I have to look away from Adam’s brown eyes, because he’s staring at me hopefully, with a half smile on his face. A part of me wants to say yes. Deep down, I want nothing more than to go to Adam’s after school, and run lines with him, and mess around like we always do, but I can’t. Sophie will be waiting for me at Maria’s. I have to pick her up, and then I have to be at the bodega for the rest of the afternoon. I can’t afford to be the same old Matt—the one who could run off after school to hang out with his friends, who could spend his time dreaming about making it on Broadway.

“I can’t today,” I say, and a heavy silence falls around our table. “I—I mean, I have to work at the bodega.”

“Can’t you tell your dad that you need the afternoon off?” Kimmie asks, and suddenly, there’s a spark in her eyes that intimidates me as much as the hope in Adam’s. “We all know I’d be no help running lines with Adam. And we could do something fun after you guys are done rehearsing—maybe go to the movies, or something.”

Adam nods. “I really need you.”

My hands start feeling sweaty. In the back of my mind, I realize I could do it right now—I could tell them the truth about my parents. I may not have been brave enough to do it last Friday, but this is the perfect opportunity. If I told them, Adam wouldn’t pressure me into rehearsing with him after school. They would understand why I’ve been acting weird, why I’ve barely spoken since we sat down to eat.

I open my mouth, but no words come out. Why can’t I do it? Why can’t I tell my best friends—the two people I trust most in the world—that my parents have been taken away? With a sinking feeling, I realize what it is. There’s shame deep inside of me—shame because my parents have been taken away like criminals, because they might get kicked out of the country, because my family and I are not as American as we’ve always liked to think.

Kimmie and Adam frown at me, still waiting for my response. I know this shame is pointless when it comes to them, because they wouldn’t judge me. They’d be there for me. I can just picture them jumping into action, asking me what they can do to help, and maybe even finding a way to make everything better… but they’d also start seeing me differently. Things would change between the three of us, and I can’t have that—not now.