Aiden knew a few things about her. She was Lin's roommate. She didn't have a job. She was vegetarian. She was French. She liked cars.

She really liked cars.

"My parents drove a Toyota," She was saying at dinner, her food barely touched. "My first car was that Toyota, then I drove Lin's Camry for a while. After a bit of saving up, I was able to get a rundown 80s car. It was a Yellow Bird, which was nice, but I ended up having to sell it because my apartment building doesn't have any sort of garage system, so it would end up sitting out in the cold."

"That's awful."

"It's not great," Lance agreed, "But I think I'm happier not having to worry about storage for it."

Lance was also very nice to look at. 

Her hair was dyed a dark brown, but her roots were growing in a light brown. She had light skin and scars across her knuckles and arms. She was wearing her glasses, and Aiden could remember her wearing hearing aids at some point.

"You sure do know a lot about cars," Mami chimed in, "It's very impressive, Querido."

"Thank you!"

"As interesting as it is, you've barely touched your food," Mami continued, "You don't have to eat it all, but you should eat something before you go."

"Oh, yes, of course."

As Lance started to eat, the conversation turned to Aiden. He almost wished Isra was there, so she could be center stage instead.

"How's Lin?" Mami asked, "Anything interesting with them?"

"It's just the same usual things," Aiden replied, pushing around a few crumbs on his plate. "Nothing new."

"And what's going on in work?"

"God, being an art teacher is harder than I thought," Aiden muttered, "Nobody cares about the artists who started new styles or influenced entire decades and would rather-"

"No murmures. Sé amable con tus hijos." Mami swatted at Aiden's arm. "No todo el mundo puede oírte cuando susurras."

"She makes a good point," Howard agreed, nodding. "We're getting old. Not everything sounds the same."

"I also couldn't hear you," Lance chimed in, "But, you were talking about artists starting decades?"

"Artists who influenced entire decades of art," Aiden explained, speaking louder now. "I love my students, but sometimes they aren't in my class to learn. If I quizzed them on the influential artists of the Renaissance, not one of them could tell me who did what."

"Neither could I." Howard shrugged. "You're teaching a niche thing, Aiden."

"Art isn't niche. That's the whole point. Art should be accessible to everybody, and anybody should be able to do it. It's a worldwide thing."

"You're right. I'm sorry for saying it was niche," Howard said, smiling softly, "Maybe your students are just interested in the making and not the history of art."

Aiden's phone started ringing, interrupting the conversation. He left the table to go answer it, barely reading the name on the phone before pressing the green button and sitting on the stairs.

"Hello."

"Hey." Lin's voice answered from the other end of the phone. "Are you busy?"

"I'm eating dinner and talking about the influential artists of the Renaissance."

"So the usual," Lin laughed, "Did anybody bring up turtles yet?"

"You're the only one who's ever made that joke directly to my face."

"And I hope it stays that way," Lin told him, letting out a soft sigh, "I was hoping you weren't busy so we could talk some more, but if you're in the middle of something I won't hold you up."

"We can talk for a little while," Aiden assured them, "How's your day been?"

As Lin launched into an explanation of their day, Aiden let his mind wander a bit. He was still listening and offered small sounds of surprise when appropriate, but he was spending most of his energy listening to the sounds of the dining room.

It was probably rude to leave Lance alone with his parents. But she seemed comfortable talking to Howard. Maybe she was only comfortable because he was there - they knew each other a bit more, and he was dating her roommate, which meant she'd see him more often.

He wondered if it was going to be weird. Was it weird to have his partner's roommate over without his partner? Would it be weirder when he was at their apartment, hanging out with Lin? What if he ended up sleeping over?

"Aiden? You've gone suspiciously quiet."

"Sorry. Sorry, my bad." Aiden sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm just thinking."

"Care to share?"

"Not right now," Aiden replied, smiling softly, "But I'll talk to you about it when Mami isn't in the vicinity of eavesdropping."

"I heard that!"

"Tell Mrs. Sanchez I say hello," Lin said, laughing. "I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'll stop by after school."

"See you then. Love you."

"Love you too."