"I want to get a neck tat, a chain with roses," Tricia says as she sits down with her girlfriend and Flaca and Maritza at Red's store. "I'm gonna be thirteen, ya know…but Red still laughed at the idea! She said not til college, at least."

"I don't really like too many tattoos at all, less is more, mine and Maritza's fans are well aware of that. You don't wanna be lookin' like Stella; she's covered in those. Even her hands." Flaca shudders. "Ugh! I only made myself a fake one with eyeliner." She points to the unfilled teardrop drawing beneath her eye.

"Cool!" Tricia exclaims. "You know that means you killed someone and went to juvy or lost someone to gang violence, though," she says in a softer voice. "Did you?"

"Nah, none of those. I just think it's neat, plus it ain't real."

"Oh, all right. Me and Mercy might get each other's names inked on our-"

"Hold it, don't do that!" Flaca interrupts Tricia. "Lovers don't always last, lo siento to say. Plus, you two are only in middle school. Even if you weren't, adults break up all the time. For example, Johnny Depp changed his tattoo to 'Wino Forever' after his split from Winona Ryder. Maybe you could go with Bauhaus lyrics or shooting stars to symbolize luck. That's just straight talk from me."

"Yeah, like what Alex has on her lower back. Flaca's in charge of an advice column at school called Flaca Say, so you should listen to her," Maritza recommends.

"Mm-hm, that makes a lot of sense," Mercy puts in.

"It does, yo! Thanks, Flaca."

"You're welcome, Trish. Yo, if you need a high school girl for any kind of help, I'm here. You got cool vibes!" Flaca grins.

Tricia smiles back at her. "I appreciate that. So do you!"

"Aw, gracias."

"Well, here's somethin' else. I'm a bad writer. When I had Ms. Chapman a few months back, I asked her if I could publish this story about a fictional high school football game, but Piper said it was unreadable and made no sense." Tricia pulls out a piece of folded-up notebook paper filled with words; she'd used a pink gel pen. Flaca and Maritza read it to themselves and start to laugh. "I filled a whole notebook before with illegible words, but this should've been way better!"

In September, we had a game against my old school, California High School, "home for losers" my friends jokingly called it. My mom drove all of us to the game and planned to pick us up at 11pm, when the game was over. As soon as we got there, I saw some of my former friends from California High School. Ingrid ran over with Sadie, Georgia, and Carol. I assumed Sonia was in leadership and probably not present. Kelly was walking around and talking on her cell phone, completely unaware that she was at a football game. Molly was hiding behind a trash can.

"Emily, why did you switch schools?" Ingrid asked.

"Because you guys aren't my real friends. These girls are nicer to me."

"Emily, that's three, two, and one. Kathryn, you're an eighty year old for dumping me!" Sadie commented.

"Yeah, you guys are retarded!" Carol insulted us.

"Don't use that language with me or my friends!" I scolded.

"How dare you put a restraining order on me, Selena!" Georgia complained.

"You deserved it for what you did," Selena said.

"I miss my parents," Kelly said randomly. She put her phone away in her jeans pockets.

"Who are these people?" Allie asked me. "I know Sadie and Georgia, but who…?"

"The girl who asked me why I switched schools is Ingrid, the girl who called us the R word is Carol, and the girl who misses her parents is Kelly."

"Where's Molly?" Lindsey asked, remembering the rest of my "friends".

"She's hiding behind a trash can."

Lindsey looked behind the trash can and saw Molly. "Hi!"

Molly just hid her face in her hands and ran away.

"See what I mean? It's like talking to a wall. Same with Kelly."

"I know. Where is Sonia?" Stephanie asked.

"Oh, there's Sonia. Hi, Sonia!"

"Yeah?"

"These are my new friends. Girls, this is Sonia."

"Cool. Gotta go over there and help out. Bye."

"Bitch!" Melanie shouted.

Ingrid, Sadie, Georgia, and Carol went over to the other side and cheered for their team. "Kelly, go over there with your school!" I urged her.

"I'm waiting for Molly," she mumbled incoherently.

"Molly ran away," Taylor informed her.

"I'm gonna call her and then my parents," Kelly walked away but she walked right in the middle of a football huddle!

"Where is her brain?" Samantha rolled her eyes.

"Hawaii," I guessed. The girls laughed.

