I didn't see the big deal.

Then again, I don't seem to see the big deal in many things, as my dear mother tends to remind me. I don't appreciate the food on the table, the clothes on my back and the roof over my head. To summarize, my own mother thinks I'm an ungrateful bastard, though she never used that kind of language in front of me. Or my father. Or my other three siblings.

I think is because I'm the eldest of four and, soon going to Columbia, where I managed to acquire a scholarship to study eco-fashion. Not lying, it's an actual career. You had to excel your advance classes in chemistry and biology to get the scholarship, along other few that I managed to get for my record.

Why I say that this is the cause of my mother's sudden anger towards me?

Because I'd be moving from home to study, instead of staying here and going to community college, or worst, not going to college at all and work with my mother in her floral business.

Cool and everything, but... I don't like flowers like that!

Anyway, I wasn't seeing the big deal into helping my mother with her stand next weekend. Apparently, someone had spread the idea through the Mexican community that make some kind of convention would be a better way to show the Americans what are we worth of. To not see us like drug dealers or aliens in their country.

That won't change their minds, I can bet on it.

"Mama, while I can see how this could help the business, it won't change people's minds!" I tried to reason with her, while my father was with my siblings at the park. That way, they wouldn't have to listen to the conversation. Unfortunately and expectedly, Mom reacted badly at my reasoning.

"¿Como te atreves a decir algo asi? Deberias de estar orgullosa de tu herencia ¿y la despresias de ese modo?" I wanted to toll my eyes, Mom has been watching too many soap operas on TV. I was trying to calm her down, because the neighbors could hear everything, as she was getting louder and louder. And the louder she gets, the more cuss in Spanish she says.

"If I were so ashamed of my heritage, I wouldn't be signing myself for the parade!" I blurted out. Truthfully, I didn't want to be in the parade, but I had to say it, or she'd be on my case all day. That way, she simply just shut up and left me alone.

Until the parade...

~oOo~

I won't deny it, I'm hiding.

Like half the girls who were signed into the parade by their parents.

What they forgot to mention to us one tiny detail and is that we'll be parading around the streets with typical clothes... in the middle of spring! You know how heavy and hot those clothes are? Not to mention that we'll be sweating bullets because of the heat and everyone's eyes on us.

"Awh, c'mon, Reyna!" I heard a male voice trying to persuade someone else "We're already here... There's no need for the sour face..."

"Leo, I told you that I had-"

"That you had tons of work to do, a lot of petitions to see, approve and sign and blah, blah, blah! I know!" The same male voice interrupted the female that was answering to him. Sounded like he wanted her to distract herself for a while and she simply didn't want to "We'll just walk around, taste some homemade food, I'm sure your headache will be gone!"

"I'm more sure about taking an aspiring about it..." The female voice replied, with a little grumble "And, I wouldn't be having this headache if you didn't start being Handy Manny in the living room and stinking the house with paint and noises!"

"Hey, you told me you wanted me to fix that table for weeks!"

"But, you had to do it inside the house? Couldn't you do it by the garage or even the front yard?!" she reasoned with him. I sneaked a peek from my place and saw a couple that could simply pass for another couple in my neighborhood without being asked questions. It was obvious that both had Latin blood in their veins.

The woman was regular height, with her raven long hair tied up in a braid that was hanging from her shoulder and to her front. She was wearing jeans and a purple shirt that almost looked pink by the many times it has been washed. Her skin was tan, but it didn't look orange, like if it was fake. It looked like she was a hardworking woman and that was a natural consequence. Her brownish/reddish eyes were glaring at her companion.

The man was the same height as the woman, but he had curly brown hair instead of raven. He was smirking at the woman and wearing some jeans with suspenders and what once was a white shirt that is now filled with oil stains and washed away. Obviously, and by the reference before, he was so sort of mechanic or stuff. His brown eyes were shinning with either mischief or excitement towards the woman.

"While I admit that I didn't thought that through..." the man started, earning a smirk from the woman "...it's also safe to say that got you our of the house"

"Don't say you did that on purpose or I'm calling Piper and Jason and I promise you Leo, your punishment not only will fit the crime, but also make you miserable!" And I believed her. The conviction in her voice make it so. But the man, who now I'll call by his given name, Leo, simply smirked at her "Wipe that smirk or it'll be worst"

"You have to relax... C'mon, let's go try the tacos, I bet my vegetarian ones are better than those!" he dragged her away from my position. I sighed and looked at my watch. Thirty more minutes for the parade.

Time to find a new hide out...