Spanglish | editing

Chapter Four

Three days. Daniel doesn't show up to history class for three days. Everyday the teacher comes up to me and asks me where he is and when he's coming back. When I tell her I don't know, she tells me that each day he's not here the more points she takes from our grade. Everyday I argue that that's not fair and it's not my fault that he hasn't shown up to class and she gives me the same response every day: "That's not my problem Miss. Vargas."

He hasn't shown up to art class either. On the bright side, I figured out what I'm going to draw; a door with a hole punched through it and a police badge on the other side of the door. It'll take me a while to sketch and perfect my picture but I really like the idea of it. Yet knowing what I'm drawing in art class doesn't excuse the fact I'm probably going to fail history class, no matter how much hard work I have put into the goddamn project. I've gotten some stuff done, but my grade will still go down because Daniel isn't here.

I open up my notebook and continue my work on the restrictions of the ghettos put in place by the nazis, when I feel a presence above me.

"Cómo está mi socio favorite de historia? (How is my favorite history partner doing?)" A deep voice says.

Is it? No, it can't be. Impossible.

Slowly, I turn around and it's exactly what I thought was impossible. Daniel hovers over me with a huge smirk on his face. I shouldn't have made that damn bet. My eyebrows knit together and I look at him.

"Dónde aprendiste-" I start but Daniel shakes his head, indicating that he doesn't understand. I sigh. "Where did you learn that?" That douche smiles again.

"I got contacts Nida. When I make bets, I tend to win. Ahora tienes que hablar conmigo. (Now you have to talk to me.)" I roll my eyes and chuckle.

I can't believe he actually learned two lines of Spanish just to win a bet so I would talk to him. Unbelievable. To be honest, I didn't think he would actually do it. I thought his ego would be too big to learn something for something other than his own benefit.

Daniel smiles at me and takes a seat, his eyes skimming over my three pages of notes and something flashes in his eyes. I arch a brow, confused as to what he could possibly be feeling. I ignore my thoughts and continue my research.

"You did all of that while I was gone?" He asks. I nod and I begin to explain everything that I have written down. The more I talk, the more his face bleeds with one emotion: guilt. He's guilty, probably for being absent for three days and leaving me to do this shit alone. When I'm done, he just shakes his head. "I'm sorry for making you all that by yourself."

Did he just-?

Did he just apologize? Wow, never thought I'd see the day. I smile at him.

"Dude it's fine, I'm sure you have a legitimate reason to be gone for three days. It's not like I did that much research anyways." I reason, grabbing my phone and look up the official definition of the word discrimination. Daniel shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair. I sneak a glance at his face and he looks like the guilt is eating him alive.

"Yeah, legitimate reason. If skipping school to have sex with a new girl each day is a legitimate reason then yes, I do." He mutters.

"It's cool." I answer quickly and show him where he needs to start his research.

•••

Ariel gapes at me, her music still blasting out of her headphones.

"I call bullshit." She says. She rips her headphones from around her neck and throws it on the lunch table. "There is no way in hell that Daniel apologized to you. De ninguna manera." After telling her everything, she continuously denies that Daniel apologized to me. I wonder why she doesn't like Daniel. She seems to have some sort of problem with him, like he did something personal to her. So I ask.