by Rute Canhoto
CHAPTER NINE
Marina’s phone emitted a sound, waking her up. She grunted, turned on the light and waited for her eyes to become accustomed to sight. Picked up the phone and discovered a text from Ana. She noticed the date - it was from the previous day. Probably she didn't have a signal when Ana sent it, that's why she had just received it. Marina read it, but she didn’t bother to answer, since Ana was asking her about the tour with Joshua. As she said before, when she got to school she would tell her a little more.
School? That’s right; she had agreed to go to school with Joshua! She looked at the time and thought that it was better to get up and begin to get ready. Plus, she still had to take care of the injuries on her elbows, so she started right there. She removed the old bandages carefully and examined the wounds; the ointment that her mother had bought at the pharmacy seemed to be quite effective. She had only used it for two days and the injuries were already looking much better. Soon they would be cured, which was great. With the wounds treated, Marina got dressed, had breakfast, grabbed her backpack and left the house. She was glad she had chosen a warmer jacket to wear over the t-shirt. Thought the sun peeked occasionally through the clouds, warming her, the wind seemed to want to push Summer away by force, so that fall could begin at once.
While walking to the meeting point, Marina felt her stomach twisting as if a knot was forming. She liked Joshua, but going to school with him didn’t seem correct. It was as if she had to accept his company against her will and only because of her hazard. What if he misunderstood things and thought she was interested in him? Ana's voice sounded in her head, ‘Don’t be silly! Enjoy, and grab the friendship of that hunk with both hands. As for what comes in addition, you'll figure out what to do about it.’ Like Pinocchio had Jiminy Cricket for his conscience, Ana’s was hers and her voice often invaded her thoughts, giving her a new point of view. Anyway, Marina had made up her mind: they would go to school together that day, she would see how it went, and then would make a decision about the future.
She found Joshua sitting on a bench waiting for her. She thought about going to him, but instead decided to call him to join her. Upon hearing her voice, Joshua turned around and toasted her with a spark of happiness in the form of a radiant smile. He hastened to get up and walked toward her.
When he was nearing her, Marina greeted him, “Good-morning.”
“A very good morning,” he replied, a happy expression on his face.
Gee! But can’t this guy stop smiling? That weakens me and makes me feel bad for wanting to deny him something, Marina thought to herself, pouting inside. Deviating from the subject that pounded her mind, she girl, “Are you ready?”
“Yes. But you have to show me the way, because I’ve never taken this way before.”
“You’ll see that it’s pretty much the same way you were walking when you were going alone. It’s not complicated,” assured Marina.
Without delay, they went up the street of the city Archives and turned towards the Theatre of Pedro Nunes. Further ahead, Joshua could see that they ended up in the same place they passed when they returned home. Two tortuous climbs followed. When they reached the top, Marina was exhausted and had her tongue lolled out like in a cartoon. She sat on the wall that marked the end of the staircase for a while, trying to catch her breath. Joshua imitated her, laughing at the situation.
Teased, and taking large gulps of air, Marina criticized, “You’re laughing? Woo, this is tiring! Physical Education is this afternoon, and I’m sure that by then my legs will be in so much pain that I won’t even be able to run one lap of the field.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault! I’ve done this climb four or five times, and I agree when you say that it’s demanding, but I'm getting used to it,” replied Joshua, as he placed his hands before him in a defensive gesture.
The girl tried to justify herself. “Usually, the path I take, I just have to climb a small slope and a staircase. It's easier to do. Sorry, but I’m not coming with you tomorrow. I prefer my usual route or I’ll get to school in a mess.” Marina didn’t worry too much about her appearance, yet she didn’t want to get to campus all sweaty and stinky. Exercise was important, but so was her hygiene.
Not wanting to lose her company, Joshua cut in, “What about we take your usual route tomorrow?”
“That involves a long walk for you. In a way, you'll be turning back.”
“No problem, even because the road to your home is always straight ahead. Besides, I’m always open to new experiences. And then, after evaluating the two paths, I can choose the one that pleases me the most.”
So much for Marina’s plan to go to school alone the next morning. Joshua was going to put up a fight and he wouldn’t go down so easily. Maybe he would end up getting tired of walking so much and give up on this. Perhaps it was better that way, because he wouldn’t get the feeling that she was pushing him away.