"Get off the field!" someone shouted.

"You're ruining the game!" another yelled.

"Kelly, come here!" Sonia said, waving her hands.

"Oh, god!" Rosie gasped in surprise.

"Is she drunk?" Julianna giggled.

Kelly was falling down, just trying to get attention. Molly ran out there to get her. Then, when she realized they both were the center of attention, she hid her face in her hands, took Kelly's arm, and dragged her off the field. Kelly was fighting with her, trying to run away and screaming, "Where are my parents?" Everyone from her school yelled, "YOU'LL SEE THEM IN A FEW HOURS!"

My friends and I couldn't help but crack up.

"I think it's time to cheer now. Come on!" Kathryn shouted excitedly.

We cheered loudly for our team and we could also hear Sadie yelling at her team, "COME ON, YA EIGHTY YEAR OLDS! GET THE BALL!"

Taylor was the flier in the JV division, and in my division, Varsity, I was our flier. No matter how much Sadie yelled at her team, we still won! When California High School lost, Ingrid booed us; Sadie called everyone there Mr. Peanuts, eighty year olds and three year olds; Kelly and Georgia started crying; Georgia took lots of food; Molly hid under the bleachers (that's where she watched the game); Carol called her players the R word and flipped everyone off; and Sonia and her leadership committee tore down our 'GO HALF MOON BAY!' signs. They were all sore losers, and sore losers are so immature to my friends and me.

"We should have had a game against a mature school, like UCSF!" Allie said while we walked to my mom's car.

"I know! But that's a college. Any high school but California High would be better!" Lindsey commented.

"Georgia ate too much! So did Sadie!" Selena laughed.

"I can't believe Sonia just dissed us like that! It's like we didn't even exist!" Stephanie cried.

"She's as stupid as Carol! At least Sonia didn't call us the R word!" Melanie agreed.

"Sonia ripped up all our posters that we worked for hours on!" Taylor contradicted.

"Ingrid booed us all!" Samantha put in.

"Kelly and Molly didn't even say hi to us! They acted as if we had two heads or something!" Rosie continued.

"I know. All those girls that used to be Emily's friends are stupid! I don't know who I dislike the most. I dislike all of them the same!" Julianna said, and everyone agreed.

"They embarrassed me in front of you guys!" I said apologetically.

"They actually embarrassed themselves. They tried to embarrass you, but they don't know you're the most popular girl in school!" Kathryn assured me.

"But other than those girls, did you have a good time at the game?" Allie asked.

"Yes, I had lots of fun!" Lindsey said.

"Yeah, those girls didn't bother us too much!" Selena said, relieved.

"It was hilarious when everyone threw peanuts at Sadie for yelling at her team!" Stephanie giggled.

"I know! She was being so annoying, and so were those other girls, but everyone either ignored them or bothered them!" Melanie voiced.

"Yeah. I'm glad you're with us now, Emily! It's really your mom we should thank. If she never let you come here, you would have been stuck with those losers and on the other side of that field, there would be a nice group of girls who you would have never met," Taylor complimented, and everyone shouted, "Yeah! Yay for Jessica, and for Emily for talking to her mom about it!"

We piled into my mom's limo and told her all about the game. She said it sounded fun and she thought it was rude for those girls to try and embarrass me and my friends. She was glad that it didn't work and they were the ones who were embarrassed!

This was one of the days when I was really glad that I'd gone to Half Moon Bay High School this year!

"Ummm, what do you think?" Tricia asks uncertainly.

"It's definitely entertaining…Piper's so hard on you!" Maritza rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, she was on Dina and Rebecca, too," Tricia grumbles.

"Stupid bitch," Mercy adds and rubs Tricia's back in support.

"Everything's spelled right and it's good grammar. Red probably taught you well," Flaca points out.

"She did!"

"Ain't you supposed to write whatever you want in creative writing?" Maritza asks. "Sure, it's silly, but so what?"

"Ms. C just said it sounds like an eight-year-old typed this, rather than someone who's almost thirteen. I tried to explain that the characters are acting like little kids because they've got disabilities, but she insisted no one can be that childish in high school. Truth is…I wanna write more maturely, I just don't know how."

