She made for the door, then stopped and turned around. “If you see Sal, tell them we can talk later. Right now, I’m too hurt, and I’ll probably say something mean.” She paused. “If it was possible, though . . . I wish you two could come with me.”

“Good luck, Juliana,” Héctor said. “You got this.”

And with that, she left the Room to meet her fate.

Héctor only had time to sit down on the couch before Sal popped back into the Room right in front of him. He yelped and pulled his legs up on the couch.

“Héctor!” Sal cried out, their face twisted with regret. “I messed up so bad. Is Juliana still here?”

“You just missed her,” he said. “She has to meet with her mom and the principal now.”

Sal groaned. “I wanted to apologize to her before she left. I think . . . I think the Room did this on purpose.”

“That was Juliana’s theory, too,” said Héctor. He grimaced. “You . . . you shouldn’t have said that, Sal. You judged her just because she’s Black.”

“I didn’t even really think about it,” said Sal, and they put their head in their hands. “I just . . . assumed.”

“She said you two can talk later,” said Héctor, “but I would give her some space. She needs to feel comfortable with you again.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” said Sal, and they wrung their hands together repeatedly. “I don’t have a whole lot of friends back home. I don’t want to lose either of you, too.”

Héctor patted Sal on the shoulder. “Apologize when you get the chance. And . . . I don’t know. Do better?”

They nodded. “Yeah, of course. You heading to class?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Wish we were with Juliana, though.”

They said their goodbyes, and Héctor opened the door to the Room, preparing himself for another day at Orangeville Middle School.

So he was surprised when, instead, he found himself staring out into the halls of Swifton Middle School.

Okay, he thought. So the Room has a sense of humor. Ha ha. He chuckled and closed the door.

Opened it again.

Same shiny hallways. Same bright skylights in the ceiling.

“Um,” said Héctor. “Hey, Sal, can you come try this?”

Sal joined Héctor at his side and looked out into the hallway. “Where is this?”

“It’s Juliana’s school,” he answered.

“This is a school?” Their mouth dropped open. “But it looks so fancy!” Then they grimaced. “Wow, I really was messed up to call this place ghetto, wasn’t I?”

That wasn’t quite the point, but Héctor ignored it because there were much more urgent things to deal with. “Sal, can you close the door and open it?”

“Sure,” they said. Sal did as Héctor asked, closing the door and opening it.

“Um . . . that’s not right,” they said, and did it again.