Quince Clash (4 page)

“But, Mom.” Fabi had to jump in. “I don't want anything too big, okay? I know we have a lot of bills with Dad being sick.”

Alexis had started to bounce excitedly. “But that's what I was trying to tell you. We got it all figured out. Look.” She pointed to the small TV by the gumdrop machine.

Fabi, her mother, and Alexis moved closer to the TV. Grandma Trini and Milo were viewing the show with the utmost attention. They were watching a girl around Fabi's age in crutches, waltzing around the dance floor with an older man in a military uniform.

“See that girl?” Grandma Trini motioned to the screen. Her grandmother looked up with red teary eyes. “She was in a car bomb as a baby and lost her leg. She never knew her father and they just found him. He was in Iraq, a military man. The girl's quinceañera dream was to be reunited with her biological father for the father-daughter dance.” Trini grabbed one of the crocheted handkerchiefs she was selling and blew her nose. “Isn't that just beautiful?”

Fabi noticed Milo scribbling in his notebook. “What is going on here?” she asked, growing suspicious.

Grandma Trini slapped Fabi's hand playfully. “Taking notes,
mensa
.”

“See, Mom,” Alexis explained. “It's a new reality TV show called
Quince Dreams
. If we get selected, they'll pay for everything: the dress, the hall, the
recuerdos
, everything. It'll be perfect. All we need is to write a really good story.”

“I don't think anyone is going to want to come to the Rio Grande Valley,” Fabi stated flatly. “Plus, my life is super boring. No one is going to want to watch it.”

“Oh, come on,” Alexis insisted. “They have to come. Imagine Melodee's face when she finds out that your quinceañera will be on TV.”

Fabi smiled and admitted, “That would be nice. But how are you —”

“Leave that up to us!” Grandma Trini said, sweeping one arm into the air with flair.

Fabi's chest started to tighten. Things were spinning
way
out of control. She could feel herself standing at the mercy of the incoming family storm. Her eyes darted to her friend, her sister, her
abuelita
— anyone who might rescue her. But no one seemed to notice or dared to come between Fabi and her quinceañera.

S
antiago was now a regular student, doing homework and working at the restaurant after school. Fabi didn't understand the change, but she was too busy hiding from quince talk to find out. Melodee's cold stare seemed to be everywhere — by her locker, in the bathroom mirror, even in the hallway bulletin. A big photo of her as the student who sold the most chocolates at the school fund drive seemed to be on every surface.
Big deal
, Fabi thought. She'd probably bought them all herself.

Everyone at school was talking about the big showdown.

But there had been no word from the
Quince Dreams
show, and Fabi was somewhat relieved. For a second there, she actually believed that her family might be able to pull it off. Winning the bet with Melodee was the real quince dream. She didn't know how she would face her. Now, no matter how much she cried and begged, Fabi would have to go through with having a quinceañera. The word was out. Abuelita Alpha had invited Father Benavides to the restaurant to talk to Fabi over a plate of migas. There was no going back. Fabi was going to have a quinceañera, big or small, whether she liked it or not.

That Saturday, Fabi met up with her best friend, Georgia Rae, at the mall. It had been weeks since they'd hung out. When Georgia Rae first moved away to McAllen at the beginning of the school year, they'd promised to see each other every weekend. But now that Fabi's BFF was starring in a major school play, she spent all her free time rehearsing or hanging out with her new artsy friends. Fabi couldn't help but feel left behind. They didn't talk about it, but the distance between them was starting to get on both of their nerves.

Fabi admired a party dress on an anorexic-looking mannequin in a display window. She never really bought anything at the mall; she just liked to window-shop and people-watch. The mall was the second-best place to go to beat the heat — the movies was number one. Georgia Rae said nothing, glaring into the distance. Fabi could tell she was fuming on the inside.

“I can't believe you caved in just like that. You have to say no once in a while,” Georgia Rae said as they walked past a shoe store.

“I didn't get a chance. You know my family. They just took over like they always do. This quince is being shoved down my throat. I'm not even a part of it. My mom seriously told me just to show up.”

Georgia Rae stopped in front of a bookstore and stared inside, thinking. Finally, she turned back to Fabi and said, “I don't know. Your family always seems to get in the way, and you always just let them. I just don't get it. That was your money. You should be able to do whatever you want with it.”

