"System processing…assessing combat capabilities…major damage still present in 50% of systems, direct engagement of targets inadvisable."
The Cloakbot finished running a diagnostic on its systems as it slowly continued repairing itself. The process had been much slower than it had hoped, hampered even more by the fact that its energy scanner was damaged and it hadn't found a way to repair it. Occasionally it snuck down from its hiding place in the mountains to try and scavenge parts for itself in the human city, but it seemed that human technology was not advanced enough to provide it with the repair parts it needed. It's most recent scan advised it against facing Anne directly as it was worried it wasn't strong enough to kill her. Still the Cloakbot knew it had to complete its mission and decided to try a different approach. It looked around the mountains it was currently hiding on until it saw a large array of antennae off in the distance.
"Energy sensor unresponsive will attempt to hack into local frequencies," it said, with that, it made its way over to the antennas hoping it would pick up some communication that would lead it to Anne.
"I hereby call this meeting of the school paper to order," said Jesse Bliss to the gathered students in the classroom. There weren't many others, a boy and two girls, one of whom didn't look up from her phone, while the other seemed to only be interested in the snacks that were on the teacher's desk.
"Eh-hum," said Jesse to Desi, "we're starting the meeting."
"Yeah I know, but let me get a soda and snack first," said Desi still looking at the snack table, before joining the others sitting down at a desk, loudly sipping her soda.
"Oh wait there are snacks?" said Cindy suddenly getting up from her seat and going over to the snack table.
"Really?! Now you want a snack?" said Jesse to Cindy.
"Yes actually," replied Cindy in a firm voice, not intimidated by Jesse. She walked over to the table before choosing a snack and returning to her seat glaring at Jesse.
"So what's this meeting about?" asked Desi.
"Okay, listen up," barked Jesse to the other three gathered there, "rumors are floating around that Luz Noceda and Anne Boonchuy, who was said to have run away together have finally returned. What do we have on that?"
"Uh we don't have anything," answered Desi, "all we have right now are rumors."
"I mean Gaby says she saw them at the mall, but she says a lot of things that aren't true," added Rico.
"Right so then it's time we find out whether it's true or not," said Jesse, "a story like this could explode on our blog. Everyone in school will be talking about it!" Jesse gave off a devilish grin before adding, "hello one hundred thousand followers!"
"So what exactly is your plan then?" asked Cindy in a disinterested voice, not looking up from her phone.
"My plan is to get photo evidence that the two are back, then come up with a juicy story for why they left," said Jesse.
"I mean we could just ask Anne, see if she'll tell us the story?" suggested Rico.
"Rico, it's called a gossip blog for a reason," said Jesse, "no one said the story has to be true."
"Didn't you already start a blog about how they ran away together?" asked Cindy finally looking up from her phone, though as she did she turned her phone so that Jesse could see the story she was referring to.
"Yes I did," said Jesse, "but unfortunately I didn't even get one hundred hits on that. Barely anyone read it."
"Gee I wonder why?" asked Rico sarcastically. Jesse glared at him.
"So now you suddenly care about getting the "true" story," asked Desi.
"I care about getting a "believable" story," replied Jesse, "I realize that my previous gossip post had far too many holes for it to be believable. What I need is just a little bit of the truth so that the story at least sounds plausible. Then I can exaggerate all I want!"
"Ah I see, I guess that is how good gossip works," said Rico.
"Shouldn't we care about getting the real story?" asked Desi, "I mean Luz and Anne were both gone for a long time. I have to imagine there's an actual interesting story in there somewhere."
"Well if you want to bother to find it then be my guest," said Jesse, "feel free to interview Anne and get the real story, but I bet you mine will get more hits than yours."
Desi looked as though she was going to say something in response, but didn't.
"Hey I have a thought," said Rico, "how do we even know that the girls who returned are Anne and Luz? What if they were replaced by some shapeshifting demons?"
"Ugh really," said Cindy giving him a look, "you need to stop reading that crazy guy's blog, he posts nothing but junk on it."
"I mean he has a pretty interesting theory about witches and demons and the real reason they're here," said Rico, "and hey I mean if we're all aspiring bloggers we should take a cue from this guy he has a lot of followers."
"Rico we care about legitimate gossip," said Jesse, "remember our story has to be "believable" there's no way you're going to convince everyone that shapeshifting demons are real!"
"So what exactly do you need us for then?" asked Desi, again sipping loudly on her soda.
"I need you to help me gather information on the girls," said Jesse, "I figure we'll split up, you two follow Anne while Cindy and I will take Luz."
"Okay sounds like a plan," agreed Rico.
"So you're sure this new gossip blog will help tank Sasha's reputation?" asked Cindy, "cause that's the only reason I'm here. It's about time that high and mighty blonde got knocked down a peg or two."
"I'm sure it will," said Jesse.
"So what exactly is this place again?" asked Luz to her mother.
"It's a monthly event that happens at this temple," explained her mother, "A lot of people come in and set up their stalls and such. The Boonchuys have a food stall where they sell food and advertise their restaurant.
"Oh so Anne's going to be there?" asked Luz, her face lighting up upon learning that.
"Yes, she is," said her mother, who noticed Luz's smile, "I figured we could go and give them a hand, plus it will be nice to see all the other members of the Thai Community, a lot of them want to meet you."
"Wait want to meet me?" asked Luz.
"Yes," said Camila, "you see when you were missing Oum and I went to the Thai community and asked them to help pass out flyers for you and Anne."
"Oh wow, that was nice of them," said Luz.
"That's why I think we should go to this market day," said Camila, "plus they have some activities there that I think you might like."
"Oh cool, sounds nice," said Luz.
"Is it okay if I stay here?" asked Amara, "I don't feel like getting all disguised again. Plus I can keep doing some research while you two are out."
"Sure if that's what you want," said Luz.
"Call us if you need anything," said Camila. With that the two headed out the door towards the car, as they did Luz could have sworn she heard some sort of weird clicking sound, she turned around and noticed two girls hiding behind bushes and taking pictures of her.
"Hey!" she yelled coming over to them. Cindy and Jesse realized they were caught and ran from their hiding spot. As they ran Jesse tripped and skinned her knee, though she quickly got up and continued running. Luz chased after them until they had run down the block and out of site. Luz eventually stopped as she realized she wouldn't be able to catch them. Camila came up after Luz.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Arrg I thought I recognized them," growled Luz, "that's Jesse and Cindy, two girls from the school's gossip blog. Jesse is the one who started a rumor about why I went missing."
"What was the rumor Mija?" asked Camilla.
Luz paused, not wanting to say the whole rumor, though she realized she could say a part of it.
"She said you kicked me out of the house," said Luz.
"What?!" said Camila in surprise, "why does she think anyone would believe that?"
"Cause it's school gossip," said Luz, "all she cares about is getting a good story for her blog."
"Aye Que puta!" said Camila causing Luz to turn and look at her mom in surprise. Camila quickly brought her hand to her mouth looking shocked that she said that.
"Mom, nice!" said Luz grinning in approval, "didn't know you had it in you."
"I mean….you shouldn't say things like that Luz," said Camila trying to recover, "that was wrong of me, I lost my temper."
