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POLO STARES DOWN AT HIS PHONE, creases evident on his forehead. "I don't know where she is. I think Carla is avoiding me." Polo speaks, as we sit in the little restaurant Samuel worked in. He stares at me as if waiting for a response. and I shrug, not wanting to get involved. I knew Carla had sex with Christian, but I was pretty sure Polo didn't. And I wasn't going to be the one to rat out my friend. Guzmán tapped his fingers away at the table, smiling at me.
"You must have done something." Guzmán laughs, while Ander says nothing, and is fixated on his phone. "You're nuts if you don't take care of her. You won't find another one like her." Guzmán said, staring at his friend who was panicking. I shake my head at Guzmán. who was sitting opposite me, and then I tapped Polo's hand that sat on the table to get his attention.
"Don't worry Polo. I'm sure it'll be alright. Maybe she just isn't in the mood. Might not have been something you have done." I said, rubbing his shoulder slightly, and he smiled. "Thanks, Jada." Samuel comes rushing out of the kitchen, and when he spots me, he looks confused. "Perdona. Hay gente nueva en la cocina." "I wish you were as good at your job as you are at making excuses. This is overcooked." I kick him slightly under the table, indicating for him to behave. "Guzmán." I hiss at him, but he ignores me. "You know I can't answer back here. That's why you're doing this." Samu says in a hushed voice, and Guzmán smiles, "Is he talking to me?" I sigh, staring at him unhappily.
"For god's sake, Guzmán, eat your food it's fine. Leave the boy alone for once." I say, before turning to Samuel. "Ignore him. Thanks, Samu." "J why are you with-" "We'll talk later," I say, and he walks off after a loud crashing noise could be heard from the kitchen. Guzmán picks at his food, and I shake my head, swapping his burger with mine, which looked less overcooked. "There. Perfect. Now eat." Ander and Polo both giggled, seeing the look on Guzmán's face.
"She's seen my WhatsApp. It's blue. See? Why won't she answer?" I shake my head at the boy, and suddenly Ander gets up. "I'm leaving." We all look at him confused. "What? Why?" I ask, and Guzmán also speaks up. "At least finish your food." Ander shakes his head. "I have to go train. Don't want to be late." And he abruptly leaves, leaving both me and Guzmán confused. Polo, however, is too wrapped up in his situation with Carla to notice anything off. "Shall I write to her again? Or leave her a voice message? I'll send her an audio message. Yeah." He continues talking to himself, but I'm not listening, and I can see that Guzmán isn't either.
As soon as we finish our food, Polo rushes off to see Carla, leaving me and Guzmán to walk around the town. We weren't walking in a particular direction, with a particular destination in mind, but instead, we just wandered around, chatting.
"Do you think Carla and Polo will last?" Guzmán asks out of the blue. I turn to him confused, and I shrug. "I don't know them well enough. They seem cute though." I keep walking and he puts his arm around me, which seems to be a habit of his. "I guess so." He says as we walk around the town, heading towards the river where I normally smoke, although he doesn't know that.
As we are walking towards the little bit of the bridge that leads out to the river, I noticed Ander and Omar ahead, and my eyes widen. I quickly grabbed Guzman and turned his back to the pair making him face me. "J.," he says, incredibly close to my face, and I looked slightly over his shoulder as I embraced him in a hug, seeing a shocking sight. Ander and Omar kissed, and I gasped slightly, pulling back from Guzman, who held onto me still.
"Guzman," I said, and he smiled, letting go of me and putting his arm around me once more. At that point, he turns around and sees Ander and Omar. My heart almost drops in my chest, but thankfully they are no longer kissing, and instead are walking off down the stairs. "I thought he had training." He said, shaking his head and walking away from them, back the way we came, clearly hurt.
"Guzman, wait!" I call after him as he storms off, and he keeps walking, leaving me to run up behind him, grabbing his hand and pulling him to a stop. "Guzman, relax!" I say as he turns to me, anger beaming off his face. "He lied to me. Why would he lie?" I grab onto his shoulders, and he looks right at me. "Listen. Omar is one of the kids from San Esteban, one of our friends. He probably just didn't tell you because he doesn't want to disappoint you since you hate all of us from San Esteban." Guzman groans, rolling his eyes, before sighing in defeat.
"But we're friends, he doesn't need to lie." I shake my head, remembering how Guzman acted when we were at Marina's. "You made him feel like he has to. Especially after how you reacted at Marina's party when he came with Christian. Don't worry about it, just go home and cool off for school tomorrow. Don't make it a big deal Guzman. Just go home, don't think about it." I say and he shakes his head, sighing, pushing his hair back from his face. "I'll try not to." A small smile forms on his lips as he says that, and I shake my head, before walking away to go home, calling back to him, turning around to see him still staring at me, watching me walk away. "Adios Guzman," I call out to him just as I turn round the corner, out of his sight. As I walk home, I think about Ander and Omar, still in shock, especially since I've known Omar for a very long time.
