?" he asked.
        "Great, so how come you're not downstairs." she asked.
        "I'm not in a party mood."
        "Oh come on." she tried to convince Daniel, but nothing could convince him, "What's wrong?" she asked. Daniel glanced at Karla, "I  got fired from work yesterday."
        "Why?"
        "My boss has been bitching about I'm always late work and it's not true."
        "So what did you do?" Karla asked.
        "Well let's say it's something that got me fired." he laughed.
Karla gave him a look, "Oh Daniel, so now what are you going to do?"
         "Find myself another job, what else can I do?"
         "True." Karla smiled.
After a while of talking, Karla felt she needed to go back downstairs; she got up and walked up to the door, "Hey, Karla, thanks for hearing me out. I just needed to tell someone about it." he smiled. In that moment, Karla felt special about what Daniel had just told her. Karla had good intentions but sometimes her actions were a bit extreme; everyone thought her feelings for Daniel were more like an obsession than real feelings.

10 minutes later, I went back down to the kitchen and everyone had settled themselves at the table, "Before we eat, I guess I have some news to give you guys." I began, I look over at Ricardo and smiled. "Remember the summer program that I applied to last fall, to study in NYU, well.... I got the letter yesterday and it said that... I got in!" Everybody started to congratulating me, then I added,"I have something else, I know most of you won't like this but I feel like I need to tell you now before the last minute. I'm leaving on May 29." As soon as I said that the room went silent.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saturday

I didn't know what to do in that moment; I just wanted to be locked up in my room and cry but I didn't. I couldn't let Ricardo's insecurities affect me, if he didn't trust me that was his problem and not mine. I should not upset over a guy who is not worth it.

Ricardo arrived home that night in a bad mood, he immediately open the fridge and grab a beer,"Hey." Karla called him but he just passed her and went to the living room.
       "What the hell is your problem?" his sister Karla asked him.
Ricardo ignored what his sister said and sat down in the couch,
        "Are you going to say anything?" Karla demanded.
        "I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone Karla."
Karla never seen her brother act the way he did. She decided to leave him alone hopefully by the next day he would be fine.

Next morning, "Wake up." Brenda told Daniel who was laying next to her in bed. "What is it?" he asked as he started to wake up. In the last few weeks, Daniel and Brenda had been sleeping together; for Brenda, Daniel was just another pleasure for her sexual desires and was not interested in him emotionally. Brenda got up from bed and walked to the bathroom, "I think you should leave now." Daniel stood up and walked up to Brenda and said, "Oh come on, one more time. I know you want to." Daniel put his arms around Brenda's waist, "Daniel, please." She turned around and smiled, "You know me so well."

After a long night of drinking, Ricardo came out of his room and walked into the kitchen where he found his sisters eating breakfast, "Good Morning." Karla grabbed the orange juice from the fridge. Ricardo walked over to the strove and served himself a plate.
         "What happen to you last night?" Karla couldn't helped herself from asking the question.
         "I think my relationship with Reyna is over."
         "What?" both sisters turn around to look at him.
         "Estas loco." Erika said.
Ricardo joined his sisters at the table.
        "What happen?" Karla asked.
        "I saw her kissing Diego yesterday."
        "That doesn't mean she's cheating on you." Karla replied.
        "So what does that mean? Karla! I saw them kissing twice. What do you call that?"
Ricardo stood up, grab his keys from the couch and left. Erika and Karla were surprised; they knew Reyna and knew she was not capable of cheating on their brother.
It was barely 10 and I just wanted to go back to sleep; last night I was not able to get a good night sleep because I stood up thinking about the fight with Ricardo and the kiss that Diego gave me. A good thing about being Saturday was that Diego didn't came to work and after how he kissed me at my house, I was not so sure how I was going to confront him. The more I denied what happen with Diego, the more I realized maybe there was something but I just didn't want to accept it.

As Reyna was trying not to think about Diego nor Ricardo, Brenda had to get her plan in motion, so she decided to pay a visit to Diego. That afternoon, Diego had gone to Montebello park to play soccer with his friends. "What are you doing here?" he asked Brenda. He grabbed a water from the cooler. "Came to see my boyfriend." she replied. Diego laughed. "What boyfriend? The last time you had one was when we were in middle school." Diego said. "Daniel is my boyfriend." Diego laughed again. "Oh okay, sure he is. What do you really want?" Brenda smiled, "How are you doing with Reyna?" He gave her a look, "Really? Do you expect me to have her within a day notice? It takes time."
 Daniel walked over to Brenda, "Hey what are you doing here?" Diego look at Brenda and smiled. "Babe, remember you invited me?" Brenda tried to cover up her lie and Diego just laughed. "I thought you didn't like soccer." he told her. Diego walked away. "Well I changed my mind, so hey I was wondering if you want to cover tonight." Brenda started kissing Daniel's neck, "Not here, everybody is looking." Brenda smiled. "I don't care."

