Unsure For Now 3 part2
A/N- Yeah, so like, here's the next part. Enjoy ya'll! :) If you don't I'll cry. Don't make me cry, please.
Another chance encounter came upon them a little after Halloween, a little over two weeks since their lunch together. The leaves all around changing colors, a beautiful sight for something that symbolized death, but the weather temperature was a nice seventy-eight. A nice reprieve from the forties and below of the past week and many people were taking advantage of the nice weather. Silvia and her family included.
While setting up the picnic table, conversing with her sister about how she surprisingly enjoys her new job and reprimanding her father for grumbling about how they should have had steaks instead of rabbit food for their outdoor lunch, she glanced across the park. She spotted the brunette student that she tried her damndest not to think about on a daily -hourly- basis, walking with some guy with a beard.
The redhead stared for a moment, a silly grin on her lips as she watched the two brunettes interact. It was kind of cute to her the way Pepa gesticulated when she talked, almost narrating her words with her hands. But her silly grin quickly disappeared, a frown replacing it, when the man cuffed Pepa on the back of the head and before anyone, Silvia included, knew what was happening she was poking the bearded man in the chest.
"It's not nice to just go around hitting people, you know." she scolded.
She didn't know why she had rushed over and decided to protect her student. And when she saw the man wince at her words, probably because he thought she was some lunatic chick, and Pepa chuckle a bit, she lifted a brow, "What?"
"Ow." The man whispered so as not to look like a wuss in front of the stranger and tried to discreetly rub away the pain of the spot she poked.
Pepa smiled a blinding smile. Not only was she excited to see Silvia, because just seeing her always makes her heart skip a beat, but she was also amused at how ready to defend her Silvia was. It made her feel kind of important.
"God, Pelirroja, can I keep you?"
"Excuse me?"
"You're gorgeous when you're defending my honor."
Silvia blushed prettily at that, "Well... he... I," she stammered and felt like a four year old trying to explain their actions for hitting their cousin, "I saw... he hit you." She finally got out.
Pepa continued to smile and glanced lovingly at the man beside her who was trying to look everywhere else but at Pepa's teacher, "He's my brother."
Silvia's shade of red darkened as she mumbled, "So, that, like, makes it okay for him to do it?"
The brunette girl was amused at how soft spoken the redhead had become. In the span of ten seconds or so her bark had gone from a pitbull's to a toy poodle's.
"If I may?" the man amongst them interjected, "In my defense, miss, we were just goofing, and I mean, if you know Pepa at all, which obviously you do because you're here and she greeted you and you guys were having a conversation, so of course you know her somewhat, then you know how big a smart ass she can be." his eyes widened and he quickly continued, "Not that, you know, not that that makes it okay to hit someone. You shouldn't hit someone just cuz they're obnoxious, but-"
Silvia couldn't help herself, the way he rambled on and fidgeted slightly, his mannerisms, in that moment she could see and hear how they were related and she giggled, interrupting his one man dialogue, "Debate Team, too, huh?" she giggled some more.
"Huh?" The man clearly not understanding the inside joke.
Pepa pursed her lips and growled a playful growl that sent an unexpected shiver down the redhead's spine. "Yuck it up, Princesa."
The teacher nodded, "I totally am." Her eyes twinkled in delight as her bouts of giggles continued.
"I see that." Pepa retorted and rolled her eyes before blowing out an exasperated breath. "Are you done yet?"
The redhead sobered and nodded then turned remorseful eyes on Pepa's brother, "I'm sorry for poking you... and well, everything. I just seem to jump really quickly to conclusions. Wrong conclusions." she admitted. It was something she never thought she'd ever have to admit. It was something she never thought she'd have to admit being that she was always one to analyze a situation before acting. It wasn't until recently, and only around the lanky brunette, that she found herself throwing rationality out the window.
He smiled charmingly and the Spanish teacher saw another quality the two siblings shared, "It's okay, no harm done," though the dull throb in shoulder still sort of hurt, "My name's Paco, by the way." he extended his hand.
"Silvia. I'm Pepa's Spanish teacher at the high school." she grinned as she accepted his greeting.
Paco's smile cooled slightly and his brow arched as he turned to his sister who looked the picture of innocence; a little too innocent when she started to whistle. He was about to reprimand his 'innocent' sister, his mouth opened and ready, but he stopped abruptly when a woman with curly hair appeared behind the school teacher distracting him, making him lose his train of thought.
"Silvia, what are you doing? Papa and I are waiting, we're ready to-" Paco's distracting woman began before her eyes connected with Pepa's brother's, her words halted as she got lost in their gaze. "Eat." she finished when she regained control of her mind.
"Okay, Lola, I was just-"
"Who's your friend?" Lola interrupted as she looked pointedly at Paco. She felt a pull toward the handsome bearded man immediately and waited impatiently for her slow sister to make an introduction. She smiled coyly and, deciding that the two seconds Silvia took was taking too long, made her own introductions.
"I'm Lola." She smiled and waved prettily with her fingers.
The man, mouth still agape, forced his brain to work and his lips to move as he answered, "Paco."
Pepa and Silvia shared a knowing look. They didn't need to be geniuses to figure out what was happening between their siblings. They both knew their own family and how they acted when confronted with someone they found attractive. Silvia smirked inwardly and Pepa rolled her eyes outwardly.
"You know, we have plenty of food for two more..." Lola suggested, causing the smirking teacher and the eye rolling student to look at her with wide eyes. As much as they both secretly wanted to spend more time together, they knew that Papa Castro would not make it an enjoyable time. He would be none too pleased with that scenario, his dislike of Pepa and all.
"That's very sweet of you to offer, but-" Pepa started with an excuse, but was cut off.
"We'd love to! Right, Pepa?" Paco's smile grew before he turned back to Lola, a slight hint of worry on his face, "Of course, that is, if you're sure it wouldn't be a problem?"
"Well, you know-" Silvia started with an excuse of her own, but she was cut off, too.
"We'd love you to! Right, Silvia?" Lola's smile matched the excitement of Paco's as she gestured with her head to be followed to the table. The bearded one didn't hesitate and did as was directed, leaving the teacher and student standing in the background alone.
Pepa blinked as seconds ticked by before furrowing her eyebrows. She crossed her arms and leaned over to talk into Silvia's ear, "Umm... do you think she even noticed my existence?"
Silvia, who was watching the couple who deserted them, giggled at the brunette's inquiry. "Uh, I think even if you were doing the macarena while a dozen birds crapped on your head one by one, she still wouldn't have noticed you there."
Pepa laughed at that answer before eying the redhead curiously, a perfect eyebrow arched, "You'd love to see that, wouldn't you?"
"Picturing it as we speak." She smirked.
Brow still arched and being determined to wipe that look off of Ms. Castro's face, Pepa moved closer to the shorter woman and whispered huskily, "You don't even want to know what I'm picturing you doing in my head." The brunette grinned as her words laced in subtext had the desired effect on the slightly shivering redhead.
Silvia's smirk faltered as she imagined what she thought the brunette was thinking then cleared her throat, "Well, we should probably move on over there."
The teenager nodded, but her feet didn't move. She shuddered the thought of spending any more time than what the school and law mandated her to with coach Castro.
"He isn't going to be too happy about my being at your lunch, is he?"
"C'mon, it won't be that bad."
"I'm actually certain that if I ask him to pass me the salad or something, he'll kill me instead."
Silvia scoffed, "You're being over dramatic. He will not kill you, Pepa." she pulled on the teen's arm to get her to move and as they neared the picnic table added, "Maim maybe, but not kill."
Pepa bumped her teacher's shoulder with her own, "Funny, Princesa. Have I told you lately that I hate you?"
