When I snap back to the present, it takes me a few seconds to remember where I am and how I got here. I’m sitting in the school cafeteria with Kimmie and Adam. I have a tray in front of me, and there’s an untouched cheeseburger waiting on it. Mondays are usually halal cart days, so one of them must’ve gotten word that they were serving cheeseburgers in the cafeteria today. This is one of the only decent things you can get at school, so we wouldn’t have come here if we hadn’t been completely certain there were gonna be cheeseburgers.

We must’ve met right after class, walked up here, and gotten our food, but when I try to remember doing all these things, it feels like I’m looking back on a distant dream. It’s easier to remember the images that were flashing before my eyes a second ago—images of my mom and dad sitting in dark cells, afraid and alone.

I realize that Kimmie and Adam are both staring at me with raised eyebrows, and I know I’m supposed to say something, but I have no idea what they were just talking about.

“Uh… sorry, what?” I say.

“Oh, so he is awake.”

“Welcome back to the real world.”

“Stop,” I say, and even though I try to make it sound like I’m joking, my tone comes out a little harsh. Even now, the images in my mind seem more real to me than what’s in front of my eyes.

“What were we talking about?” I ask.

“Adam’s callback. It’s on Thursday.”

“I just asked if you’re free after school,” Adam says. “You know, to run lines and stuff. I could really use your help.”

Was it really only two weeks ago that we went to that audition? Was it last Friday that Adam told us about the callback? Without warning, a nasty feeling rises in my throat. If what that blond guy hinted at was true—if I didn’t stand a chance at getting that part because I’m too ethnic, then what chance do I stand now that Ma and Pa have been taken away? If they get deported, who is gonna help me pay for college? How will I find an opportunity like the one Adam has now?