After work, I decided to give myself a break from the drama and focus on what I thought it was important, school. As I mention before, with work and afterschool activities gave me no time to do homework and now that I didn't have a boyfriend to distract me gave me more time to finish my homework. It was almost 3pm, my mom came in my room, "I'm so proud of you." she smiled. I took a break from solving equations to eat my meal that she prepared. "Como te va?" she asked. I love my mom but I felt she pampered me too much growing up. "I'm almost done." I told her. She gave me a face, "I wasn't referring to that?" I put my sandwich down and grab the water bottle. "Oh." I looked away. "Mom, I don't want to talk about it." I told her. I finished my meal in peace and went back to working on my calculus homework.

Ricardo just needed to get his mind of everything, maybe talking to someone would help him decide what do so he decided to call the only person who he confided on.
        "Hey thanks for meeting me." he stood him from his seat and hugged Stephanie.
        "No problem, you know I'm always here." she smiled.
  For a strange reason, Ricardo felt more relaxed after he talked to Stephanie; something in her words helped him to relaxed and be more understanding in Reyna's thoughts and choices. After a late lunch, Stephanie and Ricardo went back to her house for dance rehearsal. "Thanks for doing this." she told him. "No problem, I love your sister." He grab Stephanie's hand and started dancing. "Wow, you've gotten better since my quince." she said. Ricardo laughed.

That night, I decided to dedicate some time in applying to scholarships; I knew that our family income would not help me financially afford a private school so I had to seek out extra money. Most of the scholarships were essay format, so I spent most of the time writing reflecting on my life. For example one question was Where do you see yourself in five years? And how would winning this scholarship will help you achieve your goals? As I started to write the response, I received a phone call, it was my friend Karina,
       "Hey Karina."
       "Are you ready?" Karina asked me.
        "For what?" I asked.
       "Bowling Night, remember?"
A few days ago, Karina and I planned to go on a double date; Ricardo and I with her and her new boyfriend Alfredo. Everything happened so fast that I forgot to tell Karina about Ricardo,
        "We can't go." I told her.
       "Why not?"
       "Karina... Ricardo and I are in a middle of an argument." I explained the situation to her. It felt nice to talk to someone about how I was feeling, the anger, the sadness and even the loneliness. After a few minutes, I received a visit from Karina.
        "How come you call any of us?" Karina asked.
        "I thought I could hand it all." I replied.
We went up to my room, and started talking, then Karina started to act a bit crazy,
        "What if we have a sleep over?"
Karina grab her phone and called Melissa and Lucy. While we waited for them to arrived, Karina and I prepared everything. I gathered the junk food and took it the room while Karina gathered the sleeping bags from the basement. It had been too long seen I had a sleepover.
After the rehearsal was over, Stephanie and Ricardo talked for a bit, "I'm going to go talk to her." he said. "That's good, I hope everything turns out well." she walked him to his car.
 It was almost 9pm when there was someone at the door, my mom cam over to my room and said,
        "Mija, someone came to see you."
        "Who?" I asked.
By the look on her face I knew who she was referring to, Ricardo. I didn't know what to do, I had a choice, refuse to received him or confront him. I got up, put my shoes on and walked down stairs.
"Wait, are you sure?" Karina asked me. I nodded. I reached down to the living room and there he was,  "Hey." he smiled. I walked over to the couch and took a seat across from him.
        "I came over to apologize for the way I acted. I knew I messed up when you told me that you're 
         were having doubts about UCLA. I took the news as if you were having doubts about me."
While Reyna was in the living room talking to Ricardo, Karina and the girls were in the room gossiping, "What do you think is happening?" Melissa asked as she grab the popcorn from the table. "I bet they are working things out." Lucy replied. "You think? I feel like Reyna is confused about her relationship with Ricardo." Lucy and Melissa look at Karina. "You know something." Lucy said.
          "You should have talked to me about it instead of acting the way you did. Seriously, sometimes your behavior is childish like."
          "I know, I was but when I went to visit you at work is when I saw Diego and you kissing. What was I suppose to do?" Ricardo sat closer to me, but I moved.
         "Ricardo, if you love me, you should have trust me. The kisses, you have to trust me that nothing happen. He is the one who came on to me first." As I said these words to me, I was thinking Why am I pleading to him? He should have trust me in that moment. "I trust you, I got jealous; you have to understand Diego was a huge part of your life and I'm worried that I'm going to lose you to him." He was right about one thing, about losing me to him, if only he knew what Diego had told me yesterday. I couldn't let Diego come in between my relationship between Ricardo and I, no matter what he felt about me. I was with Ricardo and he just had to accept that and if he didn't, well I couldn't be his friend.
           "Ricardo." I sat next to him." Look at me, Ricardo. You won't lose me, but if you keep acting the way you do, you just might." he reached for my hands," I know, and I'm sorry Reyna." we  hugged and we kissed.

