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"I’m sorry to hear about your parents," I say

Ella looks away I think I’ve overstepped ht smile "Thank you I miss them a lot"

"I’ether, and I notice she walks on the balls of her feet so as not to rips her toothbrush near the top, al the toothbrush appear larger than it really is When I catch her staring atts of tiny teeth Toothpaste pours fro fro the S pattern it creates is familiar, and I let my mind wander

A hot summer day in June Clouds drift in the blue sky Cool waters ripple in the sun The fresh air carries hints of pine I breathe it in and let the stress of Santa Teresa h I believe acy developed shortly after the first, I didn’t discover it until almost a full year later It was an accident I discovered it at all, whichto be uncovered

Every year when school lets out for summer, to reward those of us who have been what the Sisters deeanized I’ve always loved the trip for the same reason I love the cave that sits hidden in the opposite direction It’s an escape--a rare opportunity to spend four days swie lake nestled in the mountains, or a chance to hike, to sleep beneath the stars, to smell the fresh air away from the musty corridors of Santa Teresa It is, in essence, a chance to act our age I’ve even caught so when they think nobody’s looking

In the lake, there’s a floating dock I’m a horrible swimmer, and for many suhed and played and did flips off the dock into the water It took a couple su alone in the shalloater, but the summer of my thirteenth year, I finally learned an iy paddle that kept h for ame is to try to push each other off it Groups teairl for herself As the biggest and strongest at Santa Teresa, I used to think it’d be an effortless victory for La Gorda, but it rarely is; she’s often outsirls, and I don’t think anyone has won as irl named Bonita

I didn’t want to play La Reina del Muelle, Queen of the Dock I was content to sit on the side and let le in the water, but Bonita shovesinto the lake

"Play the ga her hair over her shoulder

I cliht towards her I shove her as hard as I can, and she falls backwards and crashes into the lake

I don’t hear La Gorda behindhands shove me hard from behind My feet slip on the ood, and the side of e of the dock, clouding my vision with stars I’m knocked unconscious for a second, and whenbut darkness and instinctively kick upward, flailing ainst the bottom of the dock, and I realize there are only a few inches of space between the water and the wooden boards of the dock I try to tilt my head backwards to put my nose and mouth above the surface, but water instantly laps intoI scrao; I’s while the absurdity of death by drowning pops into my head I think of the others, how their ankles are about to be seared Will they believe that Number Three has been killed, or will they someho it’s me? Will it burn differently than if I’d died at the hands of the Mogadorians instead of in to sink Just as I feel the last stream of bubbles escape my lips, s are no longer burning

I’s, but at the same time satisfies every desperate need I have to breathe, and that’s when I know I’ve discovered acy: the ability to breathe underwater I’ve found it only because I was pushed to the brink of death

I don’t want to be found just yet by the girls diving into the water looking for me, so I letto black until h the brown, murky water once irls say fro I wait until I’ on the lake’s botto into the ins to warues to rocks and then to sand, and finally irls, La Gorda and Bonita included, scream and splash towardsa gash ona trail of blood down my arm in the shape of a subtle S

The Sisters make me sit the rest of the afternoon at a picnic table under a tree, but I didn’t acy

In the bathroo the toothpaste run down her arm in the mirror She looks embarrassed, and as she tries to replicate the way I brush my teeth, even more frothy toothpaste pours from her mouth

"You’re like a bubble factory," I say with a s a towel to clean her up

We leave the bathroo, dress quickly in the roo just ahead of the group, as I prefer to do We grab our lunches fro I eat my apple on the walk to school Ella does the saive et on the internet to see if there’s anything new about John Sht of hi? Do you like school?" Ella asks I look over at her The half-eaten apple looks big in her suess," I say "And I have good coh town as street vendors set up shop The snow hasn’tboth sides of Calle Principal, but the road itself is clear Up ahead on the right Héctor Ricardo’s front door opens, and out co pushed by Héctor She’s had Parkinson’s disease for a very long time She’s been in a wheelchair for the last five years, and she’s been unable to speak for the last three He positions her in a sliver of sunlight and applies her wheel brakes While the sun see her some comfort, Héctor slinks away and sits in the shade, dropping his head

"Good , Héctor," I call out He lifts his head and squints one eye open He waves with a shaky hand

"Marina, as of the sea," he croaks "The only limits of tomorrow are the doubts we have today"

I stop and smile Ella stops, too

"That’s one of your better ones"

"Don’t doubt Héctor; he has a few nuggets left," he says

"Are you doing okay?"

"Strength, confidence, humility, love Héctor Ricardo’s four tenets of a happy life," he says, whichthe question I asked, but it aze on Ella "And who’s this little angel?"

Ella grabs my hand and hides behinddown at her "This is Héctor He’s uys," he says, though Ella remains behind me