Héctor wiped at his face again. He had not expected to be seen in the middle of this.

Sal rose suddenly and crossed the Room to him. “Héctor . . . what happened?”

Sal looked concerned.

They looked like they cared what had happened.

And it broke him.

It was like Sal was a key to a lock Héctor did not know he had. The tears were like a waterfall, and he was crying so hard that none of his words came out like words. They were just sounds, blubberings, coughs with vague consonants in them.

Sal ran their hand over Héctor’s back. “Slow down, slow down,” they said. “One thing at a time.”

“It’s just—” He fought for breath. “I wish that—”

His anxiety rose from his gut up into his throat, and he cut through it, refused to let it hold power over him anymore.

So Héctor blurted out the truth. “Do you know what it’s like not to fit in?”

Sal froze. For a moment, they didn’t say anything at all, and Héctor worried he had said something terrible.

But then: “Every day.”

Héctor breathed in deep, trying to slow down his heart. “Really?”

“Some days, it’s not so bad,” they explained. “Usually, those were the days I spent in the library.”

“Which is why you’re here,” said Héctor. “Did something happen today?”

They shook their head. “No, not like . . . well, whatever happened to you. Some days are just harder than others.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can we sit?” Sal asked, and the two of them plopped down in comfy armchairs that faced one another. Héctor looked to his left . . . and there was a tall glass of his abuela’s horchata.

Sal sighed. “Tell me what happened with you first.”

And for the first time since this had all started, Héctor told someone everything. His story was full of starts and stops, as he kept finding that he had to explain little things about his old school, his family, or Orangevale to Sal. Héctor had never been to Phoenix, but it sounded like a much, much bigger city than Orangevale. And then there was Ms. Heath, and Mike and the Minions, and—

“And that’s how I got in here,” he said. “I just . . . I don’t know. I was so overwhelmed, and I thought this was going to be the bathroom.”

“But the Room knew you needed it,” said Sal, smiling.

“Whoa.” Héctor sat back into his chair. “I think you’re right.”

“I’m sorry that happened,” they said. “People can be so . . . so cruel.”

“Is that what it’s like at your school?”