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Chapter Text

~Mari~

The California sun was barely painting the sky when Mari drove into town, humming along to Ain’t It Fun by Paramore on the radio. She was wearing her favorite band sweatshirt, a pair of comfy jeans and a beat up pair of Vans. The sun glinted off her dark brown eyes and copper skin warming her a little bit. Her dark chocolate pigtail braids were becoming undone, and it was starting to irritate her. It was the final stretch of the 3-day drive from Texas, and Mari was ready to get to her destination. Although her father offered to pay for her flight there she decided that she would take this opportunity to make it into an exciting road trip. It was her last tour of freedom before she got shackled down by the weight of homework, extracurriculars and work. It left her with more time to think about how her life was going, the things that were to come and the secrets that she held onto.

When Mari first got the news that she got accepted to Arcadia University she honestly felt indifferent about being accepted to her father’s alma mater. There were other schools of interest that would allow her to follow her passions. She had in fact replied to the acceptance letter from NYU and was committed to attend in the fall. Then the dreams started to haunt her in sleep. While they weren’t quite nightmares, and she has had her fair share of those, these dreams were more foreboding in their nature more than they were terrifying. It was the same dream every night for the past two months.

She was back in her childhood home back in California following her mom around like she used to. Trying to hum along to whatever lullaby she was singing but she couldn’t remember the words too. Then her mom was leaving out the door and into a bright orange light. She tried to follow her but tripped and fell and the world turned black.

She was opening her eyes again but she was still in the dream. A boy with hazel eyes piercing into her soul and a smile on his face. There was a sense of worry traced on his brow as he held out his hand to help her up. A cool energy seemed to exude off of him and she felt safe in his presence. She reached out to grab his hand and pull herself up when she felt ice cold tendrils wrap around her body to pull her away.

Now she was on the street in front of her childhood home and she could see a woman shrouded in gold and shadows. Mari felt disoriented about the whole ordeal but she could tell that something was definitely wrong and evil about the woman in gold. Then she heard the blood curdling scream. At first she couldn’t find where the scream came from and then she saw her primita Claire. She looked older since the last time she saw her and she was in danger. She was surrounded by the same shadows that surrounded the woman in gold but Claire looked sick and afraid.

The rest of the dream came in flashes and blurs. A different boy in a metal suit and the essence of magic wrapped around him. A large and scary black creature with red eyes roaring at her. Creatures made of stone with a variety of limbs, skin tones, body types and eyes. A city underground full of lights made of stone and bursting with life. The sound of baby laughter filtering in between the flashes of images.

Finally she was enveloped in a warm and bright glow, it pushed away all the darkness, made her feel safe. Most importantly it also settled within her bones a sense of purpose.

What that purpose was, Mari had no clue when she woke up. Yet, one thing her mom told her before she left was to always follow her dreams. Especially when they are trying to tell her something.

So when told her father that she wanted to move back to California he was confused. Then ecstatic to find out where she finally decided to attend university. Yet, he had built a whole life in Texas that he simply couldn’t move away from. So he offered to get in contact with his hermano, Tío Javier, who still lived in their hometown to see if they could house her while she attended Arcadia University. They gratefully accepted on the condition that she followed the house rules and helped in the City Council Campaign that Tía Ophelia, her Tío’s wife, was running.

Her father was still nervous to let Mari go all the way to California. She would be leaving the only friends and community she knew well. Yes she would be staying with familia, but it would be a family that she hadn’t really talked to in years. A family that didn’t know about her condition and it wasn’t his place to reveal that to them. He had spent his life trying to make sure that she stayed safe, especially after the disappearance of his wife and her mother. Still, she was now an adult and could take care of herself. Mari reassured him that she would take precautions to keep herself safe and try to stay under the radar; act ‘normal’. As normal as she can be.

Yet, as soon as she entered the city limits of Acadia she felt a wave of power wash over her. It felt like a warm hug and all the best memories came rushing to her. She remembered how she would run in the park till she got tired. Going to the bookstore with her mom, so she could read her favorite fairy tales. Having sleepovers with her cousin were they created little stories that they then performed the next morning for their parents. She forgot how much she missed this sleepy little town. Especially the cool breeze that would shake through the trees, how the sun would warm up her skin and how it felt like she could accomplish anything.

Mari snapped back into reality when she felt a tremble beneath her as she drove over the bridge heading into Arcadia proper. Her first assumption was an earthquake since she was back in California, but something told her it may not be that. She could mind her own business and continue driving, or she could try to sate that little voice in her head to check it out. She lost the battle and pulled to the side of the road to get out of her car with a sigh. She mutters “What happened to keeping to yourself” as she walks to the sidewalk on the bridge. She peers over the edge of the bridge and tries to find the true source of the trembling bridge.

She continues to feel the bridge shake beneath her when she hears roaring. Most people would assume it's some wild animal on the loose and would return to their car. Mari is not most people and stays to try identify where the roars are coming from. They are just too familiar and she needs to know why. She then sees something metallic fling into the canal before it quickly disappears. She tries to find the source from where it came from but whatever is there is directly under the bridge.

The roaring hasn’t stopped and neither has the shaking when she hears a guttural laugh.

“It all ends here.” Threaten whoever had laughed.

Which is then followed by the gruesome yells of pain by somebody else. There were more sounds of struggles and now the first person was now in pain.

Now Mari had a choice: she could either leave and act like she doesn’t know what is going on or she could intervene. However, she had very little information to go off of. Like who side is she on or what kind of adversary and their skill set?  But, the most important thing about this whole situation is that she wasn’t supposed to do anything that could expose who she really is. Amidst her internal debate the battle below her rages on. Her attention is brought back to it when she hears the second person struggle to answer back to their opponent.

“No! The amulet will find a champion. We will stop you, and your master. I may end, but the fight will not!” Is the last thing Mari hears before she sees a stony creature in metallic armor, a troll she finally recognizes, flings itself from under the bridge. Instantly petrifying and shattering into a thousand pieces when it hit the floor of the canal. She freezes as she now realizes what was going on beneath her.

Another roar snaps her out of her trance and she wills her legs to move. She quickly runs back to her car and nearly forgets to put her seatbelt on as she tries to speed off that bridge and far away from him. That roar made her whole body tense as she recognized it. She remembers that frightening roar had to be from Bular the Butcher. She remembers the stories about him but she definitely remembers that roar from her dreams. He is a true monster and a threat to anyone in the magical world, a threat to someone like her.

Yet, maybe he was one of the creatures she saw in her dream. “Maybe I am on the right path” she thought aloud as she tightly grips the steering wheel. That meant staying ‘safe and under the radar’ is going to be much harder now if he’s roaming around the town.

“Let's hope he’s the only problem I have to deal with here” she tells herself as she drives to her destination. 

Chapter Text

~Mari~

Mari replayed the gruesome morning events over and over again as she pulled into the driveway. She still was gripping onto the steering wheel as she tried to settle her nerves before she went in the house. It unsettled her that danger could be so close to her familia, but she hoped that she would be able to keep them safe and away from that other world. However, it was imperative that she maintained a normal, calm, cool and collected facade if she wanted to keep them safe. If they knew the truth about her and the magical world it would only expose them to more danger.