The redhead grinned impishly, "I'm calling bullshit." she said in a sing song voice and walked over to her father who was in the middle of meeting the older Miranda. It appeared that her papa liked him, or at least didn't hate him, being that he wasn't exploding at his intrusion on their family time and, instead, having a normal conversation about a football team or something.
Silvia wrapped her arms around her already seated father and explained that there was a second guest and the expected reaction came when the old man looked up and saw who it was. The Miranda girl just waved halfheartedly and looked away. He glared at her until Silvia's light slap to his shoulder and plea for him to be nice, then he tried to be indifferent and nodded his head and smiled a smile reserved only for his daughters.
All seated, the three eldest at one end and the two youngest at the other sitting across from each other, the food was passed around and conversation began. First topic began with Papa Castro grilling Paco about what he did for a living and Lola interrupting happily to add how 'nice looking' a man in uniform is when Paco answered that he was on the force. Then it progressed into something about Law&Order. The show, not the real system, and how inaccurate and unrealistic a lot of the things on it are. It was at that point that Pepa stopped paying any attention and placed her thoughts elsewhere; namely across the table from herself and on the redhead in front of her.
The thought about redhead felt herself being watched and glanced at the brunette student. She always knew when the student had her eyes on her because a certain tingly feeling swept through her every time. It was hard to concentrate on anything else but the feel of those eyes and where those eyes were lingering. That was why she fumbled a lot over her lessons in her seventh period class.
Silvia lifted a brow at Pepa, "What?" she asked, only loud enough for the two of them to hear.
Pepa shook her head, doubling as a way to get out of her daze and also to disregard the redhead's question, and turned back to stabbing at the food on her plate.
The park family lunch went on like that for a while. Conversation between the three oldest that once in a while the redhead chimed in with a word or phrase, quick shared glances between the younger two, and assault with a deadly weapon towards Pepa's plate of food. Then, something interrupted the monotony: A ringtone. A ringtone signalling to Silvia that she received a text message.
I'm watching you.
Silvia read the message and squinted, befuddled, then checked the number of the sender. Not recognizing it, she assumed whoever had sent the text sent it to the wrong person and she disregarded it. She placed her phone back and continued to eat her food. Fork half way in her mouth, her phone rang again.
I wish I could be that fork.
The redhead set her utensil down, the strange message giving her chills, chills in a bad way. Feeling watched, she looked around her, seeing nothing out of the ordinary she decided to respond this time.
Who is this?
She waited a beat until her phone alerted her of another incoming message. Instead of an answer, another weird message.
I want you to rub that ranch dressing all over my body!
The Spanish teacher's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she caught a glimpse of the bottle of Hidden Valley ranch next to her. Before she could react, another message beeped. She checked it.
You're much more incredible to watch in the daylight.
Silvia gulped nervously. Another alert.
The moonlight through your window just doesn't illuminate your beautiful features as well as the sun can.
Those words thoroughly creeped her out and her eyes widened even more so as she read it over. She choked on the half masticated lettuce in her mouth.
Conversation at the table halted as they all asked what was wrong. Asked if she was okay. All asked except one, the brunette student, who, instead of questioning the redhead's safety, sat snickering across the table.
"Pepa?" Paco chastised, "You're being impolite."
The lanky girl sobered her features, while inside she laughed heartily, and nodded. "Sorry. I just remembered a funny thing that happened." she turned playful eyes on Silvia, "Ms. Castro's face just reminded me of it, is all. I'm sorry."
Silvia narrowed her gaze on Pepa and cocked a brow. The small pang of fear gone as her unidentified text sender became obvious to her now. "I'm fine guys. Thanks."
Accepting that answer, the three at the head of the table went back to their conversation of how stupid Walker: Texas Ranger was, Lola throwing in her two sense about cowboy hats making Paco want to buy a cowboy hat for himself.
With no one paying any attention to them, the redhead flipped off the chuckling girl which seemed to only make the chuckling girls glee grow. Seeing that reaction, Silvia resorted to physical violence and kicked the joker under the table.
Pepa grimaced for a split second before she smiled her thousand watt smile and pulled out her phone for the woman across from her to see. Her thumbs glided quickly before Silvia's ringtone went off again.
You should have seen your face! :p
Silvia glared and Pepa beamed.
Ahh, priceless!
The redhead shook her head and stifled the grin threatening to escape.
UR sick
I'm awesome!!!
UR insane
I was bored & it was funny as hell!
Howd U get my #
Hello! Weren't my messages clear!
Wat?
I'm stalking you, duh!
Dats not funny
Yes it is
No its not
Sí, Pelirroja
No, Morena
Sí, Princesa!
No, Reina!
Sí
No
Yes
No
I'm right
UR wrong
I'm awesome
UR n idiot
Pepa laughed out loud, literally not LOL typed, she laughed out loud garnering attention from everyone. The three that had been left out of their texting conversation looked at her like she was crazy, coach Castro's look had a little bit of disgust wrapped in there. Pepa only waved them off and faced the Spanish teacher who was the snickering now. It was the brunette's turn to cock her brow.
Walk with me?
Silvia wanted to immediately respond with a yes, but had a niggling voice in the back of her mind telling her she should respond otherwise. The student could see the internal war written across the angelic face and decided to add an incentive.
I'll tell you how I got your phone number
It wasn't hard to get at all, actually. Mr. Castro had a bad habit of leaving his phone around his gym office and Pepa liked to play practical jokes on him by messing with it. Once she downloaded a weird porn picture of a girl and a goat and saved it as his wallpaper, the explosion that stunt garnered still made her laugh. The last time she messed with it, before taking a picture of some kid who's gym shorts showed a bit too much crack to save as his screensaver, she looked up her favorite teacher's number.
Silvia was quite curious about how the teen got her number and relented. She stood and gestured for the girl to do the same before telling the others that they'd be back in a bit. A few feet away from the table the redhead asked where exactly they were walking to, the brunette simply shrugged.
"I don't care. As long as I'm no longer there with your dad glaring at me every ten seconds, my brother stupidly fumbling over his words when he looks at your sister, and your sister throwing herself at him while trying not to make it look obvious in front of your dad."
Silvia chortled, "True. That was getting kinda..."
"Unbearable?" Pepa finished for her.
They bowed their heads in agreeance and continued down the grass to the paved walkway. The warm sun bathed their exposed skin as they walked in relative silence for a bit. It wasn't awkward, the silence that encompassed them, it was nice, they were enjoying each others company. But Silvia wanted to break them of it, she wanted an answer.
"So, how did you get my number, Miranda?"
Miss Miranda gave a sly smile, "A master stalker never reveals her secrets."
Silvia nudged the taller girl with an elbow and rolled her eyes, "You said you'd tell me if I walked with you."
"A master stalker always lies to get their prey to fall to them."
Silvia leveled her gaze on the infuriating girl. "I will kick you again."
"A master stalker is never afraid of a little pa-OW! you fucking kicked my shin again!" The 'master stalker' exclaimed, genuinely surprised by that.
Silvia smirked, "A master stalkee knows how to defend herself!" and she laughed at her own joke and at Pepa hopping on one foot as she rubbed her kicked appendage. Her merriment ended, though, as soon as she saw the gleam in the teenager's eyes, for she knew she was in trouble.
"A master stalker is gonna kick you in your ass!" The teen growled in mock anger.
The redhead took off as fast as she could down the trail, giggling as she dodged oncoming people. Her legs may not have been as long as the teen following her, therefore her strides were shorter, but she was more fit than the brunette and she gained a bit of distance between herself and the lanky girl. When she chanced a glance backward she saw the brunette sitting on the grass, holding her ankle with a pained expression.
