Page 42

“I’m your only brother.” Marcos narrows his eyes suspiciously. “What do you want?”

“As your favorite sister—”

“You’re my only sister—”

“Can you please, please, please cover the rest of my shifts?”

Marcos shoots her a look that says, Seriously? “Lazy ass, do it yourself.”

“Oh, come on, I quoted Sabrina Carpenter for you!”

“Wow, from the bottom of your heart.” He pokes her forehead, giving her a light push. “You’d still be getting paid for those shifts. Don’t try to manipulate me into unpaid labor.”

“Nora’s manipulating you again?”

Marcos’s boyfriend Gavin strides towards us, passing by the yellow walls decorated with framed photographs of Mexico’s famous beaches. He looks like Mile Morales if he were in the real world instead of the Spider-Verse. Gavin greets Marcos with a kiss and waves to me and Nora.

“I’m not manipulating my favorite brother,” Nora says. “I’m just asking him for a favor.”

“Sounds like something a manipulator would say,” Gavin says.

“See? I knew I could trust you.” Marcos hugs Gavin towards him.

An idea strikes as soon as I hear this.

“Hey, Marcos, Gavin,” I begin, “I hope this isn’t too sudden, but there’s something I want to ask you guys.”

I explain the competition to them and break down my vision for trust. Marcos is a big planner, so I’m hoping his schedule isn’t too packed before Saturday. After I ask them if they can be my main subjects, Marcos bites his lip and looks down. Uh oh.

“We’d love to be, but our flight leaves tomorrow night. We’re staying in Chicago for a week for Yumi’s wedding, and we want to spend some time there,” Marcos says. “Are you available in the morning before my shift?”

It’s a tighter squeeze than last time. The hour before my volunteering shift will be my only chance, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get this photo done. “Yeah, I can work it out.”

“You’re finally fulfilling your childhood dream of becoming a model,” Nora says to Marcos.

“I’m perfectly fine studying to become a microbiologist,” he says.

“Boring.”

“Practical.” His fingers thread with Gavin’s, giving his hand a gentle yet tight squeeze. “But who knows? Maybe we can get part-time jobs as models somewhere in NorCal.”

I swear I see a flit of fear on Gavin’s face. But he chuckles and nods so casually I wonder if I was just seeing things.

“By the way, your bestie emergency is clearly over,” Marcos says to Nora. “Back to work!”

“Boo,” Nora pouts.

Marcos gestures for Nora to get up and nods to the kitchen. On his way there, he and Gavin talk about which horror movie they should watch tonight. One of the first things that bonded them was their love for horror movies. Marcos enjoys the thrill of being scared while Gavin finds them fascinating.

Nora turns back to give me a hug. “I really don’t think your presentation was as bad as you think it was. You also have four more to go.”

“Oh, great, four more times that I’ll make a fool of myself.”

“Or four more times you can get better. Have a little faith in yourself.”

I sigh and finish the last piece of my tostada, savoring the spice as it zings across my taste buds. “I’ll try.”

My phone dings, and I glance at it expecting a text from my mom. Instead, it’s an Instagram message from Jase.