Chapter Four – First Words Across Oceans
522 Words
The screen glowed in Dylan’s dark room. His mom was already asleep in the next room, and the barrio was loud outside—music, motos, voices that never seemed to sleep. But all he could see was that one notification:
Keisha: “Hey… do I know you?”
His hands shook. He typed, erased, typed again.
Finally:
“Nah, we don’t know each other. I’m Dylan… from Dominican Republic. Yo, Merry Christmas btw.”
He pressed send and instantly regretted it.
“Bro… Merry Christmas? For real?” He buried his face in his pillow.
⸻
In Chicago
Keisha laughed when she read it. It was 10 p.m., snow hitting the window. Her mom yelled from the kitchen about finishing homework. But Keisha just stared at the message.
“Dominican Republic?” she whispered. “That’s… far.”
She typed back fast:
“Chicago here. Snow and ice everywhere, not hot like DR lol.”
⸻
Back to Dylan
He smiled when he read it, relief flooding his chest. He typed back in seconds:
“Here it’s always hot, lmao. Never cold. You lucky maybe.”
Then waited. Ten seconds. Twenty. Every buzz from the street outside made him jump.
When her reply came, his grin spread wide:
“I’d trade. I always wanted to see America? New York for sure. Dream of college there, NBA… you?”
⸻
The flow starts
The chat went faster, smoother. Dylan forgot his broken grades, forgot the heat sticking to his skin. Keisha forgot the snow outside and her mom’s shouting.
• He told her about the cracked courts where he trained every day.
• She told him about her volleyball team and how her Jamaican dad pushed her to be strong.
• He wrote “I don’t believe in love, tho. No tiempo for that.”
• She laughed, replying “Same. Boys here are just… drama.”
And yet… both stayed online way longer than they planned.
⸻
The first conflict
After an hour, Keisha texted:
“Wait, but… you live in DR. That’s like… impossible, right? We’ll never even meet.”
Her words hit Dylan hard. He stared at them, heart dropping like he’d just missed an open dunk.
He typed back slowly:
“Tal vez… but who knows. Destiny? Maybe it’s real, maybe not.”
And when she didn’t answer right away, his chest hurt. For the first time, the red string felt fragile.
⸻
Keisha’s room
Her best friend Mariah FaceTimed her right then.
“Girl, why you smiling at your phone like that?”
Keisha rolled her eyes. “Some boy. From Dominican Republic.”
Mariah’s jaw dropped. “Wait—what? You serious? You don’t even know him!”
“I know,” Keisha whispered, staring at Dylan’s last message. “But… it feels like I do.”
⸻
Dylan’s side
From his bed, Dylan whispered to himself:
“Keisha…” He let the name roll in his mouth like it was part of him.
And for the first time, he didn’t feel alone in that tiny room with peeling paint and a dream bigger than his island.
- Writer
