Chapter Three—Jocks With Depth?

Athena groaned, sitting at her desk in her room. She was working on her Calculus homework, and she noticed that she already didn’t understand anything. It was frustrating, to say the least. It didn’t help the Heather and her sycophants (she couldn’t really force herself to remember their names when they didn’t seem to have any type of personality besides sucking up to Heather) were talking and giggling in the room. Athena rolled her eyes, hearing phrases like “he’s so freaking hot!” and “isn’t he dating insert name here . She’s such a slut!”

Athena grabbed her Ipod, placing the buds in her ears and scanning through the artists, before choosing some soothing music that would hopefully combat her headache. It wasn’t working, she acknowledged after a few moments. ‘I’m sure that it had nothing to do with my Calculus problems that I can’t understand for anything,’ she thought to herself, slightly sarcastically. Finally, she decided just to check her email, finding one from Gabi, who still hadn’t started school. She was jealous of her, but knew that she would be starting the next day. She scrolled through the email, taking note that Gabi was being forced to get a job, and that Anthony Evans, the guy Gabi had liked forever, asked her out for Saturday night.

Athena quickly replied a quick congratulations to her, then sighed, opening her Calculus text book. Almost as if they sensed her need to study, Heather and the sycophants started talking louder and giggling more. Athena bit the inside of her lips to keep from screaming in annoyance. Where could she go to escape from mindless chatter of shallow girls? The common area was out—there would probably be more juniors there talking and watching TV.

Then the thought hit her. Troy had once told her that she could come to him if he needed anything. He was in her Calculus class, so maybe he would be able to help her. She grabbed her bag, threw her homework and Calc book in it, left her Ipod on the desk, and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Heather questioned when she noticed that Athena was leaving. Athena glanced back at her.

“Does it matter?” she replied, ducking out of the room, and walking through the common room to the boys’ dorm. She bit her lip, thinking. Troy was in room two, wasn’t he? She walked up to it, and heard the faint strum of a guitar coming from the inside of the room. She knocked softly.

“Come in,” she heard Troy call. She sighed in relief, recognizing his voice and realizing that she had come to the right room. She pushed the door open, and found him sitting on his bed, strumming an acoustic guitar.

“Wow, some jocks have depth?” she blurted out before she thought about it. She instantly clapped a hand over her mouth, feeling completely ashamed of herself. Troy, however, didn’t seem to mind, but instead was laughing at her response.

“Yes, some jocks have depth,” he teased her. “Don’t knock all jocks just because we can play a sport well.”

“I guess this is the real reason you’re here. All the jocks back home where just obsessed with sex and sports,” she said with a smile. She froze when the guy she had seen in her Chemistry and Calc class came from the bathroom and back into the dorm. It was the Latino guy, and she was instantly shy, stubbing her shoe into the ground and staring at her feet.

“Hey, Dom, this is my stepsister Athena. Athena, this is Dominic,” Troy said, quickly introducing them. Athena glanced up at Dominic, who was holding his hand out to her.

“I’m Dominic Rodriguez. Feel free to call me Dom—all my friends do,” he said, shaking her hand.

“Hi,” Athena said in a squeak. Dom raised an eyebrow at her, then glanced over at Troy.

“She’s really shy,” he said dismissively. “No big deal.” Athena shot him a venomous look, but then realized that he was telling the truth, so it didn’t really matter. She then turned to look at Dominic again.

“Wait, Dominic Rodriguez?” she asked. He nodded at her, wondering where she was going with the topic. “So you’re the guy I’m supposed to ask for help if I have trouble in Spanish?”

“Oh, yeah. You take Spanish?”

“Yes. Latin too. I’m a fan of foreign languages,” she said, before biting her lip again.

“Sweet. So, how much Spanish do you know?”

“I’m in Spanish 2, so not a whole lot. I’m in AP Latin already though. I really like Spanish, though. Latin is great, but you can’t listen to music in Latin unless you want to listen to Gregorian hymns.”

“And those are just so boring,” Dom laughed. She nodded. “Well, I have tons of Spanish music if you want to listen to it at any time. My dad’s parents are from Mexico, and they never felt the need to learn English, so they only listen to Mexican music, plus they watch telenovelas all day long. They’re really lucky that we get a Spanish speaking station back home,” he said with a smile.

“They never learned English? That must be really hard,” Athena mused.