"Still it was awesome!" said Luz.
"Aye, I shouldn't be setting a bad example for you, Luz, come on, let's get going!" With that, the two got into the car and took off for the temple. Luz noticed that her mom had put a lot of empty Tupperware containers in the back seat.
"But Mom!" exclaimed Anne, "I need to stay home and keep researching a way to get the Plantars back. It's super important!"
"So is this!" replied Oum, "Anne you've been spending all day on your computer trying to do "research" but haven't come up with anything new, you need to take a break. Plus the Thai community hasn't seen you since you came back and this is the perfect opportunity."
"But-" began Anne, she was going to say more but at that moment Oum's phone rang. Oum took out her phone and answered it.
"Hello? Oh, Camila good to hear from you. Yes, we're packing up the car right now actually. Okay, we'll see you there." Oum hung up her phone and looked at Anne.
"That was Camila," said Oum, "she just called to tell me she's on her way to the temple too," after a pause she added, "and she's bringing Luz."
"Oh Luz is gonna be there," said Anne, Anne had been wanting to talk to Luz face to face ever since their trip to the mall so this would be a good opportunity to finally do that. Plus it had been a few weeks since she'd seen Luz. Her face forming into a smile, Oum noticed this.
"But if you're sure you don't want to come…." said Oum in a playful voice.
"Wait, uh maybe I can stop by for a bit," said Anne, picking up some of the boxes next to her mother and helping her load them into the car, "and hey you're right it has been a while since I've been so may as well go." Her mother gave a coy smile as she did.
"So what is this market day thing anyway?" asked Hop-pop as he helped load some wrapped plates into the car.
"It's a monthly all-day event at the Thai Temple," explained Bee, "everyone gathers for food, music, sport, dance, and Thai language school. It's uh…." Bee trailed off as he focused on the bushes behind Anne where two kids were hiding and trying to take pictures of her. Anne turned around to see what her dad was looking at.
"Hey I see you!" she exclaimed, "Desi! Rico!" The two quickly dashed away as soon as they were caught.
"What was that all about?" asked her dad.
"Ugh," began Anne in disgust, "nosy gossip bloggers from the school paper, trying to get an exclusive photo of "the girl who went missing."
Ohh! Well I got some photos they can use," said Bee pulling out his phone, "here's you eating spaghetti when you were two. Oh and here's you when you were"
"DAD!" exclaimed Anne in embarrassment, "oh my gosh stop!"
"Never!" said Bee running away and raising his phone out of reach of his daughter.
"Dad please," said Anne, "promise me you'll never show Luz those photos."
"No promises," said Bee. Anne groaned.
Cindy and Jesse eventually stopped running once they realized they were no longer being pursued by Luz. Jesse bent down to rub her knee and saw a small amount of blood.
"Dang it, seriously?!" she said, "this is all Luz's fault!"
"How is it Luz's fault?" asked Cindy, "you were the one who fell."
"She shouldn't have noticed us," shot back Jesse.
"I mean maybe we shouldn't have been so close," replied Cindy.
"We needed to get some good pictures!" said Jesse, "how else would we have gotten them if we weren't close."
Cindy paused not quite sure how to respond to that, though she did eventually speak, "should we go back and see if she's still there?"
"Yeah sure let's go slowly so they don't notice us," said Jesse, the two began walking slowly back towards Luz's house. Though as they did a car came by them on the street and drove through a puddle getting water and mud all over Jesse.
"Ahh my clothes!" she exclaimed as she tried desperately to get the mud off her. Cindy couldn't help but laugh at Jesse's misfortune. Jesse quickly turned to her.
"Stop that it's not funny," she screamed.
"It's a little funny," said Cindy still trying not to laugh. Jesse glared at her. At that moment her phone rang and she answered it.
"Hello?" she said into her phone, "Desi? What do you mean Anne saw you? Arrg did you at least get some good pics? Okay good…she's what? Going to a temple? Hmmm Okay follow her and see what you can get. We'll meet you there."
The two continued walking back to the house, as they got closer they noticed movement in one of the windows.
"I thought Luz and her mother left," said Cindy intrigued by the movement.
"Yeah me too," said Jesse, "wonder who's still inside? Let's get a closer look."
The two began sneaking closer to the house trying to peek into the window to see who was still inside. The figure moved away from the window and towards a room in the back of the house. As it did Jesse got a quick look at her and gasped. The figure turned around and Jesse ducked not wanting to be seen.
"I think there's some sort of weird monster in there!" said Jesse to Cindy.
"What?" what do you mean?" asked Cindy confused.
"The thing walking inside it didn't look human," said Jesse.
Cindy let out a sigh, "seriously? Now you're jumping on the Rico crazy train?!"
"No I swear!" said Jesse, "I saw something in there that had a tail!"
Cindy moved closer to the window and looked into it, but didn't see anything.
"There's nothing in there," she said.
"Well now there isn't, it got scared off," said Jesse, "but there was something! We need to get into the house and see what it is!"
"Oh now you want to break into a house?!" said Cindy incredulously.
"Hey I thought you fancied yourself a tough girl," shot back Jesse, "you have no problem shaking down other girls for locker money, but you don't want to break into a house!"
"I know my limits," said Cindy, "being the biggest bully at school is one thing, but I am not going to risk going to juvie where I know there are tougher girls there than me."
Jesse was going to say something, but at that moment the front door opened, seemingly on its own, the two girls shared a look before moving towards the door.
"Well it's not breaking and entering if the door is opened?" said Jesse. Cindy was going to protest but held back her retort following Jesse into the house. There were no lights on inside and the curtains had been drawn to try and block out the sun.
"Hello is anyone here?" called Jesse.
"Help is someone there?!" called a voice, and with that a figure stepped into the living room. It had a cloak on covering its face.
"Who are you?" asked Cindy to the figure.
"Oh thank goodness someone else is here," said the figure approaching the girls, "are you two from Luz's school?"
"Yes," said Cindy.
"Oh no, you haven't been mean to her have you?" asked the figure.
"What? Why?" asked Jesse looking concerned.
"Well I know it seems impossible but Luz knows how to do magic!" said the figure.
Cindy rolled her eyes at this, "oh come on, how stupid do you think we are?"
"It's true! You see…" said the figure, "I went to Luz's old school the one she attended before St. James, but I made fun of her a lot."
Cindy and Jesse looked at each other worry on their faces.
"Then I ran into her the other day and made fun of her again," continued the figure, "but she had learned to do magic, and…she transformed me into a newt!"
Jesse and Cindy both let out a laugh at this, "oh good one," said Jesse, "you had me going there for a sec. Ha! Ha! Ha!"
"Yeah, you'll have to try a lot harder than that to fool us," said Cindy.
"No it's true!" said the figure, "she turned me into a newt and said she'd only turn me back if I apologized to her and promised to never bully her again. I'm trying to warn you! Don't mess with Luz or the same thing will happen to you!"
"Okay," said Cindy with a smug look on her face, "I think it's time we end this charade." She came up to the figure and in one motion pulled the cloak off her.
