chapter 17 | different Alex

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"COME ON ALEX YOU CAN DO IT! WOOOO!!" Olivia cheered Alex up as she watched him score a goal. The Alvarez family including Schneider, Olivia and her younger brother Lucas was watching Alex's match.

Recently Alex had been acting really cranky towards Olivia sometimes which made her really confuse but she decided to brush it off and still come to his game because she didn't want to ruin their friendship over some dumb little arguments and she wanted to be there for him for his game.

She figured it was just because they were hitting the age of puberty which also makes it a bit awkward around each other most of time but they try their best to not think too much about it and just be their usual self like how they were last time.

"Dale, Dylan, dale. You got this! Stand right in there don't be afraid of the ball!" Right after Penelope said that the boy Dylan got hit by the ball causing everyone to gasp and groan. "Just shake it off, Dylan, shake it off! Yes! Way to take one for the team!"

"Ay, por El amor de dios... it's so hot." Lydia sighed, as she rubbed an oil over her neck. "Alright, Mami. Let's do the wave." Penelope said as everyone did the wave except for Elena. Everyone booed her and she rolled her eyes.

"Okay, let's eat. Mami comida." As lydia and Penelope sets up the food, Olivia and Lucas watched the game.

"Hey Livi I'm going to get some napkins you wanna come?" Schneider asked. "Nah I'm too invested in this game I can't be bothered to miss any part of this. Dylan just got hit by the ball again and it was hilarious!" The redhead laughed out loud, snorting right after and everyone else stared at her weirdly.

" okay.. well apparently your laugh is even funnier than Dylan getting hit by the ball. I mean, why do some girls like to snort right after they laugh?" Schneider questioned and Olivia rolled her eyes jokingly.

"I wanna go! I'm gonna buy every single chocolate bar there is with Schneiders money." Lucas said, getting up as he went to Elena who clapped his hand and laughed before walking away.  Forgot to mention, Lucas had been grown up and he's turning 7 soon. Olivia still can't believe her own little brother that was born a few years ago was already growing up.

"Oh! Buy some for me too!" Olivia smirked as she saw Schneider's look on his face. "My wallet is going to go bankrupt." Schneider scoffed before walking away with them.

"Here you go pelliroja. Your favourite Mac and cheese with bacon. I cooked it just for you... but mostly for me but you too." Lydia smiled jokingly before passing the food to the redhead. The three of them watched the match while waiting for the rest to come back with the napkins.

"Okay Alex is up. Here we go Mami and Livi." Penelope said.

"Pelliroja, get ready to cheer for your boyfriend." Lydia joked as she put her food down.

Lydia had been teasing Olivia ever since she found out that she liked him a few days ago. Throwback to a few days later on what happened...

A FEW DAYS AGO BEFORE
ALEX GAME

Olivia and Elena were watching a movie in the living room together since Alex had to go for trials for his game and Olivia was bored so she decided to spend some time with Elena while waiting for Alex to come back. They were currently watching a sweet romantic movie until suddenly Elena bought a question that Olivia never wanted to hear in her life from anyone.

"Have you ever wondered what it's like to have a crush? I mean, wouldn't it be fun to be in love with someone and having butterflies in your stomach whenever you see them." Elena said, sighing.

"Y-yeah i know right." Olivia chuckled nervously before looking back to the tv.

"Wait! Livi, do you have a crush?!" Elena asked excitedly as she looked at the redhead.

"What! Ew no! Of course not.." she mumbled. "Oh come on. I know when you're lying. You would always mumble stuff and not make eye contact." Elena said causing Olivia to chuckled nervously.

"What?! I'm not lying I swear." She said causing Elena to raise her brows at her, clearly knowing she was lying.

"Livi, I've known you since you were 3 years old. Come on tell me who this lucky guy is!" Elena teased as she smirked at the redhead. Olivia raised her brows at her before sighing. She never told anyone about her crush on Alex, not even Bianca, Sophia or Charlotte.

"Wait! Is it that Henry guy that is doctor Berkowitz grandson?! Oh wait! Or that senior Mark that you've been telling me about!" Elena questioned. "No! Ew. Mark is way too old for me and Henry is just my friend." Olivia explained.

"If I tell you, you have to promise me not to tell anyone alright?" Olivia said sternly to Elena and she nodded.