Breath recovered, they got back to the track. As the school facilities weren’t far away, they took only five minutes to complete their journey. As soon as she entered through the gate, Marina apologized to the boy, but she had to go to the bathroom to freshen up after the unexpected exercise. Joshua made her a sign that he would sit on a bench in the lobby and would wait there for her. Marina took a good look at him. Indeed, he didn’t need to go to the bathroom: he was fresh as a daisy, without any taint of sweat, not even on his forehead. It seemed that he had done that without any problem, while she was devastated. She had to do some more exercise or would seem like a dotard old lady that couldn’t even walk with a cane.
When she left the WC, the bell was sounding. Damn! She still had to go to the locker and the first lesson was with Manelito, which meant that he would already be on his way. She ran to the locker and, passing the lobby, made a sign to Joshua - who Ana had joined meantime - to go ahead, because she still had things to do. Once at the locker, she opened it in a harsh way, threw the Physical Education stuff in without being careful, and pulled out the diary and the book of Philosophy. Closed the door in haste and run a new race to the room.
The door was being closed when she neared it. The teacher ended up opening it to let her in, muttering between teeth that she had been lucky, because he was in good spirits. Marina nodded, as if in agreement with what he had said, although she didn’t agree at all. As she turned around to go sit in her place, her eyes fixed with his: Lucas was back. Distraught, Marina put a hand to her chest; her heart had just skipped a beat. The feeling of safety that Joshua had induced in her before disappeared and was replaced by the notion that forces beyond her understanding moved freely around the world, and she would meet them again.
“Go to your place. I have a lecture to give and I don’t want you standing there,” yelled the teacher at her, making her jump in astonishment. She was scared and the professor was not helping. Anyway, she couldn’t just stand there. She had to take her place... next to Lucas. Taking advantage of the fact that Lucas was drawing in his diary, she pulled out the chair and sat down. Next, she put the notebook, the manual and the pencil case on the table. She opened the diary and began to copy the summary that the teacher was writing on the blackboard.
She really wanted to talk with Lucas. She felt that urgent need burning inside her, making it impossible to ignore. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, yet her throat was closed and words ran dry from her. Besides, they were in a classroom controlled by a tyrant teacher; it wasn’t exactly the best place to talk. She had the break to have such a conversation, that if she could find him, of course. Who knew if he would decide to miss the rest of classes, just like that? With him, she never knew what to expect.
Seeing that the teacher was quite amused drawing conceptual schemes in the board, Marina decided to risk it. She lowered her head in Lucas’ direction and prepared to ask the first thing that came to her mind. However, when confronted with his cold gaze, she gave up doing so. Holly Golly! Why did he make her feel that way? She thought about going back to the insignificanc
e she represented for Lucas, but something within her cried out that she had to try again. Decided, she opened her notebook at the last page and tore a bit of the sheet. ‘We need to talk,’ she wrote on the small piece of paper that she folded into two parts and put slyly on the top of his diary, under his watchful eye. After that, she turned forward and rushed to write the notations before Manelito erased them.
Through the corner of her eye Marina realized that Lucas picked up the paper and read it. He sat turned in her direction with a mischievous grin and a defiant air. He made sure that she was watching what he was doing: slowly, he crumpled the paper and threw it over to her notebook. The first thought to cross her mind was to call him a beast. Still, she decided to show herself superior. They would talk, no matter what, and he would have no hole in which to hide. For now, she would concentrate in class and would settle accounts with him later.
When the bell rang for exit, Lucas picked up his diary and walked out like a hurricane. Marina packed her things and left the room too. When she got outside, she found that he didn’t wait for her. He was so doomed!
While she was lost among her thoughts, Joshua and Ana came to her.
“Hi, babe! So, what about your weekend? I mean, how was Sunday, huh?” asked Ana as she winked an eye.
Marina was supposed to tell her all about the walk, she knew it pretty well; however, at that moment, she had something more urgent to do. In haste, she took some coins from her wallet and handed them to Ana, while saying, “Joshua can tell you all about yesterday. Look, can you do me a favor and buy my lunch ticket when you go get yours?”
“Sure. Why? Are you going somewhere?” asked Ana, finding her friend’s request unusual.
“I’m going to deliver the Philosophy work to the idiot of Lucas, before he decides to sneak out, or the teacher will annoy me again because of him.”
