Harriet calls me when I'm sitting in the kitchen, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Breakfast got cold during Maria and Peggy's reconciliation, so Alex made sandwiches- surprisingly good ones.

My cell phone rings with Harriet's Somewhere Over the Rainbow ringtone, and I swipe to open the FaceTime call. Harriet is in her pajamas, red slippers kicking behind her. Her hair is a poofy mess, but she's smiling.

"Hey, Kathryn!"

I try to return the greeting, but I've still got a mouthful of peanut butter. It comes out more like, "Mmphmo, Mmriet."

"Don't you 'mmphmo' me, young lady!" Harriet seems extremely keyed up.

I swallow and try again. "Hey! What's got you so pumped?"

She laughs and scrunches a handful of her hair. "Sorry. Don't mind me, I'm all excited."

"I assume that excitement is why you called?" I break the sandwich into pieces thoughtfully.

"I didn't want to start out by making this all about me...but yeah! I've got something exciting to tell you!" Harriet taps the phone screen with her finger, I assume to zoom in on me. "Is that peanut butter and jelly?"

"Yeah, it is!" I hold up a triangle of sandwich. "Why, you want some?"

Harriet contemplates for a moment. "Peanut butter goes well with good news. Throw me some."

I smack the piece of sandwich against the phone screen. Harriet opens her hands to show me a piece of sandwich, and then cracks up. "I had some food in my room last night, thought it would be fun to mess with you."

I roll my eyes. "Speak, girl, what news?"

"My sister's back in town!" Harriet rolls over, accidentally hitting the phone with a bedazzled slipper. "My stepsister, Nina, has been at Stanford all year, but she's home today, and I want you and Theo to meet her!"

I bite my lip. "I don't know, Harriet. I wouldn't want to intrude. That kind of sounds like a family thing."

"Please? You and Theo are like my family. Listen, I have to go and eat breakfast before my mom gets mad, but I'll have her call John and figure it out." Harriet blows me a kiss and then hangs up.

Not ten minutes later, John's phone rings. He picks up, grinning. "Hey, Sally! What's the word? Yup. Oh, that's great! We're all so proud of her. Okay. You sure? I wouldn't want her to intrude. If you're positive..." He covers the mouthpiece for a moment. "Hey Kat, you don't mind going to meet Harriet's older sister, do you?"

"I don't want to make it awkward," I say, sighing and carrying my plate over to the sink. "I'd love to, if I may."

"Well, you may." John uncovers the phone again. "She's in!"

I've got a little bit of homework to do, so I walk over to the hall closet and take my Spanish homework out of my backpack. The page is a little crumpled, because I always forget to put my folder in my bag.

"Daddy, what does es una bonita bandera mean?" I sharpen my pencil and sit back down at the table.

John thinks for a moment. "It's a beautiful...flag? My Spanish is pretty rusty. Haven't studied it since college. Sorry, honey."

I jot it down anyway. "So, what time am I going to meet Harriet's sister?"

"Thomas is going to come and pick you and Theo up around five. They're going straight to the airport, and then you're all going to dinner. Apparently, Harriet's older sister is a very nice girl."

"She's related to Harriet, so there's no surprise." I move onto the next entry. "Um, I have to figure out a sentence to make up. What should I say?"

Alex comes screaming down the stairs in a shirt that says 'Dad 1' and a kilt. "John! I found my old kilt from high school!"

"Mi familia es loco, check." I jot it down. "Why do you have a kilt, Daddy?"

"The highland games, 1999." There's a look of reminiscence in Alex's eyes. "I was fifteen."

John rests his head in his hands. "You're not telling this story, are you?"

"Silence. Let me tell her the story." Alex holds his head high. "Anyway, we went with our friend Hercules..."

"I don't want to hear the story anymore. I'm scared." I push my chair back from the table and head upstairs to take a shower.

********

Five on the dot, and there's a knock on the door. I pull Koopa off of my shoes, adjust my tights for the millionth time, and swing the door open. Harriet and Theo both swoop me into a hug.

"It's so good to see you!" Theo grins and tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I haven't talked to you since yesterday."

"That's not that long," I laugh. "It's only been a day."

"Still." Harriet is practically bouncing off the doorframe. "Come on, let's go already! I need to see my sister."

Alex walks over to the door. "Hello, girls."

"Hi, Mr. Kathryn's Dad!" Theo waves to him cheerfully. "Thank you for letting her come with us."

He smiles. I know Alex doesn't like that my friends are the daughters of his rivals, but he does make every effort to be kind to them and forget who their parents are. "Have fun, Kathryn. Text us when you're on your way home."

I give him a hug, then run out to get in the car with the girls. Mr. Jefferson is in the front seat, and Sally, Harriet's mom, is beside him. Theo, Harriet, and I pile into the backseat, each taking time to greet Harriet's parents. Sally looks unusual to me out of her diner uniform and in a pretty grey dress. She gives me a hug, too, and she smells like flowery perfume.

Thomas looks incredibly happy. "My little Nina is coming home! I can't wait to see my princess again."

Harriet pouts. "I thought I was your princess."

He thinks for a moment. "You are my princess, Nina is my queen."

Sally gives him a flirty smile. "What does that make me?"

Thomas looks around at all of us. "The dictator."

She laughs. "Don't you forget it." He kisses her on the cheek.

