A few days had passed, and as the clock ticked wild, so did Christian's growing desire to be around Carla.

It had been a few days which had passed since Christian had been coaxed by Carla into forming a sexual relationship with herself . . . and Polo. And the boy was still reluctant. He was reluctant to be treated as a fool, he was reluctant to be seen as a clown, and he was reluctant all the way as Carla joined his lips with his while Polo watched from his spot on the bed. But as aforementioned, the only thing that quashed his reluctance was desire.

His desire for Carla.

And this was how he attempted to explain it word for word to Alaska who sat opposite him, a pencil in her hand, ever in denial that what Christian was telling him could be true. She squinted her eyes with suspicion and began:

"Christian-"

"I know. I know what you're going to say before you even say it, guapa, but I know what I'm doing and this is the only way. I want Carla; Carla wants me; but Carlo also wants Polo; And Polo also wants Carla."

"Christian, I warned you in the beginning of the year, be careful of those two. I've known the two of them for as long as I've been alive but I still don't trust that they have your best interest at heart." The blonde said, showing genuine concern. There was nothing wrong with what the three of them were doing, it was their choice. But it was who they were.

Christian dramatically rolled his eyes.

"I understand what you're saying perfectly, and I'll be careful, don't worry about me."

Alaska was still not convinced. Christian noticed.

"Is it because you want me all to yourself? That's it isn't it-"

"Por favor-"

"Loski, I know that's what this is about. Don't worry, okay? You see this-" Christian paused, taking her free hand and putting it flat against his chest, feeling the sturdy 'thump' 'thump' 'thump' of his heart. "It beats for only you." He winked.

This made Alaska sincerely laugh. Christian never failed to put a smile on her face every day, regardless of it was for two seconds, or two hours. And she wouldn't admit it but she was beginning to appreciate his friendship more and more.

The first bell signalling the end of the free period rung through the library, alerting both of them.

"We have the Tutorial class now, right?" Alaska asked as they gathered their things to begin to walk out.

"Yes." He groaned, "Ander and I are nowhere near finished with our project. I hope he doesn't even ask us about it."

"Same for me, but I think he said today we're going to review and see the grades for the test we did last week."

The second bell rang again, causing the pair to pick up the pace slightly so as not to meet the final bell. They walked through the mass of students until Alaska remembered she needed her laptop charger from her locker. The blonde told Christian to go on without her because she had to take a detour.

Before she could even open the locker door, she saw the clean, white envelope which was on the slid into the locker. Flipping it over, she saw the address making her heart drop.

Para: Srta. Alaska Velazquez

De: Dr. Nada Flores

She didn't have to open the letter to know its contents, which sparked nervousness inside of her. It took a few seconds to retrieve the charger, and she put the letter and charger into her backpack and proceeded to class.

Just twenty minutes before the bell rang, while Christian talked to Alaska in the library about his dilemma, Lu asked Carla about the exact same situation

"So update me." Lu said as she sat cross-legged from Carla on the sofa in the break room of the school

"On what?" Carla asked, sending a quick message to her mother, before setting it down to face Lu, who had her head tilted with annoyance.

"No me jodes, Carla, you know exactly what I'm talking about."

Carla smirked.

"We've worked things out . . . the three of us."

Lu sighed, shaking her head.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Carla? With that Neanderthal too."

"Relax, it's all under control. In our 'relationship', Christian is like an extra wire in a plug; he makes things more exciting, but without him, it doesn't mean there'll be no power." Carla tried to explain.

"Carla, that doesn't even make any sense – forget it. Just be careful, okay? If you're adamant on making things work with Polo, then don't let this situation become permanent."

Carla nodded with the slightest eye roll at Lu's sense of overprotectiveness. She knew what she was doing, and she knew exactly that it was going to cause more good than bad.

"Y tu? How's that situation going?"

Lu's frown tilted into a smug smirk.

"It's never been better. No problems so far, but like I said. Nadia is still a threat, especially since she's becoming closer to Ala."

