Baby Love ── RICKY BOWEN¹

sixteen. an unrestrained urge

.·゜゜·　　·゜゜·．

MARITZA'S POV

How convenient it was for my mom to have to travel for her next trial the same evening her and I get into a fight. How, very, very convenient. She and I didn't say a word to each other when she brought Ben and me back home after the meeting. In fact, she didn't even look my way, only talking to Ben in the car. When we got home, she went straight to her bedroom and didn't emerge until it was time for my dad to drive her to the airport.

My dad was filled in by Ben about what happened, and why my mom and I were avoiding each other like the plague. My dad was a man of few words, and I doubt he wanted to risk my mom overhearing him talking to me in a way that was against her, so instead, he opted to embrace me. That spoke more than any consoling sentence ever could.

As proven by the drama department, who didn't break away from the group hug until the clicking of heels was heard approaching. And even then, they remained circled around me like a protective layer, earning us a weird look from Miss Jenn who happened to be wandering the halls in search of her missing students. Lucky her, she was too busy celebrating her reinstated job to take notice of the explosion that occurred earlier. I appreciate none of them mentioning it though because the last thing I needed was to be known as the girl with mommy issues.

"Beba." I rolled over in bed to face my dad, who stood in my doorway. "Are you okay today?"

Am I okay today? I don't know. I don't think I've been necessarily okay for a long time and I just liked to live in this pretense that I was. But I'm not. Or maybe I'm just being dramatic because I'm a teenager who just got into a big fight with her mom and that tends to be our thing. Yeah, I'm leaning more towards that one right now.

"Can I just," I pause to pull my covers further up my body, "stay home for today? Please?"

My dad looks unsure for a moment, brows knitting together in deep thought before he gave a slight nod. "Okay, you can stay here for today. I know yesterday was hard for you."

A slight smile tugs at my lips. "Thanks, pa." He nods again, before leaving my room and shutting the door behind him. I can hear him calling for Ben next, followed by the loud footsteps of my brother as he passed by my bedroom. Then I hear more muffled voices before my door is being opened again. Here we go.

Ben stands at the door, and to my surprise, he doesn't immediately ridicule me for my decision to not leave my bed. "Need me to go to any of your classes for the homework?" He asks me, hanging off the doorframe like it's the most casual thing ever.

I hesitate, caught off guard by my brother's complete acceptance of my decision, before catching myself. "Uh, no, I can just text people for the homework. Thanks, though."

Ben nods, and with that, he leaves my bedroom. My door doesn't remain shut for very long, as now Elvis and Luis come into my bedroom. I barely have time to process their arrival before they're both jumping on my bed, piling themselves on top of me in an attempt to perform a lying down hug.