Author note: Hi everybody, thanks for reading along! I've gotten several questions about undocumented or illegal immigrants in the United States (like Noa in this story, and their parents), so I wanted to answer those before I keep going. Feel free to skip ahead to the story if you want.

Yes, their dad could go to the hospital for a broken bone and get service. Hospitals and emergency rooms are legally not allowed to turn anyone away because they can't pay or don't have ID. Regular doctors, clinics, and insurance companies can turn people away.

Doctors, police, and teachers are NOT required to report illegal immigrants. They can report them, but they don't have to. Whether people do report is largely based on their region of the country, their state laws, and their community attitude toward immigrants. At the moment, many Californians are feeling sympathetic to undocumented immigrants, perhaps mainly as a reaction to Trump. On the other hand, some Californians are becoming more hardline against them.

Schools: In my research, I found that approximately 65,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from US high schools every year. During Obama's administration, legislation was passed called DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It applies to:

» Young people (born on or after June 16, 1981) who came to the U.S. before the age of 16.
» Don't have lawful immigration status.
» Have lived continuously in the U.S. since June 15, 2007.
» You must be at least 15 years old
» Currently in school or a graduate of high school or GED recipient or honorably discharged military veteran.
» You must also have a clean criminal record and pass a background check.

In my story, Noa is a 'dreamer' and got a DACA number while she was in high school. This would allow her to get a social security number, an permit that allows her to be employed, and a driver's license. Each has to be renewed every two years. President Trump has officially repealed DACA and it is "phasing out." Unless the US Congress comes up with a new legislation, they'll all be illegal again.

How do their mom or dad work? In my story, it's because they already had family legally in California and came to join them. The family already here could help them get temporary work, or find an employer who was willing to pay them despite their status. They could (and in my story, they did) get a tax ID number which allows them to pay taxes and get child tax credit. In 2012, California had about 3.1 million undocumented immigrants, and they payed 3.3 billion in taxes that year.

ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As in, "ICE agents met him at the police station and took over his case." It is part of the Department for Homeland Security and is mainly the people responsible for deportation. Local law enforcement agencies (like police, etc.) are not required to report undocumented immigrants (in most states), but there has been a shift toward getting them involved in finding and deporting illegal aliens. Some cities specifically tell their officers NOT to assist ICE or question people's immigration status, these are sometimes called sanctuary cities.

Okay – that's a ton of information, sorry for the overload. Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll try to find out!

Valerie was ecstatic to go clean the cabin with Elena on Monday morning. So ecstatic that Elena got nervous. She nearly left Valerie at home, but when she thought of spending two and half hours cleaning in front of Charles and Caroline and Darcy... she couldn't do it. She'd split the time with Valerie. She gave her bubbly sister a severe warning not to ask any questions of them (particularly about Giana), and not to talk more than two minutes if they started a conversation.

"Are you gonna bring a timer?" Valerie asked sarcastically.

"I might! Really Valerie, they came here for privacy and relaxation. If we make them feel invaded, they might leave early. Or leave an awful review, you know?"

"Who's invading? I know how to be chill."

Elena was extremely glad when they got to the cabin and found both cars were gone. They'd gone out after all, thank God! If Elena and Valerie were fast, maybe they could be done and gone before anybody got back.

She set the straightforward tasks to Valerie - stripping sheets, dusting, and sinks. Elena started on vacuuming and mopping. You had to move people's belongings around to clean the floors, and it was a little bit of a balance to make the room feel unviolated and yet clean.

She started with Darcy's room-she wanted it done long before he got back. Darcy's room looked completely unlived in, except that the bedspread was just pulled up to the headboard, not tucked around the pillows the way Elena's mom liked to do it.

She didn't even see his suitcase until she opened the closet to vacuum inside it. His clothes were all hung up, and the suitcase put on the upper shelf.

For heaven's sake, live a little, dude. There was a cap next to the suitcase, and she rolled her eyes. Make America Great Again. Of course, he was a Trump supporter. She'd googled him last night and discovered that only half the population looked at him as Giana Gamble's hot older brother. To the other half, he was the junior partner of Gamble Industries and the funding member of several of the most influential political action committees in D.C. He used to live entirely in Washington, but now split his time with California, since his sister had some sort of breakdown last year. He was loved and hated by different groups of Republicans, but everybody agreed he was shaping up to be one of the "big" influencers. Elena figured that meant he had a lot of arrogant opinions and the money to back it up.

