That’s right Sofia calls into the night Watch out She’s a black belt Well not yet Sofia goes back to waving at imaginary admirers I shove my hands into my pockets You still won’t wear pink on the red carpet right No way Sofia holds out her pinkie to me Never wear pink and best friends forever I wrap my pinkie around hers and we shake on it There’s a rustle from somewhere in the orchard behind us and we both jump But it’s just Mr Harris’s cat He meows and rubs against my leg Sorry Fred I whisper No milk for you Mr Harris said it’s making you fat and lazy Fred saunters off between the trees Come on says Sofia Let’s go inside It’s freezing out here We trudge through Mr Harris’s almond orchard ducking beneath branches so they don’t catch in our hair So are you going to tell me what you wished for asks Sofia At the edge of the last row of trees the dirt turns to gravel crunching beneath our feet and we can see my house I wished for my dad to come back How long has it been now Four months and seventeen days
Sofia doesn’t act like it’s weird that I know exactly how long it’s been or tell me that it’s never going to happen Because that’s not what best friends do Instead she stops on my front porch turns around and loops her arm through mine while we look at the star one last time That’s a big wish she whispers We stay that way for a few moments with our wishes swirling around us and floating up into the sky like smoke from a bonfire
Chapter 2 That night after we’re both in our pajamas and Sofia is snuggled into her sleeping bag on the floor she says I’m going to try out for the play at the downtown theater next week Marisa Nunez is doing it too She told me at church Oh yeah I forgot you guys go to the same church now I want you to do it with us I don’t know My karate trophies sparkle in the light from the hallway What about karate Rehearsals start at six o’clock You’re done with karate by then aren’t you I prop my head up What do you have to do for tryouts Well Sofia’s voice trails off and she pauses The darkness crowds in closer It’s a musical So you have to sing a song I flop back onto my pillow Nope No way But you used to love to sing I look at my black guitar on its stand in the corner of my room The darkness hides it but I know there’s dust around its edges Dad would be mad about that if he knew I remember the first lesson he gave me
A guitar is an instrument a tool and a friend Dad said A friend I giggled Of course He leaned in close his forehead touching mine You treat it right and it will treat you right Mom peeked around the corner of the room Mothers are the same way you know All beautiful women are like that Dad stood up walked over to her and gave her a long kiss smiling afterward Ew Gross I yelled I wish I could see that again Not the kissing Just the smiling I shake my head No No singing Sofia’s sleeping bag crinkles as she moves around and grumbles Of course not Are you mad at me You never do anything I want to do There are some lies said so many times your whole body seems to understand My fingers curl into fists That’s not true Sofia sighs Whatever I’d do karate if If we could afford it That’s what she was going to say But Sofia tries to never talk about her family’s money problems even though that’s exactly the sort of thing best friends are for I know I whisper