That seemed a plausible reason to justify the fact that she was going to look for him. And it wasn’t a lie! She had to hand him the assignment, although the true reasons that impelled her to go to him were different and more important.
Ana understood that the motives for Marina to seek Lucas were far more extensive than a mere sheet of paper, but she said nothing. She just waved to Marina that everything was fine, and asked Joshua to go with her to the bar. Before accompanying Ana, Joshua looked at Marina displeased with the fact that she was going to meet another guy. Marina ignored his disgruntled expression. He was a good guy, but he wasn’t her boyfriend, nor did he own her, therefore she could talk or go to whoever she wanted.
Marina hastened to cross the school garden to the back of the canteen. She didn’t know what places Lucas frequented, but as she had seen him there before, it seemed like a good option. And she was right. Reaching the rear of the canteen, she saw Lucas at the bottom of that path, sat on the concrete floor covered with sand. She advanced silently to him, in order to avoid him taking the opportunity to slip away. In less than 20 seconds, she was standing in front of him.
Confronted with a body near him, Lucas raised his countenance to face her. He looked so angry when his gaze fell on her, that his eyes seemed to want to annihilate her. His expression was intimidating, but that didn’t move her. Marina slid the bag from her shoulder, got down on her knees beside him and took out the Philosophy book. She opened it in front of Lucas, so that he could see what she was doing, and drew from among the pages a sheet folded in half. She extended it to him and held it for a few seconds until he resolved to take it.
Seeing that he had no intention of opening the paper any time soon, Marina closed the backpack, got up and prepared to leave. Though she wanted to ask him a million questions, his disappointing apathy tempted her to return to her friends. It was pathetic. She had gotten there very determined and, from one second to another, she had changed her mind. The problem was that the crucial question kept pounding in her head: would she really want to hear the explanations Lucas could give her?
She had already moved three steps away, when she heard, “Did you do this?” His voice revealed surprise.
Marina turned back and found that Lucas had at last opened the sheet she had given him. As she didn’t want to shout because they were too far apart, she took a few timid paces towards him and nodded.
The fury in the boy's face blurred and he seemed to be just someone with a serious air. Yet, his expression didn’t take long to change to mockery, as he commented, “You could have made a bigger effort. Just a ten is too poor.”
Feeling outraged, Marina exploded, “What? The next time you do it, I’m not your servant. And you better remember that I did it only because the teacher gave me no choice, otherwise, instead of a ten, you would have a big fat zero.”
That said, she had nothing else to do there and was ready to leave. Her body didn’t obey, however, and it demanded her to remember the real reasons that had led her there. In a flashback, she recalled all the strange moments she thought associated to Lucas and felt the mark on her back on fire. Sheesh! Why did he wake such contrary feelings in her?
Against all expectations, she threw the backpack down and walked from one side to another to appease the anger. More relaxed, she sat in front of him with her legs crossed. She took the sheet from his hand gently, as she sighed, and looked at the text. Without lifting her eyes from the paper, she asked, “Is this true? Do you descend from this tribe for a fact?”
Lucas’ face turned into something she couldn’t decipher. It seemed that he was torn between responding or not to her question. He ended up saying, “Yes, my ancestors go back to this tribe.”
“Sounds cool,” replied Marina.
Lucas stood up quickly and snapped, “Cool? The hell is it cool! You know nothing about my life.”
Marina was stunned by his reaction. Astonished, she got up too. There she was before him, ready to listen and to understand him, and what did he do? He played dumb and shooed her away as if she was a bothersome fly. Anger began to return to Marina. It was her turn not to mince words and to answer in the way he deserved.
Burning with ire, she burst, “Excuse me, mister ‘I-Am-A-Badass’, for not knowing anything about your life. Guess what? Your veneer of ‘bad boy’ is getting on my nerves! When you feel that you’re capable of having a decent conversation that doesn’t come down to insult me, come to me, because I really want to talk to you. Until then, I won’t address another word to you, understand, you moron?”
Furious, Marina picked up her rucksack and sailed out of there. She wasn’t even interested in turning around to see his reaction. She didn’t have to step down before him. She wanted to know the truth about his involvement in the two incidents that she had suffered, but she had limits and she didn’t have to put up with that. She was even willing to forget that he had helped her if he didn’t change his attitude.
Marina was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't realize that she had already reached the bar and that Ana had her hand outstretched for some time, waiting for her to grab the lunch ticket she had asked her to buy.