The attached bathroom was also very clean. Elena gave it a once over, but you couldn't really tell the difference.

It was like Darcy to have taken the first master bedroom and bathroom, leaving his friends to choose from the single bedrooms or less-convenient downstairs bedrooms. She tried not to think of his comments about her and Noa, but she couldn't help replaying it a couple times while she cleaned his room. Racist.

She planned to leave Charles' room for the end. He was such a relaxed guy, he would probably just sit and chat with her if he came back too soon, putting everyone at ease. He'd been very gentlemanly about Elena's car problem. And instead of ending the date with Noa, he'd quite naturally included Elena, keeping them both laughing for hours at the coffee shop. He'd obviously wanted to spend time with Noa, but he'd shifted gears so fast, Elena soon felt like he wanted nothing more than to befriend them both.

Noa really liked him. She'd sat at church with her family the day before, and was as friendly and attentive as usual, but Elena had seen a distant smile cross her face several times during the sermon, and was pretty sure she was thinking of Charles.

If only he was something normal, like a teacher or a mechanic. If only he didn't have a status-driven career. Elena didn't blame Noa, though. He was funny and polite, he was good-looking, and he didn't hide how much he liked Noa. It was a heady combination. If he looked at Elena that way, she'd probably be lost, too.

Maybe.

Valerie came in with sheets. "This is where Giana's brother sleeps? How cool!"

"He's kind of a jerk. Toss me that pillow case."

"Too bad. Giana is amazing. And her twitter feed is hysterical. I wish she would come back to Los Angeles. Kitty says she's going to be in a movie. We could sign up to be extras and drive to LA for the day to be in it! I'm so jealous you get to live in LA."

"You know it's not all that amazing, right? Getting a job in Hollywood is next to impossible."

"I know, but maybe we would, if we were extras. Giana's in Montreal right now anyway. The paparazzi were getting crazy aggressive last year and she couldn't deal with it. She almost got trampled or something at LAX. She said she wasn't going to live in LA again for good, but she stays with her brother there sometimes."

They worked together to fit the tight new sheet over the mattress. "Does she have a boyfriend?" Elena asked. "Caroline said something about Darcy's sister and her friends joining them."

"She did?" Valerie squealed. "Coming here! Ohmygosh! Oh. My. Gosh."

"Stop it. I'm probably wrong, I don't know. If she comes, we're going to treat her exactly as we would anyone else."

Valerie bounced up and down on her toes. "I know, but can you imagine? Giana having a house party here at our cabin? Kitty will die!"

"You will die, if you embarrass me. Go get the next set of sheets."

"This is so exciting."

Elena worked faster. She dreaded the inevitable meeting of a euphoric and curious Valerie and any of the guests here. Charles because he didn't deserve it, and the other two because... well, why? Because she had a silly sister? That was nothing to be ashamed of. And she wasn't ashamed of cleaning either. It was hard work, and she was helping her parents. It was laudable, darn it.

So why did Caroline and Darcy bring out this defensiveness in her?

They thought they were better than her, but she shouldn't care what they thought.

Elena wasn't even surprised when she heard the door open ten minutes later. Of course they were home. Maybe God wanted to give her time to learn humility.

Elena was in Caroline's room now, next to Darcy's, and she quickly finished up and rolled the vacuum into the hall.

She heard Valerie's voice in the living room, and went to investigate.

"I'm Valerie Benitez. My parents run this cabin." Valerie stuck out her hand and Darcy reluctantly shook. He was alone.

"Yes. I assumed so."

"I would never in the world bother you," Valerie said, falsely, "but I just want to let you know that if Giana wants to visit, we would be totally low-key about it. I am totally her biggest fan, though. If she didn't mind signing my lithograph-"

"Valerie," Elena said sharply. "I need you to finish in the kitchen and then sweep the leaves off the deck."

"I am! I mean, I will! I'm allowed to introduce myself to the guests. I didn't even take two minutes." She gave a little wave to Darcy-was it supposed to be coy?-and danced off to the kitchen.

Elena was torn between the instinct to apologize and the urge to defend.