Carla decided to ease into what she wanted to bring up.

"She is beginning to become closer to her, now that I think about it. But I guess that's not a horrible thing; Ala hasn't had friends since us."

"Whatever. Mrs. Palestine isn't going to come between me and my man."

"Of course she won't . . . but Ala will; in fact, she already has. Your 'man' has a girlfriend, remember?" Carla asked, still trying to make Lu realise that what she was doing was completely and utterly wrong. Carla knew that it was only going to end up with both girls hurt.

Lu frowned.

"Who's side are you on, Carla?"

"No one's side," she leaned in, "but Lu, don't you think Guzman is using you? I love him but-"

"And so what? So what if he's using me?"

"Is that how you want to live? And what about Ala? Her feelings? You're not the kind of person to trample on another person-"

"Enough. I don't need this from you-"

"Just listen to what I'm saying. If you genuinely believe that this is what you have to do then by all means, go ahead. But you told me that one of the reasons you started messing around with him was because he wasn't getting anything from Alaska for months, amongst other things. What about when he finally does start sleeping with her again? What about you?"

Lu remained quiet, so Carla continued.

"Do what you want to do, but don't be a fool. Have you noticed the way they've been this week? I know you've seen how they giggle with each other by the lockers, the way he hasn't been able to keep his hands off her? Polo told me that he and Ander haven't seen him all week after school because he's hung out with her every single day, Lu, so that means the two of you haven't done anything this week. Don't. Be. A. Fool."

Lu was quiet for a few minutes.

"So what the hell do you expect me to do?"

Then the first bell rang.

"If you like Guzman, then do whatever you have to do."

-

 Martin smiled at Lu and congratulated her on her grade. From beside Alejandro, Alaska eyes drifted to the grade to see a 94% on the paper in red; she rolled her eyes at the smug look she gave to Guzman who was beside her. Behind the brunette, Nadia sat, grinning widely at her paper, so Alaska motioned for her attention.

"How'd you do?"

Nadia turned to repeat the same grin, which also caught Alejandro's attention. Both twins looked at Nadia expectantly, to which she flipped her paper over to reveal the 99% in red on the right of her sheet. 

'Fuck'; Alaska thought, looking at her 87 and her brother's 90. She knew Nadia was smart, but she didn't know she was 99% level smart.

"Fuck, you're actually a superstar at this." Alejandro said with a beam, which Lu overheard and turned her head just enough to see the mark Nadia got, which mopped the smile off her face completely.

"Your curve is going to be amazing." From the table behind her, Marina said, patting her shoulder. 

"My curve?" Nadia replied, to which Martin noticed.

"Haven't they explained this to you? Let me show you. Look." he paused, going to the board and began drawing, "This graph represents the human intelligence. On one end is a minority with lower intellectual ability, and on the other is another minority but with extremely higher intellectual ability. Making the general population fall in the centre . . ."

Martin continued to explain how the graph worked to Nadia, and the girl took notes, genuinely interested. As Lu listened to what was being said, she had a look on her face which Alaska couldn't tell if it was anger, or jealousy. But Lu was scheming, and this definitely didn't fly past her.

Then the bell rang, signalling the end of the class. 

In a rush to close the computer, Martin accidentally switched the screen which revealed a webpage about adoption. While everyone in the classroom failed to see the screen due to the hurry to get out of there, Lu definitely did, and an idea went off in her head. But she would save that for later. 

The brunette turned to her left to ask Guzman if he wanted to come over after to school to hang out, because she wouldn't see him for the last period to ask. But the frown on her face scarred deeper as she saw that he was no longer on her left but on her right . . . with Alaska. She squinted her eyes and listened in on their conversation.

"For some reason, I really want pancakes so do you want to get some after school?" Guzman asked, helping the blonde pack her belongings into her bright backpack.

Alaska raised her eyebrows in mock disbelief.

"If I remember correctly, you said you'd never eat pancakes again since that last place-"

"Okay, okay. Are we getting them or not?" He rolled his eyes dramatically and grinned, squeezing her cheeks slightly.

