Page 165 of Pride High 2: Orange

Silvia heard low voices in the hallway and tensed, locking eyes with her father until they went away again.“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”Not at night, when the hospital was so calm and quiet.“I’ll come back for you tomorrow. Okay?”

He was already shaking his head.“Don’t take the risk. You’ll get in trouble.”

“You being here is going to get us all in trouble. Tomorrow. Around lunch time. Be ready to go. Okay?”

Miguel grabbed her hand again.“Is your mother upset?”

“She’s worried about you,”Silvia said with a tight throat.“But it’s going to be okay.”

“Elena knows what to do,”her father said.“We’ve talked about this. Ask her to keep the promise. She’ll understand.”

Silvia could guess what he meant. They probably had some noble self-sacrificing plan if one of them ever got caught, but she wouldn’t let that happen.

“You can tell her yourself tomorrow. I love you, Dad.”

He pulled her into a hug.“I love you more than anything. Tell the others too. Okay? Hugo especially. I’m sorry for messing up.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,”Silvia croaked.“You’ve always been the perfect dad.”She sobbed against his chest. Just once. Then she forced herself to pull away.“I’ll be back. I promise.”

Leaving him just about broke her heart. What if an immigration agent showed up first thing in the morning and took him away? At the moment, that was only an abstract possibility. If she tried taking him from the hospital now, someone would definitely call security, if not the police. So she quietly left after making sure the hallway was empty.

Silvia took note of the room number and which floor she was on, walking around now without fear. All anyone could do was ask her to leave. And she did go, but not before she figuring out where the nearest elevators were. A parking garage exit wasn’t far from them, which was perfect.

Silvia felt increasingly confident on the drive home. She would show up during the busiest part of the day, plonk her dad into one of the many wheelchairs she’d spotted, and roll him directly to her truck. Tomorrow they would eat lunch together as a family, and if anyone tried to stop her…

Silvia would fight them, tooth and nail.

CHAPTER 37

January 24th, 1993

Ricky was jittery with nervous hope. He kept having visions of him and Diego going on a double date with Anthony and Cameron. Or hanging out with Omar and Diego at the mall. Let the bullies try to mess with him then! He wanted nothing more than to integrate the guy he was falling in love with into his circle of friends. They would be like one big happy family.

“Where are we going?” Diego asked while peering out the windshield with open suspicion.

“Take the next right,” Ricky said as casually as possible.

Frankenstein slowed and stopped at the next intersection but didn’t turn.

Diego grunted. “This is Omar’s street.”

“I know.”

“Is that where we’re going?”

Ricky smiled to show him it was okay. “I told you, it’s a surprise.”

Diego cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah, but you didn’t say if it’s a good one.”

“You won’t think so at first,” Ricky said. “But it really will be. Trust me.”

Diego didn’t look convinced, but he took the right turn and parked in front of Omar’s house. “Whatever you’re thinking,” he said, “it’s a bad idea.”

“It’s not,” Ricky assured him. “I asked Omar about the video, and you’re right. He was filming that day. There’s proof!”

Diego’s eyebrows shot up as he looked to the house with uncharacteristic optimism. Then the storm clouds returned. “There’s proof I didn’t burn down the garage, and he actuallywantsme to see it?”

Ricky squirmed in his seat “They’re only expecting me. I didn’t tell them about you in case—”