"Mama, Papa, I need you to be on your best behavior," Ricardo cautioned. "Any embarrassing baby photos or displays of affection and I am running away - this time for good."

Bonita and Julio looked puzzled. "What's going on Ricardo? Is one of your friends coming over?" Bonita asked.

"Or is it a...girlfriend?" Julio waggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Ricardo's cheeks to turn pink. Amarissa was tempted to pinch those cheeks, but she refrained, instead just silently watching her brother beg her parents not to be embarrassing. He might as well ask them to take him to the moon and back before midnight. Translation - it was impossible.

"Her name is Lai Jackson and we have to work on our science project together. So if you could just please, just for tonight, be normal," Ricardo pleaded.

Julio glanced at his wife. "We are normal," he insisted, flinging an arm around Bonita. "Look at us." Just to prove his point, Julio kissed Bonita on the cheek, and she giggled.

Ricardo slapped a palm to his forehead and shook his head. "That's exactly what I don't want you to do. So please, dear mother and father, pretend you don't want to kiss or hug each other tonight."

Bonita walked her fingers up Julio's chest, grinning cheekily. "That's going to be very hard, mijo," she said sulkily.

Amarissa wondered if complaining about her parents - who were so in love it was puke-worthy - would be selfish, considering many other families are either divorced or broken up by alcohol, abuse or even worse: death. She decided too much love was just as bad as too little love.

Suddenly, there was a knock at their apartment front door, and Ricardo froze. "Oh, god. She's here."

Amarissa stepped out from where she had been eavesdropping and followed her brother to the door, crossing her arms. "If I didn't know better, Ricardo, I'd say you had a little thing for this girl," she teased.

Ricardo shot her a look, his hand hovering over the doorknob. "Shut up, Amarissa. I think you also should be on your best behavior. You're just as embarrassing as Mom and Dad!"

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure," Amarissa said as she flicked her eyes back to where their parents were currently making out. Could they get any more sickening? Amarissa didn't even want to know the answer to that question.

Ricardo swung the door open to reveal a short slim girl with long midnight black locks, dark almond shaped eyes and a honey brown complexion. Lai.

"Hi, Lai," Amarissa smiled welcomingly. "We meet again."

Lai placed a hand on her hip, sizing Amarissa up with a smirk. "So we do."

Ricardo stared between them in disbelief. "You know each other?"

"We've met," Amarissa clarified. "Once."

Lai scowled at Ricardo. "Aren't you gonna let me in?"

Amarissa immediately disliked this girl. Last time they met, they were in the presence of...Deandre. And even then she was annoying, accusing her of having diarrhea. Seriously, who gets confused between diabetes and diarrhea! They were completely different! However, the real question was, how did Lai know Deandre, and why?

 As Ricardo led the way for Lai to the dining table, to work on their project on volcanoes, Amarissa whispered to Lai, "How do you know Deandre?"

Lai glanced back over her shoulder just as they entered the dining room, where Ricardo had a bunch of materials set up. While Ricardo went to get some refreshments, Lai replied, "He's my brother. Duh."

Amarissa was instantly confused. The two looked nothing a like! "But...he looks so..."

Lai cocked an eyebrow. "What? You think just because we look different we can't be brother and sister?" she challenged.

Amarissa raised her hands in surrender. "Whoa, okay, I wasn't thinking anything." But in her head she was thinking, Wow, so much sass for such a small girl.

Lai took a seat at the dining table, tossing her long dark hair over her shoulder as Ricardo returned with two glasses of orange juice. "If you must know, Deandre is my foster brother. We are both adopted."

Amarissa nodded, finally clicking the pieces together. That explained Deandre's so-called "father" who bore no resemblance to his 'adopted' son. That also explained why Lai was on the train with Deandre, which Amarissa assumed was because he was babysitting, or something, she never thought about it.

Before Amarissa left, she passed Ricardo and hissed in his ear, "Be careful with this one. She's a bit of a sass-mouth."

Ricardo cracked a smile. "Hey, sis, that's why I like her."

Amarissa stared at her brother in amazement. First Tiffany, now Lai? Her bro was such a player for a twelve year old boy. Ricardo turned away from her and spoke to Lai, making her laugh as they drew up their plans. Apparently, they were going to build a Paper-Mache volcano and demonstrate how they worked. Amarissa remembered that project back in seventh grade. It literally blew up in her face.