Cindy and Jesse stared at the creature their eyes going wide in shock! Under the cloak, there was indeed a human-looking newt with long brown hair. They both looked at it for a second before both letting out a scream! They both turned and ran out of the house struggling to put as much distance between themselves and the newt! As they got to the curb Jesse tripped and fell into a thorn bush. Cindy noticed but didn't stop to help her instead continuing to run away.
"Cindy!" called Jesse, "get back here and help me!"
"You're on your own!" called Cindy as she ran back to where her bike was parked quickly getting on it and peddling away.
Jesse managed to slowly extricate herself from the thorn bush, though she winced almost every time she moved as the thorns kept poking her. As she got up she looked down at her clothes, which were all torn and ragged. She looked over at her arms and legs and saw she had scrapes all over her body.
Jesse let out a loud growl before pulling out her phone and calling Desi, "Hey Desi, status update? Oh, Anne is at the Thai temple? Great I just found out that Luz is on her way there too. Wait for me there. I'm on my way."
Jesse hung up her phone, as she did many miles away in the San Gabriel Mountains, her call had been overheard by the Cloakbot, it had hacked into the antenna system on the top of Mount Wilson and had been eagerly listening for any information it could use to track down its prey. It used its systems to look up the location of the Thai Temple. While it still wasn't combat-ready it had another trick up its sleeve to deal with the girls.
"Launching drones," it said in its mechanical voice. It opened up its head and released a large number of dragonfly-looking drones. The Cloakbot watched as the drones headed toward their destination.
As the Boonchuys arrived at the Temple Anne and the Plantars helped carry supplies from the car to where they were setting up their booth. The Plantars all marveled at the temple.
"Just look at this place," said Sprig taking in the sights.
"The stalls sort of remind me of Wartwood," said Hop-pop.
"Look there's even a statue," said Sprig.
Polly walked over to the bulletin board that was near the statue, and as she did she noticed a picture pinned to it. Polly looked closer and saw that Anne was in that picture, though she looked a few years younger.
"Huh, no way," said Polly, "is this you?"
"Yep I've been coming here since I was a kid," replied Anne, "it seems cool at first, but believe me it gets old quick."
"Hey there's another picture here of you and Luz," said Sprig pointing to the picture.
"Huh?" said Anne, she moved closer to the bulletin board to see the picture Sprig was talking about. Anne realized it was a missing person's flyer! The flyer had a picture of both her and Luz on it as well as details of their appearances and the date they had last been seen on. There was also a number on there to call to report information.
"Oh right, we should probably take those down now that you're back," said Oum coming up to the bulletin board and removing the flyer. Anne thought about asking something but decided not to.
The group left the center area of the temple and headed off to help set up the Boonchuys booth. After a few minutes, they had finished setting up their booth and Oum came over to where Anne was putting a hat on her head, and pulling her hair back into a ponytail.
"You're on sample duty," she said.
"Mom….do I have to wear the hat?" complained Anne.
"What's wrong you don't like the hat?" said her mother.
"I just…well….does the hat make me look too much like a kid?" asked Anne with a worried look on her face.
"You are a kid," said Bee coming over, "you're my kid!"
"Dad…." said Anne rolling her eyes.
"You've always worn the hat, why don't you like it anymore?" asked Bee.
Anne didn't reply, Oum looked closely at her daughter before speaking.
"Anne if you really don't want to wear the hat you don't have to, but I think you look fine with it."
Anne looked between her mother and the hat, "you sure I look okay with it mom?"
Oum paused, she had an idea for why Anne was concerned about wearing the hat and decided to try and comfort her daughter over what she was likely thinking. She put her hand on Anne's shoulder, "trust me Anne you look fine, now stand out in the open where everyone can see you."
"Wait?!" began Anne in a panic, "by everyone you don't mean…."
A group of older women lets out a gasp seeing Anne, all of them coming towards her.
"Anne's here!" exclaimed one.
"She's back!" said another.
"Oh shoot," said Anne, "here comes the ba train."
One woman came in and pinched Anne's cheeks, "welcome back, nong Anne."
"Hi Pa Nit," said Anne bringing her hands up together.
Another woman came up to her and patted her head, "where have you been worrying your parents like that?"
"Good to see you Pa Poo," said Anne again bringing her hands together, "it was just a little misunderstanding. They forgot I was at tennis camp."
"Eh typical," said another woman.
"You got so skinny," said a fourth.
"Here eat something," said a fifth shoving a spoonful of rice into Anne's mouth.
"Okay good to see you, Anne," they all said before walking away.
"Hey what does this mean?" asked Polly about the gesture Anne had done.
"It's called a wai," said Anne, "it's how you show respect to your elders. Super important in Thai culture."
"Oh good to know respecting your elders is important in your culture as it is in Latino culture," said a voice from behind. Anne turned to see Luz and her mother approaching. Luz waved to Anne, who quickly felt embarrassed wearing the hat.
"Hello Anne, how are you doing?" asked Camila as she approached.
"Great Mrs. Noceda," said Anne involuntarily bringing up her hands in the wai pose again, after she was done she picked up her plate and offered it to Camila, "free sample?"
"Oh don't mind if I do," said Camila grabbing one of the meat sticks, "I must say, Anne, I spent a lot of time at your restaurant while you and Luz were gone, and your family has some really good food."
"Of course we do," said Oum, "the secret is family recipes."
"Oooo," said Camila, "well I happen to have some of my family recipes. I'll have to cook maduros for you sometime."
"Never had those," said Oum, "what are they?"
"They're fried plantains," said Luz coming up to Oum, "mom makes some of the best ones. I think you'd love them."
"Well maybe we can plan a gathering so that all of us can get together and exchange some food," said Bee joining the conversation.
Both Anne and Luz looked at each other, their faces smiling at the idea.
"Oh now that Luz is here I'm sure the Thai community will be eager to meet her," said Oum, she waved over to the group of elders who had just left Anne. They returned and gathered around Luz.
"Huh?" said Luz with a confused expression on her face, Anne grinned.
"So this is Anne's friend," said one of the ladies.
"Oh your mother was so worried about you," said another coming up to Luz and pinching her cheek, "she and Oum came here every weekend to pass out more flyers."
"Did you meet Anne at tennis camp?" asked a third.
"You look so skinny, you need to eat," said the one who had given Anne some rice. She took another spoonful and shoved it into Luz's mouth. Luz almost choked on the rice.
"Uhh… hi everyone," said Luz waving nervously at the elders.
"So Camila this is your daughter?" asked one of the ladies.
"Yes," said Camila coming up to Luz.
"Oh Camila talked about you a lot," said a lady, "told us all about how creative you are and how you think snakes have pajamas."
"Moooom!" said Luz, her cheeks flushing from embarrassment.
"Yes she told us how much you like that book series with the witch in it," said another coming up to her and pinching her cheeks.
"Yes….well, I uh, thank you for your concern," said Luz.
"Okay bye!" said the crowd of old ladies as they walked away. Luz was glad to see them leaving. Anne came up to her with a coy smile on her face.
"Well at least this time I wasn't the only one who had to suffer from the ba train," she said grinning at Luz.
"The ba train?" asked Luz.
"Anne stop," chided her mother, "they care about you and Luz. They are glad to see you both back."
"I know, I know," said Anne, "but they can be so….overwhelming."
