Sunday, June 14
7:25 A.M.
Boo-woop. Boo-woop. Boo-woop.
Alicia didn’t need Red Bull this time. Adrenaline—and her throbbing foot—had kept her up the rest of the night. Outside Alicia and Nina’s bedroom windows, the morning sky was clear and the temperature was seventy-six degrees. But Celia and Isobel’s windows would tell a very different story. . . .
“¡Va-mos!” She tossed a beaded green pillow at her cousin’s head. “It’s time. Good luck.”
Nina leaped out of bed and bolted for the door.
“Wait! Aren’t you going to wash the eye shadow off your face?” Alicia giggle-asked.
“Were they wearing their sleeping masks?”
Alicia nodded.
“Then they won’t even notice.”
Two minutes later Alicia heard the sound of Nina crawling back into her squeaky cot.
“Did it work?” she asked, rolling over to look at Nina.
“Perfecto!” Nina yawned and rubbed her eyes, leaving two skin-colored patches in the middle of her black- shadowed face. She looked like the opposite of a raccoon.
“What did you say?”
“I told them the auditions were postponed because of rain.”
“And?” Alicia pushed, hoping her cousin hadn’t forgotten the most important part.
“Aaaand they could take the day off because the guests were staying in their rooms.” Nina fluffed one of her jewel-colored pillows and pulled her comforter over her double-Ds.
“Puuur-fecto!” Alicia kicked her legs in the air like a girl who had just outsmarted twin Spalphas. Her matador red–pedi’d toes seemed to be smiling back, congratulating her on a job well done. So did everything else in the room.