Spain or Shine (5 page)

“Some of the toilets in the first-floor bathroom overflowed last night, and a bunch of the rooms got flooded,” Jenna piped up, sliding her hand through her glossy hair.

“Gross,” Elena said.

“I know. So, when I heard that a family was nice enough to offer to put me up for a couple of nights while they clean up my rank dorm room, I was like, ‘Yes, please.'”

Señora Cruz motioned for the girls to take a seat. Jenna flopped back on the couch while Elena chose an empty leather chair across the room. Elena was intrigued and a little bit awed by how breezily this girl responded to such a big change in plans upon arriving in Spain. It was inspiring.

Alita came in from the kitchen with a bottle of wine. She set it down in front of her mom, who poured small glasses for the girls and regular ones for herself and Señor Cruz.

“This is famous wine of Basque country,” Señor Cruz said, propping the bottle on his forearm like a waiter in a fancy restaurant so the girls could inspect the label.

“Uh, how do you pronounce that?” Jenna asked skeptically, eyeing Elena. Elena was glad Jenna asked; she was wondering the same thing.

“Txakoli,”
Señor Cruz said easily.

“Cha-co-ly,”
they repeated.

“Bueno,”
Señora Cruz proclaimed, clapping her hands. “Your first Basque word.”

“Salud,”
Señor Cruz said, raising his glass up.
“Salud,”
Jenna repeated, clinking her glass up against Elena's. She gave Elena a wink and a look that seemed to say, Can you
believe they're just giving us wine like it's no big deal?

Elena had heard that Spanish people grew up drinking wine, so she was pretty sure it wasn't out of the ordinary for girls her age to be drinking. She couldn't shake the feeling, however, that she was doing something slightly scandalous. The only time her parents had allowed her to drink was at her cousin's wedding. And here was Señora Cruz pouring a glass for Alita, who was only ten.

Alita stood at the edge of the couch looking like a puppy forced to choose between two bones. Her eyes bounced back and forth between Elena and Jenna, clearly trying to decide which American girl was more interesting. Eventually she seemed to settle on Jenna, planting herself on a cushion next to her on the couch. Elena knew it was petty, but she felt a pinprick of jealousy.

“Jenna and Elena, how were your flights across the Atlantic?” Señora Cruz asked.

“Pretty uneventful,” Elena answered, and took a dainty sip of wine. She decided to reserve her story about nearly getting lost in the Madrid airport. She didn't like to reveal that side of herself before she had to.

“Mine, too,” Jenna said, leaning back into the couch. “But I almost missed my first plane out of Phoenix.”

“Really?” Elena leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.

“Yeah. It's embarrassing,” Jenna began, though she looked more amused than embarrassed. “I totally overslept. My mom burst through my door at twenty to seven and starts yelling, ‘Get up, Jenna. Get up. We're late.' I didn't even have time to shower. We just hopped in the car. I've never seen my mom drive that fast. She's usually, like, a model citizen on the road.”

“It seems you made it here in the end,” Señora Cruz noted cheerfully.

“Yep,” Jenna took a deep breath and then let out a relieved sigh. “I just barely made the cutoff time for foreign flights.”

“Then you get to Spain and your room is flooded,” Elena noted, amazed that this girl was holding it together so well. “What an ordeal.”

“Tell me about it.” Jenna smiled.

“Do you have brothers and sisters?” Alita asked, beaming up at Jenna.

“Well, I have a stepbrother named Danny, but he doesn't live with me, so basically I'm an only child, like you.”

As Alita appeared to bask in the idea of being like Jenna in any way, and continued asking questions, Elena shifted in her seat, trying to mask the gurgling sounds coming from her stomach. She was used to eating by six o'clock at home, but none of the Cruzes seemed to notice how late it was getting. Elena was starting to feel a little light-headed from the wine and her nearly empty stomach.

They finally sat down for dinner at nine thirty. Elena wasn't sure if this was due to Jenna's unexpected arrival, or if this was the norm, but none of the Cruzes acted as if it was out of the ordinary.

“This is a special meal, girls,” Señora Cruz began to explain as she lifted the lid off of a skillet. “It is Señor Cruz's favorite.”

Señor Cruz beamed. “
Gracias
,
mi amor,”
he said, as he leaned in to plant a kiss on his wife's pink cheek.

“I believe in America you would call this an omelet,” Señora Cruz explained to Elena and Jenna as she spooned out a portion of the omelet thing onto each of their plates. “It is made with
bacalao,
codfish.”

Elena mustered a wary thank-you as she eyed the fish omelet. She'd never eaten an omelet for dinner, much less one with fish in it.

“Please tell us more about the program you are starting tomorrow.” Señor Cruz sectioned off a large bite of fishy omelet. “Señora Cruz and I are aware that your school is located on the high school campus. Will you be taking classes with Spanish students?”

“The classes are all taught in English, except the conversational Spanish class. That one is obviously a mix of Spanish and English,” Elena answered.

“So, are all the students Americans?” Alita asked excitedly.

“No. I'm pretty sure all the girls who applied through S.A.S.S., like me and Jenna, are American. Most of the other kids in the program are from the U.S., too, but there are also some from England, Ireland, and, I think, even Australia.”

“They're all from English-speaking countries,” Jenna piped in, sliding her fork into her untouched omelet and pulling it out again, leaving four perfect little holes. Elena wondered if she was also unsure about fish in an omelet.

Elena dared to take a bite of her omelet and found it to be surprisingly tasty. It was encouraging. Perhaps trying new things wouldn't be as difficult as she'd thought it would be.

