𑁍︎༆︎𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮...!
ᶠᵗ ᵃˡᵉˣ ᵃˡᵛᵃʳᵉᶻ
006. 𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗂𝗑
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𝓒𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗂𝗑•'🐇🥛☆

"𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥."

𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕ఌ︎

Today was Alex's friends bar mitzvah. We decided to match and wear blue. It was around 4 pm and I got up to shower. After I got out of the shower I curled my hair, put on light makeup and wore ^. I walked out of the bathroom that was connected to my room.

Matt and Sofia were sitting on our couch looking at something on Sofia's phone. Matt's arm draped across Sofia's shoulders as Sofia's head rested against his. They both turned their heads to look at me. They both smiled and told me how nice I looked.

I walked over to my nightstand, picking up my phone and my overnight bag that sat on the floor. After the bar mitzvah Alex's friend was having a sleepover with some of the guest. I grabbed my keys and left to the Alvarez apartment.

I opened the door and immediately felt eyes on me. Penelope and Lydia came up to me smiling. "You look so gorgeous." Penelope said.

"Que hermosa." Lydia added. I thanked them and turned my head, only to see Alex as his mouth hung open.

I chuckled and walked over to him. "Wow, you l-look beautiful." He stuttered, staring at me. I smiled before saying.

"And you look very handsome." I hugged him tightly and he hugged me back. I let go and walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Alex sat next to me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

After a while of sitting there with Alex and looking through my Instagram feed, I suddenly hear Penelope call out "You guys better get on the road. You don't want to be late for comic-con." I lifted my head off of Alex's shoulder and looked to my left.

I see Elena walk out with Syd in their Dr. Who themed costumes. I chuckle at the sight of them. And turn back to my phone. "You guys look great. Alex... you look so handsome. And Val you look so beautiful." Penelope said walking towards us.

"Gracias Lupe." I said standing up.

"It's my first bar mitzvah. I don't want to look like a schlemiel." Alex said looking at Penelope."

"You've been talking like that for the past week. Stop!" I exclaimed. Penelope looked at him weird.

"Dr. Berkowitz has been teaching me Yiddish." Alex explained.

"The kid's a natural. I'm plotting with nachas." Dr. B said and I looked at him raising my eyebrows and sat back down.

"Ay, papito, I can't believe it's your first sleepover." Penelope said, cupping Alex's cheeks.

"Yeah, most kids our age have already had their first sleepover." I smiled and she looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"Hey! Be thankful that Abuelita and I are being so cool about this." She said walking away. Alex sat back down next to me and went back on his phone.

I put my chin on his shoulder and looked at what he was doing. "Alright you guys gotta get moving. Let's go! Come on! I have so much studying to do." She yelled. I picked up my stuff and walked towards to door. "Not that I'm not gonna miss you guys, but you gotta beat the traffic, I gotta hit the books." Penelope basically pushed all of us about of the door.

...

We went down to the lobby and saw red and blue lights flashing and heard police sirens. There was a police officer standing in front of the door. "Hey, I'm afraid you guys can't leave the building. There's an armed suspect running lose in the area. You all need to go back to your apartments."

We walked back up to the apartment. Lydia tried to open the door but it was locked. "Lupe! There is a murder running lose." Lydia exclaimed.

"Okay, coming!" Penelope yelled. I could hear rustling from the other side of the door.

Hmm, suspicious.

Penelope unlocked the door. She was wearing an outfit we wouldn't normally see her in and I even noticed that her lipstick was smudged, as if she had been kissing someone. I looked at her with a look of suspicion on my face. "Oh, you guys are back. Great." She said as she fixed the couch pillows. Why she had to fix them? I have no idea.

"There's a police helicopter outside." Alex said walking in the apartment.

"Yeah, they're not letting us leave." I added.

"Why do you look so nice?" Elena asked.

"Oh, this? This is what I always wear when you guys aren't here. You just never see it. I stood next to Alex, who was sitting in a chair.

For your own safety, please remain inside until further notice.

