IT WILL BE FUN Nathalie Espinoza 10th Grade • Latin School of Chicago
“Come on,” Lexany had said. “It will be fun.” Why is it that every time someone says, “it will be fun,” it turns out to be the complete opposite? I thought as Lexany dragged me by my wrist down 47th Street for the yearly summer festival: Fiesta Back of the Yards. I didn't want to leave the safe walls of my home, the walls that protected me from the outside world. But Lexany had downright insisted, going as far as giving me the silent treatment and refusing to watch our favorite shows on Netflix like Lucifer, On My Block or even the Chinese drama we were in the middle of: Accidentally in Love. I had gritted my teeth, wanting to prove I could get her to talk to me again. I even brought out Lexany’s weakness, sour Skittles, and waved them in front of her with a smirk. She didn’t even look my way. That’s when I knew that unless I surrendered, she’d stay rooted in the very spot where she slept in for most of the summer: the wall side of my bed. She had been sleeping over for countless nights in a row, successfully merging herself with my family. She had been bouncing back and forth between her mom and dad when one night she got tired of it, so she called and asked if she could sleep over. She had met my parents on previous occasions, and when they saw how bubbly and out-going she was compared to me, they took an immediate liking. They didn't hesitate to give their yes. Ever since then, she had rejected the
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