“We should speak in Spanish tonight then,” Señor Cruz said. “Elena and Jenna will learn more that way.”

The two American girls exchanged glances, and then Jenna shrugged and said, “Why not?” Elena tried to cover her apprehension with her cheeriest smile.

Señor Cruz proceeded in Spanish, asking Alita what her day would be like tomorrow.

“Mañana tendré un examen de matematicos,”
she answered, making a sour face. Elena didn't blame her, she hated math tests, too. Then Alita explained that after the test her class would be going to the aquarium. Elena was proud that she understood at least most of what was being said.

Elena noticed that Señor and Señora Cruz spent a lot of time focusing on Alita, giving her space to tell them about her plans the following day. Elena couldn't remember when she'd ever been handed that much uninterrupted airtime at home.

Jenna joined in the Spanish conversation, stumbling through several questions and answers. Elena wasn't as bold. If she was ever unsure about something, she felt it was best just to stay quiet. Her greatest fear was piping up and having everyone laugh at her. When Señor and Señora Cruz pitched her the occasional question, she answered with nods, shrugs, and the occasional
“sí”
or “
no
.”

“Elena, you don't seem to be participating in the Spanish conversation,” Señora Cruz observed gently. “Is something wrong?”

Elena thought about it and then answered quietly,
“Estoy embarazada.”

The Cruzes stared at her for a moment and appeared to be doing their best to choke back giggles.

Señora Cruz patted her hand and said in English. “I believe you meant to say you are embarrassed.” This is exactly what Elena thought she had said, very clearly. “In
español, embarazada
means ‘pregnant.' You just told us that you aren't speaking Spanish because you're pregnant.”

Elena was the first to laugh out loud. Then Jenna and the Cruzes followed with their own nervous laughter. Although Elena was glad her second flub of the day had happened among nice people, it cemented the idea she'd had earlier that she would rather just listen to people speaking Spanish.

They lingered at dinner, eating slowly while the Cruzes drank more wine. Alita continued to drill Jenna and Elena with questions as night descended over the city and the moon perched outside the living room window, round and white as a china plate. Elena didn't know how long they sat at the dinner table, but it felt like hours. She couldn't remember the last time all six of her own family members sat down together for a meal, much less one that lasted longer than thirty minutes.

After Jenna and Elena helped clear the dinner plates from the table, Señora Cruz gave Jenna blankets and pillows to spread out on the couch.

“That was nice of the Cruzes to put you up,” Elena said.

“Oh yeah, I'm totally grateful. They're a nice family.” She lowered her voice to a rough whisper. “That little girl, Alita, is a trip. I've never seen someone with so much energy.”

“I know. She's a little hyper, but she seems sweet.”

“And she certainly isn't shy, which is sort of refreshing. I have two cousins about her age—Bridget's eight and Chloe's ten. I love them, but it takes days just to get them to tell you their favorite color.”

Elena smiled and nodded. That's how she remembered herself as a kid.

“What are you taking for your core class?” Elena asked. Each student at the International School was expected to take conversational Spanish, Basque culture, and then choose an elective as their core studies. The students were able to choose from architecture, sculpture, horticulture, or play production.

“Architecture. You?”

“Play production.”

“Cool. I thought about that one. It's supposed to be an awesome program. But I'm good at math and I like to draw, so architecture was sort of an obvious choice.”

“Makes sense.” Elena was a little disappointed that she wouldn't already know someone in her longest class.

“So, what time do you want to head to campus tomorrow?” Jenna asked, switching topics without pause. Elena liked that Jenna just assumed they would walk together. It made her feel as if they were already old friends.

“About eight thirty, I guess. Class doesn't start 'til nine.”

“All right.” Jenna scooted down under the covers. “I was thinking about going to the beach after class tomorrow. I mean, that's what we're here for, right?”

“Definitely.”

“So, I'm thinking we should just wear our bathing suits under our clothes.”

“Sounds good to me,” Elena said, as she started down the hallway toward the bedroom that she would have all to herself for three months. “Good night.”

“Hey, Elena,” Jenna called in a singsong voice. “Don't let the Spanish bedbugs bite.” She poked her head up over the back of the couch and smiled a crooked, mischievous smile. Elena smiled back and realized how much she wanted to be able to count Jenna among the friends she was planning to make during her time in Spain. She seemed like the kind of girl anyone would want to have in their corner.

Elena woke to the smell of strong coffee. Once she'd showered and gotten dressed for school, she padded to the kitchen where Señora Cruz offered her a small steaming cup.

“Here, you must try Spanish coffee. You will love it.” Elena wasn't usually much of a coffee drinker, but she didn't want to offend Señora Cruz, so she stirred a generous amount of sugar and milk in the cup and took a sip. It was strong, but rich and delicious. Elena could get used to coffee that tasted like this. Jenna joined her at the kitchen table and rubbed at puffy eyes. She ate a sweet roll and sipped her own coffee in silence. Elena guessed she was like Gwen in that it took her a while to wake up. Elena had learned early on just to give Gwen her space for the first hour of the morning. She decided to do the same thing with Jenna.

After breakfast the two girls packed up their backpacks and headed toward campus in the center of town.

“Why don't we take the promenade,” Elena suggested. “It's only a couple of minutes out of our way. We have time.”

“Sure.”

Elena got a thrill just looking at the beach. She had always wondered what it would be like to live within walking distance of the shore. She pictured herself walking past the beach every morning watching the early sunlight bounce off the water. In her daydream there was a boy by her side, holding her hand and smiling.