The redhead sighed deeply before finally speaking up. She couldn't believe she was going to tell someone about this. "It's Alex!" She exclaimed before covering her mouth with her hands as she looked at Elena with her mouth wide open.

"What?!" She exclaimed.

Suddenly, the curtains went open and Lydia came out with her mouth hung wide open. " you like Alex?! I knew it!" Lydia said proudly .

"Abuelita you were there this whole time?! I thought you went to the grocery store or something!" Olivia exclaimed, a nervous look on her face. She didn't plan this to happen at all.

"Oh my goodness. I can't believe you like him! I mean I always thought that maybe you just see him as a best friend and that you probably like someone else but I didn't know you actually like-like him!" Elena said excitedly.

"I know! I just realise that a few months ago... okay since you guys know you have to promise me not to tell anyone. This is serious . I don't want to ruin my friendship with Alex at all so we're gonna have to keep this a secret." Olivia said and Elena and Lydia nodded.

Right after she said that Penelope came out from the kitchen, with a shock expression on her face.

"Oh my god , this can't be happening to me right now." Olivia face palmed herself as she groaned.

"Did I just hear that right? Olivia likes Alex, oh my god!" Penelope squealed excitedly.

"Wait! But You guys can't tell anyone! I can't believe three people know my secret now! This wasn't suppose to happen!" Olivia groaned.

"Hey, don't worry. We're not gonna tell anyone. This will just be like our girl's secret." Elena said and Olivia nodded, trying to calm herself down.

Alex and Schneider then came in the apartment as everyone just stared at them with a weird smile on their face, trying not to act suspicious.

"Um, what's going on?" Alex asked as he sat on the couch. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Olivia said nervously as everyone nodded whilst Schneider and Alex looked at them weirdly.

"Okay well I'm gonna go now so I'll see you tomorrow bye guys!" Olivia quickly left the apartment before going back to her own. She let out a deep sigh before thinking 'what have I done?' .

END OF FLASHBACK

"What? He's not my-"

"Shhh!!!" Before the redhead could say anything, Penelope and Lydia shut her off causing her to scoff.

Schneider, Elena and Lucas came back and they all started cheering for Alex.

"Come on Alex you can do this!!" Alex then scored a goal causing everyone to cheer loudly. Lydia pulled out a Cuban flag causing Olivia to raise her brows at her and chuckle. Everyone continued dancing and cheering for Alex.

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After the game, everyone was going back to Alvarez apartment.

Once they got by the doorway, Olivia went up to Alex. "Hey, I'm proud of you today. You did really amazing." Olivia smiled widely at him. As she was about to pull him in for a hug he backed away slightly.

"Yeah thanks. Can we not hug right now I don't feel like it." He said blankly to her. Her smile slightly dropped after hearing those words coming out of his mouth. He never backs away from a hug when it was from Olivia and this was making her overthink about it especially how he was talking to her but she tried her best not to show any emotions.

"Oh.. sorry." She chuckled slightly before walking in the apartment.

"What a game, papito!"

"Hello dodgers. You want Alex Alvarez? We'll think about it!" Lydia joked and everyone laughed except for Alex.

"A lot of your games are a real snooze but today was good! And then you got that hit!" Penelope said. "Dale!" Schneider yelled as he pat Alex's back.

"Dale papito dale!" Penelope sang and everyone joined in. Elena then tried to sing but it came out super weirdly as everyone stared at her. "Whoo, look who's suddenly a sports fan." Penelope said.

"Oh! It's not that. I'm just proud of my heritage. You know my Cuban heritage." Elena insisted." "Okay.." Penelope said, confused.

Olivia went over and sat down on the couch with Lucas as she ate her chocolate bar that Schneider bought for her and Lucas. She had to be honest that after what happened with Alex, she had no motivation to do anything or show any emotion but she tried not to make it obvious since she didn't want anyone to be worried about her so she kept quiet and acted like everything was okay but deep down she was really sad about what Alex did.

Penelope and Lydia then started singing a song that they suddenly made up about Alex. He went over to sit down next to Olivia but she quickly got up and stood beside Elena and Schneider, clearly not wanting to be around him after what happened.

She thought that she was acting a bit dramatic but she was really upset because of how he was treating her the past couple of days with his tantrums all the time.

The thing about Olivia is that when someone yells at her or throws a tantrum for no reason, she would overthink it for days and wouldn't stop worrying so much about it even if it's a small matter. She was a really sensitive person and gets emotional sometimes and everyone knew that, especially Alex.

