***

The car was silent, besides the panting of Carl and Mariana's new dog. It wasn't a bad kind of quiet, there just wasn't much to say.

"Fifi."

"Huh?"

"Fifi, that's what we should name her!" Mariana rapidly slapped her hand on the dashboard.

"Why Fifi?"

"I don't know, I just had an epiphany moment. It's like Fiona, but just Fi. But twice." She knotted her eyebrows together, trying to make her thoughts into comprehendible sentences.

"Dude, are you high?"

"No, although I wish. But if it weren't for Fiona, we possibly couldn't have met."

***

"Carl, why don't you make some friends." Fiona pushed Carl onto the playground, trying to stop him from squishing bugs from under a rock.

"No, I don't want to."

Fiona dragged him to a small girl who was steering the steering wheel on the play structure. She wore plaid shorts, which was very distasteful. Her hair was up in a too tight ponytail, her skin being pulled back a tad bit.

"Hi, I'm Fiona, and this is Carl."

"Hi, I'm Mariana." The girl stuck her hand out.

Carl hesitatingly shook her hand, a suspicious look on his face. He noticed Mariana had deep dimples, and a little beauty mark on the top of her forehead.

"You two go play." Fiona walked away, leaving the two looking each other.

"So, what do you like to do?" Mariana asked, walking up the steps of the playground structure. Carl followed along. He dragged his hand along the metal railing.

"I like to melt things. And microwave things."

"Cool. I like to make things. And sometimes put my fingers in the wax warmer and let the wax dry on them before I peel it off."

"What's a wax warmer?"

"It's a ceramic bowl that my mom plugs into the wall and adds scented wax into. When you plug it in it warms up and melts."

"That sounds dumb."

"It is, but it's fun to burn yourself." She shrugged, regretting saying something that could put someone off.

"That was odd to say."

"What can I say, I'm an odd person."

Carl stroked his chin. He had decided,"You know, you're pretty cool. Let's be friends."

"Sure."

"So, where do you live?"

"Wallace street."

"No way, me too."

"I live next to these loud people. And they never take there pool down, so it stinks really bad. They have a van in their backyard, which is weird, but I'm not gonna judge." Mariana ranted.

"No way, that sounds just like my house!" Carl pointed out, his mouth agape.

"Weird." Mariana shrugged, hopping down the steps of the playground.

"Yeah."

"Mariana, come on, time to go home." Someone called to her. She turned around, a group of boys dressed in football uniforms looking at her.

"Who are they?"

"Those are my brothers." She rolled her eyes.

"I only have two brothers."

"I have six. Three older, three younger. Which makes me, the middle child. And the only girl, which sucks."

"Mariana!" One of her brother's called,obviously tired of waiting on her.

"Well, I have to go. See you soon?" Mariana didn't want to leave, but it wasn't an option to walk home alone, she'd be locked out of the house until one of her parents got home.

"Yeah." Carl knew he'd probably never see Mariana again, he rarely left his house and didn't know a lot about his newfound friend.

Mariana walked with her brothers, hands shoved in her pockets. Carl trudged to Fiona, who was smiling wide.

"You finally made a friend Carl!" She shook him softly.

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll ever see her again." He shrugged, walking to Steve's car he lended to Fiona. The radio hummed lowly as Carl looked out of the passenger window.

The car turned down Wallace street, and he saw a pack of kids running by his house. As he got out of the car he heard a familiar voice.

"Alright, alright boys! Before you head inside with your stinky cracks, I gotta hose you down!" He looked, and there she was. Mariana.

"Mariana!" He said from his side of the fence.

"Oh, hi Carl!"

"You live here?"

"Yeah!"

"No way!"

"Wasn't it kinda obvious? I mean, who else on Wallace street has a pool?"

"Huh, you're right."

Mariana was hosing down her brothers, washing off their stench before they threw their football gear on a rack Mariana made.

"Your brothers play football?" Although the boys were wearing their uniforms before, Carl barely realized that they played football.

"Yup, all six of em. I coach em, give them water, and hose them off after practices and games."

"She also makes us great snacks at halftime. I'm Danny, her oldest brother." A boy with a face straight out of a magazine shook Carl's hand. He must've been Lip's age, but he was more posh and well mannered.

"And sometimes she treats us to Denny's after games." Carl looked down, a tiny child smiling at him.

"That's Cody, he's only two but he's a real smart kid."

"And over there we have Frankie, he's a year older than me. He doesn't really talk to strangers, but he's a real nice guy once you get to know him.

Next to Frankie is Isaac, he's irritating. But also funny. Just don't get on his bad side, one time I ate the last toaster strudel and he shaved off part on my eyebrow, that's why it's growing weird." She wiggled her right eyebrow, a vertical line having less hair than the rest.

"And that's Jake, two years younger than me. He's emo, always wears a black sweater, even when it's hot. The only time he doesn't wear his sweater is when he plays football, and even then he puts on tons of sunscreen so he won't get dark.

Finally we have Chris, he's three years older than me. He sings really good, he was going to sign up for kidz bop, but mom said it'd be trashy to say 'sex' in his cover of The Lazy Song. He didn't speak for two weeks!"

Chris brushed his Bieber styled bangs from his eye, water dripping from the tips. The thirteen year old was a heartthrob to the south side Chicago girls. He had taught himself how to play guitar, and sing like an angel.

After washing off her brothers, Mariana dragged Carl up to her bedroom. Her room was what one would say 'colorful'. Painted toilet paper rolls held her markers and pens. Homemade bracelets were strewn on her bed pole, the edges frayed and coming undone.

"You get your own room?!"

"Yeah, perks of being the only girl."

"I have to share a room with my brothers." Carl laid on her comforter, staring at the splattered paint on her ceiling.

"My brothers share rooms too. Two in each room."

"I have to share a room with all three of my brothers. It sucks. Debs gets her own room."

"Who's Debs?" Mariana asked, sitting at her desk.

"My sister. She's like a year older than me."

"She sounds cool."

"Not when you actually meet her." He groaned.

"I'll be the judge of that." Mariana said with a judge-like voice you heard on tv.

"You're weird, no wonder we're friends."

"Friends?" Mariana gleamed, excited she actually had a friend other than her brothers.

"Best friends." Carl nodded, a smirk on his face.