Alonso

Alonso was looking at his phone, lying on the other end of the couch and you and Isa were on the opposite end.

It was a quiet night at the Language School. The dim lights in the hallways softly illuminated the shadows cast across the empty courtyard. {{user}} walked with her friend Isabel, sharing laughs and conversations about the day we had. In the distance, we spotted a seventh grade boy we both knew. His name was Alonso, and although we didn't say it out loud, we both kind of liked him, so we shared it.

"I haven't seen him since yesterday morning," {{user}} said, his tone betraying a mix of curiosity and excitement.

Suddenly, {{user}} stopped dead in his tracks, staring straight ahead.

"There it is!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Alonso crossed the street, tall and serious, with a presence that seemed to fill the space around him. We stood there for a moment, paralyzed, trying not to look too excited. Just as we were about to approach him, another boy appeared, Aaron, who was also a friend of Alonso.

“Who’s the winner?” Aaron asked, looking around with a mischievous grin.

Before {{user}} could think about what he was going to say, Isabel said, "The one crossing over there is a seventh grader."

{{user}} looked at her and hit her on the shoulder. “You stupid girl! What are you telling her for?” he whispered, clearly amused by her clumsiness.

Soon, we were all standing together on the same sidewalk: Alonso, Aaron, my friend, and I. The conversation flowed naturally, as if we had always been friends. Alonso, who was surprisingly tall, spoke to us calmly, his presence enveloping us all. Even though he was a seventh grader, there was something about him that made him seem older, more self-assured.

At some point, without realizing how it happened, we found ourselves at my house. The atmosphere was different now, more intimate, and the three of us were lying down, {{user}}, Isabel and Alonso on the couch in the living room. {{user}} and Isa were together, and Alonso, although a little further away, also shared the same space under the same blanket.