The next morning after breakfast they still had time for a quick bath. The boys romped again with the girls in the water thenthey sat down on the beach for a moment to get dry again and enjoy the view over the sea.
When Ramiro called them, he and Isabel had already prepared the cars and off they went. They stopped again in front of the diving school to say goodbye to Dani and Toni.
It was visibly difficult for both of them to say goodbye and Dani said "I hope you will be back soon. I wanted to have Juanma and Mia here to sing on my birthday."
"You can count on it," said Juanma, clapping Dani's outstretched hand.
"I'll have a seminar near you soon, maybe I'll stop by then", Dani promised and Ramiro said," You are always very welcome "
Ramiro noticed that everyone was very quiet on the flight back. "Hey, that wasn't the last vacation." Alvaro nodded. "Then we can go back to planning the next". Ramiro had to laugh" Yes you can "
They all drove to Ramiro's when they arrived, for Lupe and Gaspar he put a thick guest mattress in his study.
He wanted to end the last evening in peace. While Isabel was ordering pizza with the teenagers, he checked his emails and messages.
"It looks like we're getting a new student. Mercedes has apparently decided that. She will arrive on Tuesday."
"Can mom just decide that on her own?"
"I'll talk to her. But just be nice to her. Her name is Laura"
The students nodded.
They all went to bed a little earlier to be fit the next day. Everyone at school had a lot to say about the vacation. Clara immediately fell around Mia and Zoe's neck and Roberto also seemed happy that he saw everyone again.
Alex asked about the vacation and made a relaxing hour. He had a few plans for the near future, but took it easy.
Mia, Zoe and Juanma got their exams again and were happy with the results. Mia had a few math gaps, but Juanma promised to work on them with her.
Marcello had initially taken on the basketball training on his own again, because Jorgo wrote an important exam during his studies and had to prepare.
In the afternoon the four met Roberto and Clara to eat ice cream. "God how much I missed you," said Roberto. "How was it with Lupe and Gaspar?"
"better than expected" replied Juanma with a careful look at Alvaro, who nodded in agreement.
The four talked about sailing and when Mia mentioned the dolphins, Clara's eyes shone. "Dolphins are such great animals," she said.
When they got back to school, Alvaro wanted to see Ramiro briefly. When he got to the secretariat, he heard loud voices from Mercedes' office.
"You can't just take on a student during the vacation without telling me." Ramiro was saying.
"It's my friend's daughter from school. You could also accept Mia, although I refused her. And you saw what we got out of it."
"What do we get out of it? Mercedes, now make a point. You make a drama out of it. If you hadn't lied, everything would have been completely different."
Alvaro looked into the corridor where the two office doors were open. Lupe was standing in front of one of the doors so that she couldn't be seen from the offices.
Alvaro saw tears running down her cheeks.
Despite the fact that Ramiro and Mercedes might see him, he went to see his sister. "What's the matter?" He asked her
"Mom was angry that I went diving and she doesn't like that with Gaspar either. She told me she had hoped that during the vacation it would have come to an end. I don't know why. Just because he doesn't come from a wealthy family? When we argued, Ramiro came along. Now they are arguing about the new student. "
Alvaro took her in his arms and then led her away from there. He didn't care if they were seen. But Mercedes and Ramiro were far too absorbed in their argument.
he sat down with her on a bench in the yard. "I just can't stand these arguments anymore. Ramiro and Isabel treat each other so nicely. Why can't Mama and Ramiro do that. And they haven't been able to do that for a long time."
"I can't answer your question, Lupe. But you shouldn't let yourself be influenced by her opinion about Gaspar. She doesn't like Mia either."
Lupe nodded. They stayed on the bench a little longer.
After a while said Lupe. "Do you have anything planned for Saturday?"
"Planned? Why" asked Alvaro.
Lupe looked at him for a moment. "Now don't say, none of you thought it was Juanma's birthday."
Alvaro thought for a moment. A year ago he and Juanma had been enemies, then he hadn't been interested in his birthday and he was almost certain that Mia and Zoe had never thought about when his birthday was.
"I don't think anyone has ever talked to him about it," he said, a little sheepishly.