“But it wasn't even like that,” Fabi tried to explain. “Melodee started it —” Georgia Rae huffed in annoyance and glanced away. Fabi could tell she was tired of hearing about Melodee Stanton, Dos Rios, and anything that had to do with that small town. Fabi followed her friend's eyes to a group of artsy teenagers. They were laughing loudly and eating fries together on a raised platform. Fabi worried, for the millionth time, if now that her best friend was at a new school, Georgia Rae would forget all about her. “I'm sorry,” Fabi said. “I know we planned to go to New York.”

“Yeah. We were supposed to see a big Broadway show.”

“And we still will,” Fabi said, trying to sound hopeful.

“When?” Georgia Rae asked.

Fabi shrugged. “I don't know. We'll figure it out, okay?” It was obvious that something was bugging her best friend, but she was not coming out with it. “Hey, you want some pizza?” Georgia Rae just shrugged.

Fabi headed to the pizza stand in the food court. Lots of teenagers worked at the mall. It was a highly prized job if you could get it. Her sister, Alexis, was dying to work at the mall. Fabi ordered two slices of vegetarian pizza.

The boy behind the counter smiled. “You like vegetarian? Hardly anyone orders that.”

Fabi looked sideways at Georgia Rae and gave him a quick smile. She shoved a bill at him.

The boy continued talking as if they were old friends. “I don't know why more people don't order it. It's real good. It's my favorite, actually. Oh, yeah,” he said, taking Fabi's money. “Okay, here's your change. I can bring it to you, if you like?”

Fabi nodded and quickly turned to find an empty table. She was sure that her face had to be bright pink. Georgia Rae poked her softly as they walked away.

“That boy was sooooooooo trying to talk to you.”

Fabi's heartbeat began to race. “No.” She shook her head. “He was just being nice. That's his job.”

Georgia Rae's face lit up. “Yeah, right! He offered to bring our food. C'mon, don't tell me that's regular customer service.”

Fabi's chest tightened. Was Georgia Rae right? Was he flirting? Fabi quickly glanced over her shoulder. The boy was handling the order of another customer. He was very cute, with short hair, a nice tan, and straight teeth. No. She shook her head. He was not flirting with her. Boys didn't flirt with her. Fabi had a bunch of guy friends. But they were just friends. Georgia Rae was trying to see things that weren't there.

A few minutes later, Georgia Rae grabbed her wrist and said, “Don't turn around,” in an excited whisper.

Fabi felt trapped. She wanted to get out of there. But the pizza guy was standing next to her. There was nowhere for her to go without knocking him down, and that would be really hard to explain.

“Hey,” he said, looking at Fabi. His big eyes pierced her like an arrow to her heart. She turned away, feeling her face getting red.

Thankfully, Georgia Rae jumped in. She reached for the plates. “Thank you so much. Would you like to join us?”

Fabi kicked Georgia Rae under the table. How could she be so bold? Georgia Rae winked at Fabi.

The guy didn't notice — he just smiled. He had a brilliant smile that lit up the entire food court and made Fabi's heart flutter. “I can't,” he said, sounding really sorry. It made Fabi feel dizzy. “I already had my break. Let me know what you guys think, though. I made it up myself. Like I said, we don't usually get orders for vegetarian stuff.”

“Well, thanks,” Georgia Rae said. She raised her eyebrows at Fabi, but Fabi still couldn't speak.

“Oh,” the guy added, smiling and looking embarrassed now, “my name's Daniel.” He reached out his hand, but jerked back and wiped it on his pant leg before offering it again to Fabi.

“Hi,” Fabi said, forgetting to say her name.

“You're Fabiola Garza, right?”

Fabi glanced at Georgia Rae, who seemed impressed. Georgia Rae kicked her under the table.

“Yup, that's me,” Fabi replied, not knowing what else to say. This had to be the weirdest conversation ever. Who was this cute stranger? And how come he knew her name? “Do I know you?”

“We've never actually met. I know your cousin Santiago. We used to play together, baseball.”

“Oh,” Fabi said, feeling Georgia Rae's smirk. “I'm sorry. It's been so long since Santiago played.”

“Yeah, I know. I went to his trial, but they didn't let me speak, there were so many people. I guess your cousin is pretty popular.”

Fabi nodded. She couldn't stop smiling. He was so cute, with gorgeous dimples and warm eyes that made you want to melt.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder. There were a couple of people waiting for him at the stand. “I got to go,” he said, licking his soft full lips as if trying to think of something else to say. “I'll see you around.”