"So mom how do you know them?" asked Luz.
"I've been coming here while you were missing," said Camila, "Oum introduced me to the community and they've been very friendly and welcoming to me."
"Wow, that's great," said Luz.
"In fact, I have a few dishes I need to return," said Camila, "I'm going to head back to the car."
"I have some dishes I need to get to," said Oum, she disappeared behind the stand before reappearing with a load of Tupperware. she turned back to Anne, "you keep giving out those samples. I'll be right back." With that Oum and Camila walked away.
"So hey is there anything cool to do here?" asked Sprig eagerly.
"Not really," said Anne, "I mean there are a few activities but I doubt they'd interest you."
"Can we check them out anyway?" asked Polly.
"Sure if you want," said Anne, "we're gonna be here for a bit so feel free to explore if you want, just be careful to keep those disguises on."
With that the three frogs took off to explore the market, Luz following them as they took off in various directions.
"Hey where are you going?" asked Anne.
"I just wanna explore a bit," said Luz.
"Okay, but come back," said Anne, "you can't leave me alone here on sample duty."
"I'll be right back," said Luz.
After about fifteen minutes Luz did return though she was alone without the Plantars.
"Hey, you're back," said Anne glad to see her again, especially as there was something she wanted to talk with her about. "find anything interesting?"
"The Plantars did," said Luz, "Polly stopped off at a Thai language course, Hop-pop is doing some sort of dance class, and Sprig got asked to play a weird sport."
"Really?" said Anne intrigued, "that's good to hear, though I'm sure they'll get bored with it."
"Why do you say that?" asked Luz.
"I mean I guess because none of those things interest me despite having done them most of my life," said Anne, after a moment though she had a realization, "I mean you get it don't you? You're Dominican! Did your mom ever make you do some weird cultural thing that you didn't like doing?"
Luz thought for a moment, "no not really, aside from learning Spanish. Mom and Dad spoke it around the house a lot so I picked it up being around them. But we'd also watch some programs on Spanish channels or sometimes watch a movie that was dubbed in Spanish so I picked it up that way. I imagine Thai is a lot harder to learn.
"It is," said Anne, "like super difficult. The Thai alphabet has 44 letters and 28 vowels. Mom made me come to Thai classes for years, and I can barely string a sentence together. Honestly, I think I might know more Spanish than Thai."
"What about the dance classes?" asked Luz.
"I mean those were okay," said Anne, "I had a little fun doing them when I was younger, but it just kind of got boring after a while. Not something I wanted to do after I was ten. How about you? Did your mom make you learn any Dominican dances?"
"No, not really," said Luz, "although maybe the two of us could take a meringue course and see how well we could learn it."
"Oh," said Anne smiling, "yeah maybe we could. I'd like that." Luz smiled back at her.
"As for sports," began Luz, "well I was never really into sports. They just weren't my thing so mom didn't bother with it. Although I'm sure you know that baseball is HUGE over there. I think we have the second most number of players in the MLB, there are even academies there specifically for training players and giving them a shot at entering the pros. It's a big part of Dominican culture."
"Wow!" said Anne, "sounds awesome!"
Luz hung her head, "I mean yeah kind of….there are a lot of inspiring stories about poor Dominicans training their whole life getting into the major league, and rising out of poverty. And there are so many players that have become national heroes….yet I kind of feel that we've been stereotyped by it. Like if you're Dominican people expect you to be good at baseball. Plus I don't like how it feels like it's the only way for you to have a shot at a decent life."
"Oh, I didn't think about it like that," said Anne.
"It's okay," said Luz, "you didn't know, but I'm glad you asked."
"So hey wanna get out of here?" asked Anne to Luz.
"What? Anne don't you have to stay and give out samples?" asked Luz.
Anne looked down at her plate and noticed there was only one more sample on it, "Hmm well I suppose if there were no more samples to give out then I'd have to get some more wouldn't I?" said Anne coyly, she picked up the last sample and offered it to Luz.
"Here Luz have some Moo Ping," said Anne. Luz took the sample and ate it.
"Whoa!" she said her eyes lighting up. "This is incredible! I forgot how good your family's cooking was!"
"Hey dad I just gave out the last sample you got any more?" called Anne.
"What we're out of samples already?" said Bee coming from behind the stand, "give me a second I need to make more." He went back behind the stand emerging a second later, "Ah dangit, I forgot the coconut cream in the car."
"No worries dad, I can go get it," said Anne, as she did she winked at Luz.
"Oh your mom has the keys so go find her," said Bee,
"Right," said Anne, "okay we'll be back! See ya!"
Anne grabbed Luz's hand and quickly moved away from the stand. After a moment Bee realized something.
"Hey wait a minute, didn't Oum go the other way?"
As Anne and Luz escaped from the market Anne took off the hat but realized she had nowhere to put it. She paused and looked around.
"What's wrong?" asked Luz.
"I wanted to get the hat off, but I didn't want to just throw it away either," said Anne.
"Oh you don't want to wear the hat?" asked Luz. Anne turned to look at Luz.
"It's just….I mean….do you think it makes me look too much like a kid?" Anne asked Luz.
"I think you look fine with it," answered Luz, "your poufy hair is nice, but it looks good pulled back too. The ponytail works for you."
"Oh, well thanks," said Anne putting the hat back on, now that Luz said she liked it.
"You're welcome," said Luz, "but Anne are you sure we should be ditching your parents like that? You don't want them to get worried do you?"
"No, of course not," said Anne, "they think coming to this temple and giving out samples is important, but there are more important things."
"Like what?" asked Luz.
Anne looked into Luz's eyes before replying, "like you."
Luz was taken aback by that answer but smiled at hearing Anne say that. Anne continued, "come on, there's somewhere I want to show you." She gripped Luz's hand tighter before leading her to a different part of the temple.
"So did Anne find you and get the keys?" asked Bee as his wife and Camila returned.
"No, she didn't," Oum let out a sigh before bringing her hand to her face and rubbing her forehead, "I thought Anne was acting more responsible and now she does this."
"Maybe she's still looking for you?" said Bee trying to give Anne the benefit of the doubt.
"I haven't seen Luz either," said Camila, "you think she's with Anne?"
"Well let's go look for them and see," said Oum, she motioned for Camila to follow her and the two went off in search of their daughters.
"Don't forget to stop by the car," called Bee, "I still need the coconut cream to make more Moo Ping!"
"Ugh why does Anne do this?" said Oum, "I try to make her see how important coming to the temple and interacting with the people here is and it seems like I can never get through to her. I've been signing her up for Thai language classes, dance classes, and even tried to get her into Sepak takraw."
"What's that?" asked Camila.
"Oh right, it's kick volleyball," answered Oum, "but she never shows an interest in any of them."
Camila paused before replying, "that is the hard part of being an immigrant, isn't it? Seeing your child raised in a different culture than the one you grew up in…."
Oum turned to look at Camila, she wanted to say something, but couldn't think of what to say, Camila continued.
"I used to feel that way about Luz, she's always into her fantasy books, and anime shows that I don't understand. I thought she didn't care about her roots or where she came from, but I realized I was wrong."
"How so?" asked Oum.
