Oh. That was the door to the Room, wasn’t it? And like it had hidden itself when Ms. Heath had forced Héctor to reveal it, it had cloaked itself from Mike.

“So you saw it,” said Héctor.

“We saw everything,” said Sal.

He groaned. “How much is ‘everything’?”

“We were both in the Room when you opened it and that security lady was with you,” said Juliana. “We didn’t get it at first, but . . . Héctor, the Room prevented her from seeing us.”

“And then, we were gonna go out and grab you,” said Sal, “but that other boy showed up and . . .”

Sal didn’t finish. And they didn’t need to.

“Then we were both talking about what to do,” said Juliana, “and by the time we came to get you, you were gone.”

Héctor wobbled for a moment. They saw it? All of it? He made for one of the chairs and sank into it. What was this feeling passing through him? Fear? Anxiety?

No.

He was ashamed.

Ashamed that he hadn’t stood up for himself. Ashamed that a word had affected him so much. Ashamed that he felt so useless.

“Héctor, you all right?” Juliana asked. “We just missed you, that’s all.”

“I don’t know why I let Mike get to me,” he confessed. “I just keep hearing his voice in my head, calling me that word over and over again.”

“You get to be hurt, Héctor,” Sal said. “Just like Juliana gets to be hurt over what I said to her. What Mike did was awful.”

“You saw how upset I was over my principal,” said Juliana. “It’s not fair to yourself to try and like . . . I dunno. Deny how you’re feeling.”

“He hurt you,” said Sal. “He’s been doing it since you got here, right?”

It came out of Héctor in a flood. He caught Juliana up on everything he had confessed to Sal: Mike and the Minions. The name calling. There was some of it that was new to Sal, too: How Héctor had told the truth to Ms. Heath—twice—and how it had backfired. The lack of relief that came from talking to Mrs. Caroline. How he was so worried about his family finding out what was going on at school. When he was done, he felt both exhausted—it was draining to recount it all—and lighter. It was as if some massive stone had been lifted out of his chest and cast away.

He guessed that this was what telling the truth felt like.

Héctor braced himself for what would come next: The guilt. He was certain that the two of them would ask him why he hadn’t told them earlier. He could hear the questions in his head. We told you about our problems! Why did you keep everything to yourself?