Afraid that Pepa had seriously hurt herself, she jogged as fast as she could to get back to her. Hearing a soft whimper escape the girl's lips she knelt in front of her, "God, Pepa! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Rolling the pant leg of the brunette's jeans up to check if there was any swelling on the ankle, Silvia caught the glint in Pepa's eyes, realizing all too late her mistake. "Oh no."
"A master stalker always lies to get-"
The Spanish teacher tried to take off then, but was easily nabbed by a madly grinning and maniacally laughing Spanish student.
Both on their feet, Pepa gripped tightly to the teacher's forearms, keeping her from retreating. Knowing she was trapped, Silvia tried to reason with her captor.
"Now, Pepa," she attempted a scolding tone, "You don't want to do something you'll regret, do you?"
Pepa's shoulders slumped as she looked apologetically toward the smaller woman, "You're right." she sighed and let go causing a sigh of relief from the captured one.
But the relief of the captured one was short lived as the captor swiftly kicked her rear and jetted off laughing.
"Oh ho, you are dead, Miranda!"
Silvia hadn't acted this immature in a long time. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time and she realized then that she wanted to have more of it. Acting like a complete moron and physically abusing someone else shouldn't have been so entertaining, she never thought it would ever be entertaining, but she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
The chase was on again, this time the roles of chaser and chasee reversed. Pepa was fast but the cigarettes she smoked lessened her running endurance and it wasn't long before her pace slowed some. Slowed enough for the redheaded woman to catch up to her. Slowed enough for the teacher to collide into her with enough force to knock her over and make her ass connect with the ground.
Both were laughing and Silvia decided to act more childish. Standing above Pepa she pointed at the fallen brunette, "I hope your ass hurts as much as mine, Reina!"
The girl on the ground could only respond with her middle finger in the air as she laid herself down to catch her breath. The redhead giggled at that before joining her, their laughter calming down along with their heartbeats.
"I think I need to exercise more if your old self can keep up with me." Pepa muttered a bit breathlessly.
Silvia gasped at that, "You did not just call me old!" she smacked the rascally girl on the belly, "I'm only six years older than you!"
"Whatever grams."
"I'll murder you."
"I'm quivering in fear." Pepa deadpanned.
"You can go to hell, Miranda." the twinkle in her eyes removing the hatred of those words. "You know, you should stop smoking, too. That'll probably help your running away from me skills, too." Silvia could still smell the faint tobacco scent that wafted from Pepa's clothes. It didn't bother her like it usually did when she smelt it on others.
Pepa knew a lecture was approaching. Not wanting another one on the dangers of smoking, being that her brother had scolded her earlier about how each cigarette takes a day off your life to which she replied that it would only be the old boring years of her life anyway which in turn earned her that smack to the back of her head that caught Silvia's attention, she decided a change of subject was in order.
"Your sister's screwed, ya know."
"Want to inform me on what the hell you're goin' on about?"
Pepa chuckled, "With my brother."Silvia's scrunched eyebrows made the brunette elaborate, "She's hopelessly lost in the Miranda Charm." she said with a bit of pride.
"The what?" Silvia asked incredulously.
"The Miranda Charm! It never fails."
The redhead could only stare dumbly at the smiling girl. "What charm, pray tell, are you talking about? All I saw was a man bumbling every time my sister looked at him."
Pepa nodded, "That's his way of charming chicks. It works all the time. Dunno why, but girls find that trait in him endearing."
"Okaaaaay." Silvia nodded, pretending to understand. "Is that how you get girls, too then?"
Pepa scoffed and grabbed at her heart dramatically. "I most certainly do not do that! I'm just so hot that I'm irresistible." she said seriously, but the sparkle in her eyes let the other woman know she was anything but.
That caused the redhead to burst out in an uncontrolled fit of snorts and laughter, which was the intended purpose, but the way the redhead was rolling around in the grass clutching her stomach somewhat incensed the teenage girl.
"Okay, it wasn't that funny." she said pouting.
Silvia realized her actions made the girl next to her brute and she tried her hardest to calm herself. It wasn't that the brunette wasn't hot, it was just that that was such a shallow remark for someone claiming to be charming enough to get anyone she wanted.
"Aww," she managed in between light giggles, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mock your charming self." she finished sarcastically.
"I was charming enough to get you, wasn't I?" Pepa waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Silvia rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, it totally was your obvious charm and had absolutely nothing to do with the tequila shots I was offered 'til I couldn't see straight." She remarked.
"Whatever. You know I charmed the underpants off of you that night." Pepa jested.
The memories of that night slid unconsciously to the forefront of the minds of the two women laying in the grass. For a moment, they stayed still and silent as a warmth ran through their bodies, that night in the stall playing like a movie. The eager touches and desperate tongues, the erotic whimpers and seductive groans, the movement of hips and grasps of encouragement in a movie starring themselves.
Silvia swallowed what little bit of wetness she had left in her mouth and Pepa licked her lips as they both, regrettably, willed the visions away. They weren't allowed to think such things. They had agreed after all.
Pepa needed to think of something else, anything else, she needed to clear her mind of her impure thoughts and her impulse to simply say, "Fuck it," and jump on the redhead. She cleared her throat and said the first, non-sexual, thing that came to her mind.
"So, what made you want to become a teacher?" Pepa sat up then and pulled out her lighter to give her fingers something to play with as a distraction. It was either play with the lighter or itch to touch the flesh of the woman laying beside her.
The redhead, thankful for the reprieve of the smut she was remembering, smiled at the brunette for thinking of a safe subject to talk about.
She waited until her body temperature was back to normal before she answered sweetly, "My mama."
Pepa started to burn blades of grass around her and asked without thinking, "So, where is your mom then?"
A heavy silence from the person next to her made her look up from her wrongful treatment of nature and the appearance on the face of the beautiful woman made her panic. She knew she said something wrong. Something she wasn't supposed to say. Something the redhead didn't like. She had upset her and she didn't know why.
"I... Sil, I, uh, I didn't mean to upset you, I," she started to apologize, but Silvia's face softened at the stuttering brunette.
"No, Pepa, it's okay. I know you didn't mean to. It's not like you would know that she passed away."
Pepa felt like an idiot. Sure, people called her that on a daily basis, the father of the woman sitting next to her the most vocal at that, but she had never actually felt like it until that moment. She had asked a deeply personal question so offhandedly and she mentally kicked herself, berating herself for her total lack of couth.
Silvia sat up and faced the teenage girl who looked like she was in the middle of world war III with herself, "It really is okay, Pepa. I promise."
Pepa's features softened and to the redhead appeared to have stopped beating herself up. The brunette wanted to learn more, not only to make up for her stupidity but also because she was genuinely interested, if Silvia was willing to share, that is.
"Would you mind if I asked why she made you want to?"
Silvia smiled, "She was my hero, that's why."
Pepa returned the smile, "I take it she was a teacher as well, then?"
The redhead sat up, sitting to Pepa's right, and nodded. "Yeah. Though, she taught Kindergartners."
Pepa's face scrunched up in disgust, "Why would someone torture themselves like that?"
Silvia shook her head and softly laughed, "I take it you don't like kids?"
"Hate them with a passion. They're so... gross."
Silvia laughed again, this time, louder, "Well, good thing my story has nothing to do with you then, huh?"
Pepa blushed, embarrassed by that, "Go on with your story then, Ms. Castro, about Mrs. Castro."
Silvia giggled, something she noticed she had been doing a lot of lately. She began to tell Pepa of all the wonderful things her mom would do for the kids she would teach and about all the gifts of macaroni art and finger paints she would receive. She told her about how when she herself was in kindergarten and in her mama's class, all the other students were jealous of her. Then she told Pepa about how some of her mom's students who went on to graduate high school would come back just to say hi.
