Fifteen didn’t feel any different from sixteen when Javier woke up on his birthday. Even the smell of waffles, an Ávila birthday tradition, seemed more familiar than special. When he walked into the kitchen, his mother stood at the counter checking the steaming waffle iron. She wore a colorful blouse and dark skirt for work. His father sat drinking coffee at his usual spot. He wore his denim work clothes like any other morning.
“Happy birthday, Javito!” his mother exclaimed before she gave him a tight hug. “My baby is sixteen! Sixteen!” Then she held him at arms’ length and smiled into his face. “Marc, can you believe our baby is sixteen?”
“In some countries, a boy can buy his own goats at sixteen,” his father commented, slowly standing. “Perhaps I should arrange a marriage with the father of that girl who likes to call our son at midnight! But only if her father has the right number of cows and chickens for her dowry.”
“Very funny!” Javier replied before he walked into that affectionate embrace his father easily gave away to everyone he loved. Their hug felt tight and real. Then his father clapped him across the back and let him go.
Javier felt inspired as he said, “Dad, if you’re going to negotiate for livestock, shouldn’t you get me a horse I can ride to school?”
“You’re getting as clever as your old man.” His father laughed. “Watch out!”
“Sit down for breakfast, Javier. Your dad is going to drop you off at school today so you don’t have to rush for the bus.”
Javier nodded, his parents did the same thing last year. He had even told the bus driver that he wouldn’t be waiting Friday morning.
“I wish I didn’t have to go to school,” Javier said after he took a couple of bites from the delicious waffles his mother had baked. “Why can’t it be a holiday?”
“But today is the pep rally. That’ll be fun!” his mom said as she sat down with a plate at the table. She reached for the syrup bottle as she said, “I’ll pick you up on time, okay? I promise! Then we’ll go over to the DPS office like you want.”
“Thanks, Mom. Getting my permanent license is the only thing I really want for my birthday,” he said, hoping sixteen would feel different from fifteen once that license was in his hands. He ate a few more bites as he had turned over a question in his head. “Do you think that I can borrow your car and drive to the game by myself?”
He looked up from his plate to see his mom and dad exchanging a private message in the way their eyes locked together and their eyebrows raised. He assumed mental telepathy developed as a couple’s sixth sense; something about living together for over thirty years!
“Is the game at the school?” his mother asked, looking back at her son.
“We’re playing at Alamo Stadium,” Javier said. “I’ll just drive down Hildebrand to get there, Mom. There’s not as much traffic as downtown, and I won’t get lost because it’s the same way we drive to Uncle Willie’s house.” After living with his parents for sixteen years, he had to learn how to read minds too. He knew exactly what their concerns would be, and he had already planned what to say. How could they say no?
“Let’s take it one day at a time. License first, then we’ll talk about my car,” his mom said. “It’s not even Saturday yet. I might need my car to shop for your party.”
“Okay,” he sighed. Reading his parents’ minds was never as easy as he hoped.
“Good morning. I’m Javier Ávila, and these are today’s announcements.”
After two weeks of speaking to the camera, he didn’t feel like his face was concrete or that he acted like an eight-year-old trying to read a hard word in a dictionary. He had learned a lot about his own presentation watching the replays, and as his confidence grew, so did his creativity.
“Mr. Seneca, wouldn’t it be interesting if we did the Spanish club announcements in Spanish?” he had said Wednesday during afternoon practice.
The teacher had merely raised an eyebrow. “Your translation had better be perfect, or Mr. Montejano will be in here using two languages to yell at you!”
Javier not only translated the Spanish club announcement, but also let his parents proofread it and practiced it with them a dozen times the night before. He had to deliver it perfectly. After the broadcast, students in the class, random students in the hallway, and all of Javier’s teachers complimented him—especially Mr. Montejano.
Meanwhile, Pat’s backdrop was a sensational hit. Pat’s enthusiasm in front of the camera was also the source of many compliments, especially from so many who were surprised he could be so entertaining with his ad-libs between announcements.
“Man, if Javier and Pat keep it up, the rest of us are going to look like dopes on TV,” Dylan Romo had announced after the broadcast on Thursday morning.
“They just set the bar very high,” Mr. Seneca replied as he set up the tape for the replay and discussion that usually followed every broadcast. “All of you guys need to work hard to reach it.”
