But that didn’t happen. Instead, Sal nodded, and then said, “What can we do for you?”

“I’m ready for anything,” added Juliana. “You name the time and the place, and it’s on.”

Héctor laughed at her. “I don’t know that there’s anything you all can do. I think I just have to ignore him until he finds a new target.”

Juliana gave him a skeptical look. “And then just let them get bullied?”

“No, of course not,” said Héctor. “But what could I possibly do?”

Oh. It hit him hard: he had asked his Orangevale friends why they hadn’t stopped Mike, and yet here he was, unsure how to stop him himself.

“Maybe we use the Room to get revenge?” suggested Sal.

“Nah,” said Héctor. “Something tells me that getting revenge would just make Mike madder at me, and then he would never leave me alone.”

“What if we go after this Ms. Heath?” asked Sal. “Maybe that’s the way we approach this.”

“I appreciate that you want to help,” he said. “But I don’t want this to get worse than it already is. Can we just leave it be for now?”

Sal and Juliana traded a look, then nodded at him.

“Whatever you want,” said Sal.

“And I’ll stop keeping secrets,” he promised. “From both of you.”

“Perfect,” said Juliana, and both she and Sal smiled at him.

He felt so much lighter, but his eyes were heavy, and exhaustion was creeping into his head. He wiped at his eyes.

He’d been crying and hadn’t even noticed.

“Okay, okay, enough of this!” said Héctor. “I need to know what you’ve both been up to. And when is your dance, Juliana?”

“Friday!” she exclaimed. “I just finished my playlist, and I’m so excited. I got some Janelle Monáe, some Prince, maybe a little Beyoncé. One of her PG songs, of course.”

“And how do you feel about going with Sascha?” asked Sal. “That’s what we really want to know.”

Juliana bit her lip. “I’m a little nervous,” she admitted. “I just don’t want anything to go wrong.”

“You’re going to be perfect,” said Héctor. “You’re gonna play the best set ever, and then you’re gonna slow dance with Sascha, and all this will have been worth it.”

“You sure?” said Juliana.

“Definitely,” he said. “You’re gonna kill it.”

Héctor asked about the noodles Sal was eating. They explained it was a dish called pancit that their father made all the time. Sal promised to bring some for everyone to share. The promise filled Héctor with joy, but as he thought about going back to class, dread crept in. Was his life always going to be watered down by Mike and Frank?

Maybe it was time for him to do something about all of this.

Chapter Forty-Two

“¡Vámonos, Héctor!”