3

Chapter 3

Andrés stared at her through blurry eyes as tears threatened to spill over.

"I can't talk to you anymore because we can't understand each other anymore," he cried softly.

Gabby stared at him for a long time, staring right into his eyes, making his heart beat faster. Then, just as soon as she looked at him, she looked away.

"That doesn't mean we can't communicate physically." She stated matter of factly.

Andrés stared at her in confusion.

"But-"

Suddenly the door to his house swung open and Andrés jumped slightly.

"Michael! Andrés' here," Gabby shouted over her shoulder. Michael appeared in the doorway, concern evident on his face.

"Gabriela..." Michael whispered before stepping outside. Andrés quickly followed after him.

Once outside, Michael glanced around frantically for a second before pulling Andrés along with him and walking down the street quickly.

"Why are we running?" Andrés asked, breathing hard. Michael continued to ignore him as he kept walking forward, his pace slowing as they neared a large, old building. The place looked abandoned and it made Andrés shiver at how lonely it looked.

"Here we are," Michael mumbled, letting go of Andrés' hand and opening the front door of the building.

They both entered the dark interior of the building silently. After a while, Michael led him through many corridors to reach a small room with several chairs.

"What's this?"

"It's a meeting hall," Michael explained. "We always meet here. Nobody bothers us there; we have lots of privacy."

As Andrés sat down in one of the chairs, he watched as Michael paced the room nervously.

"Why are you nervous?" he asked quietly. Michael stopped pacing and faced him.

"I'm worried about you," he admitted.

"Worried about me?"

"Of course I am. Do you think I don't miss you? Everyday?" Michael asked, his blue eyes staring into Andrés' green ones. "Every morning I wake up next to you. And then I look at my watch and see that you're late for school. So I decide to come looking for you but you just weren't there. Every night when you're gone I lie in bed and try to sleep, but it never works and I wake up exhausted. And you know how it feels to wake up so tired. It makes me wonder whether you're sleeping well too. Or if someone else is sharing your bed at night. But I don't ask those questions, because I don' want to upset you. And so I spend the whole day thinking about the things you might be doing at the time so I don' worry about what could possibly be happening to you," Michael finished. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.

After a few seconds, and a sigh, he let out a laugh.

"God, I sound like such a mother hen. But seriously, I'm sorry if I've done anything to offend you."

Andrés stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating what to say or do. Eventually, he responded with two words and a question:

"What should I call you?"

For a moment, Michael froze before giving him a confused look.

"Well, I've already told you my name, but I suppose you could call me 'Mom'."

Chapter 4

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Andrés questioned uncertainly as the two boys walked down the familiar streets of their town.

"Yes." Michael replied, not even looking back at him. "And it won't work if we don't trust each other. Come on. You'll like it here."

Andrés followed Michael into the small shop where they usually gathered during their lunch break.