“I don’t think it really was. Dad was born about three months after they moved here, and he learned English and Spanish when he was little, and was able to translate for them. It was really helpful, actually. I was bilingual when I was born, practically.”

“That’s so cool. I had to learn Spanish the hard way. You know, by trying over and over again to pronounce things correctly, and with my old high school teacher repeating conjugations over and over again. So boring.”

“Sounds like it. You and I should just talk in Spanish sometime. Not only will it confuse and frustrate Troy, but it’ll help you in class. Do you have Señora Holden?” Athena nodded. “She’s awesome. I’m in her AP class.”

“You still take Spanish?”

“It’s an easy A.”

“Hey, Athena, not that I mind you showing up here or anything, but did you actually need something?” Troy asked with a laugh. She blushed again. “Athena, you really need to work on this blush/embarrassment thing, okay? There is no reason to be so shy around me, or Dom for that matter,” he said.

“Sorry,” Athena muttered.

“Why are you apologizing?” Dom asked in amusement. “Troy, give the girl a break. She’s shy.” Troy glared at him.

“Um, I did have a question. You said if I ever needed help with anything to let you know—“

“What do you need help with?” Troy suddenly interrupted. “Have people been bitchy to you? What about your roommate? Is she harassing you? What’s wrong?”

“Chill Troy. It’s just Calculus. I can’t do the assignment. Although, now that you mention it, I can’t stand my roommate because she obsessed with you and has her own little band of obsequious followers.”

“Do you have to use big words outside of class?” Troy asked, glancing up at her. Athena looked taken aback for a moment, before he laughed. “Just joking, Athena. Obsequious huh? Oh, wait, those freaky girls around Heather? They are pretty annoying. She keeps them around ‘cause they say whatever she wants them to and they do anything she wants too,” he said. “Oh, and yeah, about Calculus, I can help you.” Troy put down his guitar for the first time since she had entered the room and got out his book, working her through each question.

“Hey, you should totally hang out over here more,” Dom said when they finished doing Calc. Athena raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s true. You’re cool, we’re cool, we should be tight. Besides, it’ll help your parents be happier with you getting along. We don’t bite,” he teased her. She felt herself flush slightly. “Tomorrow, movie night?”

“It’s Friday. You guys don’t have any big plans?” she questioned.

“Oh, I do!” Troy interjected. Dom threw him an exasperated look. “I’m going out with Umbra.” Dom groaned.

“Umbra? You’re going out with that bitch?”

“Hey, it’s not nice to call girls bitches,” Athena interjected. Dom looked at her.

“Do you know Umbra?” Athena shook her head. “She’s in our Chem class. She made her lab partner cry. And she hates all other girls because she sees them as competition. It’s ridiculous. I can’t believe you’re dating her, Troy.”

“Dude, she’s hot. Don’t act like you wouldn’t hit it,” Troy said with a grin. Athena rolled her eyes at his attitude.

“I don’t think I can stand much more of this,” she said, staring at him. “That’s completely demeaning to women.” Troy’s eyebrows shot up.

“Aw, Athena, you’re not so shy anymore!” he said happily. She laughed at him. “We’re going out to a club, so we won’t be leaving until around ten. Why don’t you come over after dinner and we’ll watch at least one movie. Dom, you have plans tomorrow?” Dom shook his head no. “You can hang out with Dom as long as want,” he said with a grin.

“It’ll be fun, Athena. You know you want to say yes,” Dom said. She sighed, finally giving in. “Cool. And, hey, Athena, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask, right? You seem cool, so if you have any problems, let me know and I’ll kick some ass, all right?”

“Thanks Dominic,” she said softly.

“Dom,” he corrected her. She nodded, shrugging her backpack back on.

“Hey, Athena,” Troy called. She glanced back at him before walking out of the room. “My offer still stands. Don’t think that just ‘cause Dom is all “I’ll help you” that I’m not going to. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you.”

“Thanks guys,” she said quietly before leaving. When she got back to her room Heather was actually doing homework, and Athena could barely believe it. She hadn’t seen her do practically anything since the school year had begun. Admittedly, the year was fairly early in, but still, one should have had homework prior to three days in. Athena ignored her, instead going to her desk and starting her homework, only to be almost immediately started by a soft ring from her cell phone.

