#erica xochitl bonilla

[ask-my-hero-maite]

First Day Again

The halls felt like new again.

Each few strides had at least another person greet her, and another few more included lingering eyes and unanswered questions. The lights were almost too bright, especially with the floors bouncing off their white color. It felt like the first day of school again- of Freshman Year; she was like a stranger to everything, having to learn this place again. Even if she knew where to go, her schedule, and the names of them all, she was... disconnected.

The joy of returning did not come.

Maite unlocked her locker, toying with its lock for a few seconds before opening it fully. As she looked in to the nearly unfamiliar unit, she noticed things were out of place. Either she moved things to her liking, or it was searched by the school for evidence. Either way, she got to rearranging things to what she remembered. There was more than enough time before first period, anyways.

“Maite!” Silvia ran up to her, almost out of breath, “Dang. You really left me in the dust!”

She cringed a bit, turning to her cousin with knitted brows.

“Ah... sorry. I just really had to check my stuff. I completely forgot you were following me.”

Silvia patted her, “It’s okay!”

A sigh was all she could return.

Now Érica joined them, leaning along the lockers with crossed arms, watching as Maite rummaged through her locker and shook her head at more misplaced items.

“Damn. You sure didn’t waste time.”

“Look,” Maite responded more snappy this time, “I like my things in a certain way... I kept the textbooks to the right so the stopper holds them up so I can put my thermos on the side when I’m getting ready for class.”

Her words started to turn into ramble.

She turned back to them, “You know?”

Érica and Silvia looked at each other with wide eyes, but nodded to reassure the surely stressed Maite.

“Yeah.”

Maite groaned and leaned into the locker, lightly hitting her head on the metal inside.

“I have a lot of work to catch up on, too...”

Silvia poked her a bit, “I could help~”

“Please...”

From a distance, someone was approaching. This caught Érica’s attention, as she had diverted it from Maite’s anxious rant to something that didn’t give her second-hand stress. Her neutral stare turned into a slight glare when she saw who it was.

“Uh oh. Here comes trouble,” Érica nudged Maite’s back slightly, “But the kind you like.”

She gasped and leaned out the locker quickly, nearly giving herself a head rush. She rapidly brushed down her hair and readjusted her outfit before turning with glee.

She jumped forth and hugged him hard, nearly squeezing the air out of him.

She leaned up, pecking a kiss on him but clearly pulling him in for his next move. With that cue, Érica and Silvia left to leave them with privacy. Well, Érica more so gagged as she fled.

“A month and a half, huh?” his part of the hug loosened, “How are you doing?... It’s probably been-“

She shook her head, becoming serious all in one moment, “Really... I don’t want to talk about it... It’s a lot and honestly- I’m pretty tired of having to explain it to people... I’ve had to run it down so much...”

Her reaction signaled a distress of the memory... His face turned to slight worry, as he internally beat himself for even hinting at it.

“Right!- Of course! If you don’t want to talk about it, I get it. Can’t imagine it was... fun.”

She grimaced again. And he could practically hear the error message pop up in his head. He quickly pulled her close again.

“Anyways... I’m so happy to have you back. I’ve really missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too~”

[ask-my-hero-maite]

The Next Step

The sounds of metal clanking and ceramic sliding across the table joined together with minor conversation. Maite and her family were seated for dinner and winding down for the day. Now that the family was gathered together, it was time to talk about what everyone- well, mostly everyone- was thinking about.

Maite was just thrilled to ask her cousins. Ever since she got approved to be a mentor, it’s all she could think about. While she didn’t get any of them as her mentee, like she hoped for, she was still so curious to know who they all got paired with.

She received replies of “yes” and acknowledging hums. A smile further grew on her face.

She placed her hand under her chin and raised a brow, “Who did you guys get?”

“Nooo. I just want to make sure you guys are in good hands...” she was quiet for a second, “And who to bug when I want to check on you...”

“BUT-“

“No.”

