Suddenly I feel something grab my shoulder. I scream, losing all my air. I kick my legs until I reach the surface. As I emerge from the water, gasping for breath, I see Maria leaning on the dock, reaching into the water to save me.
“What the hell are you doing, pendeja? Don’t you think this is a bit dramatic?”
I grab onto the dock and pull myself up.
“No, I’m pretty sure it’s the appropriate amount of dramatic,” I say, squeezing my hair to release the lake water it’s absorbed.
“Dude, what happened? We all went from laughing and having a good time to watching you two yell in the darkness. Everything okay?”
“No, everything is not okay,” I say, and begin to cry.
“Damn, you’re crying now too? I did not sign up for this,” she groans, scooching closer and putting her arm around my shoulder. “Tell me everything.”
“We kissed.”
“Yeah, we all saw,” she quips.
I nod slowly.
“And that’s bad?”
“No, it was great. I thought we were going to, I don’t know, start dating or something. But I just broke it off.”
“Uh, why? Don’t tell me it’s because of your stupid quinceañera dress, or I will throw you back into the lake.”
I sway my feet around in the lake water. They’re almost numb from the icy temperature, but it feels nice.
“Silvana knows.”
“About you two?”
“Yes, but also about me. The restaurant. My mother. She knows everything. She knows I don’t know shit about this fancy stuff. She knows we’re still poor and struggling. And worst of all, she knows the restaurant is behind on the rent.”
“Holy fuck, how did she find out?”
I groan and lay back on the dock, staring at the clear sky. The stars shine like diamonds against the inky blackness of the sky, twinkling and sparkling as if they are alive. The longer I stare, the more stars I see until it seems the entire sky is alight with their brilliance. They make my problems seem so small and insignificant.
“Hello? Are you going to tell me, stupid?”
“Maritza is dating Gabriel. The landlord,” I whine.
“No fucking way. This is some telenovela shit right here. I wish I had a camera so someone could record my dramatic reaction to the news.”
I look up to see her posing with different shocked faces.
“Can you take my life seriously for once?” I shout. “I’m spiraling.”
“All right, all right. You really want to know what I think?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You need to get your ass up and apologize to Valentina.”
“What? Why?” I yell back, sitting up on the dock.
“Because she’s a good person, Isa. You acted like a total dick, and she doesn’t understand why. You must apologize and explain everything—or at least some of it. You don’t have to go into the details, but she deserves to know what happened. Wouldn’t you want to know?”
I stay quiet for a moment, scraping a piece of wood from the dock with my fingernail, ultimately chipping the fresh manicure I got from the on-site manicurist.
