A Formal Affair (4 page)

“Well, we've just come from having an awesome Japanese tea service with our
mamacitas
,” Carolina began, “and we've decided—”

“Well, it was my idea,” Patricia said, interrupting her.

“
We
decided that we are going to have a
doble quince
,” Carolina beamed, “because our birthdays are just a week apart.”

“And, of course, we couldn't plan a
quince
without Amigas Inc.,” Patricia pointed out. “You guys are the only ones who can give us a
quince
that will make both of us feel equally special, because even though we are supertight and our family expects us to do the same thing, you may have noticed that my
prima hermana
and I have totally different styles.”

Carmen laughed. “I did sort of know that. And, well, thanks. I have to check with my business partners, but we don't have any
quinces
on our calendar right now, so this should be good timing.”

She paused, confused by something. “So, wait…Did you guys skip a grade or something? You're both really young to be juniors.”

“We went to an elementary school that had a combined fourth and fifth grade class,” explained Carolina.

“It was for so-called gifted and talented students,” Patricia piped up playfully. “And because Carolina and I were so close, they let me sneak in.”

“Got it. Another quick question. When are your birthdays?” asked Carmen.

“December ninth,” Carolina answered.

“December seventeenth,” Patricia replied.

“So, we were thinking about having the party on Saturday, December twelfth,” Carolina explained.

“Right in between,” Patricia added.

Carmen sighed softly. December twelfth was exactly one week after the winter formal. She could feel her stomach turning into knots. On the one hand, this was a great opportunity. What could be cooler than planning a
doble quince
? And the Reinoso girls seemed really, really chill, so she couldn't imagine too much
quince
drama. But on the other hand, between her course work, the winter formal planning, and now the rush of putting together a really big
quinceañera
, she was going to have to go without sleep until the holidays. She was exhausted just
thinking
about it.

Carmen didn't need to turn on the Weather Channel. Her own personal hurricane season had just begun.

IT WAS DECIDED
pretty quickly, given the timeline, that the cousins had to meet up with the rest of the group ASAP. An emergency meeting was called, which included the cousins' parents, and after agreeing upon a budget, they signed Amigas Inc. on as their official party-planners. For Alicia and Jamie, there was no doubt: planning the Reinoso girls' double
quince
was going to be the perfect way to end what had been an amazing year.

Although the partners in Amigas Inc. spent many weekends working on their business, being party-planners never made them feel as though they were missing out on anything. On the contrary, they often felt that they got to experience all the best parts of the fiesta, from the quiet moments when everyone arrived to the last great song the DJ played before everyone left. And the icing on the cake was that they had both a great party to plan
and
the winter formal to look forward to. Somehow, the combination of Ms. Ingber's asking Carmen to join the SoBees in planning the formal and the Reinoso sisters' contracting them to plan their
quince
made them feel a sudden rush of school pride and appreciate the pure
fun
of being juniors. They were now old enough to be confident, but at the same time, they weren't yet stressed-out seniors, obsessing about their SATs and college applications. It was the perfect time to just enjoy being in high school and not have to worry about the future.

The following afternoon, Carmen gathered the partners together for a meeting to discuss the cousins' proposal. They sat around the Cruz family pool, mulling over the possibilities. October was the tail end of the summer beach season, and the girls relished splashing around together in their swimsuits and wishing their piles of homework would magically disappear.

Alicia lay back on the sleek white pool raft and smiled. “You do know what a December
quince
means, don't you?”

Jamie nodded knowingly. “You don't have to tell me,
chica
. Extra loot for the holidays.”

“I'm still not sure the payoff—no matter how big—is worth it,” Carmen added. “Between winter formal, my AP classes, and this double
quince
, I'm liable to lose my mind.”

“
No te preocupes
,” Alicia reassured her. “Everything will be just fine. The key to keeping lots of balls in the air is to multitask. And I happen to be an excellent multitasker.”

“True that,” giggled Jamie. “Remember last year when I was feeling so overwhelmed just keeping up with my classes and working on Jacinda Mendez's
quince
at the same time? You were taking the lead on the party-planning, organizing a sixth grade
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
school barbecue for the middle schoolers, and heading C. G. High's relief efforts for children orphaned by the earthquake in Haiti. You're so organized it gives me a headache.”