"Alright, I'll come, you've convinced me." 

"Great." Guzman paused to kiss her, "And after I'm coming over, and we-"

"Okay!" Alaska interrupted, feeling her face turn red.

Lu's face turned red too.

But with anger as she watched the couple and thought back to her and Carla's conversation earlier in the break room.

And she was not happy.

-

Alejandro's head snapped forward from his phone as he saw the pair of shoes that had come into his view. He smiled, looking at Nadia who also had a smile on her face and a pink box in her hands.

"You got my present." 

"I did. And as beautiful as this hijab is," Nadia started, sitting next to him, "I can't accept it."

Ale looked at her, slightly confused. 

"Por que no?"

"Alejandro . . . I haven't done anything to deserve this." Nadia replied, pushing the box towards him, trying her hardest to control her thumping heart.

"Listen. You don't have to do anything for me to want to give you something. I appreciate you and the . . . friendship we have, and everyone shows that in a different way, this is how I show mine so think about this as a thank you for taking a chance on me and my sister." He smiled, pushing the box back into her lap, "Accept it."

Nadia didn't know what to say and her heart beat harder not realsing how much she did want to keep the hijab and how much she did begin to appreciate their friendship too, even though it was only just beginning, and she knew that. Then she noticed his phone screen and that a video was playing.

"What're you watching?" She nodded at the phone screen.

Alejandro handed her left AirPod and scooted closer to her, laying his phone in between them.

"When I'm bored, I watch this cartoon called Bojack Horesman . . ."

He spent the rest of the free period explaining the episode he was watching to her. 

-

Walking into her house later that evening with Guzman next to her, she didn't even get to take a step in until Guzman got a phone call. Alaska watched as he stopped smiling and excused himself to take the call. Th blonde was confused because he had never answered a call away from her before but she wasn't going to pry because it wasn't in her personality to do so. She was definitely curious though. 

Guzman sighed, walking back to the front door. He pouted as he gave her a brief peck and said:

"I can't stay." 

"What? Why?" She pouted right back.

"My mother; she wants me home to help her out with something." 

"Oh," Alaska paused, nodding, "It's alright. "

"I'll make it up to you, I promise." he said, kissing her one last time.

"You always do." she smiled.

With that, she walked in through her front door, her dessert take away swinging in her right hand. The house was as quiet as it usually was, but the lights were on. Then Alaska got a text on her phone.

G💙:

'You left this.' 

Attached was a picture of the vanilla cake slice that she thought was in her bag. Alaska couldn't control the loud laughter that left her mouth as she realised the bag she was swinging was empty. She replied by telling him he could just have it, still laughing at how dumb she felt-

"You seem cheerful today." A light voice sounded from the living room.

Alaska stopped smiling, turning her gaze to meet her mother's.

She noticed that the woman was sitting on the couch, very relaxed, and Alejandro clearly asleep with his head on her lap, and she was stroking his hair slightly. Alaska rolled her eyes.

"Buenas." She simply said, continuing onwards, but the older blonde stopped her again.

"How was your day?" She asked with a smile.

"It was fine."

They both kept quiet for a few seconds after that, before Mariposa broke it.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, I asked Ale to wait up for you so I could talk to you both but," she laughed and pointed at his state. He must have been really tired because it was only 8pm.

"Tomorrow then." 

Mariposa winced.

"The thing is, if I don't tell you today, you might not have enough time to prepare." 

"Then just tell me now and Ale later." she replied, causing her mother to sigh and move Ale's head to the sofa to stand up.

"Well . . . today I received three invitations to the charity gala that your friend Carla-"

"She's not my friend."

"Sorry; Carla's parents are throwing the gala and I thought it'd be nice if we could all go . . . as a family?"

Alaska honestly was surprised. She had to commend her mother for her confidence and effort, that was one thing she couldn't deny.

"No, it's not really my thing." She replied, turning around to go upstairs. Mariposa gulped and nodded slightly, turning back to go back to the sofa when she noticed that her son was awake and not impressed at what had happened. 

