Chapter 3

Later that evening I lay in bed in my all black pj’s (of course) thinking about my day... Ok, it wasn’t “later that evening” it was actually around 4 am. I just couldn’t get Gabriel out of my head. I remember when I had arrived home I had talked to my mother and sister about something, and I think I ate somewhere in there as well, but for the most part the only destination my mind would let me wander to was him. I tried to close my eyes and file away my thoughts and experiences of the day in neat little cerebral file cabinets like I did every night when I went to bed; organizing my thoughts into some order that made sense to me and only me, but the one file would not stay closed. It stubbornly would not close, and the papers would not fit into their folders like they should. And I could not stop looking at the images that they held, the images of him,and his radiant designs... I have never had this reaction before, especially not to a boy, but I’m sure it does not mean anything and it will probably go away soon.

“It’s been a while since I knew anyone who could see my angels and demons, and you can. I’m just happy that it happened so soon. We just moved here this summer because I had to change schools again.”

He was so creative, and his creative energy was unlike anyone I’d ever seen; until this point Lewis was the most powerful person I had ever went up against, but I had a feeling that even Lewis in his Dragon form would have been no match For Gabriel and his Angels. They were so… beautiful. I just wanted to know more about him, and it seemed like there was so much to know. Was all of high school going to be like this? Where all of the people I met going to be as rich and as interesting as he was? He wasn’t in my grade, and he was 2 years older than me, but there had to be some people in my grade like him right? Maybe there’d even be a girl like me, someone like me but older, who I could look up to, the big sister that I’ve always wanted. I was having such a hard time sleeping; for the first time since the whole idea had first been brought up, I was actually looking forward to high school.

Earlier that evening…

“Tatay, did you see Lola when he came in from playing this afternoon? She was practically floating on a cloud. She was muttering something about a Boy.”

Brenan Ramirez, patriarch of the Velasquez-Ramirez clan, answered with his usual “Mmm hmm.”

Aicelle soldiered on, “I think she’s got a crush. Lola’s finally starting to act like a girl!”

“Mmm hmm”, Brenan grunted.

“Don’t you have any input on this at all? You’re little Lola is not going to be little for very much longer. She was all starry-eyed and ‘Gabrielle this’ and ‘Gabrielle that’. I wouldn’t be surprised if soon she doesn’t come home with a little boyfriend. Now what would you think of that?”

Brenan put down his bag of pork rinds, looked at his oldest daughter, and said “Lola, is not that type of girl. You and I both know that she does not understand the girly parts of her brain, and furthermore her level of thinking operates on another plane that the rest of us haven't reached yet. If and when she does fall for a boy, it can only end in tears, misunderstandings, and general disaster.”
Aicelle sighed and rolled her eyes, "Tatay, will you be positive for just once? Maybe this is finally the the sign that she is done being a tomboy and will finally start being a normal girl. We can go shopping for dresses in colors and I can do her make-up and we can talk about boys. It will be like I finally have the little sister I have always wanted."
Brenan folded his paper and took a bite of a particularly large pork rind. "You have your mother's optimism 'celle. I on the other hand, am more pragmatic, and I think I understand Lola a little better than the two of you because she is more of a tomboy. Lola is very strong-willed, and that is a good thing and a bad thing. The bad part is, her ego will blind her to even the most obvious of bad choices. But neither you nor I nor anyone else will be able to tell her differently; she will have to experience every lesson she learns on her own. Now this boy, who knows if he will be good for her or bad? In the end it is less important what he does to her than what she does to him. I am not afraid that Lola will not ever be a 'girl' as you say, I am afraid for my gender when she does chose to realize her full potential. My daughters are the most dangerous women alive." As he said this he gave a big smile to Aicelle, and she could not help but smile back.
"Tatay, what are you talking about? I never hurt anyone!"
Brenan could barely keep his chuckle to himself; he wasn't one to laugh out loud often, but when he thought of the long list of broken hearts and destroyed lives his daughter left behind her in high school and had conveniently forgotten about, even he couldn't hold back his bemusement. "Aicelle, you've broken more hearts than high cholesterol. There were always sad boys coming around looking for you, even in middle school. And you were always leaving the old one when a new, shinier boy came along. I'll count myself lucky if Lola picks one boy and stays with him the whole time through high school. I hardly got any sleep with all the boys calling for you when you were in High School.
"Whatever Daddy, I was not a heartbreaker. I was just picky. And I think it's good that Lola finally has a crush. At least now we finally have something to talk about."
"Be careful what you wish for 'celle, I don't think you really want what you're asking for." Brenan returned to his newspaper and pork rinds and muttered to himself again, "disaster".