When Mari finally summoned up the courage to knock on the door, what she expected was to be bombarded by her Tía Ophelia over eager attitude. What she did not expect was to be met with her little cousin, opening the door staring wide eyed. Well, Mari guesses her primita is not so little anymore, she has grown into a beautiful young lady. She was also coming to realize that the photos that she had of Claire were severely outdated and her perception of her might as well be.

Claire stood in shock for several seconds before she started processing that her long lost cousin was in fact in her doorway. That Mari being here was not a figment of her imagination or the result of lack of sleep trying to finish that vexing paper for AP U.S. History. Once that confirmation settled she squealed and tackled Mari with a hug.

“Oh my gosh you’re here!!!” She exclaimed

“Wait! You’re here? Why are you here?” Claire questioned. Which got an amused laughter out of Mari as she returned the hug.

“I’ve missed you too ojoita” Which earned a glare from Claire. It was identical to the one she would give back when she was 8 and Mari had taken the last of Abuela’s cookies. Despite Claire having obviously grown from that 8 year-old she remembered when she lived in Arcadia she was still much shorter than Mari. It seemed Claire was still her primita no matter the years that had gone by.

“Did your parents not tell you that I was going to move in with y’all for awhile while I attend Arcadia University?” Mari questions Claire.

“No, but mama has also been busy with the campaign and all. I’ve been helping out more with Enrique because of that” Claire answers.

“Ohhh that right there's another member of the Nuñez family. Where is that little squirt?” Mari asks excitedly. She always loved to see babies with their cute squishy faces.

“He’s currently at daycare, but I do have to go to school right now.”

“Would you like a ride to school?” Mari asks noticing Claire's frazzled state.

“Oh you shouldn't, you've probably been driving for days. I don't want to cause you any more trouble.”

“Ah, don’t worry Claire, it wouldn’t be a hassle, plus it will give me more time to catch up with my favorite prima”. Claire still did not look convinced that she would not be a burden to Mari.

“Just help me take some bags down and then we can head out.” Mari suggests.

Claire finally caved and tried to contain her joy as she went to the car and quickly helped her get down some of Mari’s bags. Once the bags were put in the living room with a note from Mari saying that she would be back soon they headed off to Arcadia Oaks High. She asks Claire to put the address on her GPS since she left Arcadia when she was ten and never really mapped out the whole city. Claire also was in charge of the aux cord and got to decide what music was going to play.

“Is that Papa Skull!?” Mari asked as she recognized the punk-rock band and started tapping on her steering wheel.

“You know who Papa Skull is!!” Claire squealed.

“Of course I do! They are the greatest band of our generation and I even went to their concert last summer!” Mari gloated.

“Luckyyy!” Claire groaned “I would love to go to one of their concerts, but I doubt mama or papi would let me go”. She said as she sunk into the passenger seat.

“Hey, I’ll do my best to try and convince them to let you go.” Mari said, trying to cheer her up.

“You would do that for me!” Claire exclaimed and perked up.

“Of course, anything for mi prima favorita” Mari elbowed Claire.

While they were both in the car they used the time to catch up on nearly a decade apart. Mari learned that Claire was now a sophomore at Arcadia High and was excited about the upcoming Romeo and Juliet play they were putting on. Although she was lamenting about the fact that the theatre program was finding trouble getting guys to audition.

“So, are there any guys you’re interested in?” Mari teased Claire

“What! No no no! Nope nada. Not for me!” Claire tries to deny it.

“Uh huh” Mari does not believe her.

“Anyways, it’s not like I have any time for a relationship” Claire scoffs.

“Fair enough” Mari shrugs and decides to drop the teasing for now.

“What about you? Is there any cowboy waiting for you back in Texas~” Claire decides to tease back.

“Surely not a cowboy waiting, but maybe a broken hearted one.” Mari glances at Claire to see her mouth agape. “But that hardly matters now” Mari shrugs “Now I am here, back home and going to Arcadia University.”

“What happened to NYU? It was always your dream to go” Claire questions.

“Sometimes dreams change and you just gotta chase them wherever they go” Mari says sagely, waiting for a beat before she bursts out laughing. Claire joins her, laughing at her older cousins antics.

“What about the plan!” ask as she tries to stop laughing. “We were both supposed to get into NYU so you could show me the ropes! Then we were supposed to go into Broadway and start our careers! Become Stars! Have our name up in lights!” Claire exclaimed.

“Hey, we still could get there but now there is just a little detour. Instead of attending NYU and majoring in Dance now I am attending Arcadia University.” Mari tries to reassure her as she pulls up to what she thinks is Arcadia High.

She puts the car in park and turns to face Claire and places her hands on her shoulders looking into her big umber eyes. “Look I know this is all a surprise and breaks some plans we made but it's going to be okay. As long as we got each other's backs we got this. And I’m sorry I hadn’t kept in touch over these past few years. I’m going to make it up to you while I’m here okay.”

Claire sits there with tears threatening to fall before she tries to hug her prima and hide her face in her shoulder. “Thanks for coming back. I really missed you” Claire mumbles from her spot.

“I missed you too,” Mari replies, hugging her back. “But we might wanna wrap up this whole reunion before you miss class” she softly reminds Claire.

“Fudgenuckle! You’re right!” Claire panics as she wipes her tears away and gathers her things. She quickly gets out of the car but before she disappears into the school Mari calls out to her through her window.

“Hey! No matter what, promise me that you will follow your dreams. And go break a leg!”

Claire nods, smiles and does their secret salute as she replies, “Of course!”

Mari smiles, salutes back and watches as Claire disappears in the school. A lot of things had changed about Claire since the last time she was here. She is older, taller, and has a totally different aesthetic than when they were younger. Yet, there were a lot of things that stayed the same, like the way she had planned her life, her love of theatre and guac.

She let her head fall to the steering wheel and let out a groan. If her dreams were warning about what was to come Claire was in grave danger. She has so much going for her and Mari doesn’t want that taken away from her because of some magical bullshit. She took a deep breath before putting the directions back to the Nuñez residence and starting up the car. She was now more than ever determined to keep her famila safe and far away from the magical world. Which is going to be much harder than she originally thought since Bular The Butcher and who knows what is still out there roaming the city. “Fun times” Mari mumbles to herself sarcastically. 

Chapter Text

~Mari~

While heading back to the Nuñez residence Mari decided to take the more scenic route. For one reason it allowed her to become familiar with the town, see what changed and what remained the same. It seemed like some of the places she remember from her childhood, like the bookstore, were still around. She made a mental note to check-it out and see if the store really held up to her memories. There were also new travel agency in the town that gave her a weird feeling.

That was the part of the second reason why she took longer to get back to the Nuñez's home. She needed time to calm down and plan. Her conversation with Claire managed to distract her temporarily but Mari was becoming all too aware of the city around her. It felt as if every single thing was imbued with energy and magic; she could practically taste it. It was sort of comforting, like a hot coffee on a cold day, and it filled a part of her she that she didn't know that was missing. Still, there was danger present in the town; who knew what other kind of threats besides Bular was here. What kind of people in the magical community to trust or not; if there was one to begin with. All this pondering over the possibilities of what could go wrong made a headache slowly start to form. Perhaps driving around and familiarizing her self would help Mari ground and acclimate to her surroundings.

