OH BABY! (Mario Martinez - On My Block)

Chapter Seven

CHAPTER SEVEN:

don't make me chase you, even doves have pride
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MARIA HATED MARIO'S ALARM. It was some loud reggaeton song that she swore her own Abuelita would listen to on repeat. She groaned tucking her head underneath a pillow, while Mario snored on. She didn't understand how he could sleep through it when it was practically blasting in his ear. She sighed reaching out from the blanket to smack his chest hard. He jumped and turned to his side, grumbling something incoherent about "being rudely woken up". Maria rolled her eyes and tried to go back to sleep.

She was slightly confused on why his alarm went off so early, if he didn't have class until the afternoon. That was the whole reason why she stood over—because neither had a morning class.

When his open laptop started ringing loudly, she understood why.

"Mario," she pushed his shoulder trying to make him do something about the access noise. After still being unsuccessful, she climbed over him and out of the bed to handle everything. Maria struggled with figuring out his alarm so she turned to ripping the batteries from it. She then turned towards his laptop, it was a Skype calling going off from a 'Ruben'.

Maria was aware that he had a younger brother named Ruby, so she could only assume it was him. Realizing that he wasn't going to stop calling, she quickly accepted the call.

The screen loaded for a few seconds, and then a young appeared. Not so surprisingly, he looked exactly like Mario. He stared at the screen confused, almost as if he was checking to see if he called the right person.

"He's still sleeping." Maria whispered looking back behind her. Mario land facing the wall now. Ruby nodded rolling his eyes.

"We schedule a video chat every week—you'd think he would at least wake up for it." He sassed. Maria giggled, she liked Ruby. "I'm Ruby, his younger brother." He shyly waved.

"I'm Maria, his...friend?" She wasn't exactly sure what to label them as. Friends usually didn't have sex and sleepovers.

"Uh-huh...do you mind waking him up for me? I'm looking for some advice." Maria nodded understandably. From what she knew the brothers were close, and she definitely didn't want to get in the way of that. She walked towards Mario and shook him one last time.

"Mario, wake up," she whined shaking him again. Mario sighed opening his eyes and staring up at her, knowing that she won't ever give up. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her right on top of him. She screamed laughing while trying to get out of his grasp. Maria knew the laptop had a clear view of what was going on. "Yor little brother waiting on skype."

"Fuck my brother."

"Hey I heard that!" Ruby shouted, obviously insulted. Mario chuckled releasing Maria. He sat up and moved towards his laptop, taking a seat in front of it. Maria felt slightly awkward just being in the back of their call, so she tried to stay hidden on his bed. She reached down the side of the bed to grab her charging phone.

She had a few missed text messages from her roommate, which was expected. It seemed that every-time Maria wasn't in her room by mid-night, Amber would check in.

Despite bumping heads with roommate, Amber was quite growing on her. Maria quickly replied to her and then she went through social media to pass time.

"What's up hermanito?" She tried to hold back a smile as she overheard the brothers talk. Maria loved seeing a healthy, and supportive family.

It made her wish her family was more like it.

"Our prima just moved in—and I think I have a boner." Maria snorted. The Martinez family was weird. She couldn't wait to hear the explanation behind this.

"YOUR BROTHER IS CUTE." Maria commented hauling her laundry bag over her shoulder. After Mario had finished his conversation with Ruby, Maria had convinced him to come hangout with her while she did laundry. Mario rolled his eyes. Somehow all his female friends said the same exact thing.

"Don't let him know that. It'll only fuel his ego." Mario joked jumping and sitting on top of an empty machine. Maria giggled. She worked in silence, tossing her clothes in the machine and turning it on. She looked up to see Mario glued to his phone. Maria tossed her empty bag on the nearby chairs before standing between Mario's legs. Curiously she stood on her tiptoes to see his phone. She watched as he scrolled through Twitter—she did her best to read upside down.

After a couple of minutes, Mario shut his phone off and tossed it in his pocket.

"I was looking at that!" Maria complained looking up at him. Mario shrugged flashing her a bright smile. She felt her heart skip a beat. Did he always have dimples? They were so faint and they almost feel in his smile lines. Quickly, she leaned up to peck his lips. When Maria pulled back, she went towards the row of empty chairs and she took a seat.

She tried to hold back from blushing, but she could feel his gaze on her.

Despite her staying the night with him, they didn't quite talk about what they are, or if they are something. For all she knew, she could've poured her feelings out to someone who just wanted someone easy.

"Don't act so smug." Maria called out digging through her pockets for her phone. She tried to not look up when she heard him jump off the washing machine. Mario took large steps towards Maria. He quickly snatched the phone from her grasps, making her look up at him shocked. And right when she was about to shout at him, he leaned down and kissed her.

Maria slowly stood up, to bring herself closer to him. He quickly dropped her phone into his pocket. Mario's hands then instantly went to her lower back, slowly sliding down lower. Mario was extremely cheeky. Eventually she pulled away and leaned onto his shoulder.

"Do you...do you wanna go out sometime?" Mario cleared his throat.

"Oh like a real date?"

"Don't act so smug." Mario said mimicking Maria from before. She giggled pulling away.

"Yeah, I'd like that." She smiled and sat back down on the chairs. Mario sat besides her, resting his head on his shoulder. They joked around mindlessly, Maria forgetting that Mario had her phone until it beeped loudly. He dug through her pocket and passed it over. She went through her messages seeing one from her mom.

mami ... @ 11:42 am
mija, your dad and i just sent
you money. call us soon.
love you.

For a moment, Maria forgot about needing the money for the pill. She would have to make a note to thank her mom for sending her money earlier than usual. She was sure the women took on an extra shift to make it happen.

"Who is it?"

"Aye, stop being so nosey."