after Alicia, looking fabulous in a red sundress with a bubble skirt.
âHola, loca,â she said, giving Alicia a besito on the cheek.
She sat down at the table and took a sketch pad out of her World Food Program bag.
âIâm so excited about designing my first quince dress,â Carmen said. She took out an ad for DiaNoches, a fancy boutique in Coral Gables that specialized in quince dresses. The owner of DiaNoches also happened to be Simone Baldonadoâs mom. âHave you seen this?â Carmen asked.
âNope, but itâs good research, right?â Alicia said, flipping through the pages.
âHardly,â Carmen scoffed. âItâs one poufy dress after another. These girls donât look like quinces , they look like plastic wedding-cake toppers!â
Alicia laughed. âLook at this one! I feel like the hosts of that show What Not to Wear . These girls are serious fashion victims, in need of help that only we can provide.â
Jamie arrived and took a seat next to Carmen.
âSo, whatâs up?â Jamie said to Alicia. Then she added, âNice outfit.â
âThanks,â Alicia said, with a small smile. She knew what Jamie was doing. She was trying to make amends, but she was never actually going to apologize. That was typical Jamie.
When Gaz slid into the booth, Alicia let out a breath. He had a way of easing tensionâspoken or unspoken. A moment later, a waiter came. He took their drink orders, then asked if they were ready to order food.
âWe should probably wait for our client to arrive,â Alicia told him.
Jamie couldnât resist the opportunity to get in a dig. âClient?â she said. âOh, is that what you call a fourteen-year-old girl who wants a quince ?â
Alicia was steamed. âDuh. Thatâs what a quince business isâhelping fourteen-year-old girls plan parties of legendary proportions. And yes,â she added to her friends, âwe can call her a client, because we are doing this! With parents on board, Amigas Incorporated is now open for business.â
âYeah, and whatâs up with dissing the fourteen-year-olds?â Carmen asked.
Because she was so tall, so mature-looking, and such a fantastic seamstress, it was easy for them to forget that Carmen had skipped the second grade. And even though they had all just finished the tenth grade, she was only fourteen, a year younger than Alicia and Jamie. Gaz, on the other hand, was sixteen. His English hadnât been that great when his family came to the U.S., and his mother had decided to let him repeat a grade so he could catch up.
âOkay, try this on for size,â Gaz said to Jamie. â Cállate . Be really nice to Alicia or you quit the club. Weâre all still friends, we can all chill, but if you donât respect her vision, then you oughtta bounce. Sheâs working really hard to pull this all together.â
Jamie looked as if she were about to make a comment about Aliciaâs âvision,â but a stern glare from Gaz stopped her in her tracks.
âAre you in or out?â Gaz said.
âIâm in,â Jamie said. âYou guys know how I am. Iâm quick to speak my mind, but Iâm always down for my peeps.â
âApology accepted,â Alicia said with a wink. She didnât want to fight anymore and knew that the implied apology was all she was going to get.
Just then, Sarita arrived. She was dressed in a zebra-print halter top, black shorts, and black gladiator sandals.
âHey, yâall, sorry Iâm late,â she said, taking the seat next to Alicia. After introductions had been made, she went on: âMy mom is so psyched that weâre going to get some help in the quince planning. But she wants to know how much this is all going to cost. Weâve got a five-thousand-dollar budget, but we hadnât thought weâd be paying a party-planner, too. So I want to make sure
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