Valentina"Cielo, come here and meet Tina, darling."Cielo looks up at his mom, then at me and he smiles, but there's something about him that makes me feel weird."Hey, Tina. Nice glasses," he says.I'm pretty sure he doesn't think they're at all nice.I adjust them, pushing them farther up my nose as my cheeks burn. "Thanks," I say, although I'm not thankful. I'm embarrassed. I should have put on my new glasses. They make me look a little less nerdy.Cielo's dad clears his throat. Cielo rolls his eyes but holds out his hand for me to shake. I take it and do the shaking because he just lets his hang there, limp."What's in there?" Cielo asks.I look down at what he's pointing to and remember the cookies. It feels stupid to have them now. I feel like a little kid."Tina baked some cookies to welcome you all. Isn't that right, sweetheart?" Dad says. He squeezes my shoulder encouragingly. I'm sure he knows I feel embarrassed. We're close, my dad and me. I guess that's normal when you do
Last Updated : 2026-05-14 Read more