“When you want to come back inside, we’ll be here,” Papi said. “We’ll . . . we’ll give you your space.”

Héctor smiled to try to show Papi he appreciated that.

The two of them disappeared into Abuela’s house, and Héctor looked back on the neighborhood. He watched as a couple of older kids biked by. Would that be Héctor in a few years? Would he have friends he’d be able to explore with? Maybe. But years . . . that seemed so far away. What was Héctor supposed to do in the meantime? Hope a bizarre, magical janitor’s closet solved his problems?

Truthfully, Héctor just felt tired of waiting.

The weekend seemed to stretch out around Héctor, so when Monday morning rolled around, it was like he hadn’t been to school in a whole year. He felt torn between anxiety over the next inevitable confrontation with Mike and excitement over the possibility of being in the Room again. Why couldn’t his heart just choose one emotion to feel?

He pulled out his phone as his mami drove him to school and scrolled to his group chat with Tim and Sophia. In the past week, they’d only exchanged ten messages. Total. He knew it wasn’t entirely their fault, though. It had taken him days to respond to Sophia’s last message.

“Have a good day at school,” said Mami, kissing him on the forehead. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight, okay?”

He nodded. “Love you, Mami.”

Mike was nowhere to be found in the halls of Orangevale Middle School that morning. It wasn’t that comforting; it just meant Mike would attack at some other point during the day. He shivered at the thought. This was his new normal, wasn’t it?

Seconds later, it was there, tucked into the wall near one of the science classrooms:

JANITOR.

It has to be there for a reason, Héctor thought. He looked around in the hallway. Two kids were checking stuff into their lockers, and the group at the far end were deep in conversation. None of them were even aware he existed. So he slipped into the Room, and was met with his new friends, Juliana and Sal.

The couch was back. The library was gone.

And Juliana was crying.

Héctor dropped his backpack on the ground near the door, and he rushed over to the couch. “Juliana, what is it? Is everything okay?”

She looked up at Héctor. “I have to tell you something.”

Héctor cast a glance at Sal, who shrugged. “I don’t know,” they said. “I just got here, right before you.”

He sat down on the other side of Juliana. “We’re here,” he said. “Talk to us.”

“I didn’t tell you the truth earlier,” she sobbed, then wiped at her nose. “When I told you about my friend who needed help.”