“Sure, if it’s fine with the girls, then it’s fine with me,” my father stated.
“So when’s the date?” Madison asked, whipping out her cell phone. “Because I have the greatest event planner.”
“We’re thinking New Year’s Eve. To start the year off right….”
“That’s perfect!” Lilly said.
“I love it,” Madison added, her fingers flying over her phone. “You’ll probably get some great discounts because the winter is off-season. Do you have a location yet? I’ll see if Gayle can put something together. And don’t worry about the budget, I can work with anything.”
“And we’ll help…with the reception,” my mother offered, subtly referencing my aunt’s low finances.
“No, really. It’s okay. I want to do it on my own.” Teresa looked at Madison.
“Are you sure? Because I know every ballroom within a thirty-mile radius. You should have seen the number of places we visited before I booked my Sweet Sixteen.” Madison’s finger was poised above the “send” button, itching to make the call to Gayle.
“No, está bien. I think this would be a nice project to get me acquainted with my new town.”
“Your new home,” Carlos corrected.
“Seems to be a new home for a lot of us,” Alex said.
“You got that right,” Lilly stated.
“All thanks to you.” Alex leaned in and kissed my cheek, holding the kiss a moment longer than was typically considered friendly.
“I think we all need to go over a few things,” my father bellowed in a deep tone, glaring at Alex.
“Well, why don’t we show Alex his room first?” I suggested, rapidly changing the subject. “Wanna check out your new digs?” I asked him.
“I’d love to. And you’ll have to show me your room,” Alex said.
We stood up from the table and headed toward the spiral stairs just before I heard my father grumble, “Remind me to put a padlock on her bedroom door.”
My friends, cousin, and I flopped onto the floor of Alex’s yellow-and-green room as he collapsed on the bed with jet lag.
“I don’t think I’ve ever slept on a full-size bed,” he said as he tested the springs.
“Actually, it’s a queen,” Madison noted. “Hey, did you tell him about your grandma?”
“Mad!” I shrieked.
Alex peered at me.
“It’s nothing. This used to be her room,” I explained.
“She was here all the time…before she died,” Madison said ominously.
I shot her a look but she kept going.
“The final heart attack happened right here, in this room.”
“Not in this bed?” Lilly cried, her face twisted.
“No,” I said quickly. “My mom gave that bed to Goodwill. This is a brand-new, never-been-slept-in model.”
“Well, if you don’t count her ghost.”
“Madison, shut up!” I warned.
“What? She’s right and you know it!” Emily joined in. “You’ve heard the bed squeak in here when no one was in it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said a bit too quickly, not making eye contact.
“Yes, you do! Grandma Gryzbowski is still chillin’ in here.” Madison snickered.
“Mariana, you never told me that,” Lilly said. “We cleaned out this whole room together!”
“See, there are some things you gotta go to the real source for, Alex. You wanna know about the bastard aunt from Utuado, ask Lilly. But if you wanna know about the Ruíz family from Spring Mills, I’m your girl.”
“Bastard aunt? When did you start calling her that?” he asked.
I nodded. “You missed a lot.”
By the time I finished catching him up on all the family drama I felt unfit for sending him in an e-mail, from the verbal rumble between Uncle Diego and Teresa at my Sweet Sixteen to Teresa’s mother’s—my grandfather’s mistress—plans to attend her daughter’s wedding with my family, it was almost midnight and we all had school tomorrow.
“All right, Em. I think it’s time I take you home. Which lovely abode will you be going to this evening?” Madison asked.
“Back to Philly, definitely. But first I need to stop by my mom’s and pick up a few things,” she said sadly. “Isn’t it weird that in a month my house has gone from being my ‘home’ to being ‘my mom’s place’?”
None of us said a thing, and soon the girls stood and showed themselves out. Lilly retired to her own room, and we were finally alone. I inhaled the silence.
“So, you glad I came?” he whispered.
“Absolutamente,” I teased.
He placed his hand gently on my chin and raised my face toward his as he lowered his lips. It was the kiss I had been waiting for all night. As soon as our lips touched, everything flooded back: the tingle down my spine, the tickle in my belly, the dizziness in my head. I absorbed the familiar sensations.
“Now that’s what we need to talk about,” my father roared as he stormed through the doorway.
I quickly pulled away.
“I think your friend and I need to have a little discussion.” My father’s beady eyes shot bullets at Alex.
Alex sucked his lips under his teeth and flinched. He didn’t protest when my father dragged him into his den, insisting I not follow. I figured I’d give it ten minutes and then tiptoe down anyway (after all, the man was humiliating me, so I had a right to know how bad).
I flicked on my laptop and checked my e-mail as I waited. There was a message from Vince.
Hey, Mariana!
Is your Puerto Rican fiancé there yet? I can’t believe Dad’s letting this dude sleep in our house. He’s clearly delusional. But never fear, I’m totally going to take advantage. I’m thinking of bringing this chick I’ve been seeing home over Thanksgiving. Her name’s Mali, she’s from Malaysia, and the flight back is crazy expensive. So I told her she could stay with us for the week. Like Mom and Dad can say no now! Suckers. I can’t believe I spent eighteen years breaking them in and you’re reaping all the benefits.
Also, do you know anything about Shakespeare? I have this paper coming up over break that I might need to talk to you about—my frat brothers are no help. They actually threw a brother’s desk out a window yesterday. It was, like, 2:00 A.M. and everyone was tossing stuff out the house’s third floor windows. I launched this old typewriter and it exploded into a zillion pieces—springs, keys, everything. Then we took this kid’s IKEA desk and torpedoed it an hour after he put it together. The dude woke up this morning and was all freaked out because he couldn’t figure out where his desk went. It was toast! Freakin’ hysterical!
Anyway, see you in a couple weeks! You’re gonna love Mali!
—Vince
Just then, I heard my father’s voice carry from downstairs. I could not believe he was hollering at our guest on the first night. I shut down my computer and crept down the steps.
Chapter