So, on Friday morning, Javier’s self-confidence was strong as he and Pat smoothly delivered the announcements. As they were reaching the end, Javier felt an unexpected thrill when Pat reminded students of the three-day weekend ahead. Javier’s sudden grin was inspired by his plans to get his license, but to the students watching the broadcast it appeared he seemed very excited to tell them, “Mr. Henley needs all band members to remain after today’s pep rally for a mandatory meeting in the band hall.”
Pat added, “Because of last week’s medical emergency—and by the way, everybody in the school is happy that Kenny García’s uncle is going to be released from the hospital on Monday—we all know that no one saw the band’s half-time show. One member of the drumline bragged to me just yesterday that this week’s show is guaranteed to give us twice the entertainment. Ha ha, no pressure!”
Javier started chuckling but quickly tried to swallow it. He rolled his lips inside his mouth to hold back the urge to keep laughing. Pat had moved on to the last two announcements about soccer practice and the cafeteria menu, but when Pat said, “Hey, students, it’s chili-bean burritos on the menu today! And a special happy birthday wish goes out to our cafeteria manager, Mrs. Burrito—uh! Burriola! Mrs. Burriola, I mean!”
Mrs. Burrito? Javier started laughing again. He wanted to breathe normally, but a cough-laugh sound escaped, and he couldn’t stop the giggling sound that followed. Pat made the mistake of looking at his partner with an amused grin. It made Javier feel as if a whiff of laughing gas had made him high and crazy. When Pat cracked up with laughter, too, Javier’s condition only got worse.
Desperately, Pat nudged him with his elbow and said, “Man, you’re killing me here! Cut it out!” That’s when every guy in the class caught the bug and started chuckling and giggling. Mr. Seneca tried to look stern, but his face reddened. He twisted his lips like a deranged scarecrow, struggling against the natural urge to laugh out loud.
“Okay, okay, I can do this!” Javier said, gasping between words. He turned his watery eyes toward the camera to say, “This is Javier … no wait … ” He paused for more laughing and said, “… this is Javier Ávila … ”
“Oh, man, this is P-P-Patricio—whatever!” Pat waved his hand like he couldn’t remember his name. He dropped his head into his arms, laughing into the top of the desk.
Javier knew he had to salvage the sign-off and jumped in with, “This is Javier and Pat giving you today’s announcements … ” His voice shook like Jell-O. “And giving you some laughs too. Oh, man!” He had to wipe his eyes but quickly pushed out, “Have a … ” He paused to catch his breath, but felt helpless when his words jiggled humorously. “Have a g-gr-great weekend, G-g-guardians!”
Then Javier pantomimed a slit across his throat, hoping Kenny, Landry, and Steve would end the broadcast quickly. In record time, Kenny yelled, “And we’re off the air!” only to break into gut-busting laughter that set off the whole room again. It was so contagious that Mr. Seneca had to sit down before his laughter knocked him off his crutches.
Javier kept laughing at his own inability to stop laughing. He followed Pat’s example and dropped his head into his arms on top of the desk, and laughing until he thought his stomach would explode from the exertion.
Javier finally raised his head when he heard Dylan say, “Javier, thanks for this! You two clowns make me feel so much better.” The senior football player was still wiping his face and chuckling. “Not just ‘cause you made us laugh, but because you two finally messed up. At least now the broadcast team that follows you next Tuesday won’t look too bad if they screw up too.”
Mr. Seneca rubbed his hand across his chin, still chuckling as he said, “I guess we all needed to release a little pressure this morning.” He straightened up in his chair. “I’m not sure how today’s broadcast will sit with the administration, but we’ll just shoulder the responsibility as any team would and share the good with the bad.” He looked directly at Javier and Pat, and while he didn’t look mad, his voice was deadpan serious when he said, “If either of you do that again, you’re toast. Got it?”
Javier nodded and didn’t dare look at Pat for fear of laughing again.
The teacher clapped his hands. “Alright, gentlemen, let’s start looking for our next two-man team. Everyone can audition with the scripts from today’s broadcast.”
“But what about football practice after school?” one of the juniors asked.
“Looks like everyone will need to get to school extra early so we can practice before school instead.” Mr. Seneca’s stern mask quickly dropped into place. He stared hard at the trio of football players from the junior class. “Does anyone sitting in the room have a problem with that?”
As Javier attempted to walk down the main hall for second-period, he felt a heavy hand grip his shoulder. It didn’t take a guy with a 4.0 to know who stood behind him.