Relationships are a work in progress, not all relationships are perfect nor broken, we, as individuals have the ability to make it work. Even if that meant being the bigger person, if you know that relationship has a possibility of surviving, you know you are doing the right thing. That's exactly what I did.

Falling Apart PT.1

In that moment of my life, I was unsure of a lot of things but I was sure that I wanted to go to USC and if that meant losing my relationship, so be it. If I never had broken the promised I myself that day I would not have gone through what I did that day. I was not going to let Ricardo's behavior affect my decision.

That afternoon, he dropped me off at my house, "See you tonight." I asked him. He looked at me and then looked away, I got off the car and soon I close the door he droved away. I honestly did not expect for Ricardo to react the way he did. As I got ready for my shift at the supermarket, I received a text, I was hoping it was from Ricardo but it was from Lucy. I replied and went off to work. The rest of the afternoon I was hoping that Ricardo would come into his senses and understand my doubts.
It was not fair to react the way he did, instead of understanding and having his support, he seemed to be bothered by the idea of me going to USC. I liked Ricardo a lot, but I felt like he wanted things to go his way.
        "Are you okay?" my co-worker Maria asked.
        "Yeah, I'm just a bit distracted." I smiled.
I tried to keep my mind focus on attending the customers but it was difficult.
As Reyna was trying to maintain on her mind on task, Ricardo was also had a difficult time in memorizing the routine. Stephanie's sister had been practicing for months and Ricardo only had two weeks to get the dance routine right.
         "Ricardo, are you okay?" Stephanie asked him.
         "No, I'm sorry."
         "It's okay, what's wrong?"
Stephanie grab two bottles from the table and gave one to Ricardo, "Thanks." Stephanie next close to him, "What happen?" she asked. Ricardo told her everything that was bothering him regarding Reyna and if he overacted over the news of USC. As he was talking, Stephanie smiled because little by little she was getting closer to Ricardo.
       "I think you should go talk to her." she suggested.
       "I think you're right. Stephanie thanks." he stood up and gave her a hug. He immediately rushed to his car and drove to the supermarket.
Phew, time for my break. I told myself, I grab my apple and a bottled water and went outside to get some fresh air.
       "Hey."
I turned around, it was Diego,
       "Hi Diego."
       "So hey, can we talk now?"
       "Sure." I took a bit from my apple.
        "I have something to tell you."
I looked at him, Diego took my right hand and said, "Reyna, I'm still in love with you." My face was in a complete shock. He slowly lean over and kissed my lips, and unintentionally I responded the kiss. After about 10 seconds I pulled away and slapped him. "Diego, never do that again." I stood up from the bench and went back in to work. What the hell was his problem? Does nobody respect me?  I was so frustrated with Ricardo and Diego, I felt like if I wanted to explode.
       "Reyna, where were you? Ricardo just came by looking for you." Maria told me as I settled back  to the cashier post.
       "What? Did he say? What he want?" I asked her.
       "No, but he told me to tell you he'll be at your house later."
I started to freak out.
Ricardo walked back to his car in hoping to run into her, as he open his car he glanced by the entrance of the door two people kissing. He close the door and walked over a little bit closer to see who it was, it was Diego and Reyna. "What the hell?" He wanted to stormed in and demand an explanation but he decided not to and left. As he drove way, he thought about what he had seen, he could not believe it, Reyna and Diego. It's not possible. He didn't want to believe it, perhaps its a misunderstanding, he told himself. He drove back to Stephanie's place. Meanwhile, Diego smiled, he knew that Reyna still had feelings for him and now more than ever he wasn't going to let her go. 
Ricardo walked back in the house, "You're back so soon, what happen?" she asked. Ricardo grab a beer from the fridge. "I don't want to talk about it." He sat down in front of the television. Stephanie walked over and turn it off.
           "Tell me."
           "I saw her kissing Diego."
Stephanie tried not to smile, she sat next to Ricardo,
           "Maybe she still has feelings for him." Stephanie said.
          "But I don't get why she didn't tell me instead of sneaking off behind my back."
Ricardo took a sip from the beer,
          "Maybe it's not what it looks like, maybe its a misunderstanding, did you let talk?"
         "No, I just left."
         "Well maybe I think you should find out for yourself. Just go talk to her."
Diego approached me as I clocked out,"Reyna, I'm sorry. I should not kissed you." I looked away. The weird thing is that I was not mad at him for kissing me, I kind of enjoyed the kiss but I could not let him now that. "You need to understand how miserable I am whenever I see you with Ricardo. I know I screwed things up and I know that I will never be able to make it up to you but I am truly sorry." In my mind, everything that Diego was telling me was a load of crap but my heart told me that he was being sincere. "Diego..." I didn't know what to respond. "It's okay, but at least can I give you a ride back home?" I smiled.