"Luz learned Spanish, Manny and I spoke it around the house enough, but we would sometimes turn on one of the Spanish channels and watch things on there. She picked it up well. She also showed an interest in my cooking, as she got older she would help me in the kitchen. She wanted to learn how to make a lot of the foods I cooked, so I taught her, and I'm still teaching her. Passing down recipes helps you and your child connect, and it's teaching her a skill that she'll need later in life. I enjoyed the moments when Luz and I cooked together. I realized that despite having an interest in things I didn't understand she still wanted to learn about our culture, maybe she doesn't want to learn everything, and maybe that's okay."
Oum paused absorbing everything that Camila had said. Finally, she spoke, "maybe you have a point, it's just….I want Anne to realize the value the Thai community has. I want her to know that it is important, not something she should just blow off. Also, she should stop calling the elders the "ba train."
"What does ba mean?" asked Camila.
"It means crazy," answered Oum.
"Oh…ha, I see," said Camila laughing a little, "did you tell Anne everything the community did for you and Bee while she was missing?"
"No, I didn't," replied Oum.
"Maybe you should," suggested Camila, "Maybe if Anne knew that they helped run your restaurant and gave you food she would appreciate them."
"How about you did you tell Luz?" asked Oum.
"I was going to tell her today," said Camila, "I guess she disappeared before I could."
"Well let's get back to finding them," said Oum.
The two mothers kept up their search looking around the temple, at one point they stopped by the Thai language learning room and heard a familiar voice. They glanced in and saw Polly speaking Thai rather well.
"Huh she's good at that," observed Oum, "I wonder how she learned so fast?"
The two left and continued their search running into Hop-pop as he practiced a complicated dance. Camila tried to get his attention but Oum stopped her.
"This is silent theater," she said, "not supposed to talk during the performance." Camila nodded her head and the two stayed and watched for a few minutes before continuing their search. They finally found Sprig outside on the kick volleyball court. They watched as Sprig jumped high into the air before twisting his body a few times and delivering the winning point for his team. As he landed on the ground the other players clapped and cheered for him. He noticed the two women and went over to greet them.
"Hey Mrs. B, Mrs. N, did you see me score the winning shot?" he asked.
"Yes we did," said Camila, "nice work there Sprig!"
"Did you just learn how to play kick volleyball?" asked Oum.
"Yeah, it's not that hard to learn the rules, and it looks like I'm pretty good at it, I even started working on a new trick shot," said Sprig.
"Wow you are a natural," said Oum kneeling down to Sprig, "good job pink frog."
Sprig teared up a bit at hearing Mrs. Boonchuy compliment him.
"Hey Sprig have you seen Anne or Luz anywhere?" asked Camila, "we were looking for them."
"No, I've been here this whole time," said Sprig.
"Well we still need to look, don't worry, I'm sure we'll find them eventually," said Oum, "go ahead and enjoy your game! I think they want to play again."
"Yeah we do!" said one of the players, coming over to Sprig, "this time you get to be on our team!"
Jesse, Desi, and Rico all wandered around the Thai temple looking for Anne and Luz. So far their search hadn't turned up anything.
"Are you sure she's here?" asked Jesse getting a bit annoyed.
"This is where her parents said they were going," said Rico.
"Maybe they meant a different Thai temple?" suggested Desi. Jesse growled in frustration.
"Wait look over there!" said Rico, grabbing the other two girls' attention, "isn't that her dad?"
"Yeah you're right Rico," said Desi, "I recognize him, that means she must be here somewhere!"
"Well why don't we go ask him where she is?" said Jesse. Rico and Desi shared a glance.
"You think he'd recognize us?" asked Rico a little worried. Desi gave him a shrug.
Jesse strolled calmly up to the Boonchuy's booth putting on her best smile, "hello," she said in a charming voice.
"Hello," replied Mr. Boonchuy, "can I help you?"
"Yes you can," said Jesse, "I'm a friend of Anne's from school. I was looking for her and was wondering if you knew where she was."
Bee eyed the girl suspiciously, "I'm afraid I don't know where she is at this moment. What did you say you're name was?"
Jesse was afraid for a second as she thought Anne might have told her parents about her, but she pushed that fear aside as she thought up a fake name, "Oh uh I'm Ashely, I sit next to Anne in Math class. I've been so worried about her ever since she ran away."
As she was saying this Desi and Rico came up to where she was.
"And these two are from the school paper," she said introducing Desi and Rico to Bee. "We were hoping to interview Anne for a story in the paper about what happened. Where she's been for the past five months."
"Yeah," said Rico, "we figure we'd let her tell her own story."
"Oh of course," said Desi in a sweet voice, "we're only interested in the truth."
Bee looked at the two new kids, he recognized them from this morning but didn't say anything. Though it did confirm his suspicions that this girl was not one to be trusted. Still, he decided to play along.
"Anne's not here right now," he said, "she might be back soon, but while you're waiting how about I make you all a snack."
"Oooo that sounds amazing! Thank you," said Jesse. Bee grinned as he scooped up some food onto a plate. He emerged holding a plate with a very appetizing dish on it.
"Here you are," he said in a smug voice, "it's called Gaeng Kua Kling."
"Oooo what does that mean?" asked Rico intrigued.
"Try it first then I'll tell you," said Bee.
The three kids each took a fork and dug into the dish.
Mmmm, delicious!" said Jesse, "you can taste all the flavors and the Whoah!"
Jesse began breathing heavily as the immense spiciness of the dish hit her. Her face turning a bright red and sweating profusely. Desi and Rico soon followed suit their faces turning red. Jesse, Desi, and Rico spat out some fire from their mouths as they all ran from the stand clutching their throats trying to find some relief from the spicy assault.
"There's a garden hose outside the west gate," called Bee to the children as they left, a smug look on his face.
"Here we are," said Anne as she lead Luz into a small garden. Luz looked around and saw flowers, small bushes, and trees everywhere. There was also a fountain in the center of the garden that was running water in a very peaceful-sounding way.
"Wow! It's beautiful," said Luz, looking around the garden
"It's the meditation garden," said Anne, "a good place to center yourself when you're feeling out of whack."
Anne lead Luz to a bench near the fountain where they both sat down. Anne eventually spoke.
"So hey we need to talk," she said.
"Oh is everything alright?" asked Luz a little worried.
"I don't think it is," began Anne, "or rather I think something is bothering you." Anne turned to look at Luz, catching Luz off guard. Anne continued.
"At the mall, you left without saying goodbye, and I saw your face, you were worried about something. These past few weeks when we've talked on the phone I hear it in your voice, whenever I bring up what happened at the mall you don't want to talk about it. I know something is bothering you."
Luz turned away not wanting to look Anne in the eyes as she realized she was caught, she tried to think of something to say.
"Ah no, it's nothing….no biggie." As soon as Luz said that she realized how dumb it sounded and let out a sigh.
"Luz…." said Anne tenderly, "if you really don't want to talk about it I won't force you but, you know you can trust me right?" As she said this Anne put her arm around Luz and held her tightly.
"We just started dating," said Luz a little sadly hanging her head, "we had such a good time at the mall, before that robot showed up, I…I didn't want to dump a big emotional thing into your lap so soon."