“Your ring tone sucks,” Heather commented. Athena rolled her eyes; she settled for one of the many free tones that her cell phone had come with. She didn’t really feel the need to pay three dollars for the hottest song only to hate it days later. She glanced down at the caller ID, noticing with shock, that it was her mom. She hadn’t contacted her since they had arrived in Hawaii, or at least that was where Athena thought she was.

“Hey Mom,” she said with a smile.

“Hey, hon. How’s school?”

“Not too bad. Calculus is kicking my butt, but other than that it’s pretty good. I’m totally jealous of Gabi though, classes don’t start back home until tomorrow. Plus the workload is a lot harder,” Athena said.

“Are you making any friends?”

“Yeah. My lab partner from Chem is cool. Her name is Felicity. Plus Troy is being really nice, and his roommate seems cool.”

“That’s great. Honey, Brad had one of the maids send you some brochures so you can decide what you want your room to look like, and he said that you could look at some stuff online too. We want you to feel comfortable in your room when we move back home.”

“It’s cool, Mom. I’m sure whatever you end up getting me will be great,” Athena responded.

“And Brad wants to get you a car.”

“Mom, that’s really unnecessary. Gabi has a car. So does Troy. I’m sure I can convince him to give me rides if worse comes to worse,” Athena said.

“You are not turning down his generosity, Athena,” her mother said sternly. Athena heaved a sigh, exhaling softly into the phone.

“I just don’t feel right taking all this stuff. I don’t need a car, I didn’t need an Ipod, I didn’t need a new phone, I don’t need a newly refurbished room. I’m happy the way everything is, Mom. You’re happy, right? And so am I. You don’t have to try so hard to get me to like Brad. He’s a cool guy. Plus, I get along fine with Troy. James and I might not get along so well, but I rarely see him anyway,” she said.

“Athena, he really wanted to do this for you,” her mom said. “Just let him, okay? Admit it that you would really like to redo your room. You could have everything you ever dreamed of having.” Athena sighed, ready to give in.

“Okay, Mom. But does he have to get me a car?”

“Would you accept it better as a Christmas gift?” Athena rolled her eyes.

“Fine, if that makes you happy. I’ll take it as a Christmas gift. When I get the brochures, I’ll make decisions about my room, and I’ll email it to your account, okay? How’s the vacation?” she asked, abruptly changing the topic.

“Oh, it’s wonderful. It’s so warm and beautiful. Maybe we could all go on a family vacation next summer,” her mother enthused.

“Maybe. Hey Mom, I better go. I have class tomorrow, and I still need to finish up a bit of homework. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Love you.” Her mother repeated the statement, and Athena hung her phone up, placing it on her desk.

“You don’t want a car? Or your room completely redone?” Heather asked incredulously. Athena glanced over at her, shaking her head curtly. “Why, are you a freak?”

“That seems a little excessive,” Athena said, frowning at the other girl. “It’s a waste of money to redo a perfectly good room, and a car seems completely ridiculous to me. I don’t even like to drive, and my friends do. Why should I have them pay for a car, when I can get places other ways?”

“That is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re weird,” Heather said decisively. Athena raised her eyebrows, then shrugged, laying down and reading through her Latin text, before going to bed for the night.

The next day at lunch, Felicity was prattling on about nothing in particular, as she was often likely to do, but then she stopped and stared at Athena.

“You’re quieter than usual,” she said. Athena poked at her food, and shrugged. “What’s wrong, Athena? Did something happen? Am I going to have to beat the crap out of Heather to make her pay for hurting you?”

“Don’t be silly,” Athena said with a laugh. “She told me I was weird,” Athena offered. Felicity’s eyebrows shot up.

“Why?”

“Mom called last night and was urging me to pick out everything I wanted for my brand new room, and what I wanted everything to look like, and whatnot. Then she mentioned how Brad, my stepfather, wanted to get me a car. I don’t need that. Then I went on this rant about how I didn’t need a new car, a new room, a new Ipod, a new anything, really. I get that we don’t have to worry about money, but surely it could be used to better uses.”

“Aw, Athena. Don’t think of it like that. Think of it as your stepfather trying to ensure that you are comfortable and cared for. He’s concerned,” Felicity told her. Athena shrugged uneasily. “Anything else happen last night?”

