Crickets chirped…
Alvaro was lost in thought inside his room, filled with strange questions popping into her head.
"Will some guy fall for me?"
"Will I end up dating a guy..?"
All sorts of things crossed Alvaro's mind until—
Bzz… bzz…
The sound of a mosquito buzzing around her made Alvaro a little annoyed. She tried to catch it as best as he could.
"Come here, you," she muttered at the mosquito.
But the insect was too fast, making it difficult to catch. Alvaro stood up and closed the door so it wouldn't fly out.
He tried again and ended up falling to the ground.
BRAK!
"Alvaro! What's going on?" asked her grandmother from the kitchen, who had woken up from a long nap.
"E-..ehehe well.. I was trying to catch a mosquito, but it's really hard since I'm short now," Alvaro replied.
The mosquito landed right in front of her, and—
SLAP!
Got it. The mosquito was dead in her hand. Alvaro left the room to wash her hands until no trace of blood remained.
When she returned to his room—
Ding dong!
A notification sound came from her phone. She quickly checked it. It was a message from her friend.
Yuri: AL! I heard you got kicked out of school? Ugh, sorry I just found out. That must've been rough.
Alvaro:Yeah, Yuri. Hopefully things will get better for me from now on.
Yuri:I hope so. By the way, that girl you made fall and hurt herself… if I'm not wrong, it was Caroline, right? She's been acting kinda crazy at school.
Alvaro: Really?
Yuri: Yeah, ever since she found out you were expelled.
Alvaro:Oh, I see.
Yuri:Yeah. She keeps to herself now, like she's planning something.
Alvaro:Ooh.
Alvaro put down her phone.
Could she really be that crazy in love with me? She thought.
She stood up and left her room. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
Knock… knock… knock…
It was a slow, deliberate sound. Alvaro glanced back.
"Grandma, should I help you open it?"
"Wait! I'll get it," her grandmother said, walking to the door and opening it.
"Who is it?"
There was a long-haired woman standing there. When Alvaro saw her—
"C-..Caroline.." she whispered.
It was her.
"What brings you here?" her grandmother asked.
"I heard Alvaro lives here. Where is he now?"
"Oh…" her grandmother answered while glancing at Alvaro, who was in her female form.
"He went out of town for a while. It might be a long time before he comes back. Why do you ask?"
"Ah.. I see. It's nothing then," Caroline replied, her face showing a hint of disappointment. She turned around and got into her car.
His grandmother closed the door and glanced at Alvaro.
"Who was that? Your girlfriend?"
"Heh, no way! She's—.. well.. hm.."
"Oh, your girlfriend?"
"No! She's the girl I accidentally hit with a glass, and it cut her hand," Alvaro blurted out.
"Oh my.. If she came all the way here, she must hold a grudge," his grandmother replied.
"Well… she used to like me, but I don't know how she feels now," Alvaro said uncertainly.
"How did you even meet her? You're not the type to throw glass at someone on a first meeting. That must've built up for a while," his grandmother asked.
"Well… it happened like this."
---
Flashback
It all started back in Alvaro's first year of middle school. He had just transferred, and like a spark in dry grass, his presence caught everyone's attention almost instantly. His sharp features, his calm way of carrying himself—it all made him stand out. Whispers traveled quickly, and before long, Alvaro had become the boy everyone was curious about.
Caroline was one of those who noticed him right away. At first, it seemed like nothing more than a harmless crush. She admired him from a distance, her eyes always following whenever he walked by. Sometimes she laughed a little too hard at things he said, sometimes she just happened to show up where he was. To anyone else, it might have looked innocent—typical schoolyard admiration.
But for Alvaro, it soon became suffocating. Caroline's interest grew stronger with every passing week. She started pushing herself closer into his circle, eager to be noticed, eager to be near him. Whenever Alvaro tried to step back, she stepped forward twice as much. Her voice was always loud, her presence impossible to ignore, and her determination… relentless.
It wasn't only persistence. Caroline had a sly edge to her, a way of twisting situations so that Alvaro had little choice but to interact with her. Borrowing things she didn't need, asking for help with tasks she could do herself, or creating excuses to spend time around him—it all felt calculated. And Alvaro, who never liked unnecessary physical closeness, felt his patience wearing thin.
Still, she didn't stop. Hallways, classrooms, even the courtyard—Caroline seemed to be there wherever Alvaro went. Sometimes she brushed past him too deliberately, other times she trailed behind him just long enough to make him uneasy. It was no longer admiration; it was intrusion.
The more it went on, the clearer it became to Alvaro: Caroline wasn't drawn to who he really was. She only saw his looks, the surface, the attention he unintentionally drew from others. That shallow attraction twisted into something more dangerous, something obsessive. By then, her presence felt less like affection and more like shadow—always lingering, always watching, giving him no space to breathe.
Flashback end
---
"So that's what happened, Grandma. Please, she makes me so uncomfortable," Alvaro said.
"Oh, I see… no wonder," his grandmother replied with a faint smile.