Victor had to carry me to his car. It started as leaning on him then it turned into me not being able to move and then he gave up and he tossed me over his shoulder. That's how I exited the premises, with my ass in the air and my head bouncing against Victor's back. It was undignified and not at all how I envisioned it. What was worse was getting me home. I, who had refused to let Victor speak to my mother, had no choice but allow him to bring me home and help me enter my house.

"Ay dios mio!" My mother gasped when Victor knocked on the door with me over his shoulder.

"Buenas," Victor said in Spanish. "She's ok, she sprained her ankle."

My mother was glaring at him as if he had been the one to run me over.

"Mom, I'm fine, show him to my room." My voice was muffled against his shirt.

"You are not fine!" She hissed. "Why is he carrying you?"

"Mom!"

"Ay dios mio!" But she led us up the stairs to where my room was. My face bounced against his hard back each step. Undignified.

"She needs to keep it iced and elevated," Victor said as he placed me on my bed, he was a little out of breath which I didn't blame him as I was not a lithe 110 lbs. My little brother had popped his head in, his eyes wide as he stared up at Victor.

"You, stay here!" Mom shoved my brother in my room (a place where he was normally not allowed into). "I'm getting ice."

I stared up at Victor as he curiously took in my room. He looked out of place, he was too big for it, and I wondered if he could touch the ceiling.

"Hi, what's your name?" Victor asked my little brother. He'd just turned 11 but he was short even for his age.

"Tony," my brother said.

"I'm Victor, nice to meet you." Victor extended his hand.

"You're very tall." Tony shook his hand.

"Tony," I said. "Out."

"Mom wants me to stay here so you two don't have sex." Tony looked at me.

I groaned and laid back on my bed. "What a mess this day has been!"

Victor moved around the room and took in my bookshelf. "How many books do you have?"

"A million," Tony said. "She loves to read romance books, the more kissing the better."

"Tony!"

Victor smiled and peered into my shelf, scanning it up and down and pulling out a volume. It had a pirate undressing a wanton maid. His face was lit with mirth.

"The Pirate's Wench?"

"That's old..."

Victor hummed and put it back then he scanned my nightstand and quickly picked up the volume I had been reading last night. "Kiss of the Scoundrel?"

"Kissing," Tony nodded.

Victor laughed and handed it back to me as he saw I was hobbling to get up and snatch it back. "This explains a lot about you."

"Like what?" I smoothed the Kiss of the Scoundrel, making sure the page I had marked was still there.

"Overactive imagination, dramatics, chasing unavailable guys –"

"For your information, romantic heroes chase the heroine. Lord Hoyt chases Julia across the Scottish Highlands." I brandished the Kiss of the Scoundrel at his face.

"Why did she run away?" Victor crossed his arms across his chest.

"She didn't think he loved her back." I raised my chin. "Men are awful communicators."

"Did she ask? Did she say excuse me, Lord Hoyt -"

"She didn't! He acted indifferently, how was she supposed to know?"

"Maybe he was testing how she felt," Victor said.

I suddenly realized he was teasing me. Laughter was dancing in the corner of his eyes and I scowled at him, throwing Kiss of the Scoundrel at him.

"Becka Inez!" My mother had to walk in as I violently assaulted Victor with my deadly paperback.

"They didn't have sex," Tony said, his arms crossed as he left the room.

I pressed my hand to my face. "Oh my god."

"Antonio Samuel Montana!" She went after him, loudly demanding to know where he had heard about sex.

Victor was smiling, shaking his head. "Your family's funny."

"We're a mess," I said.

"You're going to live." Victor eyed the number of lipsticks I had collected.

"Thank you," I said. He looked at me with an amused expression. "I really fucked up today but thanks for bringing me home and carrying me up the stairs."

"Lord Hoyt would never have left a lady stranded." He nodded.

"No." I smiled.

He looked at me once more then nodded and turned to leave when he ran right into my mom who looked red after questioning my brother.

"Ya te vas?" She saw her was leaving. She was even smaller than I was and he toppled over her.

"Si, Señora Montana," he said.

"Wait, Becka, here take this -" she shoved at me the ice towel and beckoned Victor to follow her. "Let me send your mom sofrito, I just made some this morning."

"Mami!"

"Rest, Becka!"

"Yes, rest, Becka." Victor's smug smile as he followed my mother out was infuriating and I was stuck in bed with a foot the size of a bowling ball.

