I was thinking about her while watching TV when the doorbell rang.

"Trevor!" Sammy yelled from upstairs. "That's Thalia. Can you get it?"

My heart flipped over. I had been crushing on Thalia Jackson ever since she moved here with her family from California over ten years ago. She's a year younger than me, at fifteen. I don't know what it was that made her so attractive. Her striking green eyes, her long, silky black hair that I'd never gotten to run my hands through. She's also way smarter than me, even though she's in the grade below me. I wished over and over again that she would be mine one day, but so far, that wasn't happening. We talked to each other pretty frequently, since she came over here to see Sammy so often. I don't know how she and Sammy gotten to be such close friends, but I was definitely jealous.

Sammy said he doesn't like Thalia in that way, that they're just friends. He knows how much I like her, but I don't think he's told her yet. What would such a great girl like her be doing with a guy like me? She's pretty, nice, and caring. It's no wonder that Esperanza treats her like a celebrity.

I got my butt off the couch and tried to get the wrinkles out of my shirt. Then I looked at myself in the full-length mirror that stood carelessly propped up against the living room wall. I was wearing a dark blue T-shirt with long jeans. I tried to comb back my messy black hair with my fingers and wipe off a dried white paint stain from my jeans, but to no avail. I supposed I could rush upstairs and change, but then Thalia would wonder why I was taking so long to answer.

I sighed to myself and walked towards the door. Just then, my annoying little sister, Esperanza, rushed into the living room.

"Who's at the door?" she asked excitedly. Then, without bothering to wait for me to answer, she rushed over to the peephole and peered out. "Ooh! Thalia's here!"

She immediately opened the door to invite her in. Thalia stood there, looking a little annoyed that she had been left outside for so long.

"Thanks," she said to Elsa, stepping over the threshold. "I wasn't sure how long I'd be standing out there."

I stood sheepishly in the corner of the room, wondering what she was thinking. I tried not to stare, but she looked so, well, hot. She was wearing short white jeans that showed off her long legs. She wore plain black sandals that revealed her naturally immaculate feet and toenails painted pale blue. She also had a loose tie-dyed top on.

She totally rocked the summer look . . . wait. It wasn't summer. I was so stupid not to have noticed that before. It should've been snowing, or at least a little cold, but the thermostat on the wall told me that it was a warm 80 degrees Fahrenheit, definitely not the way it should be. In fact, now that I thought about it, it hadn't been snowing or even mildly cold since winter had started.

"Hi, Thalia," Elsa piped up. "Do you want to hang out?"

"Uh, no, thanks," she replied, in her usual polite, efficient way. "Maybe another time. I came to talk to Sammy."

I felt a stab of jealously. Every single time she came over, it was almost always to see Sammy, or occasionally to play with *ahem* tolerate Elsa.

She greeted me with a somewhat friendly and cautious "Hey, Trevor!" and all my thoughts about anything instantly melted, replaced by thoughts of her again.

"Um, hi, Thalia," I said. As soon as the words escaped my lips, I mentally bonked myself on the head, though it felt good just to say her name.

Really? That was all you could think of? I scolded myself.

"I mean, uh, nice weather," I tried again. Mental slap. I shoved my hands into my pockets. That was even worse than before. What was I doing? I'd never been this nervous around Thalia before.

"Yeah, it's nice and sunny," she replied absentmindedly, looking out the window. Then she frowned. "Wait, it's winter. In Manhattan. Why is it nice and sunny?" She ran to the window and looked outside. Sure enough, there wasn't a hint of snow and the afternoon sun was dazzling. The plants and grass were green and lush and my mom's flowers were blossoming in the garden. Thalia checked the thermostat, like I had.

After a while, she commented, "This is so weird. Should we be panicking?"

I shrugged. Ugh. Mental punch this time. Isn't this the part where we're in some sort of crisis and I give her really good advice about what to do? And instead I just shrug like an idiot. Yeah, real smooth move to win the lady over.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to look. Sammy was there, wearing a green T-shirt and tan shorts. I glanced at Thalia.

"Hey, Sammy," she said, almost like the way she had greeted me, except this was done with a smile and seemed more friendly and open. I was immediately struck by another wave of jealousy that soon passed when she shot me a dazzling smile before heading up the stairs with Sammy.

"You like her, don't you, Trevor?" Elsa asked after a long pause. I was startled. Actually, I had forgotten that she was still there. It wasn't like Elsa to stay quiet during a conversation not including her for more than a few seconds. That short exchange between me and Thalia must've really been interesting.

I decided not to reply. For some reason, Elsa was just as skilled at discerning other people's lies as she was at lying.

"Ah ha!" she cried, pointing a marker-stained finger at me. "You like her!"

"I didn't say that," I replied carefully, knowing that any wrong word could be used against me.

"You didn't say anything," she shot back. "Which leads me to believe that you do like her, otherwise, you would have openly denied my earlier accusation."

Note to self: little sisters are not always as dumb as they seem. Esperanza was going to be twelve in a few months, so she wasn't the ignorant six-year-old anymore who used to believe all the fibs I told her about the monster under her bed who would devour her if she didn't pay me five bucks or let me have her Halloween candy.

"If I said I did like her, would you tell her that?" I asked.

"Ah ha!" she said again. "I was right! I was right! I was right!" She began singing. "Trevor and Thalia, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Shut up!" I said fiercely, slapping a hand over her mouth. "Thalia's right upstairs, you know. She could hear you."

