Malibu | j. parker

treinta y cuatro

"I would like it if you would let me breathe." Mariposa groaned from underneath Olivia. Despite looking happy and unaffected by her breakup with JJ to everyone at school, Mariposa was, in simple terms, going through it. And the only people that knew were her families, which Jordan thought why Billy was pushing JJ so much during practice. 

Mariposa and Olivia were synced up like AirPods again, and the young latina's emotions were getting the best of her.  All day, she suffered through cramps during class and upon getting home, she fell face first into the new hammock by the pool.  Olivia, matching her energy and attitude, did the same thing, only she collapsed onto Mariposa's back.  "Cuddle counseling now, breathing later."

"There's no cuddle counseling if I can't breathe enough to speak."

"You make strong points."  Olivia murmured and after a moment of thought, she moved over to lay beside Mariposa.  "There's no pouting on Tuesdays.  You figured out my addiction problem days after it started, don't think I can't read your emotions."

The hammock beneath the two was gently swaying from the two jumping on it combined with the wind in the backyard.  Olivia turned her head to face her best friend who currently had her eyes closed and was pretending to be asleep, but Olivia knew better.  Before she could say anything to her, Casimiro walked outside with a tray, his backpack still on his shoulders even though he's been home for about half an hour.  "I made you guys sandwiches and got you juice boxes and cookies."  He announced.

The two girls looked at him in confusion, but sat up straight to see what he brought for them.  "What's the occasion?"

"Well, you both seem tired and Mari's girly bag fell out of her backpack, so I used my braincells."  Casimiro smiled proudly.  "I didn't know what sandwiches you wanted so I made three kinds." 

The boy set the tray of snacks down onto the table near the hammock while Mariposa made grabby hands at him so she and Olivia could pull him into a hug.  "I wish my brother was like you."  Olivia told him, making the young boy giggle before releasing both girls.

"I have to go learn sign language now." 

Without another word, Casimiro ran back into the house, his backpack bouncing against his back as Mariposa and Olivia gratefully picked up the tray he left for them.  "They teach sign language at his school?"

Mariposa shook her head and grabbed one of the cookies her mom bought from a Mexican bakery off of the tray, now settled in Olivia's lap. "No, he got bored last week and decided to pick up a new hobby.  He had a full conversation in ASL with a waitress for practice, but they ended up giving him free cheesecake once they found out it was his third language."

"I will never understand how his brain works the way it does."

"Me either, but hopefully he learns how to do my math homework too."

× × ×

Rarely did it happen that Mariposa would be lonely in school. With popularity from volleyball, her family being well known, having almost all of the same friends from elementary school, and being friends with the most popular school athletes, it was hard to catch her alone. The way JJ somehow managed to was beyond her, but he succeeded in doing so.

"Look, I know I'm the last person you want to even look at right now, but please I need to talk to you."

Despite JJ's pleas, Mariposa didn't slow down or stop walking.  "I have to get to class and I have nothing to say to you."

"You don't have to say a single word, I just want you to listen to me." Upon realizing that Mariposa wasn't going to stop what she was doing for him, not like she used to, JJ continued to walk beside her despite her trying to distance herself. "Look, I messed up, okay. I'm sorry that I messed up everything and that I probably lost all of your trust, but I made a hug mistake. You're not a distraction, if anything, you're the biggest motivator in my life. And unfortunately, it took me losing you to realize that."

Continuing to walk down the hallway to her class, not even turning to glance at her ex-boyfriend. "If you're breaking up with me for football, don't expect us to get back together when you decide you want to."

"What?"

"That was the last thing I said to you before you walked away from me and our almost two year relationship. And that's exactly what you're doing right now." Mariposa explained. "Being broken up for all of these weeks, I've realized that relationships come and go, especially high school relationships. At first, I thought my life was falling apart, thinking I did something wrong. Look, if you love football more than me, that's fine. That's your future and if I'm not in it, that's also fine. Just don't get it into your head that you need me or any girl to succeed. You have a motivators in your life, and I have an AP Calc test."

Mariposa turned, just a few steps away from walking into her classroom when JJ said, "Mari, I love you."

For the first time since the conversation suddenly started, Mariposa stopped walking and turned to look at JJ with her full attention. "I love you too." She said sincerely with genuine honesty. "But you threw me to the side after a two minute conversation. You didn't listen to anything I said, and I don't wanna go through that again. If you guys make it to the playoff game or even next season, and we're together, who's to say you won't leave me for the same exact reason again?" After a pregnant pause of JJ not having an answer, Mariposa sent him a small smile. "Good luck with football, really. I know you'll do great."

i want to know ur secrets so do yall have stuffed animals?? i have Stitch, he fights mfs and is a good pillow😼

i meant update update this HOURS ago but I've literally been in meetings since I woke up and forgot 💀🤚🏽

idk about yall but ms olivia was fucking this shit up😩 back in my day, disney stars got fired for saying "fuck" but looks at ms olivia

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