A gangly tween bursts into the bathroom, her round face screwed up into a theatrical pout. “Ana, I need help with my math homework, and Xio and Isabel are fighting over—” She stops in her tracks and blinks uncomprehendingly at me, which looks super dramatic because she’s wearing a full face of makeup. I’ve literally never seen a twelve-year-old with her face this well beat. I was rocking an unfortunate raccoon eyeliner situation until, like, two years ago. “Who are you?” she says, arching an eyebrow at me.

“This is my friend Shay,” Ana says. “Shay, this is my incredibly rude sister Liliana.”

“¿Tu amiga? ¿En serio?” Liliana gasps comically, holding a perfectly manicured hand to her chest. “Not like a study partner? Or like you’re working on a project together?”

“Lili, I have friends,” Ana says dryly.

“Ha. Qué funny.”

Ana stares at her silently until Liliana holds up her hands in surrender. “I’m going, I’m going,” she says, heading out of the room. She sticks her head back in the door immediately. “Math homework?”

“Tomorrow,” Ana says firmly. Liliana nods, her loose bun bobbling at the crown of her head, and disappears. “Sorry, she has the drama of five people contained in one body,” Ana says.

Ana’s sisters keep appearing in the bathroom with various questions and problems for Ana to solve. Xiomara and Isabel burst in next, arguing furiously in an incomprehensible mix of Spanish and English about their Magic Marbles game. Or at least, I’m pretty sure it’s about their Magic Marbles game, because they mention that several times as they yell over each other. Ana watches them calmly, then silences them with a few short sentences in Spanish.

Liliana reappears several times—once with a frantic question about where her new nail kit is, once with a meandering complaint about something Mrs. Álvarez said, and once to brandish a YouTube video of a makeup artist at us. Even Caro appears eventually. She slips into the bathroom and mumbles something to Ana before leaving quietly.

Every time one of her sisters appears, Ana’s incredible calmness makes more sense by contrast. She’s the rock her sisters swirl around. No matter how much they yell and argue and shove things at her to look at, she waits them out with that even stare and then helps them.

“You’re really patient with your sisters,” I say after Caro leaves the bathroom.

Ana shrugs. “They’re little monsters, but I love them. Sorry they keep bothering us.”

“It’s fine,” I reassure her. She doesn’t look convinced, so I nudge her playfully on the arm with my elbow. I immediately feel horribly self-conscious but soldier on. “Seriously, it’s fine.”

“I wish we had a bigger house,” she says. “They get a little restless sometimes. You can’t get away from anyone here.”