“Your sister?” I ask, if only to keep up the ruse. Against my will, I stare at the door over Diego’s shoulder, as if the sound of her name spoken aloud is enough to summon her. We’ll have to spend the entire night pretending we don’t know each other, a prospect I already regret agreeing to. Yet here I am, craving Leti’s presence and all the complications it’s sure to bring with her.
“I can’t remember the last time your parents threw Leti a birthday party,” Diego says. “Not even when she lived with them for two years after she graduated. Did she not want one?”
“As if that would stop them,” Elena scoffs. “Andrew has no idea we’re throwing him this party.”
“So, why’s Leti different, then?” I ask her.
She opens her mouth to respond but stops as the door cracks open and Mr. Maldonado steps inside. My shoulders deflate, the breath I was holding loosened as the door shuts behind him.
“The banners look great,” he says, glancing around the living room we’ve spent the last hour and a half decorating.
“From the smell alone, you and Mrs. Maldonado did an amazing job on the food,” I tell him. “It’s gonna be a great party.”
Once he’s a safe distance away in the kitchen with his wife, I turn back to Elena and ask the question I’ve bitten down for the past two hours. “Where is your sister anyway? Shouldn’t she be here helping us set up?”
“Knowing her, she’ll show up at the last possible moment.” Her nose scrunches up in a way that reminds me so much of Leti, I nearly gasp. Luckily, I’m able to cover my odd reaction by faking a sneeze.
“Wasn’t she supposed to bring the plates and silverware?” Mrs. Maldonado calls from the kitchen. “We told her to be here by two.”
As she and Elena go back and forth about Leti’s whereabouts, I pull out my phone.
Me:Where are you? Your parents are asking for you.
Leti:Yeah, yeah.
I wait a few beats, but when it’s clear a further response isn’t forthcoming, I let out a sigh.
Me:Did you not get your sister’s text about being here by 2? You’re two hours late.
Leti:The party doesn’t start until seven. They’ll be fine without their precious paper plates until at least 6:30.
When I let out a disgruntled noise, every head swings toward me. “Everything okay, man?” Diego claps a hand on my shoulder. Hastily, I lock my screen and shove my phone back in my pocket.
“I forgot that we still need…” I rack my brain for something,anything, when it comes to me. “Cups!”
“You don’t have glasses in your cupboard?” Mrs. Maldonado asks, turning around to check.
“Not enough.” I shake my head. “I meant to grab some paper cups from the store earlier, but it must’ve slipped my mind. I’ll be back.”
Outside, I bound up the stairs to her apartment. I ring the doorbell and wait, but there’s no answer. Sighing again, I pull out my phone.
“Are you really calling me about paper plates that no one will need for another three hours?”
“It’s not about the plates, Leti. Your parents really want you to be here,” I say. “Now, come on. I’m outside your apartment. We’ll go to the store together.”
“That’s highly unlikely.”
“We’ll be sneaky. No one will know we went together.”
“Not that,” she says. “I mean about my parents wanting me there.”
“Come on. That can’t possibly be true.” But then I remember what Diego said about them not throwing their middle child a birthday party. Meanwhile, Andrew’s entire immediate family is downstairs pulling all the stops for his twenty-fifth. “Is Bella home?”
“No, why?”
“What about Mari?”
“They’re with Luis for some play the kids are putting on at the school. What—”
