They spent a relaxed and beautiful afternoon in the ice cream parlor. Gaspar came over and Lupe was happy. They talked a lot, and the subject of skiing holidays came up, and Juanma said "We have the right group together today".
"I'm excited about the house that Dad will choose, the last one was very nice, but unfortunately too small for all of us."
"A house without a frozen lake near by , please," said Roberto and looked at Mia. Mia gave him a pat on the arm. "I'm not going to do that again," she said.
"I hope so," said Juanma. He could still remember very well that he had been afraid that Mia would not appear again and that he would not be able to free her from the ice hole.
"You should just sleep at night like me," Zoe said and the others laughed.
"You would sleep during the day too," said Juanma and took her in his arms. "I wouldn't "said Zoe, but laughed at it.
"I'm definitely looking forward to it," said Alvaro. "When we have as much fun as we had while sailing."
"But you already know that you can't dive in the snow" said Zoe and everyone laughed again.
"Then we need the frozen lake in front of the door" said Alvaro and showed his thumb up.
They didn't even notice how the time passed until Juanma said "So if someone is still hungry, there are still 40 minutes for dinner ."
They said goodbye to Gaspar and agreed to meet on Friday for a final rehearsal before the performance. Then they drove back to school. After dinner they all sat down in the GO rooms. They played some music and talked.
"I don't think we've had so much stress with any new student like with Laura, right?."
Roberto looked at the floor. "I think I wasn't the easiest newcomer either." he said.
The others laughed. "Not really," said Alvaro and Juanma at the same time.
They stayed a while and enjoyed the time with talking and Laughing, then they said goodbye for the night before Mauro could come an see them still in the Go.
When everyone was in the room with Mia and Zoe, Alvaro said "So it's Ramiro's from tomorrow, right?" The others nodded.
"Should I then ask my mother if we can stay with her the following weekend?"
The others nodded again . "Ok, if she thinks that's okay, we'll ask Gaspar and Lupe."
They turned on another movie and snuggled into the beds.
The next morning class passed quickly and they were glad when they were through. Alvaro and Fede threw a few balls with Martin and Nico, while Mia and Juanma went through the performance again with Gaspar. Laura was brought home for the weekend after class after her parents had an appointment with Ramiro and Mercedes.
Ramiro looked thoughtfully at Mercedes when Laura's parents left the office.
"Was that what I imagined, or did you also have the impression that something was going on?" asked he.
"They're starting over, that must be difficult," said Mercedes, but she too made a thoughtful impression. "I just hope they can talk to Laura sensibly and not make it worse."
They had explained to Laura's parents that Laura had to get used to the rules and Ramiro had mentioned that she didn't come to dinner regularly. Mercedes had arranged to meet her Laura's mother for the weekend. "Maybe she'll tell me a little more then," she said to Ramiro. Ramiro nodded. "Let me know if there is something that might be important for Laura here."
"I will. I asked Alvaro with his friends, Lupe and Gaspar to come to me for a weekend with Laura. I thought that they might feel more comfortable in private surroundings and that it would be a different atmosphere."
Ramiro looked at her in surprise for a moment then grinned. "You invited them all over to you?"
Mercedes nodded. "They are with you more often, is that a problem?"
"No, not at all, I'm even happy. This way you also have the opportunity to get to know them differently than here."
"Ilaria asked me to take care of Laura a bit," said Mercedes. "I thought that might be a good idea. And I know that Lupe and Alvaro wouldn't come alone."
He hoped that maybe she would accept Mia a little more then and that there would be less tension. Lupe seemed ready to be on the right track, maybe it wasn't too late for Mercedes.
The rehearsal with Juanma, Mia and Gaspar went very well and the three were looking forward to the performance. Mia was happy to see that the tension between Gaspar and Juanma was no longer there and that the two were very friendly with each other. When they left the Go to look for the others, she hooked up with the two of them. Lupe was waiting at the sports hall, the boys had just stopped playing and were just clearing away the balls.
"I'll see you tomorrow at the disco," said Gaspar and said goodbye to the others. Then he took Lupe in his arms and the two of them went to his car.
