Grace jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “She’s outside with Lauren. Her sister,” she added when Joaquin raised an eyebrow, not recognizing the name. “She’s the one who was born right after they adopted Maya.”
“Oh, right, right,” he said, but his eyes had already traveled to the massive staircase, and the huge number of family photos that lined the wall next to it. It was like watching a timeline of Maya’s life, from baby pictures to school photos set against a fake forest background. There were vacation snapshots, candids, and posed portraits, and Joaquin could find Maya in every single one within seconds. She was the short brunette in a sea of tall redheads, and for the first time, Joaquin was sort of glad that he didn’t have a ton of baby photos. He didn’t need the constant reminder that he was different from everyone else.
Grace stood next to him, following his gaze. “I know, right?” she said after a minute. “Imagine walking past this every single day. It freaked me out the first time I saw it, too.”
“Do you think they even know that it’s weird?” Joaquin asked her, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned closer to look at one of the baby pictures, an infant Lauren propped up in toddler Maya’s lap. Maya didn’t look thrilled. Joaquin realized that she still made that same face whenever she was annoyed.
Grace just shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they just wanted her to think that she was one of them, regardless of how she looked.”
Joaquin huffed out a laugh before he could stop himself. That was one of the first things that Mrs. Buchanan had said to him when he first moved into their home. “We don’t see skin color,” she had said, leaning down to put a hand on his then-bony shoulder and smiling so wide that Joaquin could see her back teeth. “We’re all the same on the inside.”
He had thought that was pretty funny. Everyone else seemed to be able to see skin color just fine.
“Trust me,” he said to Grace. “Maya knows she doesn’t look like them.”
“Well, that’s the least of her problems right now.” Grace sighed. “C’mon, they’re out by the pool.”
Of course there’s a pool, Joaquin thought as he followed her outside. Maya and a red-haired girl who Joaquin guessed was Lauren were sitting across from each other by the pool. Lauren was tucked under the shade of an umbrella, but Maya was sprawled out on the cement by the pool, sunglasses over her face and her feet in the water. She sat up when she heard them come outside. “Hi,” she said, waving to Joaquin. “Welcome to the latest episode of Real Housewives.”
Joaquin looked at Grace, who was rubbing her temples. “What?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Maya said. “Thanks for coming over. You want to put your feet in the pool?”
He kind of did. Their patio area was warm, warmer than it was at Mark and Linda’s house by the beach. But first, he went over and offered his hand to Lauren. “Hi,” he said. “I’m Joaquin.”
“Oh, sorry,” Maya said, sitting up again. “This is my sister, Lauren. Lauren, this is my . . . this is Joaquin. Neither of you are related to each other.”
“Hi,” Lauren said, shaking his hand. Joaquin remembered that they were only a year apart, but Lauren seemed younger, more fragile. It was clear she had been crying, too. Joaquin wondered if that was why Maya was wearing such huge sunglasses.
“Wait,” Maya said. “Are you related?”
“No,” Grace said, sitting in the chaise lounge across from Lauren in the shade.
“No, but . . .” Maya trailed off as she started to think again. “There’s some mathematical property at work here, right? Like, the transitive property? The brother of my sister is my brother?”
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Joaquin said, pulling off his socks.
“Math isn’t biology,” Lauren added. “Even though I suck at both.”
Maya just waved her hand in the air. “Congratulations on your two new friends, Lauren,” she said. “And don’t say you suck at math and science. That’s such a cliché when girls say that. Even if it’s true, just lie.” She sighed heavily, like Lauren lying about her intelligence was the biggest of her problems.
Joaquin looked at Grace again. She simply shook her head in response.
“So,” Joaquin said, sinking down next to Maya and easing his feet into the pool.
Maya waved at him again without looking up. “How’s the water