We were parked in front of my house, "Thanks for the ride Diego." I open the car door, "No problem." he replied. I got off the car, I looked back and smiled. As I open the front gate, I saw him walking over towards me, "What happen?" I asked. "I'm sorry Reyna, I can't." Diego grab me by the waist and pulled me towards him and started kissing me. Just for a few seconds I was attracted to him but then I just pulled away and this time I didn't slap him. "Diego." He started to back away, "I'm not sorry, I love you and I'm going to fight for you, no matter what." Then he left. I could not believe that any of this happening.

10 minutes later,
       "Reyna someone is at the door for you." I drop my phone in my bed and walked down stairs. As I reached down end of the stairs, I see him sitting down in the couch, it was Ricardo. I walked in the living room,
       "Hey."
I knew that by the look on his face, this wasn't a friendly visit,
       "What's going on between you and Diego?"
       "Nothing."
It was truth, there was nothing between Diego and I, and if there was I would directly talk to him about it but I don't know why he was so assertive. "What do you mean nothing." he started to raise his voice at me, "I saw you kissing him twice today." My eyes widen, my palms got sweaty and my hands began to shake. "You have to believe me, it was nothing. Diego was the one who kissed me."
I slapped him, he had gotten out of control. I wasn't going to let him disrespect me like this and if he didn't trust me that was his problem and not mine. My mother came in the room, "What's going on?" she asked. "Ricardo was just leaving." I said. Ricardo left and I went up to my room crying, my relationship with Ricardo was falling apart. I didn't recognized Ricardo anymore, his jealously, his trust issues and the lack of support and understanding I felt he was no longer the guy who I fell for.
I didn't want to break up with him, but if he didn't come to his senses and soon, I would have no choice but to end the relationship. I could not have him ruin the last couple of weeks of school with his little scenes.

A Big Decision

As a high school senior, each decision is a critical one because it determines what direction your life will go.  At this point of my life, not only I had a decision to make regarding what university to attend by also if I wanted to continue my relationship with Ricardo. After his confession, I got me thinking about how I felt for him and if I truly had gotten over Diego.

The next day, I needed to speak to Ricardo about my doubts of which university to attend, we initially had planned that I would attend UCLA with him but now that I received this letter, I'm not sure anymore. That morning I decided to drive myself to school; daily I felt too dependent on Ricardo, and I just needed some alone time. I arrived to school around 7:30am, I decided to sit down under the tree by the old bench, I just needed to think about my choices and my priorities.

               “Reyna, what are you doing here so early?” my friend Karina sat next to me.

               “Well, I just needed time to think.”

               “About?”

               “Well, yesterday I got my acceptance from USC.”

               “What! OMG! Congrats.” She hugged me. “Why don’t you seem happy?” she asked.

               “I am but now I’m torn between two schools and I don’t know which school to choose.” I told her. Karina and I talked for a while and she told me to visualize where I do I see myself going and don’t base my decision just to please someone. She was right, but even if I take out Ricardo from the picture which school is more suited for me. After thinking about it for a while, my mind was made up, USC. Now, how was I going to break the news to Ricardo, he was looking forward to start a new chapter of our lives together.

 

The bell rang, I started to walk to class, “Reyna, hey.” I heard someone called me, I turn around, it was Diego. “Diego, hey.” It had been a while since I last spoke to Diego. “How you been?”

 “Stressed out.” I smiled. Things between Diego and I were unsteady, in other words, we were neither friends nor strangers. After a couple weeks I had started dating Ricardo, Diego and I started talking again, mostly due to school work. Then he started working at my job so we interacted a lot.

