𝐺𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒- 𝑇𝑒𝑦𝑎𝑛𝑎 𝑇𝑎𝑦𝑙𝑜𝑟

sᴇᴀsᴏɴ ᴏɴᴇ, ❝ʟɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴜʟʙ ❞

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 didn't have much time for dating. If she did, she would still not do it. Dating takes too much time, with Kota, she didn't think much of it. They met at the first school assembly of the year. Thinking back he had only talked to her when no one was around. A naïve child, stupid.

Today, Maria spent her free period talking with Samantha Taylor—the music teacher. Well, Sam talked while she ate. "- he's so caring and handsome." this grabbed Maria's attention. "is he now?" she had no idea who she was talking about.

"I think I like Emmanuel," she whispered, and Maria choked on her smoothie. Samantha vigorously pats her back as she tries to get her coughing under control.

" 'Manuel? When did this happen? I thought you hated him?" Maria frowned, just yesterday she tripped him in front of a lot of giggly Kindergartners, August being the loudest. "I do- I mean," Sam sighs. Yasmine walked in with a Lego robot in hand.

"what's got you so pouty?" She asks Sam.

"Emmanuel" Maria answers with a mouthful of gummy bears. Yasmine looked at Sam and then laughed. only to stop when she saw Samantha's serious expression.

"oh she's for real, girl- didn't you trip yesterday?" she laughs as the music teacher huffs. "it was an accident!" she whines.

Yasmine and Maria look at each other, "mhm" they hum. "so, I heard you had a moment with the sandwich guy." Yasmine teases and Samantha swoons. Maria sighed, of course, Jacob told them. Yes, he was cute and awkward. But it wasn't a moment... was it?

"I've known Yasmine and Samantha since
I was in middle school. Yasmine hit a guy with a locker door for me while Samantha tried to get gum out of my hair." Maria smiled the grimaced touching her hair.

"It wasn't a moment." Maria clarified as both women booed her. "you need to get you some- and don't say anything about the kids, they would agree." Maria scrunched her face up at the woman's words.

"first off, ew. and second, I don't date," Maria retorted, too awkward. Too many stages. Too many complications. "that's because you only dated one person your whole life." Sam rebuttals looking at Maria sympathetically.

Sadly, it was true, yes she had some hookups after him but no real dates. She hated change, and when he died that fucked up her whole way of living. Maria tried her best for the kids but sometimes she felt as if she wasn't doing enough. Damnit, here we go again.

"i don't need anybody right now, I have kids, and you know how some men are," Maria mumbles towards the end. The bell rang meaning it was time for them to go back to class. "bye girl- and remember..." Yas did a provocative gesture only to come face to face with Principal Ava.

"This ain't a strip club, and if it was you wouldn't being get my dollars, no ma'am" Ava sidestepped the woman to get to Maria. "heard about your rendezvous with the white man," the principal chuckles as the other woman frowned.

"Jacob?" She asks as Ava nods. "we had one conversation and it wasn't even a conversation, it was a business transaction." Maria shrugged, as Ava groaned.

"There's a reason why I don't tell Jacob
shit- I mean stuff... can you edit that out?"
Miss Honey pleads.

"that's it? Jacob told me something juicier! I'm done listening to him." with that Ava left, then the students started to fill in. Maria grinned at the students as they greeted her. "hi, misses Honey!" they chorused.

"oh my god, look at you guys' drawings! future Picasso." she took the drawings examining them with a thoughtful look. The children beamed at her, hugging her one by one.

" so today-"

"𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐑, you can not just punch other students." Maria was livid, not only did she have to leave school but Ava is watching her class. Getting a call from Bear and Winnie's school was not on her to-do list today. Winnie was on the outside of the outfit with a scowl while Bear had a big bruise on the side of his face.

"Mrs. Catanwakuma, we going to have to suspend both Winter and Bear for a week." Not only did this man call her by her deceased husband's last name but he mispronounced it. Instead of saying anything she just looked at her son. "Bear, sweetheart tell me what happened," she pleaded raising a hand when she saw the principal open his mouth.

Bear sighs, "These guys were fucking with- I mean harassing Winnie so, I pushed him. Then he threw a punch. His friend tried to jump in and Winnie kicked him in the dick." He explained not caring about the profanity in the end.

Maria looked to the principal, "and where are these boys?" the man looks at her nervously, the same man that was her science teacher back in her time in middle school.

