There was a lot of talk about the storm in the first few lessons. Laura was present for class and said that the storm had uprooted two trees in her garden. Fortunately, they hadn't damaged anything. The others also had a few things to tell, from flooded cellars to collapsed roofs.
After class, they prepared everything for the weekend. They should start right after school, Gaspar and Lupe wanted to be there too.
The boys played a bit of basketball, they also included Emanuel and Simon. Some of the girls watched.
The day passed quickly and they soon found themselves in class on Friday morning. After class, Mia and Zoe put a few things in the locker. When Mia opened her locker, she found a letter with her name on it. Zoe came to her and Mia first packed the letter with her things, which she wanted to take from the locker into the room. In the room she took the letter and locked herself in the bathroom.
She opened it and took out a sheet of paper.
"Even if you are Ramiro's daughter, you are only a second-rate dancer and singer. Just because Ramiro loved your mother, he feels an obligation to give you a home. You have destroyed his family and his dream.Never forget that an be aware of that you will destroy Alvaro. It would have been better if you had never found this school. "
Mia read the lines twice. Then she put the paper back in the envelope. After a moment she unlocked the door.
"Is everything ok" asked Zoe. "You never lock yourself in."
Mia held out the envelope. Zoe read the letter, looked at Mia and said, "We're tearing that up into millions of small snippets and forgetting that. Somebody wants to annoy you."
The boys came into the room and Mia looked at Zoe and hid the letter in her pocket.
"Are you ready to take off," asked Juanma and took her bag from Zoe. Zoe looked at Mia again and then nodded.
"Very good, the others are waiting at the cars, Gaspar is already there."
Mia looked around the room again to make sure they had everything, then they ran to the car together.
Roberto took Gaspar and Lupe with him. They drove together to Ramiro to start from there with him and Isabel.
Isabel had prepared a small snack and they sat down together at the table.
Then they set off. The streets were clear, they got through quickly.
The landscape soon became more rural and calm and Mia felt familiar again with the way to the ranch. They had left the highway a long time ago and were driving through the hilly landscape. There were already pastures on the sides, where there were currently no animals and soon they were driving on the direct path that led to the ranch.
Alberto had already been informed of their arrival time by Ramiro and he was waiting for them with a big smile on his face. Ruby and Travis were in town to run a few more errands.
Everyone got out and Mia was startled because a dog ran towards her, barking. Alberto called it back. "Sorry, this is Remmy," he said with a laugh. "She greets everyone, but she doesn't bite"
He took them all in his arms and then said, "You know, I guess , where you sleep. The bungalows are open and waiting for you. Arrange yourself, when Travis and Ruby are back, there will be dinner."
The bungalows hadn't changed. But the storm had done some damage around the ranch. Fences had fallen and trees had been uprooted. A tree had fallen very close to one of the bungalows.
Mia and Zoe had reserved a bungalow with the boys, and the shared apartment in the winterhollidays had gotten together Lupe, Clara, Roberto and Gaspar in one of the other bungalows. Ramiro grinned and said to Isabel "That means we have a house only to ourselves". Everyone laughed.
Lupe looked around. The bungalow was cozy and reminded of the house on winter vacation due to the amount of wood. In the bungalows, the bedrooms were not separated by doors but shifted into niches, but they were open. Still, she liked it very much.
Juanma threw himself right on the bed "I don't know why, but I kind of missed this" he laughed.
They put a few things away and then headed back to the ranch house
"I was just about to call you guys," said Alberto. "Travis and Ruby are right here too, bringing pizza."
They were still helping to set the table, when Travis and Ruby came in. They too greeted the students warmly.
When everyone had finished, Ruby and Zoe did the dishes. Travis and Alberto told the visitors what the storm had done and what repairs were planned.
"We saw the broken fences," said Alvaro. "And the tree that fell next to the bungalow,"
"Yes, I wanted to see if we could shred it together."
Ramiro nodded. "Sure we can do that."
