#thread; raina

“I can’t believe that you’re bringing them food,” Carmen said in disbelief as she watched her friend bake delicious goods for the double agents down in the dungeon. “Raina they were spying on us, prying into our personal lives. And for what?”

“You ever worry about life after...all of this?” Carmen asked Raina, slightly out of the blue as they worked together on their own individual schoolwork. She and Tobi had started talking about their relationship after he graduated and she couldn’t help but be stuck in her head about it. “Like how it’s gonna be?”

There were a lot of things that Carmen loved about cooking: working with her hands, following a recipe, measuring things out, honoring her heritage and also getting to share it with others. Thankfully she had a friend like Raina was who almost more than happy to cook or bake with her when she asked. “Okay so making churros is actually pretty easy,” she explained as she got all the ingredients that they would need in order. “And my Abuela’s recipe is way better than any like theme park or mall churro that you’ve had in your lifetime.”

It was finally hot and Carmen was relishing in it. The heat reminded her of home and her childhood in the desert, and unlike most people it actually drove her out of the lab and outside and into nature. And while she missed the dry heat and red rocks of her home, she found that she couldn’t complain about the lake. “This is estupendo,” she let out a content sigh as she stretched out onto the dock. “I was tired of the chill.”

It was a breath of fresh air to be walking around Roseville, literally and metaphorically. With everything that had been going on it helped to loosen some of the tension that Carmen had felt building in her shoulders and make everything feel a little more…normal. But looking over at her friend, she sensed all jitters and nervous energy instead. “Hey, you good?” she asked Raina as they walked down the quaint Roseville streets. For a girl who was usually so talkative, Raina seemed quiet.