“Troy helped me with Calculus. I talked with Dominic,” Athena offered to Felicity. She motioned for Athena to continue as she ate more of her pasta. “I’m hanging out there tonight; we’re watching movies.”

“That sounds cool. Are you getting more friends now, Athena? I’m excited for you! That’s wonderful, ‘cause I have a date tonight. James from the soccer team,” Felicity confided, biting her lip and nodding over to a tall boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes that Athena could see from a distance. He looked tall and muscular, and like the perfect guy for Felicity.

“He’s cute,” Athena said with a grin. “I’m happy for you, Felicity.”

“Thanks! Oh, hey, do you want to hang out tomorrow? I was planning to run into town and go shopping. I have my car here. It’ll be fun.”

“Hey, that was something that I haven’t thought about. How is Troy getting around without his car?”

“You’re kidding, right? Everyone’s car gets shipped here somehow, or they pay someone to drive it cross country. We’re brats, Athena. We get what we want or need when we want or need it. Welcome to being a brat,” Felicity laughed.

“I’m hardly a brat,” Athena laughed, getting up to throw her things away and leaving the cafeteria with Felicity. “So, what do you guys do for fun up here?”

“Um, we’re brats, right? We club a lot, we shop a lot, and we convince the school to hold ridiculously unnecessary balls and dances. It’s fun. There will be a carnival at some point, and football will start next week. We’ll have to go. They are the social events of the early fall. It’s how you find out who is with who, and all sorts of interesting information.”

“Felicity, you weren’t supposed to be all girly like that,” Athena said in disappointment.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Felicity said. “I go to the games to stare at the football players in uniform. The uniforms are so tight.” Athena rolled her eyes in laughter. “Hey, are you eating dinner with Dominic and Troy?” Athena shook her head. “Awesome. Want to eat with me?” she offered.

“Felicity, I hate to point this out to you, but you’re the only person I eat with,” Athena said. Felicity grinned at her.

“You are supposed to assure me that I’m totally cooler than anyone else in the school who could eat with you.”

“You are. Who else would I ever eat with?” she asked. Felicity stuck her tongue out at her, and they split up their separate ways for class. The rest of the day flew by, and after PE, Athena made her way back to her room tiredly, taking a quick shower before starting her homework. When she got out, Heather and the sycophants were already there talking, making plans for the night.

“Ugh, you are so boring,” Heather said, looking over at her. “You’re doing homework, and it’s Friday! That’s ridiculous. Do you even have anything to do tonight?”

“For the record,” Athena started, looking at her, “I do. Maybe I want to get it done now so I can have fun with my friends the rest of this weekend. Has that maybe occurred to you?” she asked, briefly wondering why she was being so rude to her roommate, when she usually found it hard to string sentences together.

“Yeah, right. That little person you’re friends with has a date tonight, right?”

“You know Felicity’s name. I’m not stupid. She’s gone here as long as you have, and you know she’s going out with James, and you’re probably jealous ‘cause James’s cute,” Athena said. “Besides, I didn’t say that my plans tonight were with Felicity. I know other people here.”

“Like who? Your stepbrother? Troy probably wouldn’t even talk to you again if his daddy was begging him to,” Heather said in a hissing voice.

“For the record, I am hanging out with Troy and Dominic,” Athena said. Heather rolled her eyes and burst into laughter.

“Yeah, right. His friends call him Dom, babe. And you probably are making that up. Why would they want to hang out with a loser who has no friends or social skills?” Athena bit her lip, turning back to her homework and quickly completing it all, before grabbing her key, Ipod, and the brochures that she had noticed on her bed. She left the room and walked angrily through the hall, heading for the male dorms. She knocked on Dom and Troy’s when she reached it, and it was quickly opened.

“Oh, it’s you,” James said, a scowl evident on his face and his dark brown eyes narrowed at her. Athena sighed heavily, and Troy and Dom looked up from inside the room.

“Let her in, James,” Troy said. James still blocked the door, so Troy growled out the order again. James angrily moved from the door and let her into the room. Dom took a quick look at her, before glancing over at Troy.

“What’s up?” Troy hesitantly asked.

“Nothing, I just needed to get away from my roommate and the sycophants and this was the first place I could think of going,” Athena said softly, sitting on Troy’s bed. Troy took a quick look at her, placing his arm around her shoulder.

“What happened, Athena?” he questioned. She shrugged, biting her lip and looking at the brochures.