"They all loved her, but what they didn't know was that as great a teacher as she was, she was an even better mom. Even when she'd be tired from work she'd make sure that she'd spend as much time as possible with Lola and me. She'd cook and clean and work and play with us... I honestly don't know how the hell she did it!"
Pepa didn't miss the awe that passed across the redhead's face at her telling. She also didn't miss the love that beamed off of the redhead toward that of her mama.
"She always told me that education was the most important thing any one could possess." she sighed happily, "I wanted to be just like her, ya know, hence the teachering."
"Teachering? Is that a real word?"
Silvia snorted, "Yeppers." She turned toward Pepa to see her nodding her head. "She was my hero... still is my hero, actually."
The brunette grinned at that, "I can see that."
"It's hard, though," Silvia started, her happiness about her mother dimming slightly, "I can't think about how happy I was with her, without remembering how much it killed me when she was taken away. Her love and light, gone from me. I was nine then and it still hurts."
There was silence around them once more, this one not as welcome and care free as the silence that permeated between them when they started their short walk. This silence hurt to hear, it needed to be pierced.
"How?" A simple yet completely loaded question.
"Slowly and painfully."
Pepa had been paying rapt attention to her companion's reminiscing. Her first instinct was to say that she was sorry, but she knew the redhead didn't want an apology. Why would she? What would saying, 'I'm sorry' to someone accomplish in this situation?
Instead she asked, "Do you miss her?"
The tiny smile that the teacher had been sporting while telling of her mother returned. A bit of melancholy tinged her answer, "Everyday of my life." She sniffled and Pepa, in hearing that sniffle, so desperately wanted to comfort her, to embrace her, but wasn't sure how well it would be recieved. She wasn't good with the emotional things.
She decided to try and ease the redhead in another way. Pain for pain. She inhaled deeply.
"When I was seven..." she started, unsure on as to why she wanted to tell this story of her life to the redhead. She never talked to anyone about this. Certainly not her friends, not even to Paco. Sure, he knew, but she never wanted to talk about it. "My dad ran out on us. My mom and me... Paco was already gone and out doing his civic duty, so it was just my mom and me. On our own." she stopped to lick her lips.
"He left us for some chick that he'd been fucking behind my mom's back for years! Before I was even born, actually." The student sighed, "Ladies can't resist the Miranda charm." this time she felt remorse talking about the 'Miranda charm' instead of the pride of earlier.
Silvia turned toward the brunette, unhidden tears from her own life story welled in her eyes, her brows furrowing at the brunette's words in wonderment as to why Pepa was telling her this. She chose to stay silent and listen and wait to see where she was going with it.
"He was never really around, so when he had packed up and left, I had no idea what the hell was going on. I figured another business trip. It was nicer when he was on business trips; there wasn't any yelling. I was happy. Stupidly happy that he was going to be gone for so long." She chuckled ruefully. "That way me and my mommy could spend more happy time together. Also, I'd get some super cool new toy or something when he came back." She chuckled without humor, "He always brought back toys."
Silvia chuckled softly at the gleam in the brunette's eyes when she spoke of toys.
"Ya know if you put a picture of me and my asshole dad next to each other, there'd be no question that I was his. My eyes are his, my nose, my cheekbones, my lips." The brunette smiled brightly, "I think I'm hotter, though."
Silvia snorted at that which made the brunette's smile wider.
Pepa's smile wavered, "My mom saw it; The similarities."
She cast a glance toward Silvia before facing forward, her profile shown to the redhead as she pulled her knees up to place her chin on them, her arms surrounding her legs. A position that gave her a strange sense of comfort, like someone embracing her. She sat quietly as she stared off into space, sat quietly for so long that Silvia was unsure if she'd continue. Silvia was about to say something, help the girl along, but didn't have to as Pepa took another breath.
"She blamed me." It was whispered so softly that if the redhead were an inch further than where she sat from the brunette she wouldn't have heard. Silvia's eyes welled up even more so at Pepa's meekness.
"I was seven and my dad was gone and I needed a mom. I was seven and the mom that was supposed to be loving me, hated me." The girl's own eyes filled with water as she lay her cheek on her knee to look at the Spanish teacher. Filled with warm liquid as memories of being pushed aside when she scraped her knee and wanted comfort resurfaced. Memories of being dismissed when asking for a hug coming home from school because kids teased her about her height. "She hated me because I reminded her of him."
Silvia had never felt such animosity build up in her so quickly. Such disgust for a person she didn't even know, two people she didn't even know. She never knew she could feel that way about anyone, let alone two someones she had never met. Her blood ran hot like lava through her veins and she clenched her fists ready to attack. But with no one there to physically attack, she could only sit and seethe and clench her fists at her sides.
The brunette noticed the effect her tale had caused in the woman beside her and placed her hand over the redhead's to calm her. "God, I didn't... I didn't tell you this to infuriate you, Sil." She waited until she saw the anger visibly drain from the teacher.
"I'm sorry, Pepa." Silvia opened her hand and turned it palm upward, interlocking their fingers. It may have been inappropriate, that sort of touching, but at that point the Spanish teacher didn't give a flying fuck.
The girl smiled warily, "I didn't tell you that for your sympathy, either, Princesa." She swallowed her own emotions like a lump down her throat, the voicing of her past reopening wounds that she thought were long closed.
"I... well, oddly, I told you that to comfort you." She chuckled then, the reaction she had received making her reconsider her comforting strategy.
Silvia joined the mild laughter for a moment, "How would that... I mean, how is that comforting?" she didn't mean it to sound rude and it didn't come out that way, Pepa didn't take it that way, either. She sounded curious which she was.
Pepa licked her lips then to moisten them and straightened out her legs in front of her as she tried to get her wording just right. "I thought... I just wanted to... tell you that," she licked her lips again, "to let you know that..." She was struggling a bit, "Well... I know what it feels like, Silvia." she smiled as nicely as she could.
The redhead cocked her head to the side in question.
The brunette knew by the expression posed to her from the older woman that she needed to elaborate. "Ya know, I know what it feels like... to lose a mother's love."
Silvia couldn't hold it back any longer, the warm salty liquid slid down her cheeks generously. Hearing Pepa say that broke her heart. It broke for the girl's pain and it broke for her own.
"Oh shit, Princesa, please don't cry. Remember? I'm not good with crying." She cupped the redhead's face and wiped away some tears with the pads of her thumbs, "Please, I'm sorry. I didn't..." she swallowed, "I'm sorry for whatever I did."
The teacher shook her head but gripped one of the taller girl's hands, "You didn't do anything wrong, Pepa." she turned and placed a soft kiss on the palm of the hand she had in her grasp, "You didn't. Not then and not now."
That small kiss, as innocent and comforting as it was supposed to be, sparked something in the teenager. Their eyes met in a warm embrace, but Pepa sensed more and she acted on her senses. She kissed the redhead, not innocently and not comfortingly, on the lips.
She kissed to arouse. She kissed to enflame and at first it was returned in kind. At first it was reciprocated. At first it was welcomed and she moved in with confidence, her lips parting to suck on a bottom lip.
At first ended all too quickly for either of them to comprehend and Second thoughts kicked in with harsh reality as the teacher pushed her away with fingers to a chest.
The redhead sat for a moment of clarity before she stood on shaky legs. "That was wrong, though."
Pepa, stunned by her own actions and equally stunned by the other woman's reactions, stood as well. "I'm sorry. I-I,"
"I have to go. We... That's not... I have to go."
And she did.
And Pepa didn't know what to do.
