This day is turning nightmare for me. After seeing Mikel, and literally burping in front of his face, I was so embarrassed I had to lower down my face in embarrassment. I would very much like the ground to open up and swallow me whole just to save myself and the little dignity I had for myself. But it's all gone.

Mikel, turned out, that he's a nice player. He casually laughed it off and invited me to join them. I also met his friends and his ex-girlfriend, Sofía. A really beautiful lady with dark hair, who's wearing a brown headband, and the little mole she has on her right cheek near her nose makes her beauty stand out. I have no idea why they have remained friends despite the fact that they are exes. Isn't that awkward?

Of course, due to embarrassment, I declined his offer and stated that I had to do something else. And now, I'm in the house practically doing nothing other than watch little Pablo watch Spanish cartoons that I don't have interest watching.

Luisa is cleaning the kitchen after preparing a meal called croquetas for little Pablo, which he hasn't finished. His eyes are too focused on what's going on the television, his lips set in a thin line, but his cheeks are puffed. I pinch his cheek and he looks at me for a while before the cartoon takes his attention back.

I quickly run upstairs to get the most basic Spanish book and begin reading a bit while casually glancing at little Pablo, who's beginning to giggle as he watches.

My eyes skim over the rules and the conjugation patterns again, and the headache is starting to come through. I take a deep breath, pick a few verbs that I've learned this morning: bailar, which means to dance, cantar, which means to sing, and jugar, which means to play.

"You're studying," Mikel says and I jerk from my seat. He chuckles. Pablo joins him.

"You're here," I say the most obvious thing. "I thought you were with your friends?"

"I was," Mikel greets Luisa and little Pablo. Mikel asks for a high five, which Pablo accepts willingly and happily and he goes back to watching. "But they have to go somewhere, want to spend time with her because Sofía is going away. Very far from Tarifa."

"So they don't want you there?" I ask him.

"No, I mean, yes, no, I think?" he laughs, his eyes crinkling a bit as he stares at me with amusement in his eyes. "Sofía want to spend time with them a bit, and soon, me. She want me to speak to her alone."

"If you're speaking about someone in a third person," I tell him. Mikel leans in closer, sitting beside little Pablo who is too invested in his cartoon, "you use the 3rd person as well for the verbs. So that would be wants. She wants to spend time with them."

"Got it," Mikel nods a bit happily.

"Why'd you break up?" I ask him and immediately scold myself.

Mikel and I have not really gotten to the point where we're super close, where he would tell me stuff, and I would tell him stuff, and we'd both tell each other stuff that nobody even knows. We may have done outrageous thing where we let go of ourselves by the beach two days ago, but we're not comfortable with each other yet. I mean, we're not in the we-are-friends stage yet.

To my surprise, Mikel answers. "She wants"–and he makes sure he says it correctly, and I have to laugh a bit–"to study in Madrid, and she has big plans for herself, and I'm not in her plans. Because I just... I just want to stay here in Tarifa and care for my abuelita. She doesn't like that I don't have plans for myself. I have no idea yet."

"Thank you for telling me," I say shyly, pulling back slightly.

Mikel just shakes his head. "It's okay. We broke up 2 months ago, but she's still our friend. It's not going to change. The breakup is... what do you call it again when the two persons agree?"

"Mutual,"

"Yeah, that, mutual. It was a mutual decision."

"But do you have a girlfriend now?"

He shakes his head. "I don't. And you? You have girlfriend?"

Me having a girlfriend? That's a joke that would make everyone laugh. I'm aware at the fact that, and I'm proud, I'm a no-girlfriend-since-birth guy. I have had interests at some women when I was in school and while I was working in a BPO industry, but I didn't think it was enough for me to pursue a relationship with them.

Plus, no one has ever told me I'm attractive (except for the relatives. We all know they lie. They lie so much.), that they would like me to be their boyfriend.

I shake my head rather solemnly. "Would you believe that I haven't had a girlfriend since I was born?"

"Are you serious? I don't believe"–Little Pablo cackles really hard at the show–"that. You are attractive. Eres tan guapo. Seriously?" I nod my head.

For some reason, the compliment sticks in my head. The compliment burns my inside and a small blush covers my cheek, and I have to cough a few times and turn my head a bit to hide it. The way he delivered the message really sounded good in my ears. With deep voice, rising and putting emphasis on guapo, it really gets in me.

"Don't worry. You'll get a girlfriend soon," Mikel assures me.

Throughout his stay, Mikel teaches me the basic rules of Spanish–the conjugations, the rule for some verbs where the letter changes into a new set of letter combinations when they are conjugated, like for jugar, it becomes juego. He also informs me this new trick about verb endings, like GER/GIR (verbs like corregir, exigir, elegir – to correct, demand, and choose) to JO (and he provides an example: correjo, exijo, elijo).