“Yeah,” Fabi replied. As soon as he walked away, Fabi dropped her head onto the table. “Oh, my God. Did you just see that? Tell me I wasn't dreaming.”

Georgia Rae looked like she wanted to jump out of her chair and shout. “You definitely weren't dreaming, girl! I told you he was trying to talk to you. He is so cute.”

“Something has to be wrong with him,” Fabi said, biting into the pizza. “Things like that don't happen. They don't happen to me.”

“What? A cute boy can't talk to you? C'mon. You don't give yourself any credit. Why can't a boy like you?”

“Um, let's be honest. I've
never
been the girl boys ask out. I'm the friend. And I'm cool with that. Besides, I don't want to date anyone here anyway. It'll just make things more complicated when I move away for college.”

Georgia Rae tilted her head as if she hadn't heard Fabi correctly. “Now you're just talking stupid,” she said, reaching for Fabi's hand and shaking it a little. “Get real. A cute boy wants to talk to you. That's it. We're not talking marriage, just the possibility of something. Don't fight it or try to figure it out. Just
enjoy it
.”

Fabi took a deep breath. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Daniel was still there and hadn't turned into a troll or anything like that. He was lifting up a pie into the big pizza oven. Fabi noticed a drop of sweat rolling down the right side of his face. It made Fabi feel weak. What was happening to her? She turned back to her friend, who was staring excitedly back at her. “Take that smile off your face,” Fabi snapped, pretending to be upset.

“What smile?” Georgia Rae teased, chewing with her mouth open.

Fabi shot her an evil look.

Georgia Rae burst out laughing. “Fine. I get it. Let's eat.”

“Pizza!” a voice called out from behind them. A small hand appeared and snatched Fabi's slice off her plate. Milo smiled as he took a big bite of her lunch.

“Hey, go get your own!” Fabi said, snatching the slice out of his hand. Georgia Rae laughed. “Animal. That's what you are.”

“Why didn't you tell me you were coming to the mall?” Milo asked, pretending to be hurt as he chewed. “I would have caught a ride.”

“This is a girl's day,” Georgia Rae stated. “And you are not a girl.”

“Ah, c'mon. I can totally be a girl,” he said, tossing his long bangs back with dramatic flair. “I love girl-bashing, too. Look at that hoochie's clothes.” He motioned to a group of girls seated two tables down. “What was she thinking when she got dressed this morning?”

“Ha!” Georgia Rae laughed. “Yeah, but we're picking up guys, and we can't pick up guys with you standing right here.”

“Why not?” Milo asked innocently. “What you two don't understand is the male psychology.” Fabi and Georgia Rae gave him their full attention. “Men like a challenge. Boys see you with me and they think, ‘Wow, those girls are hanging out with him. They must be cool.'”

Fabi couldn't help but start to crack up. “You are a fool.”

“And we were actually doing fine before you got here,” Georgia Rae said. “Isn't that right, Fabi?”

Fabi blushed. She didn't know why. Milo was their friend. But they never talked about boys around him. It felt strange.

“Oh, yeah?” Milo turned to Fabi. “Who you picking up?”

Georgia Rae leaned over the table. “See that hottie selling pizza?”

“The one picking his nose?” Milo asked.

“What?” Fabi and Georgia Rae cried out, turning to see.

Milo started to laugh. “I'm kidding.” He looked at Daniel. “I guess his back is cute.”

“You're crazy,” Georgia Rae said. “He's gorgeous, and he's all into Fabi.”

“I guess.” He shrugged. “If you're into that tall, dark, and handsome look. I prefer guys who come in small packages with big personalities.”

Georgia Rae rolled her eyes.

“Anyway, I just stopped to pick up a cable at Radio Shack,” Milo said. “I didn't mean to bother your man hunt.”

“We are not hunting,” Fabi said. “We actually just came to the mall to get out of the heat.”

Milo winked. “Right.”

“Really.”

He stood, stretching up to appear taller, and glanced around. “Well, it's getting too hot and heavy for me here. See you around.”

Fabi watched Milo walk away. Why was he acting all weird? She turned to Georgia Rae with a frown. “What was that all about?”

Georgia Rae shrugged. “Who knows? Boys. Can't live with them. Can't kill them.”

Fabi laughed, returning to what was left of her pizza.