Page 96 of Follow My Voice
“Excellent,” Ellie says and sits down next to me while Perla walks over to join Diego, who’s speaking with Adrian and Ben.
“Klara, I have to tell you something.”
“Tell me everything.”
Ellie carefully adjusts her glasses and bites her lip, glancing around. “Diego asked me out,” she whispers.
“What?!” I shout, causing several people to look in our direction. I laugh nervously and Ellie turns red. “Sorry, sorry,” I say. “That was unexpected.” Everyone goes back to their conversations as I repress a squeal, feeling as excited as when the stars of the Korean dramas I watch finally realize their feelings for each other and kiss. “I’m so happy for you,” I tell her from the bottom of my heart. I know it means a lot to her to have been able to talk to Diego after all the time she spent watching him from afar, never getting up the nerve to approach him.
“I still can’t believe it,” she says. “We were playing online, I was kicking his butt, and we were joking around like always when all of a sudden, he asked me if I’d like to go out with him. I thought my headphones might be playing tricks on me at first and I had to make him say it again. Of course, I said yes! So tomorrow we’re going to the movies!”
“How romantic!” I clasp my hands together and press them against my mouth. “I want to hear everything after. Well, maybe not everything, but as much as you’re comfortable sharing.”
“Everything, of course. I know you made this happen.”
Perla high-fives us before dragging us both for coffee and girl chat.
After lunch, as we make our way toward the exit, we hear a great commotion of voices and soon see a group of guys moving toward us, led by Kang. They all pass us, except Kang, who stops in front of me.
“Hey.”
I bite my lip. “Hey.”
Diego, Ellie, and Perla exchange glances.
“We’ll see you at Starbucks,” Perla says.
I nod, keeping my eyes on the guy who whips up a whirlwind of emotions in me.
Kang smiles and runs his fingers through my curls. “You’re so beautiful—I’m a lucky guy.”
I blush. I can feel people’s eyes on us as they pass and it makes me uncomfortable, so I try to stay focused on Kang. “How was your day?”
He shrugs. “Just another day. I’m not excited about winter break, for, like, the first time ever.”
Me neither.
“Oh, yeah, why’s that?”
“Because I won’t get to see you every other day.”
Kang reaches out and takes my hand. I squeeze his nervously as we look into each other’s eyes. I hear people whispering behind us, but I try not to let it affect me.
“Klara Rodríguez, I’m so glad I bumped into you.” Ms. Romes’s secretary approaches me. “Ms. Romes was looking for you—you’re needed in the counselor’s office.”
I feel a tightness in my chest and I drop Kang’s hand, taking a step back.
“Klara?” he asks with a frown.
An unpleasant feeling travels from my throat to the pit of my stomach as I walk away without a word to Kang. Everything around me becomes blurry and confused. I hear Kang behind me. It’s a struggle to walk, like I’m dragging heavy stones tied to my heels. As I move down the corridor, I notice my breathing is shallow and I clench my hands into fists at my sides. A memory echoes in my mind.“Klara Rodríguez, to the office urgently.”
The last time a counselor summoned me to their office was in high school, when my mother had to be taken to the emergency room after one of her chemo treatments. The side effects had made her so ill that we’d almost lost her that afternoon. I still rememberthe look on the principal’s face when she told me to sit down and try to get ahold of myself while we waited for Kamila to pick me up and take me to the hospital to see Mom.
The hallway now seems too narrow and voices sound far away, as if sounds can’t reach me over my racing heartbeat, which I can feel in my ears, in my chest, in my limbs.
“Klara, sit down. It’s about your mother.”
Near the end of the hallway, I stop and lean against the wall, holding my chest.
