I see a shadow out of the corner of my eye, and my heart skips a beat when I realize it’s Pedro. When we make eye contact, he turns around, headed back to the party.

I go after him. “Pedro, wait!”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you guys,” he says quickly, not making eye contact.

“You aren’t.”

Pedro stops. He looks from Victor to me. “You’re leaving?” There’s an edge on his voice.

“Yeah. Before I turn into a pumpkin.” I mentally kick myself for the corny joke. I blame Victor for calling me Cinderella.

“I just wanted to say sorry about what happened earlier. I’d already told them to stop with the jokes. I’ll talk with them again.” He stares at me like there’s something else he wants to say, but he just stands awkwardly, like Victor’s presence is putting him off.

The smoke-filled breeze blows in suddenly cold, bringing down a thin drizzle that stirs his hair and makes me shiver. Pedro must notice, because he takes his jacket off, offering it to me.

And the gesture is so unexpected, I just stare at it, unable to react.

“Aren’t you...cold?” he asks. I still don’t know what to say, so he puts the jacket back on, looking a little disconcerted himself. “Alright. Get home safe.”

“Wait. I forgot to give you these!” I pull his sunglasses out of my purse. “I fixed them. Sorry it took me so long.”

Fireworks go off from the party when Pedro turns to look at me again, the sky streaking with bright stars. He takes a step closer, looking stunned, and our hands brush when he takes them, sending goose bumps down my arm. “You fixed them?” he says, like he can’t believe his eyes. When he looks at me, there’s a longing in his expression that makes the whole world stop. “Thank you.”

Now I’m the one who’s stunned.

“I—I’m—”

“Lari, your cab is here,” Victor says behind me.

I catch the way Pedro’s eyes flicker to him, almost resentfully, before he looks back at me. We stare at each other for a long second. And I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t understand the sudden shift in the world. In the way I feel about him. All I know is that I wish... I wish things had been different.

I wish the feud had never existed.

And I really, really wish one day I’ll be able to tell him all this.

“I gotta go,” I summon the words, my voice sounding distant even to me.

“See you at the club on Monday?” he says.

“See you at the club.”

28

MONDAY, MAY 23

As I’m heading down the stairs Monday morning, running late for school, I hear a loud popping sound like a firecracker. Mom screams.