Santiago opens the door of his house—the one with the big yard, where he and Sandy taught me how they play badminton. I’m glad to know he lives here, since we’re sort of neighbors, and I hope he asks me everyday to walk home together. I live a few blocks further ahead so I don’t know how is it that we’ve never crossed paths. After we say goodbye, I’m walking with a huge smile, which I’d usually try to hide, but right now I just can’t; even if it weren’t for my smile, my good spirits would be noticeable in the rhythm of my feet.

When I get home, I get a notification in my phone, and it's Santiago, sending me a friend request on Facebook. I immediately accept and in a few seconds I get a message from him.

“Hi. I forgot to ask for your phone number, so I’m writing you in here. Don’t forget to bring your sports clothes to school tomorrow, or are you going back home to change?”

“I’m bringing my clothes, that way I don't waste time coming back home. My number is 92678957.”

“OK, thanks.”

I stare at the screen for a while, to see if Santiago keeps typing, but he doesn’t. Then I think maybe I could be the one to carry on with the conversation, but after thinking so much about what to ask or tell him, it’s time for dinner. My mother yells from the kitchen, on the first floor, for me to come down. Today the house smells like seco de carne, and if I’m not mistaken, there’s the sweet scent of a chocolate cake in the oven fighting over the scent of garlic and coriander.

After dinner, I go back to my cell phone and see another message from Santiago: “Rest well.” For some weird reason, there's a tiny piece of me, hiding in there, amongst all my negativity, that screams, “He could like you back!”, and that fills the rest of me with hope.

What if, maybe, all this closeness between us isn’t just friendship?

The next day, as soon as I get to the classroom, Julio comes and tells me yesterday at the bus stop, Maria came to the conclusion that the reason why I don’t help her with Santiago is because I’m in love with her, and that I take Santiago with me out of jealousy, making him my friend because I want to keep my enemy close.

“Max, is it true what Maria says?” Julio asks, and I can’t help but laugh. This entire situation is so funny, even Julio is starting to believe it's true.

“No way, Julio. How are you going to believe that?” The laughter only subsides when Maria comes close to us to say hi, a bit embarrassed; maybe thinking that I’m just a poor boy with a one-sided crush. Thinking about it makes me laugh some more. Maria just stares at us, saying a shy and barely audible, “Hi.” And then she goes running towards Sofia.

During our break, Santiago stands up to come to me, but Maria grabs him by the arm and takes him away.