Mari found herself coming back to the canal that she passed earlier in the morning. Once again she felt the little nudge to check out what happened. She really has to stop giving into her curiosity; what was the saying again? La curiosidad mató al gato. Concerns about her mortality aside, she once again parked her car on the side of the road. Sliding down to get to the bottom of the canal she tried to find where the remains of the troll were. To anybody else it would seem like a pile of rocks but to her she saw the etches of troll markings. From the stories she remembered about trolls she knew what led to the fate of this one was sunlight. Something that gave her energy could be so detrimental to another magical creature. She was going to reach out to see if she there was more she could find out but she then felt a chill down her spine. As if she was being watched. That was her cue to go back to her car, stop stalling and head back to the Nuñez home.

Once she got back to the house she used the key that Claire gave her to enter. This time she found her Tía Ophelia talking on the phone in a heated conversation.

"No, we will not back down about this proposal!" Tía Ophelia declares.

She did not seem to notice that Mari walking in as she had her back facing the door. She quietly closed the door and tried not to disturb her as she didn't want to interrupt the intense phone call, it seemed important.

"Well if they—" Tía Ophelia stopped as she turned around and finally notices Mari awkwardly standing in the living room. Mari gave a small wave before Tía Ophelia, (or as Mari used to call her Tía Lia) went back to her phone to say, "Sorry for the interruption my niece just came into town. We will discuss this later. Have a wonderful day!" she ended the call with forceful cheerful tone.

"Mari!" Tía Lia exclaimed with a genuine cheerfulness as she went over to greet and hug her niece. "It's been so long! Mírate!" She said as she took a step back to to observe her niece that she hadn't seen in a few years. Her hair seemed a much longer, her face starting to lose the baby fat that defined so much her facial features. She could see some features of her mother. Mari was certainly taller nearly being the same height as Tía Lia, she certainly inherited that from her father.

"Hi Tía Lia! Sorry I didn't warn you about the stuff in the living room. When I got here Claire was heading out for school, so I gave her a lift." Mari explained.

"Oh, Gracias, but come, sit. I want to know how you are doing. I could imagine how terrible the drive over here was. You were all alone too!" Tía Lia gestured to the couch seat next to her.

"It wasn't that bad, there were some pretty cool sights like the White Sands National Park in New Mexico, but I'm just glad to be back in Arcadia" Mari shrugged as she sat down.

"Well, we are happy to have you back too." Tía Lia said as she laid her hand on top of Mari's hand.

Mari returned that gesture with the simile before she spoke, "So…where will I be staying if you don't mind me asking? I figured with the new baby you may not have the guest bedroom available anymore"

"Por supuesto! We will get to that, but first I want to set some ground rules first." Tía Lia said kindly but sternly.

"No doubt, I completely understand." Mari agreed.

"There are three rules that you need to follow as you are guest of the Nuñez estate; The first is No Staying Out past ten."

"That's reasonable" Mari agrees with a nod.

"The second rule No Cursing, I don't want Claire or the baby picking up any bad habits."

"Of course"

"And finally." Tía Lia said as she cross her arms above her chest. "No. Boys. Allowed."

"Tía, I don't think you have to worry about me bringing any guys around. I mean between school, helping out here and with the campaign I doubt I'll much time to talk a boy" Mari tries to reassure her. Tía Lia arches her brow, seemingly unconvinced by Mari's promise.

"Anyways, I just got out of long term relationship so I don't think I want to be jumping into a new one any time soon." Mari deflects and hopes that would convince her Tía that she is going to follow the rules.

She senses that it did when Tía Ophelia lets her arms drop and face soften. "Oh. Well now that we have that settled I can show you where you are staying" as she gets up from the couch to guide Mari further into the house. While walking through the house Mari notices the things that stayed the same, like that door frame that has her's and Claire heights marked on it. There were also some things that were different, like the new wall colors and some new baby toys laying around. Her thoughts wander as she thought about the new family member. She couldn't wait to meet him. They finally stopped at a door that she recognized as the door to the basement.

Mari remember being scared of the basement when she was younger. She would often hear weird noises from there and believe it was because monsters were down there ready to eat her toes. Now as an 18 year old entering the basement she could safely assume that those noises probably came from the water heater. Probably.

The stairs were creaky with age and you had to walk all the way down them before you could turn on the dim lights. Once the lights were on she saw that the basement had been lightly clean; just enough where the dust wouldn't bother her allergies. Her Tía seemed to still try to move some things around so they could move around a bit more freely. "Here is where you'll be stay—"; she was then interrupted by her phone.

"Oh, will you excuse me for one second I have to take this." Tía Lia ask as she pulls out her phone to answer it.

Mari nods and continues to observe the room she will be staying in for the next few months. There were some boxes pushed to some corners and couch she assumes would turn into a pull out bed. There would have to be some work done to make it a bit comfortable but she didn't mind. After all, it was free housing and she was back in her home town.

She begun to move some boxes to clear some space when Tía Lia comes back to Mari.

"Lo siento mucho Mari, but I have to get going but if you need anything please call me or Javier, our phone numbers are on the fridge" she tells Mari as she leaves the basement.

"No problem! I'll be unpacking down here. Hasta luego!" Mari shifts the box she has in her arms to her side to wave her Tía goodbye.

She was left the rest of the afternoon bringing her things down to the basement and unpacking. Trying to set up the space so she could move around easily without knocking something over. She also decided to move the couch to the closest outlet so that she could charge her phone at night near her couch-bed. Once it was moved she pulled out the bed to put her sheets, pillows, blankets and her favorite stuff animal. Mr. Sprinkleton is a dull green dragon plush that she had since she was young and hardly slept anywhere without it. It was well loved but still maintained a somewhat fluffy shape. She remembers how her mom used to tell her bedtime stories and would cast Mr. Sprinkleton as the main lead.

Mari flopped down on her newly made bed to stare at the ceiling trying to organize her thoughts like she organized the room. She was ecstatic to be back home in Arcadia Oaks but she hadn't realize it would shine a light on her feelings. Feelings she was actively trying ignore because she has much bigger things to worry about! Like her studies, the campaign, or the fact that there are definitely trolls in Arcadia. As well as making sure she didn't reveal anything about the magical world to anyone who wasn't already in the know; like her family. It was so overwhelming to try and keep track of everything. She needed to make a list, so ruffles through her boxes to find a pencil and sticky note pads. Now to figure out what to do:

1. Get textbooks for class

2. Figure out role for the campaign

3. Find where the trolls are

4. Find if there other magical communities

5. Get Claire to a concert

6. Put protection wards on the house

7. Make sure no one hurts the fam

8. Make sure no one discovers what you are

As long as she had her list, kept cool and acted normal she would be fine. She took a long sigh as she fished out her laptop from one of her bags. The laptop illuminated the room as she looked over the syllabus for each of her classes. There was some books that she would need to source on her own and while she was looking for nearby book stores she heard the front door open.

