circa 1914

It was quite a sunny day in Santa Cecilia when a boy named Héctor was tuning his guitar—probably because it was out of tune. He suddenly felt a grumble in his stomach when he caught the scent of freshly cooked hot dogs. He followed to where the scent is coming from and soon found a little hot dog cart. "¡Delicioso!" he says as he finally sees the hot dog stand.

Héctor bought a piece of hot dog and went back to where he was a while ago. As he was walking, a dog quickly snatched his hot dog and ran away. "¡Eh! ¡Mi salchicha!" Héctor shouts as he tries to chase the dog.

He ran and ran until he could grab the hot dog from the crazy pooch. He tried snatching it out of its mouth—not until he have noticed someone only a few blocks away that immediately caught his attention. And when he looked to see who it was, he realizes it was actually his beautiful friend, Imelda, who was sitting on the ground, staring at something in the shoe shop. Out of curiosity, Héctor stopped himself from snatching his hot dog and let the dog eat it. "Alright. You can have it, perro loco," he said, rolling his eyes and chuckling a bit.

As the dog enjoyed eating his hot dog, Héctor grabbed his guitar, went beside Imelda and gave her a wave. "¡Hola, Imelda!"

Imelda looked at Héctor and smiled a bit. "Hola, Héctor," she greeted and turned back to where she was staring at.

Héctor thought it wasn't normal for Imelda to just smile a bit whenever she sees him, so he asked what's wrong. "Is there...something wrong, amiga?"

Imelda let out a sigh. "See those shoes?"

Héctor looked at the shoes she was staring at the whole time, and was shocked by how beautiful it was.

"I know, right?" Imelda added, knowing that he was shocked. Héctor suddenly looked worried, now knowing what Imelda meant. "I really want to have those shoes, but mamá and papá probably won't allow me to buy them. And I know I can't afford that kind of value."

Héctor looked at the price tag and made him stunned by its value. The two caught a moment of silence, both still have their eyes on the shoes.

Trying to forget how expensive it was, she changed the topic. "Isn't it muy hermosa?" Imelda asked, still amazed by the shoes' fineness.

Hearing the term muy hermosa, Héctor turned his eyes to Imelda and smiled. "Yes, it is."

As silence conquered again, the two continued to stare—with Imelda's eyes on her dream shoes and Héctor's on his friend, Imelda.

Héctor looked once again on the shoes, thinking about how he would bring back the smile on his friend's pretty face. "Well, I can buy you that!"

Imelda quickly looked on Héctor and raised her eyebrow. "You?" she asked, having a slight grimace on her face.

Héctor nodded and gave a big grin. "Yeah!"

Imelda looked at Héctor, then at the shoes, then at Héctor again. "I don't think so," she said, shaking her head and turning back to the shoes.

"What? You don't trust this guapito?" Héctor asked while he pointed to himself and smirked.

Imelda rolled her eyes and giggled. "Uh, maybe?"

"Oh, c'mon, Imelda. Trust me! With this talented musician, I tell you, you can have those shoes right away."

"Yeah right," Imelda said, trying to stop from giggling. "Go with your dreams, 'guapito'."

Héctor felt a slight blush, and then the two started giggling. But then, he felt his tummy grumble once again, and he wanted to eat a snack for his hungry stomach. "Well, I guess I have to go now, amiga."

"Oh," Imelda said and had a downcast expression on her face, knowing that her friend will now go. "Adiós, amigo."

"¡Adiós!" Héctor shouted and waved as he was running away.

≈≈(✪)≈≈

Weeks have passed since Héctor started playing from barrio-to-barrio only with his guitar, his beautiful voice and also an old tin can for people to put coins in it. Everyone admired him for his talent, and soon enough, Héctor had enough money to buy whatever he wants.

But out of everything, there is this one thing Héctor wanted to buy.

One evening, Héctor played in a barrio with one of the songs he'd written. As he had his last strum on the strings of his guitar, everyone gave a round of applause for him. "¡Gracias a todos!" he shouted.

Everyone started putting coins and notes in his can, with each having a smile marked on their faces. One man approached him and asked, "who inspires you to be this good, chamaco?"

Héctor chuckled a bit, and not any longer, he answered the man's question. "W—well, there is this one señorita whom I dedicate all my songs to…"

The man turned his look to everyone else and they all chuckled. "Creo que este chico está enamorando," he said, looking back at Héctor.

Héctor was out of his head, and not knowing what the man meant, he answered with a slight smirk, "sí, señor."

It wasn't late until the teenage boy realized what he was saying, and so he had a sudden flush on his face. "I—I mean, no!"