Speaking of projects, Amarissa had to work on her very own – history. And biology. Not only were they required to gather the cheek cells of themselves, but also of their parents. They were now studying the topic of genetics, and apparently Ms Dawson wanted to "demonstrate how similar our DNA is to our parents, seeing as they conceived us."

Amarissa had cringed at the word "conceive." It wasn't a pretty word to describe the miracle of life – sex.

Thankfully, her parents had broken up their love fest and isolated themselves in their work. Bonita was an interior designer, and she was in the study, looking at a selection of paint colors. That was how their parents had met, Amarissa remembered. They had both been working on a house. Julio was constructing it and Bonita came in after that to work on its interior design. It was a match made in house heaven.

"Mom, can you give me some saliva?" Amarissa asked, handing her a swab stick.

Bonita took it, squinting at it with a bemused expression. "Isn't this an ear-wax picker?" she noted.

Amarissa rolled her eyes. "No, Mom, in this case, it's to collect DNA. Now start swabbing!" clearly, Ms Dawson had rubbed off on her. No pun intended.

"You don't think we are your real parents?" Bonita frowned.

"Mother, it is homework! For biology, we have to collect our parents' DNA sample. So, please, Mom, just do it." It was kind of pathetic that Amarissa had to beg her mum for her saliva sample.

Bonita gave in and swabbed the inside of her cheek, handing it back to Amarissa, who sealed it in a zip-lock bag. "Thank you for your co-operation."

Next was her father. But he was just as impossible. "Should I spit on it?" he asked.

Amarissa sighed, running a hand down her face. "Dad, just rub the inside of your cheek. And please! No spitting!"

Julio winked. "Only kidding, mija. I know how it works. I take samples from your mom daily."

Amarissa shuddered. She did not need to know that.

Amarissa retired to her bedroom, which was designed by her mother, before she was born. The walls were what Bonita called a "beau blue" and the ceiling was a "sugar-sand" white. In the corner she had her very own oak desk, and her queen size bed was smack-bang in the middle of the wall, accompanied by an oak bedside table. Her room was also connected to her very own bathroom, which came in handy in the mornings when she needed her private pampering time.

Her sketchbook lay on her desk, open to a blank page where she had stared at it for a while. Amarissa slid into her comfy desk chair and picked up a pencil, twiddling it in her fingers. Deandre had told her to draw herself, but at the same time, she was scared. Not scared of the drawing itself, but what she would see when she finished. What if she messed it up and made herself look hideous? What if she drew what she saw, and that wasn't enough?

Amarissa decided to close the sketch book and lean it against her desk on the floor, opening her laptop to work on her history. She had basically finished putting together her profile on herself. All she had to do was print it. She had taken Bonita's advice and used some of the photos, which she had scanned, some of the photos which had been taken at that remote island.

Amarissa scrolled through her profile, hovering for a second on the photo of her father holding her and the ambiguous shadow in the trees behind them. She zoomed in, studying the shadows, but it was hard to tell if her eyes were tricking her again of there really was someone there. Something about that shipwreck and island story seemed bizarre yet significant, as if it was a turning point in her parents' lives. They had lived for a week in a house made of trees, surviving on cooked fish and coconuts. It was just like the movie Blue Lagoon, but instead of Emmeline and Richard having a son, they had a daughter– her. 

Amarissa only wondered what would have happened if they had stayed on that island. She would be an Island Princess. Ha. In her dreams.

Her laptop suddenly chimed, and Amarissa checked to see a message from Tamsin on Viber.

Hey. It read.

Amarissa typed back, Sup?

A few seconds later, Tamsin replied with, Can I call you?

Before she could answer, the Viber call tone rang, and Amarissa accepted the call, switching her webcam on for a face-to-face chat with Tamsin, who looked...sad.

"What's wrong, babe?" she asked.

Tamsin sighed, her hazel eyes glancing down at her nails, which were painted electric blue this time. "I'm in deep, Riss."

"What do you mean, Tams?"

Tamsin gazed through the camera, her face beautiful even with the harsh grainy image of a Viber face-chat. "You know how Tyler and I have been going out for, like, a week now?"

Amarissa nodded, letting her continue.

