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“What?” Carmen turned her head towards the door and her eyes locked on mine. And then her feet came down abruptly and she reached up to touch the lopsided bun/ponytail thing she had going on, as if she had something to be embarrassed about. She did not. This was Carmen in her element.
I smiled. “You look great,” I mouthed, making her blush. “I like the jacket.”
“Who’s there?” a woman from her screen asked.
“Um,” Carmen pulled her gaze from mine and turned back to her group. “So, you all know Winnie. Well, now you guys get to meet my friend, Isaac. Come here and say hi.” She put whatever she was working on into the basket next to her desk and pulled me in view of her camera. I ducked down so they could see me.
“Isaac, this is Belinda.” She pointed to the top left corner of her screen. “She’s like the mother hen of our felting group, and we’re her barely manageable wards.”
I waved to Belinda.
“And this is Tawny. She keeps us entertained.”
“Guilty as charged. Hi, gorgeous.” The older blonde woman gave me a little wave and a wink.
“Hi, Tawny.”
“This is Jeanie. She never stops smiling, and she makes the most realistic cat faces you’ve ever seen and sells them for a bazillion dollars.”
Jeanie beamed under her praise, but it was totally deserved. Her cat creations were spot on. It was a little creepy, considering they were cat heads mounted into frames, but if there was a market for fake taxidermy, all power to her.
Carmen went through the rest of the group, introducing me to each person. When she told them we had to go, she got a chorus of whines in response like first graders finding out there would be no recess. They obviously loved her.
Once her computer was off, she turned and frowned. “Thanks for the surprise, Winnie. Now they’re going to pester me about Isaac until I give them all the juicy details.”
“There are juicy details?” Winnie asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.
“No. I was being dramatic.”
“We’re just friends,” I added.
“After one date?” Winnie got up and ducked into the pantry. She was the friend who ate all of Carmen’s snacks, I realized. “And how come he gets to crash girls’ night and I don’t?”
“We’re going to hit some food trucks.”
“Oh, gross. Never mind.” Winnie came out of the pantry with a bag of cheddar popcorn. “I had a bad experience with a taco truck once, and it’s ruined me forever. Carmen’s heard this story already, so I’ll spare you.” She cocked her head. “Are you going like that, though? That coat is way too big for you, dearie.” She studied my jacket on Carmen before turning to size me up, suddenly smiling. This girl was way too observant for her own good.
She reached out and gave Carmen a quick hug. “If you’re not staying, I’m going. But just know, I am extremely dissatisfied with the lack of honesty going on around here.” She glanced over at me. “I still think you should have brought her flowers. Just saying.”
And with that, she left. With the entire bag of popcorn.
“So, she’s… interesting.”
Carmen gave me a playful shove. “Winnie is the best. She’ll grow on you.” She shrugged out of my jacket and handed it to me. “I’m gonna go change. I promise I’ll be fast.” Next came the pearl buttons of her bright colored cardigan, opening one by one.
Yeah, no. Even though the logical side of my brain knew she was about to go in her bedroom and shut the door, the other side of my brain was stuck on buttons, and that dumb joke I’d told about being a button fan rather than a zipper fan. “You know what? I’m—I’ll be out there. Your parents. See you in a minute.”
Carmen looked at me funny, but I didn’t stop to explain. I just fled.
Chapter 17 - Carmen
So, that was embarrassing. All my time management strategies went out the window when it came to felting. Well, felting, and talking to my felting group. Of course, Isaac casually leaning against my doorframe had looked like a million bucks while I was using my foot to move my computer mouse around and admitting steamy makeouts in TV shows made me so uncomfortable I felt compelled to go in search of snacks.
But that was why we were friends, right? So we could be our true selves and not worry about stuff like that. The compulsion to hide the quirky things about my personality was a hard habit to break, even now. I had to remind myself that Isaac already knew all the embarrassing stories about me and didn’t care.
I fixed my hair and makeup on hyper-speed, and then went to the main house to find him. He’d probably taken one look at that mustard stain under my sweater and decided to give me all the time and space I needed to clean up.
I found Isaac in the living room sitting with Papá, and when I heard my name, I quickly retreated into the hallway before they saw me. Yes, this made me the world’s biggest hypocrite when I’d just been irritated with Isaac for doing the exact same thing to me, but I’d worry about self-improvement later.
