"I like you."

Maya's heart sinks.

She already knew. Or, well, she had a hunch.

The way he looked at her when he asked to talk to her after school; the sidelong glances throughout the school day; the uncomfortable atmosphere on their walk to the end of the hallway.

"Oh. Okay."

The response is quiet, and she feels her face heat up in embarassment as what he said processes. She looks at the floor, adjusting her mask.

"Is that it?"

A nervous smile drifts up to Aiden's freckled face.

"Yeah? Did you already know?"

"Yeah." Maya wants to cry.

"Okay."

"Okay."

It's unbearably awkward, and Maya turns towards the door, heart running a mile a minute.

"I'm gonna go now," she says, pointing outside. "My mom's... waiting."

"Yeah," Aiden says, laughing a little. "I'll talk to you later?" He says it as if it's a question.

Maya smiles a little before pushing open the glass door and heading towards the small silver car outside.

She opens the door, sliding into the car and slamming it shut.

"Hey, Maya. What did Aiden want to talk about?" Her mom looks at her curiously, but Maya knew that she already knew - her brother was staring at her expectantly.

Maya is quiet, and her mom pulls away from the curb.

"He said he likes me," Maya says finally. It feels weird in her mouth, and she's uncomfortable with the idea.

He was her only real friend in band for the past four years. A relationship would definitely ruin that. And she didn't want to date him anyways - she'd never thought of him as more than a friend, and imaging anything past holding hands felt wrong.

Her mom laughs. "Ah, ¡ya te dije! ¡Ya sabia que le gustabas!" ["Ah, I told you so! I already knew he liked you!"]

Maya feels tears prick at her eyes.

"Yeah." It sucked.

"¿Y que le dijiste?" She seemed too excited. ["What did you tell him?"]

"Nothing," Maya says. Her face heats up, and she leans her head against the window.

"Ahh mija, don't be shy. Dígame que le dijiste," she says lightheartedly. "¡Dígame!" [Tell me what you told him. Tell me!]

"I didn't tell him anything," Maya cries finally. Her eyebrows are downturned into an agitated frown.

"Oh." Her mom is quiet, staring at the road. "Why not?"

"I dunno," Maya says. She doesn't look at her mom.

"What happened?"

She shrugs defeatedly. "He said he liked me. I said okay."

Her mother stays quiet, glancing at her in the rearview mirror as if waiting for more.

"That's it."

"Ay mija," her mom laughs. "And do you like him back?"

Maya's lips turn down. "No," she murmurs.

"Why not?"

She watches the trees move by in a flash. She doesn't answer.

"Why not?" Her mom repeats.

"I dunno," Maya says. She's on the verge of tears, a ball growing in her throat.

"There has to be a reason. Why not?"

Maya shrugs her shoulders again. There must be something wrong with her.

"Can we stop talking about this, please?"

She would've never asked her proud Puerto Rican mom to stop talking in any other situation.

But she felt stuck - trapped and scared, like something was wrong with her, afraid that she would lose her only friend.

Maya's brother reaches across, placing his hand on hers.

He doesn't look at her - she knows he told Aiden to ask her if he liked her. She knew that much.

Once they get home, she does what she usually does.

She plays a game, does some homework, goes to dress up her boys in her favorite game.

"Maya, ¿porqué no quieres hablar de Aiden? Ven, siéntate aquí. Vamos a hablar." [Maya, why don't you want to talk about Aiden to me? Come, sit here. Let's talk."]

Maya looks at the spot on the bed beside her mom as if it had wronged her, a strange look of pain on her face.

"Dime que paso otravez, porfa, mami," her mom says. ["Tell me what happened again, please."

"Nothing happened, Mama. He told me he liked me and I told him okay. He didn't ask me out, okay?" Maya is exasperated. She doesn't sit.

"¿Pero porqué no quieres hablar conmigo?" ["But why don't you want to talk about it with me?"]

"I don't know, I just don't want to talk about it!" Maya leaves the room, grabbing her backpack on the way.

If this was any other situation, she was sure her mom would've been pissed.

"Mami, just leave her. She doesn't want to talk about it."

"Pero no entiendo porque. There's nothing wrong with Aiden liking her." ["But I don't understand why she won't."]

Maya goes to her room - and for the rest of the night, she does homework, until she can no longer keep her eyes open.