Rumor Has It: The Complete Series

by Tucker, RH

  Tomás steps out of the hallway and stares at me, crossing his arms. “Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.” He stares at Cindy, who keeps her face averted. “Or should I say, didn’t drag in.”

  I was dreading this. I knew eventually I was going to have to tell them—him—about Micah, and I’ve wanted to. But I know how they react. Starting in middle school, if I even hinted at having a crush on a boy, Javier, Miguel, and Tomás would jump in and give me the third degree. Then they’d hound the boy, who half the time didn’t even have a clue why they were interrogating them because I never told any of my crushes I liked them. Then came Tim and he actually handled it very well. Miguel and Javier are still friendly with him, and he even won over Tomás. All of that is because I never told them the real reason we broke up.

  But Tomás’ tone and the way he looks at Cindy put me on edge. I shouldn’t have to lie about liking a boy or worry about bringing him home because of my brothers. Especially a guy I really like, like Micah.

  “No,” I snap at Tomás. He turns and looks at me like I’m crazy. “This is not her fault, Toto. This is your fault.”

  “My fault?” His jaw drops. “Oh, please explain to me how you having a boyfriend and lying to your family about it is my fault.”

  “Why do you think I’ve had to lie about this? Because you guys are so overbearing!”

  “Overbearing?” Miguel appears and leans against the wall, watching us. I don’t see him, but I can feel Javier behind me.

  “Yes.” I point to Miguel and then look back at Javier. “All of you. You guys! I’m not six years old.” Pointing back at Tomás, I take a step toward him. “I’m not your baby sister that has to be looked after. If Dad has a problem then that’s fine. But newsflash, Toto, you’re not Dad!”

  “V, come on.” Miguel looks at me. “You’re our little sister. Of course, we’re going to worry.”

  “Worry is one thing. What you guys do is overboard!”

  “Vero—” Javier starts to speak, but I throw a hand in his face.

  “No, Javi. You’re two years older than me. Two! And you think you know so much more than me. I’m an adult, you guys.”

  “Adult, pft,” Tomás scoffs.

  “Screw you. I’m turning nineteen next week. I just finished my first year of college.”

  “Veronica,” Cindy whispers, maybe to calm me down, I’m not sure. But I’m over all of this.

  “No, Cindy. They need to know I’m not some little girl anymore. If Mom or Dad have a problem with me dating, then they can bring it up. It’s not your job, Toto.”

  “Vero, it is my job. You’re my baby sister, and I’m not gonna let some jerk or scumbag hurt you.”

  “You already did!”

  Cindy’s eyes widen because she knows I never told them about Tim. How do you tell your family that the boy you liked cheated on you and then said it’s because you’re too fat? Miguel straightens up on the wall. Javier walks in front of me, next to Miguel.

  Tomás stares at me, confused. “What?”

  The embarrassment isn’t coming into play, as I stare back at him. “Tim, okay? You guys couldn’t protect me from him, and he …” I gaze down at the ground, not wanting to repeat it.

  “Vero, what the hell are you talking about?” Javier asks.

  “Did he do something?” Miguel speaks up. “Vero, I swear to God, if he did something—”

  “No, you guys.” I let out a sigh, finally raising my eyes to meet Tomás. “He didn’t do anything. At least, not like you’re thinking. He cheated on me, okay?”

  “I’m kicking his ass,” Miguel shouts.

  “Oh, that little prick is gonna die,” Javier adds.

  “No, you guys, don’t do anything. It was over a year ago. It’s just …” My anger is fading away, and now the embarrassment is creeping back in. Thankfully, Cindy walks over to me and hugs my arm. “He cheated on me, and he said it was because I’m too big.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Miguel says with pure malice. “I don’t care what you say, he’s going down for that.”

  “Toto?” I look up at my big brother. His anger is gone, too; replaced with disappointment and sadness.

  “You guys,” he begins, clearing his throat, “don’t mess with him. If Veronica says it’s fine, then it’s fine.”