He looked at her confused before going back to unpacking his bag whilst Lydia and Penelope was singing. As they sang, he couldn't take it anymore and snapped, "oh my god, shut up!"Everyone looked at him shocked as the whole room went silent.

"Did you just say shut up to god?" Lydia said. "Did you just say shut up to me? Because that's worse." Penelope said, an angry look on her face. Olivia could tell that this wasn't going to end well at all.

"It's just that everything you guys are doing is embarrassing!" Alex argued. "Yeah that's not getting me on your side." Penelope said.

"Well, I don't like all that crazy yelling you guys do army games. And that song, I hate that stupid-"

Olivia went over, putting her a hand on his shoulder and attempted to calm him down but things escalated quickly. "Alex calm down, it's not that big of a deal. they're your family, they're-"

"No! Don't tell me to calm down Olivia!" The boy yelled causing the redhead to jump a little. She looked at him in shock of how he yelled at her and how he said her name instead of her nickname which never happened before because he only calls her by her nickname and never her real name. She could tell by the look in his eyes he looked really guilty for he did but he didn't say anything and turned his attention back to Penelope.

"First of all don't talk to me like that and how can you talk to Livi like that? Second, you hate that song?"

"Okay, that's crazy. That is a beautiful song!" Lydia protested. "Thank you, Mami."

"Alex you gotta appreciate how these guys support you." Schneider said. As he told his story, Elena went beside Olivia.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She could only nod despite the lump in her throat and the tears that were stinging her eyes as she tried to hold it in. Elena noticed it and she knew she had to have a serious talk with Alex later on. Elena was always the big sister to Olivia and whatever happens to her, Elena will be there to protect her.

"Look, all I know is none of the other parents act like you." Alex said.

"Come on, it's all because we're proud of you, papito."

"And stop calling me papito! I'm not a little kid anymore. My name is Alex okay? No more papito." He argued but Lydia and Penelope protested to still call him papito.

"No. No! Papito is not an age thing. We call Conrad 'Macho' because when he was four he sang 'Macho Man' once. We call Francisco 'Pepe popo'. Figure that out. Olivia is called pelliroja and I'm called Tata, Lupita, Yoyi." Penelope explained.

"And my nickname is Pucha. It is the way of our people!" Lydia added.

"If you don't have a nickname there's something wrong with you."

"Do I have a nickname?" Elena asked. " no." Lydia said blankly.

"Anyway it's a tradition to call you papito so we're gonna keep doing it, okay papito?" Penelope insisted.

"No! You need to stop it and all the embarrassing stuff you guys do at my games. If you can't, then don't come anymore." Alex argued before leaving to go to his room as the room went silent again before Schneider spoke up. "So...he meant Tata and Pucha, right? Schnei-Schnei can still go to the games."

"You can't give yourself a nickname." Elena said. "The amazing Schneider-Man disagrees." He replied and Elena scoffed.

"No we're all still going to the games. I don't know what's gotten into Alex. He must just be tired." Penelope suggested.

"No, no Lupita. I know what this is. Papito is making the turn." Lydia said.

"The turn?"

"From beautiful boy to horrible teenager." Lydia spat. "Oh dear our sweet little Alejandro... where did the tiempo go?" Schneider said and everyone looked at him weirdly.

"Rip, papito." Lydia Said dramatically. "He's not dead!" Penelope scoffed. "Isn't he though?" Lydia said and Penelope rolled her eyes.

"Pelliroja.. are you okay?" Lydia asked the redhead girl and she silently nodded.

"Yeah.. um I'm gonna go back to my apartment so I'll see you guys tomorrow." Olivia slightly smile before packing her bags, getting ready to leave. Everyone looked at her with a look of sympathy as she left the apartment with Lucas.

"Poor pelliroja. She must feel so sad." Lydia said and everyone nodded.

♡︎

Olivia and Alex trailed behind Penelope as she scolded Alex. Apparently Alex punched a kid on a field trip and now Penelope was furious. Olivia didn't want to go to the Alvarez apartment today after what happened with alex and her yesterday but she decided to go to be there for alex and help him after what he did for her at the field trip.

"It's not that big of a deal!" Alex exclaimed. "Check your tone." Penelope said.

"What happened?"

"His class went on a field trip to the observatory, and he punched a kid from another school." Penelope explained.