Nicky comes up to them just then with her signature smirk. "I caught the last thing you said. All I gotta tell ya is this, kid. Writing is like having sex...first fingering your brain for ideas until they flow like an orgasm. Someone giving you foreplay. Can't really get into it until you really get into it, if you know what I mean, like you're poking and prodding your brain until it leaks ideas. Like writing a bit, a little more, brain moans louder with more and more words until the chapter explodes with words and the flow is just wonderful! Then, when it's done, you're like 'aaaaaah, that was good, but fuck, I'm tired!'. Re-reading the chapter to edit is like cuddling, you're still focused on the thing, but you can relax now that it's over." As Nicky is explaining this, Maritza and Flaca exchange a soft gaze into the other's eyes while blushing. "I'm a creative writer too. I know what I'm talkin' about."

Tricia giggles along with the others. "Never thought of it that way! See, this is why I love you, for your cleverness."

"Thanks, sis."

"Welcome."

"My point is, if you wanna write a funny story about girls in high school with disabilities, just have 'em talk and act like they're in middle school, at least, not preschool!" Nicky suggests. "Or watch more comedies for ideas; you don't watch enough."

"Yeah, I should." Tricia chews on the end of her pen. "I'm just now thinking of what I can write for my new story. It's called In Our Own World…about me and my Mercy at prom with our friends."

"Aw, sweet!" Mercy kisses Tricia's cheek.

"Maybe Picky Piper just wanted it typed, but she doesn't realize not everyone owns a computer or has money to use the library ones," Nicky mutters. "Lorna used to write in pink gel pen in her spare time, too, her stories were like kooky romance novels. She isn't the best at writing, but don't tell her I said that!"

"I won't," everyone murmurs at the same time.

"I had to buy this beanie I'm wearing for two dollars at a thrift shop," Blanca is telling Karla as they're relaxing on the latter's couch. Ramón is making dinner and Diablo is playing Go Fish with the kids. Baby Abel is asleep in his crib. "It carried tons of used, clean clothing. We had to rummage through the mountain of inexpensive clothing to find what we might've wanted. We found some diamonds in the rough…Maritza got herself a skirt, I was so happy with my beanie, and Raiza was squealing about all the little pink shirts with Barbies or Disney princesses on them. So it wasn't all bad…she was skipping around the place, singing something random and playful, and then we followed her, beaming from the joy she brought, and she danced around us! Maritza gave us a fashion show right inside the store, she kept coming out of the dressing room in different cute outfits and posing! I was grateful for the distraction that my daughters were providing!"

"We're having pasketti, yaaaaay!" Raiza cheers suddenly, jumping up and down. "Also, I won Go Fish! I beat Mr. Diablo!" She giggles and the adults smile. Diablo gives her a thumbs-up and then gets to his feet. Laronne and Benji start a new round of the game.

"Yes, we are, baby!" Blanca tousles her hair. "¡Y buen trabajo!"

"¡Gracias!"

Diablo walks up to them with a broad grin as he sits on the other side of Blanca. He strokes her hair and they kiss.

"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world, but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it's true I'm here, and I'm just as strange as you," Maritza recites as she comes up to them. "That's one of my favorite Frida Kahlo quotes! My other one is 'Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light. Tragedy is the most ridiculous thing.'"

"Sí, yo también, those are beautiful…also relatable!" Blanca exclaims.

"You're even a reincarnation of her, Mami, and not just the unibrow! You both have facial similarities and Frida stayed hella strong through her pain, like you seem to."

"Yeah, she's right!" Karla says.

"Sí, excellent point!" Diablo puts in, kissing Blanca's hand.

"Well, gracias, I'm honored!" Blanca smiles. "She was my favorite artist, still is."

"Mine, too!" Diablo concurs.

"Same here!" Maritza chimes in. "Her relationship with Diego Rivera was heartbreakingly sad, though. To never be anyone's husband and be a player when you actually have a wife…ugh! Pendejo sounded like Cesar. He deserved Frida fucking that Trotsky dude."

"I'm with you on that one, hermana!" Karla adds and Blanca and Diablo nod in agreement. Everyone beams.

"By the way…two of our neighbors when we were homeless, Mac and Rocky, were pretty nice, actually. They didn't really talk much, but they didn't make us feel threatened. You know I made friends with Cindy and the girl in the tent next to hers, Camilla. Most of the people we lived near on the sidewalk or in the train station weren't so kind." Blanca sighs as Diablo and Karla gaze at her sympathetically. Raiza climbs into Blanca's lap and she holds her baby close to her. "Looking on the bright side, though, it really could've been worse."