It is really helpful because I don't have to remember which letter should be changed. I can just look at the verb ending and make the change when conjugating them in the present tense. I take my notebook and write it down.

CIR/CER to ZO.

Example: VENCER (to overcome), yo venzo (I overcome)

If the verb's stem ends in a vowel + the CIR/CER ending, change to ZCO.

Example: CONOCER (to know), yo conozco (I know)

Mikel thinks of other rules where there are spelling changes. I wait for him patiently, pen in hand, and he looks at me then blinks. His stare is intense that it feels like he's looking through me, at my soul, and I swallow the lump in my throat. Then he beams and tells me the other rules, and I jot them down slowly, my arm trembling a bit.

He leans in closer, looking at my notebook and I'm suddenly cautious of my handwriting. To observe more closely, he stands up and sits beside me. Little Pablo has already fallen asleep, and Luisa tucks him in his bed upstairs, leaving me and Mikel alone. Then he leans in closer and I get a sniff of his cologne again, and it smells so good. I have a good look at his neck and back, and the outline of his back muscle is visible through his shirt. He grabs the pen from my hand, and I snap myself from ogling, and he writes down a few things.

"Good," Mikel seems satisfied with his writing. I check what he wrote. Several verbs. "Try to conjugate these verbs. You try it."

And so I try. I conjugate some of the verbs with my muscle memory. It takes me a few minutes because I forgot some rules, so I have to switch back to the last page, and then I try to conjugate the verbs again and then I show it to Mikel. He grabs the notebook from my hand and a smile graces his lips, then he gives me a thumbs up.

"Also, I have a challenge for you."

"What is it?"

"Pick a Spanish song, and then you have to translate it," he proposes. He turns his body towards me, and his collarbone shows and a bit of his chest is exposed where I can see a faint of hair. "You don't have to translate it now, but as you learn Spanish, try to translate it a bit. And listen to the same song once in a while. You will understand it a bit."

"Claro,"

"And then if you are sure, if you feel that you understand it enough, tell me the song, and you tell me the story of it, okay?"

"Claro,"

"Bueno," I tilt my head curiously, and he laughs, sensing that I need to write it down so I can remember it later or whenever I need it. "Good." I write that down.

He ends up staying all day with me. After a few hours of studying and him helping me study his language, we decided to cut it off since we're both getting tired. It has actually been fun, and I feel that I'm getting the hang of it. Although there are some complex rules, he helped me understand it. And I'm really thankful because Mikel is like a god-sent angel, like my own angel, and has a role to make my life easier here.

We watch several Spanish shows, and he makes sure that I understand what the context of the show is, and what they are saying. He would turn his face towards me, I would lean in, and he would tell me what the hosts are about to do. Then he would explain the game rules to me. It's like he's on automatic pilot Spanish professor mode, ensuring that I understand everything. The hosts and the players speak fast, and I'm getting lost in the moment. I'm sure that it's evident on my face.

When 7 o'clock hits, tita arrives from work. They greet each other. Tita sees the notes and books scattered on the small table and comments to keep it up, and she thanks Mikel for helping me. Being a lovely gentleman, Mikel gives her a huge smile and they talk in Spanish for a while, then tita heads upstairs to probably check for little Pablo. Then, a few moments later, she comes back and tells us that she'd cook for arroz cubano, and Mikel explains to me that it's rice with tomato sauce on top and a fried egg. He also tells me that tita made him stay so he could eat with us, and so he could bring food to his abuelita.

He tells me that tita is very fond of them because his abuelita used to help a lot of people back in the day. Tita adds that Mikel's grandma helped her when she was new in Spain and had no idea how things run here. Mikel is living with his abuelita and his dad, and they both take care of abuelita. Abuelita is already old and cannot move much, and tita says that she frequently visits her to catch up. Mikel says he is happy that abuelita lights up whenever she sees my tita.

I help tita set the table and grab plates for everyone, and Luisa comes down, carrying little Pablo as she joins us to the dining area. Everyone is seated, and I just realize how hungry I am. Studying and watching took all my energy, and this will recharge me.

My eyes catch Mikel's, and he beams as tita pushes arroz cubano in his direction. I watch him be like a kid as he happily scoops the food. Luisa says something in Spanish, and they laugh, including little Pablo. I'm the only one who's confused. But Mikel, being the angel he is, fills me in. They are talking about how Pablo was faking sleep earlier when Luisa was going to give him his vitamin syrup: a honey.

Little Pablo hates the taste of honey.

