The next day he did it again.

It was an impulse he couldn't control. His brain screamed 'don't do it, don't be an idiot', but his body seemed to act on its own. So when he went to school the next morning and saw Esteban in his usual spot in the car park, leaning against his flashy car with a cheerful smile on his face as his friends surrounded him, it felt like an impossible call to resist. Bautista wasn't there, and that seemed to be all the permission he needed.

Something drove him towards the group, desperate to be noticed.

I must be crazy, he thought as he approached them. I must have fallen in love with pain.

However, he couldn't stop. He felt like he was floating, his body light despite the hindrance of his leg, a clear consequence of his successful rendezvous with María. After the girl had been honest with him, they hadn't spoken anymore. Words were no longer necessary; they devoted themselves to kisses for the rest of the afternoon, until dusk urged them to return home. Before they did, they shared one last, longer and more intimate kiss, promising to see each other in class the next day.

After that fantastic outcome, Leonel felt victorious, able to take on the world. Unfortunately, this made him reckless. Or perhaps it only added to his stupidity, for approaching his tormentors with a skipping gait — or an attempt at one, considering the boot forced him to limp — was a behavior Leonel would display even on an ordinary day.

Esteban's eyes locked directly on him as he approached. He took a sip from the soda in his hand, a most un-nutritious breakfast, which was strange considering the boy's penchant for healthy food and the strict care he took of his body. He only spoke once Leonel was a short distance away from them.

"Are you here for more, Lescano?"

One of his friends snorted and looked at Leonel with disdain. The only one in the group who wasn't wearing a similar expression was Ricardo.

"Actually..." he started to say, but couldn't finish.

"Hi, Leonel. Do you want to join us for class?" a voice interrupted.

Two girls, both of them beautiful thanks to their make-up and fashion, had stopped when they saw him pass by and were smiling at him with interest. It took him only a second to understand why. He remembered María's words, and the victorious feeling that had been with him since the night before grew in his chest and turned into pride. His ego swelled. Now that he understood that the greetings and enthusiastic looks from his classmates were because of the game he had won earlier in the summer, everything took on a different meaning.

Football mattered, and Leonel was now the town's champion. As a result, he was noticed by his peers.

He felt valued and important, like a rising star.

He smiled back, delighted to be the center of attention.

"Of course," he said with a sigh.

He changed the direction of his steps, now flanked by the girls, when he felt something solid, but not too hard, hit his head. He brought his hand to the area with a groan and turned to see what it was. A soda can had hit him. He looked up and didn't need to look at the others to know that it was Esteban who had thrown the projectile.

"You're still a loser, Lescano," he said as soon as their eyes met.

Leonel continued on his way to the first class of the day, while the girls asked him if he was all right.

"He's an idiot, I can't believe he hasn't learned his lesson," one of them commented, offended on Leonel's behalf.

"They should kick him out of school," said the other.

"Sure..." Leonel agreed, without paying any attention to them.

He rubbed the area of his head, not because it hurt. He knew, on a logical level, that he should be angry about the attack he had suffered. He also knew that if he reported it, Esteban would be expelled before Leonel could tell all the details. The school authorities didn't want to be part of the scandal, and Esteban was walking such a fine line that it was surprising how carefree he was about it. He didn't even have to make a wrong move, just a slight wobble and he would fall into oblivion. Yet he didn't seem desperate to hold on, almost as if he didn't care at all.

Instead of dwelling on that, Leonel was more focused on the boy's wonderful aim. He knew Esteban must have kicked the can because he had seen him aim different objects at various targets during dozens of training sessions at the club. Likewise, the intense desire to emulate the other boy was also familiar. He couldn't wait for them to take off his orthopedic boot so he could practice his aim and see how well he could imitate Esteban.

"What do you think?" asked one of the girls who accompanied him.

Leonel looked at them, blinking like a fool who hadn't heard a word they had just said. Judging by the offended expressions on the girls' faces, the truth was more than clear in Leonel's gesture, who had never been good at hiding things. Nervousness rose in his throat as he realized that he couldn't remember the names of either of the girls. He knew their faces; he had seen them in class for four years. But he couldn't recall their names.

"Uh, see you later," he hurriedly said goodbye and headed for Language class to escape before they realized the truth.

They'd probably have noticed anyway, and it was more than certain that any admiration they might have felt for Leonel had just been disastrously dashed, but it didn't matter. María entered the classroom and gave him a bright smile as she made her way to her desk at the front, where her friends welcomed her with cheerful greetings. That simple sight was enough to make Leonel forget any offence he might have caused those nameless girls.

The memory of the kisses from the previous evening catapulted him back into that arrogant and triumphant mood, from which not even the piercing gaze Esteban shot at him as he entered the classroom could bring him down.

He ignored the first lesson of the day, and the one after that, and also the one after that, distracted both by the need to check if María was looking at him, and by the gaze that Esteban fixed on him from his desk at the back of the classroom every time Leonel glanced over his shoulder.

María didn't turn once; Leonel turned more than ten times; Esteban never looked away. He didn't know what to make of it, but when the lunch bell interrupted the lesson, his stomach twisted with nervous anticipation that tingled in the tips of his fingers. He stood up quickly. He wanted to escape the feeling, which was both pleasant and nauseating.

"Leo, wait!" called María when she saw him approaching the door.

He turned to wait for her, his eyes wide open and his pulse racing in his neck. She smiled at him openly, as usual, approaching with confidence. Were they a couple now? How would they define those boundaries, how would they make them known?

"Let's go to the cafeteria together," the girl suggested.

"Sure..."

Leonel didn't get to finish the word before María pressed her lips to his and kissed him in front of the whole class. Immediately, their classmates began to howl and cheer, excited by this unexpected twist that would fuel gossip and rumors for a week or two. All but one.

The screech of a desk interrupted the cheering. Leonel pulled away from María and looked towards the back of the classroom, knowing what he would find. Sure enough, Esteban was standing there, his face flushed, his fists clenched and his expression furious. His green eyes, intensified by the flush of anger, darted quickly between María and Leonel in a moment that seemed endless. Then he left the room under the watchful eyes of all those present, who had fallen silent waiting for a reaction.

"Ignore him," María said. "He just likes to be dramatic."

She craned her neck to give him another kiss. While such an outpouring of affection might distract any other sixteen-year-old boy, it wasn't enough for Leonel. He returned the kisses mechanically, but his eyes remained fixed on the door.

The news spread like wildfire, and after the little scene in class (no doubt planned by María to announce their new relationship in the most effective way possible), their classmates watched them as they walked down the hallway. If it had been any other couple, Leonel thought, they wouldn't have attracted any attention at all. However, it was the popular girl and, thanks to his skills at the game, the new popular boy. So he puffed out his chest, stood up straight and took María's hand as they made their way through the hallway filled with gossip-hungry teenagers looking for ways to kill their boredom.