Anne rubbed Luz's arm, "Luz, you told me yourself, we're there for each other in both the good times and the bad. So if something is bothering you I'd like to know what it is, and if there's any way I can help you with it."
Luz's resolve finally broke, "okay….I'll tell you. But please understand I'm not jealous or anything, and that's a big reason why I didn't want to say anything. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Luz took a second before continuing.
"So listen I've been kind of bummed ever since I lost my powers, at first I didn't mind it, cause I thought we were going home and then I wouldn't need them anymore. That we'd just go back to our boring mundane lives. But then the stuff at the Arena happened, then Sprig and I got captured by Andrias at the palace, if I had my powers you could have just chosen to save Sprig. Andrias would have dropped me but then I'd just fly back up. Then at the mall, we got attacked again and without my powers, I couldn't do anything you had to save us from that robot. And I mean come to think of it, that's the third time you've had to save my life."
Luz paused before continuing, "the first time was with Bog at Wartwood, the second was with Beatrix at the Arena, and then once more at the mall. I guess….I'm starting to feel that maybe I'm a burden on you. You've got your powers and I don't have mine, so like….what good am I? I was even thinking….I was thinking that maybe it would be better….if we find a way back to Amphibia….maybe it would be better if you took the Plantars and Amara back and I stayed behind….not because I don't want to be with you, but I don't want you to have to worry about saving me…."
Luz finally stopped talking hanging her head and tearing up a bit. Anne listened to everything Luz said, thinking carefully before she replied. After a few minutes, she finally spoke.
"Luz…you are not a burden," she said in a serious voice, "don't ever say that! Listen….you say I had to save your life, but when you think about it, you were the real hero. You saved all our lives!"
Luz turned to look at Anne as she continued, "at Wartwood before I saved you from Bog, you saved the town from him and the toads who were going to destroy it! If you hadn't stepped up to stop Bog then I wouldn't have been able to save you! At Newtopia you were able to distract Beatrix, yeah it was a little reckless on your part. But if you hadn't kept her at the Arena then she would have taken her troops into the city and I know that Marcy, Sprig, and I would have had an even tougher time trying to shut the gate. Heck for all you know we might have failed! All of us would have been defeated if you hadn't been brave and stopped Beatrix! As for the mall, you're the one who helped me realize I could use my powers on command. Seeing you and the Plantars in danger it's what allowed me to tap into them and stop that robot. Luz…you are not a burden you are not useless."
Anne turned to look at Luz seeing tears streaming down her face, the two looked into each other's eyes before Luz threw herself forward into Anne's arms. Anne hugged her tightly stroking her back.
"I just….I just don't want to put you in danger," said Luz, "I care about you Anne, I don't want you to feel that you always need to save me."
"Well I care about you too Luz," said Anne, "and I don't want to see you miserable. So answer me this, would staying on Earth while I went back to Amphibia with the Plantars and Amara, would that really make you happy?" As she said this Anne pulled back and looked Luz directly in her eyes.
Luz thought for a long time, her head hung down so she wouldn't have to look at Anne's eyes just yet. Finally, after thinking about it she looked up, "no it wouldn't."
"I know it wouldn't make me happy," said Anne, "and I don't think Amara, Gustav, or Lilly would be either. Luz….you are more than just those powers you had. You and I, we've survived a lot worse before either of us even knew we had them, and I want you to know, you're amazing even without them."
Anne pulled Luz into another hug, as they hugged they heard a click, remembering the gossipers they both pulled away trying to find the source of the click, but were slightly relieved when they saw it was Anne's dad.
"Ha! That was a good candid shot," he said suddenly approaching the girls, "I have to start practicing if I want to get a good one for Christmas!"
"Dad!" said Anne in surprise, "listen I'm sorry I just…."
"Are you hiding from those gossip bloggers?" asked Bee.
"Wait what?" asked Anne.
"Those kids from this morning," said Bee, "they're here along with some other brown-haired girl. Said her name was Ashely but something about her seemed off." Luz and Anne shared a look before turning back to Bee.
"I bet that was Jesse," said Luz in anger, "she and Cindy were outside my house this morning trying to take pictures of me."
"Argh, really? You too!" said Anne incredulously, "Desi and Rico were doing the same thing outside my home."
"Well don't worry about them, I don't think they'll be bothering you anymore," said Bee.
"Why what happened?" asked Luz.
"Let's just say I whipped them up some Gaeng Kua Kling," said Bee.
"You didn't," said Anne now laughing, "oh my gosh I can only imagine what happened."
"I told them there was a garden hose on the west gate," said Bee smugly. Anne and Bee both laughed though Luz looked confused. Anne turned to her and explained, "Gaeng Kua Kling is a VERY spicy Thai dish."
"Oh, ha! Nice one Mr. B!" said Luz.
"You're welcome, though now that I've found you, we do have to get back to the stand," said Bee, "your mother is looking for you Anne, and yours too Luz!"
"She's not mad is she?" asked Luz with concern.
"I think she's just worried," said Bee.
Luz and Anne got up and followed Bee out of the garden.
"So Anne, tell me the truth, did you go find your mom for the car keys?" asked Bee in a serious voice.
Anne hesitated for a second but decided to tell the truth, "no I didn't. I wanted to show Luz this garden. But I swear after that I was going to find mom and get the coconut cream from the car."
"Hmmm," said Bee as he looked at his daughter, "well thank you for telling me the truth, but you still abandoned your post and snuck off." Anne hung her head.
"So I think there will have to be some consequences…." as he said this he pulled out his phone quickly scrolling to a certain picture. "I think I have some photos of you that Luz might be interested in seeing…."
"Dad no! Please" begged Anne, "I'd much rather be grounded!"
"Sorry Anne," said Bee with a grin on his face, "you should have thought of that before you ran off." He turned to Luz showing her the phone, "so Luz here's a picture of Anne when she was two years old eating spaghetti…."
Anne's face turned bright red, as she brought her hands up to hide her face.
"You know now that I think about it Latinos and Asians really do have a lot in common," said Oum to Camilla.
"I think the big thing is that most Americans assume we're from one place, China for Asians and Mexico for Latinos," said Camila, "not only that but most people don't realize that there are many differences in customs and culture among the different groups of Latinos and Asians."
"Ugh, you cannot believe the number of times I've been called Chinese," said Oum with a scowl.
"I've been called Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and occasionally Dominican," said Camila, "sometimes they guess right." Both women laughed at that.
"But it doesn't matter what type of Latino you are," said Camila, "family and respecting your elders are important whether you're Mexican or Dominican."
"Same for me," said Oum, "All Asians place importance on respecting your elders in their culture."
"Speaking of Latinos and Asians in general If I'm not mistaken, I think two of the largest immigrant groups are from China and Mexico," said Camila.
"We come from different places trying to look for better lives, for both us and our children," said Oum.
"Oh and we both have great food!" said Camila.
"Yes we do," said Oum, "I'm looking forward to trying those maduros someday."
"Oh well after eating your cooking, I'll have to make sure and do an extra good job on them," said Camila.
As they did Bee called out to them waving his hand and showing he had found the girls, though Anne was covering her face with both of her hands.
