I stared at the window, sunlight shining brightly inside the house. I pondered a few things, such as Mom's reaction to Millicent's party. I didn't ask her if I could go to the party yet. I don't know how she would respond. She just has to let me go to the party. If she doesn't, I'd flip.

I've never been to a party before with people at school. I've only been to traditional parties that Mom always wanted me to have, such as my quinceanera when I turned fifteen-years-old. Nobody from school was there, only distant relatives. 

Mom, who was sitting on the couch, watched an episode of Dr. Phil. She could binge-watch it all day if she could. It's interesting how big the people that go on the show's problems are.

I sat down next to her, casually. "Mom, I have something to tell you."

"Really? What is it?" she glanced at me, lowering the TV's volume.

I muttered, nervously. "So, my friend is having a birthday party," 

She questioned, out of the blue. "Really? Who's having the party?"

"My new friend, Millicent Campbell." I ignored the interrogating look on her face.

Mom is a very suspicious person. She suspects anything and everything. It's not like she's wrong of being suspicious. She just cares about everyone.

She mused. "Her name sounds familiar. Isn't she the daughter of my boss at work? Gianna Campbell?" 

"Yes, Mamá," I reply, remembering her mom

Mom brushed her hand onto my long, brown, sleek hair. "That's nice. Did you get invited?"

"Yeah, I did." I nervously laughed, casually grabbing a nearby magazine.

She declined. "Oh. I don't know if you should go—" 

I expected her to say something like that. Both of my friends, Lizzie and Tracey's parents agreed to let them go to the party. Why can't I? 

I complained, crossing my arms. "But, Mom! I just need to go to this party! I've never been to any parties with people from my school! It isn't fair. And I'm sixteen, Mom! Not five-years-old! Can I least make one choice for myself?"

I know that I'm probably overreacting right now. But, I just can't stand not going to this party. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Not something that can happen every day.

"I'm only saying this because I don't want you to lose your focus on everything else, like school. It's for a reason I'm saying this." she sighed, rubbing her eyes, "When I was your age, I didn't complain about going to parties and I still survived."

Mom and her traditional, Mexican ways. She doesn't understand the concept of fun things, like parties. These days, parties are considered cool. I know that I won't get distracted by attending this party, or being friends with Millicent and Mercedes, in fact.

"This party is only a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It's not like anybody else is going to invite me to another party any time soon." I pleaded, "Can I please just go? Just for once?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, thinking about if I should go or not. What is so bad about this party? It's not like I'll get cursed a few days after attending the party.

"You do have a point, Roselynn. You can go." she gave in.

"Thank you so much, Mom!" I hugged her, "You don't know how much this means to me!"

"I know, I know. But, when is the party?" Mom asked.

"It's next Saturday, six days from now." I casually smiled. 

Deep down, inside, I'm screaming hysterically. I can't believe what happened within this week. It could be my best week yet!

"I see." Mom picked up the remote control, making the TV louder, "Your Abuela is coming to visit us today. She'll arrive in a few minutes."

I gushed. "I can't wait for her to come here!" 

I love it when Grandma, or in Spanish, Abuela comes over to visit us. She's active, fun, and super supportive. She doesn't visit us too often, but she'll come once in a while since she doesn't live far away from us. 

Soon enough, the doorbell chimed, signalizing that she was here. I went out of the living room to answer the door, to see Abuela with a fresh, bright smile on her face. She had a bouquet of vivid, elegant flowers, straight from her garden in her hands.

"Hola, my dear!" she reached out to hug me, "Como estas?"

I hugged her tightly, excitedly."Abuela! I'm doing fine, today!"

"That's good to hear, mi amor." she stepped inside.

Mom stood right behind us, with a small smile on her face."Hola, Mamá! I see that you brought flowers with you. They're beautiful! What did you use to make them grow very elegantly?" 

The lavender flowers looked beautiful. They're full-bloomed, each of them with their own unique looks.

Abuela lectured. "Solo tres cosas. Luz de sol, agua, y mucho amor." 

Only three things. Sunlight, water, and lots of love. I heard her say that phrase ever since I was a little girl. 

"Encantadora! I'm going to prepare some tea to drink!" Mom shuffled to the kitchen

"Alright!" Abuela followed her, with me trailing behind.

Once we arrived at the kitchen, both of us sat down at the wooden, rectangular-shaped kitchen table, right across from each other.

She asked, enthusiastically. "Have you been doing well in school lately, mi amor?" 

Abuela is passionate about everything. She's caring and understanding. Whenever I have a problem, I can talk to her about it. 

"I've been doing fine." I reflected, "Except for the C minus I have in PE." 

