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Abuela’s first meeting with V didnotgo well. At all. And it got worse when V accidentally broke a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mandy hoped Abuela would give V another chance but never pushed the issue.

“She wakes,” Abuela said as Isa appeared from the hallway, rubbing her eyes.

Isa greeted Abuela the same way Mandy had before, then took her usual seat next to Mandy. “It’s hard to sleep with all the noise out here. What are we talking about?”

Abuela shook her head and gave Isa a look. A long time ago she would have told Isa in Spanish, but over the years, Mandy picked up more and more until she understood enough to be dangerous. So now Abuela used glances to communicate, but Mandy knew what most of those meant too. This look meant that Isa shouldn’t ask. “Eat. Eat.”

Isa started to make herself a plate, taking the hint to change the conversation. “That movie gave me the weirdest dreams. I still don’t get if all those things really happened or not.”

The movie wasBig Fish, and while it was interesting and had some really fascinating characters, Mandy wasn’t entirely sure what it was all about either. “Does it matter?”

“I guess not, I just kinda want to know. Because how cool was some of that? The circus and traveling and meeting all those people?”

“Studying is good too.” Abuela always liked to remind them of this whenever she could. “You can learn lots from books.”

“Too bad the ones they make us read at school are so boring,” Mandy said.

“I told you to take AP.” Isa shoved a bite of food into her mouth, then mumbled around it, “We don’t use the same books you do.”

Mandy could’ve taken AP. It was an option for every student, but she didn’t think she could compare to the kids in those classes. They were all so smart, and Mandy was just average. She excelled in art, and that was where it ended for her. Otherwise, school was something she needed to do, not anything she actually enjoyed, or was “good” at. “Well, I’d love to travel.” Mandy changed the conversation back to the movie—a topic she was more comfortable with. “I’m thinking I might want to go to Europe after graduation. So many great artists have come from there. And it has so much history and culture.”

“You should,” Isa said, and Abuela relaxed into her chair just a little—likely because Isa’s response wasn’tme too.

“You still need to go to college,” Abuela said.

“I know. I will. I just…it would be fun.”

“You know what else is fun?” Abuela asked. “Dishes.”

“Yes, Abuela,” Mandy and Isa responded in unison.

That was one thing Mandy didn’t love about Isa’s kitchen. It didn’t have a dishwasher, but she had gotten used to helping clean up after a meal. Isa and Mandy had a system. They would switch off who would wash and who would dry, and then occasionally toss each other things just to hear Abuela utter, “Ay, Dios mío,” while she sat and watched them from the dining room.

After everything was put away, Mandy went home to get ready for V. She needed to wash her hair, shave, and put on makeup and the new dress she bought. She wanted to really impress V since she had been gone for such an extended time. Their calls hadn’t been as often or as long as Mandy wished they’d been. But V was busy with all her family things, so Mandy couldn’t be mad at her. What she could do was remind V what she had been missing.

Mandy had worked herself up so much she was practically vibrating by the time she got to V’s house, and her hand shook when she rang the bell. What she really wanted to do was rush inside, but the door was likely locked, and Mandy tried her best to be patient. The chimes hanging from the porch jingled, and little kids across the street screeched in delight as they ran back and forth in the sprinkler, a set of moms standing close by, watching them with wineglasses in their hands.

A car drove past, and then another. Did she get the time wrong? Mandy took a step back and looked at the empty driveway. Did V go somewhere and forget Mandy was coming? She pulled out her phone, about to give V a call, when the door creaked open.

A groggy-eyed beauty peeked her head out. “Mandy?”

Not able to contain herself anymore, Mandy launched forward, pushing the door open wider and embracing V. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“Yeah, me too.” V wrapped her arms around Mandy. “I’m sorry…I was sleeping.”

“Jet lag is the worst, isn’t it?” Mandy had experience with this every time she got back from her family’s holidays. She leaned in to kiss V.

V turned away and covered her mouth. “I should brush.”

Duh. Even though it was the afternoon, morning breath was the worst no matter what time it was. Not that Mandy really cared about it, but V did, and Mandy respected that. “So can I come in?”

“Oh, yeah.” V stepped back to let Mandy inside.

If Mandy had to describe V’s house, she would say it was a cross between her own and Isa’s. Sizewise it was right in the middle. Like Isa’s home, it had lots of family pictures, and like Mandy’s it had a design magazine kind of decor. Except for having a room that no one actually sat in; Mandy had one of those that her mom kept pristine. Every room in V’s house was used, and in order to keep it pristine, there was plastic that covered the sofa.

Since it seemed like they were alone, Mandy headed toward the back of the house where V’s room was, but V stopped her.

“Let’s sit in here instead,” she said.