  “What?” Javier gapes at him in shock.

  Tomás looks back at me for reassurance. “Vero?”

  “Yes, it’s fine. I’m fine. I’m—” A nervous laugh lets loose. “I’m seeing someone else now. He’s nice.”

  “Fine.” Javier shakes his head and walks away grumbling something.

  “I won’t do anything,” Miguel says, pushing off the wall. “But I see him around a lot. All you have to do is say the word, and his tires get slashed.”

  I nod, giving him an appreciative smirk, and head to my room. “Come on, Cindy.”

  I’m just about to close my door and decompress everything that’s happened when Tomás stops it from closing. “Hold on, one more thing. Well, two more.”

  “What?”

  He takes a long breath, but his eyes don’t meet mine. They look around, first at the door, then at Cindy behind me, then down to the floor. “Um … shit.”

  “What is it, Toto?”

  “Look,” he meets my eyes, holding in a breath, “this isn’t easy for me—”

  “Just spit it out already.”

  “Have you had sex?”

  My eyes pop open. “Oh my God! That’s none of your business.”

  “How many times did you say you were staying at Cindy’s when you were really with … what’s his name?”

  “Micah. And again, it’s none of your business.”

  “I’m just saying, you need to be safe and—”

  “Toto! Stop!”

  His face is entirely red, and if I weren’t so shocked about him asking, I’d probably be laughing at his color. “Fine, whatever. The other thing is dinner.”

  “Dinner?”

  “Yes,” he says matter-of-factly, and is returning to his usual, overbearing, big brother self. “Tomorrow. He’s coming over for dinner. We’re meeting him.”

  “No, we’re not—”

  “It’s not up for discussion. He’s coming, or I send Miguel and Javi out to trail him morning noon and night until it happens.”

  “Fine, fine!”

  “Thank you.” He smiles confidently and leaves.

  I shut the door, leaning against it.

  “Well, that went better than I expected it to.” Cindy smirks.

  “I’m going to kill you.”

  Lifting her shoulders, she raises her eyebrows. “So, just so I’m up-to-date, I know you guys haven’t, but I didn’t get to ask you about last night. So …”

  I shake my head and walk over to my bed, falling down. “You’re insane, you know that? And no, we still haven’t.”

  “Okay.”

  “But I think …” I trail off, biting my lip.

  “You think?” She gives me a curious grin.

  “I think I want to. Next week. On my birthday.”

  “Oh, I like it.” She rubs her hands together, mischievously. “That is, if he survives the dinner, right?

  “Yeah, if he survives.”

  Chapter 13

  Micah

  Waking up to Veronica is a feeling I’ve gotten so used to that when she doesn’t sleep over, it feels lonely. I want her next to me when I go to sleep and when I wake up. I love having her close.

  I love her.

  I was almost going to tell here that before I freaked out. I can’t love her already, can I? Do I really love her this soon?

  Yes. I do.

  I wasn’t only freaking out about my revelatory feelings, but how she might respond. Would she flip out? Where’s her heart at right now? Could she love me already, too? All questions that sped through my mind as I held her in the morning, nearly uttering the words.

  Before dropping her off, I tried not to think
about it. When is a good time to tell a girl that? I mean, with Lana it was after a couple months, but even then it didn’t feel monumental. She told me one night. I thought about it for a moment and figured that I did love her. We were going out. We’d already had sex. It must’ve been love.

  This is nothing like that.

  I don’t feel like I should wait and see how it plays out. I don’t know what she’s feeling, but I know what I am. I love her. I just don’t know when I should tell her.

  A new freak-out moment comes later in the day. It’s weird to get a call from her since she usually texts me. I went to work, and when I get home, she calls me up.

  “Hey, how’s the quinceañera?”

  “Uh, it’s good. Fun. Lots of good food.”

  “Cool.”

  “Yeah …” She trails off, and it sounds different.

  “Everything all right?”

  “Um … yeah. Yes. Everything’s good.”

  “Okay, because you don’t sound like everything’s good.”