"It's okay, Rosa. Your grade will eventually get higher." she stared into my eyes "How are your friends doing? I haven't seen them in a while."

"They're also doing fine, Abuela." I slowly smiled, attempting to forget about PE class. 

She usually asks me questions about school and how I'm doing. If I'm not doing okay, then she'll always try her best to help me. She is the full definition of caring.

"I'd like you to have these flowers. They're very lovely." Abuela hands me the beautiful bouquet. The bouquet looked pretty, but why is she giving them to me.

I pondered. "How come you're giving these flowers to me?" 

"I know you're stressed out now with all these things going on, so I picked out these flowers for you. Lavender is known to help reduce stress." Abuela sniffed one of the flowers.

I knew that already. I saw it in an ad, which talked about lavender-scented air fresheners.

"Thank you, Abuela! They're hermosa! Is this all the lavender flowers from your garden?" I mused as I sniff the morality of the lavender flowers.

She grinned. "Yes, it is. I'll have to grow some more. It's no problem. All it takes is sunlight, water, and lots of love."

"Thank you!" I look behind me to Mom, who had a tray with a teapot and three cups.

"The tea is ready!" Mom set the tray down onto the table.

"Gracias for making the tea, Camilla! It smells lovely!" Abuela poured tea into her cup.

I instantly smelled the hot, ginger tea. I already feel relaxed.

"You're welcome." Mom beamed.

Abuela mused. "Where's Rafael? Is he here?"

"He's practicing basketball at a friend's house." Mom sat down in a chair.

On weekends, Rafael and his other friends practice basketball, as long as it isn't raining. Otherwise, they'd hang out. He always has someone to hang out with on the weekends.

"Is he doing well?" Abuela held her cup up to her face. 

Mom answered. "He's doing fine. I'll tell him you said hola. He probably won't be back until the next few hours or so."

The two kept on discussing things, making me feel slightly bored. Since it's hot outside, I'll get Rafael and his friends some water.

"I'm going to go outside and see what Rafael is doing." I finished up the last of my tea. 

"Alright. Bring him and his friends some water! It's hot outside!" Mom looked up at me.

I grabbed a few mini-sized water bottles out of the refrigerator to bring to him and his friends. They're at Gabriel Cooper's house. He's one of my brother's friends, as well as a basketball player at school. He lives a few houses down from us. Of course, it's relevant for Rafael.

Abuela calls out before I walk out the door. "Tell him I said hola!" 

"I'll make sure to!" I close the door.

At this point, I already saw my brother and a few other people shooting a basketball into a hoop. I could recognize one of their faces very well...

It's Tyler!

He does live in the area, but not on the same street as us. 

"Hey, little sis!" Rafael looked at me, before shooting a basketball into the hoop. His other friends also stared at me. Now I just feel shy.

"She's your little sister?" Tyler asked, glancing at me.

My brother answered. "Yeah, she is."

Tyler approached me, recognizing my face from the last time we saw each other, which was a few days ago at school. That was when I fell on the dirty floor at school. I'll probably never forget that day. Especially since he was there.

He held out his hand to greet me. "Nice to meet you again!"

"Nice to meet you too." I shook his hand.

"Anyway, what's going on, Rose?" Rafael stared at me.

"Nothing. I just came to see what y'all are doing. I also came with some cold water because it's hot out here. Does anybody want some?" I offered.

"I'll have some." Tyler walked up to me. He's hot and sweaty from the warmth of the sun, which shone brightly. He really needs some water.

"Here you go!" I hand him a bottle.

"Thanks!" he slightly smiled.

"Oh, you're welcome." I smile at him as I hand a bottle of water to Landon Archer.

"Do you want to play with us?" Gabriel Cooper gently threw the ball to me, which I caught.

"Umm... Er, I'm not sure if I should. I'll mess everything up." I decline. I don't want to play basketball. I'm the worst at it! 

"It's okay! Play with us anyway. It'll be good practice." Tyler twisted the cap back onto his water bottle.

"Fine.. .I'll play!" I throw the ball over to Tyler. My shot was almost accurate. It wasn't a lousy one. But it wasn't a perfect one, either. Instead of running around like everyone else, I just stood there with my arms crossed, waiting for something to happen. 

"Catch!" Landon called out as he threw the ball in my direction.

"Okay, okay." I roll my eyes as I uncross my arms to catch the ball. 

Once I actually caught the ball, I decided to walk to the net and throw it in there. I was really close to the net, so in a real game of basketball, I'd get one point through this shot. I threw the ball into the net.

"That was a pretty good shot." Tyler grabbed the ball. He probably said that to make me feel better. My shot was not good.

"Thanks, I guess." I look to the ground, trying not to crack a smile.