The arroz cubano is passed around until everyone has their own serving, then we eat. Everyone begins speaking in Spanish again with the exception of Pablo, and every now and then, Mikel tells me the stuff they are talking about. I'm so grateful. And tita comments that it's good that I'm finally learning Spanish, small steps, and she's glad that Mikel gets to practice his English.

A bit later, Mikel offers to wash the dishes but I tell him that I'm going to be doing it and he doesn't need to do anything else. He gets a plastic container containing the food from tita, they talk again in Spanish and I hear tita saying something about abuelita, and Mikel nods his head.

I follow him until he reaches the gate and he turns to me.

"I enjoyed today," he says in a low voice. "He disfrutado el día hoy. Contigo."

"What does that mean?"

He chuckles. "That's your assignment. Figure it out."

"That's not fair," I whine. He leans, putting his arms on the gate, and sticks his tongue out like a little kid. "I kept you company throughout the entire day."

"And I was a good teacher to you," he counters and I huff.

"Yeah, yeah, you were."

"Somos amigos, ¿no?" he asks me.

"Yes, we are."

And then a small realization hits me and I literally squeal and pimp my fist up in the air. Mikel laughs at how I act in front of him. Somos amigos. We are friends. The sentence is pretty short, but the fact that my brain was able to process that quickly without even loading a bit is a big deal for me. It proves that I retain the knowledge. And I'm happy.

Mikel seems happy for me, too. He's grinning, and his arm is stretched out, fingers in a form of thumbs up, and I give myself a thumbs up. I probably look like a fool in front of him, but I don't care. It's a success that I want to celebrate now.

"I'm going home," Mikel says. "You are a bright student, Andres."

"Because my teacher is also great."

"He is," he laughs. "Thank you again, and if you have questions, you can message me."

"I will. Buenas noches."

"Buenas noches."

And he heads home, and I enter the house with a smile on my face that I can't remove, and I watch the dishes with a smile on my face, and I head upstairs to my room with a smile on my face, and I open message Alex with a smile on my face. Seriously, the smile somehow cannot be wiped off. I'm not sure if it's because of the little success I had earlier or I'm just happy generally.

He responds a few minutes later, telling me that he's fine and that I shouldn't worry about him. And as his older brother, I have to worry about him all the time. He sends a selfie and takes a picture of the pan, and that he's cooking egg. He must have just gotten home from school. And we talk for a while, and he tells me stuff about the assignments he's been working on and that the requests are pouring in, and he's happy that he's making money on his own and that he's saving it for himself. I tell him that he's doing good, and he has to be gone for a few minutes because the egg is getting burned, and then he's back, and he tells me about how some of our cousins keep visiting him. He also tells me that bills for the water and electricity have arrived.

Usually, hearing about the bills arriving is enough to set me in a bad mood and make me frown the whole day. But for some reason, tonight, I don't feel like it. Since we can pay online for the bills, I don't have to send money to anyone to get it done, and that's what I do. I don't trust my other relatives enough to handle it. Alex tells me that he's just going to shower, and we cut the conversation off.

At some point, I end up playing Big Bang by La La Love; the one Mikel sang proudly in the beach. I listen to it as I watch out the window and find Mikel doing the same thing across the window. He sees me and makes a face, and I roll my eyes playfully.

The song is on repeat.

But I don't care. It's great. The drums, the beat, and the singers. And Mikel is gone for a few minutes, and he's back with a white board and raises it up. It reads: VETE A DORMIR YA, and I raise a brow. He hangs his head, removes what's written on the board, and raises it up again: GO TO SLEEP NOW.

I pull my arms and make an X sign. He shakes his head.

Then he removes something again on the board then writes: WHY.

I shrug. ¿QUIERES IRTE A LA PLAYA?

He quickly brings it down, removes what's written, writes something new. NEVERMIND. NICE STUDY. I HAD FUN. And I give him two thumbs up, and he laughs and shakes his head, and writes something. I'M GOING TO SLEEP. ME VOY A DORMIR. Then he makes a sleeping motion and I laugh at his silliness. He grins upon seeing my reaction. SLEEP WELL. QUE DUERMAS BIEN.

And he's gone. I pause the music and let myself fall on the bed, and it creaks. I stare at the ceiling with the smile that seems to have been stuck on my lips. I roll over to my side and shut my eyes. The events today were quite tiring, and I wish my brother could witness all of this.

I'm going to pursue learning Spanish for my sake and Alex's, and once I save enough money, perhaps I can bring him here and he can study here. That would give him more opportunities. He can study Spanish formally here. That seems like a dream at the moment, very far, but I'm going to make it happen.

But I'm glad that Mikel is paving the way for me. And maybe, he's the reason why the smile is stuck there on my face. Yeah. He is the reason.