Friendship Blossoms

Facing down her childhood enemies sets Nora up for the romance of friendship.

Nora stood by the classroom door, tugging at the sleeve of her sweater. Her light brown eyes wandered back to the gaggle of girls lounging by the bathroom. Occasionally, they would glance her way and giggle. They always gossiped about her and it made her miserable.

Ever since 4th grade, the lot of them had ostracized her. She’d been convinced she would turn into a mermaid and they’d never let her live it down. She still wanted to be a mermaid, not that she would ever share that with them, but now she wanted to really be a Marine Biologist. Then she could be a mermaid and study the ocean too.

Octavio leaned against the wall beside her, tilting his head at the group of girls. “Don’t let them bother you. They’re estúpida.”

“I know.” She glanced up at his tan face before focusing on the chipped pink nail polish on her fingers.

Octavio understood her pain. They gave him grief because his family didn’t come from America and he was the only one who spoke English. He returned their racial insults with smiles and patience.

She never understood it and when she once asked him about it, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “They are not worth my time.”

“Do you want to practice soccer with me after school?” he asked, changing their focus.

She glared at him. “You kick my butt every time.”

“Eh.” He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Sounds like you need the practice.”

She laughed and turned to face him fully, her back turned to the girls. “It’s not practice when it’s a slaughter.”

His dark eyes twinkled at her and he said, “I need the practice?”

“You do not. But yeah, I’ll suffer for you.” Confidence returned to her with Octavio’s teasing and she dropped her sweater sleeve. She liked the flash of teeth when he smirked, especially when it was turned toward her.

The warning bell rang and Ms. Gorman unlocked the classroom door, letting them into their English Composition class. Nora hated her teacher but it was the one class she enjoyed with Octavio so she always looked forward to it.

After school, Octavio waited for her with his soccer ball bag. He lit up when he saw her. “Come on, I’ll show you a new trick I learned.”

“What? How to let me get a goal?” she asked.

“Por favor, you must learn those skills,” he said.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll keep dreaming,” she grumbled.

She glanced up and steps slowed. Octavio followed her gaze to the group of six girls standing by the corner of the building. They hung out together, leaning in and laughing, and stared at Octavio and Nora.

He brushed his arm against hers and said, “Remember, they mean nothing.”

She didn’t answer but started plucking at the sweater on her right arm. As they drew closer, Elli stepped away from the group and snickered.

She said, “Oh look, it’s the mermaid and the illegal. You know she could teach you how to swim back home.”

Heat rushed to Nora’s cheeks and she bit the skin inside of her mouth with anger. She glared at Elli, the pink fluffiness of her sweater being tugged as if she wanted to tear off a chunk. She took a step towards her and said, “You know, Elli, just because I have the desire to do more than sleep around and he’s smart enough to know two languages doesn’t mean you have to be a bitch.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she slapped her hand over her lips in horror. She hadn’t really meant to say any of that. Elli’s face flushed with shock and the other girls gasped.

Nora started to stammer an apology but Ocavio grabbed her by her elbow and said, “We must go practice, ladies. Buenas tardes.”

With his hand still on her elbow, he guided her away. Behind them, the clucking of the offended girls began. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and she felt like throwing up.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I shouldn’t have said that to her. I don’t know why I said that,” she sputtered. “Why’d I say that?”

Octavio gave her a sideways grin. “Cause it’s true.”

Her stomach still twisted in knots. Those girls would make her pay. Like a pride of lionesses, they would rip her to shreds at the first opportunity.

“Look, you need to stop worrying. They’ll leave you alone now.” His accent broke through her panic and she blinked at him multiple times.

Finally, she shook her head and said, “How do you know?”

“Because, how many years have we both been quiet while they’ve talked shit? You bit back. They’re gonna fear you now. They won’t know when you’ll snap again,” he laughed.

Her head dropped into her hands. “You’re right. I snapped. They’re gonna think I’m crazy.”

“You are loco, but in a good way. Come on, practicing by myself is not fun.” He led her to the soccer field and pulled out his soccer ball. His fancy footwork, which had increased dramatically since the last time he dragged her out, distracted her from the trouble likely headed her way. And, as expected, he kicked her butt, both with the goals he made and twice as he darted past her.

Rubbing her right cheek on the second pass, she said, “All right, my pride can only handle so much in one day. I’ve got to head home, still have homework to do.”

“Do you want me to walk with you?” he asked as he shook his black hair out of his eyes.

His question caught her off guard. She froze, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. He’d never asked to walk her home before. Her brain blanked. What should she do? What should she say?

He shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, I don’t have to. If you don’t want me to.”

“No, I’d love you too,” she blurted out. Immediately, she covered her mouth again.

“Good.” He collected his soccer gear and his book bag and then extended his arm toward her. “I can carry your bag, too, if you like.”

“No, I’ve got it. Thanks though.”

They walked in silence, their arms brushing once in a while as they moved. Every time it happened, Nora got goosebumps and her stomach did little flip-flops. She stole sideways glances at him and blushed every time their eyes met.

As they passed beneath a pair of trees only a couple of houses away from hers, he smacked at his arm and screamed so high-pitched he sounded like a small child. She burst out laughing even while trying to make sure he was okay.

“What happened?” she asked. Other than his arm darkening where he smacked it, she didn’t see anything off.

“There was a spider,” he said and held his fingers up in an okay symbol. “And it was this huge. It attacked me!”

“The size of a quarter, wow. And um, what was that noise that came out of you?” she asked.

Octavio puffed up his chest and ran his hand through his hair. “That was my manly warning to you that we were in danger. It was a big spider.”

Nora doubled over with laughter. When she could breathe again, she wiped away her tears and said, “I appreciate you saving me.”

“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m here for,” he said.

They walked over to her house and stopped in front of her walkway. They stood there smiling at each other, suddenly shy. She glanced down at the cuffs on her sweater and wondered why the thread was starting to unravel.

He said, “Hey, I know we talk on Instagram but I was thinking maybe we could exchange phone numbers. We could maybe talk more.”

Before Nora had the chance to answer, he added, “Maybe even go get ice cream?”

Nora twisted her light brunette ponytail around her fingers, unable to look him in the eyes. A tight fist clenched around her chest.

He shifted from foot to foot. The silence between them grew.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then opened her lids and met his gaze. “Yes, ice cream sounds good.”

A pinched noise, somewhere between a laugh and a relieved sigh, slipped out of him. He said, “Cool. Let’s swap phones and our phone numbers.”

She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and unlocked it. They exchanged them and she asked, “Not afraid I’m going to steal all your Pokemon?”

He shook his head. “You’re not Team Rocket.”

“Are you?”

He winked at her. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

With a return smile, she extended her hand. They traded phones and he let his fingertips linger against her hand for just a touch longer than needed. He thought about it for a moment then said, “Let’s test this and make sure we got this right.”

He spoke as he tapped something into his phone, “¿Te gustaría salir conmigo?”

The words popped up on her cell phone’s screen. “What does that mean?”

“You should look it up when you get inside,” he said. He tucked his phone into his pocket and smirked at her. He added, “I’ll talk to you later.”

She watched him leave, wearing a grin of her own. When she went in, she grabbed her laptop and typed ‘Te gustaria salir conmigo’ into Google. She squeaked when the translator said ‘Would you like to date me?’.

She couldn’t even breathe as she stared at the computer screen. Heat burned in her cheeks and her heartbeat rushed in her ears. ‘Would you like to date me?’

Trying to keep her heart from exploding out of her chest, she grabbed her cell again. She typed out a single word: ‘Sí’.