MI MILAGRO, JJ maybank

Chapter 21 - Friday I'm in love

Two hours later, around 5 in the afternoon, Kiara found Maria on the beach. She was sitting in the sand, gazing at the sea while listening to the waves.

Only 2 hours had passed, 120 minutes. But for her, it felt like an eternity. It's funny how time becomes a blur when your heart is broken.

Kiara didn't say anything. She sat beside her, sent a message to Sarah letting her know that Maria wasn't okay, and mentioned they'd treat her to coffee.

So, after 4 cappuccinos and a sugary pretzel, Maria began to spill the details, tears streaming down her face.

When she finished, Sarah and Kiara looked at her, stunned and wide-eyed. It was literally the last thing they thought had happened.

"I can't believe it!" Kiara exclaimed, hands on her head. "My mind is totally in shock!"

Maria shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. She, too, expected a different response from JJ. Not necessarily an 'I love you,' but anything else.

"So, you told him you loved him, and he left?" Sarah leaned in, as if they were sharing a secret, "I'm so lost."

"No, I know what I did. I revealed too much too soon," she sighed heavily, awkwardly smiling, "I was emotionally slutty."

Sarah snorted at the comment but then fell into deep thought. Something just didn't add up.

"I mean, who does that? Say 'I love you' after officially being together for just two weeks? Se pensará que estoy loca (He probably thinks I'm crazy)" Maria sighed, covering her face.

"No way! You expressed your feelings! There's nothing wrong with that!" Kiara seemed on the verge of giving a speech, puffing up her chest and getting serious, "You are so brave! It was badass of you"

Sarah nodded, raising her cup to her, "Amen to that"

"Yeah well, look how good that turned out" she looked at the time on Sarah's phone, since hers was still at her house, "Let me pay really quickly and we can head out to the Chateau"

Sarah waited until Maria had left the table to got closer to Kiara "There's just something that doesn't quite make sense"

"What's that?" Kiara asked

"I mean, think about it. This is JJ and Maria were talking about. That boy loves her in a way I've never seen before" Sarah made sure that Maria wasn't listening and got back to the conversation, "He would die for her! And kill for her too! Why isn't he saying it back?"

"Yeah, it's just that JJ..." Kiara sighed, unsure of how to continue the conversation. "With his dad being... his dad, and his mom taking off. I think he's scared."

Kiara glanced at the counter where María was still waiting for the check.

"Now, there's no doubt he loves her," she concluded.

Sarah saw a message from John B that read,
< SOS, we have to talk>

"Hey... I got a situation," she got up to leave, "I'll hit you up later, cool?"

Kiara nodded, and as if the stars just decided to align, she got a message from Pope.
<Come to the Chateau now. It's JJ.>

Kiara frowned, but she forced a smile when Maria showed up.

"Everything good?" Maria asked, noticing Kiara's expression.

Kiara glanced at her phone, then looked back at Maria. "Yeah, everything's smooth sailing."

Maria eyed her friend, crossing her arms.

"Lie. You're looking at your phone while frowning, which means something's up. Not only are you hiding it from me, but you're also forcing a smile, indicating that whatever you're concealing affects me," Maria raised an eyebrow.