The Beginning

Chapter 24

Carlos knew too much.

When he was a kid, he was often teased because he would talk way, WAY too much and often blurted things out in class too many times. He didn't mind though. Instead of letting the jabs bother him, he just laughed at them and relaxed, enjoying his life.

When he met Riley, a girl who was exactly like him, Carlos was happy to have a best friend who thought like him while also keeping a platonic friendship.

If Riley and/or Sam found boyfriends, he would be happy for them. He already had a lot of girls at his old high school fawning over him, but he found them too dainty for him. So he has been waiting for the perfect girl.

Then they were captured. Carlos' dreams were ripped apart by the Triplets, destroyed and shredded and stomped on the ground. Carlos never thought he would live again. He wanted to die.

When Jhaufyther told them that he wanted to be friends, Carlos did not believe him. Why would he believe a monster that killed millions of people every single year? He didn't want to befriend something like that.

But he couldn't follow his gut. Accepting the friendship of the Triplets, he found out that he could notice things that he never noticed before. There were so many small details that he often spent time looking at the dirt and plants around him.

"Carlos? CARLOS." Riley's voice brought him back to reality. He blinked. "What?"

"You zoned out again," she said, amusement sparkling in her eyes.

"Sorry. Just thinking," he said. God, I need to stop doing that. Siempre hago eso. I need to control that.

"Esta bien, really. It happens to me ALL THE TIME. Just make sure to do it when we're NOT walking," she said, steering him out of the way of a stray branch.

Carlos forgot that Riley was also Hispanic. She didn't speak Spanish often, but when she did, people around her would be shocked. And Carlos agreed with them. Riley has hazel eyes, and they change color depending on the light. He always found them really pretty, but there were some people that found it weird. He wanted to punch those people.

"Carlos, OTRA VEZ. You're doing it again!" Riley exclaimed.

"Okay, okay! No necesitas gritarme. I get it," he grumbled.

"I'm shouting at you so you can understand me," Riley said, crossing her arms.

Whenever Riley talked to him like that, he got reminded too much of his mom. Are they, like, related or something? The similarities make me worry sometimes. Oh well.

"Do you HAVE to?" he asked. "I'm not deaf."

"It helps you stop zoning out," Riley pointed out.

One of the things that Carlos finds helpful and annoying about Riley is that she makes really, really smart points. It makes him feel dumb, and he can never say something like that.

"I hate it when you make points like that," he admitted.

Riley laughed, all seriousness gone. "That's helpful for you, though, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it is." He thought about how he met Riley. After telling her a joke in preschool, they quickly became friends. They would frequently hang out after school, and Carlos helped Riley overcome her shyness.

"Why are you so shy, anyway?" Carlos had asked her.

"I don't know. Ever since my dad left, I just didn't have anyone to encourage me to talk to people," Riley had answered. "You get what I mean?"

Carlos knew the feeling all too well. When he was little, his dad also left them because he didn't want to have a family. He remembered his mom spending nights crying and drinking herself to sleep. It's been thirteen years now, and Carlos didn't really remember his dad leaving at all.