"Well, he asked me to," Tamsin closed her eyes, as if it was going to be painful to utter the next three words, "Meet his parents."

"That's great!" Amarissa exclaimed. But Tamsin did not look too thrilled about it. "It's not great?"

Tamsin shook her head. "No, because that means he's committed. And that he likes me. And that he likes me enough to meet his mom and dad, who are rich and really, really stuck up. Remember when his mother visited the school once to work on the parent council?"

Amarissa remembered. Tyler's mother, Teresa, was as cool as a glass of tequila, minus the alcohol. She would look straight through you with her icy-blue eyes, which Tyler had inherited, and judge you within the few seconds you were in her way, scrutinizing you until you were the size of an atom. And if you ever dared to talk to her...well, then, be sure to bring some tissues along and a heavy dose of self-esteem supplement, because she would disregard whatever you say and insult you in the process.

"Yep, I remember. Cold as ice and not very nice."

"I'm scared, Amarissa. She's not going to like me, I know it. And if she doesn't like me, then how can Tyler?" Tamsin moaned.

Amarissa wished she could reach out to her friend through the screen and hold her, stroking her honey-brown locks and assuring her that everything would be alright. "How could anyone not like you, Tammy? You're amazing!"

"Amazing's not good enough," Tamsin grumbled, bringing her knees up to her chest in the chair she sat in. her makeup looked smudged and faded, and her hair was out and scraggly.

"Well, if it isn't good enough for Teresa, then clearly Tyler doesn't deserve you," Amarissa advised. "If he needs his mother's approval of you, he isn't worth it. In fact, you should reconsider even dating a sleaze like him."

Tamsin's head jerked up from her knees and cried indignantly, "Tyler is NOT a sleaze! And he is so worth it. Have you seen the looks girls at school give me? They envy me!"

Amarissa was bewildered at the mixed signals her friend was giving her. First she wanted Tyler, then she didn't want him, then she wanted him again. She could see how boys were confused by the constant mood-swings of girls. It confused Amarissa too.

"Are you only dating him to gain popularity points or because you genuinely like him?" Amarissa asked the real question.

"Both?" Tamsin mumbled sheepishly. "But I want to be with him! Just...not deal with his mother. Or father."

Amarissa shook her head. "Tamsin, you gotta face the full music – not just the instrumental, or the vocals, but both at the same time! If you want Tyler, you have to make peace with his parents as well. Plus, they may be your in-laws someday..."

"Whoa, whoa, back it up, babe, I ain't here for the long-haul," Tamsin said, giving Amarissa a taste of the sassy best friend she knew and loved.

"Then what are you here for?" Amarissa questioned earnestly.

Tamsin sighed. "This is all new to me, Amarissa. To be honest, I don't know what I'm doing."

"No one ever does. But that's the beauty of it, Tams. It's a river of never-ending possibilities," Amarissa said wisely.

Tamsin cocked her head and smirked. "You know, for someone who's scared of boys, you sound surprisingly experienced."

Amarissa scoffed. "I am not scared of boys. They just...intrigue me."

"Well, thanks for the advice, Riss. I think I'm gonna do it. Meet his parents. Do the whole polite small-talk thing," Tamsin decided. "Hopefully it goes well."

"Let me know," Amarissa smiled, glad her friend felt better. "Also, find out if they own a private jet, or maybe a yacht –"

"Amarissa Fernandez!" Tamsin scolded with the shadow of a smile, which eventually took over her whole face. She winked and added, "Of course I will."

Amarissa ended the chat, feeling exhausted. She was a week away from being seventeen and already she felt old and wise, giving out advice like it was lemonade. Someday, Amarissa really would be experienced, and then she could give real advice, from real memories.

Memories with Deandre.

****

"You know, Deandre keeps talking about you," Lai hissed to Amarissa as they stood at the door, bidding her goodbye.

Amarissa raised her eyebrows and gasped, "Oh, really?"

Lai laughed. "No! I was just seeing what your reaction would be if I told you that."

Amarissa pouted. "That's not funny, Lai."

"Well, I think it was funny," Ricardo chimed in, laughing a little forcibly for Lai's benefit. Lai, however, did not look impressed.

"You need to work on your fake laugh, Ricky," she said flatly, crossing her arms.