  “No, no. Everything’s fine. My cousin is having a great time. Cindy’s flirting with some guy. It’s all good.” I don’t reply. There’s something she’s not telling me. “Okay, there is one thing.”

  “What’s up?”

  “So, uh, my brothers? They … they know about you.”

  “Oh.” I’m not sure why she sounds nervous, but finding out her brothers know about me comes as a relief. She knows I’ve wanted to meet her family. And even though I want to meet them, it’s her next words that make me realize why she’s so nervous, and that same feeling transfers over to me.

  “Yeah. And Toto wants you to come over to dinner. Tomorrow. It’s not a request.”

  “Oh … wow. Okay. I’ve been saying I want to meet them anyway.”

  “Micah, you don’t have to though. I don’t care what they say, I’m not going to force you to meet them and get hounded by them just so they can prove they’re my big brothers.”

  Her defensive tone over me puts me at ease. “V, it’s all good. I need to meet your dad anyways, right?”

  She lets out a nervous laugh. “Trust me, it’s not my dad you have to worry about. My father trusts Toto. Like I said, he’s like a second father figure, and that’s for a reason. He’s helped us all when my dad has worked to support us.”

  “Okay, I get it.”

  “Seriously, Micah. You could become my dad’s best friend. You could win him over within five minutes of meeting him, but if Toto and Miguel don’t like you—maybe Javi, too, but he’s only two years older—if those two don’t approve of you, then my dad will just treat you as another person. Someone he’s nice to but nothing more. I mean, it’ll be horrible, and they’ll be standoffish, and Miguel will tease you, and Toto—”

  “Hey, hey,” I try to quiet her on the phone. “Vero, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yes. It’ll be great,” I answer, chuckling. “What time am I supposed to go over?”

  “Four o’clock. They said they want to barbecue.”

  “Okay, great.”

  “Are you sure, Micah? Because you don’t have—”

  “I’m sure. It’ll be fine. I’ll win over your brothers, and we’ll laugh about this.”

  “I wish I was as confident about this as you are.”

  “Silly girl,” I laugh, and finally hear her giggle. “Hey … Veronica?”

  “Yeah?”

  I love you. No, Micah, what are you thinking? You’re not saying that for the first time over the phone. “Um, have fun at the party. I’ll text you before I come over tomorrow.”

  * * *

  I show up at the house about a quarter to four. The regular cars I’ve seen in the past are parked in the driveway, but there are others. A lot of others. There are a few little kids running around, playing in the front yard. I grab the bouquet of flowers I bought, knowing full well as soon as they see these, her brothers are going to make some kind of comment. I don’t care. As much as I’m supposed to get their seal of approval, I still need her parents stamp, too, right?

  Checking my hair in the mirror, I see everything looks fine. I’m not dressed up since this is technically a barbecue, but I wore a nicer pair of jeans and a short sleeve button down. My hair spikes up a little, but more like bedhead than punk rock. I take a deep breath. Okay, let’s do this.

  I hear a commotion coming from the house and walk up to the front door. Then I start to hear the commotion coming from the backyard. Knocking on the door once, I wait, but no one answers. I look around nervously, as the little kids who were playing are now standing still, watching me. I give them an awkward smile and then ring the doorbell. Still nothing.

  “What are you doing?” a little boy who looks like he’s four or five asks.

  “Oh, hi.” I wave at him. “I’m here for the barbecue.”

  “Why?” He stares at me curiously. “We don’t know you.”

  “Stranger! Stranger!” a little girl next to him starts shouting. Not in a panicked way, but it starts to put me on edge.

  I ring the doorbell again.

  “What are you guys doing out here? Mom told you not to—” A girl walks around the corner, scolding the kids, and then stops in her tracks when she sees me. She looks like she’s fifteen or sixteen. “Oh, hello.”

  “Um, hi. I’m here for the barbecue. I’m Micah.”

  Her eyes go wide, and a huge grin spreads across her face. “Oh, Micah! Come this way. Vero is in the back with everyone else.”

