How Does a Daffodil Survive in Winter?

xiv | Tacos, Pig Latin, and Butterfly Stickers

Triple T Day or TTETW (Taco Tuesdays Every Three Weeks) at the school brought out all the people hiding in nooks and crannies. The stoners, the goths, the kids to nervous to eat in the cafeteria, everyone. We all lined up and waited patiently to be served what seemed like holy water. You could say it was the 'raining tacos' song in real life.

The reason Triple T Day was so popular was that the tacos were actually authentic ones made by the lunch lady. We called her tía Paula and she was the backbone of the school. She didn't really speak English all that well so no one really knows anything about her, just that she made the best tacos. The kids who took Spanish always tried to get on her good side to get more tacos but tía Paula was no fool. Eccentric Lady, she was. She always wore this apron that said 'world's best lunch lady' on it; a present I supposed. And she was always playing the Youtube video for Billboard's Hot 100 in her headphones so loudly that everyone with a close proximity could hear it. Once, I asked her why she was always listening to the week's top hits and she told me it was so she could know what her kids were into nowadays. Or her grandchildren, I don't know; it was loud and she had a very thick accent.  And then she gave me an extra taco because I was apparently 'like a skeleton'.  After that, every time she saw me, she would always give me a little extra.

When I made my way to the cafeteria, the queue was already at the door.  Luckily, Benny had skipped the last 5 minutes of class to get a good spot in line so I made my way to him and Theo.

I had been hanging out with Theo and his friends more because Julie hadn't been at school at all because she was sick. Or at least I thought she was. He had a lot of friends but most of them came and went all the time. The only one who was always there was Benny and I was pretty sure he still didn't like me all that much. Maybe it was because I was spending more time with his best friend or maybe it was because I kept making the jokes before him.

"Triple T Day is the best!" Benny shouted as he reached the front of the line. "¡Hola tía Paula!"

Tía Paula rolled her eyes at Benny and put two tacos on his tray.

He made sad puppy eyes, it was hilarious watching tía Paula shake her head. "Ni hablar," tía Paula scolded.

"Por favor, tía," Benny whined.

"No, vete." She must've said go away because Benny grudgingly walked away.

"Yo también te quiero, tía," Benny called back to tía Paula.

"No more tacos for you!" she responded before serving me.

When she saw me she smiled warmly and gave me three tacos. I thanked her and walked away so I didn't hold up the line.

"How does Benny know Spanish?" I said to Theo.

"He's been learning Spanish since middle school because he had a massive crush on Dora as a kid."

"Seriously?" I snickered. Come to think of it, Benny did seem like the type to stick pictures of Dora onto his walls and worship her.

"Whatever, Lil' Toast. Now Marnie, explain why the hell tía Paula gave you three tacos."

I smiled at Benny smugly. "Because she likes me better," I hummed before taking a bite of my taco.

Benny looked like a carrot being boiled. He leaned closer to Theo and whispered loudly to the point where he was practically shouting. "Iyay ontday ikelay erhay. Esshay eanmay." (I don't like her. She's mean.)

I was nearly offended at the fact he thought I couldn't speak pig latin. As someone who has a concerning amount of free time, I have mastered everything from pig latin to making cocktails even though I'm underaged and have never actually touched one of those shaker things. But anyways, I busied myself with translating their conversation that they thought was a secret even though they were talking very loudly and I'm pretty sure a lot of people spoke pig latin.