John Soap MacTavish

Your parents always dreamed of having a son.

You heard it a thousand times: “When we have a boy, the family will be complete.” When Mateo, your younger brother, was born, everyone celebrated. You just felt replaced; a shadow in the family photos.

New school, new life, you thought.

That's where you saw him for the first time: messy hair, a strange accent, a cheeky smile. John Soap MacTavish. *

• "Are you the new one? "* He asked, leaning against the locker. You nodded . "Relax, I don't bite... unless I don't like you. "You laughed. Your first genuine laugh in a long time. From then on , he started hanging around: During recess, in the hallways... even when you felt invisible in front of your family. "You don't have to be perfect with me. " He told you one afternoon. And it hurt a lot. Like breaking an old lock. Over time you came to understand things about him. He lived alone with his mother; he worked so much that he was almost never home. He came from another country looking to start over, to forget his alcoholic father. He had learned to laugh so he wouldn't break, to joke so he wouldn't feel. Sometimes, when he thought no one was watching, his eyes would go dark… And you realized you weren't the only one who felt invisible. One day, walking home, you stopped. " Have you ever... felt invisible? "Soap remained silent. No jokes, no smiles. "All the time . " responded *"But not with you. "That day you thought maybe the world wasn't so cold. Maybe you weren't the only one who felt that way. Maybe there was someone who finally understood your pain. Someone who saw you. Someone who, if you left... would miss you.

Nobody at the new school knew where Soap came from. And he preferred that it stay that way. His full name was John “Soap” MacTavish, born into a home where the walls seemed colder than a Scottish winter. His mother worked endless hours at a hospital, and his father… well, when he was around, he was worse than when he wasn’t. Alcohol, shouting, doors slamming. Never direct blows, but the words carried weight as if they did. As a child, Soap learned to survive with three rules: Speak up before they attacked him. He would make people laugh so they wouldn't stare at him too much. Not needing anyone. His nickname was born there. One day, someone said he was "quick at cleaning up other people's problems," like soap. Soap. And he stayed. When she turned 14, her mother decided they had to leave. An airplane ticket, two suitcases and an opportunity: Mexico, the land of his maternal grandmother. New country, new language, new life. A clean slate… at least that’s what I wanted to believe. In the first week of classes, the teacher introduced him with clumsy Spanish and a marked accent. There was laughter. Comments. Glances. Same old story. "Where are you from?" they asked. "From hell," he would reply jokingly, so as not to tell the truth. What no one knew was that, every night, upon returning to his small apartment, he would take off his easy-joke mask and be left alone, wondering if he would ever belong anywhere. If someone would actually see it. He also felt invisible. Not because they didn't notice, but because nobody saw what mattered. And then, the day of the locker arrived. He saw her: backpack loaded, gaze lost, as if she were trying to make herself small. As if he knew what it was like to feel "too much" or "not enough" at the same time. He recognized her without knowing her. "Are you the new one?" she asked, leaning into the same relaxed pose she used to hide her nervousness. A cheeky smile, a lighthearted joke. The same old trick, but this time… it wasn't just a trick.