15. Close to the Ground

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          
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      A teenager's rebellious stage typically came around the age of fourteen or fifteen. That was the first thing Victoria said when Luna stepped into her house, before the yelling session began. The school had called and told her that Luna never made it to school that day, so while Luna was texting her insisting that she was taking care of drama club stuff, she already knew the girl was lying to her. It began with Victoria yelling at her, eventually evolving into her weeping about how her little girl was growing up and turning into her siblings, which was the last thing she seemed to want at that time.
                          
      Luna wasn't even able to utter an explanation, Diana and Andrew taking over as soon as Victoria began her dramatics and was unable to continue her scolding. It was when Luna's lips curled into the smallest smile that both siblings stopped their parenting segment to question why she was smiling. Then Luna told them. And suddenly everyone in the room was crying as she told them about her day.
                          
      After being introduced to Jorge, Andres invited her inside, an invitation she accepted. She was introduced to Jorge's mom, and Andres' fiancée, Alicia. Unexpectedly, she liked Alicia, the idea of being fond of her future stepmother seeming odd. It didn't dawn on her until a while later that this meant him and her mother had gotten a divorce sometime while he'd been absent from their lives, meaning Victoria had some form of contact with him without informing her. She couldn't blame Andres for wanting to remarry, Alicia had helped him back on his feet in a time where he thought he was unwanted, he had all the right reasons to marry her.
                          
      Luna had caught the two up on her life over dinner, a smile never seeming to be missing from her lips. It was halfway through dessert that Andres addressed her habit of twisting her ring around her finger, something he noticed she did the entire time she was at his home. Luna had blushed furiously, blush never fading as she went on the explain that the ring was a gift, and it was a habit of hers to twist it around her finger to keep her in reality. The conversation quickly got awkward when Luna told her father who got her the ring, his features immediately hardening at the mention of a boyfriend. Poor Peter wasn't going to have an easy time with Andres like he did with the rest of her family.
                          
      "Are you okay?" Luna looked up from her bookbag, meeting the worried eyes of Mia. She nodded slightly, continuing to place books in her locker, while Mia let out a sigh. "It's just... you were absent yesterday, and we heard a lot of yelling from your house yesterday..."
                          
      Luna shrugged, "It's because I cut yesterday."
                          
      "You cut school?" Mia cried out, multiple eyes turning to them at the girl's shout. Luna shot her a glare, while Mia smiled sheepishly. "That's so ballsy of you, Moonie. What did you even do?"
                          
      "Wait, you weren't sick yesterday?" Liz joined the conversation, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Her eyes suddenly widened, "You cut school?"