Dante pulled into his street, slightly irked to see a group of kids from the neighborhood elementary school blocking his driveway. He motioned with his hand to clear the children blocking the entrance and pulled in. Freddie walked home from Dante's place after waving goodbye to Dante and his new partner in crime. Dante jogged up the wobbly front steps, taking a moment to set a Virgin Mary figurine back in its place on the brick porch.
As he opened the front door with his key, he turned around expecting Naya to be just a few feet behind him, but instead found her back at the car holding the elementary kids' muddied soccer ball. She looked at the anxious children and pretended to contemplate returning the ball.
The children awaited her final decision on pins and needles and cheered as Naya finally broke the tension and kicked the ball back. They yelled goodbye and Naya waved back with a familiar smile. Dante recognized it as the smile he saw the first time he'd met her. A smile of childish joy.
The memory brought a smile to Dante's face as he pressed his back against the weathered red front door, allowing Naya to squeeze through. The bronze lion's head shaped door knocker dug into his back, but Dante barely noticed. She returned the smile, but her eyes were glazed over and distant as they normally were, as if there was an invisible wall standing between Naya and Dante. As soon as she saw Manny absentmindedly walking across the hall with his earbuds in, she grabbed him by the hoodie to the dining table.
"What the f-" Manny turned around and identified his attacker, "Shoot, I lost track of time." Manny pulled out his earbuds and cleared the table as Naya pulled out her thick SAT Prep books and got straight to work.
The two were so immersed in cramming as much as they could in the two hour time frame they had, they hadn't even noticed Mrs. Garcia watching them warily from behind the kitchen counter, alert for any distractions or shenanigans. Dante plopped down on the couch, ready to play his video games after the long day, when his mother scolded him.
"Ay Dante," she chided, "Don't turn on your noisy game! Manuel is trying to study!" Dante dropped the controller and sighed in exasperation. The sound effects from his game were definitely quieter than his mother's yelling, not that Manny noticed either. His nose was too far up his Algebra book. "Mijo, go make yourself useful and buy these things from the grocery store," Mrs. Garcia said, waving a thin piece of paper at Dante. He groaned and picked himself off the green leather couch .
Dante walked around the kitchen counter and took the long shopping list from his mother. As he did, he noticed how frail and thin his mother's wrist had become. He stepped back and observed his mother's sunken cheeks and her once vibrant brown hair that had fallen flat and gray. "Mami, are you okay?" Dante asked, taking his mother's hand in his own.
Mrs. Garcia smiled sadly and answered, "It's nothing you need to worry about, cariño. The restaurant's a few bills behind and your dad's away doing a long delivery. Nothing we haven't done before," Dante's mother brought his hand up and kissed it gently, "But you're a sweet boy for asking."
Dante flashed his reassuring smile at his mother before taking off on his pickup truck to pick up the large load of groceries he's been instructed to buy.
Two hours had passed before Dante made it home, just in time to see Naya waiting on the painted over bench on the porch, shivering slightly under the cold night breeze that tousled her now undone hair. Mami would have been happy to know the bench had finally proved useful after rusting in front of the house over the generations. Dante took four heavily loaded bags in each arm and carried them to the front door.
"Need a ride?" Dante asked, ready to dump the groceries inside and start the engine back up to deliver on his offer.
Naya shook her head no, "I couldn't ask you to pick and drop me off. I have a... friend," she said with a grimace, sounding unsure of herself.
Dante raised an eyebrow at her hesitance and took a seat next to Naya, "Is that supposed to be code for 'boyfriend'?" Dante realized he was holding his breath as he waited for the answer.
Naya chuckled under her breath, "Hardly. It's just one of the fifteen girls who threw themselves at me at school. She offered a ride home after one of her classes and I took it. Honestly… everyone at this new school seems so fake. They're all so nice 24/7 and it's kind of freaking me out."
Dante tilted his head in confusion, "So your problem is everyone at your new school is being too nice? Oh how times have changed."
Naya rolled her eyes and jokingly bumped Dante's shoulder, "You know what I mean. They're all still obsessing over grades and petty highschool drama even though it's senior year, and I guess I'm just kind of... over it," Naya shrugged and looked out into the distance longingly, "I don't really fit in. I need something more than friendship bracelets and frappes after school."
A black car rolled up in front of Dante's house and a girl with short auburn hair waved Naya over, looking nervously around the neighborhood. Naya shook her head with mild disgust at her friend's obvious misguided uncomfort as she grabbed her bookbag and slung it over her shoulder.
She turned around to Dante and smirked, "Until then... I'd like an iced grande with six pumps of vanilla latte." Dante's heart caught in his throat as she winked at him, but he didn't, couldn't, let it show. With that, she ran down the steps to the car, shooting Dante one last smile before driving into the dark night.