Page 3 of Game Changer
Sleeping with Maya and letting her slip through my fingers before I could call her mine.
Before the anxiety threatens to consume me whole, I open the door to my room and shut it with my back, leaving her out in the hallway alone. I would feel like an ass, but I’m not the one who said it couldn’t work between us two weeks after we slept together and then proceeded to never even text me again. Now she wants to act like we’re old friends? Like nothing happened?
Like she didn’t moan my name and shatter against me three times in one night?
Leo glances up from the book he’s reading. “Andyou pull hot women? Yeah, this is going to be the best yearever.”
And just like that, Leo gets added to the list of people I’m inevitably going to disappoint.
Two
Maya
Five months earlier
“Mamí, Papí, I have to tell you something.”
Palms slicked with sweat, I sit opposite them in our living room, which can hardly be classified as such. We’ve lived in the same trailer since we came to America, so our “living room” consists of a tiny two-seater couch and a television that might as well belong in the 1990s.
My dad’s forehead wrinkles in confusion.“¿Qué pasa?”
I’ve been sitting on this news for a week, and as nervous as I am, I have to tell them at some point. Ethan isn’t just another guy to me. He’s someone I want to get serious with, and in order for that to happen, I need to tell my parents.
“I’m seeing someone,” I admit. “And it’s going really well.”
Two dates in, and I’m the happiest I’ve been in years. Ethan treats me like I’m a freaking princess, so all I can hope is that once my parents hear this, they’ll want to meet him too.
Mamí’s face brightens. Even after working herself to the bone with three jobs, she remains youthful. Everyone says I resemble her, and I’ve always considered that a compliment. If I can age like her and still not look a day over thirty? I’ll take it.
“What’s his name?” she asks in her thick accent.
“Well, actually . . .” I wring my hands together. Here goes nothing. “It’s Ethan. You know, Maddie’s brother?”
My heart falters at the disappointment that falls over her face, replacing her smile. My parents have made it clear they’d prefer me to end up with a man with a stable career. One who would be able to support our future family without having to go through the hardships they went through to make it all these years in America. A doctor, lawyer, veterinarian. Anything that pays six figures a year.
And it’s not that they’re gold diggers or anything, but they’ve made me understand how much sacrifice it took to provide me with the life I have. The last thing they want is for me to have the same experience. It’s why they came here in the first place, so I don’t take any of it for granted.
“No,” my father says. “The boy who is friends with Cameron Holden?”
Okay, granted, Ethan doesn’t have the greatest track record regarding his friend circle, but in his defense, he’s been friends with Cameron since they were kids. Ethan didn’t know he’d turn into a girl-obsessed player when they got to high school.
“There’s more to him than that,” I plead. “He treats me well, and—”
My father, the complete opposite of my mother, displays the hard work he’s done for years on his face. It’s wrinkled and worn from days spent laboring in the sun, and he looks tired, with heavy bags lining his eyes and gray strands peppering his cropped black hair. It makes me feel guilty for preventing him from going to bed by having this conversation, but this is important to me, and if I don’t do it now, I’m afraid I’ll never get the courage to bring this up again.
“If he wanted to treat you well, he’d do steps to take care of you. Not mess with girls all day. He was smoking that night we picked you up, right?” It’stakesteps, but my parents’ English is subpar at best. They can have a basic conversation, but I grew up having to translate for them for any major document signings or visits to the bank. Now that I’m transferring to a four-year college, they’re taking classes to become more fluent since I won’t be around as much to help them.
Everything isn’t about money to me. I’ve seen people live happily without a six-figure paycheck, but saying this to my parents never does any good. How could it when they’ve struggled for so many years? I can understand why it’d be a factor. My wants and needs have never seemed important when I’ve watched them run themselves into the ground to ensure we can pay our electricity bill and have food in the house. Even now, asking their permission to date a man I know they won’t approve of makes me feel selfish.
And Ethanwassmoking a blunt that night when my parents picked me up my freshman year after a sleepover with Maddie. He was around the side of the house attempting to hide it from his parents, and it didn’t help that he put it out as soon as he noticed my parents’ car. The image was embedded in their heads, and they automatically labeled him another party boy, like Cameron.
What could I say in his defense? At the time, he was with a different girl every week, and hewassmoking. But they don’t know him like I do. If they just met him and gave him a chance, they’d realize he’s not the same as Cameron. He’s far from it.
But it doesn’t matter if Ethan isn’t the guy he seemed. Explaining this to my parents would be fruitless when, at the end of the day, he still doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. If he can’t prove to my parents that he’ll be able to take care of me emotionallyandphysically, my parents will never approve.
“Bambina.” My mother’s use of my childhood nickname brings tears to my eyes. Her eyes soften in a way that lets me know that no matter how hard I try, they aren’t going to budge on this. “We want the best for you. Do you understand?”
But what if heisthe best for me?
