I was at the school library during my lunch break, eyes skimming over the backs of book titles, when I got a text from my dad.

Baba❤️: Your mama and I are going out tonight

Okay, can I order out then

Baba❤️: Ya.

We'll invite your Aunt Naomi over. You two can watch something on the TV or play video games together.

Liked a message.

I reached forward and pulled a book from the shelf by its spine. My eyes scanned the blurb and then traveled down to the author's name. I put the book back. I finally found something that interested me—a retelling of the Greek myths of Medusa, Hades, and Achilles set in a fantasy Bengal—and I hugged all three. The books felt like treasure—the kind of treasure that makes your eyes water at the thought of finally finding something your body yearned for.

The librarian looked up from her computer and smiled when she saw me with a stack of books in my hands. After getting the books checked out, I sat on one of the tables and cracked open the first one. Aiming for the spot of valedictorian meant most of my reading was nonfiction. But not today. Today, I wanted to be in Bangladesh, even if it was fictional.

I was so engrossed in the story that I was only vaguely aware of the movement of people around me. At last, the bell rang, signaling that this period was over. I turned in my seat to retrieve a bookmark from my bag when I let out a little gasp.

Valentino was on his laptop next to me.

"Hey," he said casually, glancing at the astonished look on my face. I was too flustered to notice he was holding back a laugh.

"I had no idea you were right there," I breathed, trying not to overthink whether Valentino's choice to sit with me meant something or if he was expecting me to say something because he did.

"Yeah, I know." Valentino paused. "Must be one hell of a book. Medieval Bangladesh," he added, almost in a whisper.

His words were so soft. I wanted to tell him about my desperation to know my Bengali side—maybe he'd understand since he's Salvadoran—but it wouldn't escape my throat.

"The book's good, yeah," was what came out of my mouth. "We should also get going to class!" My brain retreated to safety, back to thinking about school, and I began putting my things away. "The late bell will ring soon." I looked at the CrusadEon Online tab on his screen and wondered if now was a good time to tell him about Tireya. "You have precalculus now, right?" I asked instead, pushing myself off my chair. The feet of the furniture grated on the floor below, and I winced at the sound.

"Yeah...I'll be there once I finish up this quest."

"Okay. See ya later!"

Valentino smiled at me, and I turned away with a blush. I honestly wished I'd put down the book sooner so we could've spent the half-hour getting to know each other like we did the other day. But whatever! Valentino spent his lunch period with me. And there was nobody this time to stare and remind me how difficult it was to put my feelings on pause when what I wanted wasn't exactly religious of me.

* * *

Aunt Naomi arrived at the house later that afternoon. I hugged my parents goodbye and watched them drive out of the garage. I turned around and went to the living room, where Aunt Naomi was unpacking her two duffel bags and slapping piles of papers onto the coffee table. I loved all of the noise.

"One day, I'll be rich enough to make getaways like that," she said.

"Being a professor that bad on the bank?"

"Sadly," Aunt Naomi said with a sigh.

"Is your fiancé okay with you spending the night here?"

Aunt Naomi smiled a little. "He's out of town."

"He's always out of town," I rolled my eyes. "Want something to drink?" I added, heading to the kitchen.

"No, thank you, though!" Aunt Naomi shouted.

I ignored her, got one of my mom's guest-only glass cups from the glass shelf in the living room, and readied a kettle for tea.

Leaving the kettle on the stove, I returned to the living room. Aunt Naomi retrieved a gaming console from one of her bags. I jumped to sync it to the TV.

"You got any homework?" Aunt Naomi asked. "We can do that first before we play anything."

It was my turn to sigh. "Yeah, I got precalculus. Everything else is finished."

"Let me take a look?"

I ran to my room to fetch my notebook. Aunt Naomi's eyes looked it over. She wrinkled her nose and then looked up.

"Yikes. Definitely wait for your mom and dad for that. You got the rest of the weekend anyway," she added.

"All right." I settled on the couch beside the duffel bags with my feet on the coffee table. "Wait! Let me take a photo of this." I rushed to my room to grab my polaroid. I steadied it while Aunt Naomi purposely stood still in the middle of the living room, surrounded by the gaming consoles and her stuff. "Done!" I shouted and left both the picture and camera on my computer desk.

