Ariana threw herself on her bed and squeezed her pillow. Buried her face into it and screamed. Let the tears flow.
How could her dad be so unfair? She’d known it wouldn’t be easy to convince him to give them a little freedom, but she hadn’t expected him to freak out like that. It was like he was intent on punishing her for him getting Mom pregnant when he was so young. When would he ever figure out she wasn’t him?
She was already older than he’d been back then, and she’d barely kissed Damon, much less done anything else with him. Certainly nothing worth worrying about. But Dad couldn’t get beyond his own past.
It wasn’t fair, and she was done being punished for their mistakes. Those days were over, and besides, Mom and Dad weren’t even legally her parents. They’d given her up for adoption because they had been in middle school at the time—just like she was now. If they could be parents at that age, she should be able to at least see her boyfriend when she wanted.
She could convince Mimi and Papi. They were the ones who had the final say, anyway. Why hadn’t she thought of that before?
Probably because they’d been stepping back in their roles lately. It’d been subtle, but obviously she’d noticed. Nobody had said anything, but Mom and Dad had been the ones making most of the decisions lately. There was no denying that.
But why? What had changed? And why hadn’t anyone said anything to her?
Ariana sat up, pulled her hair from her face and wiped her eyes. Makeup smeared across her hand. She groaned, not wanting to wait another moment but needing to look presentable. After storming into the bathroom and washing her face, she crept downstairs without bothering to take the time to put on more makeup.
She took her time, tiptoeing on each step and listening for signs of a discussion. With her luck, all four of her parents were probably gathered together, going over every word of her fight with Dad.
But there was no noise from downstairs.
They were probably all in Mom and Dad’s apartment. Or worse, they were next door, talking about her with Grandma and Grandpa. A whole family affair. Awesome.
She’d sneaked to the kitchen and was about to go into the apartment when something caught her attention. She turned and looked out the window into the backyard. Mimi and Papi were in the garden. Nobody else was with them.
That meant Dad was probably lamenting to Mom, but that gave her time to butter up Mimi and Papi, as Dad had put it.
Ari slid on her sneakers then opened the door. Greeted by a frigid gust of air, she hurried outside before she lost her nerve. She needed to talk to them now. If she didn’t, she might push it off forever.
This needed to get resolved right away.
She drew a deep breath and made her way to the garden through the long grass. It was unlike them to let it go, but maybe the cold temperatures were getting to them. They were getting older, after all.
Papi greeted her with a warm smile. “Did you come to help us prune?”
Mimi turned and wrapped her arms around Ariana. “You should have a coat on. It’s practically freezing out here.”
Ari shrugged. “I’m fine.” Then she shivered.
Mimi tilted her head. “You are?”
“She can wear mine.” Papi slid out of his coat and wrapped it around Ari’s shoulders.
“Kenji,” Mimi said, with a tone of warning in her voice. “Remember what the doctor said?”
“If I get cold, I’ll grab another jacket from inside.”
Mimi studied Ariana. “Is something on your mind, sweetheart? You look like you’ve been crying.”
Ari frowned. “I had a fight with Dad.”
“You two sure have been at it lately.” Mimi gave her a sympathetic glance. “Reminds me of when your parents were your age.”
“You fought with Mom a lot?” Ari tightened the coat around her.
Mimi chuckled. “Both of them. Your dad was difficult to deal with—don’t let him tell you otherwise.”
“He gave you problems?”
“Your very existence should tell you that much. It took him a long time to win me over. A very long time.”
Ariana nodded.
“What seems to be the problem?” Papi asked.
Ari played with a lock of hair. They might not be any easier to convince than Dad. But she had to try. They’d always been understanding. Mostly.
“Ari?” Mimi tilted her head. “What’s going on?”
She let out a long breath. “I want to spend more time with Damon.”
They exchanged a look.
Ari’s heart sank. But she wasn’t going to give up that easily. “We’ve both proven ourselves, we’ve been following all the rules. There’s no reason for us to be treated like babies. We’re both responsible. My grades haven’t gone down at all since I met Damon. In fact, they’ve gone up. Spending time with him is good for me.”
Another look.
Her stomach twisted. This wasn’t going any better than it had with Dad. Except they weren’t arguing with her. Actually, it was going better. They might be considering it with their silent communication.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
They both turned to her, exchanged another look, then back to her.
Her heart raced. “You’re making me nervous. What’s going on?”
Papi took a step closer, his expression unreadable. “This might be something you should work out with your mom and dad.”
“But you’re my parents, too. Legally, even. Really, the decision is more up to you than them if you think about it.”
Another shared glance. This really wasn’t going as well as she’d hoped. They weren’t disagreeing with her, but they weren’t agreeing, either.
“What’s the matter? You’re starting to worry me.”
Papi took Mimi’s hand and gave Ari a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We have some news to share soon, but not yet. That’s all we can say now.”
“News? About what?”
“We’ll tell you with your parents before long.”
Ariana’s breath caught. “Why won’t you tell me?”
“Because we want to tell everyone together. And now isn’t the time.”
“Is someone sick?” She looked back and forth between them, searching for signs of illness. “Nobody’s dying, are you?”
Mimi shook her head. “We’re both fine, honey. It isn’t anything for you to worry about.”
“If that’s the case, why not tell me the news? Shouldn’t I know?”
She kissed Ari’s cheek. “You will, soon. I promise.”
Frustration built in her chest. Between this and the argument with Dad, it was enough to make her want to scream. Instead, she took a deep breath and held it for a few moments. “You promise you’re both okay?”
They both nodded vehemently. Papi put his arm around her. “We’re healthy as horses. You’re going to be stuck with us for a long, long time.”
Mimi gave him a look that almost seemed like disapproval.
Ari started to ask what that was about, when Mimi spoke. “We should get inside. It’s so cold out here, and you don’t have a jacket, Kenji.”
He shivered. “You’re right. I forget how cold it gets once the sun begins going down.”
Ariana tried saying something, but they talked over her about the garden. Once inside, she kicked off her shoes. “I’d better get to my homework.”
Papi kissed the side of her head. “Don’t worry about anything. We’ll share our news soon. I promise.”
“Okay.” She gave them both a hug before making her way upstairs to her room. Her mind raced with ideas, but she came up with nothing. Whatever Mimi and Papi were going to tell everyone would be a surprise, because she had no clue. It couldn’t be too bad since they were both healthy.
Sighing, she pulled everything out of her school bag and went over her homework. She should’ve gotten an early start. It was going to be a long night if she was going to get through all her assignments.
She organized everything across her bed based on importance and decided to start with science. But first, she went over to her window to see if she could see the sunset. Her room had a great view of it this time of year—just another reason to love the Halloween season.
Lazy clouds spread across the horizon, leaving plenty of sky visible. Pink and purple hues colored it all, the clouds making the sight all the more gorgeous. She hurried over to her phone and snapped a few pictures, uploading them to social media.
Just as she was about to start her homework, something caught her attention outside. Her blood ran cold when she looked down on the sidewalk across the street.
A woman in a long, flowing red dress was walking slowly across the crosswalk.
She turned and looked right at Ariana.