Mari puts her laptop aside and walks up the creaking stairs to investigate. Only to find it was the whole Nuñez family was now returning home. Claire was practically bouncing up and down calling for Mari to come up while Tío Javi carried in some tacos and Tía Lia held a cute baby in her arms. Mari almost started to drool when she smells the tacos.

"We picked up some tacos from Stuart's food truck!" Claire announces.

"That food truck is still here?" Mari asks in surprised shock. It was her favorite food truck when she lived in Arcadia almost a decade ago, so to learn that it was still there was a welcomed surprise.

"¡Sí! Mija, but their tacos are not as good as mine!" Tío Javi asserted as he put the tacos on the dinning room table.

"Nothing can beat your tacos Tío!" Mari assures him as she hugs him, "Just don't tell my papá that" she whispers in his ear which made Tío Javi chuckle. This was her first time all day since she got back to her favorite Tío and to her he still seemed that same funny uncle that she remembers.

"And this must be the new Nuñez I keep hearing about!" She coos at the baby that her Tía is holding. "Yes, this is Enrique your new primito" Tía Lia introduces the new family member and hands the baby off to her. It had been a while since Mari last held a baby, so it took a minute before she could hold him comfortably. She looks into the precious baby's eyes filled with innocence as she bounces him softly on her hip making him laugh. Once the table is set, she murmurs a little blessing before kissing his head and handing him back to his mamá.

They each take their seats, grab a taco and add what ever toppings or sauces they want. Discussing their day, mainly their frustration with their classmate, constituent or coworker. In between bites

Claire catches Mari up on ten years of chisme that she had missed out on. It was very interesting to find out that there was an ongoing issue about missing pets and how that drove Mrs. Holly to accuse Mrs. Domzalski of stealing the cats. There may have been some sly comments from the latter that there is probably a reason why the cats don't want to stay in Mrs. Holly's residence.

"¿Y tú, Mari? How was your trip?" Her Tío asked.

"Oh, you know it was good. Kinda long, but I have a ton of pictures from the ride over here." She says as she pulls out her phone to show pictures of the all the National Parks she stopped by on her way to California. Some of them showcased her amateur photography skills at capturing landscapes while others showed attempts of her trying to hold large structures in her hands.

Once everyone had their fill of food, stories and chisme, Mari helps Claire clean up the dining room while Tío and Tía went to go set little Enrique down for the night then go to bed as well.

"So…" Claire glances at Mari as she dries some of the dishes and puts them away.

"So…" Mari slyly glances back at Claire as she hands her the last wet dish.

"Uh, well…where are you going to sleep?" Claire shyly asked.

"Oh! I'm sleeping in the basement, I guess they didn't tell you much about me coming"

"Oh, well I just glad you got your own space. Not that I wouldn't love to share, it's just didn't want to-" Claire blunders. "It's alright, you don't have to explain yourself. After we are done with the dishes we can go look at the basement." Mari reassures her. They continue to dry up the last of the dishes and chat about Claire's day at school before they went down to the basement.

Walking down the creaky stairs Claire noticed that the usually cluttered basement had been cleared up into a somewhat useable room. With most of the boxes pushed neatly into the corner, the couch pulled out into a bed and some of Mari's things claiming the bed. Such as the infamous green dragon plush.

"You still have Mr. Sprinkleton!" She exclaimed as she turned to her cousin, surprised that her older cousin still had her childhood peluche.

"Of course! I don't go anywhere without him. He's been with me through thick and thin. And still gives the best cuddles." Mari insisted playfully as she picks up the plush and snuggles him to demonstrate his superiority in comfort.

Claire giggles at her prima's antics, "Even though you're off at college? Don't you think you're a little to old for it?" She asks.

"You never to old for comfort. Don't tell me you already got rid of Suzy Snooze?" Mari questions her little cousin.

"Not exactly, I gave her to Enrique. I just figured that I was getting older you know, it was time to grow up. Besides, he is going to need it more than I do" Claire explains.

"Hey, its okay to still hold onto things sometimes and anyways you're still a kid" Claire gave a glare to that response.
"A highly capable and responsible young woman, I mean" Mari back tracked. "What I'm trying to say is that you should enjoy your youth and if that means holding on to your favorite peluche, so be it."

Claire seems unsure about her statement. "And if anyone tells you otherwise tell me so I can beat them up" Mari assures which made Claire chuckle.

"I'm serious, if someone ever tries to bully you tell me. I'm here for you" Mari insists.

"Fine I will" Claire grumbles.

Mari. tries to pass the dragon to Claire "and if you ever need a cuddle from Mr. Sprinkleton, he's always available too"

Claire takes Mr. Sprinkleton into her hands and looks over the well-loved plushie before Mari brings her into a hug. She sinks into the hug as it had been a long time since she had seen her cousin. It felt like when they were younger and there wasn't school essays to worry about.

"It's a school night, so I better get going." Claire says as she breaks the hug, trying to blink away the tears starting to form and moves to leave the basement.

"Bueno noches, Ojoita" Mari says with a grin as Claire heads up the stairs.

"Bueno noches, Mari" Claire replies with a smile as she leaves and closes the door.

Chapter Text

~Mari~

Mari was in another dream, she could tell by the lack of control she had. She couldn't distinguish between up or down, left or right. All that she knew is that she is falling or floating or maybe not moving to begin with. It was dark after all, and what she really did know was that she wasn't alone. Some of the images from her previous dreams were showing up but they were too quick for her to make out. Then she felt a hand tug on her arm and saw a pale hand pulling her towards something. She tried to follow where the hand was connected to, but everything seems out of focus. Her eyes traveled up his arm, notably covered by sleeves and it was connected to what she assumes to be a guy. His face was obscured by his dark hair, so she couldn't discern anything about her would be savior… or captor. She tried to get his attention by yelling at him and asking where they were heading but he wouldn't answer. She thought she finally caught his attention when he started to turn around, but thats when the ringing began. It's loud, grating and distracting noise made everything more blurry and letting her slip out of his grip.

As she slips out of his hand, she also slips out of her sleep. The ringing followed her to the world of living and soon finds the source of her disorientation after aimlessly flailing her arms. It probably would have been easier to find her phone if her face wasn't in the pillow but she did not want to open her eyes before she had to. She finally finds her phone that has her alarm going off just like she intended when she set it the night before. It was 7 am, giving her enough time to get ready for the day, grab some breakfast, take Claire to school and then set off on her own quest for textbooks.

But, five more minutes, Mari thinks as she closes her eyes once again. 'It wouldn't hurt anybody', is what she would have said before another alarm goes off reminding her that, it is in fact, time to start the day. Normally, she would not have a problem waking up when the sun rises, but her internal clock has not seemed to found it's rhythm yet.

Hopefully that won't be for long, she thinks to herself as she heads to the small half-bathroom in the basement. Before even looking in the mirror she knows that her hair is sticking in all sorts of ways. As she tries to wrangle her hair into her signature twin braids that reach to her waist. She had bangs in previous years, but was letting them grow out, they were at the stage where they were pretty long, but not long enough to be in her braids just yet. She just parts them down the middle and let them frame her face. As she tries to get them to lay right, she thinks about the things she needed to do.

