Mateo has been alone his entire life. One day he meets the "crane girl" and everything changes, but good things can't last forever...
Cover credit: @aurorawillows
"What are you doing?" I look up and see Journey staring at me.
"I'm eating my lunch," I reply.
"In the corner? Alone!? Mateo, I thought we were friends!" She starts crying, turns, and runs across the lunchroom eventually tripping and causing another student to spill his tray filled with food all over the floor.
"Journey!" I scream. Everyone turns to look at me, but for the first time ever, I don't care. "Journey what the hell?" I watch her glare at me from the floor. Then she gets up and runs out of the lunchroom covered in mashed potato and red sauce.
"Mateo," I whirl around to find George and Ryan standing behind me. "She probably expects you to go after her Mateo."
"But you shouldn't." Ryan glares at George. "No, Ryan, he really shouldn't. Mateo isn't like all the other guys Journey has—"
"Shhhh," Ryan hisses. He gives George a pointed look and then they have a private conversation about five feet away from me. I decide to check my phone to make it less awkward. I see that I have a text.
Mamá: how's your day going?
I stand there gaping at my phone for a few more moments until I feel it ripped out of my clutches.
"What do—"
"Shut up Mateo," George says. He types away at my phone for a few minutes. I take a peek over his shoulder and see him raise an eyebrow as he looks at my...contact... but he quickly moves on and starts to add in three numbers. Ryan explains what's going on.
"He's adding our numbers to your phone, Journey's mine, and his. When you go home, text Journey and then text one of us and we'll make a group chat."
"Wait I can't just—"
"Uh uh uh Mateo," George scolds me. "I know you need to stay quiet, but sometimes you can't just let everything get lost. Sometimes you gotta be brave and take life by the reins instead of just barely hanging on." He hands me back my phone. "By the way, you've got a crane in your pocket."
9/21/18
Finally this book is getting interesting to write! What do you think is going on? Well, with luck you'll find out in like an hour!
Until then,
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