Alicia laughed. “What can I say? My mom says I was born that way, that I used to organize all the activities for my toddlers' playgroup. But let's get back to it. We've got lots to do. Carm, I think you should be the contracts-and-catering point person for the Reinoso
quince
. You'll be negotiating with all the same vendors and ordering similar supplies for the formal, anyway. Plus, since you'll be bringing them twice the business, you'll probably be able to get us some sweet deals. And you know I love a
quince
that comes in under budget.”

Jamie waded into the pool. “I was thinking. With two girls we have two chances of some
quince
-zilla action. Might make sense for each girl to have her own point person.”

Carmen still thought the girls would probably be low-maintenance, but Alicia agreed with Jamie. She suggested that Jamie be Carolina's contact and that Carmen work with Patricia.

“And what exactly will you be doing, Señorita Cruz Control?” Carmen asked, playfully tossing a beach ball at Alicia's head.

Alicia caught the ball and threw it toward the far end of the pool, where it missed Jamie by a hair. “I will be handling the parents,” Alicia said. “With two families involved, there'll be twice as many feathers to smooth. Besides, grown-ups love me.”

Jamie had climbed out of the pool and, without Alicia's noticing, grabbed a cup of ice from the wrought-iron bistro table. In one swift motion she tipped the ice down Alicia's back. The other girl squealed and began jumping up and down. “Thought you were getting a little hotheaded and needed to cool off,” Jamie said with a laugh.

“Not fair!” Alicia shivered. “It isn't my fault if I just
ooze
responsibility.”

Not to be left out, Carmen pelted Alicia with inflatable toys from the pool. “You are such a suck-up and a Goody Two-shoes!”

It was war.

Standing up, Alicia ran for the garden hose and doused both of her friends with garden water. They shrieked and began giggling uncontrollably.

“That water is
so-o-o-o co-o-old
,” Jamie laughed.

Carmen's hand-dyed cover-up was soaked through, but the smile on her face made it clear that she didn't mind at all. “This must be the oh-so-professional behavior that puts you on parent duty,” she said, teasingly.

Alicia smiled wickedly, then turned the hose on her friends once more. Carmen and Jamie both rushed toward her, and as a sign of their collective maturity, they tossed her in the pool.

Carmen arrived at school early the next day hoping to have some quiet time alone in the art studio to start work on the invites for winter formal. She figured that at that hour, no one would be there to bother her and she could get enough done that she'd have time for her other work later. So, she was surprised to walk in and find Patricia and Carolina Reinoso already there, and even more surprised to find them arguing near their lockers. It was a known fact that the Reinoso cousins never argued.

Each girl held a poster featuring a flattering image of herself. One read:

L
ET
M
E
B
E THE
Q
UEEN OF
C. G. H
IGH'S
H
EART

V
OTE
F
OR
P
ATRICIA
R
EINOSO ON
D
ECEMBER
5
TH

And the other said:

It would have done more harm than good to get in the middle of the argument, Carmen figured, so she slipped away and went to the art studio. For an hour, she managed to forget everything as she worked on the invites. But then the first bell rang. Sighing, she stood up, stretched, and headed out to start the day—again.

Unfortunately, while she had been sort of Zenning out, it appeared that the cousins had continued their screaming match. Dozens of students were moving past them as if in slow motion, trying to eavesdrop on the exchange.

Jamie passed the fracas and walked up to Carmen. “What's going on?” she asked, nodding in the cousins' direction.

“You got me,” Carmen replied. While it was clear the two girls were fighting, it was hard to know exactly what was going on, since the growing crowd surrounding them made it difficult to hear what they were actually saying.

Jamie shook her head. “The drama can't be beginning already. We haven't even started selecting the dresses for their party. Heck, we haven't even started to come up with a theme. Should you or I be the one to tell them that they need to pace themselves? If they are already arguing now, their party will be a bust.”

Carmen watched as the two girls continued to yell at each other. It was like observing someone screaming at herself in a slightly distorted mirror. Patricia and Carolina were known to be two of the prettiest girls in school. But at the moment, neither of them looked very attractive, with their fists clenched at their sides and their mouths wide open. What could have gotten them that upset? Carmen wondered.

Jamie grabbed Carmen's arm. “Let's move closer.”

Carmen pulled back. “I think we're good here. They are our clients and we shouldn't get involved.”