×××

Monday came and went in a fury of exams and it wasn't until Tuesday when I realized I had not seen Victor. He hadn't even teased me for hobbling in sneakers. I was aware that Victor was going to Puerto Rico for the summer leaving Friday and not coming back until the beginning of August. He was going to spend all summer with his grandparents and cousins and he was probably going to come back tanned and unrecognizable.

"Where's Victor?" I asked Jon whom I had pulled from one of the most blatant flirty conversations I'd had the misfortune of witnessing.

"Oh, Becky-girl!" Jon threw an arm over me. "I heard you busted your foot on Saturday."

"Yes, where is Victor?"

Jon glanced around. "He left early yesterday; said he was finished with his tests. He and that guy Edgar were going to the beach to meet up with some girls they met Saturday night."

Oh. Right.

I looked around, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"What's the matter?" Jon smiled at me. "Don't tell me you're crushing on Victor."

"Oh please!" I shoved Jon. "You know I'm not."

I wasn't.

"Well, I have a juicy bit of gossip if you want it!" He looked like he would tell the barest wind. I nodded, not really interested. "Guess who got kicked out of Virginia and is coming back home with his tail between his legs?"

I shrugged, not really listening.

"Clemente Cruz, remember him?"

My stomach froze and I stared at him.

"Yup. His mom told my mom and I overheard it," he shrugged. "Full of promise that kid, what a fucking mess. He lost his scholarship because they caught him doing lines in his dorm. He was not showing up to practice, got in fights with the coach, they kicked him out. He's done."

"He was doing drugs?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes and pinched my cheeks. "You're so innocent sometimes, I swear. Yeah, lines, perico, cocaina."

I could not believe it. Not Clem. Clem, who was so focused on his baseball. He was going to the major leagues one day. He was legendary. My stomach turned and I touched my forehead. Shit.

"His parents are pissed! They took out a second mortgage on their house to send him to school," he nodded, chewing on a toothpick.

"So, he's just coming back to Kissimmee and doing nothing?"

"Nah, his mom was here this morning registering him for the fall semester," Jon said. "Gonna add a new guy to the group if you can share us."

"I don't want him in our group," I said and he looked at me surprised.

"C'mon, Becka, that's not like you. He knows most of the guys."

I let out a frustrated sigh, this was ridiculous! It was like I couldn't get away from people in this place and the only option was just leaving this damn city. I was so annoyed that I didn't see or hear when Professor Allens stopped and called my name until Jon was tapping me on the shoulder. The retired naval captain was my English Composition teacher, he was elderly and had a scowl on his face whenever he looked at me.

"I called your name twice," he said.

"I'm sorry, Professor! I was thinking about something I didn't even see you." I tripped over myself.

"I finished reading your final paper." His blue eyes studied me with distrust. "An interesting take on Kate Chopin."

I gulped and was afraid of knowing exactly what he had graded me. "I - I really liked The Awakening."

"Yeah, I saw that, not a fancy romance book like the ones I usually see you reading," he growled. "It's got depth. No happy endings for Edna."

I nodded then I stopped. "Yeah, it was."

His brow rose.

"She ended it on her terms, her choice," I said slowly.

"Ahh." His chin trembled and I wasn't sure if it was in anger. "Ninety-four. That's what I gave you."

"Oh." I was expecting 100.

"It was the highest in the class," he spat and his spit nearly hit me. "It was the highest in all my classes."

"Oh."

"Oh, oh, if you're able to say more let me know," he said. "You still want to do prelaw and argue for the rest of your life?"

I blinked and studied him.

"A colleague of mine in Chicago has an opening for her advanced English program next year," he said. "You'd have to get your Associates first and graduate with at least a 3.85. If you can do that, I can recommend you for it."

My mouth dropped open. "Chicago?"

"Yeah Chicago, cold as fuck," he said.

"For next year?"

He nodded, still untrusting. The mere thought of somewhere new, a big city, big buildings, just filled me with excitement. An Advanced English program, I could still do Law School if I eventually wanted but to think that I could be in Chicago next year. In a dorm, away from my family and everyone else. Reinventing myself. No chance of running into Alvin or Clem or anyone else that knew me.

"Yes, Professor. I'd like to be considered," I said and his little eyes lit up.

"Smart girl," he grumbled. "I'll give Matty a call."

I watched as he hobbled away and I took a deep breath. Suddenly, the coming summer held promise. Suddenly, I had a purpose. I could graduate, had to graduate. If I signed up for two more classes for the Summer I could do it. I hardly had a life as it was, I would study my ass off. No distractions. No guys, no sex, no parties, just hitting the books and getting that GPA.

Without stopping to think about it too much I rushed to the Advising office to see if Dr. Lugo could go over an Academic Plan with me and see if I really could study my way out of Kissimmee.

