𝐎𝐍 𝐌𝐘 𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐒, Alex Alvarez

seven - in trouble

•~3rd person P.O.V~•
TRANSLATIONS: SPANISH TO ENGLISH (done by google translate so the translations are probably shit😭)
-none
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For two whole months, Maria kept Alex being her partner a secret. She said multiple times that the project should've been done by now, if it were anyone else the project would've been done weeks ago. But Lydia, Penelope, Elena, or Schneider would interrupt them with stories and dilemmas to be fixed or she and Alex would wander off from their project and just enjoy each other's company.

But the project had to be done soon, the school year was ending and on the second to last day, they'd present their project. Something to do with Alex's last name being at the start of the alphabet. They were both delaying something that was ultimately inevitable.

They both knew that they had separate lives, and they were both too afraid to ask the other to mix those lives. More importantly, Maria was afraid that she'd slip up and her dad would find out. She'd be knee-deep in punishments, and then her dad would surely homeschool her.

But she couldn't deny that she enjoyed Alex's company. She probably enjoyed it more than a project partner or a friend should. She didn't want to break it off, and knowing Alex, she knew he wouldn't want to go back to their old interactions.

She wanted to spend more time with Schneider as well. She'd begun to ease up around the Alvarez's, including Schneider, and they got to see less of the formal version of her. It wasn't unusual to see her there, and sometimes she and Alex were even able to arrange times for them to hang out over the weekends.

Maria couldn't go back. She couldn't go back to whispering about Alex with Gracie or secretly awaiting his arrival to class. She especially didn't want to leave school. Summer's were the worst for her, she had more time with her dad and he was more restrictive than when school was in session.

"We're almost finished," Maria announced, a frown quickly marking its way on Alex's face. She was gluing pieces of paper with the information she'd typed out onto the poster board. She said it was for the audience to follow along, the flashcards she'd made for him and herself said the exact same thing.

"Bummer." He muttered, taking one of the slips and spreading glue onto the back of it. She looked up, she'd heard him but she wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly. Did he say it sarcastically, like he wanted Maria out of his him and to never see her again? Or did he say it genuinely?

"Did you say something?" His eyes met with hers, drawing away from the poster board. Strands of her side bangs fell in front of her eyes, which were wide with confusion and an overwhelming intensity that seem to always force him to tell her the truth. He always told her everything, anything and everything.

She somehow compelled him to do so. Whenever he thought about doing something that could somehow jeopardize him having a phone, him somehow getting grounded, he remembered Maria and he seemingly always made the right choice after that.

"Um, no." He gulped, she nodded but she looked as if she didn't believe him. "So after this, we're just gonna go back to me flirting with you in class and you hating me?" Maria's head quickly snapped up, her eyebrows drawn together. Hate him? She never hated him!

"What are you talking about?" She asked, but Alex could tell she didn't want an answer. "I never hated you! I mean, sure, you were annoying sometimes but I never hated you." Alex blinked at her like he was soaking in what he'd just been told.

"Really?" She nodded, her eyebrows creased with worry. "Huh." He huffed, sticking his tongue in the corner of his cheek. He'd been so afraid of Maria rejecting him because he thought she hated him. But now that he knew she didn't-

"Aleeexxx." Elena appeared in the doorway, saying Alex's name in a sing-songy voice. He sighed, rolling his eyes and looking up at her. "You didn't take the trash out again, Mom said she's gonna have to talk to you when Maria leaves, which is code for you're in big trouble." Alex cursed beneath his breath, sighing loudly. Elena soon sped off to her own room, surely reading a book of some kind.

"Wow," Maria chuckled awkwardly, "you must be in big trouble." Alex nodded, he'd get a long lecture and a possible grounding for forgetting for the second week in a row. He wasn't sure what it was, he just got distracted sometimes and never remembered something as minuscule as taking out the trash.

"Yeah, I've forgotten for two weeks straight." Maria nodded slowly, she always remembered to do her chores after school. Just so she could go to Alex's and not worry about rushing to finish them before her dad got home. She hadn't forgotten to do chores since she was seven.

"You know sometimes it helps to read a book in your mind, or watch a movie in your head, or count how many tiles are on the floor while you're getting...ya know..." Alex furrowed his eyebrows, wondering how Maria could say such an odd thing while coloring small flowers on the poster board.

"Getting what?" And then suddenly something clicked. It was a terrible click, an awful lightbulb he wished never appeared above his head. "Getting hit?" He whispered, seeing how Maria stiffened. "Maria, I don't get hit. I just get mind-numbing, boring, talks, and get grounded." He looked at her, her shoulders tense and her hands stopping in their places. "Do you...get hit?" He asked hesitantly, his eyes trailing the skin that was covered by her clothes.

Was that why her dad had so many rules about clothes? To cover up marks? It would make sense, terrible, awful sense. He felt himself growing worried by the second, each second that she didn't speak he grew more worried.

She gulped, what was she supposed to say now? Did she really think Penelope would hit her kids? Of course not! But you never knew what went in behind closed doors, obviously. She outed herself by immediately thinking he received corporal punishments, and she could no longer back out.
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A/n: school starts in like 3 weeks and I might kms, but I'll make sure to finish this book before doing so😍😜
Word Count:1,095