After three years in Great Lakes City, Ronnie Anne Santiago could safely say she'd gotten past any growing pains of living with a big familia. It was normal life now.

A little different though. Carlota had moved out. The fashionista of the family had her own place with her own 'boy toy' as she put it; Ronnie Anne gagged any time she heard that term. She only ever saw her brother during the day too, since he'd moved into an apartment with his wife while she was in college. Lori and Bobby had gotten married less than a month out of High School, and it'd been a whirlwind of hysteria. They already had two kids, which made Ronnie Anne an aunt. Very weird feeling.

Bobby did get the Bodega out of it though-Abuelos's gift. He still worked as the cashier even if he did own it. Their grandpa was still an employee and collected a paycheck, even if he did spend most of his days sleeping upstairs.

But he was old, so it was to be expected. It'd been three years, everyone had aged. Both her grandparents were past 70 now, although her abuela showed no sign of slowing down because of it. Bobby was a legal adult, in age at least. And Ronnie Anne was a teenager. 15 in fact. That middle ground between the start and adulthood, and the start of the painful transition to the later.

But that was another story.

Time passed and people aged. Carlitos was about to turn five, and the family was about to celebrate. Ronnie Anne didn't get why five was such a big deal, but she'd learn to roll with her family's eccentricities. But that meant she had to provide something for it. Fortunately, she didn't have to scramble. She knew exactly what she would do, and it involved mixing business with pleasure.

She was going to get Lincoln to attend. As it turned out, her longtime friend was in the entertainment business now. He'd had a casual interest in magic tricks back when they lived in Royal Woods together. And after he'd knocked it out of the park with them at a school talent show (there were a lot of embarrassing memories associated with that Ronnie Anne kept stubbornly suppressed), he'd figured he had a real talent for it. So he'd signed up as an act for his sister's entertainment business. 'Funny Business', Luan called it. And Carlitos loved that stuff; Lincoln had brought a few tricks every time he visited and the toddler went crazy for it.

The plan was simple. Book him, have him entertain Carlitos, and then the two of them could slip away from the party and hang out. AS FRIENDS.

No, they still weren't together. Fifteen may have been an acceptable age to start dating, but not these two. They were officially only friends. It really killed the incentive to go beyond that when 3 hours distance separated them. There were feelings there, a lot more defined than they'd been 3 years ago. Lincoln wore his on his sleeve the most of the two. But neither brought it up directly out of a shared doubt that anything official could hold up. And if it did start and then collapse, things would be really awkward.

Closest they'd come had been during Lori and Bobby's first child's birthday. The year previous. They'd been talking. About what neither could really remember. Joking about how Lori and Bobby looked overworked and were falling over themselves trying to make the day special (in their defense, their older siblings were really overdramatic people). They'd gotten to the subject of it being great that they could see each other again, even if it was tacked on to another occasion. Staying vaguely in that subject.

Lincoln must've misread some signs, because he'd leaned in to kiss her at one point. Their lips had met and stayed together for a good 10 seconds. Ronnie Anne had actually thought it was nice for those 10 seconds. But then she panicked. Pushing him onto the floor was an overreaction, and he definitely hadn't deserved where her knee ended up. She'd really regretted it, to the point of breaking down and apologizing over and over.

He'd tried to laugh it off, too embarrassed by his jumping the gun. Both of them horrifically embarrassed and wanting to pretend it hadn't happened. They'd managed, although it (or at least the kiss) seemed to pop into Ronnie Anne's mind at the worst of times. She wondered if it did for Lincoln too, then she got even more embarrassed.

But neither had brought it up with the other before, and neither intended to. It was just an embarrassing memory to forget. Or so they both insisted to themselves. Point is, they were friends, and friends could ask each other for favors.

Luan had her own website where she posted content and hosted everything. Ronnie Anne went there that afternoon and found the business number. After punching it in, she held the phone to her ear and was surprised when a clown horn honked twice. "You reached Funny Business!" A woman's chipper voice announced. That had to be Luan. You didn't forget a voice like that. She had to hold the phone away from her ear while she went on about all the services they offered.

"Uh, yeah…" Ronnie Anne never could respond to overly enthusiastic people. "Do you do gigs in Great Lakes City?"

"We do!" Luan said without pause; she hadn't picked up anything yet. "But travel cost is part of the fee." She finally lowered the volume of her voice to discuss something serious.

