Chapter 5

Chapter 5. I spy on him

By Florence

I went back to my room and sent a message to my friend telling her my plans. She's a little scared, in case I get caught, but she understands my position.

I put on makeup, foundation, eyeshadow, darker on my eyelids and near my eyebrows I blended the color with a highlighter, then I lined my eyes with a black pencil and put on eyelash extender, without putting on lipstick, in case it stained my clothes, I put on a black crop top, but with long sleeves, because it was cold, although in the disco and dancing, you didn't feel the terrifying cold that it was on the street.

I paired my outfit with a miniskirt, very short, it's true that with that top my bust was barely visible, I had very little, my size is small and that bothered me a bit, especially because of the times I saw Alejo kissing Marina at the disco, at the beginning of this year, I saw how he touched her impressive breasts and he seemed desperate while he did it…

What I was getting at is that my butt is indeed nice, I'm very thin, and I look even thinner because I'm tall, I'm 1.72 meters tall, but I don't usually attract attention, I don't dress flashy, although today I did and I put effort into my outfit, because I'm hoping to see Alejo at the club, although he'll probably be paying attention to Marina, but she's dating a man who lives a few blocks from here, I don't understand that, she has Alejo's love and she's seeing someone else.

I'm dying to have his attention.

If I could have his love, I would be the happiest woman in the world.

Karla tells me that I'm crazy about Alejo like he is about Marina.

I wore high boots, above the knees; I had to insist for a long time to get them bought for me, because my father didn't like them, he thinks they're for whores.

Everything is a whore's work to him.

I was about to put on lipstick when I heard footsteps approaching my room. I got into bed and covered myself up.

I wasn't wrong, the door opened and my mother appeared.

—What's wrong, Mom?

I ask him, pretending to be asleep.

—You never turn off the lights when you go to sleep, electricity costs money.

—I was awake.

I tell him, and although it was true, it sounded as if it wasn't.

She turned off the lights, but before she did she told me that the next day we would go to the next town to buy something or other, I didn't understand her, I guess we're going to see my grandfather.

He left, I waited a few minutes and got up again.

So yes, I put on lipstick and a long coat, with a black wool hat; my hair was blonde, long and maybe a little wavy, without too much volume.

Although I wasn't ugly, I didn't feel special at all.

For me, the standard of beauty was Marina, because she is the woman who drives Alejo crazy.

She, with her voluptuous body, so different from mine, is the one who is special to him.

However, I haven't lost hope that Alejo will see me differently and fall in love with me.

Maybe it's the illusion of an innocent 16-year-old girl, but that's really my deepest dream.

I finished getting ready and sent a message to my friend, telling her that I was leaving, that I would be at her house in 10 minutes, and that she should wait for me at the door.

I put the pillow across my bed, add a stuffed animal to make it bulkier, and arrange the bedding; if someone comes in, they'll think I'm sleeping.

Taking care not to make any noise, I opened my bedroom window and jumped into my backyard. Then I closed the window, which was double-leaf, and I wedged it in the middle with a piece of cardboard so that it wouldn't open in the wind.

With the skill of a ninja, I opened the side door and then locked it. Once on the sidewalk, my steps were quick and agile.

I arrived at Karla's house, she was just leaving.

We laughed at my feat.

We caught the last bus; we couldn't risk taking a taxi or a private car and having the driver know my parents and tell them he saw me.

Yes, I thought of everything.

The bus dropped us off two blocks from the nightclub.

As soon as we got off the bus, we saw Marina walking arm in arm with her new boyfriend; maybe she wasn't dating Alejo anymore. That thought was a balm to my soul.

My friend and I looked at each other and we both smiled.

Marina was making out at the entrance of the club, waiting in line to get in. We were busy greeting other friends, so it took us a while to get in line. We were looking to see who was last, when I saw her arrive

Alejo with his friend Walter.

