About a week later...
"do you need a lift to the tournament?" Maria ducked her head into Luis' room as he was getting ready
"Can you just go with Laurel and I'll take your car?" He whined and turned to face her
"No Luis! Offer taken back, go with your girlfriend" Maria huffed and walked out of the room and into Belly's as Luis shook his head at her. They had been getting along this last week, talking a lot more too! Maria and Belly had a long chat about everything and it ended in Belly promising not to break Luis' heart. Maria had in turn told Belly about Jeremiah. As for the couple of the year, they were better than ever and edging closer and closer to boyfriend a girlfriend. As you could expect Jeremiah was into the couple shit so he'd taken Maria on a few cheesy dates but it only made her smile more.
"Bells do you have- oh...hi Taylor" Maria stopped short of what she was going to say and looked Taylor up and down
"Maria" Taylor greeted with a shy nod
"hmm" Maria hummed surveying the room
"you stay away from Steven alright" she glared at Taylor
"Maria!" Belly groaned
"what? i'll meet you guys downstairs, you're late Taylor and you're walking" Maria muttered the last bit and walked away
"Is she gonna kill me?" Taylor asked fearfully
"If you go near Steven she might" Belly sighed
___
Maria and Nicole had been playing volley as a pair since they were old enough too. they were pretty good and they knew how to get what they wanted. this year they had been raising money for a charity that helped families who had lost a loved one to illness bounce back even stronger. this year Maria was playing to win their 3rd trophy. this year she was playing for her mom
Maria was carrying 2 bottles of water over to where Nicole was waiting on her when she spotted Taylor speaking with Steven
"i don't like that" Shayla mumbled as she passed Maria
"on it" the blonde nodded and bounded over to the pair
"yo Taylor don't you have some other hearts to break?" she stood beside Steven and glared at the girl. Taylor's eyes flickered from Maria to Steven, not knowing what to say
"yeah that's what i thought, leave!" Maria hissed at the girl and she sulked off
"that was uncalled for Mari" Steven tutted
"you're a married man now Steven" Maria rolled her eyes at him
"I'm just tryna look out for you and Shayla" she justified herself
"hello! my name is Susannah Fisher and I'm the chair of the club's community service board and i am delighted to welcome you to play it forward!" Susannah announce over the speakers
"wooh!" Steven cheered
"nice Susannah!" Maria joined in
"you know. as my mother used to say, if you're lucky enough to be at the beach you're lucky enough. and we are indeed very fortunate. which is why in the spirit of friendly competition it is time to open our hearts and our wallets to give back to those who may not be as fortunate. we have teams raising money for homelessness, women shelters and so many other causes and Play it Forward will match pledges for the winner of the tournament!" Susannah continued and everyone cheered again
"the pledge table is still open so please donate generously and with that? i say let the games begin!"
"you ready for this Mari?" Nicole came up to her side
"oh i'm always ready" Maria grinned
"always ready for what?" Jeremiah asked from behind them
YOU ARE READING
the summer he loved me
Fanfictionevery year since before Maria Martinez could remember her family had spent every summer in Cousins with the Fisher's and Conklin's. after the death of her mother Maria needed this summer to be the same as any other, happy, carefree, loving. little d...
