We Found Love Lost Under The Shade

Jaime arrived home in a unfamiliar, happy mood. School turned out to be better than expected; he finally talked to Vic, that boy he has been longing to talk to for so long. Though sadly, that was the only highlight of his day.

He walked upstairs to his bedroom, dropping his bag to the floor and kicking off his shoes. He contemplated doing his homework but the growl in his stomach convinced him to go down to the kitchen and eat something.

Jaime walked down the stairs to find his mom cleaning the kitchen. It was surprising to him because she was usually gone, doing errands of some sort. She turned around when she saw him and smiled, happy to see her son.

Jaime walked over to his mom and gave her hug. ‘You’re home from school already? How was it? Make any new friends?’ she asked.

He hesitated, but answered. ‘It was okay, it was just school.’ She gave him a slight concerned look but quickly changed expressions. ‘Okay, go do your homework, I need to make dinner before your father gets home.’

Jaime’s mood changed quickly at the thought of his father. He sighed and walked back upstairs to his room once again.

~

A few minutes after school ended, Vic made his way to the front of the school, looking for Mike. A couple of Vic’s friends came over and talked to him about how their day was, but soon left to go home. He stayed by the building for a little while longer, hoping Mike would come out soon.

He gave up on looking for him and walked over to his car, sitting on the hood hoping Mike would find his way over so they could go home. While sitting there, he aimlessly looked around, just thinking about the day. Jaime came to mind after a few minutes, he thought about how awkwardly cute he was, and how he actually wasn’t half bad once he opened up. A smile crept onto Vic’s lips without his consent and he ended up on the hood of his car, stupidly smiling.

‘Vic, what’re you so happy about?’ a somewhat high pitched voice questioned with a laugh. Being caught off guard, Vic abruptly turned his head to find his friend Matty looking at him. He slightly blushed at being caught daydreaming about Jaime.

‘God, you scared me!’ Vic said, climbing off of his car. ‘But it was nothing, just thinking.’

He laughed a bit a Vic’s reaction. ‘Oh, okay. Whatever you say, it seemed like you were doing a lot more than ‘just thinking’.’ Matty replied in a sarcastic tone. Vic lightly pushed him and laughed. ‘Well, anyways. How was your summer? I haven’t seen you in a while.’

‘It was great man, I went to New York for a few weeks. It was pretty rad. I met some girl, too,’ he said, beginning to smile. ‘What about you?’

‘Oooo, Matty, you found a girl, did you?’ Vic joked. Him and Matty were best friends, and he’s never had luck with girls, so this was a surprise to him.

Matty continued to talk about this supposed girl he met and acted as if he was in love by the way he talked about her. After a few minutes Vic saw Mike walk over to the car, so he said goodbye to Matty and waited for Mike to get in the car.

Like Mike and Vic do, they just bickered at each other the whole car ride home. Mostly Vic complaining that he took so long. After 20 minutes of hate-filled travel, they pulled into the driveway of their small yet cozy home.

Walking inside, Mike immediately walked down the stairs to his room, like usual; that was where he spent all of his time. Vic walked into the kitchen to be greeted by his mother and the familiar smell of enchiladas.

‘Oh Victor, you’re home. How was it? Did you see your friends?’ she questioned with a smile. ‘I got to see a few of my friends, so it was good,’ he replied, sitting down at the table.

His mom turned around to face him. ‘Did you see Rachel? How’s she doing? I haven’t heard you talk about her for a while.’ Vic smiled at the thought of her. ‘Oh, um, yeah, I talked to her today; she’s good.’ He was a little confused as to why his mom would bring her up, but he didn’t care too much.

‘That’s good. Why don’t you go upstairs and clean that room of yours? It’s a mess.’ she said. Vic groaned. ‘Fine,’ he said annoyed, beginning to walk to his room.

~

After a painfully quiet dinner with his parents, Jaime’s mom left to work the night shift at the hospital. He helped clean the dinner table while his father sat in the living room watching the TV. Jaime dreaded the night time after his mother left for work; he absolutely hated being left with his father.

When Jaime finished cleaning, he headed towards the stairs, hoping his father wouldn’t hear him, but he wasn’t as quiet as he thought. ‘Jaime, come here for a second,’ his father called out. Dropping his head, he turned around and walked into the living room where he was called to.

‘Yeah?’

‘Go get me a beer.’ Of course. Jaime didn’t know why he got his hopes up, thinking his father would actually care enough to ask him how school went.

Walking into the kitchen, he opened the fridge and grabbed the cold can of beer. He walked back to where his father was sitting and set the can down on the side table. ‘So, how was school?’ he asked without concern, keeping his head turned towards the TV. ‘It was fine,’ Jaime quietly replied, walking up the stairs to his bedroom.

This was how most nights were at the Preciado household; his mom left, leaving Jaime and his father alone, barely exchanging a few words. That was unless Jaime had done something to irritate him, then there were more than just a few words spoken between them. This was the main reason Jaime missed living in Arizona; they were a happy family and everything was fine. But ever since they moved to San Diego, his parents lost interest in him, all they cared was if he was home before curfew and had done his homework.

~

Things were much different with the Fuentes; during dinner, there was a very lively conversation going on. Vic’s father got home from his 9-5 job just in time for their mother to serve dinner. While they ate, everyone talked about how their day went and what not. Mike and Vic would clean the dinner table and their mother would clean the dishes, leaving their father to take a nap in the living room.

Vic didn’t mind his home life; he actually was happy with it. He had caring parents and a brother that acted as a best friend. His dad actually taught him to play guitar, and his brother learned to play drums, so they were trying to make a band; his parents supported them and helped them every way possible to make this band happen.

~

School had been in for about a week, but it still moved as slow as the first day it started. People were getting used to their schedules and making new friends, but no one was ready to be back in the same old routine.

First period was about to start and the halls were nearly empty. Vic made his way to English, worrying that he would be late. Jaime was walking down the hall just in the opposite direction running late to U.S. history, he wasn’t in a big hurry as Vic was, though.

While Jaime was trying to keep all his papers and books in his hands and Vic was concentrated on the classroom just a few feet away, Vic ran into him, making him drop everything he was carrying with a thud.

‘Fuck.’ Jaime grunted while leaning down to pick what was knocked out of his hands. Vic quickly turned around and began to help him pick up, feeling embarrassed. ‘Shit, I’m sorry, let me help you.’

‘No, it’s okay; I got it,’ Jaime replied without looking up to see the boy in front of him. Vic continued to help though he told him not to, slowly realizing who he was.

Jaime grabbed the majority of his papers and looked up and saw it was Vic, he slightly blushed. ‘Oh, uh, I-i’m sorry,’ he stuttered. Vic laughed a bit when he handed him the papers he picked up. ‘It’s fine. I’ll see you next class?’ he said with a small smile.

Jaime couldn’t stop the smile tugging at his lips. ‘Yeah, see you later,’ he said, before quickly walking off.