( 𝖻𝖺𝖻𝗒𝖽𝗈𝗅𝗅 ) 𝖼𝗈𝖻𝗋𝖺 𝗄𝖺𝗂

nine, old married couple

Jasmine never had a problem with her father's parenting skills (mainly because he never had any strict rules), but when it came to teaching, he was shit.

"What, Eli?" Jasmine repeated over the phone. Naya was whining while being changed, making it hard for Jasmine to hear her friends' rant.

"Your dad is a total bitch is what I said. Can't believe he'd make fun of my lip like that."

"That's just Johnny. If you get to know him like Miguel did, you'll see his nice side. You'll be friends, I promise." Jasmine said, then putting him on speaker so she could strap the diaper around Naya's waist. She could hear Eli sigh over the line.

"Don't worry, E. I'll talk to him." Jasmine finished, and could hear the relief in his sigh.

"Thankyou, J. I love you."

"Love you too, Eliot. Don't cry. I'll see you tomorrow." Then she ended the call. Naya was clean, friend was happy, food was on its way to the house. Things were nice.

When the food arrived, Johnny wasn't home yet, so she waited, and waited, until it became so late that the tamales weren't good anymore. Then suddenly Jasmine got a call from Carmen.

"Hola, Carmen." Jasmine smiled over the phone, picking Naya up and carrying her over to her room.

"Hola, Jasmine." She laughed, "I didn't want to call because I didn't know if you were awake, but I noticed your father's car wasn't here. So I was wondering if you'd like to come and have dinner with us?"

I stopped in my trail as I was just about to lay Naya down in her crib.

"You want me to come over for dinner? Is Miguel home?"

Stupid! Of course he's home. It's nine-o-clock at night.

"You know what, I'll be right there. Can I bring Naya?"

Carmen chuckled, "Of course you can! We made enough for a lot more than four."

Jasmine grinned widely, "Alright, see you in a few."

She quickly wrapped a baby jacket around Naya and got herself a matching one in warmth. It was a bit chilly outside.

Without walking too far, the girls eventually met Carmen's door. They didn't even have to knock as Miguel opened it automatically.

"Hey, Jasmine." He said happily, spotting Naya on Jasmine's waist, "Hey, Nai."

When they had all settled in and said their prayers, they began to eat Carmen and Rosa's food. Jasmine was laughing with Miguel and Naya stuffed her face with her hands.

That was one of Jasmine's core memories. Being happy with a family who loved her for her. Despite all the wrong things about her. Everything she hated about herself, this family loved. Supported. Cherished. It was a family she knew she wanted to be apart of.

***

Jasmine woke up the next morning, sort of lost. Naya was in bed still, but asleep, and Johnny was still gone. Where could he have gone? Anywhere, really. It's Los Angeles.

Sitting up from her bed, Jasmine sighed. Her head hurted some, and when she glanced at the clock she saw how late it already was. She was not going to be at school. She quickly dialed Eli's number.

When he didn't pick up, she decided to leave a message.

"Hey, Eli. So, I woke up and my head's hurting, and I apparently overslept. I just wanted you to know incase you were wondering where I was at. Um, and also, I think I'm gonna go hang at the beach or something. I don't know. I'm thinking today's a good day to take a break." Jasmine paused, falling backwards on her bed.

"Maybe I'll see you there.." Then she ended it swiftly.

A couple minutes later she had her bathing suit on and clothes over it. She was dialing Julie up right after to see if she'd wanted to come, and she did. So when Julie showed up in her own car, the three left to the beach.

***

Jasmine quietly splayed herself on a towel, reading a book and enjoying the sun when she suddenly had this gut feeling someone was watching her. Closely. She sat up slowly and took her sunglasses off to view a boy standing a couple feet away from her.

"Excuse me." Jasmine started, "What do you want?"

He was a skinny white boy with a spiky Mohawk, blue.

"What do you mean? Do you not recognize me?" He said. She immediately realized who it was.

"Eli?!" She asked, standing up quickly. She could then tell it was him from there, "What did you do to your hair?"

Eli laughed, "Do you not like it?"

Jasmine let her face break and let out a breath, "No, no, I love it. Really. I just wasn't expecting it. Especially not now. Is this why you didn't answer my call earlier?"

"Uh, yeah, I was getting this done. And, uh, it's Hawk, now." He told Jasmine confidentally, "So, where's everyone else?"

I tilted my head at his question, "Well, Naya, my niece, is busy making sandcastles with the babysitter, Julie. But other than that, we're the only two."

Hawk then looked down, almost blushing, "Why call me?"

Jasmine thought for a moment, because he had a point—why call him?

"I wanted you." The silence was loud, "Here, I mean. At the beach. With me."

Because I like you, Hawk. What? No. You don't. I do. Stop thinking that. Don't ruin this.

"Really?" He asked, fiddling with his thumbs.

"Really."

The newly-blue-haired boy smirked and came to stand by her before stealing the spot behind. She sat in front of him and he started to massage her shoulders. It was nice feeling like she could trust him with this level of intimacy. It was like they were an old married couple.

Maybe one day they'd be.

nyneve speaks.
ik this is short-ish but
i wanted jasmine to see
hawk for the first time on
her own terms instead of
at school or the dojo