"We're going to miss the masquerade and the dance party. And the firefly panel, the Zombie Run, the Buffy sing along, and the Super-gay Super-girl meet up." Elena rambled.

"But this lock down is awesome. Maybe it's the daleks. 'Exterminate. Exterminate.'" Syd said. We all looked at them.  "Actually, this seems like a pretty serious situation. But it's okay. We'll just hang out and talk."

"Talk, Yeah." Elena said with a weird expression on her face. She looked afraid for some reason.

"Wait. Keep the costumes on, and go up to Schneider's. He's a man-child who lives off his parents and dresses in weird outfits he is comic con." Penelope said. She was acting a bit weird as if she was hiding something.

"They'll definitely get lost in there." I mentioned. The apartment was pretty big, and has many rooms so they would probably get lost.

"I think we're going to be stuck in here for a while." Alex said as he frowned a bit. I rubbed his shoulder.

"I'm sorry we're going to miss the opera. Let me see if we can get a refund on our tickets." Dr. B said as he walked towards Lydia's closed curtains.

"Scoot." I said looking at Alex. He moved over in the chair and I sat down next to him. "I can't believe I spent two hours getting ready for nothing." I sighed.

"You still look beautiful." Alex smiled at me causing my cheeks to heat up a bit.

"Thank you Alex." I said before I laid my head on his shoulder. Penelope suddenly came back into the living room.

"Hey, kids, why don't you go into your rooms and wait until dinner?" Penelope asked, causing my head to shoot up.

"Cool." Syd replied as they stood up and started to walk down the hallway.

"You want us to be alone in my room? Me and my date?" Elena asked in a semi panicky tone.

"Leave the door open. Feet on the ground. Alex and Val will check on you." Penelope said as she pulled me and Alex off of the chair by our wrist.

"No, ew!" I exclaimed. Penelope pushed as all down the hallway. I don't understand why she wanted us put of the room so badly. I know there is something up with her.

...

Alex and I heard screaming so we ran into the living room, seeing Schneider with Matt and Sofia behind him. Schneider had a gas mask on for whatever reason. "Why the hell are you wearing a gas mask?" Penelope asked in a terrified tone.

"Why aren't you?" Schneider asked before walking in. Sofia and Matt walked in and sat on the arm of the couch. "With all that's on out there? Oh, man." Schneider walked over to the table. "Now, look, I prepared us a survival kit. It's a little bare-bones. Water purification pills, MREs, enough cash to get us to Cabe Verde by boat, just the basics." He added.

"Schneider, we're not in a zombie apocalypse. We'll be fine if we just stay in the building." Matt said, irritated by Schneider's paranoid behavior.

"Can I please stay here? Do you have any idea how scary it is to be a wealthy white man in a lavish apartment?" Schneider asked.

"Wow, the horror." Alex replied sarcastically, as the rolled his eyes.

The sound of the helicopter blades whirling filled the room.

Schneider was absolutely terrified at the sound. "We were with him the whole time and he was still scared." Sofia huffed.

"I'm a target." Schneider said as his voice cracked and he hid behind the table.

"Oh my god!" Matt exclaimed, completely over with dealing with Schneider's actions.

"Of course you can stay, Schneider. Why should this night be different from any other night?" Lydia stated as she walked into the kitchen. Alex began to speak in Hebrew again, which annoyed me.

"I am trying so hard not to slap you right now." I said ever so calmly. After hearing my words, fear was written all over Alex's face as his eyes began to widen.

...

Eventually Alex, Matt, Sofia and I all went into Elena's room. Alex took his shoes and jacket off and patted the spot next to him for me to sit down. I took my heels off and sat next to him as his arm draped over my shoulder.

Alex and I laid there as we went on our phones. Sofia and Matt were sitting in one of Elena's chairs. Elena was acting weird around Syd, we knew she liked them, she just didn't know how to show it. She was very awkward.

"Oh, a wrinkle in time." Syd said as they picked up the book and looked at it.

"Yeah, it's stupid." Elena said nervously.

