Pugs and Kisses by J.J. Howard

Author:J.J. Howard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2017-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

* * *

“So your sister told you what you need to do?” Mom asked me at dinner that night. Cousin Javier was there, shoveling in Mom’s pasteles like he’d never eaten food before. I rolled my eyes when I saw he was still wearing his stupid karate gi. Why couldn’t he change into jeans like a normal person?

I nodded. “I think I have a lead on where to find one. Hopefully they’ll have a pink one to match the theme.”

Mom lowered the forkful of food she’d been about to eat. “A what? A pink boy? Is that some new slang or something?”

“I was talking about—wait, what are you talking about?” I looked over at Tali and she looked mighty guilty.

“I was going to tell you that part in person,” my sister said, sinking down a little in her chair.

“You got stood up,” Javier said around a mouthful of pasteles.

“Wait, what?” I cried. “You mean Tomas’s friend isn’t coming?”

Tali was starting to look even guiltier.

“That’s what stood up means, genius,” Javier put in.

“Nice robe, Javier,” I snapped.

I groaned and closed my eyes to compose myself. The day after Tali’s party I intended to tell my parents that I didn’t want a party at all when I turned fifteen. I’d do the part at church, if they wanted, but no pink dress, no piñatas, and definitely no making my sister and cousins find escorts. How embarrassing.

I glared at Javier. “I did not get stood up. That guy has never even met me. But now I guess I need …”

“Now you have to find your own pink guy,” Javier said with a smirk, and I threw a slice of tomato at him.

“Ana! Honestly, since when do you throw food at the table? It’s like this family has all gone crazy,” Mom exclaimed.

“Yeah, how rude,” Javier added with a snicker.

Papi raised his eyes from his plate to give him a look. “Ana, please don’t worry about finding an escort. It will all be fine,” Papi said in his calm voice. Our father was always the reasonable one in the family.

I sighed. “I still can’t wait until this party’s over.” I’d just been venting my frustration about the escort situation, but when I met my sister’s wounded eyes, I felt like a jerk.

I tried to tell her I was sorry, but for the rest of the meal she didn’t raise her head from her plate, and a few minutes later she asked to be excused. I took one more bite and did the same.

Once back in our shared room, my apology burst out of me. “Oh, Tali—I’m so sorry—I didn’t mean to say that! It’s just, there’s so much going on, and you know how much Javier annoys me.”

Tali sat down at her tiny desk. She didn’t look up at me right away. “It’s okay, Ana. I know my party’s thrown the whole family into uproar.”

“No, it’s not so bad. I should never have said …”

Finally, my sister looked up at me. She gave me a weak smile.

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