"Anne stop," said Luz trying to get her to relax, though also trying not to laugh, "you were a cute baby, those were nice pictures."
Anne didn't respond but kept walking forward with her hands covering her face not daring to take them off.
"Oh there you two are," said Oum, "where have you been?"
Anne finally removed her hands and was about to respond before Bee interrupted, "oh they were hiding from those paparazzi girls. They followed them here to the temple."
"No," said Anne, "thanks dad for saying that, but I need to tell the truth. Honestly, I didn't even realize those girls were here until dad told me about them. The truth is we snuck off. I'm sorry." Anne hung her head.
Oum came over to Anne, "Anne you need to understand, we owe so much to this community. Why do you think Camila and I have been returning all these dishes?"
"I don't know, 'cause you had a potluck party," said Anne.
"No," replied Oum, "everyone here cooked us meals and took care of me and Dad for all those months you were gone."
"They also helped us put up flyers with your information to find you," added Camila, "they cooked food for me too and some of them even came over to talk with me."
Both Anne and Luz's faces fell at hearing this.
"I…I had no idea," said Luz.
"Wow I feel like a jerk," said Anne.
Camila put her hand on Luz, "the people here are very nice. They volunteered at the animal shelter and went with me every weekend to put up more flyers. They made me so many free meals and always checked in to see how I was doing."
Oum put her hand on Anne, "they were worried about you, and us. The community ran our stall here and sent us the money, even help out at the restaurant, and never asked for anything in return."
Luz and Anne looked at each other, then back at their moms, "that's pretty cool," they said together.
"It is pretty cool," said Camila and Oum.
Outside the temple, at the west gate, Jesse was soaking wet having accidentally sprayed herself more than once to try and wash out the taste of the spicy food from her mouth. She still held the hose in her hands as she tried drinking from it again. To her side, Rico and Desi were fanning their mouths trying to get the spiciness out, but to no avail.
"Give me the hose!" demanded Desi.
"I'm not done with it," said Jesse as she once again sprayed water into her mouth. Desi didn't wait and instead tried to grab it out of her hands. This resulted in all three of them getting drenched with water.
"Ahh!" yelled all three. Rico ending up with the hose and drinking out of it before passing it back to Desi.
"This has been a disaster!" he said angrily, "I thought all we were going to do is get some pictures of Anne maybe write up some small gossip, instead we get our mouths burned off."
Desi finished drinking and turned towards Jesse, "this was so not worth the free soda. I'm done with this Jesse!"
"Yeah me too!" said Rico.
"What?! You guys can't quit now! We're so close," said Jesse. The two ignored Jesse and walked over to where their bikes were. Quickly getting on them and riding away.
Jesse let out a frustrated growl, "well this isn't over. I'm going back inside to find out more. I'll find out what's really going on with those two no matter-"
Whatever else Jesse was going to say was lost as a dragonfly robot flying overhead shot out a laser near her destroying her bike. Jesse turned to see the charred smoldering heap that remained of her bike.
"MY BIKE!" she screamed
Meanwhile, the dragonfly robots descended on the temple causing Anne, Luz, and their parents to look up.
"What are those things?" asked Oum.
"They look like giant dragonflies," said Camila.
Luz and Anne looked up at the robots both thinking the same thing, "those are drones," whispered Luz to Anne.
"They must be from that robot," said Anne.
"What robot?" asked Oum.
"The robot is the name of the gossip blog that those girls from school run," said Anne quickly thinking.
"Yeah," said Luz adding to the lie, "since we scared them off they sent those drones to try and take more photos of us."
Anne grabbed her mom and pushed her inside the temple, while Luz did the same with her mom, "just tell everyone they have to take cover," said Luz.
"We've got this," said Anne.
The two ran forward to engage the robots but were stopped as one of them fired a laser into a bench, blowing it up and causing Anne and Luz to fall down. From around the temple Hop-pop, Sprig, and Polly heard the noise and quickly left to see what the commotion was. The three arrived where Anne and Luz were.
"Anne we heard a blast, what's going on?" asked Sprig.
"It looks like that robot from the mall sent some scouts after us," said Anne, "we have to protect the temple and everyone in it."
"Right," said the Plantars.
"Hold on Mija, I'm with you too," said Camila coming back outside and getting in a fighting stance.
"Mom!" exclaimed Luz, "we told you to get everyone inside, we'll handle this."
"Yeah this is way too dangerous for you guys," said Anne.
Oum came out and joined Camila, "this is our temple and our community, when one of us is under a threat we all are."
One of the elders from earlier came out and began shaking her fist at the drones, "yeah be gone St. James Middle School paparazzi."
More members of the Thai community came out of the temple and stood with Anne and Luz ready to defend the temple, "yeah, yeah we got your back!" they said.
The dragonflies scattered around the temple using their lasers to begin destroying parts of it. Polly jumped onto a street light and grabbed a megaphone speaking in Thai and telling guiding the community members forward. They began tossing, fruit, bowls, and anything else they could get their hands on at the robots. One of the elders threw a large wok knocking one of the robots out of the sky.
Elsewhere the dancers and Hop-pop teamed up to attack the drones. One of them even picking up the old frog and throwing him into the air. Hop-pop took off his helmet and used it to bask a robot out of the sky!
In another part of the temple, the volleyballers had teamed up with Sprig and used their ball to knock some of the drones out of the sky. One of the players passed the ball to Sprig who kicked it at one of the drones, it hit the drone perfectly then bounced back to Sprig, who kicked it again taking out a second drone. Again the ball bounced back and Sprig jumped into the air, he began spinning around rapidly many, many times building up speed and power before kicking the ball back a third time at the last robot, scoring a direct hit!
"Whoo-hoo!" cheered Sprig as he landed on the ground.
Back at the food stands Anne had grabbed her sample tray and began using it to smack down the drones.
"Sample this!" she said as she bashed another bug. She looked over and saw Luz being pursued by a drone.
"Luz catch!" said Anne tossing the tray towards her. Luz caught the tray and turned around smashing the bug pursuing her. Anne came over and the two shared a high-five.
"All right you evil bug bots! Sample this too!" said Bee as he attempted to throw a tray at the one bug remaining. His aim was off as the tray flew right over the bug missing it completely. The bug zoomed down towards Bee causing him to duck in terror. From across the way Polly saw what was happening and was about to have Sprig kick her toward the diving bot. But before she could she heard a loud smack and saw that Mrs. Noceda had destroyed the robot she stood over Bee holding a bat in her hand. Luz and Anne came over to her their mouths hung open.
"Mom that was amazing!" said Luz offering her a high five. Camila returned it.
"Wow, I see where Luz gets her strength from," said Anne looking between Camila and Luz.
"Anne are you alright?" asked Sprig coming over to her with Polly and Hop-pop.
"Yeah, I'm great! And so were you guys! That was amazing how you incorporated different parts of Thai culture to beat those bots," said Anne, "nice job rallying the community Polly! Hop-pop that move where you bashed the robot with the helmet was awesome! And Sprig that was a neat kick shot you used!"
"Thanks, Anne," said Sprig, "I only just started working on it after being introduced to kick volleyball. I was thinking of calling it the "Sprig Shot!" or maybe instead the "Sublimely Magnificent Sprig Shot Mark 3."
