The afternoon sunlight poured through the wide windows of Maya’s room, spilling across the desk where she sat with her notepad open. Her pencil scratched quickly, moving as if her hand was racing to keep up with the flood of ideas in her mind. She had been sketching all morning, building and discarding drafts of a new gown design that had been haunting her thoughts since yesterday’s dinner.

On the carpet beside her, Anika was sprawled on her stomach with sheets of colored paper scattered all around. Her small scissors snipped clumsily, cutting shapes that looked more like blobs than flowers, but she was humming cheerfully, utterly absorbed in her...