“Hello! Earth to Ina,” called Ana a little annoyed.
Marina seemed to wake up from her inner conversation and replied, “Huh? Don’t call me that. You know I hate it.”
“Yeah, but it works just fine when you're distracted. See how you woke up right away?”
Marina didn’t bother to grumble. She took the ticket and the change and put them in her wallet while trying to send away the bad vibes from the encounter with Lucas.
Joshua was also in the bar, as he had kept company with Ana during the break, but his mood was not the best. Before he said something that he might regret later, he asked to be excused and disappeared between the students in the hallway. It was the first time Marina saw him cantankerous, and frankly, she’d rather see his sublime smile. She was already missing it.
Before Marina could think of what to do next, Ana rushed to pull her by the arm and dragged her toward a table for them to sit and talk. She didn’t owe her one, but two conversati
ons about guys. ‘Trrriiimm’ was the sound that made Marina sigh with relief - saved by the bell. She stood up from the chair in an automatic gesture to go to the locker to swap books, but Ana held her and cried, “You’re not getting away with this. After French class comes lunch and then we’ll have plenty of time to talk. I want all the details.”
Books exchanged, they went to the classroom, got in and sat at the same table, as usual, while Joshua took the place behind them.
The tension between Marina’s desk and the one in the back was almost palpable, so she decided to say something to Joshua to make things right between them. Before the bustle of the beginning of the class disappeared, she turned back and quizzed, “Are you coming to the canteen to have lunch with us?”
It was the only thing that occurred to her to ask to try to defuse the electrifying atmosphere between them. It was plausible that she asked that, after all he hung out with them and the lunch hour was approaching. She doubted that the answer would be positive, since he seemed truly mad.
In a low voice, and with a grin too ironic and provocative, Joshua replied, “No. We have three hours for lunch, so I'll eat at home. But you can always invite your other friend.”
There was the reason for him to be that upset: jealousy. Their friendship had anything to do with the one that, after all, she didn’t have with Lucas, since he kept pushing her away.
To contribute to that morbid humor of Joshua, Lucas knocked on the classroom door, asked permission of the teacher, and entered. He walked to his seat in at a slow pace, as he stared directly and defiantly at her, smiling with malice, as if they shared a secret. He sat two desks away from her, leaving Joshua purple with anger.
Aggravated with the reaction of those two, Marina replied to Joshua, “You're right. Maybe I'll invite Lucas for lunch. It would be a lot of fun! It’s a shame, but I doubt that he would accept, since he’s a staunch supporter of antisocial behavior. What a disappointment for me.”
And she turned forward promptly. She was not willing to put up with a testosterone war. Definitely, she had to ban boys from her plane of existence. In just a week, two had entered her life and they had already bothered her too much. Lucas was a disruptive rude guy to, who was difficult to approach, while Joshua was the opposite, warm as a ray of sunshine. She admired his efforts to be her friend, but Gosh! They weren’t dating, he couldn’t behave like that.
Still before the beginning of class, Marina remembered that she had in her bag the book that Ana had asked her for., so she took it out and passed it to her. When Ana looked at the title, she put her thumbs up, showed her cinematographic smile and said, “Cool! At last.”
The French teacher began to scribble the summary on the blackboard. When everyone finished copying things from the board, she explained that, before moving forward, she had an announcement to make. “The Executive Board met last week to make some important decisions. One of those has to do with the educational offer that school provides you. As it was the consensus of all teachers, we decided to implement the Tuesdays of Arts.”
The result was a great buzz among the students, who wondered what the project was, forcing the teacher to tell them to shut up in order to continue. When she was given as much silence as possible, she explained, “The project consists of giving you the opportunity to experience something different in the Arts area. So, you have at your disposal several workshops which you can choose”. Then, turning to a student on the front row, she asked, “Patricia, would you do me the favor of distributing one of these papers for each of your colleagues? Thanks.”
The girl to whom the teacher talked got up from her seat and did what she was asked. Soon everyone had a sheet in front of them with multiple choices. The professor proceeded and added that, from all options, they could choose only one. After the end of classes, all teachers would gather to discuss the results, students would be distributed by the workshops according to their choices, and the official list would be affixed the following morning.