Another A/N- Yup okay, that's it for now. Sorry if it is kinda choppy. I didn't write in order. In fact, I started the end of this chapter first. So, anyway, yeah, hope it was understandable to ya'll. :)
Another chance encounter came upon them a little after Halloween, a little over two weeks since their lunch together. The leaves all around changing colors, a beautiful sight for something that symbolized death, but the weather temperature was a nice seventy-eight. A nice reprieve from the forties and below of the past week and many people were taking advantage of the nice weather. Silvia and her family included.
While setting up the picnic table, conversing with her sister about how she surprisingly enjoys her new job and reprimanding her father for grumbling about how they should have had steaks instead of rabbit food for their outdoor lunch, she glanced across the park. She spotted the brunette student that she tried her damndest not to think about on a daily -hourly- basis, walking with some guy with a beard.
The redhead stared for a moment, a silly grin on her lips as she watched the two brunettes interact. It was kind of cute to her the way Pepa gesticulated when she talked, almost narrating her words with her hands. But her silly grin quickly disappeared, a frown replacing it, when the man cuffed Pepa on the back of the head and before anyone, Silvia included, knew what was happening she was poking the bearded man in the chest.
"It's not nice to just go around hitting people, you know." she scolded.
She didn't know why she had rushed over and decided to protect her student. And when she saw the man wince at her words, probably because he thought she was some lunatic chick, and Pepa chuckle a bit, she lifted a brow, "What?"
"Ow." The man whispered so as not to look like a wuss in front of the stranger and tried to discreetly rub away the pain of the spot she poked.
Pepa smiled a blinding smile. Not only was she excited to see Silvia, because just seeing her always makes her heart skip a beat, but she was also amused at how ready to defend her Silvia was. It made her feel kind of important.
"God, Pelirroja, can I keep you?"
"Excuse me?"
"You're gorgeous when you're defending my honor."
Silvia blushed prettily at that, "Well... he... I," she stammered and felt like a four year old trying to explain their actions for hitting their cousin, "I saw... he hit you." She finally got out.
Pepa continued to smile and glanced lovingly at the man beside her who was trying to look everywhere else but at Pepa's teacher, "He's my brother."
Silvia's shade of red darkened as she mumbled, "So, that, like, makes it okay for him to do it?"
The brunette girl was amused at how soft spoken the redhead had become. In the span of ten seconds or so her bark had gone from a pitbull's to a toy poodle's.
"If I may?" the man amongst them interjected, "In my defense, miss, we were just goofing, and I mean, if you know Pepa at all, which obviously you do because you're here and she greeted you and you guys were having a conversation, so of course you know her somewhat, then you know how big a smart ass she can be." his eyes widened and he quickly continued, "Not that, you know, not that that makes it okay to hit someone. You shouldn't hit someone just cuz they're obnoxious, but-"
Silvia couldn't help herself, the way he rambled on and fidgeted slightly, his mannerisms, in that moment she could see and hear how they were related and she giggled, interrupting his one man dialogue, "Debate Team, too, huh?" she giggled some more.
"Huh?" The man clearly not understanding the inside joke.
Pepa pursed her lips and growled a playful growl that sent an unexpected shiver down the redhead's spine. "Yuck it up, Princesa."
The teacher nodded, "I totally am." Her eyes twinkled in delight as her bouts of giggles continued.
"I see that." Pepa retorted and rolled her eyes before blowing out an exasperated breath. "Are you done yet?"
The redhead sobered and nodded then turned remorseful eyes on Pepa's brother, "I'm sorry for poking you... and well, everything. I just seem to jump really quickly to conclusions. Wrong conclusions." she admitted. It was something she never thought she'd ever have to admit. It was something she never thought she'd have to admit being that she was always one to analyze a situation before acting. It wasn't until recently, and only around the lanky brunette, that she found herself throwing rationality out the window.
He smiled charmingly and the Spanish teacher saw another quality the two siblings shared, "It's okay, no harm done," though the dull throb in shoulder still sort of hurt, "My name's Paco, by the way." he extended his hand.
"Silvia. I'm Pepa's Spanish teacher at the high school." she grinned as she accepted his greeting.
Paco's smile cooled slightly and his brow arched as he turned to his sister who looked the picture of innocence; a little too innocent when she started to whistle. He was about to reprimand his 'innocent' sister, his mouth opened and ready, but he stopped abruptly when a woman with curly hair appeared behind the school teacher distracting him, making him lose his train of thought.
"Silvia, what are you doing? Papa and I are waiting, we're ready to-" Paco's distracting woman began before her eyes connected with Pepa's brother's, her words halted as she got lost in their gaze. "Eat." she finished when she regained control of her mind.
"Okay, Lola, I was just-"
"Who's your friend?" Lola interrupted as she looked pointedly at Paco. She felt a pull toward the handsome bearded man immediately and waited impatiently for her slow sister to make an introduction. She smiled coyly and, deciding that the two seconds Silvia took was taking too long, made her own introductions.
"I'm Lola." She smiled and waved prettily with her fingers.
The man, mouth still agape, forced his brain to work and his lips to move as he answered, "Paco."
Pepa and Silvia shared a knowing look. They didn't need to be geniuses to figure out what was happening between their siblings. They both knew their own family and how they acted when confronted with someone they found attractive. Silvia smirked inwardly and Pepa rolled her eyes outwardly.
"You know, we have plenty of food for two more..." Lola suggested, causing the smirking teacher and the eye rolling student to look at her with wide eyes. As much as they both secretly wanted to spend more time together, they knew that Papa Castro would not make it an enjoyable time. He would be none too pleased with that scenario, his dislike of Pepa and all.
"That's very sweet of you to offer, but-" Pepa started with an excuse, but was cut off.
"We'd love to! Right, Pepa?" Paco's smile grew before he turned back to Lola, a slight hint of worry on his face, "Of course, that is, if you're sure it wouldn't be a problem?"
"Well, you know-" Silvia started with an excuse of her own, but she was cut off, too.
"We'd love you to! Right, Silvia?" Lola's smile matched the excitement of Paco's as she gestured with her head to be followed to the table. The bearded one didn't hesitate and did as was directed, leaving the teacher and student standing in the background alone.
Pepa blinked as seconds ticked by before furrowing her eyebrows. She crossed her arms and leaned over to talk into Silvia's ear, "Umm... do you think she even noticed my existence?"
Silvia, who was watching the couple who deserted them, giggled at the brunette's inquiry. "Uh, I think even if you were doing the macarena while a dozen birds crapped on your head one by one, she still wouldn't have noticed you there."
Pepa laughed at that answer before eying the redhead curiously, a perfect eyebrow arched, "You'd love to see that, wouldn't you?"
"Picturing it as we speak." She smirked.
Brow still arched and being determined to wipe that look off of Ms. Castro's face, Pepa moved closer to the shorter woman and whispered huskily, "You don't even want to know what I'm picturing you doing in my head." The brunette grinned as her words laced in subtext had the desired effect on the slightly shivering redhead.
Silvia's smirk faltered as she imagined what she thought the brunette was thinking then cleared her throat, "Well, we should probably move on over there."
The teenager nodded, but her feet didn't move. She shuddered the thought of spending any more time than what the school and law mandated her to with coach Castro.
"He isn't going to be too happy about my being at your lunch, is he?"
"C'mon, it won't be that bad."
"I'm actually certain that if I ask him to pass me the salad or something, he'll kill me instead."
Silvia scoffed, "You're being over dramatic. He will not kill you, Pepa." she pulled on the teen's arm to get her to move and as they neared the picnic table added, "Maim maybe, but not kill."
Pepa bumped her teacher's shoulder with her own, "Funny, Princesa. Have I told you lately that I hate you?"