“Well, I’ll tell you,” Silvia paused, “I got Billy.”

...

“Yikes...” everyone said in unison.

Maite cringed a bit but tried hiding it with a quick smile. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too harsh with Silvia... hopefully. She then looked at the rest of her cousins with a hopeful yet fearful look.

“Any... favorable mentors?...”

“I got Lien,” Sara responded.

“I got Tamara,” Erica said.

Everyone then turned to Jesús. He took a long sip from his drink and an even longer pause. Everyone was quiet, that one could almost hear a pin drop. When the suspense was long enough, Jesús finally took a breath and replied.

“I got Isabela.”

The whole table erupted in groans and laughs.

Erica leaned over to punch Jesús lightly on the arm.

“Oh come on! I thought you got someone bad! What the hell was that build up?”

“Whoops.”

Maite chuckled and held her head in her palm for a moment. Luckily for her sanity, most of her cousins had good mentors. Both Lien and Tamara were serious and responsible, and good with techniques, perfect for Sara and Erica. Isabela is flexible and a joy, and great at defensive, so a great match for Jesús. However, she was bit more worried about Silvia...

Maybe she could tweak a few things to take on two mentees?

“Well, I got Vlad for my mentee. So that’s exciting!”

“Ooh!” Silvia beamed at the mention of her friend’s name, “You’re going to love it then! Vlad’s great.”

Sara teased again, “Biased~”

And soon the group were laughing again.

Under all the laughs, Daniela rolled her eyes and groaned. This conversation certainly made her feel... left out. This was just FHA talk, and she couldn’t relate to it in any way. She knew some of the names they threw her around, but the distance between her and the conversation was severe. She only continued to scrape her spoon around her bowl as her eyes glanced up at her siblings and cousins, when she would occasionally glared.

Itzel noticed the atmosphere around Daniela. This she couldn’t let go by. She turned her attention to Daniela, and her voice was able to overpower the rowdiness of the others.

“You want to tell them about the program?”

Daniela glanced up at her mother. She unsurprisingly didn’t smile, but nodded back and turned to her family.

“Well, it’s not hero buddies or saving the city, but I got word back from the abroad program I applied for.”

“The one in Italy?”

“Yeah...” she struggled with her words a bit, “I got accepted.”

The table followed with gasps and congratulations. Silvia almost got up to hug Daniela. Key word: Almost. She knew better because Daniela would easily let herself fall out of her chair than willingly take a hug. Maite wasn’t as cautious and jumped forward with a wide smile.

(Congratulations, Daniela!)

“I’m so happy for you!”

Daniela’s eyes went wide and her words caught in her throat. She leaned back in her chair, lengthening the distance between them again. Under a cough and turned cheek, she caved.

“Gracias...”

(Thank you...)

[ask-my-hero-maite]

Do you have any siblings? If so, are any of them also in the academy or are already pro heroes?

Maite: I don’t have siblings... I’m the only child.

But I do have cousins- who are basically my siblings!

“Sara Xochitl Cuervos: FHA Sophomore.

Quirk: Fallen Angel. She can summon a wing of dark energy from her back and manipulate it to her will.”

“Silvia Xochitl Cuervos: FHA Sophomore.

Quirk: Fallen Angel. She can summon a wing of dark energy from her back and manipulate it to her will.”

“Jesús Xochitl Cuervos: FHA Sophomore.

Quirk: Aura. He can create a shield or force field of dark energy.”

“Erica Xochitl Bonilla: FHA Sophomore.

Quirk: Terraform. She can manipulate earth, so as long as she has some form of contact with it.”

They go to school here at FHA, too. Heroics is kinda in our family, since my aunt is a hero and my uncle was one, too; so, it seemed only natural we all applied here.

There’s also Daniela.

“Daniela Xochitl Cuervos: PVHS Junior

Quirk: ???”

She’s the oldest of them. She doesn’t go to FHA, though. She goes to Promise Vista High School: A magnet school for career preparation. She’s a bit of a black sheep...