Today on her list of things to get done was to find a bookstore to get some books for her classes. Although some of her books were online, she still wanted to find a couple of physical copies for her mythology class. She remembers how she loved having a book in her hands, flipping through the pages and being transported to another world.

Once she tames her hair, it was now time to figure out what to wear. It was getting cooler since it was the fall, well cooler compared to Texas, so something to keep her a little warm. She finally decides to put on a burnt orange sweater dress that hangs off her shoulders and falls around her mid thighs. Paired with some black legging capris underneath and some white Toms. Before heading out she looks into the little mirror she set up making sure everything was in place. Her eyes linger on her turquoise pendant that was a last gift from her mother. She told her to never leave home without it on and she never did, too afraid to lose it if she ever did.  

Mari's phone once again went off signaling that she only had thirty minutes before she had to take Claire to school. She thought it was the least she could do now that she was living here. It also gave her time to reconnect with her prima. Then her stomach growls and she could now smell the huevos rancheros that her Tío was making. Mari quickly gathers her tote bag and practically skipped up the steps to taste the mouthwatering wonders that is her Tío cooking.

Mari arrives at the kitchen island to find Claire flipping through one of her textbooks next to her plate of food, while Enrique happily plays with some mashed peas next to her in his highchair. Mari passes her Tío as he cooks more eggs and thanks him before going to grab her own plate. She notices how Claire's eyes kept scanning over book and her fork had missed her mouth several times. It seems that something was bothering her prima and she was going to ask her about it, but not before little Enrique splatters his mashed peas all over his sister and her book.

"Ah! Oh no no no! Enrique!" Claire panics as she breaks out of her trance, desperately trying to scrape off the green mush off her books. Much to her little brothers delight as he continues to carelessly mash the peas even more now that he got his sisters attention. Mari quickly tries to help corral the chaos when she hears the of click heels in the kitchen.

"Why is your brother a mess? You should have been watching him!" Tía Lia scolds Claire. You think she would be walking into a crime scene.

"Lo siento, mamá. I'm just nervous a little bit. They announce whose in the play today and I worked really hard and I hope I got the role I wanted." Claire tries explain her self as she rushes to get the rag that Mari got to clean Enrique.

"Remember, your classes come first mija! If your grades start to slip you might need to drop out of this play" Tío Javi says as he continues to make breakfast, oblivious to the chaos that was mere seconds ago.

"We wan't you to get into a good college mija. Don't you want to be like your cousin?" Tía Lia gestures to Mari as she lectures Claire. Mari cringes as she saw how Claire slightly deflated at the comparison. Thankfully her Tía could not see her reaction since she was to busy answering a phone a call.

But before her Tía could step out of the kitchen she asks, "Claire can you clean up your brother before you got to school."

"Sí, mama," Claire grits out politely as she goes to pick up her brother. He on the other hand starts to loudly protest, thinking it a great disservice to be moved from his high-chair. Claire looks stressed as she tries to appease her hermanito.

"Don't worry, I got him. Just get your stuff ready and meet at my car, I'll drive you to school today" Mari tells her as she easily takes Enrique from her hands. Claire sighs in relief, as if a great weight was removed from her shoulders.

Enrique did not protest to be in his cousin's arms, it seems that he is just happy to be fussed over. Mari hadn't really spent much time with the newest Nuñez member, but she absolutely adored babies and their cute little faces.

She quickly takes him up to the nursery to clean him up and find some clothes. As she sets him down on the changing table, she checks to see for anyone passing by. Once the coast is clear, "Wanna know a little secret Enrique" she coos at the baby as her hands begin to glow with an amber tint. While he is captivated by the light coming from her hands, Mari uses the distraction to clean his face with water she conjures. She hums while she cleans him up and changes him out of the dirty clothes into a clean matching set.

"To bad you won't remember this much" Mari chuckles to Enrique as she lets the glow fade from her hands and takes him back to his parents, letting them know that she is taking Claire to school today. Once the handoff is made, she picks up her own bags and heads to her car where she sees Claire waiting by scrolling through her phone. They both got in the car and Mari let Claire be in charge of the music while she drives.

It was silent in the car with the exception of Claire's incessant tapping of her phone and the radio on. Mari felt like Claire was going to snap her phone in half if she didn't say whatever was on her mind.

"So…its a big day I hear?" Mari breaks the ice.

"Huh? Then there is a big test I'm studying for." Claire says nonchalantly.

"Not that, Señorita Julieta~" Mari teases.

"I don't even know if I got the part yet!" Claire deflects as she slides into the seat covering her eyes.

"Of course you did! You're Claire Nuñez! The best actress in all of Arcadia Oaks!" Mari boast. Her prima scoffs at the declaration.

"I'm being serious you know. I know you put so much work into this role or else you wouldn't be so nervous about it." Claire blushes at the observation.

"Anyways, you should worry more about whose going to be your Romeo and if he's going to give you cooties or not."

"Hey! Cooties are not real, but I just hope Steve isn't Romeo, bleh"

"Is there someone you want to be Romeo?" Mari inquires with a questioning look.

"Well…There is this one guy, his name is Jim. He showed up with this really intricate costume and his monologue was so moving! I think he has potential to really hold an audience. He seems like a good choice for Romeo." Claire rambles.

"Ah, I see" Mari agrees. "Seems like somebody has a crush"

"What! No! I just—" Claire turns even redder, almost like a tomato, trying to defend herself.

Fortunately, they arrive at Arcadia Oaks High and she was quite literally saved by the bell. "Bye Julieta!" Mari shouts as Claire gets out of the car, which only made her walk faster into school.

After Mari dropped of Claire it was time for her to start her own quest. In her pursuit of knowledge, she needs to pick up some books for her classes before they start next week. Although there was online options for her books she prefers to have physical copies for the books required in her mythology. While looking for bookstores in town the day before, there was one that caught her eye, GDT Arcane Books. She remembers her mom getting books from there when she was younger, all kinds of fairytale books that lined her childhood home bookshelves.

Mari finds her self at the town square with shops lining around just as her GPS said. Walking around she passes a few shops and finally finds GDT Arcane Books. Only to see that it was closed, with no information about when it's open. Instead of admitting total defeat in her quest for books she decides to at least familiarize herself with area. She has a feeling that she would be frequenting this area a lot.

Right next to the book store she notices a vintage record shop, Zimoc Records. The door bell rings as she walks in and hears Dreams by Fleetwood Mac playing in the background. She observes the rows ands racks of vinyls, posters. There was no one at the front desk, but since the door was unlocked she assumes that who ever is working here is just occupied in the back. Mari tries to find their classical songs and peruse their selection.

"Do you need help finding something today?" An unexpected forced customer service voice asks.

Mari surprised by the voice, turns around to find a short pink-haired girl around her age. She has emo aesthetic going on with all her necklaces, bracelets and even a tattoo peeking from on her arm. Practically the definition of coolness and electrifying aura to her. She smiles but it doesn't hide the assessing look in her eyes.

