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When Miguel Diaz exited his room to get a quick snack from the kitchen, the last thing he expected was to see his mother and Delaney Alexopoulos laughing together at the dining table. They didn't notice his presence, too into whatever the latter was talking about. He was stood frozen in front of his bedroom, wondering if he was imagining things.
"Laney?"
Both females looked away from each other, grins still on their faces as they turned to the confused teen.
"Hey, Mig!" Delaney greeted, as if her being in his apartment was totally normal. "I was just telling your mom about the park story."
But he wasn't thinking about that. "What are you doing here?"
"Miggy," Carmen lightly scolded. "Don't use that tone with your friends. Especially your nice ones."
He awkwardly chuckled. "Right, um, sorry, Laney. It's just ⎯ I wasn't expecting to see you again today. I mean ⎯ I saw you at school and you went to Eli's house. I ⎯ um, want to know why you're here now."
Delaney giggled at he stumbled his words, standing up from the table and stood in front of him. She placed both hands on his shoulders, making him reel back a bit in surprise. "Watching you be so depressed over not doing karate again has definitely been one of the hardest things I've ever witnessed. I mean ⎯ seriously ⎯ how can someone be so glum?"
"Get to it," Miguel deadpanned.
"Right, right, my bad. Um, actually, I think your mom explaining it would make it 100 times more meaningful. Carmen?" Delaney took a step back, turning to the woman who was watching them from the dining table with a soft smile.
Miguel was becoming more and more confused by the second. "Carmen? You're calling my mom by her name now? What the heck?"
"Now, now, Miggy," Delaney teasingly smiled. "Your mother is wonderful woman. We've become great friends."
"Okay, Laney, I love you and all but this is getting really weird," Miguel blinked.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'll go sit on the couch and your mom will talk to you."
Delaney stepped away, and Carmen took her place.
"Mom, can you please tell me what's going on? No offense to Delaney but she never does a very good job at explaining things."
She lightly chuckled. "She's a very good person, Miggy. You are lucky to have found a friend like her."
Miguel blinked again. "Okay, now you're talking like her and I'm getting scared."
"Delaney came to me to talk about karate," Carmen let out a breath, finally turning the conversation serious.
He immediately faltered, eyes traveling down to the ground.