Two games in, Aunt Naomi said, "You've gotten better!"

I beamed. It had to be because I was playing CrusadEon with Valentino.

"I have another version, but I didn't bring it with me. Next time, we should play at my place whenever you get the chance. Keep me company during those awful grading nights during finals week."

"Sure! You're only a few bus stops from us, so I don't think my mom has any reason to say no."

"Yep, and I have delicious chocolate mint tea that I know you're gonna love—"

I bolted upright at the mention of the drink. "The tea!" I cried.

"What?" Aunt Naomi furrowed her eyebrows.

"The tea!" I cried again and took off to the kitchen. Aunt Naomi wasn't far behind me.

The water in the kettle had dried up. All that was left was the hissing sound of the fire heating an empty pot. I reached for the handle when a swift hand stopped me.

"Don't touch," Aunt Naomi said. "You'll burn your hand."

I bit my lower lip and watched my aunt turn off the stove with a swipe of a finger, then retrieve a small towel to grab the kettle's handle and lift it high over the sink. She tilted it to look at the bottom.

"Good," she sighed. "It's not burned."

I exhaled, and my face flamed when Aunt Naomi turned to me.

"Y'know, I know someone who used to burn food because he was too distracted. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"There's apple juice in the fridge if you want," I muttered, embarrassed. I knew she was talking about Baba cooking to impress Mama in college.

"Sure, but let's not mess anything else up, okay?" She grinned. "We want to give your parents a break, not something to worry about." She curled a strand of hair behind her ear.

Noticing that some of them were gray, I moved to hug her. Aunt Naomi always come to the rescue whenever my parents needed to leave me at home alone. Aunt Naomi introduced the idea of scrapbooking to me when I first complained that I was the only kid in elementary school who didn't have a family outside of a mom and dad.

"Thanks, Aunt Naomi. I don't know how we'd ever manage without you," I whispered.

Aunt Naomi's hazel, green-flecked eyes were full of some unspoken emotion.

"I've known your parents throughout our college days, and they've been by my side through a lot of—how do I say it—ups and downs in my life, too." She gave me a squeeze and looked straight into my eyes. "I'm glad to be a part of your family and wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world."

Squeezing back, I whispered, "I'm glad you're part of our family, too."

Aunt Naomi opened her mouth to say something else when she stopped to look at her smartwatch. "God, why's she like this?" she grimaced.

"Huh?" I pulled away.

"Your mom is texting me already," she explained, and I shook my head at my mama's paranoia. "Yeesh. I'm going to block her."

I glanced at the screen on the fridge as I opened the door to retrieve juice. It was almost half past six. Valentino was probably online. Well, maybe not. It was Friday evening; his coach would probably have them practice longer than usual because they didn't meet on weekends—I knew that because Valentino told Tireya in-game, not because I was a stalker.

I decided tomorrow would be a CrusadEon Online type of day.

"What should we have for dinner?" Aunt Naomi asked as I poured our drinks.

"Something that'll go well with ice cream afterward," I suggested.

"Good idea," Aunt Naomi agreed. "Let's go for pizza."

My phone buzzed in her pocket. I took a look. "It's my mom," I said.

"Ugh. Don't answer her."

I stuffed my phone into my pocket and handed Aunt Naomi a glass. She nodded her thanks and, leaning against the kitchen island, downed half the juice. I raised my eyebrows.

"I thought you weren't thirsty," I joked.

"Well, I almost saved this house from a fire—" Aunt Naomi winked, "—I think I deserve a little reward."

"It wasn't that bad!" I shot back. "I'm a decent cook. And I'll prove it!" I turned away to grab the nonstick pan from one of the lower cupboards. "I'll make you my dad's famous omelets. They're gonna taste better than the pizza because the secret ingredient is adding a slice of cheese in the center."

My aunt laughed. "Is it a secret if you tell me?"

I paused. The house spoke back to me, and all I heard was nothing. My hand curled the pan's handle tighter than usual. Aunt Naomi was still smiling, but her eyes narrowed a bit in my silence.

I wanted to tell her, "Might as well since you're the only one who visits this house. Ever." 

Instead, I released my grip on the handle and went back to the fridge to grab two eggs. This is my normal. I'm not going to break down over it.

I forced a smile over my shoulder at Aunt Naomi and said, "Of course. We're family!"