               “I could imagine. So, hey how is the car doing?” he asked me.

               “It’s running better, thanks.”

I smiled, before I walked away, he grab my hand. and said, “I want to be your friend again.” I looked away. “I know I screwed things up, and I’m sorry but I just want to gain your trust again.” The second bell rang, I look at Diego, "I can’t deal with this now.” And I walked away. I didn’t want to get close to Diego again especially if I’m had doubts about my relationship with Ricardo.

 

While Reyna was struggling to maintain focus on her priorities and avoiding Diego and Ricardo, Stephanie and Brenda were planning their next move.

              “We have Diego, but that’s not enough.” Stephanie told Brenda.

               “Hey didn’t you tell me that Ricardo is a jealous person. We could let his jealously be the destruction of their relationship." Brenda said.

              “Yeah but I want more than that. Oh, I have an idea, adding to what you’re were saying. What if we get Ricardo to do what Diego did to her a year ago?”

              “Sounds like a good plan, but how will we do that?" Brenda added.

While Stephanie was planning her own revenge on Reyna, Brenda on the other hand was planning a bigger attack on her. As they made their way to class, Brenda overheard Reyna and Lucia talking in the hallway,

            "I don't know how I'm going to tell Ricardo that I'm going to USC rather than UCLA."

            "I'm sure he will understand whatever choice you make." Lucy tried to comfort Reyna.

Brenda figured if she continued to be Reyna's friend, she would be able to use the information she gains to ruin her.

            "Hey Reyna. Did I just hear that you got in to USC?" she asked.

            "Oh yeah, I got the notice 2 days ago."

            "Congrats girl." She smiled.

           "Have you heard anything?" Reyna asked.

           "No, but I decided to go to UC Berkeley instead."

Every time I finished an exam I felt if my brain was going to burst and when I came out from AP calculus that day I felt 2 times worst. The thought of me failing an exam got me into a panic mood,
        "Breathe." Jocelyn told me.
I walked out the classroom calmed and relaxed,
        "Feeling better." she asked.
        "I think so, I'm just scared."
        "I'm sure you do great. You always worry for nothing."
We started walked over to the cafeteria. Today I decided to do hangout with my friends for a change. It had been a while since I dedicated some time to them.

         “Hey.” I sat down next to Lucy in the table.

         “Wow, now you want to hangout with us." Karina said.
          “I know, I'm sorry, you know school and work."

          “Or with Ricardo, anyways where is he? Usually aren’t you together right now.” Melissa added.

           “Yeah, but I needed some time with my friends.”

           “You’re avoiding him huh?” Karina asked.

            “Just a little.” I smiled.

It was a miracle that I had time to have friends. It felt nice to be with friends for a change. Now that I think about it I did spend most of my time with Ricardo rather than my friends. I felt undermined by my boyfriend like he would make all the decisions and there were times in which he would not leave me alone. In a way he was pushing me away, which my decision more easier. My phone vibrated several times until I decided to turn it off.

            “Just go talk to him.” Karina told me. 
             “What’s going on?” Melissa asked.

             “Reyna got accepted to USC and doesn’t know how to break the news to Ricardo.”

             “OMG, congrats.” Melissa congratulated me.

As I got up to throw my lunch away, I saw Diego walking in my direction. I thought to myself, I can’t let my friends see me talking to him. “Hey.” Diego greeted me. I looked away, I stepped away from him, “What’s wrong?” he asked. I made sure that my friends didn’t see me. “I can’t talk.” He glances at my friends, “Oh.” I smiled and walked back to my friends. I couldn't let my friends see that I still talked to Diego, ever since the break up, my friends especially Lucy asked me to keep my distance away. It was a difficult task to do because we had work and school together.

               “What was that about?” Lucy asked me.

               “What?”

               “You know what, Diego.”

I changed the topic; I was not comfortable talking about Diego with my friends, I felt that they were going to judged if I told them I was not completely over him. My mind was overworked that afternoon, I just wanted to go home and sleep, I enough drama for one day. The final bell rang, I got up from my seat and walked out the classroom, as I walked to my car I crossed paths with Diego, “Can we talk now?” he asked, I gave him a look, and said, “I have to go to work.” and he replied,“I know but after?” What did Diego have to tell me? I thought,  it must be something important if he keeps bothering me. “Fine. Just leave me alone.”

