“Oh, you gotta wait for it,” Juliana explained. “Let the surprise happen, Héctor!”

She pressed one of the buttons on the machine, and it whirred to life. Soon, a light-brown liquid was pouring into a white mug, and Héctor smelled something . . . earthy. And a little sweet. It certainly didn’t smell as strong as the coffee his parents had.

When the machine finished, Juliana handed him the mug while Sal watched eagerly. He took a sniff and—

“No,” he said. “No way!”

He knew that smell. He’d know it anywhere.

He took a tiny sip to avoid burning his tongue, and the sweet taste of his abuela’s horchata filled his mouth. Somehow, that machine had made a horchata latte.

“You were right,” he said. “The surprise was worth it.”

“Okay, so,” said Sal, “I know it hasn’t been long.” They wrung their hands together nervously. “But I just spoke with Ms. Pérez.”

“And?” said Héctor, his heart flopping.

“She already got approval to reopen the library in the classroom you found!”

Héctor nearly dropped his latte. He set it down delicately on the counter, and then began jumping up and down and screaming at Sal. “Yo, that’s amazing to hear!” he said, plopping back down on the stool. “Oh, wow, I’m so happy for you!”

“And it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t come to me with the idea,” Sal said.

“It was nothing,” he said. “Just an idea.”

“Bruh, just take the compliment,” said Juliana, laughing. “You did something good.”

This time, he felt heat in his cheeks, and he hoped that his friends couldn’t see him blushing.

“Anyway,” said Sal. “A bunch of us are going to help Ms. Pérez and Mr. Mbalia move the books to the new location. You wanna come help?”

“I would love that,” he said, smiling. “When?”

“Ms. Pérez said we can start after school, so I’ll come back in here, and then take you two into my school.”

“Wow,” said Héctor. “I can’t believe we’re actually doing this.”

“Me either,” said Sal. “Do you ever feel like this place is a big prank that we’re not in on? Like, one day we’re gonna wake up and find out it’s all fake?”

“I thought it was just me!” Juliana exclaimed. “I am always thinking that!”

“But it’s not fake,” said Héctor. “It’s real. And it helped us get your library back.”

He stood and raised his arms up. “Thank you, Room!” he called out. “Whatever you are, you are the BEST.”