“I don’t know. Brain won’t shut up.”
I nod, way too tired to process anything.
“You need help?” he asks.
“Sure.”
He starts weaving a bracelet of his own. We sit there weaving in silence for a while. I’m about to fall asleep working when he talks again.
“I didn’t mean what I said before. . . .”
“What?”
“I wasn’t mad at you for covering for me. I was mad ’cause I didn’t deserve it. You deserve better.”
I look up and catch his eyes for the first time tonight. They’re red and puffy, like he might have been crying.
“？Qué te pasa? You okay?”
“I’m tired.” He yawns. “Night, Yami.” He leaves his half-finished thread on the couch and goes back to his room. Instead of following him with more questions, I get back to work.
After I finish my trial period as Emma’s assistant and officially get the job, I feel like my life is a broken record. If anything interesting is happening, I don’t notice because I’m stuck on repeat. School. Homework. Work. Sleep. School. Homework. Work. Sleep. School. Work. Work. Work. School. Work. Work. Work. Work. Work . . .
Before I know it, it’s been over a month, and I actually have a decent amount of money saved up. I spend less money now that I have it than I did when I was broke. I want to keep growing my cushion for when I’m on my own. Then I’ll get a full-time job when I’m done with school. My conversation with Cesar told me one thing: even my dad thinks Mami will kick me out if she finds out. That knocks me into high gear.
The worst part about working so much is having to miss out on group hangouts and having to blow off Cesar when he wants to hang out or get Takis, which is almost every day. Lunch at school is the only time I get any social interaction anymore.
“Isn’t your birthday this weekend? What are you gonna do?” Amber asks.
“I need the money, so I’ll be working.” I almost didn’t realize it was coming up.
“But we have to celebrate!” Amber grabs my shoulders and shakes them. David and Bo chime in with a chorus of yeahs.
“Sorry! I have two jobs, and pretty much all my free time goes to homework.” My birthday is on a Saturday this year, but I can’t even celebrate it late during the week because I’m so behind on schoolwork.
They all frown. We share a moment of silence to mourn my social life.
“I have an idea,” Amber says.
“I’m listening,” I say.
“We can do something during the day.”
“You mean like ditching?” David’s eyes get wide.
“Yeah, I mean it’s just one day. We’ll do it on Monday! We can’t let her not celebrate her birthday.” Amber frowns at him.
“I think it’s perfect! What do you think, Yami?” Bo smiles at me.
“Do you think Jamie would mind?” I ask, since Monday is Valentine’s Day. “Maybe you can bring her?” Why would I say that? I don’t want to celebrate my birthday with Bo’s girlfriend.
“Who’s Jamie?” Amber asks.
“My girlfriend.” Bo widens her eyes at Amber. Why would Amber not know about Jamie? “Um, no. She wouldn’t want to ditch class.”
“Ohhhhhhh, right. Jamie. Silly me!” Amber says, laughing nervously. David tilts his head, all confused.
I just stare at them for a second. I can’t believe it took me until now to figure it out.