“Mr. Ávila, did you have a mental breakdown this morning?”
“No, Sir.” He turned around slowly and faced Mr. Quintanilla. He looked up and tried to stand steady under the hard gaze the Dean of Students gave him. “I’m sorry.”
“What are you apologizing to me for?”
Javier glanced around at a variety of students who paused to stare at him with curiosity or sympathy as they moved through the crowded hallway. “I’m not sure … whatever I’m in trouble for, I guess, Sir.”
“A few minutes ago, I told Mr. Berlanga that I expect him to apologize to Mrs. Burriola,” Mr. Quintanilla said. He looked more intimidating than usual with a solid black shirt, gray tie, and black slacks; an angel of death would look just like him. “I also expect a public apology on Tuesday morning on the school broadcast.”
Javier started to tell him that it would be a new team on the air—in fact, it would be Ram and Dylan who had delivered a promising audition twenty minutes earlier, but something in this angel of death’s glare made Javier just nod and say, “Yes, Sir.”
“Get to class,” he growled, and Javier obeyed, walking quickly down the hall.
Ms. Maloney stopped writing on the whiteboard when Javier came in. “Got all that funny business out of your system now?”
“Burrito, burrito, burrito,” whispered some voice from the back of the room.
Javier’s face burned red hot, but he only said, “Good morning, Ms. Maloney,” and walked quickly to his assigned seat by the windows. He slumped down in the desk and wanted to disappear. Nothing seemed funny anymore.
“Hey, Jack,” Andy said cheerfully as he headed toward his desk, which was three seats behind Javier’s. “You got everyone’s attention this morning, didn’t you? Even Mr. Henley cracked up! It was hilarious!” He stopped at Javier’s desk to say, “But you better watch out with Mrs. Burriola! That’s one big woman! If she slaps you silly, she could send you flying across the cafeteria.”
“Thanks a lot.” Javier gave him a look to match his sarcastic tone.
Only seconds later, Ignacio came running into the classroom and broke into a sweaty grin when he saw Javier. “Hey, I didn’t know you two wrote reality TV shows. You should call it Burrito and Berlanga!”
Javier was never so glad to hear the bell ring! He knew there would be no more comments once Ms. Maloney started class. She had sent so many students to detention the first week of school that no one acted up in her classes much.
As she took roll, he let himself think over the crazy broadcast this morning. Why laughter took over like a demon possession still mystified him. It was too bad they embarrassed Mrs. Burriola, but he would also apologize when he saw her at lunch. In his head, he began composing an apology that Dylan could read on Tuesday.
“Javier Ávila, did you hear me?” Ms. Maloney’s sharp tone startled him.
As the other students started chuckling, Javier sat up in his seat and looked at his English teacher. “I … guess not. I’m sorry, Ms. Maloney.”
She stood at the whiteboard, her open palm under the words she had written on it. “Javier, I asked if you could start the class discussion on this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson. What does it mean to you?”
Javier read it out loud. “Every sweet has its sour; every evil its good.” His eyebrows wrinkled together as he studied it a moment and then nodded. “For me, it means nothing’s perfect. Even good things can go wrong, and sometimes with really bad things, there is some goodness to be found.” Javier looked at Ms. Maloney with new curiosity. Did she pick that quote on purpose after she saw the broadcast? Or was it just a coincidence?
She gave no indication as she walked to her desk and picked up her textbook. “Let’s open our literature books to page forty-one and discuss Emerson’s mood when he wrote it.”
“Well, what happened?” Andy asked as Javier and Pat sat down at the lunch table. “Did Mrs. Burriola spit on your burritos?”
“That’s disgusting!” Javier said, scowling at his friend.
“Mrs. Burriola accepted our apologies, no problem,” Pat told them. “She also told us we made the cafeteria ladies laugh all morning. When I said it is also Javier’s birthday, she gave him an extra burrito.” He pointed at his tray. “Then she gave me an extra one too. I should make a mistake every broadcast, right, Javier?”
Javier felt annoyed and embarrassed all over again. He couldn’t wait for the school day to be over. Apologizing to Mrs. Burriola came easy after all the teasing he got from strangers in the halls or the peers in his classes. He looked at Pat, surprised by the calm humor he showed about the whole situation. “Why is it that you look happy and I’m getting all the harassment?”
“Don’t you get it?” Pat had picked up one of the burritos. “It’s like what Dylan said in class. It makes the rest of us feel good to see that you can screw up too. You are so perfect all the time!”