"Yeah, like what if we went to a Catholic school while livin' on the street, and stains wouldn't come out of the uniforms and the school questioned it? Or what happened in my nightmare, Raiza and me were put in a foster home...the people were nice but not like you, Mami...they were strict religious freaks and made us girls pray every night and study the Bible...we had to wake up at the crack of dawn and go to bed at ten-the rule was children should be seen and not heard; we were maids, and just before I woke up screaming, I found out that the religious freak couple were Linda and Carlos and they'd kidnapped us and treated us like slaves and made us go to church. It was horrible and they promised it wouldn't be easy to find you ever again, Mami!"

"That's scary, and very similar to what did happen!" Blanca says, wiping away a budding tear and sniffling. "I thought you two were lost in the world forever, and I would be, too." She presses her lips into Raiza's hair and stands so she can hug Maritza and kiss her cheek.

"I worked hard to look like I had a home. Our faces were always getting sucias…no matter how many times we took showers. If I didn't tame my filthy hair, it would look like a rat's nest," Blanca goes on. "I remember when Raiza kept begging to use the potty, but then wet her pants since we couldn't find a bathroom nearby and Maritza was almost raped…and I cried because Maritza and I were in so much pain from our periods that we couldn't even pay for Advil. I keep having these terrible sueños of the bad winter storms we could've been in…and flashbacks about trudging around the city at one, two, three in the morning, trying to find a place to sleep, because the shelter was already crowded."

"Oh, baby, ¡lo siento mucho!" Diablo tells her softly as he rises and rubs her back in soothing circles.

"Yeah, that's awful!" Karla agrees. She and Diablo gather Blanca and the girls into a group hug.

The quiet moment ends when Abel starts cooing as he wakes from his nap. Karla takes him out and rocks him. She lets everyone take turns holding him before feeding him his bottle.

"¡La cena está lista!" Ramón announces.

The dinner is ready!

"¡Oh, sí, tengo hambre!" Maritza says excitedly.

Oh yes I'm hungry!

"¡Yo también!" Karla puts in happily. She joins her husband and they share a smooch.

Blanca and Diablo hold hands as they walk to the kitchen with the kids in tow. Everyone serves themselves a plate of pasta and salad. It's a nice family night.

"One of the cool things about Miss Claudette is that she helped me realize that even if we couldn't get everything, like the demands to make juvy better when I was in there, it is for real enough. I'm hella into prison reform, ya know. It all started when I found my birth mom Mia, who was on crack when she had me. Mia had a tan car and a New York license plate reading F2E-87H1…we discovered she was on MySpace, actually, and she had a picture of it up there. Jamaris, my sister in the group home Ms. Tendler was runnin', she had her doubts about my birth mom, and she was right. Mia started another family, she's got a husband and their daughter Timaya; they had no room for me, but I'm blessed Claudette does. She said I did look cute as a little girl. She's got me eating mangoes, her favorite fruit, and oranges, too, of course all kinds of veggies, and she still lets me have Dunkin' Donuts and Chef Boyardee pasta, but on very special occasions, though!" Taystee says in between bites as she goes through her box of Good 'n Plenty. She shares some of her black licorice with the others. They're all hanging out at Friendly's and sharing a plate of fries with ketchup and they each have a bottle of Diet Coke in front of them.

"Oh wow, lo siento about your shitty birth mom, but at least you got Claudette!" Elena tells her.

"Yeah! I had problems in one of the group homes, from stolen checks to lice…had to sleep in Neicey's house on the floor since both rooms were overcrowded with six people. You remember Neicey, my second cousin I had Thanksgiving with, Josie's girl?"

"Yeah," the group choruses.

"We hella close…we saw Shawshank and Crooklyn together; I ended up crying at the latter."

"Aww…"

"I'm glad baby Vanessa found a forever family. I was afraid I'd never be able to for myself! I even had to fight off this Brichelle chick for my spot at adoption when I was eleven…Kristen Holmes, my social worker, she calmed me down and distracted me with shaved ice; I told her I wanted blue. I was yellin' and shit in front of my prospective parents Charles and Rhonda. That girl interrupted me in the middle of my singing 'Beautiful' by Christina Aguilera!"