“The workshops are starting tomorrow and they are mandatory. Since they are after classes, here’s a letter that you’ll take home to deliver to your parents, to assure them that you aren’t making this up. Besides, your names will be called to make sure you’re attending, and by the end of each period an attendance report will be sent to your homes. Are there any questions?”
Some pupils decided to ask a few questions, forcing the professor to repeat certain data. When students were asked to choose the workshop they would like to attend, Marina looked at the sheet before her and read it to know what the proposals available were.
- Photography;
- Painting/ Drawing;
- Radio;
- Sculpture;
- Design;
- Performing Arts;
- Dance;
- Singing.
Marina wrinkled her nose straight away to the last option. Her singing was more like the cawing of a crow than the melody of a nightingale, so that one was outside her range of choices. Also she couldn’t dance, given that she was clumsy and had two left feet. To do anything related to painting was a nightmare; she still felt traumatized by the Visual Education classes and the teachers’ screams claiming that she couldn’t even draw a cross. That left her the Performing Arts, Photography and Radio. Hmm, it didn’t seem to her that she was a great actress or photographer, and never had anything to do with Radio. It would be a tricky decision.
Marina’s reasoning was interrupted by Ana, who asked her in low voice so that the teacher wouldn’t hear them, “Do you know what you’ll choose?”
“No, I’m still reading what’s available,” muttered Marina.
“Do we choose the same thing?”
Marina thought for a moment. She didn’t want to decide on a workshop only because that was the one her friend had chosen, but because it mattered to her. Truth be told, their tastes were nothing alike. Not wanting to hurt Ana’s feelings, she replied carefully, “I think it’s better that we each choose what pleases us most. We have different tastes.”
Ana nodded in agreement. “Yes, indeed. Don’t tell me what you’ll choose and I’ll do the same. In the end, we’ll see what happens.”
“Okay” said Marina as she winked her eye.
She concentrated once more on the paper and in her reflection. If she couldn’t sing, her voice would also suck for radio. As for theatre, she had to pretend about something every day, and she wasn’t very good at it. By elimination, she would go for Photography. Maybe they would photograph cool stuff. Still in doubt, she marked a cross in the Photography square, folded the paper and waited for someone to pick it up. Moments later, the same girl who had distributed the sheets gathered the papers. Patricia also distributed the letters for students to deliver to their parents, which included contacts of the Class Director so that could be used clarify any qualms.
While Patricia finished her task, Ana turned to Marina and asked with enthusiasm, “So, what have you chosen?”
Marina hinted a grimace and answered, “I chose Photography. And you?”
“Performing Arts. So we’re not in the same workshop,” regretted Ana.
“Theatre? I'll pass. I have no knack for acting,” said Marina, as she put her tongue out to illustrate how contemptuous her performance was as an actress.
Ana then turned back to ask Joshua what had been his choice, to which he replied that he had chosen Design, because he thought it was good to expand horizons and to try different things.
The teacher asked for silence to begin the class itself and the following minutes were spent conjugating verbs in the ‘Passé Composé’.
When the bell released students for lunch, the conversation revolved around the workshops. The charming Joana bragged that she had chosen Performing Arts, as she was a great actress and she certainly would get all the main roles in the plays that would be staged. Ana pretended to throw up when she heard her, since the two of them were in the same workshop. What bad luck! As if classes wer
en’t enough, she still had to deal with that girl full of one's self in the workshop.
They passed by the reprography so that Ana could take some copies and when they were ready, it was five minutes before noon. If they put themselves on their way, they would arrive at the canteen right when it was opening. They could always have lunch later, but taking into account that they would have two hours of Physical Education, they preferred to have the food digested well before starting to jump. Ana could vouch for that. She had ventured once to eat before that class because she was starving, and after five minutes of racing, she was already running to the bathroom to expel the stomach’s content.
If they thought so, better they did. They got to the canteen right when the employee was opening the door, so they went in first. They had a calm lunch and their talk revolved around Ana’s visit to her grandparents. According to her, it had gone well, but her grandfather suffered with severe flatulence problems, which wasn’t very nice. Moreover, her brother had spent the whole time making jokes about it and she tried at all cost to conceal it. Of course her grandfather found out pretty soon that he was being teased and he gave Carlinhos a lecture.
When they left the canteen, the girls found a more pleasant weather, with no wind, which made the day more enjoyable since the temperatures weren’t too low for the season. The shy rays of sunshine peeped from time to time, so they decided to wait for the next classes by sitting on the fence that separated the ‘Bosnia’ from the High School itself. From there, they had a privileged perspective of what was happening on the campus and in the outdoor area; plus, they could get a little warmth.
