“It’s stupid to be scared of La Llorona, but I always have been,” Mateo said. “She’s like the Puerto Rican equivalent of the monster under your bed. Your parents tell you about her so you’ll be scared and behave.”

“My parents told me there was no monster under the bed.” Brandon’s breathing was slowing down. He leaned back against the cheap dorm headboard, tipping his head onto Mateo’s shoulder. “Just like there was no Tooth Fairy and no Easter Bunny.”

“Wow. Your parents win the no-fun award,” Mateo said.

Brandon laughed. Laughing felt good. He snuggled his face into Mateo’s chest.

It was only a dream.

Everyone had crappy things happen to them, but that was life. You moved on. You dealt. You forgot about the crappy stuff and kept on living. You didn’t have any other choice, right?

Mateo was still talking about La Llorona. Brandon looked down into those deep brown eyes. Sometimes he couldn’t quite believe he got to sleep in the same bed as a guy who had eyes like that.

“One time I looked it up and it turns out La Llorona’s actually supposed to be Mexican,” Mateo said. “Every Hispanic kid in the world is scared shitless of her, though. She’s the ghost of some lady who lost it and drowned her kids in the river. Now she comes back looking for them. Only she’s forgotten what her kids look like, so she’ll snatch any kid she sees and say, ‘Aquí están mis hijos.’ It means ‘Here are my children.’”

“She sounds dumb.” Brandon yawned, but he was wide-awake. Thunder rolled outside the window. There had been a storm almost every night since Delilah’s accident, nine days ago. Tomorrow it was supposed to be chilly and rainy, but yesterday had been hot and humid, more like August than November. Brandon had gotten stuck hauling extra water coolers out to the cross-country team. The guys always unscrewed the lids and dumped the water over their heads while the rest of the team cheered, and Brandon had to go back to the building for more water.

“Well, La Llorona might be dumb, but she still scared the bejesus out of me,” Mateo said. “For all of second grade I wouldn’t go out alone after dark ’cause I was afraid she’d come get me. She’s supposed to be super tall and wear a long white dress and a white veil. Whenever I looked out my window and saw a white curtain flapping in a house down the street, I’d think it was her. I’d run and get in bed and pull the sheet up over my head.”

Mateo ducked under the sheet and wiggled his fingers like a Halloween ghost. He was trying to make Brandon laugh. Distract him.