Sally appears to have her agenda, which results in a conflict between the two when Sally abandons Esperanza with a group of boys, at which time, she is sexually assaulted. Shortly after the summer, Esperanza begins to develop a new friendship with a girl her age named Sally, who is perceived as experienced sexually, which Esperanza is not entirely comfortable with. This, in combination with the death of her grandfather and her aunt Lupe, brings her more in tune with the adults in her neighborhood, opening her eyes even more to the hardships and struggles they all face, and in turn, that she will as well. She finds herself dreaming about boys and enjoys letting them watch her dance.

Over the summer, however, Esperanza starts to mature when she encounters puberty. The girls are also frequently subjected to sexual harassment in their community, and also in the case where we witness Esperanza’s first sexual encounter, albeit involuntarily, with an older man when she was forcefully kissed during her first summer job at a photo-finishing store.

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