Caitlin In Charge

Chapter Three

At their first practice day, Monday, everything goes nicely. They’re on fire, answering all the questions and not skipping a beat.

By Thursday, Caitlin can tell Natalia is getting distracted. She complains that they don’t have any free time anymore, since they spend every free moment practicing. Natalia can barely stop herself from walking to a friend’s lunch table to see what they’re laughing about. But Natalia agrees with Caitlin and Emma; if they want to win, they need to focus.

The next Wednesday, Natalia and Zoe are even less focused. Zoe is getting tired, and she’s doodling a picture of herself falling asleep. Natalia gets up to leave to go walk the dogs at Seaview House. Emma insists Caitlin should let her go. Sometimes it’s good to take a break.

Instead, Emma and Caitlin open a leftover cheesecake in the fridge and talk through some more ideas for their short story. They set it in New York City, and give Athena a human best friend to travel with. Only Athena will have magical powers, and that’ll make her special. The biggest thing they agree on: their story is not a romance story!

The county competition is Saturday, so Friday afternoon is their last chance to practice. They meet at Zoe and Natalia’s house. But the house is quite loud! Mateo and Tomás, the twins’ younger brothers, are running up and down the stairs, and both of their parents and their grandmother, who they call Abuelita, all live there as well.

It’s hard for the girls to focus with all the noise going on. They still manage to get through about half their stack of note cards. Natalia and Zoe want to be done, though. They complain their brains have shut off.

Natalia is concerned. The competition is tomorrow! They still have so much to review. Emma reminds Natalia that they don’t want to burn out the day before, so they really need to know when enough practice is enough.

Caitlin agrees. They need to be at their best tomorrow…