The redhead grinned impishly, "I'm calling bullshit." she said in a sing song voice and walked over to her father who was in the middle of meeting the older Miranda. It appeared that her papa liked him, or at least didn't hate him, being that he wasn't exploding at his intrusion on their family time and, instead, having a normal conversation about a football team or something.
Silvia wrapped her arms around her already seated father and explained that there was a second guest and the expected reaction came when the old man looked up and saw who it was. The Miranda girl just waved halfheartedly and looked away. He glared at her until Silvia's light slap to his shoulder and plea for him to be nice, then he tried to be indifferent and nodded his head and smiled a smile reserved only for his daughters.
All seated, the three eldest at one end and the two youngest at the other sitting across from each other, the food was passed around and conversation began. First topic began with Papa Castro grilling Paco about what he did for a living and Lola interrupting happily to add how 'nice looking' a man in uniform is when Paco answered that he was on the force. Then it progressed into something about Law&Order. The show, not the real system, and how inaccurate and unrealistic a lot of the things on it are. It was at that point that Pepa stopped paying any attention and placed her thoughts elsewhere; namely across the table from herself and on the redhead in front of her.
The thought about redhead felt herself being watched and glanced at the brunette student. She always knew when the student had her eyes on her because a certain tingly feeling swept through her every time. It was hard to concentrate on anything else but the feel of those eyes and where those eyes were lingering. That was why she fumbled a lot over her lessons in her seventh period class.
Silvia lifted a brow at Pepa, "What?" she asked, only loud enough for the two of them to hear.
Pepa shook her head, doubling as a way to get out of her daze and also to disregard the redhead's question, and turned back to stabbing at the food on her plate.
The park family lunch went on like that for a while. Conversation between the three oldest that once in a while the redhead chimed in with a word or phrase, quick shared glances between the younger two, and assault with a deadly weapon towards Pepa's plate of food. Then, something interrupted the monotony: A ringtone. A ringtone signalling to Silvia that she received a text message.
I'm watching you.
Silvia read the message and squinted, befuddled, then checked the number of the sender. Not recognizing it, she assumed whoever had sent the text sent it to the wrong person and she disregarded it. She placed her phone back and continued to eat her food. Fork half way in her mouth, her phone rang again.
I wish I could be that fork.
The redhead set her utensil down, the strange message giving her chills, chills in a bad way. Feeling watched, she looked around her, seeing nothing out of the ordinary she decided to respond this time.
Who is this?
She waited a beat until her phone alerted her of another incoming message. Instead of an answer, another weird message.
I want you to rub that ranch dressing all over my body!
The Spanish teacher's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she caught a glimpse of the bottle of Hidden Valley ranch next to her. Before she could react, another message beeped. She checked it.
You're much more incredible to watch in the daylight.
Silvia gulped nervously. Another alert.
The moonlight through your window just doesn't illuminate your beautiful features as well as the sun can.
Those words thoroughly creeped her out and her eyes widened even more so as she read it over. She choked on the half masticated lettuce in her mouth.
Conversation at the table halted as they all asked what was wrong. Asked if she was okay. All asked except one, the brunette student, who, instead of questioning the redhead's safety, sat snickering across the table.
"Pepa?" Paco chastised, "You're being impolite."
The lanky girl sobered her features, while inside she laughed heartily, and nodded. "Sorry. I just remembered a funny thing that happened." she turned playful eyes on Silvia, "Ms. Castro's face just reminded me of it, is all. I'm sorry."
Silvia narrowed her gaze on Pepa and cocked a brow. The small pang of fear gone as her unidentified text sender became obvious to her now. "I'm fine guys. Thanks."
Accepting that answer, the three at the head of the table went back to their conversation of how stupid Walker: Texas Ranger was, Lola throwing in her two sense about cowboy hats making Paco want to buy a cowboy hat for himself.
With no one paying any attention to them, the redhead flipped off the chuckling girl which seemed to only make the chuckling girls glee grow. Seeing that reaction, Silvia resorted to physical violence and kicked the joker under the table.
Pepa grimaced for a split second before she smiled her thousand watt smile and pulled out her phone for the woman across from her to see. Her thumbs glided quickly before Silvia's ringtone went off again.
You should have seen your face! :p
Silvia glared and Pepa beamed.
Ahh, priceless!
The redhead shook her head and stifled the grin threatening to escape.
UR sick
I'm awesome!!!
UR insane
I was bored & it was funny as hell!
Howd U get my #
Hello! Weren't my messages clear!
Wat?
I'm stalking you, duh!
Dats not funny
Yes it is
No its not
Sí, Pelirroja
No, Morena
Sí, Princesa!
No, Reina!
Sí
No
Yes
No
I'm right
UR wrong
I'm awesome
UR n idiot
Pepa laughed out loud, literally not LOL typed, she laughed out loud garnering attention from everyone. The three that had been left out of their texting conversation looked at her like she was crazy, coach Castro's look had a little bit of disgust wrapped in there. Pepa only waved them off and faced the Spanish teacher who was the snickering now. It was the brunette's turn to cock her brow.
Walk with me?
Silvia wanted to immediately respond with a yes, but had a niggling voice in the back of her mind telling her she should respond otherwise. The student could see the internal war written across the angelic face and decided to add an incentive.
I'll tell you how I got your phone number
It wasn't hard to get at all, actually. Mr. Castro had a bad habit of leaving his phone around his gym office and Pepa liked to play practical jokes on him by messing with it. Once she downloaded a weird porn picture of a girl and a goat and saved it as his wallpaper, the explosion that stunt garnered still made her laugh. The last time she messed with it, before taking a picture of some kid who's gym shorts showed a bit too much crack to save as his screensaver, she looked up her favorite teacher's number.
Silvia was quite curious about how the teen got her number and relented. She stood and gestured for the girl to do the same before telling the others that they'd be back in a bit. A few feet away from the table the redhead asked where exactly they were walking to, the brunette simply shrugged.
"I don't care. As long as I'm no longer there with your dad glaring at me every ten seconds, my brother stupidly fumbling over his words when he looks at your sister, and your sister throwing herself at him while trying not to make it look obvious in front of your dad."
Silvia chortled, "True. That was getting kinda..."
"Unbearable?" Pepa finished for her.
They bowed their heads in agreeance and continued down the grass to the paved walkway. The warm sun bathed their exposed skin as they walked in relative silence for a bit. It wasn't awkward, the silence that encompassed them, it was nice, they were enjoying each others company. But Silvia wanted to break them of it, she wanted an answer.
"So, how did you get my number, Miranda?"
Miss Miranda gave a sly smile, "A master stalker never reveals her secrets."
Silvia nudged the taller girl with an elbow and rolled her eyes, "You said you'd tell me if I walked with you."
"A master stalker always lies to get their prey to fall to them."
Silvia leveled her gaze on the infuriating girl. "I will kick you again."
"A master stalker is never afraid of a little pa-OW! you fucking kicked my shin again!" The 'master stalker' exclaimed, genuinely surprised by that.
Silvia smirked, "A master stalkee knows how to defend herself!" and she laughed at her own joke and at Pepa hopping on one foot as she rubbed her kicked appendage. Her merriment ended, though, as soon as she saw the gleam in the teenager's eyes, for she knew she was in trouble.
"A master stalker is gonna kick you in your ass!" The teen growled in mock anger.
The redhead took off as fast as she could down the trail, giggling as she dodged oncoming people. Her legs may not have been as long as the teen following her, therefore her strides were shorter, but she was more fit than the brunette and she gained a bit of distance between herself and the lanky girl. When she chanced a glance backward she saw the brunette sitting on the grass, holding her ankle with a pained expression.
