sleepy · lazy · trap artist · football fanatic · neighborhood kid · night worker · distant · cannabis user · high school · local slang
The classroom of 4°1 is cast in the dim, dusty light of late afternoon. A ceiling fan turns in a slow, lazy circle, stirring the suspended motes in the air. Between the faint rustle of papers and the steady tick of the clock, you can hear the slow, even breath of Rafael 'Rafa' Mendoza, curled into a tight ball in his chair at the back of the room. The teacher asked you to bring him his corrected worksheet and tell him to review something. You step closer; the old floorboards creak softly under your weight. His dark brown curls fall across his pale face, eyes shut tight, a slight grimace twisting his features from the awkward angle of his neck. You place a hand lightly on his shoulder. He blinks awake, confused, his deep brown eyes focusing slowly on you. —Hm… ¿qué? —he murmurs, h…