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She would have confessed to him first, had he not disappeared.
By confession, she wouldn't have been confessing to him about some crush on him she had, for she didn't have such feelings. No, she would have confessed to him that she wasn't interested in guys, but girls instead. She couldn't talk to Alex about girls, or her abuela or mother. No, instead it was Lance she could talk to about such things.
Elena first met Lance when her mother brought her older cousin home from the airport to stay until he headed to the garrison. Alex was instantly infatuated with his cousin who managed to get into the garrison, but she wasn't sure how Lance was related to them. Her abuela and mother seemed to loathe in regards to discussing the subject.
Eventually, she asked Lance as he dug around in his duffle bag in Alex's room while her younger brother stepped out. "My papa? Well, he met my mama in Cuba."
"That doesn't answer how I'm related to you, though."
"He went to Cuba and decided to stay. Told me he made abuela very unhappy about his decision, but he'd met my mother, and she wasn't going to leave."
"I see."
She headed back to the kitchen in order to dive back into her studies, digesting what Lance told her. She didn't notice her cousin sit down on the other side of the table from her. Eventually, she looked up, seeing Lance staring at her, his arms crossed, his lips pushed together.
"What?"
"Girl, you are in serious need of a facial."
"I've no interest in those misogynist ideals."
"Misogynist?" One of Lance's eyebrows shot up.
"You know…"
"Uh, no, I don't know what that word means. So, no, I don't know."
Elena took a deep breath. "The word means woman hating."
Lance pushed his lips together to whistle. "Really?"
"Dresses, marriage, all of them were put into place because of misogynist behavior."
"Annoying!" Her abuela piped up. The beautiful woman walked over. "Elena, your cousin is here for only a little while. Your abuela misses seeing his padre, and he's only here for a short time. Why don't you two have a more, I don't know, conversación positive."
"What did she say?"
"Learn Spanish chica!" Their abuela walked away, tossing her hand over her shoulder, indicating she had enough.
Lance folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah. I may not be very bright, but I think you know what that one means."
"You're annoying."
Her cousin took a deep breath. "How come?"
"Well, because, I don't know. You're kind of, talking about facials and stuff. Are you, I don't know. Gay or something?"
"So you're homophobic. Great." Lance motioned with his finger indicating Elena was crazy, before sticking his tongue out at her, proceeding to pull on the corners of his mouth.
"Wow. Really mature." The young Cuban female looked him in the eye, wondering how her cousin could be so immature when he'd managed to get into the garrison program. "And for your information, my issue is that I don't like talking about that kind of stuff. I mean unless you're talking about how misogynist the behavior is." Elena set her pencil down. "My asking if you were gay was me trying to make polite conversation."
"Girl, that was far from being polite."
"Fine. Would you like me to compliment you on how good your English is?"
The corners of Lance's mouth twisted up, almost as if he was going to take these words as a compliment, only to freeze, one finger shooting up. "I'm guessing you're trying to make fun of me, aren't you?"
"And you think that because?"
"Why else would you ask me such a question?" Lance shrugged, the palms of his hand shooting up. "And by the way, I don't swing that way." The teen's fingers twitched, his jaw tensing. "Seriously, though…"
"I asked that question because you brought up facials."
"And?"
"I was trying to make a conjectured guess."
Lance's voice cracked his cheek twitching. "Oh my gosh! You're as bad as Aleesha!"
"And she is?"
"Like, my older sister." Her male cousin paused. "Specifically, my oldest, oldest sister."
"That's not proper English."
Lance's finger pointed out to her. "You said my English was pretty good!"
"I lied."
"You! Oh!"
"How many siblings do you have."
"Five. I've got two brothers and three sisters. Alesha's the eldest, and then I have a brother and sister who are older than me, and also younger than me. Their names are…"
"I'm probably not going to remember." Elena turned back to her homework.
"Anyways, about Alesha…"
"Don't care."
"She's the garrison's psychiatrist. Mama and papa are very proud of her, but she's, like, got this stick up her ass, like you."
Elena looked up her jaw dropping. "And you accused me of not being nice."
"He's right, though." Alex chuckled, indicating he'd managed to come in on the end of that conversation. Her textbooks snapped shut, and she carried them to her room.
A few minutes later she felt her bed shift on either side of her as Lance put the palms of his hands down on either side. She could feel him leaning in to look at her textbook, realizing there was a clinking sound next to her bed which should have warned her that someone had entered her room. Elena turned her head slightly, noticing how he squinted his eyes. "What's ya doing?"
"Seriously?"
Lance pulled back. "I'm bored."
"And?"
"I'm going to give you a facial."
"No, you're not."
"So you're going to continue being a stick in the ass."
Elena stopped trying to read despite the distraction. "Did you just use the words stick in the ass again?"
"Yeah, isn't that the correct words?"
"What do you think it means?" Elena sat up, noticing how her cousin smirked. A lot of the girls at her school would have gone gaga over him, but he was just plain annoying.
"You know. Boring."
"You mean a stick in the mud."
"No, I mean stick in the ass."
"Stick in the ass means the person is a jerk because of they uptight about the rules." Elena watched her cousin's mouth form a circle. "Stick in the mud means boring."
"Oh. Then Alesha is a stick in the mud."
The older of the Alvarez siblings folded her arms, hoping the older teen would get the clue that he wasn't wanted. However…
"So…"
"So what?"