Afraid that Pepa had seriously hurt herself, she jogged as fast as she could to get back to her. Hearing a soft whimper escape the girl's lips she knelt in front of her, "God, Pepa! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Rolling the pant leg of the brunette's jeans up to check if there was any swelling on the ankle, Silvia caught the glint in Pepa's eyes, realizing all too late her mistake. "Oh no."
"A master stalker always lies to get-"
The Spanish teacher tried to take off then, but was easily nabbed by a madly grinning and maniacally laughing Spanish student.
Both on their feet, Pepa gripped tightly to the teacher's forearms, keeping her from retreating. Knowing she was trapped, Silvia tried to reason with her captor.
"Now, Pepa," she attempted a scolding tone, "You don't want to do something you'll regret, do you?"
Pepa's shoulders slumped as she looked apologetically toward the smaller woman, "You're right." she sighed and let go causing a sigh of relief from the captured one.
But the relief of the captured one was short lived as the captor swiftly kicked her rear and jetted off laughing.
"Oh ho, you are dead, Miranda!"
Silvia hadn't acted this immature in a long time. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time and she realized then that she wanted to have more of it. Acting like a complete moron and physically abusing someone else shouldn't have been so entertaining, she never thought it would ever be entertaining, but she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
The chase was on again, this time the roles of chaser and chasee reversed. Pepa was fast but the cigarettes she smoked lessened her running endurance and it wasn't long before her pace slowed some. Slowed enough for the redheaded woman to catch up to her. Slowed enough for the teacher to collide into her with enough force to knock her over and make her ass connect with the ground.
Both were laughing and Silvia decided to act more childish. Standing above Pepa she pointed at the fallen brunette, "I hope your ass hurts as much as mine, Reina!"
The girl on the ground could only respond with her middle finger in the air as she laid herself down to catch her breath. The redhead giggled at that before joining her, their laughter calming down along with their heartbeats.
"I think I need to exercise more if your old self can keep up with me." Pepa muttered a bit breathlessly.
Silvia gasped at that, "You did not just call me old!" she smacked the rascally girl on the belly, "I'm only six years older than you!"
"Whatever grams."
"I'll murder you."
"I'm quivering in fear." Pepa deadpanned.
"You can go to hell, Miranda." the twinkle in her eyes removing the hatred of those words. "You know, you should stop smoking, too. That'll probably help your running away from me skills, too." Silvia could still smell the faint tobacco scent that wafted from Pepa's clothes. It didn't bother her like it usually did when she smelt it on others.
Pepa knew a lecture was approaching. Not wanting another one on the dangers of smoking, being that her brother had scolded her earlier about how each cigarette takes a day off your life to which she replied that it would only be the old boring years of her life anyway which in turn earned her that smack to the back of her head that caught Silvia's attention, she decided a change of subject was in order.
"Your sister's screwed, ya know."
"Want to inform me on what the hell you're goin' on about?"
Pepa chuckled, "With my brother."Silvia's scrunched eyebrows made the brunette elaborate, "She's hopelessly lost in the Miranda Charm." she said with a bit of pride.
"The what?" Silvia asked incredulously.
"The Miranda Charm! It never fails."
The redhead could only stare dumbly at the smiling girl. "What charm, pray tell, are you talking about? All I saw was a man bumbling every time my sister looked at him."
Pepa nodded, "That's his way of charming chicks. It works all the time. Dunno why, but girls find that trait in him endearing."
"Okaaaaay." Silvia nodded, pretending to understand. "Is that how you get girls, too then?"
Pepa scoffed and grabbed at her heart dramatically. "I most certainly do not do that! I'm just so hot that I'm irresistible." she said seriously, but the sparkle in her eyes let the other woman know she was anything but.
That caused the redhead to burst out in an uncontrolled fit of snorts and laughter, which was the intended purpose, but the way the redhead was rolling around in the grass clutching her stomach somewhat incensed the teenage girl.
"Okay, it wasn't that funny." she said pouting.
Silvia realized her actions made the girl next to her brute and she tried her hardest to calm herself. It wasn't that the brunette wasn't hot, it was just that that was such a shallow remark for someone claiming to be charming enough to get anyone she wanted.
"Aww," she managed in between light giggles, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mock your charming self." she finished sarcastically.
"I was charming enough to get you, wasn't I?" Pepa waggled her eyebrows suggestively and Silvia rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, it totally was your obvious charm and had absolutely nothing to do with the tequila shots I was offered 'til I couldn't see straight." She remarked.
"Whatever. You know I charmed the underpants off of you that night." Pepa jested.
The memories of that night slid unconsciously to the forefront of the minds of the two women laying in the grass. For a moment, they stayed still and silent as a warmth ran through their bodies, that night in the stall playing like a movie. The eager touches and desperate tongues, the erotic whimpers and seductive groans, the movement of hips and grasps of encouragement in a movie starring themselves.
Silvia swallowed what little bit of wetness she had left in her mouth and Pepa licked her lips as they both, regrettably, willed the visions away. They weren't allowed to think such things. They had agreed after all.
Pepa needed to think of something else, anything else, she needed to clear her mind of her impure thoughts and her impulse to simply say, "Fuck it," and jump on the redhead. She cleared her throat and said the first, non-sexual, thing that came to her mind.
"So, what made you want to become a teacher?" Pepa sat up then and pulled out her lighter to give her fingers something to play with as a distraction. It was either play with the lighter or itch to touch the flesh of the woman laying beside her.
The redhead, thankful for the reprieve of the smut she was remembering, smiled at the brunette for thinking of a safe subject to talk about.
She waited until her body temperature was back to normal before she answered sweetly, "My mama."
Pepa started to burn blades of grass around her and asked without thinking, "So, where is your mom then?"
A heavy silence from the person next to her made her look up from her wrongful treatment of nature and the appearance on the face of the beautiful woman made her panic. She knew she said something wrong. Something she wasn't supposed to say. Something the redhead didn't like. She had upset her and she didn't know why.
"I... Sil, I, uh, I didn't mean to upset you, I," she started to apologize, but Silvia's face softened at the stuttering brunette.
"No, Pepa, it's okay. I know you didn't mean to. It's not like you would know that she passed away."
Pepa felt like an idiot. Sure, people called her that on a daily basis, the father of the woman sitting next to her the most vocal at that, but she had never actually felt like it until that moment. She had asked a deeply personal question so offhandedly and she mentally kicked herself, berating herself for her total lack of couth.
Silvia sat up and faced the teenage girl who looked like she was in the middle of world war III with herself, "It really is okay, Pepa. I promise."
Pepa's features softened and to the redhead appeared to have stopped beating herself up. The brunette wanted to learn more, not only to make up for her stupidity but also because she was genuinely interested, if Silvia was willing to share, that is.
"Would you mind if I asked why she made you want to?"
Silvia smiled, "She was my hero, that's why."
Pepa returned the smile, "I take it she was a teacher as well, then?"
The redhead sat up, sitting to Pepa's right, and nodded. "Yeah. Though, she taught Kindergartners."
Pepa's face scrunched up in disgust, "Why would someone torture themselves like that?"
Silvia shook her head and softly laughed, "I take it you don't like kids?"
"Hate them with a passion. They're so... gross."
Silvia laughed again, this time, louder, "Well, good thing my story has nothing to do with you then, huh?"
Pepa blushed, embarrassed by that, "Go on with your story then, Ms. Castro, about Mrs. Castro."
Silvia giggled, something she noticed she had been doing a lot of lately. She began to tell Pepa of all the wonderful things her mom would do for the kids she would teach and about all the gifts of macaroni art and finger paints she would receive. She told her about how when she herself was in kindergarten and in her mama's class, all the other students were jealous of her. Then she told Pepa about how some of her mom's students who went on to graduate high school would come back just to say hi.
