the next morning sean woke up and started getting ready to leave. he hadn't talked to anyone all morning. he only hoped he would somehow run into the girl. what was it? why was she stuck on his mind? he couldn't figure it out, but he could feel it in his stomach. he brought his hands to his hair before zipping up his suitcase. his mother peaked her head into the room. "you ready?" she asked.
sean gave a nod even though he knew it wasn't entirely true. he sighed, thinking maybe that's all he'll ever get from the bay area. a 'maybe next time'. he grabbed his suitcase and bag, facing his mother. "let's go," he sighed.
"i know you'll miss this place but there'll be other times," his mother assured him.
"maybe next time," sean remembered. his mother nodded and they continued to make their way to the airport. sean thought of cosima his entire way home.
he thought maybe he'll just forget about her and nature would take its course. eventually, maybe his mind would replace her with the next thing that could come up.
little did he know, she wasn't going to leave his mind or his life.
when he arrived back home he ran into josh, waiting for him at the airport. josh noticed sean being upset and frowned. "do you not like my sign?" josh questioned, raising his eyebrows.
sean shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. "it's cool," he half smiled.
josh carried the sign as he walked with sean to the car. "you still thinking about that girl?" he asked.
sean shrugged again. "man, you think i'll just forget about her?" sean asked, hoping that's what would happen.
"i don't know," josh shrugged. "seems like she's really stuck on your mind."
"she is," sean said.
"what's her name again?" josh asked, smiling to himself.
"cosi," sean told him, kind of annoyed thinking that he had forgotten already. but josh didn't forget. in fact, josh remembered perfectly and he couldn't wait for sean to find out. "i just don't know what it is."
~
that night cosi arrived to her home in walnut, california. "how was the trip, nena?" cosi's mom asked.
"amazing. look at this," she smiled, handing her mother a polaroid picture of her standing in front of the golden gate bridge.
her mom smiled at the picture and ran a hand through her daughter's hair. "it's beautiful, why don't you get comfortable?" she asked and cosima nodded. it wasn't until she reached the stairs that her mother remembered something, "mariposa?"
"yes, ma?" cosima giggled, walking back into the kitchen.
"a friend of yours stopped by today, looking for you. he said he wanted to talk to you but you weren't here, so i told him you could meet him at the studio on monday," she said, beginning to cut her vegetables.
"ma," cosima whined. she loved dancing, but she avoided the attention that was given to her because of her famous mother, "what friend are you even talking about?"
"well, he used to have braces and he was really funny," she explained.
"i'm gonna need more than that," cosima chuckled.
"the one that usually comes by to eat" her mother said. "you used to dance with him all the time."
"oh, josh," cosima laughed, sneaking some vegetables off her mother's cutting board, "mom, we still dance."
"but, times were different then," her mother nodded. "anyways, you'll be going to the studio on monday. now go get your brothers for dinner."
cosima groaned, heading back to the stairs and going up. cosima changed into house clothes before heading to her brother's room. she opened the door to her little brother, mateo's, room finding him on the bed playing video games with her older brother, michael. "i'm back," cosima dragged out with a smile, walking into the room.
"yeah, but close the door. the cold air is getting in," mateo said. he was three years younger than his sister while four years younger than his brother, making him thirteen.
"glad to see you guys are as annoying as i left you," cosima raised her eyebrows, "seriously, is no one gonna ask how my trip was?"
"okay," michael said, pausing the game and the two boys turned to her. "how was it? oh wait i already know. you saw sean and didn't dance in his class. rocky speaks quick."
"really, you didn't dance with sean?" mateo laughed obnoxiously before leaning backwards to reach michael and whispered, "who's sean?"
"some old friend of hers," michael shrugged, "but she went specifically to meet new people and she didn't even talk to her oldest friend. wonder how mom and dad's gonna react when they find that out."
"if you tell mom then i'm telling her you stole five dollars out of my wallet," cosima argued.
"except i didn't," michael pointed out.
"oh, really?" cosima tilted her head and pulled out a five dollar bill. "hey, mat, you want this?"
"of course," mateo said, taking the bill from his sister's hand before returning to the bed.
"if anyone asks, michael took it," cosima smiled.
"done," mateo said, putting it in his pocket.
"dude," michael said, hitting his shoulder lightly.
"what? it's free money," mateo shrugged.
"and so will the ten be that i take from michael's wallet to make up for the five i just gave you," cosima crossed her arms.
"you don't even know where my wallet is," michael said.
"of course i do. it's in your sock drawer," cosima said, furrowing her eyebrows together.
"actually, no it's in my backpack. ha," michael said, pointing at her. then he realized that he just played himself, "wait."
"thanks michael," cosima called out as she ran to his room.
"hope you weren't this bad when you talked to sean—oh wait," michael said, stepping into the doorway of his little brother's room.
"oh wait," cosima mocked, making a face. "seriously, you don't have to always be this annoying."
"i'll make sure to find out how sean thinks i can become less annoying," michael said, still messing with his sister.
"you can also tell him he owes you five dollars," cosi said, walking out and waving michael's money around.
~~~
nena - daughter
mariposa - butterfly