×××

Summer with the girls being back home was different than I had originally envisioned. For starters, Yara was going to spend half the summer doing an internship but really it was to be near her married guy and the other half she was going with her dad to New York. I saw Rosalind once, but she quickly drove to Miami with the boyfriend which was getting more and more serious. Mercy's mom had gotten her a ticket to London where she would be visiting a girl, she met in school for three weeks. Meanwhile, I was being bogged down by my studies and when I wasn't studying, I was wearing a ridiculous costume in the theme parks.

The only good thing about this job was that the week Mercy did spend with me we were able to hop from park to park with my free tickets. My brother Tony wasn't home, he was sent with my cousins to Detroit and he was spending the whole summer there. The house was incredibly quiet and if I wanted to I could bring a guy over and no one would know. I took Mercy to Club Test and we met up with Isla and Denis but Case wasn't working and I left a note for him. A simple 'Stopped by to See You, hope you're OK'.

I called Victor, he had shit reception and he was at the beach so it was a basic how are you before we hung up, I could hear his family calling his name. Jon and Steven had decided on a road trip to Atlanta where they spent a whole week propagating their seed. I was lonely but this is when I actually met Crystal Norton. Yes, same Crystal from the 5K. She was as sweet as I remembered and she even invited me over to her house to study. She lived with her older sister and another girl and it felt like a real college apartment. After a few hours going over our notes, I turned to leave but she cleared her throat.

"So, I noticed you're friends with Victor Manning."

I paused and nodded. "Yeah."

She looked uncertain. "Does he have a girlfriend?"

I stared at her and wondered if the entire point of befriending me and inviting me to her house was to ask me questions about Victor.

"No, not that I know of but I haven't seen him in over a month, that could've changed," I said.

She nodded, her red hair falling over her face. I thought to myself Victor would like her; she was his type. Kind and she had a nice laugh.

"Of course, I just wondered. He stares at me sometimes and I just wondered," she said. I developed awful indigestion, my stomach felt sour and I had to press my hand to it. "You OK?"

"Yeah, I just... you know I ate some weird sandwich today." I laughed.

She nodded; her hazel eyes wide. "I stopped eating meat, I don't do it. It's just healthier."

"Oh," I said. "No, I mean... I'm good with meat but I really think that mayo had been out for too long. Well, thank you so much for this session, we really caught up."

"Yeah!" She walked me to her door. "I hope you feel better."

I didn't feel better. I felt like shit. So much so that when I got home, I had to lay down, my hands clutching my stomach. I felt sick like I would vomit all of the contents in my stomach. Mom brought me Vicks, even as I explained it was my stomach. She made me mint tea. It didn't help.

"Y que te cuenta Victor?" Mom asked.

"I haven't spoken to him, Mami. I don't know how he's doing," I said. My stomach felt even worse. I moaned, pressing my face to my sheets.

"Hummm." She looked me over. "Did his mom like my sofrito?"

"I don't know, he didn't say. I didn't see him," I said, and it was as if I had realized it. I had not seen him after he brought me home. He'd just left. "Mom, I really don't feel good."

My Mom looked down at me. "Shower and sleep, Becka. That's all there's to do with your condition."

What the hell did that mean? I did shower, a pathetic excuse of a shower as I sat with the water pouring over me in hot spurts. I felt a sudden, visceral need to cry. So I did and I wondered if I was PMSing. Maybe that was the problem. I slept and when I woke I felt better. I guess Mom was right.

Recommended 90s Playlist (will grow with each chapter)

1. Gettin' Jiggy With It - Will Smith

2. Kiss The Rain - Billie Myers

3. Come Baby Come - K7

4. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba

5. Bitch - Meredith Brooks

6. Something to Talk About - Bonnie Raitt

7. WannaBe - Spice Girls

8. Miami - Will Smith

9. Ghetto Supastar - Pras

10. All Cried Out - Allure

11. The Way - Fastball

12. Walkin' on the Sun - Smash Mouth

13. Can't Get Enough of You Baby - Smash Mouth

14. Stay (I missed you) - Lisa Loeb

15. Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) - The Offspring

16. Sex & Candy - Marcy Playground

17. Lullaby - Shawn Mullins

18. Inside Out - Eve 6

19. My Way - Usher

20. Last Kiss - Pearl Jam

21. She's So High - Tal Bachman

22. Slide - The Goo Goo Dolls

23. Y Hubo Alguien - Marc Anthony

24. Here's to the Night - Eve 6

25. I Love You Always Forever - Donna Lewis