Page 85 of Not For Keeps
Anna drops her coat and bolts over to the table. “No. Freaking. Way. Are we doing vision boards? Analyse, this is GENIUS.”
Seb and Andres stop dead in their tracks, exchanging wide-eyed glances.
Andres slowly sets the chips down. “I thought we were having tacos and chisme. This is glitter. Glitter is dangerous. Glitter gets everywhere and then in three months from now I’ll still find more of it lingering in my house without any clue as to how it got there.”
Seb points at a bottle of sparkly pink glue. “Is this thing loaded?”
I laugh and gesture toward the table. “Surprise! Tonight is about feeding your stomachsandyour manifestations.”
Mari sets the bakery box down and claps. “Honestly, I’m obsessed. And Lyse, this is SO the teacher in you.”
Anna’s already flipping through a magazine, tongue between her teeth as she tears out a page. “I’m making mine aesthetic. Maybe some dreamy beach vibes with a hot mystery man reading poetry in a hammock.”
I raise a brow. “I wonder who that man will be.”
“I guess we’ll find out if the manifestations come true,” Anna quips withoutlooking up.
Nathan leans over and points to her page. “Don’t forget to add a dog. No dream guy is complete without a dog named Biscuit.”
Anna snorts. “Biscuit?”
He shrugs. “It’s a solid name. Trust me.”
Just then, another knock sounds. Mateo walks in, snow clinging to his hair, cheeks flushed from the cold. He scans the room, eyebrows lifting at the sight of the chaos.
“Vision board night?” he asks, lips curving into a slow smile.
“You’re not even surprised,” I say, crossing my arms.
He shrugs, walking toward me and wrapping an arm around my waist. “At this point? You could tell me we’re doing interpretive dance in the backyard and I’d still show up.”
Maya runs over and tugs on his sleeve. “I’m putting a unicorn and puppy on mine!”
Mateo crouches to her level, eyes wide. “That’s amazing. But are you sure you don’t want to add a dragon that breathes glitter? Just in case?”
Her mouth drops open. “YES.” She darts off again, magazine in hand, and Mateo straightens, chuckling.
“She’s so yours,” he murmurs, kissing my temple.
We settle into the table, and for the next hour, it’s chaotic, colorful magic. Scissors snip. Laughter echoes. Andres pretends to be too cool for it, but I catch him carefully cutting out the word adventure and pasting it under a picture of a mountain.
“I want to hike Machu Picchu,” he mumbles.
Mari claps. “YES, manifestation king! Put that right under your little photo of a llama.”
“I like llamas,” he mutters.
Seb is the last to cave. “Fine,” he sighs, grabbing a board.
An hour later, his board saysstability,gym gains, andless back pain. There are also photos of pancakes, a house with a wraparound porch, and a bunch of kids.
“Mari, based on his board, you’re going to be popping out a bunch of little Sebastians,” Anna teases.
He shrugs. “More like little Mariana’s.”
Mateo’s board is surprisingly quiet. He cuts slower than the others, more deliberate. I glance over and see words likepeace,home,love. There’s a tiny photo of a firefighter’s helmet next to a photo of a little girl flying a kite.
I place a hand on his thigh under the table. He covers it with his own and squeezes.