Elsa shrugged in apology as I slowly removed my hand from her mouth.

"So I was right," she said gleefully, licking her lips. "You like Thalia."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, you've established that fact. Now, I'm wondering, are you going to tell her?"

Elsa shrugged again, this time with a sneaky look in her eye. "Who knows? But maybe you'll have a better chance of getting me to keep my mouth closed if you give me twenty bucks."

I groaned. My sister was getting more and more evil. "Really? What do you want twenty dollars for?"

"Never know when you'll need extra money," she replied, innocently twirling a strand of brown hair around her finger.

I sighed, then opened my wallet. I took out five bucks and handed it to her. "We'll see if you keep shut up. Then you get the rest."

She pocketed the money, then skipped up the stairs, hopefully to her room and not to tell Thalia about what I had just admitted.

I plopped back onto the couch and turned on the TV. I decided to check the news and see if they were reporting the strange weather change. I flipped the channels until I got to one that was reporting the weather. According to them, it was going to be eighty to eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit all day, with lots of sunshine and no rain, just like Hawaii. No mention of snow or any indication that something was amiss. Apparently everyone thought that this kind of weather in mid- December was perfectly normal. I pressed the power button on the remote control and headed upstairs to my room.

Sammy, Elsa, and I were lucky. We each got our own rooms. Mine was right across the hall from Sammy's, next to Elsa's. I turned the knob and went in.

My room was a decent size, with a window overlooking our backyard pool and lounge chairs. My bed occupied the far corner, while a desk with papers and my laptop stood in another. I had a closet against one wall and my dresser was neat and orderly. The only messy thing in my room were my shelves. They contained random books, trophies, and old school projects that I didn't want to throw away. There was a blue rug on the floor that was old and worn, but still really soft. The walls were painted white, with a few pictures of me, Sammy, Elsa, Thalia, Luke, Charlie, Reyna, Gwen, Tristan, Emily, Penny, Connor, and Jonah at Coney Island for my birthday.

I sat down on my bed to think. Then I realized: maybe I could eavesdrop on Thalia and Sammy while they were talking! As soon as the thought entered my head, I immediately felt guilty. If I got caught, my chances of being with Thalia would be lowered even more than they already were. Still I couldn't help my curiosity.

I quietly opened my bedroom door and snuck across the hall to Sammy's door. It was closed, but I could hear distinct muttering. I pressed my ear against the door and listened hard.

". . . really like him?" Sammy was saying.

"Yeah," Thalia replied. "He's so sweet and funny and nice."

"But really? I thought you had better taste," Sammy joked.

"Whatever. Just don't tell him, okay?"

Sammy sighed. "Fine. You should really tell him though."

"And you should tell Emily. I think you'd make a cute couple."

"Yeah, but then your brother would get mad at me, and punch my lights out or something."

"He'll get over her rejection," Thalia said dismissively. "He's gotten over two others before her: Lindsay and Isabella. Besides, if she turned Luke down, then she must like someone else. And that someone could be you."

"He could like you, too," Sammy suggested.

"No," Thalia said. "He barely talks to me. I think he likes Gwen. Remember the time our whole family went to Coney Island for Trevor's birthday?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, he kept glancing at her and I was, like, so jealous."

"You should still let—"

I heard a sound behind me and took my ear off the door. I turned to see Elsa leaning against the wall and watching me with a smirk on her face. She had accidentally sneezed, alerting me to her presence.

Crap. Stupid sister. Just as I had almost figured out who Thalia liked.

"Damn you, Esperanza," I said, frustrated.

"Spying?" she asked curiously.

"No," I whispered. "Just, uh . . . eavesdropping."

"Wow, you must really be desperate," Elsa observed. "Did you find out anything?"

I shrugged. I wasn't about to tell my nosy little sister what I had just discovered.

"Fine, you don't want to tell me, I'll tell them you were listening to their conversation," she threatened.

Great. Just what I needed. More blackmail from my evil sister. "Fine. I'll tell you. But can we go downstairs first? I don't want Thalia and Sammy finding out I overheard them."

Elsa skipped down the stairs while I followed her gloomily. She sat down on one of the armchairs, crossed her legs, and then waited for the info. I flopped onto the couch.

When I remained silent, she said impatiently, "Well, are you going to tell me or not?"

"I'm not sure, but they were talking about who Thalia liked. She said something about that guy not liking her because he kept staring at Gwen so much at the time we went to Coney Island for my birthday."

"I see," said Elsa thoughtfully. She reminded me of a psychologist or a therapist. "And you're supremely jealous about this, yes?"

"Yes," I sighed.

"Have you ever considered the fact that it might be you who Thalia's talking about?" Elsa suggested.

I shrugged. "No, not really."

"Why not?" Elsa pressed. "You're not too bad looking."

I felt honored that my little sister, who was so stingy with compliments, had given me one.

"Thanks, but what about Connor? He's not bad looking either."

"Why are you being so negative? You can hope!"

"I am hoping," I grumbled. "It's just so unlikely that that hope with come true."

"Aren't you a little optimist," Elsa said, coming over and poking me.

"Ugh! Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Nope," Elsa replied. "However, since I'm nice, I'll give you the rest of the day off."

She raced up the stairs and I turned on the TV again to see if I wasn't going crazy about the lack of snow in New York in the winter.