The Real American Idol

Mirabela and Lily's fight

The next day, Mirabela was all better, and she was ready to return to school. "Buen día, familia," she smiled.

"Buen día, Mira," Jesus smiled back. "Good to know you're feeling better."

"Well, it feels good to be out of bed," Mirabela admitted, stretching her arms up. "Now I can't wait until gym class."

"Great to know, but you won't do well in school with an empty tummy," Pedro smiled. "Speaking of which, I packed your lunch last night, so you won't have to buy lunch at school. There's no knowing what the mystery meats in the future will be."

"Gracias, Papi," Mirabela smiled back.

After breakfast, Mirabela and the twins each rode to school on a scooter. In no time, they met up with Lily and Miley.

"Hello, Mirabela," Lily said, deadpan. "I see you're feeling better."

"I sure am," Mirabela smiled.

A tall, cute Hispanic boy just Mirabela's age came up to the group. "Hey, Mirabela, I missed you," he smiled.

"Oh, gracias, Guillermo," Mirabela blushed.

"How's your father been?" Guillermo asked.

"Great," Mirabela smiled. "He bought me a new book when I fell sick. He even read it to me."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Guillermo gushed. "Well, God bless his soul. He's a real American idol."

"Yes, he is," Mirabela smiled.

"Okay, I'll see you in class," Guillermo said before taking off.

Mirabela blushed, then turned to her cousins, who were happy for her.

"Nice to see that someone is willing to ask how your daddy is," Lily said jealously.

The quartet that Lily, Miley, Nancy, and the twins had seen on Friday came up to the group.

"Hey, Mira, glad to see you're okay," the brunette girl smiled.

"It was just an upset tummy," Mirabela chuckled. "How have you all been?"

"So far so good," the blonde girl replied.

"I hope you're prepared for a mystery stew in the future," the redhead boy said.

"Don't worry," Mirabela said. "My father says it's best to bring my own lunch, so I won't have to worry about going through that again."

"Ah, good thinking, Dad," the blonde boy smiled. "Can't have your daughter take any more chances." Then he and his friends went off.

"Wow, Mira, looks like everyone is happy for you," Dulce smiled.

"Can't blame them," Variel said.

"Good to know," Lily sniffed.

"Well, enough about me," Mirabela said. She turned to Lily and Miley and asked, "So, are you guys excited for Christmas?"

"You know I am," Miley smiled. "We've already set up our Christmas tree."

"So have we since you were in bed the whole weekend while your daddy was reading to you," Lily sniffed.

"Okay," Mirabela said awkwardly.

"Well, we haven't gotten our tree up yet," Variel said.

"No, Lito decided we should all decorate the tree together, so we're going to wait until our midterms before we put the tree up," Dulce said.

"And since this is Papi's first Christmas living with us since we were three, the tree is going to be extra special this year," Mirabela smiled. "For my Quince, mis abuelos maternos gave me an antique Christmas tree star with a purple heart on each side, and it's sure to represent Papi and other Veterans throughout the world, be they past, present, or future."