One of a Kind

Green-Eyed Monsters

The next afternoon, Bunty and Zooey each arrived at Ramiro's house at the very same time, and each girl had something to bring him for his affections. When they both arrived at the house, they were very unhappy to see each other.

"What are you doing here?" Zooey sniffed.

"I'm here to see Ramiro," Bunty replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm here to see Ramiro, so you might as well go home," Zooey sniffed.

"Not a chance," Bunty sniffed. "I bought Ramiro a chocolate glazed donut, and I'm positive he's going to love it."

"Fat chance," Zooey scoffed. "He's going to love this chocolate dipped biscotti."

"Let's see about that," Bunty smirked.

Bunty rang the doorbell, and Guillermo answered the door—and he wasn't happy to see the two girls who bullied his younger brother for his cleft and height.

"What are you girls doing here—and what's with the tacky dresses?" Guillermo asked.

"We're here to see Ramiro," Zooey replied.

"Where is he?" Bunty asked.

"He's in the kitchen, but why do you...?" Guillermo started to ask.

Bunty and Zooey ignored Guillermo and barged into the house, wanting to see Ramiro really badly.

"Ramiro is going to love this donut," Bunty gushed.

"I'm certain he'll love this biscotti more," Zooey scoffed.

Soon enough, the girls made it to the kitchen. "Hello, Ramiro!" they chorused. But when they got there, they saw that Ramiro was with Milagra, who'd already come over.

"I can see why you chose to dress like Mirabel," Ramiro chuckled, straightening Milagra's glasses. "You're like a real-life version of her." Then he turned to find that Zooey and Bunty had arrived. "Oh, hi, Zooey, Bunty."

"Hola, chicas," Milagra waved.

"What's she doing here?" Bunty asked.

"My parents invited her over for lunch, and she brought us some concord grape jelly donuts," Ramiro replied. "What brings you here?"

"We both wanted to come and see you," Bunty said. "I bought you a chocolate glazed donut."

"And I brought you some chocolate dipped biscotti," Zooey said.

"Gracias, chicas, but I'm allergic to chocolate," Ramiro declined.

"You are?" Zooey and Bunty chorused.

"Yes, it says so on my medical bracelet," Ramiro said, showing said medical bracelet.

"That's why you wear that bracelet—to let others know you have an allergy?" Zooey asked.

"Yes, I do, and you should know that by now since we've been going to school together since kindergarten," Ramiro frowned.

"We thought that was a tag letting everyone know about that split in your lip," Bunty said.

"Who would need a medical tag for that?" Milagra asked. "People can already tell you have a cleft lip just by looking at you."

"Ramiro, your abuela is on the phone—she wants to talk to you," Señora Reyes called.

"Coming, Mamá," Ramiro called back, standing up and stretching. "Sorry, chicas, I'll be back." Then he went off to his mother.

"I guess it's going to take Ramiro some time to get used to his new body," Guillermo chuckled. "It's hard to believe it actually was just two days when he was barely even four feet tall."

"I wonder if he'll get used to a lot of girls at school drooling on him now that he's towering over us," Milagra surmised, handing Guillermo a jelly donut. "The princesses at the party sure fell under his spell when they first saw him."

"I'm sure they did, but I think you're the girl he wants," Guillermo chuckled.

"You think so?" Milagra asked.

"Yes, for most of his life, he was bullied by the popular girls and any girl who wants to be popular, and he was shunned by everyone else," Guillermo replied. "But you were the only one who was really nice to him. He's lucky to have a friend like you."

"Gracias," Milagra blushed.

Milagra and Guillermo continued talking, completely ignoring Bunty and Zooey, who just left and didn't know what to do with the chocolate goodies they'd bought for Ramiro.

"I don't get it," Zooey huffed. "Why would Ramiro want to be with Milagra? Her skin is flawed with that mark on her belly."

"And she's barely been here for a month," Bunty sniffed. "What makes her so special?"

"Nothing, I'm sure," Zooey scoffed. "Well, she may have Ramiro this weekend, but tomorrow, it'll be my turn to have him."

"Or mine," Bunty said.

"Dream on, Bunt," Zooey scoffed.