Fifteen Candles Read Online Free

vanilla cream, and four sugars.
    A few minutes later, they were back at their desks chowing down on City Hall burgers and Town Crier fries as they caught up on their personal e-mails. They both agreed that the Food Services attempt to give every item on the cafeteria menu a catchy name was a little corny.
    Suddenly, Sarita let out a groan. Alicia looked up. “I’ve got a million things to do for my quince ,” Sarita said. “My mom e-mails me about it every hour on the hour. Since we’re new, we don’t even know where to start. My uncle lives here; he’s one of the mayor’s aides, that’s how I got this internship. But he’s single, and he doesn’t have kids, so he knows nada about quinces .”
    Alicia smiled. This was something she could handle. “I could help you out if you needed it. I am something of a quince expert, you know.”
    Sarita looked impressed. “Expert, huh? Did you have multiple quinces or something? I heard that girls down here are serious about their quinceañeras .”
    â€œActually, I took a trip abroad for my quince , but I’ve been to hundreds of them,” Alicia said.
    Sarita raised an eyebrow. “Wow. That is a lot of friends.”
    â€œWho said anything about friends?” Alicia cracked. “Maybe it’s not hundreds, but believe me, I’ve been to a lot. So, when is your quince ?”
    â€œIn a little over a month,” Sarita said.
    Alicia tried not to fall off her very unergonomic office chair. “You’re kidding, right?”
    â€œNope. Five weeks from Saturday. My mom’s already invited all of our relatives in Atlanta, and they’ve booked their tickets. We just need to find a place.”
    Alicia looked stricken. What had Sarita and her mother been thinking? There was planning to be done. Dresses to be bought. Dances to be learned. It would take months!
    â€œFive weeks isn’t enough time to plan a quinceañera ,” Alicia said, trying to sound calm.
    â€œSure it is,” Sarita said. “We don’t have a ton of money, and I’m not planning on anything fancy.”
    Alicia breathed a sigh of relief. If small was the plan, maybe Sarita could pull it off. She’d honestly been afraid that her sudden panic was going to cause some very unsightly sweat marks on her seersucker jacket (which, to be perfectly honest, was her mother’s seersucker jacket that she’d sort of borrowed). “So you’re having a house party?” she asked.
    Sarita shook her head. “No can do. Me and my mom are in a tiny condo on the beach, and we’re expecting more than seventy-five people.”
    Alicia pulled her dark hair up into a ponytail. It was time to get down to business. She liked Sarita, and moreover, she felt as though she could really help her.
    She began with the basics. “Okay, you need a hall. So what’s your theme?”
    Sarita shrugged.
    Then Alicia asked, “Well, what kind of dress are you going to wear?”
    Sarita shrugged again.
    â€œAnd your quince is only five weeks away?” Alicia said. “What are you thinking, niña ?”
    â€œI don’t know. In Atlanta, none of my friends had a quince . That’s why they’re all excited to come down here for mine.”
    Alicia nodded, but she couldn’t help thinking that Sarita’s friends were going to be sorely disappointed in a quince that had been put together with spit and Scotch tape in five weeks’ time.
    She took a deep breath. She wouldn’t let that happen. “Your quince ’s going to be great,” she said, her voice full of determination. “And I’m going to help you.”
    â€œBelieve me, chica . I appreciate it,” Sarita said, jumping up. “But right now it’s time for Lori’s afternoon coffee, and trust me, we don’t want the natives to get restless!”

LATER THAT night, on Facebook, Alicia researched