"What a little brat," Daya grumbles.

"I know, but whatever…at least I got Claudette now and Odette is my foster sister!"

"Mm-hm!" they all murmur together.

"I'm so happy for you, T!" Poussey tells her best friend.

"Thanks, P, me too."

Diane passes their table just then. "Hey, Mrs. Ford!" Taystee calls out and they all wave at her. She returns the gesture. "One time, Piscatella called me stupid for not knowing how to pronounce relevant and I just wanna thank you for not making me feel stupid and instead, treating me like a person! I also love how you give students who've gone through traumatic shit neon pink post-its, the kind that can be seen for miles because of how bright they are."

"Yeah, like if I'm having a flashback, dissociating, panic attack, etcetera, I can just put one of the post-its on my notebook, or somewhere in front of me on the desk," Maritza adds.

"You're so welcome! I'll take that as a cue to not call on you and not expect you to participate," Diane tells them brightly.

"When I'm ready to engage in class again, I'll just move the post-it out of sight!" Maritza says.

"Sounds good!" She gives them a smile. "Enjoy your snack!"

"Thanks!" Franziska beams back at her.

"She's so cool, I don't even think she'd care if we smoked in the girls' bathroom or whatever!" Flaca exclaims.

"I dunno…she's met Vee once at a parent teacher conference and didn't trust her! I know that Claudette would whoop my ass if I tried that shit!" Taystee says.

"I think Diane wouldn't approve but wouldn't punish us either, just advise against it," Ceci says.

"Vee belittled me, like made me believe I wasn't smart and used terms like 'big girl words' for vocabulary I know at my age that's typical to know at age fourteen. She promised to be a better person last time and I really believed her then...oh well, that's how she is, I can't trust her, but I know she loved me and meant well..." Taystee frowns. "Nah, forget it, she was a bitch! Even after all the Pink Lady apples I would get for her. Diane probably thought so too. If I was showing signs of abuse from Vee, then Diane was obligated to report it since she was my teacher…but I wasn't, so she didn't."

"Yeah, I hope she's rotting in pieces, not resting in peace!" Maritza exclaims.

Taystee fist-bumps her. "Same, sister!" She grins. "Anyway. Being Mr. Caputo's secretary is like I'm the ear of the warden, I got a phone and a desk!"

"Yeah, how's that going?" Poussey wants to know.

"It's basically answering phones and organization, like photocopying, and alphabetizing W2s for the new teachers, which I gotta fax to some chick named Heather and then some other chick named Tonya. I was also asked to file papers and deliver stuff to classrooms which I love! I should get a yoga ball, my back hurts from sitting in that chair all day! In fact, Nurse Lorna told me I squat good and should be in a yoga or dance class."

"Yeah, I agree!" Daisy says.

"I won sophomore class president-"

"Me too, chatterbox, except the senior position. Someone has to do it, all my girls got seriously bad cases of senioritis!" Maria gestures at Ouija, Zirconia, and Pidge.

"Yeah, I even set off the microwave alarm by accident," Zirconia admits. "Cookies only go in for thirty seconds, not three minutes, who knew?!"

"I'm laughing about it still to this day!" Ouija shakes her head.

"Dumbass. We've both been hella tired from staying up all night and getting high on coffee grounds, but we never did something that stupid!" Pidge says.

"That was you?!" Katie asks, and she and Zirconia both chuckle. The rest of the group joins in loudly after stifling laughter a few seconds before.

Taystee checks a text and grins to herself. "Yo, it's my boo, I'mma bounce, y'all good?"

"Mm hm...bye!" Everyone waves at her and she does it back to them. Soon, Clarence, Sergio, and Adarsh come through the doors and kiss their respective girlfriends.

"That's so cute!" Maritza gushes.

"I know!" Flaca squeals.

"So I'm kinda done being frenemies with you girls," Maria announces.

"Really? I doubt that," Elena mutters as she turns around in Sergio's arms to face the others.

"Nah, baby, I talked to her for y'all this morning," Sergio tells her. "I didn't know if it would actually work…but I suppose it did."

"Okay, that's fine, but Maria…I heard the drama you tried to start with mine and Elena's mami. You pull that shit again, I'll kick your ass, you got it?" Ceci threatens her.