Now that they were alone, it was time for Ana to get the information she wanted, starting with the topic of ‘Lucas’. Dragging her voice, she inquired, “So, how was the conversation with the bad boy?”
“With whom?” retorted Marina, pretending not to know what Ana was talking about.
“With Lucas, duh! Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Marina struggled for a moment. How could she describe her encounter with Lucas? It had been an emotional shamble, very confusing and contradictory. In short, it had been a mess. She stared at Ana, who was waiting for a response, and said, “It was no big deal. I went to him, handed him the Philosophy write-up and once more he played stupid. And get this: he told me that, since I had done the work for him, I could at least have tried harder to get a better score than a ten.”
“That guy can’t be for real. He has incredible effrontery. But did you get to talk to him about those theories of your accident in the river?”
Marina released a long sigh. She hadn’t got to ask him anything about that. She wanted to, but she had felt invaded by feelings so antagonistic that she ruined everything. Truth be told, Lucas hadn’t facilitated either. Maybe it was better not to query him in the near future - he would have to change his attitude first.
Reluctant, Marina confessed, “No, we didn’t talk about anything. He began to act silly, I got impatient and took off. Look, let’s just pretend that it was all an extreme crazy dream I had and we won’t go through it anymore.”
Ana opened her mouth in amazement. “Wow! He must really be out of your league.”
“Why do you say that?” questioned Marina, caught by surprise by that observation.
“Because the Marina I know doesn’t give up easily. When she falls from the horse, she gets back up quickly. Are you sure you don’t want to try it again?” insisted Ana. “I wish you’d rather stay away from him, but maybe you won’t get that out of your mind until you know if he really helped you.”
Marina’s answer didn’t take long. “What I know is that, for now, I want to forget this. And he has to change a bit too, otherwise we can’t exchange more than two words and none of them nice, I assure you.”
“Well, if by chance you give up trying to talk to him, I know a certain someone who will be happy with that,” said Ana amid suggestive grins.
Joshua - it was him Ana was talking about. His reaction upon knowing that Marina was just delivering a sheet to Lucas had been pretty exaggerated and he hadn’t even taken the trouble to hide his opinion.
Annoyed to remember the scene, Marina tried to explain, “Joshua will have to get used to the fact that I can talk with anyone. He doesn’t own me and we have nothing to do with each other. We're just friends.”
Ana rejected the last part and underlined, “Are you sure of that? I don’t think that if you saw him talking to another girl you’d be so indifferent. Not after yesterday.”
“Of course I would,” assured Marina. “It’s his life. Besides, he’s always talking to you and you don’t hear me complaining about it, do you?”
Ana’s eyes sliced into Marina and she snorted. It was normal that Marina said nothing when she saw Joshua talking to her; she was her best friend whom Marina trusted. She knew she wouldn’t cross the invisible line that had been drawn, even against Marina’s will and without even realizing it.
It was Marina who recovered the conversation, protesting, “His reaction was exaggerated. I just handed a paper to Lucas. What if, for example, I’m given a male partner chosen by the teacher in Physical Education? I’ll have to say ‘thanks, but I cannot accept because Joshua will get upset?’ Things don’t work like that.”
Ana shook her head and contested, “You’re right about that, but you didn’t just hand an assignment to Lucas. Joshua is no fool and he noticed that there was something more between you two.”
Marina wanted to contradict Ana’s comment, but she was correct; she hadn’t simply gone to Lucas to deliver him a paper. The more he pushed her back, the more his magnetism seemed to attract her and she couldn’t resist him. Perhaps she felt connected to him due to her goofy fantasy that he had helped her and, in turn, she wanted to be his friend and be there for him when he needed. It was a crazy theory, nonetheless it was the one that seemed to make sense.
Ana crossed her hands in front of her and, with a lot of patience, explained, “While you were with Lucas this morning, Joshua told me what you did yesterday, only lightly, but I can tell it was very important to him.”
“And it was important to me too,” hurried Marina to remark. “Did you know that he helped me to walk along the river’s rail again? We went from the ice cream shop to his house walking along the wall and he never let go of my hand. Of course I appreciate that. I'm not insensitive, nor do I have a stone heart! However, it doesn’t give him the right to control me.”
