Page 2 of A Dish Best Served Hot

Lola looked like she contemplated lying, but must’ve decided against it because she replied, “I kissed his ex-girlfriend.” She looked away from him and the air around her seemed to still. It was like she was waiting for him to say something messed up.

“Why?” he asked. He knew Jose’s ex, Yesenia. Part of the dance squad and daughter of everyone’s favorite gym teacher, she was one of the most popular girls in the school. Sure, she was beautiful, but she was also dumb as a bag of rocks and selfish to boot.

“‘Why’ what?” Lola asked.

“Why’d you kiss her? I’ve known Yesenia since we were kids and she’s awful.”

Lola just stared at him.

Junior rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just saying. I don’t think there’s a whole lot going on in that girl’s head. You could do better. Not to mention, she’s a very traditional girl from a very traditional family. So just, you know, be careful...”

Lola’s voice was full of incredulity when she asked, “Are you trying to protect my feelings?”

He blushed. “It’s just that...” He paused. “I mean. It can’t be easy for you to be, you know.” He paused, unsure if it would be okay for him to say the word. He didn’t want to offend her.

“Bisexual?”

So she did like guys. The warmth on his cheeks deepened for some reason. “I just wouldn’t want you to fall for someone who would just make things harder. That’s all. You can love whoever you want, but I just think it should be someone who loves you back.” He shrugged awkwardly.

She tilted her head and looked at him like he was a brand-new species of animal. “You know, I think you might be one of the first people in this school to tell me that.”

“Tell you what?”

“That I can love anyone I want. Most people I know tell me it’s just a phase or that I like being difficult.”

Junior didn’t know how to respond, so he stayed quiet.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Junior,” he replied. Then he shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs. “I mean, no. That’s not right.”

Her smile was wry. “Do you not know your own name?”

He gave her a look. “My name is Santiago Vega. Like my dad, so everyone calls me Junior which really makes no sense because no one even calls my dad Santiago.”

“Santiago, huh? Like the city in Chile?”

“Right, but the city is actually named for Saint James.”

“I’m sure whatever he did to get that title was something super cool and not at all colonialist.”

Junior was so nervous that he totally missed her ironic tone. He just started talking.

“He was one of Jesus’s first disciples. He eventually traveled to Spain while spreading the word and ended up becoming Spain’s patron saint. You can actually follow his path from France through Spain if you want. It takes like a month to walk and leads to a huge church.” He shut his mouth abruptly, highly aware that he was babbling. The daughter of Humboldt Park’s most notorious gang leader didn’t give a shit about the religious origins of his name.

“You’re a bit of a nerd, huh?” Lola asked with a curl to her lips. “Makes sense you’d be named after a saint.”

He didn’t hear any derision in her tone, but he felt defensive anyway. “Why do you say that?”

“Because look at you.” She gestured to him. “You jump into the middle of fights to save the underdog. You dish out words of wisdom to protect people. Don’t you volunteer in the office for fun? Shit. I bet you have straight As and help little old ladies cross the street. You basically are a saint.”

His brow creased. “I don’t think that’s how it works.” Besides, it wasn’t like he was perfect. He had plenty of flaws. Junior was no doubt about to embarrass himself more by enumerating said flaws, but he was quite literally saved by the bell, which blared through the room and caused them both to startle.

Lola recovered first. “Well, to answer your earlier question, I kissed Yesenia because she asked me to. I’m not in love with her or anything.” She slipped around him and made her way to the door. At the last moment she turned back to him. “Thanks for saving me...Saint.” Then she closed the door behind her and rushed to her next class.

The next morning when they saw each other down the hallway she shouted, “What up, Saint?” in her loudest voice, making sure everyone heard her, and that was it. The nickname spread around the school and then the neighborhood like a forest fire. He was no longer Junior or even Santiago. He was Saint. And Lola was no longer the troublemaker from the office. She was everything he wanted and everything he eventually lost.

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