if he was mine

Prologue

R I A

"Don't stay outside for too long, it will get dark soon." Mammy warned my brother and I as we pulled our bikes out of the porch.
"Yes, Mammy." I smile up at her as she tightens one of my pigtails.
"Thank you, Valeria. Did you hear me Miguel? I said don't stay out too late." She calls after Miggy who runs immediately to the house directly across from us. "Make sure to tell him for me, huh?" Mammy smiles down at me, tilting my chin up.
"I'll make sure to tell Luis too." I call out as I step onto my bike.
"Yes, you do that, honey." She stands in the doorway and her gaze suddenly fixates on something happening behind me. "It looks like they are already off."
"Hey, wait for me!" I shout out as I see Miggy and Luis ride down our street.
"Miguel, look after your little sister for me, I don't want to hear any stories!"
"Sure mother!" He calls out but I see both of the boys in front of me snigger. I don't know what was so funny as they return glances between them.
"What's so funny?" I scrunch my nose.
"Oh nothing." Miggy was quick to jump in.
"Just tell her Mig-"
"She won't get it." And with that my brother sped up on his bike. Luis turned to me and shrugged with a sympathetic look on his face. "Sorry." He mouthed and hurried to catch up with his bestfriend.
"It's okay." I responded with, but he didn't get a chance to see as he was quickly off again. Oh, how I wished Isabella could grow up and finally be allowed out with us. She was Luis' sister. She was seven years old, two years younger than me, and I was a year younger than the boys. It didn't help I was born in July so my older brother constantly teased me for being so young.

"Who wants to throw the first stone?" Luis asked both Miggy and I as we stood on the edge of the lake near our houses.
"I will." Miggy took the stone from his bestfriend's hand and crouched down. Three seconds later, the stone rippled along the water.
"Five skips!" He turns around and bows.
"I bet I could beat that." Luis winks at me and my heart beats faster.
"Well Val can't-"
"Don't call me Val, it's Ria now." I don't know why I loved my new nickname so much. Maybe it was because it made me seem older. I was called Val all my life and it was time for a change. Maybe I would stop being seen as so little from my brother and Luis.
"How does that make sense?" Miggy snapped at me.
"Her full name is Valeria, idiot." Luis turned to me with a huge grin painted on his face. It was the first time I saw all his teeth and his face glistened in the sun. His curls bounced as he continued to talk. "If she wants to be called Ria, let her be called Ria."
That was the first time my heart let the butterflies run loose in my stomach. The first time I was lost for words. And that was the very first time I became certain that Luis Perez was mine.