Ares <3: There is no moon. It’s cloudy.
Me: I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have neighbors stealing my Wi-Fi.
Ares <3: Your signal doesn’t reach here.
Me: Just making sure.
A long time goes by and I don’t think he’ll say anymore, so I take a shower and put on my pajamas. I come out of the bathroom, drying my hair with my towel, and I see a new message on my phone.
Ares <3: Why don’t you come over here and make sure in person?
The message is from five minutes ago and takes me by surprise. He wants me to come to his house? At this hour? Is he . . . Is he inviting me to . . .
The towel falls out of my hands.
No.
I’m a virgin, but I’m not stupid, I know how to read between the lines.
I get another message that makes me jump.
Ares <3: It’s fun to scare you. Good night, Stalker Witch.
Was it a joke?
I don’t think so. Ares Hidalgo just invited me to his room to do who knows what in a subtle way, but he still did it. And what confuses me the most is the fact that I hesitated instead of running over there. Apparently, I’m all talk and no action, as Dani would say.
Silly, silly, Raquel.
SIX
The Advice
“He can’t die!” I scream at the TV screen. “This is what I hate about The Walking Dead! That fear that one of my favorite characters could die at any moment.”
Yoshi eats Doritos next to me. “The episode is about to end, and we won’t know who dies.”
I snatch the bag of Doritos out of his hands. “Shut up. If that happens, I swear I’ll never watch this show again.”
Yoshi rolls his eyes and adjusts his glasses. “You’ve been saying that since the first season.”
“I’m weak, okay?”
We’re both sitting on the floor, our backs against the bed behind us. It’s warm, so I’m wearing shorts and a white tank top without a bra. I’m comfortable around Yoshi and I know he’s comfortable around me too. Rocky is sleeping peacefully by the window.
My room is a decent size, with a queen-size bed and posters of my favorite inspirational quotes all over the purple walls. I have a few small Christmas lights attached to the top of the walls that look beautiful at night. In front of the bed is the TV, on one side of it is the window, and the door to my bathroom is on the other side.
We are completely focused on the TV when the episode ends and the credits roll.
“I hate you, producers and screenwriters of The Walking Dead! I hate you!”
“I told you,” Yoshi taunts like a smart-ass. I smack the back of his head. “Ow! Don’t take it out on me.”
“How can they do this to us? How can it end like this? Who’s going to die?”
Yoshi rubs my back soothingly. “It’s okay, it’s over.” He hands me a glass of cold Pepsi. “Here, drink.”
“I’m going to die.”
“Relax, it’s just a TV series.”
Totally depressed, I turn off the TV and sit down in front of Yoshi. He looks restless, and I know it’s not because of the series. His little honey eyes have a spark in them that I haven’t seen before. He gives me a nervous smile.
“Is something wrong?” I ask.
“Yes.”
The atmosphere feels heavy for some strange reason. I don’t know what he has to tell me, but it makes me uneasy to see him hesitate so much. What’s wrong?
Yoshi licks his lower lip before speaking. He removes his hat, freeing his messy hair. “I need your advice on something.”
“I’m listening.”
“What would you do if you liked one of your friends?”
“You make it sound like I have so many friends.” I smile, but Yoshi doesn’t. His expression becomes even more strained.
“I’m serious, Raquel.”
“Okay, okay, excuse me, Mr. Seriousness.” I hold my chin as if in deep thought. “I would tell them.”
“Wouldn’t you be afraid of losing the friendship?”
And then my little brain clicks, and I realize what Yoshi is telling me. Is that . . . that friend he likes—me? Yoshi doesn’t really have any other female friends, just me and a few acquaintances. My heart rises in my throat as my sweet, lifelong best friend watches me intently, waiting for my advice.
“Are you sure about what you feel?” I ask, playing with my fingers.
“Yes, I’m very sure, I like her a lot.”
My throat gets dry. “When did you realize you liked her?”
“I think I’ve always known it. I’ve been a coward, but I can’t hide it anymore,” he says.
He looks down and sighs, and when he looks at me again, his eyes have a glint in them, so full of emotions. “I’m dying to kiss her.”
“Oh yeah?”
Yoshi moves a little closer. “Yes, her lips are pure temptation; it’s driving me crazy.”
“She must have very nice lips then.”
“The most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life, they have me spellbound.”
Spellbound . . .
Spell . . .
Witch . . .
Ares . . .
No! No! Don’t think about Ares! Not now!
Inevitably, those sea-blue eyes come to my mind, that cocky smile, those soft lips suckling my neck.
Oh no! I hate you, brain!
My best friend since childhood is about to confess his love to me, and I’m thinking about my arrogant, Greek godlike idiot neighbor.
“Raquel?”
Yoshi’s voice brings me back to reality. He looks disconcerted, and it’s no surprise. I chose the worst moment to disconnect mentally. But it also helped to clear my mind a bit. Seeing Yoshi so vulnerable in front of me made me realize that I can’t handle a confession. Not now.
“I need to use the bathroom.” I rush out of the room before he can say anything.
I walk into the bathroom and lean against the door. I shake my hair out in frustration. I’m a fucking coward and stupid too. I didn’t even bring my phone into the bathroom to ask Dani for support. Who goes into the bathroom without their phone these days? No one, just me. I grunt and massage my face, thinking.
“Raquel?” I hear Yoshi’s call on the other side of the door. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“No!” I open the door as fast as I can, but I only catch a glimpse of his back disappearing out the door of my room. Throwing myself on my bed, I let myself be consumed by laziness. I don’t want to think anymore; I just want to rest my mind. I close my eyes and quickly fall into dreamland.
Rocky’s barking wakes me up abruptly. The barks are continuous and loud—what I call his “serious barks”—and he only gets this worked up when there is someone he doesn’t know in the house. I get out of bed so fast that I get dizzy and crash against the side of the wall. “Ow!”
Rocky is barking in the direction of the window, as if sensing something out there. It’s already dark outside, and the night breeze moves my curtains gently. There’s nothing at the window, so I calm down.
“Rocky, there’s nothing there.”
But he just keeps barking. Maybe there’s a cat outside, and his dog senses are tingling? Rocky doesn’t stop, so I walk to the window to soothe him. When I peek out, I yell so loudly that Rocky jumps up beside me.
Ares.
On a ladder.
Climbing up to my window.
“What the hell are you doing?” Is the only thing that comes out of my lips as I see him standing there in the middle of a wooden ladder. He looks as cute as ever in his jeans and purple T-shirt, but the craziness of this situation keeps me from drooling.
“It’s called climbing, you should try it.”
“I’m not in the mood for your sarcasm,” I say.
“I need to reboot your router. The signal is down, and it’s the only way to recover it.”
“And you decided to sneak into my room without permission, climbing into my window like that? Do you know what people who do that are called? Burglars.”
“I tried to reach you, but you didn’t answer the phone.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to come into my room like this.”
“Can you cut the drama? I just need to come in for a second.”
“Drama? Drama? I’ll teach you drama.” I grab both ends of the ladder stuck to my window and shake them as hard as I can.
Ares holds onto the rungs tightly and gives me a death stare. “Do that again, Raquel, and you’ll see what happens.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“Then do it.”