"Mark 3?" asked Luz, "did you already come up with a mark 1 or 2 version of that shot?"
"Nah," admitted Sprig, "but it sounds cool! Maybe something to hook the crowds you know. I could see bringing kick volleyball to Amphibia, except maybe instead we could play it in the water."
"Huh that sounds interesting," said Anne, as she said that though she noticed that the Plantar's disguises had been damaged during the fight.
"Oh no guys your disguises," began Anne, "they've fallen off!"
Anne and Luz turned from the Plantars back to the Thai community who were staring at them in shock. Anne wondered what to say, though Luz quickly stepped forward.
"Uh listen, we can explain this," she began, but before she could say more one of the elders stepped forward.
"No, no, no, no need to know," she said placing a hand on Luz's shoulder, "if they are your friends…"
"Then they are our friends too," said another temple member.
"No matter how ugly they are," added a third.
"Ouch," said Hop-pop
"It's funny but it still stings," said Sprig.
"They're talking about you two," said Polly.
Luz and Anne were both touched at hearing this, Anne stepped forward to address the community members.
"Wow thank you guys," said Anne, "I don't even know what to say except K̄hxbkhuṇ māk"
As she said that last phrase in Thai Anne brought up her hands in the wai gesture. The Plantars all followed along, as did Luz. Camilla deciding to say something as well.
"Yes, thank you all for your friendship and hospitality, especially during a very hard time in my life. Spending so much time with you reminded me a lot of gatherings in the DR. I think the Thai community is not so different from the one I grew up in. Despite us coming from different parts of the world I think we have more in common than we realize."
As she said this Oum and Bee came up to Camila each putting an arm around her. Luz and Anne looked at each other before repeating the gesture.
After the commotion with the robots had died down Luz and Anne, as well as the Plantars helped clean up the mess of the destroyed robots. Oum remarking on how advanced they looked. Eventually, they managed to gather all the robot pieces and throw them in the trash. As the day wore on Anne stayed at her parent's stand giving out samples. The Plantars returned to the activities they had started, and Luz and Camila explored the temple grounds some more greeting other members of the community. Eventually, it came time for them to leave and Camila and Luz helped the Boonchuys break down their booth and take items to their car. As Anne and Luz finished packing up Anne's car they came together in a goodbye hug, Luz whispered into Anne's ear.
"Thank you for talking with me," said Luz, "I'm sorry for keeping it in like that, I just…honestly, I don't know what I was thinking."
"That's okay Luz," said Anne back to her, "just know I'm here for you and it's okay if you need to talk about something like that."
"It's good to know," said Luz, "and same here, if there's something you need to talk about let me know."
Before they said their goodbyes Bee pulled Camila and Oum aside.
"Oh hey I wanted to show you this picture I took of Luz and Anne," he said, "I was practicing for my Christmas candid photo." Camila and Oum looked at the photo of Luz and Anne hugging. As they did they looked up at the real Luz and Anne who were both smiling and talking to each other.
"You know I noticed something today," said Oum, "when I told Anne that Luz was coming to the temple I saw her expression change, I saw her smile once she knew that."
"These past few weeks I've watched Luz when she talks to Anne on the phone," said Camila, "she's always very animated and happy, more so than I've ever seen her. Today when we were leaving I also saw a change in Luz when she realized she was going to get to see Anne."
Bee looked between the photo on his phone and the real-life Luz and Anne before finally saying, "you think….that they are….more than friends?"
"If they are, they will tell us when they are ready," said Oum, looking at her husband.
"And if that time comes, all we can do is be supportive of them when they do," said Camila putting her arms around Oum and Bee, the three adults sharing a smile as they watched their kids.
"Are you sure you don't need me to take you to a hospital?" asked the Lyft Driver as he looked at his passenger, "you look pretty banged up."
"Just drive!" commanded Jesse sitting in the back of his car. To say it had been a rough day for her would be an understatement. Her clothes were dirty, disheveled, and torn in many places. Her hair was a mess still full of leaves and thorns from when she fell into the bush. She was still soaking wet from the water hose. Her mouth still had some residual heat from the spicy food, and to top it all off she had somehow lost a shoe, her right shoe, now all she had on her right foot was a dirty and torn sock.
"Okay if you're sure," replied the Lyft Driver, "what the heck happened to you?"
"Uggh it's all Anne and Luz's fault!" sulked Jesse, "if it wasn't for them none of this would have happened!"
"How exactly is this their fault?!" asked the Lyft Driver, wondering in the back of his mind if she was talking about the Anne and Luz he knew.
"They had to have the most juiciest gossip story ever," whined Jesse, "so much so that I had to try and get it, I went to such lengths to get the story and now I barely have anything to show for it!"
"Well sounds to me like maybe you should just cut your losses and leave it alone," said the Lyft Driver, "sometimes it's not worth it to kill yourself for a goal."
"No, it's always important to do whatever it takes to win! Even if it means hurting yourself," countered Jesse, "although I could have done without my bike getting destroyed. Well maybe I didn't get the big story I wanted about Luz and Anne, but I did get a few pictures of them being back so I guess I'll make do with that. There's a believable story in there somewhere. I just have to figure out what it is."
"Not that it's really my business," began the Lyft Driver, "but what exactly are you trying to do here?"
"I run a gossip blog at my school," said Jesse, "Those girls Luz and Anne went missing for months and I was trying to come up with a good story for what happened. I spent all day trying to learn just enough of the truth to see what I could exaggerate on, but I ended up with nothing!
"Perhaps that's for the best," said the Lyft Driver.
"Oh once I get home I am so going to have my dad sue Mr. Boonchuy for serving me that spicy food," said Jesse with a devilish grin.
"Is that really something worth suing over?" asked the Lyft Driver.
"Of course it is!" said Jesse, "I'm gonna make him pay for that!"
"Look all I'm saying is threatening legal action against someone is a serious matter, you shouldn't do that if you don't actually have any sort of case," said the Lyft Driver, "and maybe before you threaten to sue someone you should see if there's not some other way to resolve things before it gets to that level."
"Why?" asked Jesse.
The Lyft Driver thought for a second before responding, "well I mean hypothetically if you were to threaten to sue someone over a very trivial matter and let's say this was an ordinary person, someone who definitely couldn't afford a lawyer or a long drawn out legal battle. They might feel rather strongly about that, and maybe your threat to sue them will resolve whatever matter you were upset about, but that person might hold a grudge over what you did. And who knows maybe someday that person would write a fictional story where they cast you as a bad person and maybe just for the heck of it they have a chapter where they take the piss at you for trying to sue them. Maybe no one would ever realize that person was you, but it would kind of suck to have that negative association with your name wouldn't it?"
Jesse thought for a second about what the Lyft Driver had said, but she also realized they had arrived at her house, and decided to leave. Quickly opening the door and getting out of the car.
"Psh, you're just a driver for Lyft, what do you know?" she said in a snooty voice closing the door behind her as she got out.
The Lyft Driver watched her leave before saying to himself, "I mean, I guess she's right…"
He turned to look straight ahead giving a smile as he did, "what do I know?"