AMARA
Early Spring, 2010
My dad woke me up with mofongo de desayuno, which pretty much meant that they were about to tell me someone died.
I don’t pull that out of nowhere. The dish has only been served with bad news on the side in my family.
I don’t think it’s on purpose. At least, judging by my dad’s face when I ask, “Who died?” I don’t think it is.
“Why do you always think someone died when I make this?” he asks, annoyance clear in his tone as he wipes his eyebrow.
“Because the first time you made it, Grandma died. The second time you made it, my fish had jumped out of the bowl and died, and you couldn’t find one that looked exactly like him.”
He considers this before deciding not to grace it with a response.
My mom comes into the kitchen, grabbing some drinks. We sit at the table in silence for a moment, none of us touching our food.
“So I have some bad news,” my dad starts, and I slam my fist on the table.
“I knew it!” I yell.
He rolls his eyes. “No one hasdied.But I did end up accepting the job in Baltimore.”
It felt like someone threw an anvil at me. Not ice water. No. A hard, steelthing. Hard, rough, freezing cold object that weighs a ton right to the face. I chuckle. “No, you didn’t.”
My dad has always been a fairly no-nonsense person. But the look in his eyes was something different today.
He felt bad.
Which means he was for sure, beyond a doubt, telling the truth.
My mom stays quiet, watching me.
“Why would we move?” I whisper, feeling myself getting more and more worked up as the seconds go by.
Dad sighs. “It was a really good job I couldn’t turn down, Cielo.”
I shake my head. “Please don’t do this.” The panic is setting in. I’ve lived here my entire life. All of my friends are here. I’m a year into high school. There’s no way I’m going to a new one and having to make new friends.” It’s nearing the end of the school year. I have no idea who I’ll be spending the summer with.
I could come back here.
“Amara, settle down,” my mom says sternly, her voice melodic. “He only knew about the job from your friend Mila’s dad. You’d be going to school with her.”
“Okay, and?”
“And we aren’t selling the house. It’ll be a summer home, and we’ll rent it out if we have to during the winter.”
Thank god.
I start to settle back down, my heart fluttering in my chest.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to the Henrys.
I’m on the outs with Sam. My other friends are alwaysinvolved in something I don’t want to deal with. But Cooper and Natalia have always been there for me.
Cooper and I have been getting closer and closer, and my crush on him has only grown. What’s going to happen to that?
“We’re only moving two hours away, Cielo.”
