after traveling almost seven hours to get to Mexico City, Paloma couldn’t muster the energy for fake excitement. Did it make her a bad daughter to just want to spend a normal summer at home in Kansas reading her favorite mystery series at the pool and going to the mall with her friends Kate and Isha? “Seriously, Paloma,” her mom said. “You’re the only one I know who complains about a free trip to Mexico.” Her mom stood in the aisle to remove her backpack from the overhead compartment. “I thought that at least visiting your dad’s old stomping grounds would fire you up.” She has a point , Paloma thought. But four weeks? Paloma’s stomach twisted. She was losing most of her sum- mer. What about the Fourth of July? Paloma, Kate, and Isha had been plotting a massive fireworks display at the lake. Every boom, pop, pow would be synchronized to their favor- ite songs, and they were going to come up with a sparkler routine. But because of this trip to Mexico, Paloma’s sum- mer plans had fizzled out. The passengers began grabbing their bags and making their way into the aisle to exit the plane. Her mom stood aside to let Paloma slip ahead of her. “Let’s go, or as they say here in Mexico, Vámonos .” Paloma tucked the books and eye mask into her bag and stepped off the plane with her mom into the crowded Jetway. She practiced a few Spanish phrases she thought would be useful during the four-week trip.
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