Page 30 of Pride High 3: Yellow

A shrill whistle interrupted him, blown by a gorgeous woman with auburn hair who was walking toward them. Jessica Beaumont, the captain of the cheerleaders.

“Get your asses back on the mat,” she said to the girls. “If you want to make the team, you need to focus.” Jessica sized him up next. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s a journalist,” Faith said with a giggle.

“It’s for the yearbook,” Hope clarified.

Omar nodded at her. “What she said.”

Jessica sized him up. “Wait a minute… Aren’t you one of Mindy’s little friends?”

“Yeah,” Omar said. “You’re her sister, right?”

“That’s right.” When her eyes narrowed critically, she looked a littletoomuch like Mindy. “You aren’t the one who squirted ketchup all over her homecoming dress, are you?”

“Er…” Omar replied with a flush, causing the twins to laugh.

Jessica nodded at his camera. “Have you got what you need?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Thanks. I need to get to work anyway.”

“Bye, Omar!” Faith said as he walked away, drawing out each syllable in a way that sounded teasing.

“See ya,” he said, raising a hand in parting.

Jessica continued to watch him disapprovingly as he left. He’d seen that look often enough from her sister. They were definitely cut from the same cloth! When he reached the door and risked another glance, she had turned her back to him. The twins hadn’t though. Faith stuck out her tongue playfully. Was she flirting with him? He almost grinned before he thought about how it would make Silvia feel. He managed to keep a straight face as he left, wondering if he was marked somehow. Like they could sense that he’d had sex and wanted a piece of the action.

— — —

Silvia was deep into her morning routine, a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth while she walked around the trailer to gather her things. She would toss what she needed into the open bookbag on the living room couch before resuming her search. Where were the damn truck keys? She was about to check the bedroom again when she noticed a piece of paper sticking out from beneath a coffee table book. She pulled it free and saw, in her mother’s handwriting, a list of towns in other states. The only word at the top was “potential” written in Spanish.

Silvia glanced at the table in the dining area, where her parents were finishing up breakfast with her little brother. They seemed distracted. She took the piece of paper with her to the bathroom, where she finished brushing her teeth while reading it. Each town had pros and cons listed beneath it, such as cost of living or the size of the Mexican community there. As if her parents were searching for somewhere new to live.

After she spat and rinsed, Silvia returned with the list to the living room, no longer trying to hide it. Her mother was standing next to Hugo while mopping up a puddle of milk on the table.

“You didn’t make this big of a mess when you were a baby!”Elena scolded in her native tongue.“I can’t wait until you are older. Fifty would be nice. You could take care of me. Now look! You’ve gotten it all over your pants!”

She watched her mother take Hugo by the arm, and stood aside as she marched him to the bedroom. Her father remained seated at the table with an expression of frustration. He still had a cast on one leg, and even though he got around fine on crutches, he hadn’t been much use for the past month. Which was perfect now, because it meant he couldn’t escape her inquisition.

“What is this?”Silvia asked as she took a seat across from him.

He only glanced at the paper before grimacing.“Don’t worry about that just yet,”he said.

“Too late!”She consulted the list again, noticing a town that had been underlined.“Melrose Park? Where is that?”

“Outside of Chicago,”her father said guardedly.“Think how exciting it would be to grow up next to such a large city.”

She was already grown up! And halfway through high school! She forced her own feelings aside for the moment because she could only think of one reason her parents would want to move. She searched her father’s face for confirmation, lingering on the beard that he had allowed to grow ever since an accident on the job had put him in the hospital. Her friends had helped sneak him out the next day, seemingly without consequence, but she worried about security cameras. Miguel must too, and thus the change in his appearance. Unless there was something she didn’t know about.

“What’s going on?”she asked.

“Your mother and I will talk to you about it later.”

Silvia folded her arms over her chest and didn’t speak another word. She didn’t need to. He knew she wouldn’t budge from her chair without getting answers.

Miguel sighed and nodded at the list of towns.“That is only a contingency plan,”he said.

“Yes, but why? What happened?”