Jamie shook her head. “It's precisely because they
are
our clients that we need to tell them that they've got to stop. No one's going to come to the
quince
of the year if they think the guests of honor will be brawling on their big day.”

Carmen looked incredulously at Jamie. “You think? People love drama. Look around.”

There must have been more than three dozen kids gathered around Carolina and Patricia as they argued. Carmen wished she could just make everyone stop staring and go to class. But they seemed to be hanging around for the same reason she was. Having been made late for first-period class, they figured they might as well cut the class entirely.

Jamie persisted. “We've got to do something.” Grabbing Carmen by the arm, she began to make her way through the crowd. It was, “Excuse me…pardon me…excuse me…” for a full five minutes until they were face to face with their newest clients.

Ever the brave one, Jamie walked right up to the arguing girls. “Hey,
chicas
, what's the deal?”

The two girls stopped shouting and turned, as though offended at being interrupted. But when they saw Jamie, and then the crowd that had gathered, they lowered their eyes, obviously embarrassed.

Carolina took a deep breath. “I have wanted to be winter formal queen since I was five years old. Nobody knows that more than Patricia.”

“And?” Jamie said.

“
And
—now she's running,
too
,” Carolina said, her dark eyes looking as though they were about to unleash a torrent of tears at any moment. “Today was the absolute last day to get on the ballot, and she sucker-punches me by announcing that she's running for queen and putting herself out there as
my
competition—”

“Do I get to say something?” Patricia interrupted. At that moment, while Carolina looked like she might cry, Patricia looked as though she were ready to get in a serious knock-down-and-drag-out fight.

“
No!
Let me finish,” Carolina screeched. But suddenly, as if aware of how crazy she sounded, she softened. “We are supposed to be
primas hermanas
. A true sister wouldn't try to steal my thunder.”

“Yeah? Well, a true
hermana
wouldn't be so arrogant as to think that just because she's preppy and popular means that everything should go to her,” Patricia snapped.

They both turned and looked to Jamie, as if she might provide them with an answer. Jamie thought Patricia was right and that Carolina was being an entitled brat. But she knew that that wasn't the political or fair thing to say. So she suggested that they just step outside and get some fresh air.

“Carolina, why don't you go with Carmen to the snack bar on the quad?” Jamie suggested. “And Patricia, you come with me to Starbucks.”

“Fine,” Carolina huffed, as she walked away with Carmen.

“An excellent idea,” Patricia said as she and Jamie headed for the south exit of the school.

It was Carmen's third year at Coral Gables High School, but, as hard to believe as it was, she'd never eaten at the snack bar on the quad. It was sort of known as the cool kids area, and she'd never needed a snack badly enough that she'd have risked feeling uncomfortable. Now, as she walked toward it with Carolina, she felt just a little bit nervous. As usual, the tables were dominated by the jocks, cheerleaders, and other popular kids who occupied their stratosphere.

Everyone nodded to Carmen, but it was Carolina they called out to. “Hey, Carolina, looking good,
Mami
,” Alfonso Carew, the school's star baseball player, bellowed. Carolina smiled and waved.

Once at the snack bar, Carolina ordered a latte, and Carmen followed suit. Then they took their drinks and sat at a table away from the various crowds.

“We could use a little privacy, don't you think?” Carolina suggested. Carmen nodded her head in agreement.

But that was, it seemed, too much to ask. No sooner had they sat down than they were descended upon by the SoBees. April, Dorinda, and Maya had clearly begun their day with a morning wardrobe text, because the three were dressed nearly identically in expensive-looking floral-print jumpsuits and towering gladiator heels.

“Are we late?” Dorinda asked rhetorically as she slid into a seat next to Carolina. “I'm assuming that this is the war room for your winter formal–queen campaign.”

“It's not a war room,” Carolina said, politely but firmly.

“Of course it's not,” April replied. “But that's what we love about you. You're not at all overly aggressive and competitive. You're humble, which is a lovely quality to have in a queen.”

Carolina took a sip of her coffee, but not before Carmen noticed a look of sharp impatience flash across her face. So Carolina wasn't as infatuated with the SoBees as their own gossip would have led one to believe. This was interesting information, Carmen thought, anxious to share the news with Jamie and Alicia. She would also have to report that hanging out with the SoBees was like watching a sociology video. They had their own language, their own sort of code, and they definitely had their favorite activities—the most popular of which was playing nice with people—even if they didn't really like said people.