Héctor and Juliana both shook their heads. “It was like a chill-out room for me,” said Juliana. “Whenever I got too angry.”

“And it was more like a second home at school for me,” said Héctor. “A fridge, a couch, video games . . . at one point, there was a super-comfy bed in here.”

“A bed?” Juliana scoffed at him. “You never told me about that.”

Sal was running their hand over their short-cropped hair. “Wow. This is . . . this is a lot to take in. How can this place just do that?”

“Do what?” asked Juliana.

“Change.”

When Sal said it, it seemed so simple. That was really what this Room did: it changed. All the time. Not just the contents, either! It changed locations. It changed what it looked like on the outside, too.

It had given Héctor a place to hide when he needed to get away from his bullies. It had given Juliana a place to calm down when she needed some peace and quiet. It had given Sal a sanctuary full of books when they needed one.

Needed.

Need.

“You okay, Héctor?”

Héctor sat next to Juliana on the couch, and she scooted closer to him. His eyes snapped up to her. “Sorry, yeah,” he said. “Just thinking about something.”

“You went quiet on us,” she said.

“Is something wrong?” Sal asked, and they inched closer.

Héctor gestured to the empty space on the couch. “Come sit down,” he said. “It’s okay. I think I’m finally wrapping my mind around this place.”

Sal finally moved close to Héctor and Juliana. They sat down, pulled their legs up to their chest, and got comfortable.

“Lay it on us,” said Juliana. “What are you thinking?”

Héctor smiled. “Okay,” he said. “What if this Room isn’t just randomly doing things?”

“What do you mean?” asked Sal. “Do you think someone is controlling it?”

“No,” Héctor said. “I think . . . I think we’re doing it.”

Juliana huffed. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “I’d spend every day here if I could, but sometimes, the Room doesn’t even show up!”

“Yeah,” said Sal. “If I had the choice, I’d just stay in this library all day and not even go to classes.” Their voice lowered. “There are so many books to read.”

“Now I kinda wish I’d asked for a library, too,” said Juliana. “I got a lot of catching up to do.”

“But do you need to do all that?”

After he dropped the question, Sal and Juliana went quiet. It was like wheels and gears were turning in their minds, and he watched them put the pieces together.

“I needed a place to calm down,” Juliana said slowly.

“And I needed my library back,” said Sal, their face lighting up with the epiphany.

Both of them looked to Héctor.

Oh. They wanted him to share, too.

Say something, he thought. Anything.