"Good, I got a cousin's birthday coming up in 8 days and I want one Lame-O Magician for it." The other side of the line went quiet. Ronnie imagined Lincoln's bucktooth sister's brow furrowing as she tried to figure out the caller and its intent. "Luan, right? It's Ronnie Anne. I want to know if Lincoln's available."

"Ooooh." The older girl dragged on, finally putting the pieces together. "Well, you're in luck!" She said without missing a beat. "'The Amazing Lincoln' is available on that day!" 'The Amazing Lincoln'? Ronnie Anne blew air out through her nose. "And as it turns out, we have a family discount!" Ronnie Anne hadn't intended to stiff him on payment. He used money from this job for his comics and other nerd stuff. But a discount?

"I qualify for that?"

"Yep!" A peppy Luan said. "The 'Future Sister-in-Law' discount!"

"No way!" Ronnie Anne shouted into the phone, going red in the face. But she could hear raucous laughter on the other end of her line. Unlike her own family, this was 100% teasing.

"Just kidding! But seriously. You're family friends. You get a discount."

"…Great." Ronnie Anne forced a fake smile and tone. "So how much will it end up costing?"

"25$ up front. We'll waive the travel fees this time. I'll tell Linc about it next time I see him. Thank you for booking with Funny Business."

"Yeah. Fine. I'll have the money when he gets here." The transaction over, Ronnie Anne ended the call and fell back on her bed, a hand covered her still colored face. That was how she knew she was getting older. Jokes about her and Lincoln being an item used to only annoy her. Now they made her flustered. And it was when she realized that connection that she realized she'd fallen without a hope.

Stupid caring nerd.

He called her that evening. She'd had to excuse herself from the table to take the call in the bathroom. "Hey Ronnie Anne." Lincoln greeted. "Luan said you called earlier?"

"Yeah, Carlitos' birthday is coming up in a week and we're all supposed to get him something. I figured you can come and perform a few tricks and then we can go hang in the city while a bunch of little kids tear up the apartment."

"Uh, yeah! That sounds great!" Lincoln agreed. "Birthday's for little kids really don't go all that well..." He sounded like he was remembering something unpleasant. "But I'd love to hang out!"

"Oh yeah? You'll have to tell me about it when you get here." 15 wasn't old enough to grow out of her sense of schadenfreude either, but she didn't take it too far.

"Hey, I got an idea!" Lincoln suddenly sounded excited. "You can be my assistant! I got a lot of acts that need two people!"

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on." Ronnie Anne stopped him. "I'm paying you to come perform. And besides, I don't know any magic tricks!" Not to mention that he was asking her to go up in front of her own family and whatever friends of Carlitos were invited. She still didn't like performing in front of crowds, and definitely not one that would have a lot of strangers in it.

"No, they're easy!" Lincoln was insistent. "If I come a few hours early, we can practice!" And that gave the Latina pause. There was a trade in front of her: A few extra hours with Lincoln for only a few minutes of looking stupid. "Actually, you'll need a uniform too." Lincoln realized. "I can buy one."

"No." She stopped him again. "I can get a uniform no problem." Benefit of having Carlota in the family was Ronnie Anne didn't have to pay for clothes. She either got hand-me-downs from Carlotta or the woman could whip up any outfit Ronnie Anne needed.

"So you'll do it?" Lincoln asked.

"Wait-." She realized she'd implicated herself. "Ugh. Fine." She said in defeat. "But none of those tricks better make me look stupid."

"Great!" The white-haired teen sounded optimistic. "It'll be a lot of fun, trust me!" In Great Lakes City, a sharp rap sounded on the bathroom door, one Ronnie Anne recognized immediately.

"Shoot. Sorry, Lincoln. I gotta go. I sneaked away from the dinner table to take this call." And she hung up. She walked out the bathroom, trying to look as innocent and casual as possible. "Hey abuela." She waved to her grandma and her knitted eyebrows as she passed.

She didn't want the rest of her family finding out she hired Lincoln. Not yet, anyway. For now, she'd skated detection. She just had to keep that up till the birthday. But she had to reveal the truth to at least one person: Carlota. She wouldn't be able to get an outfit any other way. From her room, she called her later that night.

"Ooh, hi prima. What's going on?" She picked up on the 2nd ring.

"Hey Carlota." Ronnie Anne got right into it. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Si, si. What is it?" Her cousin loved gossip.