"They all loved her, but what they didn't know was that as great a teacher as she was, she was an even better mom. Even when she'd be tired from work she'd make sure that she'd spend as much time as possible with Lola and me. She'd cook and clean and work and play with us... I honestly don't know how the hell she did it!"
Pepa didn't miss the awe that passed across the redhead's face at her telling. She also didn't miss the love that beamed off of the redhead toward that of her mama.
"She always told me that education was the most important thing any one could possess." she sighed happily, "I wanted to be just like her, ya know, hence the teachering."
"Teachering? Is that a real word?"
Silvia snorted, "Yeppers." She turned toward Pepa to see her nodding her head. "She was my hero... still is my hero, actually."
The brunette grinned at that, "I can see that."
"It's hard, though," Silvia started, her happiness about her mother dimming slightly, "I can't think about how happy I was with her, without remembering how much it killed me when she was taken away. Her love and light, gone from me. I was nine then and it still hurts."
There was silence around them once more, this one not as welcome and care free as the silence that permeated between them when they started their short walk. This silence hurt to hear, it needed to be pierced.
"How?" A simple yet completely loaded question.
"Slowly and painfully."
Pepa had been paying rapt attention to her companion's reminiscing. Her first instinct was to say that she was sorry, but she knew the redhead didn't want an apology. Why would she? What would saying, 'I'm sorry' to someone accomplish in this situation?
Instead she asked, "Do you miss her?"
The tiny smile that the teacher had been sporting while telling of her mother returned. A bit of melancholy tinged her answer, "Everyday of my life." She sniffled and Pepa, in hearing that sniffle, so desperately wanted to comfort her, to embrace her, but wasn't sure how well it would be recieved. She wasn't good with the emotional things.
She decided to try and ease the redhead in another way. Pain for pain. She inhaled deeply.
"When I was seven..." she started, unsure on as to why she wanted to tell this story of her life to the redhead. She never talked to anyone about this. Certainly not her friends, not even to Paco. Sure, he knew, but she never wanted to talk about it. "My dad ran out on us. My mom and me... Paco was already gone and out doing his civic duty, so it was just my mom and me. On our own." she stopped to lick her lips.
"He left us for some chick that he'd been fucking behind my mom's back for years! Before I was even born, actually." The student sighed, "Ladies can't resist the Miranda charm." this time she felt remorse talking about the 'Miranda charm' instead of the pride of earlier.
Silvia turned toward the brunette, unhidden tears from her own life story welled in her eyes, her brows furrowing at the brunette's words in wonderment as to why Pepa was telling her this. She chose to stay silent and listen and wait to see where she was going with it.
"He was never really around, so when he had packed up and left, I had no idea what the hell was going on. I figured another business trip. It was nicer when he was on business trips; there wasn't any yelling. I was happy. Stupidly happy that he was going to be gone for so long." She chuckled ruefully. "That way me and my mommy could spend more happy time together. Also, I'd get some super cool new toy or something when he came back." She chuckled without humor, "He always brought back toys."
Silvia chuckled softly at the gleam in the brunette's eyes when she spoke of toys.
"Ya know if you put a picture of me and my asshole dad next to each other, there'd be no question that I was his. My eyes are his, my nose, my cheekbones, my lips." The brunette smiled brightly, "I think I'm hotter, though."
Silvia snorted at that which made the brunette's smile wider.
Pepa's smile wavered, "My mom saw it; The similarities."
She cast a glance toward Silvia before facing forward, her profile shown to the redhead as she pulled her knees up to place her chin on them, her arms surrounding her legs. A position that gave her a strange sense of comfort, like someone embracing her. She sat quietly as she stared off into space, sat quietly for so long that Silvia was unsure if she'd continue. Silvia was about to say something, help the girl along, but didn't have to as Pepa took another breath.
"She blamed me." It was whispered so softly that if the redhead were an inch further than where she sat from the brunette she wouldn't have heard. Silvia's eyes welled up even more so at Pepa's meekness.
"I was seven and my dad was gone and I needed a mom. I was seven and the mom that was supposed to be loving me, hated me." The girl's own eyes filled with water as she lay her cheek on her knee to look at the Spanish teacher. Filled with warm liquid as memories of being pushed aside when she scraped her knee and wanted comfort resurfaced. Memories of being dismissed when asking for a hug coming home from school because kids teased her about her height. "She hated me because I reminded her of him."
Silvia had never felt such animosity build up in her so quickly. Such disgust for a person she didn't even know, two people she didn't even know. She never knew she could feel that way about anyone, let alone two someones she had never met. Her blood ran hot like lava through her veins and she clenched her fists ready to attack. But with no one there to physically attack, she could only sit and seethe and clench her fists at her sides.
The brunette noticed the effect her tale had caused in the woman beside her and placed her hand over the redhead's to calm her. "God, I didn't... I didn't tell you this to infuriate you, Sil." She waited until she saw the anger visibly drain from the teacher.
"I'm sorry, Pepa." Silvia opened her hand and turned it palm upward, interlocking their fingers. It may have been inappropriate, that sort of touching, but at that point the Spanish teacher didn't give a flying fuck.
The girl smiled warily, "I didn't tell you that for your sympathy, either, Princesa." She swallowed her own emotions like a lump down her throat, the voicing of her past reopening wounds that she thought were long closed.
"I... well, oddly, I told you that to comfort you." She chuckled then, the reaction she had received making her reconsider her comforting strategy.
Silvia joined the mild laughter for a moment, "How would that... I mean, how is that comforting?" she didn't mean it to sound rude and it didn't come out that way, Pepa didn't take it that way, either. She sounded curious which she was.
Pepa licked her lips then to moisten them and straightened out her legs in front of her as she tried to get her wording just right. "I thought... I just wanted to... tell you that," she licked her lips again, "to let you know that..." She was struggling a bit, "Well... I know what it feels like, Silvia." she smiled as nicely as she could.
The redhead cocked her head to the side in question.
The brunette knew by the expression posed to her from the older woman that she needed to elaborate. "Ya know, I know what it feels like... to lose a mother's love."
Silvia couldn't hold it back any longer, the warm salty liquid slid down her cheeks generously. Hearing Pepa say that broke her heart. It broke for the girl's pain and it broke for her own.
"Oh shit, Princesa, please don't cry. Remember? I'm not good with crying." She cupped the redhead's face and wiped away some tears with the pads of her thumbs, "Please, I'm sorry. I didn't..." she swallowed, "I'm sorry for whatever I did."
The teacher shook her head but gripped one of the taller girl's hands, "You didn't do anything wrong, Pepa." she turned and placed a soft kiss on the palm of the hand she had in her grasp, "You didn't. Not then and not now."
That small kiss, as innocent and comforting as it was supposed to be, sparked something in the teenager. Their eyes met in a warm embrace, but Pepa sensed more and she acted on her senses. She kissed the redhead, not innocently and not comfortingly, on the lips.
She kissed to arouse. She kissed to enflame and at first it was returned in kind. At first it was reciprocated. At first it was welcomed and she moved in with confidence, her lips parting to suck on a bottom lip.
At first ended all too quickly for either of them to comprehend and Second thoughts kicked in with harsh reality as the teacher pushed her away with fingers to a chest.
The redhead sat for a moment of clarity before she stood on shaky legs. "That was wrong, though."
Pepa, stunned by her own actions and equally stunned by the other woman's reactions, stood as well. "I'm sorry. I-I,"
"I have to go. We... That's not... I have to go."
And she did.
And Pepa didn't know what to do.
Another A/N- Yup okay, that's it for now. Sorry if it is kinda choppy. I didn't write in order. In fact, I started the end of this chapter first. So, anyway, yeah, hope it was understandable to ya'll. :)