"Did you give her a two-minute warning?" Darcy asked. He could have smiled and made it a joke between them, letting her off the hook, but he didn't. Probably he faulted her for letting Valerie speak at all, which immediately decided Elena's response.

"She's in high school. I'm sure she's not the only teenage girl to obsess about your sister."

"True," he said coldly. "Don't let me keep you."

Elena spun around and went back to cleaning. Forget him. She would let Valerie talk to him all morning if she wanted. He deserved it.

Elena did indeed hear their voices again ten minutes later, and she didn't intervene. After all, he was just visiting with his friends. Charles was paying for the cabin.

When she was done, Elena went to collect Valerie.

Valerie was ostensibly dusting, she had a rag in her hand and she was rubbing the big flat screen TV, but the window sills were dusty and untouched.

Valerie was talking. "I loved the scene where she dumped coke on the rich chick. Her expression was just...but that's what everyone loves about Giana, right? In every song, every video, we can always see who she really is. She's always true to herself!"

Elena rolled her eyes.

Darcy sat on one of the two stools at the bar in the living room and worked on his laptop. He ignored Valerie. Why didn't he just go to his room?

He had a bottle next to him. She was going to judge him for drinking clear liquor before eleven, but then she saw that it was just soda water. Did this guy do anything fun?

"It's time to go," Elena said to her sister. "You didn't finish yet?" She grabbed the rag from Valerie and began swiping windows and side tables.

Darcy looked up from his laptop.

Valerie trailed along after her. "Have you seen that music video? Giana's first big hit?"

"Sure, I have."

"Doesn't she seem so awesome? So smart and kick-ass?"

"Valerie."

"You know what I mean."

Darcy looked annoyed, as always, but he also seemed to be waiting for her answer. She accidentally made eye contact and felt obligated to close Valerie's conversation.

"I think the best actors and musicians seem transparent, but aren't. The ones who are really that vulnerable-I think Hollywood chews them up and spits them out. So, I hope she's not like that. Either way, we don't know her at all."

The glare from the windows reflected a scattering of crumbs on the polished bar. Elena went to wipe it, and Darcy lifted his computer.

He glanced at Valerie and back at Elena. "Do you have any more sisters?"

"No. Just the three of us."

He didn't say, "Good," or "Thank God," but it rang in the air anyway. Valerie laughed, though what on Earth she thought was funny, Elena couldn't guess.

"We'll be back at the same time on Thursday," Elena said. Hopefully he would stay gone longer if he knew.

She slammed the door a bit as they left.

Valerie mimicked his deep, serious voice. "Do you have any more sisters?" She laughed again. "He cracks me up."

"He was insulting us. You shouldn't laugh."

"Insulting me, maybe. I don't care. It was funny to watch you get all huffy. He totally woke up when you came in the room. Maybe he likes you."

"Eugh."

They climbed in her pickup truck—a new battery had temporarily solved the problem—and Valerie shouted over the initial roar of the engine, "Why not? He's hot."

"He is so much older than you, that's almost gross. And he doesn't like me. Except perhaps to insult."

"Well, you said he stayed to jump your car on Saturday."

Elena maneuvered her big truck carefully down the narrow mountain road. "He could hardly refuse after I waved him down. And then he just sat in the car with Caroline. No, if anything, he's dating her."

Valerie grinned. "Wait, here's the best part. He asked if you had a boyfriend!"

"What?"

"I was saying how I heard his sister isn't dating right now. And how I think that's so smart of her, at her age. A boyfriend would just slow her down. And he totally asked if any of us had boyfriends."

"That's very different than asking about me. He was probably trying to change the subject. In fact, he might've been checking up on Noa. How dare he assume that she's in a relationship? It's none of his business. Even if Charles is his friend."

"Well, I told him Noa hadn't dated since stupid Ryan, that you were too cheap to date, and that I decided to wait till I'd made it as a musician."

"I'm too cheap? Excuse me?"

"You know. You're always worried about debt and income and wasting money."

"That's not why I haven't been dating."

"Isn't it? I thought you didn't want to waste money on buying nicer clothes, and eating out, and gas and...I don't know! Whatever you think it costs to date."

"I haven't dated because... never mind. None of your business."

"You've said that a lot today."

"Maybe because you need to hear it," Elena snapped.

She was annoyed, though she wasn't sure what bothered her the most. Valerie, or Darcy.