“I’m not perfect!” He spit out the word like it was an insult. “I mess up all the time.” He gestured across the table at Ignacio and Andy. “These two love to point out my screw-ups. Just ask them.”
Ignacio leaned across the table and said, “Do you want to know the best thing about what happened this morning? It was that you laughed, Javier. You laughed like you had been holding it in all your life.” A grin spread across his damp face. “Admit it! It felt good to let loose!”
Once he looked his friend in the eye, Javier surrendered into a smile. All that laughter in the morning had made him feel like somebody escaping from a straitjacket. Why was he trying so hard to put it back on?
Andy had started to snicker again. “It was really funny the way you couldn’t stop laughing; like some crazy wind-up toy.”
“Or like a hyena on steroids!” Ignacio added, chuckling and laughing too.
Pat swallowed what he had been eating and said, “So what if the guys give you a hard time today. If you make a joke out of it, then they’re laughing with you, not at you.” He nudged Javier with his elbow. “Besides, who knows what’ll happen at today’s pep rally. Everybody will stop teasing us if Andy or Ignacio mess up in front of the whole school. And what if the whole band screws up tomorrow at the half-time show?”
“Hey!” Andy and Ignacio said in chorus, both of them suddenly frowning at Pat.
Javier chuckled and said, “Ha ha, no pressure!”
Last year, Javier hated school pep rallies. Students were smashed together on crowded bleachers in the gym. All the loud music, rowdy pushing, and continuous yelling seemed pointless. Even the fact that girls from St. Monica’s were welcome on campus for the pep rallies wasn’t worth the pounding in his head when it was over.
He was already anticipating the first headache of the season as he followed other sophomores who had left last period and moved toward the gym. Then he heard someone shout his name. He turned to find Pat walking with another group of sophomores behind Mr. Seneca’s motorized wheelchair on the sidewalk.
Javier slowed down to wait for Pat. Now he had a friend at the pep rally.
“Hello, Mr. Seneca,” he said politely when his teacher passed.
“What am I in for, Javier?” Mr. Seneca had stopped his chair and raised an eyebrow. “Should I have brought the earplugs I use at the rifle range?”
Javier couldn’t resist a laugh. “Yeah, probably!”
Mr. Seneca gave a rare smile and then rolled forward in his chair. Javier and Pat walked behind him into the gym.
“My sister’s supposed to come today,” Pat told him. “She’d better, ‘cause I need a ride home. I told her you have stuff to do after school.”
“Feliz is coming to the pep rally?” Javier’s feet had itched all through chemistry class, but he had blamed it on applying for his driver’s license. He should have guessed that his feet were warning him about something else. “Maybe she’s already inside.” Even though Feliz wasn’t a cheerleader or a member of the band, friends and siblings often attended pep rallies. He was anxious to find her among the visitors.
It was crowded and noisy as the sophomores took their seats in the bleachers. Javier got whacked on the shoulders by Landry and Steve, who were already in a rowdy mood. He took a seat by Kenny, who grunted and then turned to talk to a couple of other basketball players. Javier nudged Pat, and they both laughed at the freshmen students across the gym. They sat smashed together near the locker rooms because the school band sat in the middle on that side of the gym.
“So much better than last year,” Pat said.
It was the last comment Javier heard. Andy and his drumline struck up a loud cadence that rolled into the opening notes of the school fight song. Pat pulled Javier up to join with all the students jumping up, yelling, and clapping as the football team and the coaches entered the gym. They made their way into the middle of the gym, where metal chairs were set up. Once they stood in place, everyone was supposed to sing.
Pat nudged Javier hard in the ribs. Pat had started singing the words at the top of his lungs like he wanted the freshmen across the gym to hear it. Javier laughed and decided to join in. Both of them also started laughing at how off-key they sang, “Guardians, the rock upon, we stand so strong …” Who cares? Javier thought. Every guy around them sang terribly too!
The song ended, and everyone cheered as Coach Delgado took the microphone and introduced the football players.
Javier genuinely clapped and cheered for Dylan, Ram, and Omar since he knew them personally. He did the same for the three juniors from broadcasting class too. Who would have guessed the pep rally would be more fun because of that elective?
Once the team was introduced, the school band played a song that featured Ignacio and the rest of the brass instruments. The next song featured the drummers, and Javier yelled and clapped for his friends when it was over.