"It's my favorite book." Syd stated as they turned to look back at Elena.

"Stupid how much I love it." Elena replied quickly.

"She's pathetic." I whispered to Alex. He chuckled and put his head on my shoulder.

"Are you okay, there?" Syd asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm just super hungry. For food." Elena replied. Well no shit. We all gave Elena a weird look.

"How about we be normal? And get snacks." Matt suggested as he stood up with Sofia.

"Elena, can you help us?" Sofia asked with a fake smile.

"Shurbly-burbly." Elena spoke in gibberish. I mentally face palmed myself and sighed. We all pushed her out of the room.

"What the hell was that?" Sofia whisper shouted at Elena.

"Yeah, why are you acting so weird around them? Matt asked.

"Yeah, it's sad to look at." Alex added.

"Nothing is wrong with me." Elena said trying to convince us.

"Oh, are you 'Shurbly-burbly'?" I asked mocking what she said before.

"Can you guys just help me? You all are good at talking. People say you're charming." Elena begged us.

"The people are right." Alex said with a smirk. "We'll help you." He continued. We went back into the room and they went on Instagram live. I stayed back and sat on one of Elena's chairs because I found what they were talking about kinda dorky.

Sofia came up to me and sat down in the chair with me. "What's up with you and Alex?" She asked.

"Um, w-what do you m-mean?" I asked with a stutter.

"Come on, Val." She nudged me. "I know you like him. He's all you talk about and he seems to like you too. Gosh, just date him already!" She said in a whisper so Alex wouldn't hear us.

"I don't know, I guess I'm just scared. I don't want to be rejected or heart broken again. Don't you remember what happened with Brandon?" I reminded her.

"He's nothing like him. He's not going to break your heart like he did. You love him, and he loves you I can tell. Just promise me you'll confess to him soon." She basically begged me.

"Okay, fine." I said and she laughed and hugged me.

"Val, they're facetiming us from the bar mitzvah. Yeah, this can not be my background." Alex said as he dragged me out of the room.

"Dinner!" Lydia yelled from the kitchen. Alex dragged me down the hallway.

"Dang! Bubbe is dancing the Hora with Cousin Irving." Alex said in a disappointed tone. We went into the kitchen to get our plates.

"Kids, don't be alarmed by this stranger. This is Schneider's sponsor, Max." Penelope informed us.

"Did he get a new sponsor? Because I thought your sponsor's name was-." I started before I was cut off by Schneider.

"Val, shut up. Please." He said. I rolled my eyes and poured out some juice. We all went to sit down on the couch to eat. I kinda tuned out the conversation the adults were having and talked to Sofia.

...

"You look cute on that high horse." Syd said, leaning over the couch and smiling at Elena. Elena tensed up a bit.

"Uh, Okay." She responded nervously.

"Right. Got it." Syd said before standing up from their spot on the couch. "Thanks so much for dinner but I'm not really that hungry, so I'm gonna chill till the lockdown's over." They continued before walking away.

"They are walking away from my meal?" Lydia asked. "This is your fault." She pointed at Dr. B.

...

Please remain inside. We have an armed suspect still in the area.

"Wow, they still haven't caught him." Alex said. He sat down next to me.

"Don't worry. We have a man to protect us." Lydia said, smiling at Max.

"It's like we're invisible." Dr. B said causing me to chuckle.

"You and Schneider aren't considered men. You're considered a bunch of pussies." Sofia said. Schneider looked back at her.

"You can't deny it. I mean you were just freaking out about 20 minutes ago." Matt chimed in.

"She's not wrong. If that guy breaks in, you could take him. You're like a male Wonder Woman." Schneider agreed.

"Stop scaring everyone, all right? Nobody's breaking in. The police will take care of it. And no one is fighting with anyone." Penelope picked up the plates from the table and walked into the kitchen.

"Your papi would. He once fought a waiter for stealing a look at me in the reflection of a spoon." Lydia said turning to Max.

"That's different. Maybe a million years ago in Havana, you could get away with that stuff." Penelope replied.

