Boulevard of broken dreams

chapter two

The water collided with my face, and my hands full of soap strongly scratched my nose and chin. Once all the dirt was gone from my face, I looked at myself in the mirror and let out a sigh. I threw my sweatshirt on the floor of my room and changed for an ocher-colored one. I traded in my ripped jean with one that would cover up my scraped and bruised knees. Casper said nothing about it, he just kept grinning like the Cheshire Cat. I asked him to show me the bathroom, and he walked me to the end of the hallway on the ground floor. Here there were mirrors, but only because there was a man outside the door for security. Apparently, we shared the bathrooms with all the boys, luckily there was no one here. The blond had said that everyone should be in the cafeteria or doing activities. As we were walking down the hall from my room and down the stairs, I noticed several security people. It sounds ironic. They tell you they give you all this freedom, but you are constantly being watched. Casper told me that there was a library upstairs from our room where I can always find him there and there was a heated swimming pool on the lower floor. Outside, there were courts for tennis and basketball. I think I have heard Deborah talk about how sports help improve mental health. He told me that, on the ground floor, next to the cafeteria, there were several rooms to do art, such as painting, ceramics, drawing, writing, photography, and music. "It helps us express our feelings and form healthy release habits," Casper said, mimicking the principal. I guess those are the activities I have to sign up for. They held school classes in the building at the back, past the tennis court. He also told me they held psychological therapies on the top floor. So my life boils down to this. Activities I'm not interested in doing and sitting in front of a complete stranger who doesn't give a shit about me, but he expects me to tell him about my life to justify his salary. The structure of the building was interesting. Except for the ground floor and the top floor, a wall divided them in half. Upon entering, you had two stairs to the sides, one leading to side A, on the left, for women, and on the right, side B, for men. According to Casper, they forbid us from going there.

"Blue? You finished?" Casper had said he would not go in if I didn't want to, but his promise only lasted about fifteen minutes. He walked in and grimaced at my clean face. As if he missed the paint on my face.

"That's not my fucking name!" I said with a frustrated sigh. At least he doesn't call me Tomás like la babosa[1].

"I know, but Blue is prettier," he said, leaning on the sink next to me, tilting his head, and giving me a small smile. "Cute nickname for a cute boy." it was making me blush, and it was worse when he winked at me. He seemed to find happiness in teasing me. He laughed when I glared at him.

"¿Acaso me estás echando los perros?[2]" I said, frowning.

"So what if I am?" He said, leaning towards me. Our noses were inches apart, and his eyes settled on my lips before returning to my eyes with a smirk. I widened my eyes in surprise at the sudden approach and pulled back an inch. I know I'm black, but even my skin color didn't help hide how flustered I was. He is very close. So close that I could see the freckles he had on the tip of his nose and his cheekbones. So close that I noticed that he also had freckles on his shoulders. I noted his ears which were full of piercings. Around his neck was a silver cross necklace. Suddenly, I felt his nose touch mine, sending an electric current throughout my body. The heat rose to my cheeks and, especially, to my nose. My heart was beating quickly. Was he going to kiss me? Really? I was just kidding when I asked if he was flirting with me. He teased me a lot, so I just wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. I didn't think it would end like this. A este le falta un tornillo[3]. There's no way he's going to kiss me. Casper's eyes returned to my lips, and I gulped anxiously. I felt that my stomach closed, and the air escape my lungs. The last thing I need is for a crazy guy to lay eyes on me. Much less my roommate. It will be the most awkward two years of my life. I have to turn him down fast. A laugh snapped me out of my thoughts. Casper found himself with a hand on his stomach and his head going back and forth, unable to stop, convulsed with laughter. From time to time, the sound of a pig scuttling interrupted his laugh. If I wasn't so angry, I would have made fun of it, but right now, all I could see is red.