Home Run Kiss

Three

The bell above the door jingled, telling the others that I was home. Kicking my shoes off near the shoe mat, I set my keys on the small end table. My sister's keys were already there and so were my mom's, but Dad was still at the bakery, where I left him. Even though the bakery was closed, he still stayed to get a head start for tomorrow. He always did that, though; he barely spent any time at home lately, and I didn't like it.

Locking the front door behind me, I made my way into the living room. The TV was on, but it wasn't very loud. Maddie and Abuela were camped out in front of it, but Abuela was looking out the window, a blank look on her wrinkled face. She must have been thinking about something from her past; I assumed that she would begin speaking to them soon.

"Maddie!" I whispered. Her head snapped up, a smile working its way onto her face. I motioned toward the kitchen before heading in there myself. Mom was already in there, cooking something on the stove. I sigh in relief at the sight of the food. "I am so happy that you're making dinner!" 

Mom jumped, spinning around. She placed a hand over her heart, her light cheeks flushing red. "Lola Marie, you know better than to scare me when I'm cooking! I could burn myself, just like I did last time." 

I set my backpack on the table in the corner of the room, sliding into the creaky seat. "Sorry," I said, laughing. "I'm just really hungry. Dad made me work a lot at the bakery, and he didn't let me snack."

"That's your dad for you," she said, giggling. She shut off the stove and dumped the food into a bowl, turning back around to me. Her familiar blue eyes glanced at me and then looked at the open door. I glanced out there as well and saw Maddie tapping away on her phone while walking slowly toward us. Her dark hair covered her face from view. "Oh, good. Madeleva is coming."

"You know she hates when you call her that." Mom cocked her eyebrow, and I shut my mouth. If Mom got angry, it was a good idea to stay on her good side. "Right, you're Mom and you can call her anything, especially when you're angry."

"Thank you."

My eyes scanned the kitchen and I grinned when I saw what Mom made. She made her special tacos, which is my favorite food in the whole world of savory foods. I slipped out of my seat, heading toward the food. Mom laughed behind me, and Maddie said, "Typical Lola. Always getting her food first. You never put Abuela before you, do you?"

I looked over my shoulder and stuck my tongue out at her. "Madeleva, you are one rude girl."

"Not as rude as you. Sophie told Kylee who told me that you answered a text message on the baseball group chat and then totally ghosted them." Mom let out a strangled noise, so I turned all the way around, leaning against the counter. Maddie winked at me while Mom had a glare on her face. "Good job for confusing them."

"I accidentally answered one of the baseball guys and then I didn't know what else to say," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm not sure who I answered, but I didn't mean to."

"Lola, you know I don't like the baseball boys," Mom said, her voice dripping with actual disgust. I rolled my eyes. "Sophie told me many stories about what some of them do, and I'm not a fan."

"Taylor was the one who made me join the group chat! I didn't even want to join it."

"Hey, wasn't Sophie the manager of the baseball team?" I nodded at Maddie's statement. She grinned widely, saying, "You should be the manager. You know some of the boys, and Sophie could tell you what you need to do."

Mom and I had similar frowns on our faces. Before either one of us could answer, there was a noise in the living room. Mom took that as her cue to leave and check on Abuela, so I turned back around and grabbed a bowl from the cabinet. I crunched up some Doritos in the bottom, placing some lettuce and slice of avocado on top. Finally completing my system, I poured some of the taco meat onto the other things. Grabbing a fork, I headed over to the table where my school stuff was sitting.