When we walk into the airport, it's so busy that it makes my head spin. Everything is clean and sterile and chrome, like a hospital with more suitcases and less shuffling patients. It's loud, with people shouting over the loudspeaker about gates and departure times. Over by baggage claim is a pretty girl with a giant bag.

She has caramel skin, long dark hair, and a smile that lights up the room better than any fluorescent lighting. She's wearing a red sweater, jeans, and a fancy pair of boots.

The girl sees us and drops her suitcase. She runs towards us- past Thomas, past Sally, and straight for Harriet, who she scoops into her arms. The girls are hugging like they've been apart for a million years. The taller one buries her face in Harriet's hair, and whispers something I can't hear.

After a moment, she pulls away, and Thomas hugs her. "Oh, my little Nina. You've grown up so beautiful." His voice is thick, and he swipes at his eyes. "I wish your mother was here. Rosa would be so proud of you."

"Well, I'm here, and I'm so proud of you. I can't believe how tall and lovely you are." Sally hugs her as well.

The girl, who must be Nina, squeezes her tight. "It's so good to be home, Mami. I missed you, Papi." She kisses Harriet's cheek. "Mi corazon, I missed you most of all."

Even with my limited knowledge of Spanish, I'm touched- Nina just called Harriet her heart. Theo holds my hand, looking a little awkward.

"I don't want to interrupt," she whispers in my ear. I nod, but we're spared the standing around when Nina turns to us.

"You must think I've got no manners! I'm Nina, Harriet's sister. You two must be the Kathryn and Theo I've heard so very much about." She extends a hand to shake mine, then changes her mind and envelops us both in a hug.

Theo looks a little overwhelmed, but hugs back. I grin and tug down the skirt of my dress- I guess I've been growing. It fit me fine a month ago.

"I'm hungry," Nina announces, grinning. "Also sick of fancy California food. I want to go somewhere where I can get a burger and fries."

Thomas grins. "That's my girl. I've got the car parked out front."

"I'll take the rear-facing seat," Nina volunteers. "That way you ladies can sit together." She picks up her suitcase and gives Harriet another hug. "Come on, baby sis. I brought you a present!"

Harriet claps. "Show me, show me, show me!"

Nina laughs. She's losing all of her cool-impeccable-college-girl demeanor by the second. Her straight hair is frizzing up in the New York humidity, her sweater sleeves are rolled up, and there's a smiley face sticker on the sole of her boot. "I went on the MGM studio tour, but I didn't find anything. I was scouring flea markets, and I found you a Judy Garland autograph. The frame is all broken from being in my suitcase, but it was kind of old anyway, and I figure we can pick out a new-"

Harriet tackles her in another hug. "You're the best sister ever!"

"No, you are. I just had to repay you for all the times you were so good to me." Nina laughs and pops the trunk of the car.

"What do you mean?" Harriet lifts one end of the giant suitcase.

"All the times I was running myself into the ground trying to do five extracurriculars too many, or when I was getting sick from lack of sleep to finish projects, you would come knock on my door. You would ask if we could watch TV, or play Hungry Hungry Hippos, or if I could help you with your Spanish 1 worksheet. I always used to take a deep breath, put down the pencil, and go try to beat you at that game or watch bad cartoons and laugh." Nina hefts the suitcase in, then hip-checks the trunk closed. "You didn't know it, but that saved me so many times."

Harriet smiles, misty-eyed. She takes Nina's hand, and the two girls climb into the car.

**********

At the restaurant, we're all making cheerful conversation over dinner. Nina is possibly the sweetest person I've ever met. She keeps hugging Harriet, and she's talking animatedly about how amazing Stanford is.

"Benny came down to visit for April vacation." Nina has a dreamy look in her eyes. "It was so nice to see him!"

Thomas curls his lip a little. "Ah, yes. Benny. I see the two of you are still together, then?"

"Yes, we are." Nina grins at Harriet. "You remember Benny?"

Harriet nods. "He was the only person who could beat me at Hungry Hungry Hippos." Turning to me, she adds, "You might not know this, but back in fifth grade, I was the champion. I beat everybody in Rose Valley Elementary on Games Day."

Theo claps. "We're so impressed, Harriet."

Nina takes a bite of her fry. "Oh, I have some fantastic news!"

I look up from my plate of food, interested. Theo takes a sip of water, looking a little curious- but not curious enough to stop eating.

"Stanford is opening up a performing arts school junior division! They're offering all kinds of scholarships, and it's a really cool opportunity." Nina brushes a piece of hair over her shoulder.

"Why did you bring that up?" Sally looks to her stepdaughter with curiosity.

"Yes, enlighten us." Thomas laughs, and when he does, I can see the resemblence between him and Nina. They have the same sloping nose, same toothy smile, same playful laugh. They have the same way of raising one eyebrow when they're answering a question, and the same way of biting their lip in thought.

"Well, as you know, I'm going back to California and Stanford in the fall." Nina tugs a lock of her hair. "I want Harriet to come with me."

There's sudden silence around the table. Theo and I look at each other nervously, sensing the discomfort. It's a palpable tension, almost like a heavy blanket on the whole table. Harriet looks betrayed, like she never thought Nina would even suggest something like this.

"Well?" Nina is the one to break the silence. "What do you say?"

Harriet makes a choked gasping noise, then inhales again a little more gently. When she speaks, her voice is heavy. "I'll think about it."