"Mrs. Cat-" he tries.

"First it's Cetanwakuma, if you're going to use it, use it right. My son was helping his sister and my daughter was protecting herself. I'm assuming you gave those boys no punishment since there not here." the man went to speak again but she cut him off.

"I wasn't asking, it was an observation. Instead of blaming my kids, you need to worry about the other juveniles you just let off the hook. my children will be coming back to school tomorrow. they will be studying AND taking their exams. if you or any teacher have something to say about it you can call or email me." Maria finished as Mr. Holten looked petrified.

Bear looked at his mom with a wide grin as she rose from her seat. The boy grabbed his back and walked to his sister. "if I ever get a call about my daughter being harassed again and you did nothing... I'll make sure your wife knows about your little church scandal." Maria glances a the frame of the beautiful smiling woman on his desk. "and it's Ms. Howard,"

There were many things you should know about Maria. She knows a lot maybe sometimes too much. She'll keep the information she has in until the right time to use it. In this moment she used it for her kids.

And she'll do it again.

The car ride was silent. Winnie heard everything from outside the office she's pretty sure everyone did. "are you okay, snow?" Maria glances in the mirror to look at her daughter. "yeah..." no. Winnie didn't want to tell her mom this wasn't the first time. She didn't want to
make her feel bad or angry.

"Winter, you know you can always talk to me," Maria tried only to falter when the girl nodded not looking at her. Maria pulls her son's earbud out his ear, "how'd the other guy look?" she smiled as both teens laugh going into detail about how the boy looked.

The car was no longer silent. Maria pulled into Abbott to get the rest of her things from her class. Lord knows what Ava was teaching those children when she was gone. When she and the kids walked into the school it was dark and hot. "janine..." even if it wasn't her fault somehow she knew it was.

"why am I not surprised?" the woman spoke spooking the other teachers. Ava flashed her flashlight in their faces making Mrs.Howard gasp. "what happened to your face?" she walked forward to craddle her grandson's face. Bear winced when she touched the bruise.

"Winnie and Bear got into a little atlercation at school," their mother answered. When she adds Winnie into the equation, the grandmother spread her concern to Winnie. "oh my poor babies" she cooes at them patting their cheeks.

"anyways, what the fuck- hell, happened?" Maria switched her words when she saw her mother look. "inspector gadget, thought it was a bright idea to fix the lightbulb." Ava waved her hand toward a faint Janine.

"Janine, really?" Maria shook her head at the woman who looked resembled a kicked puppy. They had a discussion about this in the teacher's lounge earlier. "where's August?" Winnie asked her grandmother, it was darker than she realized. August was afraid of the dark.

"i'm going to check on August—Winnie, Bear, you stay here okay? I'll be right back." the kids nodded before Winnie stepped over Janine to get to the cafeteria.
The kids were napping, except for August who was staring at the floor.

"mommy!" she shouted startling other children. "hi, honey, was it too dark for you?" her mother cooes as she smoothes August's hair out from her face. The little girl nods and Maria looks around at the children.

"now, if anyone asks, it wasn't me.
i'm looking at you, Steve!" Maria points at the
camera then at the guy holding the camera.

"everyone! please a single file line, make sure you don't leave anything or anyone behind!" Maria yelled as she led the children outside passing by Melissa and her mom. "hey, Melissa, you know how to open the fire hydrant?" the art teacher grins when Melissa did also.

"hell yeah!" the older woman looks at the camera before running to get a wrench.

sᴇᴀsᴏɴ ᴏɴᴇ, ❝ʜᴀɴᴅs ❞

𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐙𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐎

𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘, was a long day for Carmen. The fucking C on the health expectation sat proudly on the bottom left of the storefront window. It was tiring, Carmen couldn't understand how Michael did it for so long.

The constant problem that needs to be fixed. Carmen loved to cook, he loved seeing people eating his food—it brought him joy. Now, it felt as if he was robotically cooking. He was stressed but when wasn't he?

Carmen was running the restaurant the way they did at his former job. It was obvious they needed help yet he was too stubborn to ask for any. Though, when he did it came with a price. The bell ding and the woman of his dreams walked in.

Dreams, Carmy? The woman of your future.

He could practically hear Michael haunting him now. She walked in with two teens plus her daughter. The older girl looked like her, he wanted to say she was her sister. The younger girl's curls were drenched with water and her uniform was wet. The older boy had a big bruise under his eye and a scratch on the other side of his face.