“What are these?” James asked angrily, looking through the brochures of all the furniture and sheet sets for a female room. “You already conned Dad into making you a new room? That’s ridiculous.”

“I didn’t want it,” Athena said softly. “I would have been fine with whatever room Brad put me in. I don’t care about that stuff.”

“Whatever. You and your mom are just gold diggers, who want my dad for an easy way out. You get to come here, and you will probably get a car, and an allowance, and all sorts of things you never even hoped to have,” James spit out.

“James, be nice to Athena or get out of the room,” Troy said. James’s mouth dropped open.

“You’re choosing her over me?” he asked incredulously. Troy rolled his eyes.

“I’m not choosing anyone, retard. I’m just tired of this stupid bull crap. She’s upset, and you’re hardly making it better.” James looked annoyed once more, before leaving the room.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. I’ll go find somewhere else,” Athena murmured.

“Stop,” Dom said as she started to get up. Her eyes flew up to him. He smiled at her, moving to sit next to her on Troy’s bed. “Que pasa, chiquita? Por qué estás triste1?” he asked. She sighed, then the whole story about Heather and what she had said spilled out. By the end of the story, Dom and Troy both looked angry, but Dom was shaking his head at her.

“I told you to call me Dom,” he admonished.

“I feel weird calling people nicknames,” Athena said abashedly. “It’s something that denotes a feeling of intimacy with the person, and I feel that nicknames are something that shouldn’t be used until a person has had a substantial friendship with said person.” Dom and Troy looked at each other in exasperation.

“Okay, Athena, look at me,” Dom said. Athena looked up at him. “Look, you and I are friends. I know that you just met me yesterday, and that isn’t as intimate as you’d like it to be for a nickname, but we’re going to get to be great friends. And, frankly, I’m pissed that Heather thinks that she can run her mouth about this. Call me Dom. I’ll tell you anything you need to know about me, to cement our friendship. Okay?”

“Okay,” Athena said in a small voice, looking down at her hands which were clasped in her lap.

“Call me Dom,” he said. She bit her lip, and looked up at him.

“Okay, Dom,” she said in a smaller voice. He shook his head down at her, looking at Troy over her head. He shrugged uneasily, and Dom smiled. So, they sat there, Athena asking questions, slowly becoming more comfortable around Dom. Troy was checking his email while Athena was sprawled over his bed, looking over at Dom.

“Most embarrassing moment?” Athena questioned Dom.

“You have to answer this one too,” he told her, giving her a moment to back out. Athena shook her head, smiling impishly at him. “Hmm, I guess it would be sometime last year. We have parties around here in the dorm rooms. We always have. There is alcohol, and people hook up and stuff like that. The typical high school party, right? Well, I got completely wasted.” Troy busted into laughter, apparently paying attention to the story. Athena glanced curiously over at him, then back at Dom. “While drunk, I decided that it would be a good time to do a striptease. Yes. Now, I’m not saying this to sound conceited, but there are plenty of girls here at school that like me, right? So, they are trying to get me to take of my boxers, which is all I have left on. I am about to, when thank God, Troy comes and gets me from where I’ve been dancing on a table, taking everything off.”

“Wow, Dom,” Athena laughed. “Um, mine? Well… I was fourteen. And I’ve always been this shy and geeky. I got a crush on this junior football player. I thought that I seriously had a chance with him too. I went up to him at Homecoming, which Gabi dragged me too, ‘cause I would never go to a dance under normal circumstances. This kid was surrounded by the football team and the cheerleaders and his gorgeous date, and I asked him… to dance with me. He laughed in my face.”
“You just asked him to dance, though? Not out or anything? That’s not too bad,” Dom said.

“I was completely humiliated. I went home crying and refused to talk to Gabi for three days,” Athena said.

“Aw, Athena, you’re just too shy for your own good. It’s a good thing that you know us, or else how would you ever get over your shyness?” Dom asked. Athena rolled her eyes at him, and they started talking about other things. By the end of the day, she had found that Dom was also on the basketball team, danced all forms of salsa, sang, played the drums, and had a younger sister named Luisa. He said that she was fourteen and tried to date all the time, and he had to protect her from all the guys. Athena thought it was adorable that he was that protective of his sister.

After a while, her phone started ringing. She reached for it, checking the ID and seeing Felicity’s number. “Hey.”

