Short Stories
Sebastian, a college student, is on vacation with his girlfriend Valeria and two friends from school. Sebastian, who called it an early night at the bar the evening before, is anxious for his girlfriend to join him for sightseeing. He tours the plaza, looking at the church and the art in the art museum, and repeatedly encounters Felix, an attractive older stranger, while growing more anxious about Valeria’s lack of response. Eventually, he leaves the museum with Felix, and they have a sexual encounter. When the story resumes, Sebastian is heading to meet Valeria and his friends at a record store, feeling guilty but also vividly aware of himself in a way that he hasn’t been for some time because he has been feeling apathy and depression as a barrier between himself and the world.
The narrator is sent by his mother to check on his twin, who is planning a major trip with a new romantic partner he men through a dating app. The narrator and his mother are concerned that this is reckless or a response to a recent heartbreak, but when he arrives, the narrator finds his brother seemingly supported by a group of local friends and is more drawn to confront his own issues: his own recent heartbreak, and his staying closeted while his brother is out and thus being unable to talk honestly about the details of his own relationships.