|NEXT DAY|

MARIANA

The loud hum of the blender woke me. Mom must be making her morning juice already. I glanced over at Brianna’s bed, seeing it neatly made, and realized she’d already left for work. I couldn’t help but think back to the previous night when I’d shared my news about the scholarship with her—she’d been so thrilled.

~Flashback~

“Hey, sis! What are you up to?” I asked, plopping down beside her.

“Ugh! Just trying to finish up these files. They need to be ...