"Tell her to cool it with her serious issues about me always holding Pepa. I know she's trying to help, but there comes a time when she gets nosy."

"Just say thanks for the advice and try to take it, see how it works out for you, because she's been a mom for way longer than you, she's got more experience. She knows what she's talking about," Flaca recommends.

Maria raises her hands in surrender. "Fine, I will."

"One more thing, don't ever say I'm dumb and got ADD and get distracted by shiny things again," Flaca chastises her. "You put my girl in the middle of our fight last time! She doesn't like bein' caught in that shit!"

"Sí, es verdad," Maritza grumbles while rolling her eyes. "I sided with Flaca more, because you were bein' a bully and she's my sweetheart, but I really fucking hate drama."

"Jeez, okay, you don't have to get all defensive, I'll quit."

"Good!" both Flaca and Maritza say at once.

"Apparently, my sons have taught Nicky and Tricia some Russian swear words," Red starts at the group date.

Blanca raises an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah! They had the girls saying 'K chertu eto der'mo, chert voz'mi!' That means fuck this shit, god damn! They actually had no idea they were swearing; the boys told them the wrong translation. They thought they were telling me something innocent, like the weather is nice today, so I thought they didn't like sunny days, even after a huge rain storm! I was so confused and pointed out there was a rainbow…and then Maxsim confessed what he and his brothers did, Vasily got scolded by Lida before I could do it, and Yuri just chuckled as Nicky fist-bumped him."

"Wow!" Blanca laughs along with the others. "A little late for an April Fools prank, isn't it?"

"Annoyingly so! It's funny to think about it now, though!" Red chuckles.

"I think they were planning for it to be on April Fools Day, but they just didn't remember it!" Pavel says. "Sundays are busy at Galya's restaurant."

"I'll always love my kids, no matter what. Nicky used to ask me for coconut cake and Jell-o when she was in high school and I always gave in to her wishes."

"You still spoil her," Gloria points out.

"Of course! I'm practically her mother."

"Damn right you are, and I'm like all your kids' father!" Pavel says.

"Yes, dear!" Red pecks his cheek and they beam at each other.

"Speaking of awesome mother-daughter relationships, people like to say I slightly resemble Alex from the back. I let her and Katie call me my first name sometimes. They think I'm thirty at heart and they've each gone to grown-up lunches with me at age thirteen. Alex encouraged me to get married when she was ten so we could be more rich!" Diane squeezes Charles' hand and leans her head on his shoulder. He kisses her temple with a smile. "Thank god I did get a husband eventually, after a car barreled into our trailer park! Charles took us in when he and I were just friends!"

"Aw, how sweet!" Blanca presses her hand to her heart. She remembers the story of how they met in high school like it was yesterday.

That douchebag Lee Burley leads Diane up the stairs. Lee's a drug dealer for tonight, but Charles is fully aware he's always one, so Lee isn't that creative. Diane, however, is a perfect Morticia Addams, with her extremely white skin, dark brown hair, and a midnight black dress. Charles gives out an aggravated sigh as he slumps on the couch. He's wearing a top hat and a red suit and holding a wand, like he's in charge of a magic show or something. A few moments later, Diane rushes down the stairs, hollering that she doesn't want to go all the way with anyone, and plops down next to Charles, begging him to pretend they're a couple so Lee will leave her alone. He gladly agrees to the plan.

Charles turns to Diane. "Nah but I was such a crabapple, you wouldn't have dated me! I was shocked Leon didn't really interest you, but I did." His eyes scan the group. "For real, Diane would've hated me that year! I was jaded before I got into a romantic relationship with her. She turned me sweet and not sour. When I was a prison guard and they had this Mother's Day thing where all the moms in prisons had their kids visiting them, I lashed out at them…I told them in a rude way to back away from the table and not touch me," Charles explains.

"I would've done the same thing a few years back," Aleida mutters. "I don't think Leon would've went out with me if he really saw how I treated my children." She focuses her attention on her boyfriend. "I'm surprised you didn't go for Gloria or Diane, babe. Maybe you would've stayed with RJ's mom Alice, or Rosalita, who's Puerto Rican like me, by the way," Aleida mutters, referring to the other girls Leon has been with.

