Boba in Luv [MLM STORY]

Route 22 to Saint Santiago

The sound of the bus's doors opening jolted me awake. I immediately jumped up and hopped onto the bus. Since I always rode the bus from the very first stop, almost all of the seats were empty. The only seat that wasn't empty had my mom's best friend on it. She'd been my Tía since I was been a baby, even though we weren't really related. All of my mom's siblings are in Mexico, so my Tía is the only person she has here. It may seem nice to ride the bus with someone you know, but she'd always treated me like I was still a baby. I tried to hide my face from her, but her Tía senses seemed to catch me. 

"Mijo! Agustín! Ven aquí!" she yelled from across the bus. If I wasn't the first student to get on the bus, I would've melted from embarrassment.  

"Hola Tía Claudia." I reluctantly replied, taking my earbuds out of my ear. I really do love her, but I hate when she uses my real name. I walked up to the seat in front of her and plopped my backpack onto the seat next to me. Hopefully this would prevent her from sitting next to me. 

"How are you?" she excitedly asked, jumping up and scooting next to me. I felt my backpack squish between us. She gave me a giant hug, which squeezed some of the air out of me.

"I'm doing okay, I guess. My burn looks a lot better." I raised my hand up for her to see. 

"Oh that's good! The aloe I gave your mom has been working?" she smiled. 

"Yes it has, thank y-" 

"Yay! I've been growing it for long and I knew I would need it!" she exclaimed, interrupting my gratuity. "I told your mom about it for months and she kept telling me she wouldn't need it, didn't she. She's always judging mís plantas, pero you know what? We did need it." 

"Yes Tía, thank y-"

"Maybe I'll get you a planta too. I have so many that I don't need, pero son mís babies. You know what, never mind. Son míos." She chuckled out loud.

I knew I should've just pretended like I didn't know her. My Tía is the sweetest person in the world, but she loves to talk. I can't count how many times she's kept my mom on the phone for hours. My mom is the same way, so I guess they keep each other on the phone. It's worse at parties, since we are always the last ones there. I'm glad my Tía is comfortable enough to talk my ear off, so I just sit there and listen. 

"Mí sobrina told me you didn't follow her back. You know she thinks you're cute." she continued to ramble. 

"Did she? I didn't get a notification for it."

"She followed you a week ago, Agustín. Honestly, I don't even blame you for ignoring her. She kinda looks like the dude from Shrek. Ay, don't tell my sister I said that." she paused for a moment. "Nah tell her, she looks like him too" she howled in the middle of the bus.

"Okay, I'll check my notifications later." I shrugged her off.

"Eeek! You're getting so grown now. You have girls hunting you down. I miss my little Agustin, the one that was nice."

"I'm still nice, Tía."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Maybe to us, pero I don't know how you are in school. I know how boys get when they're your age. Maybe you're fighting and talking back to your teachers."

"I'm not doing any of that. I like to mind my business" I responded. "But Tía?"

"Yes mijo?" She seemed concerned. 

"Can you please stop calling me Agustín? It's embarrassing. Just call me August, please."

"Oooh 'August', qué fancy." she laughed. After noticing my stern facial expression, she calmed down. "Okay, okay. Nice to meet you, Mr. August. I'll stop embarrassing you now, I'll see you at the salon."