“Hey. Are you planning on eating tonight? It’s already 6:30, and the dining hall closes in half an hour. Come on,” she said.

“Oh, sorry Felicity,” she said sitting up. “I’ll see you in a few minutes?” Felicity affirmed that she would be there, and Dom and Troy walked with her over to the cafeteria. They all got in line together, and when everyone saw them laughing and talking together, the whole room grew silent. Heather especially was quiet, looking rather red in the face

“Hey, you’re eating with your friend, right?” Troy questioned Athena as she took her food. Athena nodded at him. “Join us when she leaves, or we’ll grab you before we head back to the room, okay?” She agreed, and went over to the customary table she shared with Felicity.

“Why are you so late?”

“I was talking with Dom and Troy. I had a problem with Heather earlier, and I just went there ‘cause I couldn’t think of anyone else to run to. We talked about it, and then Dom and I just talked about him in general. I’m going to look through the brochures that Brad had sent to me and decide what I want to do with my room while we watch movies. It should be pretty fun,” Athena said with a grin. She and Felicity were discussing the new horror movie they both wanted to see when a shadow fell over the table.

“You aren’t friends with them,” Heather said softly, glaring down at Athena. Athena rolled her eyes, clearly bored of everything that she had to say.

“I am,” she said. “You can’t believe that Heather? I spent the past two hours in Troy and Dom’s room.”

“You can call him Dom now? Yeah right,” Heather said dismissively. Athena looked up again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Dom was standing behind her, and the flashed her a quick smile.

“You ready for movies, Athena? We don’t have much time before Troy leaves, but there should be at least one that we can watch with him. What do you think about Mr. And Mrs. Smith?”

“Angelina Jolie for you guys, Brad Pitt for me, a hot sex scene, and a rather funny movie? All in all I think it’s a go, Dom. So, headed back to your room? Let’s go,” she said, standing up. “Later, Felicity. Have fun with James.”

“Not a problem. I’ll pick you up tomorrow,” Felicity said, smiling brightly at Athena.

She went back to Troy and Dom’s room, and almost instantly her phone rang. She looked at her cell phone and noticed Gabi’s number. “Hey!” she said cheerily.

“Hey girl. How’s class?”

“Not bad. My roommate is horrid, and I can’t stand her, but other than that it’s cool. How was day one?”

“Jarrod Thomspen asked about you,” Gabi said. Athena felt a smile curve her lips, knowing that that was the main reason Gabi called. Athena had been interested in Jarrod for the last half of the school year the year before, but he had barely acknowledged her other than to say hi every now and again.

“Really?” Athena said, trying to sound incredibly interested. Why should she really care though? “Why?”

“He said that he thought you were cute and he was going to ask you out this year.”

“No way,” Athena said in a deadpan voice. “Why? He had his chance last year.”

“I gave him your email address. Hope you don’t mind. Anyway, what are you up to tonight?”

“Movies with Dom and Troy. Look, I’ll email or call you tomorrow or something, okay? Bye.” Gabi said goodbye, sounding slightly hurt, before Athena turned back to the boys.

“Who had his chance last year?” Troy asked, looking threatening. Athena raised her eyebrows at him. “What? I’m your stepbrother and I get to be all bully like with guys who are into you.”

“Oh, God, that’s ridiculous. His name is Jarrod, he’s back home, and I will never see him again. I might hear from him since my best friend gave him my email, but I’m certainly not in the mood for interrogations about what kind of guy is interested in me. Movie time?” Athena asked, offering up an angelic expression. Troy nodded, sitting on his bed, and Athena was laying on Dom’s, leaving room for him. He started the movies, and they spent until 10:00 watching Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, then Troy left. Athena and Dom watched a few more movies before Athena stumbled back to her room, finding Heather already asleep.

Spanish translation:

1) What’s happening, babe? Why are you sad? (technically chiquita means little girl, but it’s used a lot in informal conversations more loosely than as little girl).

A/N: I wish I had some reasonable excuses about the wait. The truth is, I have terrible writer’s block and I’m not getting much encouragement to write this story. So, as much as I hate to do this, if I don’t get at least 4 reviews for this chapter by 5/23, I’m going to take this story down. I have a new idea in my head, and I would like to finish No Strings Attached.

Special thanks to Kelly.