 

I reached to the parking lot and I saw Ricardo waiting for me by my car. Oh great, now was I going to tell him the truth, I can’t lie to him, one because I don’t know how to and second I hate lying to people. “Hey.” He takes me in his arms and starts kissing me. I pulled away. "What's wrong?" he asked. "I haven't seen you all day." He was waiting for an answer, I grab my car keys and open the door, "Well I know, sorry, I was a bit busy today." He kissed me, "Its okay, so hey I was wondering before you head to work if could do something.” I check the time.

               “Sure.” I smiled.

This was a perfect time to tell him about USC. I knew if he loved me the way I think he does, I knew that he would respect whatever decision I made. We drove to Tierra Mia,

               “You know me so well.” I told him.

               “Ricardo, I got my acceptance letter from USC.”

               “What?”

               “Yeah, can you believe it? I got in.” I started to gloat.

He stood up and gave me a hug. “Congrats babe.” He kissed me, “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’m confused which school to go to?” As soon as I told him about my doubts there was an silence, I saw it in his face that he was disappointed but I didn't want to say anything.

               “I thought we were going to UCLA together.”

               “Yeah but that’s when I thought I wasn’t going to get in USC.”

All of the sudden, Ricardo begun to act strange,

               “Oh, hey it’s getting late, I think we should leave.”

At the point, based on his reaction, I knew that our relationship was falling apart; if my doubts were what upset him, I could only imagine how he would react when I told him that I decided to go to USC.

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED.....

   

 

 

A Plan Emerges

Reyna felt a little unsecured about herself because she wasn't the type of girl that Ricardo would usually go out with. Ever since, Stephanie and Ricardo broke up she felt like Ricardo had unsolved feelings for Stephanie especially how he has been talking a lot to her in the past few days.
     "What does he see in her?" Stephanie asked herself. Ever since Stephanie found out that Ricardo broke up with her because of Reyna, she had been thinking of ways to break them up.
     "Are you talking to yourself?" her friend Brenda surprised her.
     "No... do you know what I hate the most? she asked Brenda as they walked to the front gate.
     "What?"
     "That I have to tolerate Reyna."
     "Not again, when are you going to let it go. It's been, 9 months."
     "I don't want Ricardo back but I want to get revenge for what she did to me."
Stephanie had a hard time letting things go and the break up with Ricardo was one of them. While Stephanie was planning her revenge on Reyna, Brenda had a plan of her own and it involved the help of Stephanie and Diego. Brenda didn't like Reyna; she envied her since the time she got the free trip to Spain in middle school. She thought that Reyna had it all, perfect friends, perfect grades, and even a perfect boyfriend and she wanted to ruin her chances to become the class valedictorian and her relationship with Ricardo. For the past several weeks she had been planning a way to get Reyna out of way and using Stephanie and Diego as allies she was going to succeed.

     "I think I know who could help us." Brenda said.

     "Who?"

     "Turn around."

Diego walked by passed them.

     "Hey Diego!"

     "Hey Stephanie. Hey Brenda, what's up?"  

     "Diego, we need your help."

      "Sure, what is it?"

     "We want you to get close to Reyna and make her realize that she still has feelings for you."

Diego smiled.

     "I don't know."

     "Diego, I know you still care for her. This is your chance to get her back." Brenda added.

Diego looked unsure about coming in between Reyna and her boyfriend, he felt bad enough what happen between them. But Brenda was right, Diego still cared for her and if it meant to get getting her back, he would do it.

    "Why are you doing this?" Diego asked.

But neither Brenda nor Stephanie answered. 
 

Later that night, after the movies Ricardo drove me back home, “Babe I need to tell you something.” He parked the car in the drive way, he grab my hands and looked into my eyes, “What is it?” I asked. There was a pause, “I love you.” My eyes widen, did he just say that he loved me, my reaction was speechless and I just smiled. We’ve been together for 9 months but I felt I was not ready to say it back.

 I open the car door, and said, “Well, see you tomorrow.” I got off the car quickly as possible. I didn’t know what to say to him. “Hey, wait.” He grab my hand before I entered the gate. I turned around, “What’s wrong?” He grab my hands, “See you tomorrow.” I kissed him and walked away. I walked in to my house,

               “Reyna, is that you?” my mom called me out from the kitchen. I laid my things on the couch and went to see what she wanted.

               “Hey mom.”

               “A big package came for you.”

When I saw where the letter came from I started to get excited,

               “Open it.”

It was strange, usually I would be notified by email if I got in but in this case it must be special. I started to read the letter,

                “Que dice?” my mom asked.

               “I got in!” I screamed with excitement.

