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Luca, the oldest of the three triplets, wasn’t sure how to feel about Lucia’s absence. He felt like he should be more upset. He remembered waking up to the sound of his mother crying, and of Vee and Luz’s reactions. They looked so scared and upset. It made him wonder if he was a bad brother. He hadn’t known what to feel. He’d just been so numb. Did that make him a bad person?
He hoped not. He really was trying his best. His best just wasn’t good enough.
Maybe that’s why she left, he wondered to himself. Because she felt like we don’t care about her.
I hope not.
Luz stared at her phone, looking at Lucia’s smiling face. A whole year now since she had run away.
Lucia hadn’t been happy. Luz knew that, and so she felt bad for how angry it made her. Lucia had left, without even saying goodbye. And now no one knew if she was even okay.
Luz was mad at herself, too. After all, it was her fault Lucia was gone. Luz had tried to be a friend to Lucia, but she always seemed to get in the way. Lucia would be talking to someone, and then the moment Luz showed up they would leave. Luz would try to hang out with her oldest sister, and people would laugh at Lucia for it. Luz was fairly sure that Lucia was glad to be without her.
Even though it was her fault, it still hurt.
Vee was curled up in her mama’s bed. She had crept into the room early in the morning, knowing Camila wouldn’t want to be alone on this day. Honestly, she didn’t want to be alone either.
They all missed Lucia. Since she had left, Vee had done her best to be responsible. She’d stepped up with her housework, worked hard with school, and made friends so her mama wouldn’t worry. But behind it all, she was lonely. Luca and Luz had become so much more closed off since Lucia had left, and Camila often talked to a photo of her late husband at night when she thought no one was listening, conveying her frustrations in private.
Vee knew she had to do her best. Otherwise, she would lose more than just Lucia.