No Second Chances (11 page)
Authors: Malín Alegría
M
uchÃsimas
thank-yous to my fabulous cousins Carlos, Beto, Frankie, and Rickie, and my brother Kiki, for sharing your teenage
aventuras
and answering my gazillion questions. To Maria Elena and Juan Ovalle,
gracias
for your
chisme
, fact checking, and for being the best RGV consultants in the world. To the students of Brown Middle School and Tabitha Brocha, thanks for all your suggestions and ideas. To Frank Ramirez, Maclovia, and Eloy Sanchez,
gracias
for taking me into your families and sharing your experiences and
knowledge
conmigo
. To Moses and Cynthia,
gracias
for taking me to the Weslaco
pulga
. To Sarah Cuadra and the whole Cuadra clan at Storybook Garden, thank you for sharing issues of small businesses and your sewing skills. To my niece, Jelly Moncada, thank you for reading the early drafts of this manuscript. To MaElena Igram,
gracias
for driving around the Valle and taking me to Zapata for the best chicken-fried steak. To my fabulous Star County tour guide Elizabeth Munoz, thank you for sharing your friends
y cuentos conmigo
. To
mi familia
and Marina Luna Suarez,
gracias por todo tu apoyo
. To Anna Bloom and the editorial team at Scholastic,
gracias
for your keen eyes, guidance, and making me look good. And to my biggest cheerleader and friend, Stefanie von Borstel, thank you for reading all my drafts, standing by me through tough cuts, and for always believing in me.
Photo by Dulce Paz
MALÃN ALEGRÃA
is the author of
Sofi Mendoza's Guide to Getting Lost
in Mexico and Estrella's Quinceañera.
MalÃn grew up in San Francisco, California, and lives there now, where she teaches, writes, and is hard at work playing in dirt. To learn more about her and her books, visit her online at
“Oh, c'mon,” Alexis protested, trying to twist out of her sister's grip. “This is high school, Fabi. I want to have fun. Do crazy things.”
“You
will
do crazy things,” Fabi said. “I promise. But trust me on this: You don't want to do them with Dex.”
Alexis's eyes lit up. “That's his name? Dex. Dex what?”
“Dex Nada, because that boy is
nada
to you. Listen,” Fabi said with a sigh. “Look, you've just got to trust me on this one. I'll explain at lunch, okay?” Then she hurried away to her own classroom on the second floor.
Melodee began to laugh, but then stopped. She stared Fabi in the eye, as if trying to drill a hole to the truth. “All right,” she said with a nod. “You think your quince will be better than mine? It's on. You and me.” She pointed to Fabi. “We'll have a quinceañera competition. And everyone here will vote.”
Fabi felt the blood drain from her face. She never wanted a quinceañera in the first place. Now she had to have oneâand not just any quinceañera. Fabi had to have the biggest, best quince the Valley had ever seen.
Crossing the Line
Quince Clash
Falling Too Fast
No Second Chances
Copyright © 2012 by MalÃn AlegrÃa
All rights reserved. Published by Point, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
SCHOLASTIC, POINT, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First printing, November 2012
Cover photo by Michael Frost ⢠Cover design by Yaffa Jaskoll
e-ISBN: 978-0-545-46998-2
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