Besides UCLA, I had my dreams set on the beautiful campus of USC however I made the mistake of choosing the wrong school. With the excitement of my acceptance to USC, I had forgotten what happen with Ricardo.

               “Congrats mija. You see.”

I smiled and gave my mom a big hug. My dreams were finally coming to reality, that’s what I thought back then, until I realize that I had a decision to make between two schools. A decision that would determine what path in life I would take. I had my doubts when I turned in my application to USC, I thought why would a private school would accept a girl like me? As I held the letter in my hands, I realized that I was capable of anything if I put my mind into it.

 

 

 

 

 

  

A Day In My Life

In high school, I spent most of my time in the library, not because I was a nerd or anything but I was fond of books and their knowledge. Ever since the divorce of my parents, I read books as a way to escape the cruel reality, sometimes it helped and other times it didn't but because I read a lot my writing skills were improved.

It was a Thursday afternoon and I had been stuck in the library to finish an essay response for my AP English which I told my teacher I would turn it by the end of day.Typically I didn't ask for extensions but there were times that I had to work very late and was not able to complete my assignments. But thankfully my teachers understood my situation and were able to give me an extension in my assignments. As I typed the last sentence, I felt someone hands on my face covering my eyes,

"I wonder who it could be." I knew it was my boyfriend but I just played along with him for the fun of it.He uncovered my eyes, “Hey, there you are.” I told him. He lean over and kissed me. “Are you ready to go?” he asked me. I gave him a special look, a look that I was not ready to leave yet.

          “Just give me 5 more minutes.” I told him.

          “I thought you finished the response last night.”

          “Well, I lied. Last night I was too tired from work to finish it, but I'm done now. I'm just making some final adjustments." I replied as I continued to type the rest of the conclusion.

          "Just turn it in like that, it's perfect." He started to massage my shoulders.

          "You know me, I'm a perfectionist." I smiled.

He stood there patiently while I finished the paper. Now that I think about, I felt that I wasn’t the girlfriend who he deserved; I would dedicate more time focusing on my school then giving my attention to him. One of the reasons that I felt like Ricardo was because I felt like I could always count on him, that he will always be there in the good and the bad times and even the days I would go crazy.

     "Okay, I'm done."

     "Finally, now we could go the movies." he smiled.

     "Let me go turn in the paper, meet you by your car." I said.

I walked over to Ms. Linda's classroom.

     "Come in Reyna."

     "Thank you for allowing me to turn in the paper late." I handled the paper.

     "I understand Reyna; you have a lot of things going on."

She glimpse over my paper,

     "Good analysis Reyna." She told me as she read through it.

     "You're a great writer."

I smiled.

      “Really?” I asked.

       “I’m sure of it, you should really think about majoring in English. Have you decided what school you’re going?” she asked me.

       “Not yet, I’m still doubting.” I replied.

I walked towards the exit,

     "I almost forgot we're you able to write the letter of recommendation for the     program." I said.

     "Oh yes, I did."

     "Thank you Ms. Linda."

I never thought of myself as a writer, especially a gifted one. One of the difficulties I had in school was writing, it took time to express my ideas without any grammar issues. And when teachers like Ms. Linda commented on my writing I was shocked because I never saw myself as a person who was good with words. I started to walked to Ricardo’s car when I spotted Diego coming the opposite direction, at this point of my relationship with Ricardo I felt no need to avoid Diego anymore. However, as I kept getting closer to him I turned around and change direction. I had no idea why I had just done that, as if I still had feelings for Diego. As I approached parking lot, I saw Ricardo talking to his ex-girlfriend Stephanie. Even thought that they ended in good terms, I felt it was a bit weird to be friends. Ever since he ended his relationship with her, I’ve noticed that they bonded more than they needed to. I’m not the jealous type but sometimes I felt like he was more comfortable with her compared to me.

       “Hey, I’m ready.” I told him.

       “Hey Reyna! I’m asking Ricardo if he wants to dance in my sister’s quince.”

       “Oh really? That’s great.” I lied, I didn’t want to seem rude in that time.

        “But he’s unsure about it.” She added.

I smiled.

        “Okay, I’ll do it.”

I wanted him to say no, but I felt that was selfish of me to ask him to do that. On the way to the theater, I wanted to tell Ricardo how I felt about him hanging out with Stephanie but I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth.

            “Are you okay?” he sense that something was wrong and he was right. He held my hand. “Yeah.” I smiled, pretending that nothing was bothering me. “Reyna, you know that I like you a lot… I mean a lot…” I smiled every time he started to compliment me and that’s why I like him, because with him I felt important and special.
           “Of course I do.” I responded.