"That was ten years ago in an IHOP." Lydia mentioned.

"Fighting is not the only option. Whatever happened to running away? It's a Berkowitz family tradition." Dr. B said.

"You just proved my theory." Sofia smiled. "You. Are. A. Pussy." She said clapping in between words.

"You can run?" I questioned. Alex slapped my arm.

"So what, Leslie? It's good to be a coward?" Lydia asked.

"Correction, 'It's good to be a pussy?'." Sofia said.

"What's with you and the word pussy?" Matt asked.

"I'm afraid so." Dr. B looked a Lydia. "So many of our heroes were cowards. Aeneas ran way from Troy and founded Rome. The pilgrims fled England, and all they did was start a little country called America. Shaggy and Scooby always run away from the bad guys. But then, they solve the damn crime!" Dr. B rambled. I started bursting out laughing. "The only reason why you know about a dead hero is because a live coward was there to tell his story!"

"In this case, I think you're right because that guy out there has a gun." Penelope reminded us.

"And that is why I always felt safer knowing that you papi had a gun." Lydia stated.

"Whoa. Really?" Alex asked in shock. I rested my head on Alex's shoulder and he looked down at me and smiled.

"Wait, are you saying there was a gun in the house while I was growing up?" Penelope walked out of the kitchen.

"Oh, well before that." Lydia replied. "It was a wedding gift from the Fajardos. Of course, they wouldn't give us something from the registry."

"Well, I love papi, but that's a mistake. Guns aren't safe. That's why we don't have one in this house." Penelope said. Alex started to tense up when she said that. I looked at him with concern in my eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked. He shook his head and I rubbed his arm softly trying to comfort him. Penelope started to walk back into the kitchen.

"Okay..." Lydia trailed off. Penelope looked back at her and furrowed her eyebrows. She started to slowly back up and looked at Lydia dead in the face.

"Mami. Why did you say 'okay' like that?" She asked tilting her head to the side. "Where is it?" She asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lydia replied. "Well, there is a little something in my nightstand. It's not very big and it certainly will never replace your father, but it does the job."

"Is it weird that I hope it's a gun?" Schneider asked. Penelope walked into her room and came back with a gun in her hand.

"Oh shi-" Sofia said before Matt cut her off by covering her mouth with his hand. My eyes widened and Alex's jaw dropped.

"Dang! Abuelita's packing heat!" Alex said as if he was imitating a chulo.

"Don't talk like that." I told him. She checked to see if the gun was loaded which it wasn't. They both walked into the kitchen. I couldn't here most of their conversation until she started to raise her voice.

"We have teenagers in this house. We have two girls in here that lost everything, which caused them to develop anxiety. We have a gay teenager in this house. We have a war veteran with PTS. This is the last house that should have a gun." Penelope stated.  I started to tear up and Sofia turned to me and hugged me. I held her close and kissed her forehead. Lydia apologized.

"It's fine. It's okay.But we're turning that in to the police, got it?" Penelope said. The police helicopter was flying by and Lydia picked the gun up and went the window and started to wave it around.

"We have a gun!" She yelled, earning a laugh from Sofia and I. Penelope pulled her back.

"To the police station!" She told Lydia what she meant. "Schneider, can you put this up at your place until tomorrow morning?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll put it in my panic room." He picked the gun up.

"Why didn't you go there?" She asked.

"He panicked." Matt got up.

Attention, the suspect has been apprehended. You may come out of your homes. The lockdown is over.

"Well I did it, I got us through this!" Schneider exclaimed.

"You did nothing." Sofia said.

We said our goodbyes. I went to give Alex a hug. "Are you sure you're okay? You know you can tell me anything." I cupped his cheeks.

"I'm fine." He chuckled and pulled me in for another hug. I waved at him and picked up my stuff and walked out.

𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕ఌ︎

I found my moms gun a while ago. That's why I was acting a little weird. I just didn't want Val to worry about it. I ended up talking to my mom about it and she's getting rid of it.

Karissa's messages...!

This took too long to finish -.-