"Oh! Yes, actually. Do you have any rock albums?" Mari asks after she recovered from being startled.

"Sure, we have some CDs and records over here." The girl says as she guides her to the rock section of the store. It had a wide variety of music, everything from the Beatles to what Mari assumes to be local bands and artist.

"Well, if you don't need anything else, I'll be at the counter" She says leaving Mari to look through their selection.

"Thanks" Mari calls back and starts her search. She was looking for a Papa Skull CDs when something caught her eye. It was a homemade CD case, the list of songs all from different artists, were in perfect handwriting. The artwork in the front looked like a watercolor landscape of a lake, with 'Dreamscape' in calligraphy as a title. During the time Mari was looking through the music, she caught the clerk staring at her a few times despite her attempts to look busy reading some kind of magazine. Once Mari satisfied with her search, takes one of the Papa Skull CDs and Dreamscape to the counter.

"Papa Skull?" The clerk asks.

"Yeah it's my cousin and I favorite bands. I wanted to get her something since it's been a while." Mari responds.

"Huh, I don't think I've seen this one before?" The girl responds as she takes Dreamscape CD to inspect.

"It was hidden between some CDs, it looked interesting. I assumed it was a trade in of some sort." Mari didn't understand the confusion from the clerk, she had seen some of the other Records and CDs were used, so it wouldn't seem too rare to find something like that.

"Hmmm, Interesting. You seem to have a wide variety in music taste. I noticed you looking at the Classical section earlier," She appraises as if she wants to know more.

"I mean yeah, it kind comes with the territory as a dancer. I want to have diverse repertoire and listening to different genres of music helps with that." Mari explains.

"You're a dancer? Where at?" That sparks the clerks interest.

"Yeah, Well I just got in town the other day and I start as a dance major at Arcadia University next week. In the mean time I have been getting myself familiar with the area when I stumbled into here." Mari supplies hopping that it satisfy the clerk's curiosity.

"Well lucky for you, you just ran into the best person for music recommendations if you need any." The clerk grins, obviously referring to herself.

"Really! Who?" Mari asks, feigning ignorance. If this clerk really wants to get to know her, might as well show the menace she can be at times.

"Me, duh! " the clerk rolls her eyes playfully. "The names Zoe, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Zoe, I'm Mari"

"And if you're into the local music scene you should totally come see me and my friends band, Ash Dispersal Pattern. We do shows on the weekends" Zoe says as she begins to ring Mari her total, but not before scribbling something down on the receipt before handing it over, "and if you need to know more about the town just let me know"

"Well, I do have one question before I leave." Mari inquires. "Would you happen to know when the bookstore next door is open?"

"Does it look like I work at the bookstore?" Zoe deadpans.

"Oh uh- " Mari quickly tries to recant her question.

"I'm just messing with you. because if you really knew who worked there the answer would probably be yes to my question" Zoe chuckles.

"Huh?" Mari stares in confusion.

"The guy who works nexts door, 6 foot, dark hair with blue tips, wears all black, metals and chains. He's also in the band. The only difference between me and him is that I am not a total dork." Mari was wondering why this chick was describing some bad boy romance novel character to her.

"Who's a total dork?" A charming British accent says at the door. In walks in the exact guy Zoe was just describing. Although the dorkiness was yet to be seen.

"Ah, There's the man of the hour" Zoe announces with an exaggerated bow.

"Oh so my ears have been burning" He oozes swagger as he saunters in the store. Maybe it was the accent that makes him much more cooler than what Zoe described Mari thinks. Well, that was until he tripped over a box of vinyl records and went face first to the floor

"See, total dork" Zoe chortles at her friend's demise.

"So are you going to help him or..?" Mari questions Zoe as the not-so mysterious man struggles to get up. It seemed every attempt only resulted in more records and crates falling over on him.

"Nah, he can get up on his own" Zoe shrugs as she turns to organize something behind the counter. Having no interest to helping her friend stop embarrassing himself.

Mari although found the whole scene amusing she thought someone should put him out of his misery. As she walks to him a black cat appears and starts to walk all over him. Acting as if he conquered unchartered land, uncaring about the guy that he was currently trampling. The guy didn't seem all that bothered either, as if his humiliation was a common occurrence to both him and the cat.

"Don't mind him that just Archie" The guy explains as he moves to free himself from the avalanche of merchandise and the king of the hill. Archie, the cat, getting the hint moved from his perch and towards Mari, meowing to get her attention. Maybe to convince her to do his bidding, which Mari deduces is to be carried.

"Aww qué chulo" Mari coos as she gives in and picks up Archie, giving him small scratches between his ears.

The guy finally stands to his full height, dusting off his clothes.

"So if this little guy is Archie" Mari says gesturing to the purring cat in her arms, "you must be?"

"Douxie" He clumsily bows with an awkward chuckle. "And you must be?"

"Mari" she returns with a teasing curtsy, "And I've been told you work at GDT Bookstore?

"One of the many places of my employment" Douxie explains bashfully.

"Perfect!" Mari smiles. "I don't know if you're heading to your next shift or anything, but I was looking for some books and I was wanting to know—" Mari is interrupted by her ringtone go off. Which spooks Archie and makes him leap out of her arms and onto Douxie's shoulders. She fishes the phone from her bag and sees that Tía is calling. She forgot about the lunch she was supposed to have with her. If she left now she would make it just in time. Mari looks back to Douxie "Oh sorry! I got to go but I'll come back soon and I have some questions for you." She hurries toward the door, but before she leaves she turns around and spots Zoe to wave goodbye, "It was nice meeting you Zoe!".

"Right back at ya!" Zoe salutes back before returning to the counter.

~Douxie~

After the mysterious beauty walks out the door Douxie makes his way to Zoe at the counter. He lets Archie down to walk around.

"Uh so who is that girl who just left?" Douxie asks while he nervously taps on the counter.

"Mari?" Zoe responds, "She just said her name, like two seconds ago. Did you seriously hurt your head when you fell?"

"What no, my head is perfectly fine!" He disputes despite moving his hand to his head to make sure there were no bumps.

"I doubt that" Archie chimes in as he starts to groom himself.

"Why are you acting so weird?" Zoe questions, "Well, weirder than usual."

"I'm not acting weird" Douxie weakly defends as Zoe gives him a disbelieving glare.

"I have to agree with Zoe on this one. You are acting a bit strange" Archie concurs as he returns his attention to his nervous familiar.

Douxie was going to keep up the facade that he was acting just his usual self. Until he concedes to the peering gaze of both Archie and Zoe.

"Remember that dream I keep having?" Douxie sighs.

"About you running on stage without your pants or the mysterious girl?" Archie asks very seriously.

"The girl Arch!" Douxie groans out of embarrassment.

"Yeah, and I don't think the pants thing was a dream Arch." Zoe corrects "The 60's were a wild time."

"Okay we are getting a little off track here!" Douxie interrupts. "Anyways, I think Mari is the girl from the dreams I keep having."

"Are you sure?" Zoe questions in disbelief.

"I'm sure" Douxie stresses, "I remember those eyes of hers." he says quietly.