Everyone whistled and yelled when the cheerleaders danced to a popular melody. The guys around Javier didn’t yell out stupid comments and risk Mr. Quintanilla’s wrath, but they said plenty among themselves about the girls. Javier still looked around for Feliz but couldn’t find her.
To end the pep rally, the cheerleaders led the classes in a cheer competition. The pretty girls in their small, tight outfits were divided among the four classes. Each group rallied the boys before them.
Landry and Steve pounded on Javier’s shoulders until he joined in with Pat. They yelled like maniacs with all the other sophomores. Finally, they jumped up and screamed even louder when the girls chose the sophomores as the “Most Spirited Class.”
As the pep rally ended, Javier’s throat was raspy and sore, and his head still hurt, but it was better than last year, thanks to new friends from the broadcasting class.
Pat was suddenly tugging at his sleeve. “Look, there’s my sister,” he said.
Javier spotted Feliz at the far end of the gym. She stood among a group of girls who were walking out with the cheerleaders. He glanced at his watch. He was supposed to meet his mom in the parking lot soon. All day he had hoped his mom would be on time; but now, he prayed his mom would run late so he could talk to Feliz.
But first, they had to walk back into the building and fight their way down a crowded hallway to get to their lockers. Once that was done, Javier followed Pat to the parking lot and talked casually about his birthday party and getting his license.
“You know getting your license is no big deal, right?” Pat said as they walked toward the parking lot in the rear of the school. “The big deal comes later when you drive all by yourself for the first time. I took my mom’s car, and I was gone for two hours—just driving where I wanted to go. It was my freedom on wheels!”
“I can’t wait to drive alone,” Javier told him as he scanned ahead looking for Feliz’s vehicle. “I already asked to borrow my mom’s car to drive to the game.”
“What did she say?”
“What else? ‘We’ll see … maybe … ’ the usual parental answers.” He smiled when he saw the shiny sports vehicle with the tinted windows parked in one of the closer spots. He smiled wider when he didn’t see his mom’s car in the lot. “There’s Feliz’s car.”
“Yeah, I see it. So, if you don’t get the car, do you want a ride to the game?”
Javier chewed up the smile quickly. Would Feliz be more impressed if he wasn’t just another boy needing a ride? But if he took his own car, would he see her at all? Unexpectedly, the driver’s window slid down, and Feliz leaned out the window. “Hey, Javier, I got some great news. I passed my chemistry quiz today!” Her dark glasses hid her eyes, but her smile and voice revealed her happiness well. Her long hair slipped down her shoulder and arm. The shiny brown hair looked like it would feel like silk.
The attraction to this girl felt like magnets gripping his insides with a tightness that made swallowing painful. An inner voice screamed at him to loosen up and laugh. So, he latched onto the personality he became on school TV, the guy who could act enthusiastic about the most boring school announcements. He gave her his most televised smile. “Congratulations, Feliz. That’s great.” His voice didn’t even shake. “Did you like the pep rally?”
“It was okay.” She turned away for a brief moment as Pat climbed into the front seat of the car and slammed the door.
“Tell Javier ‘happy birthday’, Feliz,” Pat called out. He leaned around his sister and grinned at Javier. “He’s been laughing like a happy man all day today!”
“Laughing?” Feliz pulled off her sunglasses and looked right at Javier.
He shrugged and smiled. “Yes, your brother helped me look like a fool on school TV this morning, but it’s all good now.” He was pleased by how easy it was to talk to her.
“Well, happy birthday, Javier,” she said, her dark eyes staring right into his. “I hope the rest of today is all good.”
“It is now,” he said without thinking, blinking, or feeling embarrassed.
Her eyebrows lifted at his reply, but she was still smiling at him. She laughed softly and sat back in the seat. “Good-bye, Javier.”
“Call me later, okay?” Pat called out.
Javier stepped up quickly and put his hand on the door before she could lift the window. “Feliz, don’t forget about my party on Sunday, okay? It starts at four.”
“It’s all good, Javier.” She gave him a wink and then put on her sunglasses.
He wondered, Does “It’s all good” rank higher than a “Maybe”? Why didn’t she tell me one way or another if she is coming to my party?
There was no time to clarify anything because he saw her hand swiftly move toward the window controls. Javier reacted quickly to pull away his fingers before they got caught. As the dark window lifted between them, he walked away. Like another pathetic guy waiting on his mom for a ride, Javier took a spot by a line of students waiting beside the fence.