Page 79 of One Year Ago in Spain
“While most young crushes pass relatively quickly, it was different for these two because they were already best friends. Unwittingly, they had fallen in love with every detail of each other—how Leo loved books so much he talked about the characters as if they were real. How Facu had an encyclopedicmemory for fútbol statistics. How Leo spoiled his little sister, buying her little gifts whenever he passed by a store window with something he thought she’d love. How Facu was always the first in video games to offer himself as a sacrifice to the monsters, in order to save the rest of the team.
“But Leo and Facu didn’t want to ruin their friendship by revealing their feelings, because what if the other didn’t reciprocate? And they certainly did not want to destroy the dynamics of their group, because it had always been the five of them since their mamás met at the park when they were barely crawling.
“So one day when Facu was busy and couldn’t hang out with them, Leo confessed to Carlos, Diego, and Matías. And then just a few days later, when Leo was occupied elsewhere with his sister, Facu came to Carlos, Diego, and Matías, and also poured out his heart, wondering what to do.
“Well, those three did not even hesitate. They told Facu he should tell Leo. While they could not reveal Leo’s feelings themselves, they made it clear that they would help Facu in whatever way they could.
“That weekend, it was Leo’s birthday. The boys set up a scavenger hunt for him, and the first clue led Leo to the library. But only Carlos, Diego, and Matías were with him.
“ ‘Where’s Facu?’ he asked.
“The boys shrugged. ‘He said he’ll show up later, but that you should go on without him.’
“Leo’s shoulders drooped, his disappointment evident. But the four of them walked into the library, where he solved riddle after riddle, collecting scraps of paper hidden in books. Each paper contained one word, the message scrambled:
Have. I. Tell. Secret. You. A. To.
“ ‘I have a secret to tell you?’ ” Leo asked.
“At that moment, Facu stepped out from between the library aisles. He clutched one more piece of paper in his hands, and, shaking, he held it out to Leo.
“Leo unfolded the scrap, and gasped. ‘I think I love you,’ he read in a whisper.
“Facu smiled. ‘I think I love you, too.’ ”
The room was silent for a moment with tears—of sorrow and of pride. These were their boys. They had lived hard, and loved hard, and they had done it all together.
“They were very sweet boys,” Guadalupe said. “A handful, but wonderful. We were lucky to have them.”
Matíasisa very sweet boy,Soledad thought, at the same time ashamed at how traitorous the thought was in the midst of Carlos and Diego’s evento conmemorativo.
She looked around the dismal room full of candles and the cloying sadness of flowers. Her poor friends. Parents should not outlive their children; it is a cruelty of the worst kind.
Soledad choked back a sob.
And she prayed that they would not soon be holding un evento conmemorativo for Matías, too.
Claire
When Claire woke,the sun was high in the sky. Her skin ached like she’d been roasted, and a peacock was staring her in the face.
“Ack!” Claire jerked back.
The peacock squawked back in equal surprise.
Claire scuttled backward, in case startled peacocks got aggressive like the geese in New York.
The peacock, though, just shook its head at her, like it was judging her an idiot before it stalked away.
Claire expected Matías to start laughing. But when she looked around the grass, he wasn’t there.
“Dammit!” she muttered. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but jet lag and sleep deprivation seemed to be ganging up on her this week.
Claire pressed her left palm to her mouth.
Of course, nothing happened.
Why did he show up sometimes and not others?