"Since Carlitos' birthday is coming up, I called Lincoln-" Ronnie Anne had to stop there because her cousin squealed in excitement. "I called Lincoln," She raised her voice to get her attention again, "and asked him to come put on a magic show. Don't let the rest of the family know that." Part of it was to avoid looking like she was showing off ahead of time, and the rest was she didn't want them going nuts over her inviting a boy over.

"Aww." Her cousin sounded touched at the younger girl's thoughtfulness.

"Anyway," she got on with it, "I kind of let myself get talked into being his assistant." Her cousin burst out laughing. "Yeah, yeah." Ronnie Anne grumbled. Her Aunt Frida was going to have a dozen pictures of this all over the wall for the rest of her life.

And she was doing it for a geek!

"Anyway, I need an outfit for it. Can I drop by tomorrow?"

"Of course! Anything to help you woo your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Ronnie Anne protested. "This is for Carlitos' party. That's it!"

"Mhm. Mhm." Her cousin played along. "Of course. I'll get it all ready and see you tomorrow!"

"Goodbye." An annoyed Ronnie Anne hung up the phone before grabbing a pillow and pulling it over her face. Every member of her family was relentless. Her and Lincoln were just friends! Really!

She glanced behind her to a picture above the headboard. It was Lincoln and her when they were 11. Nothing too remarkable, but the whole picture was surrounded by a heart frame. She hadn't done that. She'd NEVER do that. But her familia had when they put this room together for her. She'd sworn 100 times whenever they embarrassed her about Lincoln that she'd tear it down. But of course, she never did.

She did have a use for it though. "Dork." She lightly hit it with her fist. In less than a day, she'd signed herself up to be embarrassed twice over: By her family when they saw Lincoln, and she was going to embarrass herself in front of a bunch of kids. Those extra hours better be worth it.

But she was only exaggerating how miffed she was about the whole thing; she fell asleep that night without a problem. And then it crashed back into her life that next morning.

Carlota had interpreted her cousin's phone call as an emergency rather than a request. She responded accordingly. And that was why she barged into Ronnie Anne's room the next morning before the teen had even woken up, pulling three different carry-on bags behind her.

"I came as fast as I could." She declared, ignoring Ronnie Anne tumbling out of bed and wrestling with her blankets. "We got work to do." No sooner had Ronnie Anne stood up did Carlota advance on her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ronnie Anne held up a hand to stop her. "Slow down." Her cousin was always aching to give her a makeover. She should have seen this coming. "Space, please."

"You said you needed a new outfit!"

"Yeah, in a week!" The teen retorted. "Just-let me wake up." She had to pee and her hair was a mess from that tumble out of bed. Once she had a shower and some breakfast, maybe she could put up with her cousin's fashion insanity.

Once Rosa was awake, Carlota did get off her case. The elderly woman was overjoyed to have one of her grandkids over again; even with three others, she'd acted like Bobby and Carlota leaving was the end of the world. She didn't even suspect a reason for Carlota coming over beyond a friendly visit. All the better for Ronnie Anne's plan.

There was that saying about band-aids. Ronnie Anne decided she might as well get this over with. So at about 10, she subtly motioned Carlota towards her room, and she picked up on it immediately.

"Position." Her cousin commanded, pushing her to the center of the room and making her hold her arms out. She started taking measurements. "Sooo." She said expectantly. "What are you and Lincoln doing? Come on, prima, I know you got something else planned."

"I just figured he could put on a show for Carlitos' and his friends and then we could go hang out. I don't think la Abuela will notice."

"Probably not." Her cousin agreed. "Girl, let me tell you: this house is going to be a mess in a week. I do not blame you for wanting to spend it with your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!" An irritated Ronnie grumbled. "Do you even know how to make a magician outfit?"

"Of course! Don't you even watch my fashion blogs?" She asked.

"Uh…well…" Ronnie was put on the backfoot, afraid to incriminate herself.

"I'm joking, Ronnie Anne!" Carlota laughed. "Relax. I've made this kind of outfit before for friends at Halloween parties. And I stayed up last night doing research. You're going to look perfect for the part." Teasing from her family aside, at least she was in good hands. "Now let's try some things on!"

Ronnie Anne's first few months living here had involved a special sort of hell of being a dress up doll. She'd thought she'd be free forever when Carlota moved out. But it was one she had to endure again now.

It's for Lincoln. She kept reminding herself. And Carlitos' birthday. She added when she realized that made her sound like a sap.

But as her cousin worked her magic, she started to have second thoughts. But she kept her silence until Carlota was done, snapped a picture, and grandly presented it to Ronnie Anne. "Seriously girl, you need a mirror in here." But she was too busy scrutinizing the picture.

