“Well . . . we miss you,” said Sophia.

“A lot,” Tim added.

“Oooh, by the way, I got to hear a very rough rehearsal of the musical the other day,” Sophia said. “We’re preparing for a train wreck.”

Héctor groaned. “Nick’s still bad, isn’t he?” That was one thing he wouldn’t miss about Alta Vista. It didn’t help that Nick’s father was a history teacher, either. Everyone knew it was preferential treatment, but it wasn’t like anyone could do anything about it.

“So he’s just gonna shout his way through it all, right?” Tim said.

“He’s so loud,” Héctor whined. “Have you ever heard him try to whisper?” He then imitated one of Nick’s whispers: it was like sandpaper colliding with fireworks.

Sophia began to cackle. “You wrong for that one,” she said.

“But am I lying?” Héctor said.

She shook her head. “Seriously, though,” she said, “we really miss you.”

“I miss you guys, too,” he said. “Orangevale is wack. It’s just not the same.”

“And it’s definitely permanent?” Tim asked.

Héctor nodded. “As far as I know.”

“You’ll come visit, won’t you?” Sophia said.

He frowned. It wasn’t really up to him, but he couldn’t say that.

“Yeah, of course! As soon as I can.”

There was a crash, and Héctor didn’t know whose video it came from. Tim disappeared off camera, then came back in a panic. “Sorry, guys, I may have knocked over a guitar.”

“Ouch,” said Héctor, wincing.

“Which knocked over another one.”

“Oh no,” said Sophia.

“Which knocked over like ten more.”

“Say no more,” said Sophia. “Go take care of it. I got too much homework anyway. Call us soon, okay, Héctor?”

They said their goodbyes. Héctor sat at the desk for a while, looking at the black screen of the computer.

They know, he thought. They know I’m changing.

But they didn’t know why. He left the computer and plodded over to his room and crashed down onto his bed. His stomach felt weird as he thought about what they’d said to him. How had they noticed the change in his usual outfit? He was only doing it to avoid more negative attention. Was that a bad thing?

He knew then that Sophia and Tim wouldn’t understand what was happening to him, and he wasn’t going to tell them about it.

Chapter Ten

The next morning, Héctor took the long way around the halls, but it was a pointless strategy. Mike came out of the boys’ room and tried to grab Héctor, and so the chase began.

His thoughts were everywhere. He was tired; he hadn’t eaten a big breakfast because of his nerves, so now he was hungry.

So he wasn’t paying attention when Ms. Heath stepped out of the library right in front of him.