Chapter 3

The week passed by quickly and today was a start of a new school year. There was only one year left until I graduated, and I was off to college to pursue my culinary dreams. I checked myself out in the mirror before leaving my room and greeted my mom in the kitchen. “Senior year,” she mused. “It seems like yesterday when you were just a small baby. Now you’re all grown up and ready to leave me behind.” She pretended to wipe her imaginary tears with her hands. I rolled my eyes at her. “Seriously mother, there’s one whole year left. Besides, I’m not going anywhere. There are lots of colleges here that offer my dream course. Chill okay?” “Aww, I’m just kidding sweetie. Now give your old lady a hug before going to school.” She opened her arms wide and smiled at me. “How can I resist this old woman,” I joked before meeting her for a hug. “Enough with the drama mom. I need to go now or I’ll be late. I don’t want to break my all time record of arriving to school on time. It will tarnish my reputation,” I smirked. “Remember what I told you about meeting a girl,” she reminded. “Yeah, yeah. . . When I meet a girl I really like, I should introduce her to you first,” I recited. “Good. . . Now get your butt to school. Oh, and say hi to Tim and Patty for me.” “Okay mom,” I said before dashing out the door and going to my car. Sorry you had to see all that. You probably guessed it by now. My mom and I were super close. When my dad died eons ago, my mom did everything to raise me. She worked hard, kept us afloat, and taught me a lot of things in life. She was pretty open about my sexuality too. That was why when she told me that she wanted to switch jobs, I supported her just as she did when she found out I was gay. Now that she was successful, I was very happy for her. I pulled over the school parking lot after a couple of minutes and grabbed my things before walking to the direction of the building. I checked the bulletin board before heading to my assigned locker for this year. Good. . . Tim and Patty were in most of my classes. It was going to be a breeze. “Hey Dulce,” two girls greeted when I passed. “Hi guys,” I said. I continued walking. “Ssup Dulce?” four guys called out from my left. “Doing great guys. Thanks,” I replied while nodding my head to them. I tucked a stray hair behind my ear and let out a long breath. Mr. Cooper from Chemistry class passed me and greeted with his booming voice. “Dulce, my favorite student. How was summer?” I had no choice but to return the greeting. “Great Mr. Coop, can’t wait for chemistry.” I pasted a smile on my face and quickly walked to the direction of my locker. I hoped no one else stops me, or I’d really be late for class. Thankfully, I was able to reach my locker without anymore disruptions. I stuffed some of my books inside and was about to close it shut when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned, only to find Denise staring at me. “Hi hot stuff,” she said. “Denise,” I replied awkwardly. “So what are you doing?” “Uhhh. . . Placing things inside my locker?” I nearly rolled my eyes at her but decided against it. She wasn’t worth the trouble. After refusing me last year, I didn’t want to do anything with her. She flipped her long blonde hair away from her face and raised her perfectly trimmed eyebrows at me. Yeah, I knew she was beautiful. That was why I fell for her in the first place. It was clearly a bad move. I should have judged the inside more than the looks. “Well duh,” she said. “I can see that. Why are you so uptight around me Dulce?” I stared at in disbelief. “Denise, you turned me down remember? Why are you acting like nothing happened?” Denise glanced around before leaning close to me. “Shhh. . . Don’t let anyone hear that. You know what will happen if people find out that you’re gay. You’ll lose your popularity status. Forget that we ever had this conversation. Besides, I just want to be friends with you Dulce. I care for you a lot.” “I don’t care about popularity Denise, and if you really think of me as a friend, then you’ll just leave me alone.” I shut my locker and left her standing there. Who was she kidding? Things were too awkward between us. I reached my classroom in the nick of time. I scanned the room and found Tim and Patty waving at the back. They saved a seat for me, next to an empty one. I walked quickly to them and placed my bag on the floor. “Oh my God Dulce, what took you so long?” Tim asked. “Denise,” I said in frustration. The two looked at each other before turning back to me. I knew that they understood what I meant when I said the name. Just as I’ve explained, Denise has been giving me mixed signals since forever. “Forget about her Dulce, we have news for you,” Tim said in glee. “What is it about? Wait; is it about a cooking contest? I’m so in! When is it?” “You and your food Dulce,” Tim groaned. “As much as we love your cooking, no it’s not about that. It’s regarding Frio!” he squealed. “Frio? That Hollywood celebrity? What does she have to do with anything?” “You remember last week when we saw each other?” Tim asked. I nodded to him. How could I forget? It was also the day I met Glace, though she didn’t contact me after that. I groaned inwardly. I knew I should have asked for her number. “Well Frio announced that she’s taking a break from the whole celebrity life after 10 years of being in the limelight. According to an interview she did that day for a magazine, Frio wants to experience a normal high school life, so she enrolled for this school year,” he shrieked in excitement. “So?” I asked. “What do you mean so?! That is a BIG deal Dulce because Frio enrolled here in our school! I don’t know why she chose ours. I mean, we’re one of the top schools in the district, but she could have gone to a private one. Maybe she really wants to experience a normal high school. Cross your fingers guys. By some stroke of luck, she’ll be our classmate.” “Good luck with that,” I said. “Even if she did become our classmate, I doubt that she’d want anything to do with mere mortals like us.” On cue, the bell rang loudly, signaling the start of a new school year. A few seconds later, our homeroom teacher entered. I just stared at my notebook and doodled Glace’s name with a question mark beside it. I didn’t even know her last name. If I did, I would have searched for her Twitter or Instagram already.