“Of course not! See, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you, because I knew you’d get the wrong idea. He’s a sophomore and we’re seniors.”
“So? Oh, come on,” I say, grabbing her by the shoulders. She averts her gaze. “You’re crazy about him!”
She slaps my hands, removing them from her shoulders. “Stop making things up. I don’t like him, end of story.”
“One month.”
“What?”
“I’ll give you a month to come back with your head down and tell me you fell for him. It’s not easy to say no to the Hidalgos, believe me.”
“I refuse to talk about this anymore.”
“Well, don’t talk, just listen,” I tell her, putting my hands on her waist. “You’re only two years older than Apolo. And he’s very mature for his age. If you like him, why worry? Haven’t you heard that there is no age in love?”
“Yeah. You know who I heard say that? The pedo in the corner.”
“Don’t exaggerate.”
“Let’s just . . . forget about it.”
“You don’t have to lie to me. You know that, don’t you? I can see through you.”
“I know, I just don’t want to say it. I don’t want to make it real.”
“Oh, my dear hand brake, it’s already real.”
Dani throws a pillow at me and then seems to remember something. “Oh! Look, I found the old phone I told you about.” She hands me a small phone. The screen is green, and you can only see the time. Dani gives a nervous smile. “It’s only good for calls and messages, but it’s something.”
“It’s perfect!”
At least I’ll be able to communicate, although a part of me still feels sad about my iPhone. I worked so hard, and so many extra hours, to save up and buy it. I remember Ares’s words when I went to return the phone to him: I know you bought it yourself, with your money, with your hard work. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them from taking it away from you, but I can give you another one. Let me give it to you. Don’t be proud.
His gesture was so nice. And then he was such an idiot. I never thought there could be someone who could be both at the same time, but Ares exceeds expectations.
I say good-bye to Dani and walk to the phone store to put my old number on this one. It bores me to do all those tedious tasks, but I have no choice. I want my old number back. Everyone I know has that number.
Ares has that number.
But that doesn’t matter to me, does it?
After wasting two hours of my life, I finally get home. It’s already getting dark, and my phone hasn’t stopped ringing with all the messages I’ve received. I smile when I see the message from Apolo inviting me to the party at his house almost two weeks ago. How I wish I could have read the message that day.
There are several dramatic messages from Carlos, as usual, and some old messages from Dani and Yoshi, obviously from before they knew I had lost my cell phone. There aren’t any from Ares.
And what did you expect? He was the first person who knew that you’d been robbed.
I yawn, closing the front door behind me. “I’m home!”
Silence.
I step into the living room, and I’m surprised to find Yoshi and my mom sitting on the couch. Did he come here straight from school? Why?
“Oh, hi, I didn’t expect to see you here,” I tell him honestly.
Mom looks extremely serious. “Where were you?”
“At Dani’s house, and then I went to the phone compa—” I stop talking because the expressions on their faces scare me. “Is something wrong?”
Yoshi lowers his head. Mom stands up. “Joshua, you can go. I have to talk to my daughter.”
Yoshi looks at my worried expression and mutters something as he passes me.
“I’m sorry.”
I follow him with my eyes as he disappears through the door. When I look back at her, Mom is standing in front of me.
“Mom, what happ—”
The slap takes me by surprise, echoing throughout our small room. I hold my throbbing cheek, completely stunned. My eyes flood with tears. My mother has never hit me, ever. Her eyes are red, as if she’s holding back tears.
“I’m so disappointed. What were you thinking?”
“What are you talking about? What did Yoshi tell you?”
“What I am talking about is that my daughter is out there having sex irresponsibly!”
“Mom . . .”
Her eyes fill with tears, and it breaks my heart. Seeing your mom cry is devastating.