“¡Buenas noches, Heredia!”
A reggaeton band had set up on the campus lawn.
The singer shouted into his microphone.
The crowd cheered.
Then Brittney reached over and took my hand.
I hadn’t expected that.
My fingers wrapped around hers.
It lasted only a few seconds before she let go again, as naturally as she’d reached for it in the first place.
Neither of us said anything.
We stood listening to the music instead, occasionally bumping shoulders as people squeezed past.
Our hands brushed once or twice after that.
Then never again.
“Will I see you at school tomorrow?”
The crowd had begun drifting away.
“Yeah, dude.”
~
One afternoon we went to see Rango.
The entire movie had been dubbed into Spanish.
I spent two hours trying to follow the dialogue and celebrated every word I managed to recognize.
I don’t remember much about the film.
~
A few weeks later we were at a roller rink. It sat on the far side of San Jose.
We’d come on the bus as part of a school trip. Britney included.
Back home, everyone skated in a counterclockwise circle.
Here, people moved in every direction at once. Fast skaters cut across the middle.
Beginners drifted wherever they pleased.
In the center of the rink, a group danced salsa on roller skates.
Brittney knew I’d taken a dance class.
She yelled over the crowd.
“Show us!”
I moved to the center.
My feet found the beat.
One, two, three-and-four. Five, six, seven-and-eight.
My wheels wizzed across the skate top.
Lights pulsed above me.
The tempo increased.
Heal. Toe. Step. Slide.
Then the song ended, and the lights went out.
At the counter returned my skates. Then I walked outside.
The bus was gone, and everyone with it.
Just three girls remained.
One laughed.
“I saw you dancing.”
I blushed.
“Salsa.”
Her eyes narrowed. Then she laughed.
“Sure. Anyway, we’re meeting our boyfriends in San Jose. Come with us.”
I looked at the empty parking lot.
“Sure.”
~
At the first club, the girls drank for free. I paid the cover charge.
Inside, music pounded so loudly that conversation required shouting.
I checked my watch.
Midnight. One o’clock. Two.
We moved to another club.
By four in the morning, the streets had finally begun to empty. We squeezed into a taxi and headed toward Heredia.
The city lights gave way to dark neighborhoods. By the time we reached home, the eastern sky had started to brighten.
The meter stopped.
The girls checked their purses.
I handed the driver my cash.
~
“Hey dude.”
Brittany waved at me from across the school grounds the next morning.
“I didn’t see you on the bus.”
She elbowed me.
“So, you decided to stay behind, did you?”
“Yeah, something like that. You want to get a coffee with me between classes?”
We both paid separately.