Sal nodded, and then Héctor was up and at the fridge, pouring a glass. Sal took it and downed half the drink in a few gulps. “At least I have this Room,” they said. “I can still come here to read.”

As Héctor watched Sal drink his abuela’s horchata down, he wondered if Sal had told anyone else about what they were going through. Maybe this had been as hard for them to talk about as it had been for Héctor.

Héctor’s curiosity pushed him forward. “I hope I’m not being pushy or anything, but . . .” He stopped, then sighed. He refilled Sal’s glass. “Do you not really have friends at your school? Or someone you hang out with?”

Sal shook their head. “Not really,” they said. “I mean, I’m not getting picked on like you are. It’s mostly that people just ignore me. I’m not very popular. It’s like . . .” Sal went quiet for a moment. “It’s like what I said before. I confuse people so much that they treat me like I’m not there. Because I guess that’s easier for them.”

Héctor nodded. “So it’s like . . . like, no one has to worry about getting your pronouns right or anything because they’re just not talking to you at all.”

Sal’s eyes went wide in recognition. “Yeah. Yeah! That’s exactly it.”

But then they smiled. “Except Ms. Pérez. She was the librarian. She’s really great. Lets me read anything I want, and sometimes, she’ll order books that we don’t have.”

Their smile evaporated, though, and Sal fell into silence. Oh, Héctor hated this! Why did things have to be so challenging for Sal? For Juliana? For Héctor?

But, once again, there wasn’t really anything to do, right? They’d definitely helped Juliana, but this . . . this felt too big, too complicated. Héctor remembered something he’d overheard his mom say on the phone once: “This sounds above my pay grade.” That is what this seemed like.

The two sat in an awkward silence before Héctor nudged Sal with his shoulder. “Come here whenever you want,” he said. “I think you deserve to have your own space.”

Sal stood and told Héctor that they had to head to class, but before they left, they put their arms around him. “Thank you,” they said. “For listening. And being nice. It’s good to know I have you as a friend.”

He watched Sal leave, and he knew for certain that Sal was his friend.

That was a nice thing to know.

Héctor had a lot on his mind as he wrenched open the Room’s door, wishing he could just stay here all day and skip school completely. But that thought vanished instantly.

It was dark beyond the doorway.

Real dark.

He shut the door, opened it again.

Nothing changed.