The man chuckled and tapped his shoulder. Héctor did not want them to know he's in-love, and so he tried walking backwards and continued saying "no" in denial. But as he was walking backwards, he have accidentally bumped into someone else. And when he looked who it was, it was his friend, Imelda, having a nice smile.

"Hola, Héctor—"

"AGHH!" Héctor screamed in startlement. And as he realized it was Imelda, he quickly fixed himself and rubbed his arm in embarrassment. "Oh, H—hola, Imelda."

Imelda giggled, thinking that Héctor looks cute when he screams like that. "¡Felicidades, mi amigo! You were great out there!" she complimented.

The man then thought that maybe that 'señorita' is his friend. "Oh, better leave you two," he said.

"Gracias, amiga," Héctor replied, not knowing that he is starting to blush. Not any longer, something came in his mind. "Oh! I have a surprise for you. Follow me!"

"¿Qué?" Imelda said, starting to wonder about what her friend is talking about. But as Héctor started holding her hand and walking away, she let herself follow where he was going.

As they enter an esquinita, Héctor showed a wrapped box and gave it to Imelda. "Open it," he said.

"What...is this?" Imelda asked in curiosity while she was receiving the box.

"Just open it. I'm certain you'll like this one." Héctor answered and smiled.

Imelda raised her shoulders as a silent "alright". She carefully opened the box, and what she saw surprised her a lot.

"L—los zapatos..."

Imelda was a lot surprised and had nothing to say. She would never think that Héctor could buy those shoes she'd always wanted to buy.

"You bought it for...me?"

"Yup!" Héctor answered confidently.

Suddenly, Imelda had a pucker on her eyebrows. "Wait, did you just stole these shoes?!"

"What? You think a guapito like me could ever steal?" Héctor said and pointed to himself again.

Imelda raised her eyebrow, realizing that Héctor did bought the shoes. "Well, some people do steal even though they're guapo. But, fine. I believe you did bought these shoes." she replied, crossing her arms.

Héctor suddenly had a smile on his face. "So, you do believe I'm guapo?"

Imelda quickly had a blush on her face. "Uh... I—I suppose, yes?"

"Haha, yes!" Héctor yelled, finally hearing right from Imelda that he is a guapito.

As Imelda remembers about the shoes again, she quickly had her smile again said, "muchas gracias, mi amigo. I really appreciate what you did."

Héctor went nearer to Imelda. "Oh, it's nothing. I just want to see my friend having that beautiful smile again. Because I thought you were a little sad not having those shoes..."

"But amigo," Imelda said, placing her hand on Héctor's shoulder. "A great friend like you is enough for me."

"R—really?" Héctor said, starting to blush.

Imelda nodded. "And you should've just bought other things you like."

"It's fine for me. As long as I have mi amiga and mi guitarra."

The two smiled and silenced for a moment. Not any longer, Imelda gave Héctor a big hug. "Muchas gracias, for everything."

Héctor was a bit surprised of Imelda's hug. But then he layed his hands on her, hugging back, and then he sighed in contentment. "De nada."

The two then unraveled their hug. "Wear it!" Héctor said, giving the shoes to Imelda. "I'm sure it'll fit because I know exactly what your shoe size is," he added, crossing his arms and smirking a bit.

"Oh, really?" Imelda replied, raising her eyebrow and giving a chuckle.

Héctor nodded. "Size four and a half," said the both of them, and then the two giggled.

Imelda carefully wore the shoes and was astonished by them. But then she felt a bit timid that the shoes aren't good to be worn by a simple girl like her. "D—does it look good?" she asked, rubbing her arm.

"You kidding me?" Héctor replied. "Those kind of shoes fit perfectly for a hermosa like you!"

Imelda blushed once again, and then she tucked her hair behind her ear. "Gracias..."

"No problem, mi amiga. Let's go?"

Héctor held her hand, and they went out the esquinita together.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
Translations:
delicioso - delicious
mi salchicha - my hot dog/sausage
perro loco - crazy dog
hola - hello
amigo/amiga - friend
muy hermosa - very beautiful
guapito - handsome (in a cute way)
guapo - handsome
adiós - goodbye/bye
barrio - neighborhood
gracias a todos - thank you, everyone
chamaco - kid
señorita - young lady
creo que este chico está enamorado - I think this guy's in love
si, señor - yes, sir
felicidades - congratulations
qué - what
esquinita - little corner
los zapatos - the shoes
muchas gracias - thank you very much
mi guitarra - my guitar
de nada - you're welcome

Tell me if you have any suggestions and also tell me if I made a mistake in Spanish words because, I told you, I'm just a beginner in Spanish language and stuff. Lo siento mucho. XD

I hope you like this first one-shot and don't forget to vote! ^^