Deflower

Chapitre Dix

The girl sat on her bed, her cat atop of the soft sheets, too, and occasionally brushing its dark fur against the girls smooth leg— defying what Lourdes thought of the animal; she'd always found cats to be quite aloof and distant, but, in spite of how she thought of them and hadn't found much liking toward it, all it truly wanted appeared to be affection. Lourdes and the cat had one thing in common, at last. The girls eyes were a lovely, deep shade of brown but seemed a golden tint in the dim lightning of the vanilla-coconut scented candles that were set in her bedroom and the sunlight that dripped within the chamber through the open windows.

Lourdes stood up, skimmed one of her fingers across the soft fur of the cat besides her, and placed one hand on her hip. She wore a baby pink two-piece set—an outfit her mother had never approved of but she'd gotten as a gift from her aunt, and thus could not be thrown away— that consisted out of a short top with thin straps and a short high waisted pair of shorts; the top perfectly showcasing her midriff and the image of youth. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Lourdes admired the elegance it brought to her but, quite frankly, she decided against the outfit; the attire was not considered presentable according to her conservative mother and she did not wish to be shouted at once the dinner came to its end. So, she settled on a dress that would make her look like a child, dolled up for a Christmas feast in the midst of the 1950's. Her hair had reached his original length again and once unraveled from its ponytail, it reached far down her back. It had been a few weeks since she had cut it, herself, and within pure honesty, she was glad it had grown back. She preferred it this, way, even if she looked good in both fashions.

Today was not going to be one of her days, and of that, she was sure. Lourdes Guerrero had given a lot of thought on how she would die— if she'd die gracefully and still look flawless while doing so, if she would be able to escape her untimely fate, or if the scene for her final breath would be as dramatic as she hoped—, and part of her hoped that today was that very day. Today was when her mother's conceited friends would come to visit and her sole task for the entire day would be to sit, eat, agree, be polite, and be pretty. She'd have to listen to her mama ramble about her female peers and of how they gave their bodies to the first and best— Lourdes had often attempted to discuss the topic and had mentioned that boys did the exact same, but whenever she did, her words were deemed nonsense; boys will be boys.

She slid down the railing of the grand staircase—something her papa had forbidden her to do even as a child, but she still did— leading to the hall and chanted a loud 'I'll get it' per she heard a few firm knocks atop the hard, wooden material of the front door. She pursued her way to the door once she had landed on the floor—hurting her right foot ever so slightly, in the process— and swung it open, to reveal six unfamiliar visages. The faces appeared much older than her own, adorn with wrinkles and spots here and there, one of them being an exception.

Lourdes' shoulder was gripped by her mother—her tall body decorated by grey, plain attire that defied the person she was inside, and so Lo knew. Lourdes stumbled back upon being nudged by her dulcet mother, and her eyes unintentionally searched for the younger individuals ones. His were much smaller than hers and beamed mystery, as did his all black attire and hair. He wasn't from here, so she was sure. The girl stared at him as he passed her by and followed closely when his parents were lead by Lourdes' mother toward the lounge.

"Lourdes, meet Veronica and Kim, two of your father and I's very dear comrades from church. They're new to the neighborhood; they moved here a week or two, or so, ago," mother Guerrero hummed softly—not near as loud, did she speak, as when she used to shout at Lo in anger for no particular reason—, motioning to the two adults before her. "And you know Xander and Christine, don't you, from the corner store? They come to church, too."