"Papito!... is your hand okay?" Lydia asked.

"You know I've had enough of you and your teen crap. I'm not raising a jerk."

"I'm not a jerk! The other kid's a jerk!" Alex argued.

"Everyone's a jerk! It is still not okay to punch them!" My mom said furiously and all I could do was roll my eyes. "Whatever. You don't understand."  Alex sighed.

"Okay, well then make me understand. Because how is this okay? Did he hit you first?"

"No but he was saying stuff!" Alex exclaimed, hoping they would already stop this argument already.

"Okay, so what? So what, he called you a name? What like stupid, dummy, goober?"

"What grade so you think I'm in?" He asked, furrowing my brows.

"Listen, if papito punched somebody, there is a good reason for it." Lydia defended. "Did he prevent you from seeing the Jupiter exhibit? Because that thing is amazing." Elena said excitedly and everyone looked at her weirdly.

"Was it about a woman? it's okay if it is about a woman." Lydia said and Alex rolled his eyes.

"No Mami, it's not."

"He said 'go back to Mexico!'... and he even made fun of Livi's hair and calling her 'ugly freak' " Alex explained and everyone had looks of shock on their faces. Olivia tried her best to hold in her tears as everyone was still in shock.

"Livi is this true?" Penelope looked at the girl and she nodded. "So this was just some random kid?"

"Yeah. Hugo and I were talking in Spanish, and the kid walked by with his friends and heard us say it. And then out of nowhere he made fun of Livi since she was with us and I guess I just kind of lost it." Alex explained.

"Okay... this is not okay. I'm gonna call the school and straighten this out." Penelope said.

"There's nothing you can do. None of the teachers even saw him say it. Then after I hit him, sister Barbara pulled me aside and him and his friends took off."

"Alex we're gonna figure this out but you can't just hit somebody every time they call you or Livi a name." Penelope said.

"I don't! It was just this time." Alex argued.

"Wait this has happened before?" Penelope asked and alex nodded. "What did they say?"

"You know, beaner, wetback, gangbanger, Pitbull." Alex explained. "Pit bulls the only one that's even close to accurate!" Lydia said.

"Does this happen at school." Penelope asked. "No. Just a couple times when I'm out." Alex replied. "Once at a baseball game, the other team was leaving on their bus and they saw me and yelled, 'build the wall'." Alex said as everyone gasped in shock.

"It's so stupid! Whatever, I don't want to talk about it anymore!" Alex groaned as he left to go in his room. Olivia hesitated for a moment thinking whether she should go home or go to Alex. She quickly went into Alex's room, opening the door revealing him lying down flat on his stomach as he sighed deeply.

He looked over and saw Olivia and immediately sat up. "Livi! Hi.."

"Hey.. um how are you? Are you okay? You know of what happened just now?" She asked as she sat down beside him.

"Yeah... i guess. I mean I just couldn't take it at all. Especially what he called you." He said softly causing Olivia to sigh.

"I know what he did to me was bad but you didn't need to hit Alex. If anyone ever say any insults to you you have to ignore them no matter how badly they're hurting you. Or maybe you could tell me and I'll punch them for you." She joked causing Alex to chuckle.

"I mean I hate to admit it but what he said to me just made me feel really insecure, like I'm not pretty enough for anyone.. like I'm always called a red headed freak all the time." Olivia sighed as she tried to hold in her tears. She kept getting flashbacks of how the people from Texas use to made fun of her because of her hair and freckles.

"Hey. Don't let them get to you alright? You're a beautiful girl no matter. I'll always find you pretty Livi." Alex said as he softly smiled at the redhead causing her to smile back. Before she could say anything Penelope came in.

"Um, I'm gonna go." Olivia said before waving to Alex and going out of his room. She decided to go back to her apartment and rest so she said bye to everyone and left.

ALEX SIDE OF VIEW;

"Mom, I'm sorry I hit that kid." Alex sighed.  "I know. And I'm sorry all this stuff is happening." Penelope said as she sat on the bed.

"I just want to go back to the way it was. It's like...all of a sudden I'm different. I don't want to be different." He mumbled.

"Wait, is that why you don't want us to come to your games? So it's not because we're crazy and treat you like a baby?"  She said.

"Well, I don't like that too."
He added.

"But, mostly it's because we're too Cuban right?" Penelope asked. " I mean I'm proud of being Cuban but...yeah. Sorry" Alex admitted.