I saw how he stopped when he saw Marina, who hadn't stopped kissing at any point; her boyfriend even touched her butt in front of everyone.

She's shameless!

However, Alejo's face was contorted.

He stood there, staring at her, as if she were a ghost, or as if he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing.

So they were dating…they were boyfriend and girlfriend and she was cheating on him with that man.

She was crazy!

Walter grabbed Alejo's arm and said something to him. When Marina came in, they got in line, they were close to us, and their other friend joined them, the one who was a little nicer than the others, although not too much, but every now and then he said hello.

Did everyone know?

I heard Alejo ask his friends, but none of them answered.

I was keeping an eye on him; I couldn't even hide it from my friends.

The only one who knew about my deep feelings for him was Karla; I guess she just seemed to be listening to someone else's conversation.

My heart was racing, I don't think I've ever been so close to him.

I see him running his hands over his face and his friends looking at each other.

We went inside and I stayed to one side, to find out what Alejo was doing.

He headed straight for the private rooms, I followed from a distance, with Karla behind me. My friends met up with some other friends, luckily, because I have no interest in anyone else finding out about my feelings.

I saw how he grabbed her hair, pulling her back and she was left with her chest exposed, the man was kissing it…her chest was huge, when Marina saw it, she stood up and adjusted her clothes, everyone in that area saw her, she is shameless, the man was left with his member exposed, they were having sex.

The three of them argue amongst themselves, but Alejo's two friends never left his side.

Alejo took a case out of his shirt pocket; it looked like a ring, but from where I was I couldn't see it well and of course I didn't hear anything.

At one point I thought Alejo was going to give her that ring, I had no doubt that it was a ring and Walter grabbed it before she could get hold of it.

Alejo seemed desperate.

Had he bought her a ring and then found her with someone else?

Of course, he graduated and was going to propose to her!

Did he really love her?

Despite everything, I felt sorry for him.

She didn't appreciate it.

Alejo headed towards the bar and Marina followed him, leaving the other guy alone in the middle of the private booths.

She grabbed his arm, but he shook it off.

They walked past me, but no one looked at me; I am invisible to all of them.

I saw him take a lot of drinks, as if he wanted to forget about the world; I even thought he was crying.

Marina went back to her boyfriend, the one from the private room, and talked to him for a long time.

It seemed like the guy didn't want anything to do with her either, but they ended up kissing.

Those kisses weren't chaste, they said a lot.

Then they started talking again and ended up going to the other bar, where they had a drink.

I look like a detective, spying on Marina and Alejo.

I see Marina kiss her boyfriend and walk away from him; to my surprise, she then approaches Alejo.

I felt like screaming and crying.

She was afraid that she would convince him of her love and that Alejo would forgive her.

I see him running his eyes over her body; he seems hypnotized by that woman.

She was about to approach Alejo, but Nazareno is the one who pushes her away; it seemed like he was insulting her, which is the least she deserved.

She had Alejo's love…

The universe belonged to her, simply because she had the love of that man.

She went back to the other guy and stayed by his side for the rest of the night.

Karla goes to a private room, one of those at the front; nobody has sex there, she does it with the guy she likes.

I keep spying, sometimes on Marina, but most of the time I spy on Alejo.

He's almost passed out from everything he took.

I feel like the world is always turning in the opposite direction to mine.

If I had Alejo's love, I would breathe for him.

I feel like crying…although maybe, now that they've separated and I don't think they'll ever get back together, maybe I can win him over.

I have nothing to lose by trying.

I would treat him gently, I would give him my life, I would kiss him all day long.

I see Walter grab Alejo and Nazareno hang onto Walter's other side; the three of them leave together, hugging each other, apparently all three were very drunk.

I go to the cloakroom and take my coat, I didn't get to button it up, because they were walking away, it took them a while to give me my coat at the cloakroom.

It wasn't that I was cold, I didn't feel anything, I just wanted to know what was happening with the man I loved.