She could take offense to how ridiculous she looked wearing a top hat, but Ronnie Anne was more concerned with the fact her cousin had her put into a leotard. This felt wrong. As a general rule, Ronnie Anne hated skirts and dresses. Too much air. This wasn't open like either of those, but it wasn't covering any of her legs or thighs either. Even with the cape fastened to her shoulders trailing down past her backside, she felt really exposed.

"This?" She asked skeptically.

"Yeah." Carlota responded. She furrowed her brow, reached forward, and centered the hat. "Perfect!"

"No, not perfect." Ronnie Anne retorted. "I look stupid!" She would've said she looked like something worse, but she didn't want to insult Carlota's obvious hard work.

"Ronnie Anne," Carlota sounded confused. "You asked for a magician's assistant outfit, right?" When she nodded, Carlota put a hand on her hip. "That's what that is!" She could see her cousin wasn't convinced, so she went over to her bag. "I spent all night getting these references!" She pulled some photos out of her bag and handed them to her. "I even looked up your boyfriend so I could make something that matched."

"He's not…" Ronnie Anne stopped grumbling when she started looking at the pictures of actual magicians and their assistants. All were female, and all had leotards. Carlota had even gotten a picture of Lincoln from somewhere, probably Luan's website. He had a cape and top hat too, although he got to wear a tuxedo.

"I think you boyfriend got one over on you, cousin. Niño inteligente." Carlota patted her on her shoulders. Ronnie Anne set the pictures down with a tight-lipped expression. Lincoln was a real dork. Really sweet too. But he was a teenage boy. And she had noticing him checking her out before. Maybe he did honestly just do a magic show together because it be fun. Or maybe he wanted to see her dressed like this. It might even be both.

"Would a skirt help?" Teasing aside, her cousin wasn't going to send her out in an outfit she obviously wasn't comfortable with. The 'skirt' was just a big ring covered in black frills. It wouldn't cover a whole lot up either.

"It might help." She took it.

"Ronnie Anne, you don't have to go along with this if you don't want." Her cousin could see the writing on the wall: she was uncomfortable. So of course, she stepped in. "Just call him. Or let me."

"No." Ronnie Anne stopped her there. "I'll talk to him before the birthday party. It's probably just him being clueless. Just keep it a secret for now, alright?" She wasn't going to start a rift over a misunderstanding. Plus, if it was just him being clueless, she wanted to tease him in person.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"It's Lincoln. I think I'll be fine." Both girls jumped when someone started tapping on Ronnie Anne's window. It was Sid; her and Ronnie Anne had a habit of using the fire escape to visit each other. She had her face smushed against the glass, staring intently. When Ronnie Anne opened the window, she tumbled in, stood up quickly, and eyed her best friend up and down.

"Guuurl." Sid drawled out. "What are you wearing?"

"Lincoln's coming to do a magic show for her cousin and asked her to be his assistant." Carlota answered for her.

"Hey, thanks for the outfit!" Ronnie Anne gathered up all of Carlota's bags and shoved them in her hands. "I love it, great, thanks, bye!" She pushed her out of the room and closed the door before the woman could say anything.

"So…?" Sid implored, expecting a full story.

"Alright, fine. I agreed to help him put on his magic show." Ronnie admitted. "And he said I needed a costume to go with it. I didn't expect it to be something like this though!" She still wasn't comfortable in this thing. "Turn around for a second." Sid did, and Ronnie Anne quickly changed out of the assistant outfit-cape, hat, and one-piece-and back into shorts and a hoody.

"He totally wants to check you out." Sid said, picking up the leotard for observation.

"I think he just wanted to get me to join him in his geek stuff." Ronnie Anne put the hat on again in curiosity.

"Love makes you blind, girl." Sid warned her.

"Shut up." Ronnie Anne jokingly tossed the hat at her head. The girl caught it instead and put it on.

"Exquisite!" She exclaimed in a posh British accent. "Can I have this?" She asked normally.

"Maybe after the party."

"Wait, whaaat?" Sid asked. "You're actually going to wear that?"

"No, I'll wear the stupid hat and the stupid cape. I'm just going to have a word with Lincoln about the rest of the outfit." It was probably just a misunderstanding. Besides, she wasn't going to be wearing it for long. It wasn't a big deal.

She wasn't going to let one little hiccup like this interrupt a day with Lincoln.

AS FRIENDS.