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bee the original Ana had to sit down almost immediately, after she stumbled on
rhinoceros.
The spelling bee became hotly contested between the new Ana and Peter, the boy the original Ana had hoped sent her a special valentine.
    "Spell
triangular
;" Ms. Welty called to Peter.
    He spelled it, wincing as he struggled to get the letters in the proper order. He clenched his fists in victory when Ms. Welty said, "That's correct." In turn, the new Ana eased through the word
magnetic.
    The battle lasted ten minutes. The boys rooted for Peter, and the girls screamed their heads off for the new Ana. In the end Peter prevailed, but the new Ana clapped for the victor and even held up his hand like a champ.
    This made the original Ana mad.
She, the newcomer, a fraud, a mere imitation—how dare she touch the hand that put the cinnamon candy in my valentine card!
Ana fumed.
    Ana confided in her mother while they were in the kitchen peeling potatoes at the sink. Two onions that would bring tears to their eyes sat on the counter. The daughter was ready for tears, even if they were forced to her eyes by big bloated onions.
    "There's nothing wrong," her mother argued softly. Her lined brow expressed her concern for her daughter. "When I was at school, there was another Beatriz Mendoza."
    Mendoza was her mothers maiden name, and Beatriz her childhood name. Now she was known as Betty, though some of her friends called her Lu-Lu. Why, Ana could never figure out, but it was a name that her mother responded to.
    The original Ana considered being called "Annie." She then thought about using her middle name, Maria. But there were two Marias in the other sixth-grade class, and a third, Ana felt, would be one too many. She then decided, "I'll change my name," and considered Michelle, a pretty name, one that sounded French.
    "Michelle Hernandez," she said to her mirror. "My name is Michelle." She giggled and then remembered that her grandmother had a Chihuahua named Michelle, a frighteningly ugly dog with bulging eyes and crooked teeth.
    In class Ms. Welty would call, "Ana," and both girls would answer yes. Most times Ms. Welty was seeking out the new Ana.
    Then the original Ana concluded, "I shouldn't be stuck-up. I should be friends with her." But by the time the original Ana decided to warm up to the new Ana, she discovered that the newcomer was so popular that they couldn't hang. She just couldn't manage to establish a friendship with the new Ana, even when the original Ana confided, "You know, I have a birthmark on my thigh."
    Then a new fad—jangling bracelets first worn by the new Ana—spread throughout the school. "I don't want to wear them," the original Ana fumed, but in the end she, too, wore bracelets and was not above jangling them for no reason except to show she was one of the crowd.
    As spring advanced, bringing flowers and freshness to the air, the original Ana drifted away from her classmates. She spent time alone, eating her sandwich, potato chips, and cookies by herself. She began to revel in this quiet time, though occasionally she would look up and see the new Ana at the center of activity. There she was playing four-square or soccer, and escorting guests around school. She was responsible for starting a school garden—tomato and eggplant seeds were first planted in egg cartons. After they'd sprouted, mothers and fathers came to dig up the soil on a Saturday morning. That day the original Ana saw a television crew approaching the new girl.
    "Now she's going to be on TV" the original Ana cried.
    She was. The new Ana was given ten seconds on camera. She posed with Peter near the garden, displaying an egg carton of tomato plants.
    And what could the original Ana do but watch the new Ana play her flute during a talent show? She had to swallow her jealousy—yes, that was it—when Peter joined her to sing a song in French!
    The original Ana felt like the Invisible Girl. She would walk around school, and no one