“A commercial is not small, Mother,” Frida objected. “And please do not say that inside the casting office or I will have to pretend I don’t know you.”

“You do that anyway,” her mom countered. “So that’s not much of a threat.”

Frida turned to me in the backseat and rolled her eyes.

“Are you nervous?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Not today,” Frida said. She looked back at her mom. “I know I am getting the part. Do you know why?”

“Because you will be the most talented and qualified actor for the part?” her mom replied.

“Yes, but also no,” Frida said. “Because besides my obvious talent, Devin is with me, and she is my good luck charm!”

I still wasn’t so sure about that, but I didn’t want Frida to lose confidence before the audition, so I kept quiet.

“And also, the Flash Fortune app told me,” Frida went on. “ ‘A great success awaits you.’ That’s what it said. Right, Devin?”

I nodded. “Right.” Then I thought of my own fortune, the one I knew was wrong, and I kept quiet again.

“Frida, don’t put too much faith in good luck charms,” Mrs. Rivera told her. “Even when they’re as nice as Devin, you have to have faith in yourself.”

“I do, Mom,” Frida said. “You know I do. But I am not going to ignore the signs all around me when the universe is shoving them in my face.”

Mrs. Rivera sighed. “Shouldn’t you be studying your pages?”

“I’ve got them memorized,” Frida replied. “It’s only two lines. But they’re, like, the most important lines in the commercial.” Then she frowned. “Although, maybe I should run through my expressions. I’m supposed to look confused, surprised, and excited. I’m pretty sure I’ve got confused and surprised down, but I think I need to work on excited.”

She demonstrated by making this really wide, openmouthed smile and raising her eyebrows so high, they disappeared under her bangs. She definitely looked excited, but kind of in the way a cartoon character would.

“Not bad,” I said. “But maybe not so . . . extra?”

Frida nodded. “I knew it! I’ll practice in the mirror. You don’t mind, do you, Devin?”

I shook my head. “No, go ahead.”

Frida pulled down the visor and started making faces in the tiny mirror. I scrolled through my phone. Charlotte was posting ideas for her party on Pinterest. It looked like she was doing a World Cup theme, with each table named after a different country, and cupcakes decorated like soccer balls.

Wow, she’s still really serious about soccer, I realized. Then I had a pang of regret. Now it was going to be tougher than ever to miss that party!

As I scrolled through the pictures, Frida’s mom pulled into the parking lot of a one-story stucco building with a line of palm trees out front.