While listened to the part about walking hand in hand, Ana imitated small groans as if enjoying a beautiful scene of a romantic movie. What could she say to Marina so that she would understand Joshua’s reaction? She was too stubborn to change her mind. She sighed and said, “Open your eyes at once, Marina. Even if you didn’t want to, you ended up creating a bond. You have to give him a rain check, his point of view isn’t totally wrong.”
If Ana thought that they had created a connection just by walking hand in hand, what would she think if she knew that they had danced in the rain? Thinking of this episode made Marina flush, still she refused to share this with her friend – it was her private fantasy.
Noting that Ana was watching her, especially after her having blushed, Marina took a deep breath and admitted, “You're right. It’s my fault. I should have set a limit. I gave him space to maneuver and he confused things. Moreover, I even allowed him to come to school with me this morning. Things went a little too far, so I'll talk to him.”
“What? You came to school together?” shrieked Ana in amazement.
Right, she hadn’t told her that yet. She was utterly failing in the part agreed that they wouldn’t have secrets from one another. Before she could open her mouth, Ana counter-attacked, “He humbled himself for you by becoming dirty in a mud puddle, you went out yesterday and today you came to school together. And now you declined his company to go talk to another guy. He’s a dude – of course he felt betrayed. Don’t you know men?”
So what? Marina thought. Would it be illegal to talk to other boys just because she had been his tour guide and they had gone to school together? What bedlam! She really had a lack of experience in that field. She had no idea that one little thing could have so many different meanings. She had to do something to put things in their proper places and she would do it that same afternoon, beginning with Joshua. She would tell him not to wait for her next morning, since she would return to her solitary walk. That way there would be no room for misunderstandings. Despite her decision, Marina felt mad and sad at the same time. Why should she approach people as her mother had made her promise, if she only found nuisances? Even Ana was angry with her…
When it was about time for the bell to ring for Portuguese class, Marina could no longer stand the compliments that Ana kept weaving about Joshua. Honestly, she had ‘disconnected’ long ago and just nodded her head at what Ana said from time to time, or mumbled a ‘hum-hum’ as if she was right. Ana was pleased to think she was hearing her, but Marina was… miles away and bored.
When they arrived near the classroom, Joshua was already there, talking with a group of guys in a very animated way. Upon seeing her, he looked away, ignoring her on purpose. Marina devaluated his reaction and turned her face away. Doing so, she became conscious that Joshua wasn’t the only one who was already there: for the first time Lucas appeared before the beginning of a lesson. Miracle, she felt like exclaiming, yet she merely staged a smile. Perhaps the reprimand she had given him that morning had had some effect. Lucas had headphones in his ears and was holding an MP3 player. Although she doubted he’d be able to listen to something besides music, he became aware of her presence in that same second. Furtively, he turned his face in her direction and his lips outlined one of those spicy smiles so characteristic of him. That guy couldn’t smile without seeming to be insinuating something? It made her feel uncomfortable.
Marina sighed and turned to Ana to talk about the program they had after school. Curious, she questioned, “Do you know of any esoteric shop where we can buy that amulet? I've been thinking about it, but I can’t figure out if there's anything like that in Alcácer.”
“I do. I mean, it’s not exactly an esoteric store, but I'm sure that they’ll help us if we say we want an amulet to stop the bad luck.”
Marina hoped so. The negative vibes around her insisted on returning, and they were so strong that she almost felt them burning her skin.
Their conversation was interrupted by the teacher, who arrived and invited pupils to join her inside the room. Marina took her usual place next to Ana, turned forward and watched the other classmates also sitting down. She noticed then that Joshua was staying behind, as if waiting for something, and soon discovered that he wouldn’t sit at the table behind hers. Noticing that one of the boys with whom he was talking before had no desk partner, Joshua went to him and settled down beside him. The message was clear as water and Marina just thought that, if that's what he wanted, that’s how things would be. As if the scene couldn’t become any more bizarre, unexpectedly Lucas rose from the desk at which he was sat alone and moved to the table right behind Marina and Ana, where Joshua had been before - he had just taken his place.
If anyone looked at Marina, they would say that she made one think of a strawberry, for how red her face was. Irritation or shame? Maybe both. Joshua also didn’t stay indifferent to Lucas’ change of place and clenched his jaw so hard, that Marina could almost hear his teeth gnashing.