  Everyone else?

  I follow her along, and the little kids start running ahead.

  “Micah’s here! Micah’s here! Vero, your boyfriend’s here!” the little boy starts shouting. I really hope my face isn’t as red as it feels.

  There’s mariachi music playing, with lots of men and women standing around. Some are older, some are younger. There are a few who look like they are still in high school, and then a large group of little kids the boy runs over to. With the music still playing, the words of everyone die down, and everyone turns and stares at me.

  I scan the crowd looking for Veronica but don’t see her. Swallowing a lump of nerves, the girl I followed stands next to me, and I hear a small giggle come from her. Then I hear loud whispers.

  “This guy, he brought flowers.”

  “It’s gonna take more than that.”

  “Maybe we should throw the hose on him and be done with it. He looks preppy.”

  “You guys!” I hear her voice and turn around. She scowls at three guys, who I can only assume are her brothers. None of them acknowledge her scolding, keeping their eyes locked on me.

  She reaches me and smiles, instantly putting me at ease. “Hey, there.”

  “Hey.” I give her a hug, but keep my eyes floating around. “I didn’t know it was an entire family thing.”

  Keeping her hand locked with mine, she turns around and glares at her brothers. “It wasn’t supposed to be, but Miguel had the bright idea to invite everyone.”

  “I’m Mariana.” The girl who I met up front waves at me. Then she giggles and bashfully looks away, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

  “Oh no,” Veronica says, pointing at her. “You just turned fifteen yesterday. Don’t you dare get any ideas, Mari. This one’s mine.”

  Mariana gives Veronica a playful roll of the eyes.

  “Yesterday? Oh, so you’re the birthday girl.”

  “That’s me.” She smiles.

  “Well, happy birthday.”

  “Thank you.”

  I don’t know if her eyes linger on me or not, but they must because Veronica snaps at her again. “Hey, what’d I just say?”

  “I’m just looking, Vero.” She giggles.

  I hear the words, but my eyes roam. Her brothers are still staring at me, and I see other people whispering to one another, eyeing me carefully.

  “Where are your parents?” I ask.

  “Oh, right here.” She tu
rns around, and I see an older couple, standing near the barbecue. The man just stares at me, but the woman smiles.

  “Can I meet them?”

  “Yeah, let me introduce you to them, and then everyone else. I have like six aunts, five uncles, and probably a dozen cousins running around.”

  As we approach her parents, Cindy comes into view, stepping out from a doorway to the house. “Oh, Micah. You made it.”

  I let loose a chuckle, looking over at Veronica. “Really? Cindy, too?”

  Before she can reply, Cindy jumps in. “Yeah, like I was going to miss this. When I found out, I canceled all plans to make sure I was here.”

  “Nice.”

  “Flowers? Were those for someone special?” Cindy teasingly bats her eyes at me.

  “Oh, right.” I pull out a long rose from the bouquet of flowers and hand it to Veronica. “This is for you.”

  She smiles before looking at the rest. “Just the one?”

  “Greedy much?” I give her hand a playful squeeze. “The rest are for your mom.”

  “Nice!” Cindy grins. “He gets points for that one.”

  “Mamá, Papá, this is Micah,” Veronica says, and her mom smiles at me.

  When I extend my hand to shake hers, she laughs. Pushing my hand away, she steps toward me, embracing me for a hug. Veronica looks elated. Stepping back, I raise my hand to her father. “Mr. Rodriguez, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Her mom reminds me of Veronica. Same dark, curly hair, but hers is shorter. Slight crinkles when she smiles, but it’s that smile I pay most attention to. It’s the same as Veronica’s. Honest and good.

  Her father is another story. My height, maybe an inch shorter. His graying hair is still full on top, which matches his salt and pepper goatee. If I had to pick a single word to describe him, it’d be substantial. My father has a slimmer build, while Veronica’s is stout. His broad shoulders, combined with the stare he never breaks, keeps me on edge.