           “I know we haven’t seen each other in the last few days but I just want you to know that I love you and don’t ever think I will leave you.”


TO BE CONTINUED.... Stay Tuned. :)



*** Just like I mention, I'm extending the story by adding dialogue, so from now on I will be adding other people's perspective in the narration. (Their text will be in color.)

Where it all began...

I grew up in the city of Long Beach, in the corner of Palo Verde and Wardlow, for the first 11 years of my life I lived in a functional family. However, it become dysfunctional when my father decided to abandon us for another woman. Ever since that day my mother struggled to maintain my older siblings, Anna and Daniel, and myself. When it was time for Anna to leave for college, my brother and I stepped up to help my mother with the house. Instead of having a quinceanera like the other girls in my class, I had to settle with a junky car that my Uncle Luis gave me. Throughout high school, I became a working girl and had no time for a social life, that was until I met Diego. Diego and I dated for almost 2 years until he humiliated me front of the entire school. My life completely changed since then,

May 23, 2010
School was almost over and the last thing that I wanted to do is the grieve over the break up. I had another priorities in my life and I couldn't waste time on guys, especially on Diego. If Diego didn't care for me, why should I? That was a complete lie I told myself many times after the break up but it was true, I still cared for him. It was until I met a certain someone that I got over him and his name is Ricardo Perez. But I'll get that in a few moments.

Photography Class.
    "Reyna." I turned around Melissa called me.
    "What happen?" I asked.
    "Can I see the pictures you took?"
    "Sure."
One of the things I enjoyed about high school was my photography class, it allowed me to express my emotions in photographs. And even though I shared a lot of memories with Diego in photography class, I didn't allow him to destroy my love photography.
    "Oh great," I told myself when I saw Diego walked in the door.
    "Are you okay? I heard what happen." Melissa asked.
    "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." I lied.
It only had been three weeks since our break up and it felt like it was only yesterday. I continued to focus on the assignment that the teacher had given us for the day, I could not let a simple distraction bother me. I kept looking over how he flirted with Alyssa and Michelle,
    "Don't let that bother you." Melissa told me.
    "I'm not bothered." I lied.
    "You don't have to lie, I know it hurts. I've been there."
It felt nice talking to Melissa for a change.

It was time to clean up and I had to put the supplies back in the dark room,
    "Are you coming?" Melissa asked.
    "Go ahead, I have to grab somethings from the dark room." I replied.
As I gathered my things and walked out the door, I heard a big crash coming from the dark room. I walked back to the room to check what the noise was. I was not able to see anything because it was too dark. So then I grab a flash light, suddenly I heard two voices, I pointed the flashlight to them and to my surprise it was Diego making out with Michelle. I dropped the flashlight. I rushed out from the dark room, I grab my bag and left the classroom quickly before anyone could see me. In that moment tears began to drip all over my face, I couldn't believe what I had just seen. I rushed in to the restroom, and started to cry louder until I realized how stupid it was for me to cry for a guy like him. I clean up and walked out. Not knowing where I was walking, I crashed into someone,
    "Oh, I'm so sorry." I said.
    "It's okay Reyna, hey are you okay?"
Oh great, I told myself, my tears are noticeable.
   "Yeah, I'm great." I smiled and walked away from him.
   "Hey, wait a minute." He came after me.
   "Ricardo, I can't talk now." I told him.
I arrived to the parking lot, I reached down to my bag to get my car keys.
   "Reyna..."
   "Ricardo!" his girlfriend called him out.
I got on the car and left. Since that day my life change completely, when I got home that afternoon I went up to my room and took out my journal and made a promise to myself. I wrote, I AM NOT LETTING ANY GUY OR ANYONE DISTRACT ME FROM REACHING MY GOAL. I CANNOT FALL IN LOVE, IT ONLY DISTRACTS ME AND GIVES ME PAIN AND I DON'T WANT THAT. 

One Year Later- April 2011
Now a year later, I didn't keep the promise that I made. Three months later since that day, Ricardo and I got close and then one day I decided to be his girlfriend. Call me crazy but Ricardo did help me to move on from Diego even though I had my doubts once in a while, at the end of the day I realize that Ricardo was perfect for me. My friends were happy that I was moving on and I was finally letting go of Diego. Then 9 months passed and I felt more secure with him and I was actually falling for him.



TO BE CONTINUED... STAY TUNE :)

**For the purposes of telling the story I will be using present tense.