Only 15 days of school stood between Daniela and Sofia Mendoza and summer break. The sisters were juggling their elementary school schedules of field trips, swim practices and award ceremonies when, on an overcast Saturday, they went shopping with their mom.
They were walking outside the H&M store at Allen Premium Outlets when a sound came that made no sense: pop pop pop pop pop. Their mother, Ilda Mendoza, 35, was wounded and is hospitalized. The girls were among the eight who died in the nation’s second-deadliest shooting this year.
Sofia, 8, was an honor roll student at Cheri Cox Elementary School, where she was learning about fractions, weather patterns and organisms. She had been memorizing lines for the lead role in her drama class’ upcoming play, Pirate Jane. She was quick to remind everyone that the play was usually cast with a male lead character, Pirate Joe, but her acting skills were so sharp she stole the part.
The day before the shooting, she made a scrapbook at school, where she called herself “Sassafras” — a nickname given by a teacher and classmates — and talked about her dreams of becoming an author and actress.
She was going to go to Brown University and then win an Oscar. Or maybe a Pulitzer Prize, once she figured out what exactly that was. She was going to live in Hollywood, of course, and own a library, too.
Her teachers believed every bit of it. Sofia was whip-smart and had impeccable comedic timing, they said.
“There was not a doubt in my mind that she would grow up to be an author,” said Sofia’s reading and writing teacher, Bobbie Jo Roberts. “Like I just knew I would be reading her book one day.”
The morning of the shooting, Sofia had started writing her own book, “The Twins That Didn’t Think Like Twins.”
She planned to come back from the mall and spend her Saturday afternoon working on it, said her aunt, Anabel Del Angel. It sits unfinished in her messy room full of Squishmallows stuffed animals and old wrappers she held on to from snacks she loved.
Daniela, 11, who wore black-framed glasses and bows in her curly hair, was on the cusp of graduating fourth grade. She was once named “Most Likely to Become a Teacher” and, along with her sister, won awards for perfect attendance and honor roll. She wanted to go to Texas A&M University and loved making TikToks.
She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do when she grew up, but she knew she was going to be a millionaire. She’d figure out the details later.
She dressed up as Amelia Earhart for a recent class project, said her reading teacher, Ileana Molina, with a leather jacket, goggles and a neck scarf. She was more soft spoken than her little sister, but she grew in confidence this year.
Math was Daniela’s favorite subject, and she excelled at it, said her math and science teacher Carmen Garcia. She was excited to take the STAAR math exam this week.
The girls had a mature appreciation for their culture and their parents, their teachers said. Sophia would tell them: “My dad is the hardest worker I know.”
A few weeks ago, Sofia’s math teacher Lauren Wright emailed the girls’ mother. “You are every teacher’s dream parent,” Wright told her. “You communicate and advocate respectfully. You understand what teachers deal with. You always show up.”
Ilda poured herself into her daughters, said Del Angel, Ilda’s sister. She went to every swim practice and always had homemade meals on the table despite being busy with her accounting career. People would ask, “Are you going to have more kids?” She’d say they had everything they could ever need in Daniela and Sofia.
LeeAnna Ramos, a physical education teacher at the school and close friend of the Mendoza family, said the past few days have felt like a hazy dream. Her own kids cry themselves to sleep.
“Why?” they ask her. She will never have an answer.
The girls’ teachers and classmates are left to grapple with two empty desks. One student in Sofia’s class mumbles, “Sofia is dead? Sofia is not coming back?”
On loop. “Sofia is … dead?”
Like a skipping record. “So, Sofia is not coming back?”
“They don’t understand evil,” Wright said.
On Wednesday, students and teachers throughout Wylie ISD wore yellow — the Mendoza girls’ favorite color. At their school, yellow umbrellas contrasted against the stormy sky during afternoon pickup; a mom pushed a stroller with a baby wearing yellow rain boots; kids ran around in yellow sandals; and girls in yellow dresses licked yellow lollipops.
Bouquets of flowers, a cross, sunshine balloons and stuffed animals — in pairs — formed a memorial in front of the school’s sign. Karen Hampton, a school bus driver, added two stuffed dolls wearing pink and orange sequin dresses to the pile before starting her Wednesday afternoon routes.
“Two sister dolls,” Hampton said. “I’ve been praying for them every day.”
One year ago, the girls’ family agonized over the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, which killed 19 students and two teachers. It stunned them, but it felt distant, too.
“We just felt so bad for those parents,” Del Angel said. “And now we’re here.”
The girls’ mother is recovering from her injuries, she said, but that’s the least of it.
“We’ll live with the heartbreak and emptiness for the rest of our lives.”
Correction, May 14 at 4 p.m: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Daniela and Sofia Mendoza were involved in cheer. Rather, the girls took tumbling classes at a cheer gym.