Zoe and Archie look at each in concern. As much as they love Douxie, they both know persistent about something if he believes that there is cause to investigate. Even if that cause seems obscure or invisible at times.

"Well, she did seem interesting" Zoe remarks.

"Interesting?" Douxie and Archie questions.

"Well she's obviously new here but thats not even the most interesting thing. She had this aura about her"

"Like she has a bubbly personality?" Archie prods.

"No, its more like magical, but its really really subdued. I only got a faint whiff of it and she was here for a while." Zoe explains.

"See that could mean something!" Douxie exclaims, fueling his belief that this Mari girl was something important.

"It could mean anything! She probably doesn't even now about magic if thats faint."

"Or she could be hiding something" Archie adds.

"Maybe not hiding anything bad. You two both know that the normal world does not treat people like us kindly." Douxie defends Mari, even though he barely knew her for all of two seconds. His rebuttal did seem to reach to both Archie and Zoe as they watch him silently. They understood what he meant but if they had any reservations they both tried to hide it.

"You probably right" Zoe finally sighs. "Hopefully she comes around more often so we get to know more about your Dream Girl. I did invite her to our shows." She says with a teasing glint.

"Yeah, hopefully, Wait! Hey! She is not my dream girl" Douxie blubbers after realizing what Zoe said.

Zoe snorts as she walks towards the stockroom in the back. "To late D. And don't forget to clean up your mess before you leave!" She shouts.

"You heard the lady, get on with it." Archie says while lounging on the counter.

"Are you going to help?" Douxie asks as he heads towards (the mess he created earlier)

"Not my blunder, not my problem" Archie responds as closes his eyes.

Chapter Text

~Claire~

She had been on edge the entire day, waiting for the cast list to be released. She couldn't even focus in class, she wasn't to worried about missing out on whatever was being taught because she was often ahead in her some of her classes. Her preparation for this role was not only performing a great monologue, but also getting ahead in some of her classes so she wouldn't have to worry about after school rehearsals. No matter what role she got, she was going to give it her all. But, she really wants to be Juliet, because it would give her the opportunity to maximizing her acting skills. It would be a chance to prove to her parents how good she can be in acting and career worth getting into. Then she could convince them to send to acting summer classes, and perform in more shows not only in school, but community theaters too. Which could get her scouted into a good acting college once she graduated high school. Not to mention the few college courses she plans to take next year to improve her college applications. Her dreams of NYU would be just in her grasp if she got this part. Not to mention its such an iconic role too.

Her cousins words once again creeps into her mind once again. If she were to get the Juliet role that meant she would have her Romeo. Not to many guys wanted to audition for the play, they either had some lame excuse like soccer practice or they straight up admitted they did not want to be apart of some 'lame ass play'. In the end they managed to get the minimum amount of guys to even have the play green-lit by Ms. Janeth. Still the audition pool didn't leave much hope for when it came to talent. Eli Pepperjack has a lot of heart, and is a sweet kid but he was not necessarily Romeo material. Logan was there but he didn't even audition he's volunteering for a tech position along with Darci. Then there was Steve Palchuck, Arcadia Oaks High resident jock and captain of the football team. She had no clue as to why he of all people would audition, but if it meant the show could go on then so be it.

What surprised her the most was the Jim guy. She didn't really know much about him other than he was in a few of her classes. He never really talk to anyone besides ginger guy with braces that he always hung around. Yet, when he got on stage she couldn't believe it was really that quiet guy that sat in the back of the class. He really went above and beyond at his audition. The highly detailed armor was just icing on the cake, but what blew Claire's mind was his monologue. He said it with such conviction that she believed she could conquer her own destiny. She was really hoping that he would be Romeo, whether or not she got the part of Juliet. It would be a great opportunity to show off his talent.

"Hey!"

"What!" Claire jumps at the voice.

The final bell had rung, but she wasn't aware of that fact till she looks up to see the classroom empty. Well empty except for the one who called out to her, Darci Scott, her best friend since 5th grade.

"You okay there C-Bomb?" Darci asks Claire.

"Yeah, I just zoned out a little." Claire sighs.

"Well I hope you didn't zone out the whole time. I'm gonna need to look at your notes later." Darci jokes.

"Sure you can." Claire replies and she starts to slowly gather her things, knowing full well she didn't write down a single word from class. She hopes Darci forgets to remind her about it.

"Why are you stalling? Aren't you excited to know that you're Ms. Juliet!" Darci teases.

"Did you already see the cast list!" Claire drops her books in shock.

"No C-bomb" Darci rolls her eyes as she helps Claire collect her books and bag. "I've been waiting for you to go with me, you've been daydreaming about who your Romeo gonna be."

"No I haven't" Claire groans "besides we don't know if I'm even Juliet." she admits before walking out of the classroom.

Darci raises a brow to that statement "First off, we haven't even the list, so don't be so pessimistic about it"

"I'm not pessimistic, I'm being realistic" Claire interrupts.

"Sure you are. Secondly, Ms. Janeth would be so lame to not make you Juliet. You're like the most talented person at our school" Darci defends.

Claire's retort died on her lips when she bumped into a large crowd in front of Ms. Janeth classroom. There was a lot of opinions that were being voiced but Claire couldn't make out what was being said. Instead her focus was centered on the list that might change her life. All that separated her from her future was a hallway full of hormonal teenagers.

"Claire-Bear!!" squeals one of those mentioned hormonal teenagers, none other than Mary Wang. One of the more popular students at Arcadia Oaks High who joined Claire's close circle of friends back in the 8th grade.

Mary's squeal brought Claire out of her thoughts as she braced for the full force of her friend's personality. She immediately latches on to Claire's shoulders once she reaches her.

"So have you found out who your smooching yet?" Mary teases.

"I haven't even found out my own role and I doubt I will ever find out because of them" Claire rolls her eyes as she gestures to the crowd.

"Leave that to me." Mary states with hair flip as she moves confidently towards the crowd.

"This will be interesting" Darci snickers.

Mary walks up to one of the tallest football players who to tap his shoulder and then whisper something in his ear. Next thing Claire and Darci sees is Mary being picked up and placed on the player's shoulders.

"HEY! CAN EVERYONE CLEAR OUT OF THIS HALLWAY NOW SO MY BESTIE CAN SEE IF SHE GOT THE ROLE OF JULIET OR NOT! THANKS!" She shouts and manages to get the attention of all in the hallways. You could hear a pin drop and then like the Red Sea the crowd parted making a straight path for Claire, Darci and Mary to the casting list. Thankfully none of the teachers were there to witness Mary's declaration. As much as Claire enjoys being center stage, she hates being the center of attention.

"Okay you can put me down now" Mary orders the guy she was being carried by as Mary and Darci went towards her. Once she safe on the ground, she slips the guy a sticky note before they made their way towards the cast list. Everyone had already returned to their previous conversations, but left the path clear.

"How did you convince him to carry you?" Darci asks

"Promised him that I would give him my number, but jokes on him I gave him a fake one" Mary smirks.

"Do you just have fake numbers on hand to give to guys?" Claire questions.

