Maria and Diego started bringing dishes and plates to the table, and beverages. As they sat down, Maria said, "Ty, we didn't know what kind of food you like. We usually have tacos on Friday, and Lisa suggested that perhaps you would like that."
"Thank you, that's a great choice," Ty replied. "I love good tacos. Usually I only get tacos at school once in a while, and they're OK but not great. Having home-made tacos is a wonderful treat!"
"I'm glad to hear that!" Maria said. "I was worried that you might not like them." She glanced at Diego.
"If your family also likes tacos, they are invited to join us next Friday," Diego said. "And you're welcome to join us every Friday."
"Wow, thank you!" said Ty. "You're too kind! I'll let you know what my family says. I expect they'll be pleased."
Maria showed Ty that she had prepared both some soft and some hard taco shells, and there were two kinds of salsa, in addition to taco meat, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and strips of avocado. She said, "We just pass everything around the table. If anything is out of reach just ask. And I'll fry up more tortillas as we need them. Now dig in!" She began passing things around, starting with taco shells.
As dinner progressed, they discussed both Ty and Lisa's interests and future plans. Ty hadn't really decided what careers might interest him. "Not to rush you, but you may want to start thinking about it," Diego said. "It will influence your choices of colleges to apply to. You and Lisa still have some time before needing to apply, but it will go quickly."
"Don't badger him, Dad," Lisa said. "He has one more year for that than I do."
"Sorry, honey," Diego replied, "I thought he was in your class. Still, Ty, it's probably good to think about it."
"Yes, sir," said Ty. "I appreciate your advice."
"You don't have to call me 'sir'", Diego said. "We're all friends here. You can just call us Maria and Diego." Maria nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, Diego, Maria," replied Ty. "I have a good guidance counselor at school. She has helped me select classes, but we haven't yet discussed college or careers. I'll bring it up when I see her next.
"And thank you for this wonderful meal. These are the best tacos I've ever tasted."
Maria beamed, "I'm so glad you like them. There's no secret to it, but using fresh ingredients, though I do use store-bought taco spice for the meat."
"It's hard to believe it's that easy," Ty said, "or everyone would be making excellent tacos like this."
Conversation continued for a while. "Would you like more," Maria asked Ty.
"No thank you," said Ty, "I'm full, and that was delicious." Since they were all finished, Maria and Diego started clearing the table. Ty tried to help, but Maria wouldn't let him. "You're our guest. Please take Lisa back to the living room and talk. Diego and I will make short work or cleaning up, then we'll join you. Are you sure you don't want a beverage other than water?"
"No thank you, I'm fine," Ty replied, and went with Lisa to the living room, where they sat.
"You were laying it on a bit thick with the praise for the tacos," Lisa whispered. "You don't have to go overboard."
"I meant every word of it," Ty whispered back. "Those really were excellent."
In a normal voice, Lisa said, "You know I have geography class right after lunch. You won't believe what happened in class today." Ty looked intrigued, and Lisa continued. "By amazing coincidence, Mr. Richard's was talking about Peru, and I disagreed with something he said, and raised my hand. He called on me, and I said that I thought he was mistaken, and explained why, and was able to cite a few sources. That was all from your experiment yesterday. I actually retained all the knowledge from writing the report! Mr. Richards was impresses, and asked if I had spent time in Peru. I told him no, that it was just a personal interest."
"Wow, that really is amazing," Ty replied. "I was only joking about having you do my homework, but maybe that would be a good way for you to do your own homework."
"I'd be a bit concerned about doing that again, due to what happened last night," Lisa said, "but I may want to try it again as you suggest, since we now know how to deal with that particular issue."
"OK," said Ty. "I certainly won't ever pressure you to do that, but if and when you want to, just let me know. I have some ideas for additional safeguards that I could put into place. And I might want to try it myself, for my homework."
"Do you think it would be cheating to do our studying or homework like that?"
"No," said Ty, "especially now that we know you retain the knowledge. That's the whole point of school."
"Well, if you want to try it, you'll have to give me the ability to change you back. I don't want you stuck in another form either!"
"Of course", said Ty.
Lisa's parents entered the room and sat. Diego asked, "What have you two been discussing, if it's not too personal?"
Lisa said, "Ty and I were just discussing studying for classes. He helped me prepare for today's geography class."
"Thank you, Ty," Maria said. "Lisa is getting good grades in her classes, but help with study is always welcome. I didn't realize you were in her class."
"Actually we don't have any classes in common," Ty said. "Although if our requirements match up, we might try to take a few common classes in the future. It was purely by coincidence that I happened to be able to help her with geography." Lisa smiled.
Standing up, Diego said, "Lisa, Maria, if you don't mind, I'm going to ask Ty to join me in the study for a private man-to-man talk for a few minutes."
"Sure, Dad," said Lisa. Ty stood and followed Diego.