But it was.

When lunch rolled around, even the sad-looking chicken sandwich, discolored broccoli, and plastic-wrapped cookie did not faze Héctor. He joined the Misfits, his lunch tray clattering on their table. “Do they ever serve real food here?”

Carmen locked eyes with him. He almost said something, but she looked away quickly.

“Oh, never,” said Jackson, who had not seemed to notice the interaction. “You can count on that.”

“You doing okay?” asked Aishah.

He felt the eyes of all the Misfits on him at once. He shrugged. “It’s whatever,” he said. “I just have to adjust to Mike and his Minions picking on me every day.”

“Yeah, we saw,” said Taylor. “I’m sorry, man. He really is the worst.”

“We’ve all been through it at one time or another,” said Aishah. She took a bite of her sandwich and then grimaced. “Nasty,” she said through the food.

“The food here always is,” said Jackson. “Soggy and flavorless. Like Mike.”

Aishah put a hand over her mouth. “Stop!” she said, holding back laughter. “You’re gonna make me choke.”

Héctor glanced back at Carmen, who continued to examine her food. He shook his head.

“What is it, man?” said Jackson.

Héctor’s day had already been completely unbelievable, and so it gave him a well of courage. A question he had wanted to ask the week before bubbled up to the surface:

“What did you all do to get him to leave you alone?” Héctor asked.

No one said anything at first, and Héctor thought he’d ruined the moment. But then Jackson shrugged. “To be honest?” he said. “Nothing. He just moved on from me to Aishah.”

“Which is how we became friends,” she said. “Jackson saw it happening and he helped me out when he could.”

They exchanged fist bumps.

“So he just . . . stopped one day?” Héctor asked.

Aishah nodded. “Yeah. I mean, it helped that I switched into Mrs. Caroline’s art class. I used to be in Shop with Mike, but after I swapped, I just wasn’t around him anymore. So, less opportunity for him to zero in on me.”

“But then he moved on from Aishah to me,” said Taylor. “And it was bad, bro. I think he followed me for like half a year.”

“Half a year?” Héctor’s mouth fell open. “That’s so long!”

He looked to Carmen, who now struggled to keep his gaze. She fidgeted on the bench. “And then it was me,” she said. Then she sighed. “Up until last month.”

Oh. So that meant . . .

“He went from you to me,” said Héctor.

She winced. “And I’m still afraid,” she said. “That he’s gonna come back.”

That’s why she avoided you on Saturday, he thought. She doesn’t want to risk it.

“Well, aren’t you all putting yourself on the spot by letting me sit here?” Héctor asked.