5 Everything was fine until....

Things were normal. It was okay. At least that's what I thought. Diego and I were still friends, which made me happy and less worried about having to face things alone if something went wrong. Lupita and Santiago didn't say anything about it and I thought it was better that way. We forget everything or pretend we forget.

Now we were each to a corner. Santiago and his sister to one side with his group of friends, and me and Diego alone from time to time, or else, with a group playing volleyball or cards or joking and talking about many things.

— Cristian! — someone on my team yelled, passing the ball for me to serve.

I wasn't good at playing any sport, I preferred to sit in reserve, drawing disconnected things in his sketchbook. I was good at doing nothing. In fact, I often preferred to do nothing.

— Good! — Diego raised his hand to high-five me. We were very sweaty. Match endings were the best part of the game. — It was a good game. You've improved a lot.

— Yes, but it's a shame we didn't win — I said, going to get my water bottle.

— Maybe in the next game.

We sat together. Panting, drinking water.

My wrists were red and numb. I was dripping with sweat, my hair plastered to his forehead. I rubbed my shirt over my face, trying to dry a little while talking to Diego about the game. At the end of the match, he always gave me more tips on how to improve more next time.

The sun was burning strong. After resting for a while, I went home to take a shower. I spent most of the time lying on my bed, fiddling with my cell phone while I waited for my sister to help me clean the house and cook. I didn't do anything until she arrived, for the simple fact that she was fighting with me for putting something somewhere that it wasn't.

And like the good brothers we were, Olivia and I argued hard about weird people stuff, like talking about biology and things considered nerdy. Our parents stared at us blankly, letting all the chaos take over the house within seconds of debate.

— Are you telling me science is wrong? — I asked looking incredulous.

— No, by God, why would I say that? — she looked at me with the same intensity.

— It wasn't what it seemed like a second ago — I said. — Never study in your life?

— Are you calling me dumb?

— Maybe — I affronted.

She came up. Trying to hit me. We both fell to the ground, me holding her and Olivia trying to break free on top of me. She was mad at me. My parents then started trying to separate the two of us while we continued arguing and cursing.

I think years could go by, Olivia and I never grew up, we would always be so childish in a debate against each other. Olivia has no patience and I teasing her because I lack limits.

Only the cell phone light illuminated my face in the darkness of the room. I was having trouble sleeping, so I decided to check out social media to distract myself. My arm was aching from the slaps Olivia had given me when our parents managed to separate us. It had been left with the perfect handprint there in the region, in red.

[Santiago: hey, are you awake?]

A message arrived, leaving me surprised and scared at the same time. I stopped for a moment, thinking.

"What do I answer?" I thought to myself, looking at the ceiling, "Or should I just ignore it and pretend I'm asleep? No, it's better to sleep than have a lie to tell instead of a truth "

I put the cell phone on the headboard, turned to the other side, closing my eyes, trying to ignore everything that was possible. But the noise of another message coming in made me turn and pick up my cell out of curiosity.

[Santiago: Can we talk tomorrow after school?]

I took a deep breath. I waited a few minutes before replying.

[Me: of course, now I have to sleep]

I sent it, receiving seconds later a: "right" and nothing else.

I turned off the phone, lying on my back, facing the ceiling once more. I already knew that my night's sleep would not happen because of the anxiety in which I was at that moment.