Dalila
Girls Night Fridays have become a ritual. Sometimes my friends go to salsa clubs in town or to the movies. Other times we just hang out and pamper ourselves with spa treatments.
My friend Soona and I arrived at Demi’s casa an hour ago with nail polish and exfoliating face masks we bought online. Demi’s parents are in Monterrey for the night at their “city” residence, so we’ve got her entire house in Panche to ourselves.
Demi, with her short, pink-streaked hair, is the definition of linda. She’s fun and always happy. I love hanging around her because her enthusiasm for practically everything is infectious. One night we were bored and crashed a wedding at a fancy resort near the beach. Another time we traveled to Mexico City and camped out for two nights to be the first in line to witness the inauguration of our president.
Soona is the friend who keeps our outrageous ideas and adventures to a minimum. She’s conservative and completely neurotic, but Demi and I think it’s fun to try to get her to venture out of her comfort zone.
“Tell us the truth, Dalila. Are you interested in Rico as more than a friend?” Demi asks me.
“No,” I insist. “He’s taking me to some boxing gym. It’s not even a date.”
“When is this non-date taking place?”
I shrug. “Next week sometime.”
“I think you need a boyfriend,” Soona chimes in. “You haven’t dated anyone since Antonio. That was two years ago.”
Antonio and I met at a private school I attended for a few years. We dated for six months, until I found him cheating on me with some girl he met online. “I don’t want to be involved with a guy right now. I’m too focused on school.”
“You’re lucky you don’t care.” Soona’s face turns pensive. “I want a boyfriend so bad.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “I guess I’d like to be held and know there’s someone out there thinking of me.”
Demi looks at her as if she’s got two heads. “That’s because you’re needy, Soona. I never want to be a resentful old married hag.”
“Damn, Demi,” I say. “To you marriage sounds like prison.”
“It is for my parents. But enough about depressing thoughts like marriage.” Demi stands on her bed as if it’s a stage and clears her throat. “Girls, I have an anuncio about what we’re doing tonight.”
“An announcement? I thought we were staying in,” I tell her as I scan all the nail polishes and snacks we’ve gathered.
“No. This is just the beginning. We’re going to celebrate your birthday, Dalila!”
“My birthday isn’t for a week,” I say even though a bolt of energy starts rushing through me at the thought of finally turning eighteen.
Demi grabs her treasured pink stuffed teddy bear and tosses it in the air. “Consider it an early birthday celebration.”
Soona and I look at each other with curious expressions on our faces. Demi can definitely come up with crazy schemes. If my papá knew how mischievous I can be sometimes, I think he’d forbid me to hang out with them.
But what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
Soona waves her hands in an attempt to dry her newly painted red nails. “What’s this great idea of yours? I’m nervous.”
Demi holds her hands up as if she’s a preacher about to say something important. “The three of us are going to Texas tonight.”
My heart kicks up a beat. “Texas? What do you want to do in Texas?”
Demi’s eyes light up. “You ready for it?”
I get up on the bed with her. “Yeah, I’m ready. ¡Dime!”
“Okay.” She braces her arms on my shoulders. “Shadows of Darkness is playing in Loveland, Texas, and I got us tickets for their concert tonight!” Demi lets out a squeal of excitement.
My breath hitches. “You’re lying.”
Their song “One Night in Crazy” is the last song I listened to with my brother before he died. Lucas used to tell me their lead singer, Atticus Patton, wrote it after his girlfriend broke up with him. He did all of these loco things to destroy his life, but he came out of it stronger instead of weaker.
Jumping off her bed, Demi opens the drawer to her bedside table and pulls out three tickets. “Here they are,” she says, tossing one to each of us.
“Wow,” I say, staring at the ticket as if it’s a piece of precious gold. “This is the best present ever! There’s just one problema.”
Demi’s eyebrows furrow. “¿Qué?”
Soona and I lock eyes knowingly. “If you haven’t realized,” Soona says, “we don’t just walk around with our passports in our purses.”
Demi dismisses Soona’s concern with a tilt of her head. “That’s not a problem. I’ll drive by each of your houses so you can pick them up.”
“I know where my parents hide our passports, but they won’t let me go to the US without their permission,” I tell her.
“Mine are the same.” Soona’s frown deepens. “And if we tell them we’re going to a punk concert, they’ll never let us go.”
“So don’t tell them, Ms. Neg.” Demi calls Soona Ms. Neg, short for Ms. Negative, whenever she picks apart our fun plans. “You have to learn how to take chances in life. Just go home and snatch your passport without them finding out.”
“That’s not taking chances, Demi. That’s stealing,” Soona challenges.
“It can’t be stealing when it belongs to you,” Demi counters. “Right, Dalila?”
Suddenly a sense of rebelliousness rushes through me. Lucas would tell me to do it, because he was carefree and hated to follow rules. “Let’s do it, chicas. I’m in,” I tell them.
“Me, too,” Demi says. “Soona, what about you?”
Demi and I nod, willing her to go along with our adventure. “Fine,” Soona finally says, “but if my parents find out, just be aware that I might be grounded for life.”
The three of us jump on Demi’s bed like we used to do when we were little kids, getting excited for an adventure. Even Soona starts talking about how much fun we’re going to have.
Crossing the border tonight will only be the start of our journey. I can just imagine this evening ending up being One Night in Crazy, just like the song!