Like a parade, we all march inside again. Kenny is sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, where he’s almost done setting up the chess pieces. He’s not about to hug me like Lucas did, but he watches as I plop next to him. I move my bishop and he breaks into a grin. Mercedes and Francisco squeeze onto the couch with my mom. Lucas bombards Bob.

Pretty soon everyone—except Kenny—is talking at once. My mom tells Mercedes that she spoke with her mom. Mercedes shrugs as my mom tells her that Jennifer isn’t coming back early from Taiwan or wherever she is. My mom’s voice has a sharp edge in it. Later, much later, I overhear her telling Bob that she can’t imagine not rushing straight home if her daughter ran away.

“That’s okay,” Mercedes says.

“Oh, honey,” my mom says, and reaches an arm around Mercedes. She squeezes her in a sideways hug. “You’re welcome with us anytime, okay? You two are sisters.” My mom reaches down and squeezes my shoulder with the other arm. “Sisters. How lucky you are.”

Mercedes and I exchange glances. I brace myself for her to jerk away from my mom’s embrace. But Mercedes smiles at me and I smile back. The thread between us is taut and pulls at my heart.

“Half sisters,” we say. In unison.

CHAPTER 46 Mercedes

I have an idea,” Mattie says. We’re in my room, finishing our myth diorama. Working on our project is the only fun thing we’re allowed to do—if you can call working on homework fun.

After the love fest at Mattie’s house, reality set in. Even though Mom wasn’t coming home early, she told me that I had to face the consequences of my actions. Our moms decided that we should write apology letters to our teachers and to Northern Madrone College. Even to Darryl the security guard. We were grounded. (Mattie’s mom decided to ground her, too, although she had never had that kind of punishment before.) Mom said I couldn’t get a new phone until I learned my lesson. (I know that will last about four days when she realizes she can’t call me to ask about Tristan.) No outings, no mall, no friends, and absolutely no sleepovers for two weeks. (That probably didn’t make much of a difference in Mattie’s life.) I guess we should be glad we weren’t banished to the sky like that Greek goddess.

“But our myth project is due on Tuesday!” Mattie complained to her mom. “We have to work on it.”

And so there’s an exception to the punishment: Mattie and Mercedes can still get together to work on their homework. “Under supervision,” Mattie’s mom said sternly. But I could see a smile in her eyes.