Excerpt from The Making of Yolanda la Bruja by Lorraine Avila, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

Victory shakes her head. "I swear to God you be reckless sometimes. Why would we share the one thing they've tried to take from us but can't?" But I know enough to know that she don't want my answer. I don't even know if I believe my answer truly.

"You right, we'll keep the sauce to ourselves," I say.

"The sauce and the juice — all ours, OK?" She takes out her new Fenty lip gloss and brushes her lower lip before pressing her lips together. "Girl, this lip gloss is EVERY THING! Look at this brush," she says, passing it to me like I never seen it myself. As I reach for it, she snatches it back. I roll my eyes with a joyous grin. "Guess what? I'm tired of sharing everything with your ass," she continues, going into her bag. "So we not sharing lip glosses anymore!" She takes out a small Sephora bag. I hug her as she hands it to me. the new Fenty lip gloss Holiday set and a small perfume. there is a birthday card too. I throw my hands around her again and hug her as hard as I can.

I open the first lip gloss, Fu$$y. It is a light- toned medium pink with a jewel finish — so first I brush my lips with the gloss wand. the brush is wide enough to completely apply gloss onto thick lips, like ours, in one pass.

"It's like Riri knew it was gon' be us buying this, you know?" Victory smiles at me, her hazel eyes beaming through the mirror. She takes out her phone and opens up the camera app. I apply some more gloss on my upper lip and pose, blowing her a kiss. She snaps the picture and hugs my shoulders from the back. "Happy birthday. Keep getting older for the both of us 'cause I cannot live without you, Yoyo," she says. Her eyes fill with tears. "You my mejor amigaaaaaa in the worlddddd!" she sings, shaking off the tears and clearing her throat.

"Best frienddd," I sing back, "for ever, ever!" I go in for another hug. "On God. thank you, V, forreal." I smile.

We quickly put everything into our bags and open the bathroom door. I poke out my head, looking to the left and the right first. My heart rate accelerates. I'm not trying to get caught up in nothing on my birthday. Seeing nothing, we tiptoe out of the bathroom.

* * *

"CRC coming up, ladies," a voice says, just a few seconds later. I don't gotta look to know it's Mr. Leyva, the school dean. His voice is warm even when he's calling people out. that's why students, most especially me, respect and love him. He's one of the adults in the building who just gets us.

When we turn, Mr. Leyva comes out of the stairwell door. Damn, he's good. He leans against the hallway wall, his left foot up. He picks at his nails with one of his hundred and one keys. CRC stands for Conflict Resolution Conversation, but it's literally just detention. Victory begs a little, lying and saying we had some girl business to take care of. Usually, Mr. L lets us off, but today he is not budging. He's holding a light brown folder, which complements his off- white sweater and his red jeans. Mr. Leyva has to be at least fifty-five — he's older than all of our teachers and even the principals — but he is the only person I know who can still rock red jeans like that.

"Come on, Mr. L. I can't go to CRC," I say as he walks us to the stairs leading downstairs. "I'm the leader of the Brave Space Club, and it's legit my birthday today, you really gonna do that to me? You haven't even said happy birthday or nothing to me." At this, his face softens.

"Happy birthday, Yo. I wish you a long, long life," he says. I nod gratefully his way. "Alright, Yo, you want a break? How about you take Ben Hill on a quick tour of the building —"

"Oh nah, I'm good," I respond.

"You what?"

"I. AM. GOOD."

"Ms. Alvarez, you coming out your neck a lot since you found your voice," he begins. Mr. L has seen my come up. In ninth grade, I was dique shy and came out of my shell to fight or yell when I was not heard, or when clowns tried to come at me over my processors. "Listen, you a whole sixteen- year- old now. I ain't got the time to play these games with you."

Excerpted from The Making of Yolanda la Bruja by Avila Avila. Copyright © 2023 by Avila Avila. Excerpted by permission of Levine Querido. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.