"You're going to that gala. We are going to that gala." Alejandro said, barging into his sister's room.

The blonde propped up on her elbows from laying in her bed, the cucumbers on her eye lids dropping off. Alaska looked at her brother in annoyance, resisting the urge to rub her temples so as to not press against the face charcoal face mask.

"Get the fuck out of my room." 

"I'm not getting the fuck out of anywhere until you tell me you're going with us." Alejandro retorted, coming to sit next to her on the large bed.

"Ale, I'm not going to that thing. Guzman already tried to convince me, I told him I wasn't going either." And it was true. At the dessert store, Guzman had told her about the charity event and she wasn't interested even when he tried to coax her with kisses into coming.

"Por que?! Because mama asked?" 

Alaska groaned and sat up.

"Ale, you know that's not the reason, you know. I don't want to be in that space because I do not like being around those types of people." 

"But-"

"But nothing! I just don't feel comfortable."

"Ala, you loved these things when we were younger-"

"When we were younger, Ale. I'm not that person anymore."

"But you don't even realise that you've been that person for the past like three weeks. What's different about this?" Her brother asked, genuinely, which took Alaska by surprise.

Ander told her first, and now her brother was telling her as well. She couldn't say anything, so he continued.

"I know it's not the same thing for you as when we were going to all these things way when we were younger. But do you not want to try? You've come a long way and do you really want to turn back now?" He asked.

"It's not that." Alaska said, feeling just the slightest bit choked up and tears forming in her eyes.

"I don't want to guilt you into going because I think this is genuinely going to be fun for the both of us, and I know you want to . . . but I also know what's holding you back."

Neither of them talked. Alaska inhaled raggedly, telling herself that if she cried, she'd ruin her face mask. 

"It's not the same without him." she whispered.

"It's not the same if he's not there to hold my hand as we walk through the doors, stop me from eating all the vanilla ice cream at the table, and force me to say hello to the children of his friends. It's not the same Ale."

The blonde boy sighed, looking down and grabbing her hand.

"It's never going to be the same without Papa, Ala, okay? We went to these things every year with him and now he's not -" Alejandro paused, breathing deeply, "he's not here, and you don't feel good about going there without him but instead of trying to think about it in that way, think about doing it in his honour; something to remember him by." 

Alaska nodded slowly, letting out a small chuckle.

"I fucking hate you." 

Both of them laughed slightly, knowing that they were going to end up going to the gala.

"I can't believe you've convinced me yet again, Velazquez." Alaska sighed in disbelief, shaking her head.

"It's because you know I'm right, you love me, you love mama, and you love papa," he scooted closer, kissing her cheek. 

She rolled her eyes, and when nothing more was said, Alaska looked at the cucumbers on the bed, motioning to them. 

"Can you go now? I was in the middle of something."

"I'll leave you to it, then." Ale said, getting up, but then sat back down, quickly remembering something else.

"By the way, why did Dr. Flores email mama that you haven't gone to see her in a week, going on two?"

Alaska groaned again, falling back this time.

"She needs to lay off. I don't have anything to talk with her about."

"Well even if you don't feel like you need to go right now, you still have to because your program isn't over, and that doesn't mean you won't feel okay next week, or the week after that." Alejandro reasoned with a knowing smile.

"I think I've been okay this week, and if I go to her, she'll make me talk about my feelings and I don't want to do all that." 

Ale sighed, standing up, throwing the nearest pillow at her, before walking away.

"Ale! My mask!" she yelped.

"You're going to see her on Monday, and I'm going to make you."

Cussing him out one last time, he banged the door  behind him, heading to his room, Alaska rolled over to grab her phone and text Guzman that she was going to be at the gala after all.

A/N: Funny story, this chapter deleted cause I typed it on Word at first and accidentally deleted it. So I couldn't get it up until right now, so lo siento mucho. Working on the next chapter now, so enjoy this little filler. If you need me, I'll be at the One Direction Stay At Home Party on Mixlr 😭