"Alice was just a friend of mine I was trying to help, but she went too far into the crack hole and went to prison. She exed me out of her life. Rosalita Pontz got eleven years for armed robbery. She's thirty-nine now and I knew the relationship wouldn't work out because first of all, I love you, Aleida," Leon reassures her. "Secondly, she moved to Fresno, California, where she was born, just before her arrest."

"Still though, opposites attract! Aleida and Charles were both kinda blunt and not fond of kids, but Diane and Leon are just full of sunshine!" Fahri tells them.

"Our partners softened us up," Aleida says and high-fives Charles. "We didn't need to grow together after all."

"Nah," Margarita and RJ chorus.

"Then that bastard Kowalski told the kids to put their messy hands on my white uniform, just to be an asshole. I wish I didn't yell at 'em! Maybe I deserved that."

"Well, you were lashing out like that at work 'cause you were sick of your job and close to the breaking point! I don't blame you at all," Diane reassures Charles. She squeezes his bicep with a smile. "It was just a sign you should quit, so I'm glad you did."

"When my hours got cut, that's when I had to! Diane recommended I get a new job since I was acting all stressed, but I already had that job at Stop and Shop every weekend bagging groceries like I used to do when I was a teen in case anything happens with my police career. I was doing a lot of cases that I was emotionally involved with, like y'all know about both Joe Morello, who sexually harassed Diane, and Jack, Aleida's rapist from her childhood...I also punched a suspect, Joe, which professionally you can't do and you can't let your emotions get the best of you in any job really!" Everyone nods somberly. "So yeah, then I tried to work with juvenile delinquents rather than adult prisoners! It was still stressful, so I decided to just be a detective. I only make arrests, stop fights, and work on cases!"

"That's great, man!" Leon tells him.

"Yeah!" everyone else choruses.

"The other day, I saw Charles at the Stop and Shop and thanked him for setting me up with a clerical job at the police station!" Diane informs them. "When we were just classmates, he was the cute bagger checking me out and I accidentally forgot something since we were flirting so much at the register. This only happened when I was with my friends and grocery shopping…my parents didn't like him for racist reasons, but fuck them! We got distracted by each other a bit!" Diane giggles. The others just smile. "He once knit a blue scarf and matching gloves for me. Our first date was at the Williamsburg Waterfront."

"That's all so adorable!" Karla gushes.

"It really is," Ramón agrees.

"They say the worst part about getting arrested by a motorcycle cop is having to hug him from behind all the way back to the station," Gloria starts. "It's the best part for you if Charles is the officer on the bike and you're in big trouble with the law, though!" She smirks and gestures at Diane, who blushes and giggles aloud.

"Charles is a hunk. I do like a man in a uniform." Diane beams as Charles cups her face in his hands and kisses her gently. Blanca swoons at their romance and it inspires the other men to kiss their women.

"I got pulled over by white cops once, and that's why I wanted to be a cop, so I could take care of any arrests of people of color," Charles explains.

"I had a similar experience," Leon says with his hand raised.

"Sí, yo también," Diablo adds.

"Man, that blows, guys, I'm sorry!" Fahri exclaims.

"Yep! Diane's mom figure Frieda's always liked me though; she went out with this guy Bone in the eighties and Diane's met him maybe once or twice while she was in college. They double date with Diane and I now and are the coolest grandparents ever to Alex and Katie!" Charles says.

"The first time Alex hugged Frieda, she asked what that was for, and Alex said she was thanking Frieda for saving her mom from a life of misery," Diane puts in.

"Frieda and Bone…where do I remember them from?" Blanca asks herself. She gasps suddenly. "Oh! They were the sweet older couple who helped me when I tripped over my cart and spilled everything while I was homeless!"

"That was nice of 'em!" Gloria comments.

They wait for the sirens going off in the background to die down so they can hear each other better. Smiling, Diablo gazes into Blanca's eyes as he strokes her cheek. She leans into him and sighs happily.

"It sure was! I had past girlfriends who were racist, they didn't last long at all! So I was kinda wary of white women coming onto me until I really got to know Diane," Charles informs them.

"That's understandable! Well…" Red holds up her drink. "Let's make a toast to Diane and Charles' anniversary! Cheers to you both!"

"Happy eighteen years, hoping for eighteen thousand more!" Gloria says excitedly as they all clink their glasses of champagne together while beaming.

Thank you for reviewing, Juliette45 and MsSchneeheide!