But, the older teen girl looked fine. No obvious bruises but she had a big wet stain on her pants and shirt. August grinned at the girl he could guess it was from her. Maria walked up to him with a smile, the same one he saw a couple of days ago. Still beautiful and breathtaking.

Breathe, Carmy. He took a deep breath, "bad day, huh?" he asked as she sighed. "the worst," she breathed. Carmen noticed the boy was glaring at him, maybe not glaring but, accessing. "um-" he cleared his throat.

"what uh what can I get you?" he asks while both teens answered at once, "Italian beef sandwich, extra peppers!" . "chocolate cake?!" August added. The children walked away forgetting any drinks, as Carmen rang them up he realized Maria hadn't ordered anything.

"are you gonna order anything?" He asks, he tries to hide the concern hopefully she didn't hear it. "Uh, I don't- what's your favorite dish?" she furrowed her brows grabbing the cups. The question threw the man for a loop. His favorite dish wasn't on the menu, it happens to his mother's recipe. "chicken piccata," he answers then sees her confused face.

"how 'bout I make you some and you tell me how you like it?" Carmen offers, the woman eyes widen, " i can't let you do that." she tries but he's already on his way to the kitchen.

He gets the ingredients he needs, then goes for the knives. " 's that Mary?" Richie asks.

"uh yeah, she out there with her kid and some other kids," he answers chopping the lemons. Richie glances outside then laughs. "what?" Carmen turns on the stove looking at Richie. "those are her kids, man," he chuckles.

Carmen stops looking at the man then Sydney also looks outside. "are you sure? she's like what twenty-five?" Sydney asks while Tina shook her head.

"thirty-two, Bear's sixteen, Winnie's fourteen, and August is four." Tina answers making both Sydney and Carmen eyes widen. "wheres their dad?" Richie scoffs.

"that piece of shit." he mumbles as Carmen adds his ingredients to the pan. "why is he a piece of shit?"

"he was friends with Mikey," Richie answers as if it was obvious. "weren't you friends with him too?" Sydney frowns.

"anyways, from what I remember Mikey said the guy cheated on her with anything he came into contact with." the man explains. Carmen frowned as he stirred the food together. "where's he now?" he asked, hoping he wasn't in the picture.

"he died before August was born. I remember Mikey walked in with her while she was pregnant, we all thought he knocked he up!" Tina laughed then Richie joins in.

Carmen turns of the stove then grabbed a to go tray carefully descended the food inside. Richie looks over his shoulder seeing what he made. "you little shit," he mumbles, amused. Carmen ignored the man and walked out the kitchen.

He was met with the small family waiting patiently talking amongst themselves. Bear was seated next to his younger sister while Winnie was seated next to her mom. The older two were finishing their sandwich while Maria tried to get the smeared cake of August's face.

"here ya go." Carmen captured their attention. As he thought about it, the teens did look much like Maria. "you really didn't have to do this" she frowns taking the food, "thank you," she opens it then groans at the smell. The chef walks away with a small smile.

Maria takes a bite of the food, it felt as if her taste buds exploded. Usually, Maria hated lemons but right now, she adored them. The kids looked at her plate as if for permission. She turns the plate to them with a sigh.

The forks clinked together as they all went for the same piece. "oh shit!" Bear groans, Winnie sighs chewing a little slower to savor the piece. "Bear!" Maria scolds but he too busy chewing.

"can i try, momma?" August pouted while Maria hummed. Maria put a little piece in her mouth then watched as she chewed. August was never a person for new thing but she always wanted to be like her mom.

So when Maria saw her daughter's face contort to happiness she smiled.

"can i have another piece?"

"me too!"

"me three!"

Carmen heard their excited voices and smiled. I told you, Carmy, food isn't just a necessity, it's a joy. The man smiled, maybe today wasn't so bad.

"𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒈 𝒎𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒆𝒛𝒆 𝒎𝒆"

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄:

you can change it if you don't like it.

Should I have Bear or winnie work at the beef? For like a side job?

I was listening to Teyana Taylor while writing this and her song reminds me of Carmen lowkey.

I don't want to make Carmen too ooc, so if his character is off please tell me.

Hope you guys like it, don't forget to vote and comment!

𝟐:𝟏𝟓𝐩𝐦
𝟕/𝟏𝟏/𝟐𝟑