"What about that facial?"
"What did I tell you about that being created for misogynist purposes?"
Lance glared at her then. "Uh, no. It's not. Like, a facial has major health benefits and is seriously relaxing. Plus, I spent the time prepping it. So come on. I do it for my sisters all the time."
"And you do it for yourself as well?"
"Why not?" Her cousin then did something Alex would do, at least once her brother finally became interested in girls. "The girls can't get enough of this face."
"Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Elena watched Lance open his mouth, only to freeze. "You've never had a girlfriend."
His blue eyes darted away, and his tone of voice changed. "So?"
"Yet you're not gay."
Lance turned his head, his facial features twisting up in anger, before leaning in so they were face to face. "Seriously…"
"It's either that or you're not as cool as Alex thinks you are and are actually quite pathetic." Elena watched his lip begin to tremble. She took a deep breath, watching her cousin try to remain his composure. "So you are pathetic."
"Am not! I could get a girl if I wanted to." Lance stood up straight. "I've got a ton of pick up lines."
"Like?"
"Like this one." The older teen struck a pose, winking as he did so. "Girl, prepare yourself for some serious thrust." Elena's jaw dropped, not believing her cousin did such a thing. Lance noticed. "Fine. How about this one? Excuse me sexy. Do you study astronomy, because I'm trying to find my way to…"
"Stop!"
"Did I convince you?"
"You convinced me you were awful, and a pervert! No wonder you don't have a girlfriend!"
"Hey!" Lance stuck his hands on his hips. "Well, it's no wonder you don't have a boyfriend!" Elena simply stared, while her cousin stared back. He finally took a deep breath. "Okay, so you didn't react."
"So?"
"So, it's kind of normal to make a retort back."
"I'm not interested in dating."
"Sure."
"What?"
"Nothing. Just, you coulda said that sooner." Lance picked up the bowl, extending it out to her. "You're still getting a facial."
"No."
"Yes."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Nope, you are"
"Yes, I am." Elena took a deep breath. "That's not…"
One of his eyebrows shot up, a smirk spreading on his face. "Come on? What can it hurt?"
"I don't do the whole beauty thing."
"I'm not asking you to comb out your hair. Just the facial." Lance set down the bowls, reaching out to grab her glasses, causing Elena to flinch, startled that he got into her personal space that easily. He pulled them away, and his eye twitched. "Yeah, no wonder you don't have a boyfriend."
"If this is a comment about my looks."
"Nope! Not at all! You know what? I've got more pick up lines. You can tell me which ones you think I should use at the garrison."
That horrified her even more. "No! I'll do the facial!"
"Cool!" Lance gave her a thumbs up. "Maybe your brother will walk in on us?"
Elena felt her mouth twitch, thinking of how perverted that sounded, but also the fact the thought horrified her. "What?"
"You know. He's at that, girls are gross and creepy stage, but also thinks this whole beauty thing is gross. That's the way my younger brother is. I've done this, and he's run away screaming. The reaction is priceless."
"I'm not sure he will." Elena shook her head. "And are you telling me you're going to do this as well?"
"Why not?" Lance motioned again, making her regret that she'd agreed. She almost bolted from the room, but he seemed to actually be athletically built, particularly if Alex was anything to go by. Instead, Elena followed his instructions, putting the stuff on her face. She lay on her bed, putting the cucumbers on, while Lance lay on the floor.
"Relaxing?"
"Weird."
A few minutes later Alex's voice was heard. "What are you guys doing?"
"Apparently facials for health benefits." Elena piped up, only to realize Lance's plan to horrify her brother hadn't work. "Wait…"
One of the cucumbers came off, and her eyes narrowed at him. Alex simply held up his hands, a mini version of her cocky cousin who still lay on the floor next to her. "Not joining you. See this face. Perfect. I can't believe he convinced you to do it."
Her brother took off, and Lance set up with a sigh. "Seriously. He doesn't know what will happen in a few years. Acne is the pits." He turned his head to look at her. "As I said, health benefits."
"Or in your case, a pretty face."
"Handsome face."
The results of Alex taking off soon became clear, as Elena's mother came into the room. "What is going on?" Her mother shook her head. "I can't believe you're doing this. What's your abuela going to say if she sees you, Lance?"
Instead, Lance forgot about Elena and stood up grabbing his facial supplies. "Tía Penelope. Want a facial? I bet abuela would like one as well."
"Why?"
"'cause my tía guapa has been at work all day on her feet! Abuela to. She can't seem to stay still at all."
"So I've noticed." Elena bit her lip, watching her mother look over Lance's shoulder as he pushed her out of the room. Her cousin hadn't caught the look on his aunt's face, but her mother obviously thought Lance was crazy. He stayed for a few days. The day he left, he handed her a piece of paper. "What is this?"
"My e-mail." Lance leaned over, whispering so only she could hear. "I'm fine with the fact you might be into girls cuz. Let me know when you figure it out."
However, by the time she figured it out, Lance had disappeared with two other cadets. She'd exchanged e-mails with him, talking about girls in general, and what actresses he thought were hot, poking with questions about what actors she thought were hot, only for her to correct him about being politically correct, and that she liked Kristen Stewart, to which he'd go into length about the positives and negatives of the Twilight star, but show her exactly how oblivious he was regarding the actual series.
She missed him, as he was one of her best friends, although he might not have been apt to do so.