"It's okay. I get it. And look, I wish I could say what happened to you today will never happen again, but it might. Cause there are a lot of jerks out there, and I don't know if it's worse now or not, but I know I would never want you to change who you are because of them. And who you are is Cuban..and American and mostly a sweet kid who doesn't hurt people." Penelope said causing Alex to softly smile.

"You can't control the jerks but you can control your reaction to them. Because this is your country too, and you deserve to be happy in it. But if you get angry, they win." She continued.

"Okay." Alex went over and hug Penelope as she hugged back. "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret but before I tell you this, you might need to do something first..." Penelope said.

♡︎

Olivia sighed deeply, laying flat on her stomach and only thinking about what to do right now since she was really bored. Normally she would be at the Alvarez apartment hanging out with Alex but right now it wasn't a really good time for that. She wished she could fix things with Alex but after what happened today at the field trip she decided to let it sit for a while and talk to him tomorrow.

A few minutes later, the bell rang and she groaned slightly, as her lazy body got up from her bed and went to the door to open it. She thought it was her parents that came back from work and was confused on why they had to knock.

"Mom, dad, why do you have to knock? Don't you have a key to open the d- Alex?" She saw Alex standing on her doorway as she opened the door, thinking it was her parents.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to sleep soon?" Olivia asked. "actually Livi I need talk to you. I wanted to talk to you just now but then my mom came in my room." Alex said and she nodded.

"Okay.. so what did you wanna talk to me about?" She asked as the two teens sat on the couch.

Alex sighed before talking, "Livi, I- I'm sorry for how I treated you this past couple of days especially yesterday how I refused to hug you. I just have been stressed lately and I just keep getting angry at you all the time and I just hate myself so so much for putting that anger on you. I know you probably won't forgive me but I'm really sorry Livi I promise I won't-"

"Alex." She put her hand on his arm making him stop talking. "It's fine. I get it alright. I understand what you've been going through these past few days and I was being selfish for only thinking about myself and not you..." Olivia sighed.

"No, no Livi it's not your fault alright? It's mine. I have been nothing but rude to you and showing you tantrums all the time I shouldn't have taken out my anger on you..please forgive me Livi. I promise you I will never do that again..." Alex said with pleading eyes. He was really angry at himself for what he did to livi.

"Don't worry, I forgive you. " Olivia smiled as she pulled the boy into a big hug as they hugged for a while, enjoying each others embrace.

♡︎

"You're right, mom. I feel only peace." Alex said and everyone chuckled as they ate their ice cream. Penelope decided it'd be best to go to an ice cream shop and eat ice cream together.

"Alex, you have something on your chin. You need a Latinx." Lydia said as he passed Alex a tissue and he stared at her weirdly causing Olivia to chuckle."Elena, what did you get? Vanilla?"

"No!" She said, siting down. "But I was able to do my whole order in Spanish!" She said excitedly and everyone cheered for her.

"Dale, blanquita, dale!" Penelope sang and soon everyone joined in.

"
"No, don't call me that!" Elena pouted. "Hey,
you've got a nickname." Penelope said. "Oh yeah!" Elena smiled as everyone sang again.

"Excuse me." A random man came up to them as everyone stopped singing. "I know you're having a little fiesta over here but you should learn to keep your voice down. There are other people in here." The man said and everyone was quite and didn't know what to say.

"Mami, would you hold my helado, please?" Penelope said. Penelope and Lydia got up as they went to the man that was about to leave. Everyone watched them go off at the man and they watched in amusement. They came back and everyone looked at them impressed.

"That was awesome, mom." Alex smirked "Yeah! It was so badass!" Olivia exclaimed and everyone chuckled.

"Thanks Livi. Well you see, if you never get angry, they also win. It's complicated. The point is, I didn't hit anybody and we all got ice cream." Penelope said and Alex smiled slightly. "All right let's get out of here."

"Dale, Lupita, dale." Lydia sang and everyone sang together with her as they left the ice cream shop. Olivia was happy everything was okay again. She got her best friend back and the Alvarez is as happy as ever and she was happy as well.

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A/n: heyyy!! Season 2 finally! This chapter has 4000+ words 😭 This is definitely the longest chapter I wrote out of all the other chapters I have wrote but I hope you enjoyed it and I'll write the next chapter soon!