"I loved Sapo. I loved Sapo because he loved himself. And I wanted to be able to do that, to rely on myself for my own happiness."
Narrator Chino introduces us to Sapo by telling us what he admires about this other character. Very early on in life, he seemed to carry himself with an innate confidence that most other boys had to work at, or, at least, to pretend that they had, but Sapo's confidence was genuine. This is unusual because he had huge flesh lips and a large mouth, which is what had earned him the nickname of "Toad". This never held him back and he didn't take it personally, carrying himself proudly and having a natural self-esteem that made it obvious that he liked himself a lot. This usually meant that others liked him too.
Chino wanted to be like this. The quote tells us as much about Chino as it does about Sapo because we learn that Chino, although more attractive physically than Sapo, lacked the confidence that his friend had. He has to force himself to like himself and he is constantly trying to emulate Sapo because he feels that if he was able to be more like him then both others, he, would like Chino better.
"To have a name other than the one your parents had given you meant you had status."
Perhaps this explains why Sapo was so confident despite his rather unflattering nickname of Toad; the fact that he had a nickname at all gave him a certain gravitas, a status, not just in school but outside of it as well. It drew attention to a person if they had a nickname. They stood out from the crowd. They were universally liked or respected, and if their name had come about because they were hated or feared, well, at least they had provoked some kind of feeling amongst their peers. To go unnoticed was the worst kind of social death and it meant that someone without a nickname had not made much of an impression. To have a name other than one's given name set one apart, and it was in this way that future leaders and contacts with the world outside of school were made.
