he always chose to sit in the fourth row, next to the window, with a new, but ordinary, notebook from the kind they sell at the supermarket and a new, sharpened penc
receive invitations to parties that were announced last
pair of triplets with white skin and light eyes,
ost handsome was Adrián, the one who ruled the roost; Luciano, the most
and the windows were fogged up. Selena was copying down the professor's words when a murmur, thicke
laugh forced her to look up. She saw them out of the corner
ssor said, "do you want
w, clear voice. As she spoke, a strange, electric sensation ran down her ne
nting in favor, but further back there was a male whisper that she couldn't decipher. When cla
gainst the wall to let a group of perfumed girls pass by, talking abou
ells don't go,
her re
alwa
lt comfortable among the tall bookshelves, the smell of ink, and the long tables where she d
ld try to engage her in conversation, and began to write an essay. Every now and then someon
a man standing t
was Elías, holding a notebook, a pencil between his fingers, and his
ing away her backpac
egan to write something restlessly, writing, erasing, and rewriting. Meanwhile, Selena tried to concentrat
n in class," Elías commen
linked,
replied in a ba
d at the corne
hand on the back of Elias's chair. At that moment, the air ten
oth hands. He wore an open jacket, his hair damp from the rain, and
moving. "If you're not go
oached Selena, leaning in as if
He does, though," and he p
g. He needed no introduction; he was the leader. There was a quality to Adrian's silence that made the other
n commented, his v
sooner or later," Lu
gaze and calmly cl
," he said goo
to him, hadn't even spoken to him before. Maybe the teacher had said it out loud during class. Maybe.
ng. She found her reaction to the presence of the most popular kids amusing. She closed
ee and toast permeated the counter as she hung up her apron. The supervisor greeted
people," he comm
asn't distracted even by her thou
red first and nodded; Luciano followed, playing with his keys, a
?" Selena asked when she had
án, who hadn't been looking at the menu, looked up at t
yes to honey and felt like swallowin
," he ordered
he dark liquid filled the glass. As she placed the lids, she concentrated on her work routine and handed out the o
he took her glass, and Selena pulled her
ly said, "
bustle, as if the volume had been lowered
on the counter, and greeted the nex
of the water, and Selena sank down onto her bed in the darkness. The silence of their shared room gav
howl, but couldn't determine which direction it was coming from. And through the trees, she
someone had been watching her from very close. She placed
asleep. In one of the buildings, three shadows c
fferent," one
the other voice c
eard from the
out Friday's party, and although she didn