"It's called being prepared" Mary asserts as they arrive to the cast list.

As Claire quickly scans the list she sees her name next to the role of Juliet.

"I got the part!" She squeals, she was on track to reach her dreams!

Mary and Darci join in her excitement and tackle Claire for a group hug.

"See we told you!" Mary teases "We knew you would get the part" Darci agrees.

"It looks like you got a role too, Darci!" Claire tells her.

"What?! I didn't even audition. I thought I was going to be tech" Darci questions.

"Well you got the role of the Nurse so that means we get to have a lot of scenes together" Claire adds.

"You know who else you're going to spend a lot of time with?" Mary says with a glint in her eye

"Oh rights, who's going to be your Romeo?" Darci asks.

"Yeah the one you're going to passionately kiss on stage" Mary mocks with fake kissing noises.

Claire rolls her eyes at the antics of her friends. "Well one, it doesn't matter who Romeo is as long as they work hard at the role. Two, we are not going to passionately kiss, its going to be a sensible stage kiss—"

"O-M-G! Its Steve!" Mary interrupts.

"You've got to be kidding me." Claire groans as she quickly tries to verify what Mary said.

"She's just messing with you it's says here it's a Jim Lake Jr." Darci points out as she notices that Claire was having a hard time finding Romeo's role.

"There's a Jim who goes to our school?" Mary questions. For someone who knew almost everyone in their grade, it was surprising that, especially a boy, flew under her radar.

"Oh, Wait! This is the guy with the sick armor at the auditions right?" Darci realizes.

Claire breathes a silent sigh of relief, "I think so, yeah."

The trio starts to head out to the front doors of the school to be picked up. Even though she said she really didn't care who was Romeo it did bring her comfort knowing that Jim got the role. He seemed really promising and if his work ethic in class transferred to the stage then the play should go off with out a hitch.

"Well, Jimmy over here better not give our Claire any trouble." Mary declares while crossing her arms.

"Yeah, lover boy better be ready for our Claire and all the smooching they gonna do." Darci giggles.

"Seriously guys" Claire groans again, she will not hear the end of this for the rest of the semester, much to her friends amusement. The girls then fall into a comfortable silence as they try gather their breath from their non-stop giggling.

"Do you think he's a good kisser?" Mary breaks the silence that lasted only a mere 5 seconds.

"Mary!" Claire scolds.

Claire was then interrupted by a large car horn blasting in front of her. It was her cousin's car that was there to pick her up. She guess her parents were busy again, but now that Mari was here it meant she didn't have to take a ride with someone else or wait to long. However, it seems her friends didn't make that connection because as soon as Mari rolled down her window to tell her to get in, both Mary and Darci immediately got on the defensive.

"Stranger Danger!" Mary screeches.
"You won't take our friend!" Darci states as she takes a defensive stance in front of Claire.

"Guys, calm down" Claire pleads "that's my cousin that I was telling you about earlier. The one going to college here." She reminds them as she tries to convince them to stand down.

"Ohhhhhh!" Darci and Mary realize in unionson.

"Sorry about that!" Claire quietly apologies to her cousin, which Mari accepts. "Anyways, Mari this is Mary and Darci, my best friends." she introduces them.

"Nice to meet y'all" Mari greets back.

"Hello!" Darci responds, "So is it true you ride horses to school in Texas?" she asks.

"Are the cowboys over there like super hot!?" Mary also interrogates.

Claire facepalms at her friends antics, she loves them a lot but sometimes their lack of decorum stresses her out.

"Well—" before Mari could even finish her response Claire cuts her off to say goodbye to her friends.

"Okay guys, I gotta head out! See you tomorrow!" She waves them off as she quickly gets into the car and quickly puts her seatbelt on. Urging her cousin to drive off already as she settles in.

As they drive off they both can hear Mary, "Bye Claire Bear! Bye Claire's super cool cousin!"

Which causes Mari to giggle, "So you go by Claire Bear now huh?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't give them any more ideas for other nicknames" Claire grumbles as she sinks into the passenger seat.

"So…" Mari questions, "What part did you get?"

Claire musters up her best acting that she can at this moment, trying to come off as non-chalant as possible. "Well, it seems like I only got the part of the nurse." She lies.

Mari senses the disappointment, "Well, next time you will be get the lead role" she tries to cheer Claire up.

"Ha! Got you!" Claire confesses, her mood making a complete 180. "That kinda skill is what got me the role of Juliet in the upcoming play!" She insists.

Mari lightly punches her cousin's shoulder for pranking her. "That was a good one!" she admits "But I shouldn't be too surprised. You're one of the most talented people I know Claire. There would have been something seriously wrong with the director if she didn't choose you as Juliet."

"I'm just relieved that the waiting is over, it made me ansiosa all day." Claire confides.

"I did get you something to celebrate." Mari tries to redirect Claire's thoughts. Which she successfully does.

"What! You didn't have to!" Claire protest.

"But I wanted to" Mari shrugs, "So too bad you gotta take Clarita. It's in the glove compartment in front of you."

Claire follows her cousin's instructions to get her gift. She pulls out a bag and looks inside of it. There she finds a Papa Skull CD and it was her favorite album too! She would've tackled her cousin for the amazing gift but she was driving. So instead she resorts to squeals and a bunch of thank you's. She then proceed it to pop it into Mari's car CD player and put her favorite song on. Her and Mari were jamming all the way back home celebrating Claire accomplishment.

Once they got home Claire couldn't wait to tell her parents. Yet, between putting Enrique down for his nap, a few phone calls that her mom had to take and her father not coming home till dinner she had to wait. Once everyone was settled in the dining room and going over how their day went. Her parents were dealing with the same old problems so they hardly talk. Mari talked about how she was getting familiar with the town again, which led to her parents suggesting places for her to visit next.

Finally it was Claire's time to shine when Mari prompted her to share about her day. Claire's eyes lit up as she got up to announce, "I officially got the role of Juliet in the school play!"

Mari gave an encouraging applause as her father congratulated her "That's amazing mija! We are so proud of you!"

"Thank you papa!" Claire beams.

Her mother on the other hand gave a soft smile but choose this moment to remind Claire of her responsibilities. "Remember our deal Claire, you get to do this play only if it doesn't interfere with your other commitments."

It put a damper on Claire's mood, she just wanted to be supported with no caveats. Yet, she still fixes her smile to respond, "Of course, mama". For the rest of dinner she picks at her food, ruminating on the comments her mother made. She was pulled out of those thoughts when Mari calls out to her while they are putting away the dishes in the dishwater.

"You okay?" Mari asks.

"Oh yeah, I'm okay, just tired" Claire lies.

"I'm proud of you yano that." Mari assures her cousin. "And tomorrow you're going to kick butt on stage. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Claire is filled with a little bit more hope that someone in her family supports her unconditionally.

A yawn then creeps up on her, "I think I'm going to head to bed" she tells Mari.

"You go on, I'll finish up here" Mari says, "Anyways, you're going to need the beauty sleep for your Romeo tomorrow." She teases.

Claire splashes a little bit of water on to Mari before running up to her room to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is going to be the start of her new life!