Héctor pushed the door open and hobbled back into the hallways of his school. There was an echo as the door shut, and Héctor glanced back at it.

It wasn’t there. He was staring at a blank wall.

He pulled out his phone and composed a message to Sal and Juliana:

Yo yo yo. Sup friends.

Seconds later, Juliana replied:

I think the door is gone for me.

Then, Sal:

Me too.

Héctor shook his head. It was too strange to wrap his mind around. He sent off another message:

Then this group chat is perfect. We can stay in touch across time and space lmao.

Juliana: Like our own magic.

Sal: But we gotta have a good name for the chat. Can’t leave it plain.

No, that was unacceptable. But Héctor wasn’t sure what to say. Something about a squad? Nah, no one really said that anymore. Something referencing the Room? Maybe. What had they done? Infiltrated each other’s schools. The Infiltrators?

No.

No, he had it.

He edited the chat name and sent it out to the group.

The Insiders.

He sent another text:

I know it’s cheesy, but that’s who we were.

Insiders. And we changed our lives because of it.

Seconds later.

Juliana: Oh, I love it. Because it’s the opposite of being an outsider.

Sal: It’s perfect, Héctor.

Yes. It was.

When he got home that afternoon, his papi was eager to know why his son was limping around, but Héctor asked if he could wait until Mami was home before he explained. Abuela Sonia waved off Papi. “Let him be,” she said. “He’ll tell us when he’s ready.”

“It’s nothing bad, I promise you,” said Héctor.

Well, he thought. It doesn’t end badly.

To kill time, Abuela sat Héctor down at the table and urged him to try his hand at a tamale again.

He grabbed a ball of masa.

Spread it out against the husk.

Laid some pork on top of that.

Rolled it.

Abuela Sonia examined it. She turned it about in her hands.

“Perfecto,” she said, and a burst of relief spread in Héctor.

She winked at him. “Otra vez.”

Again.

He made another one. This one was not so perfect, but it wasn’t a disaster. His abuela made one small correction, and then he moved on to a third one. And a fourth. And soon, it just clicked. It was like he’d always been able to make them.

Over dinner that night, he told them everything. Not just because it was only a matter of time before Vice Principal Giles gave them a call—but because he finally wanted to tell them what he’d been through.