Options to Choose From

That monday, along with tuesday, Emily thought about what she had seen. She had nightmares of Pablito falling and hitting the street’s asphalt. She couldn't close her eyes for fear of seeing him, as she even imagined his situation after the fall: no one helped him, and his final breath was spent asking for help that never arrived.

By wednesday, Candice appeared before Emily again. The girl looked sleep-deprived and exhausted, but she was still getting ready for school. When she recognized Candice, she got angry.

"It was you, wasn't it?" she asked, pointing at the mirror. Candice felt attacked. "You’re the one who caused these nightmares."

"I told you," Candice explained. "You can't complain."

Emily finished washing her face and, after drying off, confronted Candice again. She wanted to know if it was really going to happen.

"I don't know," Candice replied.

"Then who is going to know?" Emily asked.

"I told you," Candice tried to say calmly; she was getting tired of explaining the obvious to the girl. "The future is unstable; a single decision can change it. Remembered what I told you?" Emily was angry, She didn't answered. "I'll show you a future that will happen.  The life of that fat kid will end in tragedy if you don't do something."

Emily grew frustrated and sighed in anger. She was terrified to know what was going to happen; she was terrified that poor Pablo wouldn't finish the school year, but there was a basic problem.

"It’s going to happen, I get that now," Emily commented. "But how do I know when it will happen?"

Candice laughed. This time she said nothing and vanished. In her place, she showed a second option. Emily saw Pablito walking erratically through the neighborhood streets. She didn't see his face; she saw nothing but his legs, his trousers, and his school shoes, but it was clearly him.

She saw a second scene in the mirror: a large avenue where cars came and went at high speeds. The sound of cars passing was clearly audible. Just like television, Emily thought. For a brief moment, the cars stopped passing. She saw Pablito again.

The sound of a car braking startled her, and she backed away from the mirror. She could still hear the sound of cars, along with the screams of frightened people. Out of curiosity, she peeked in and could only see Pablito's shoes, the car splattered, and a person approaching.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I SWEAR!" a person could be heard screaming frantically. "WHO IN THEIR COMMON SENSES WALKS ON THE HIGHWAY?"

"Silly girl, why haven't you gone to school?" Mrs. Nina entered the bathroom and was startled to see her granddaughter still there. "You're already late for school."

Emily turned to look at the bathroom mirror. She saw her own reflection. She left the house sweating, more terrified by what she had seen. She ran to school and barely arrived on time. She sat at her desk and tried to calm herself down.

Classes began, but she couldn't concentrate. She kept looking back at Pablito several times throughout the morning. When the second class ended, the group began to relax and talk. The teacher for the third class had not arrived yet.

Emily pulled out her hand mirror and looked at her face. There was nothing strange. That is, she saw her brown skin, her brown eyes, her large nose which she hated, and the mole that decorated her left eyebrow. But nothing else.

As she put her mirror away, she focused on observing. Something was strange. The entire time since she arrived, Héctor had not approached Pablito—not a word, not a paper ball, not a small tap on the back. But it wasn't just him. His two friends didn't approach him either.

Class began when the teacher arrived; during that period, an assignment was given that had to be done in teams of three. Two of Emily's classmates approached her and asked if she wanted to be part of the team.

"Yes... I mean... I'd like to," Emily commented with a surprised smile. It was the first time someone had approached her. Usually, she was the one who had to approach others and beg.

Pablito got up from his seat and started wandering around the room to ask to join a group. Only after the teacher said something did Pablito sit down with one of the groups—it was Héctor's group that had to add him to the project.

"Ya know, Pablito?" Héctor began. "My father wants better grades before Holy Week."

"Mine too," commented one of Héctor's friends. "It's a great stroke of luck that you joined our team. Help us out!"

It’s true that Pablo helped his “friends”. For him, it was torture, and he was the one who presented the ideas in front of the class. He was sweating, shaking, and stuttering. He felt like he was running out of air and found it hard to breathe. Dizzyness, nausea was what he felt. 

He hated speaking in front of the whole class, always frustrating, always humilliating. She spoke, but no one paid attention. She had to open and close her eyes several times to understand that she was there, in the classroom, that the desks were real, and that outside she could hear the birds.

He saw his classmates only as part of a series of old photographs that were watching him. Wide eyes, fixed and sinister smiles, that sepia tone that old photos have... The kind of photographs shown in horror movies or those that supposedly contain a hidden ghost.

"We can' hear ya!" Héctor shouted. "do it louder!"

The teacher confirmed what Héctor was saying. Pablito started talking from the beginning, presenting the topic he had been assigned. But he still couldn't speak clearly. He felt dizzy again; the world began to tilt. He confused a concept;  a misktake was made, again. Sweat trickled down his back it felt like freezing ice. His body trembled, some  sweat trickling down her back.

"Professor," Héctor interrupted. "Pablo is givin' the wron' information. He is talkin' nonsense. It's chlorophyll that gives plants that green color."

Héctor didn't cheat; he hadn't reviewed the topic. He just got lucky to be right and correct his classmate. The teacher remarked on it with surprise. He hadn't expected him to make that correction. All the classroom make a surprise gasp. Hector answered correclty something, class preaised Hector. 

"Sit down now, Pablo, please," the teacher commented, and immediately had Héctor present the topic.

He did it excellently. He presented with confidence, without mistakes, and even shared a few jokes and tips on how to remember the topics for the exam. At the end of class, Pablo was reprimanded by the teacher. 

"I didn't expect that behavior from you," Say the professor. Pablito only could watch the desk. "Just because you were absent didn't mean he would be given an advantage over his classmates. If you want to pass the exams, you had to get catch uphave to study more."

"You have always been a good student," the teacher concluded with obvious disappointed and annoyance. "Work hard and overcome that shyness. Ask for help if necessary. Remember, this world is not made for cowards."