Amarissa glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost eight o'clock. She had been here for two hours, working with Ricardo. Though from what Amarissa could tell, they weren't doing much work.

"Anyway, I think you should be going now," Amarissa recommended.

Lai pulled out her phone, glancing at the lock screen. "Actually, I'm waiting for my bro to pick me up," she told her.

"Deandre?" Amarissa said as casually as she could without sounding excited. Deandre was coming – to her apartment! If Tamsin thought she was scared of boys, she would laugh at her reaction now. Amarissa wasn't scared – she was intrigued.

A knock at the door nearly knocked her heart out of its cage. Amarissa braced herself as Lai opened the door and Ricardo waved her goodbye. However, Amarissa was only just saying hello.

"Amarissa!" Deandre looked surprised. "You're Ricardo's sister?"

Amarissa nodded. "Believe it or not, I am related to this mutant," she said jokingly, ruffling Ricardo's spiky hair. He had put way too much gel in, making it look stiff and sharp. "Hey!" he protested. "Don't mess with the hair!"

Lai inspected his hair for a second, then shrugged. "I think it looks better."

Ricardo flashed her a smile. "Thanks."

"You should be thanking me," Amarissa teased.

Lai rolled her eyes again. "Let's go, Dre."

Deandre hesitated in the doorway, penetrating Amarissa with his eyes, which swirled with grey in the inflorescent lighting. "Wait a minute, Lai."

Lai followed his gaze, and raised her eyebrows knowingly. "OK, bro." she stood in the hallway with Ricardo, who talked about his hair, while Deandre stepped inside. He wore his trademark navy hoodie and a grey beanie, making his eyes stand out even more. He shoved his hands into his jeans and nodded at her.

"So...you live here?"

"Pretty much," she answered.

After a few beats of silence, Deandre asked, "Did you do it?"

Amarissa blinked "Do what?"

Deandre looked sheepish for a second. "You know...draw yourself."

Amarissa sighed. "No. I can't."

"Why not? You could draw me, so you could draw anyone," Deandre said.

"It's not that easy," Amarissa admitted.

"Well, take it from a fellow artist – art is not supposed to be easy," Deandre said, taking a step forward.

"You're an artist?" Amarissa queried in interest.

"Actually, I'm a street artist."

Amarissa's eyes widened. "You mean like...graffiti?"

Deandre shrugged. "I do some here and there with the boys. Nothing too special."

"Can I see it?" Amarissa blurted out. "Your art, I mean."

Something twinkled in Deandre's eyes, something that looked a lot like mischief.

"How about tomorrow night?" he suggested. "The boys and I are going out for a graffiti run. You can see us in action."

"Isn't it illegal?" Amarissa inquired cautiously.

Deandre's eyes gleamed. "That's the whole thrill of it."

"Have you ever been caught?" Amarissa asked curiously.

"Being caught is the best part about it," Deandre replied huskily, his eyes daring her, no, encouraging her, to join him. How could she say no to jungle eyes?

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Amarissa said nonchalantly, reaching out her arm to lean against the wall, but this casual gesture only resulted in her palm sliding down, causing her to lose her balance.

Deandre steadied her, his hand on her other arm, grinning. "You really have a bad habit of falling," he remarked.

Falling for you, Amarissa thought.

"Good thing you were there to catch me," Amarissa said breathlessly.

"Yeah. Good thing," Deandre murmured, keeping his eyes on her as he left through the door. She could hear his tiger-voice call Lai's name, saying it was time to go. Ricardo slipped back inside looking red in the face.

Amarissa looked at her brother suspiciously. "What's up with you?"

Ricardo furrowed his brow. "That Deandre guy seems awfully familiar," he muttered.

"Maybe you saw him on the subway?" Amarissa suggested.

Ricardo shook his head, the bruise on his cheek healing slowly to a soft pink. It had only been a week ago, but she still simmered with anger at what those guys had done to Ricardo. If only she could hunt them down...she'd show them not to mess with Ricardo Lorenzo Fernandez. Only she was allowed to do that.

"I don't think it was the subway," Ricardo said faintly as Amarissa shut the door.

"Then where?"

Ricardo shrugged. "Somewhere."

Trust her brother to give her an essay of details. Amarissa decided to just let it go, because it was now her favorite time of the night - Jacuzzi time.