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First sight
"Tyler looks out the window of his bedroom and can't believewhat he is seeing. He rubs his eyes. Still there! Some strange people are coming out of the trailor where the hired help usually stays. They have brown skinand black hair, and although they don't wear feathersor carry tomahawks, they sure look like the American Indeansin his history textbook last year in 5th grade" this is the very first section of the novel and tells that he surprised by them and they are a different ethnicity -
They first meet
"I think it might be a good idea to gonext door and introduce yourself' [...] 'hi[...]'You speek Spanish?' the girl before him asksin pretty good english. 'I speak Spanish, too,' the littlest one chimes in. 'In Spanish my name is Lubyneida-' 'Maria Lubyneida' this shows that they are adifferent language and are differernt but tyler goes to talk to them for the first time -
realizing he likes her
“Tyler has to admit, the lesson tonight flew by. He hasn’t had this much fun stargazing since Gramps died” this shows he likes her and foreshadows that he likes her even though he knows that she is different. -
Best friends
Tyler tells Marias father what he has done and later in the novel they go to pick up Senora Cruz and with Tyler's money he is very genourous for his Mexican friend to allow them to finally get there mother back -
The sacrifice
"Do you mind if we go to NorthCarolina instead?" this shows that he is giving up his chance to go where ever he wants and he chooses to go to North Carolina to help get Marias mother back from the smugglers. He is giving up his dream for the greater good and help his friend even though she is illegal