After class I usually talk to Julio, Sofia, and Maria at the bus stop. I keep them company as they wait, even when I don’t take the bus because I live close by. Today's topic is Santiago, who just happens to walk by, saying goodbye with a shy smile.

“Maximilian! Today, you stole the little time we have to talk to Santiago, taking him to the kiosk,” Maria reproaches, placing her hands on her waist.

“I saved him, is what I did. Just leave him alone, already.” As I say this Maria’s anger vanishes, and instead she looks a bit guilty, until Julio brings the anger back.

“You’re just curious because he’s the new guy. I bet in a month, everyone, including you, Maria, are going to forget about him.” Julio declares, watching, pleased, Maria’s reaction; she’s making exaggerated gestures, showing her discrepancy. She’s puffing her cheeks, as if playing with air, passing it from one cheek to the other.

“That’s not true! It’s just that Santiago is really cute and you’re jealous. Isn’t he cute, Sofia?”

“I happen to like someone else...” Sofia replies, blushing as she looks at Julio, who’s also blushing.

“I can’t deal with these two! Even I’m blushing!” Maria yells, and then we all end up blushing and laughing about it.

After a while the blue bus gets here—bus number 18—and the three of then get on. I say goodbye and start walking home. I always follow the same path and pass by the same stores and houses. There’s rarely anything new around my neighborhood, but today there’s something out of place. Despite being winter, there's a blond girl dressed in a short sleeved t-shirt and shorts; she’s in front of a house distributing leaflets to the passerby. When I walk by her, she smiles and hands me one.

“Hi, do you want to know about this sport called badminton? There are some boys playing right now, in case you want to watch and see if you want to start practicing,” she says as she opens the door wider and points the way with her hand.

“Ah, okay, thanks...” I say, and then we’re walking through the narrow corridor and into the house, which isn’t the house I imagined it to be; it’s an open space, like an internal yard, with white lines painted on the floor. It’s only after a while that I start to feel scared about the fact that I agreed to get into the house of a complete stranger. But hearing the word “badminton,” made me very curious, since Santiago mentioned it before. I watch the leaflet I was holding and see the picture of a feather, just like the ornament Santiago hangs on his wallet.

I hear voices coming from the other side of the yard, and it’s Santiago, surprise showing in his eyes, he crosses the entire yard to where I am standing. He’s dressed in a short sleeved t-shirt and shorts, just like the girl out front.

“Max... What are you doing here?” He asks when he reaches me.

“Well, I don’t know, I was going home and then the girl said badminton and I ended up here,” I explain. Santiago’s mouth is wide open for a moment, until he starts laughing. I’ve never seen him smile like that at school, even when I sit next to him. Now it’s my turn to be surprised, and have my mouth wide open because of his smile.