Overwhelmed, Marina slid down in her chair and muttered to Ana, “Please, dig me a deep hole where I can stick my head. A tunnel to get out of here will also do.”
If she thought the Philosophy presentation lesson had been embarrassing, that beat it by far. Although she tried to concentrate on what the teacher said, she couldn’t help feeling embarrassed by the heavy looks from the boys. Her head was overflowing, therefore she wasn’t able to capture anything from the lesson; she would have to study at home later.
As soon as the bell rang, Marina grabbed her things and didn’t even bother to put them in the backpack. She just wanted to get out of there. She ran to the locker and only there did she put both book and diary in the backpack. Then she grabbed the material for Physical Education and headed for the cloakroom. She found it empty, as she was first one to arrive, but soon Ana joined her.
Smirking, Ana relayed, “Whoa! You got out of there faster than Julia Roberts left the church in Runaway Bride.”
“No kidding. I could even feel their looks darting over my head. I think that they cast me an evil eye. I’m getting a king size migraine,” complained Marina at the same time as she rubbed her temples.
Ana laughed. In fact, it was an ironic and even comical situation: her friend, who had always tried to avoid the hassles inherent to relationships, now had two boys preparing for an authentic battle and the prize was her.
Very entertained, Ana noted, “I just didn’t understand Lucas’ attitude. Does the creepy guy also have a crush on you or what?”
Marina opened her eyes wide, startled by that comment. It couldn’t be true, after all, if Lucas liked her a little bit, he wouldn’t have been so inconvenient when she tried to talk to him. She put on a stiff expression and grumbled, “I know what he was doing. Lucas doesn’t like anyone. He simply realized that Joshua is mad at me and, as he doesn’t like him very much either, he decided to tease him. It seems like he’s only okay when he’s causing trouble.”
Marina was so upset that she didn't notice that she had pulled her coat with such strength, that she had dragged half of the bandage off her left elbow. She just realized that when the wound started to bleed and, therefore, it felt on fire. Marina uttered a contained ‘ouch!’ which led Ana to look at her arm. Ana approached her, observed her lesion and placed the patch back in place. Then she asked, “Is it from the Saturday's accident?”
“Are,” she corrected, showing her friend both elbows.
Ana sat beside her and whispered, “You still haven’t said much about that.”
“I know. The problem is that there are things so intimidating, that you lose the will to talk about them.”
Marina recalled what she had told Ana by phone. She hadn’t even told her about the suspicions regarding the weird elements. She thought of hiding those things, but reconsidered. She was storing too much inside and keeping her friend away from part of the whole that was her life. While she finished dressing, Marina poured out the facts of the car accident, since the appearance of the ominous black figure, right up until the moment the fire fighters left in the ambulance with the corpse of the car driver.
At the end of the story, Ana was stunned. When she was able to think clearly, she quizzed, “Do you really think that Lucas knows how to do the spiritual stuff that Indians do?”
“I have no idea. When I handed him the Philosophy write-up, I tried to talk about it, but I barely opened my mouth to broach the subject and I was kicked out of there. It seems that he’s sensitive about this topic. Mysticism aside, it seems to me the most logical explanation.”
Ana tied her sneakers’ laces, got up from the bench and took a few steps to see if they were good. While doing so, she told her friend, “Okay, I can also conceive theories like that. Get this: you’re soul mates who have some kind of connection and he senses when you’re in danger. Once he realizes that something is wrong for you, he makes that ritual magic stuff and he tries to help you. What do you think?”
She didn’t know what to think. All the theories she had formulated involved something supernatural, so Ana also had the right to her fictional speculation. And it could even be real as well. Accepting that, was way more complicated. Part of her told her that if she continued to speak of those things, soon Ana would think that she was going crazy for sure, so she decided to show her the hand mark on her back. She turned back to Ana, lifted her t-shirt and asked, “What do you see?”
“Huh... Your back?” replied Ana, hesitating.
“And th
e mark of a hand, can you see it? It's a little below the ribs on the right side,” she pointed out.
“What mark? What are you talking about?”
Marina remembered that the mark was very distinctive, so she couldn’t understand why her friend didn’t get a glimpse of it. Confused, she ran to the mirror next to the sink, turned around and took a peek: there was the reflection of her lower back, but... spotless. Great, now I’m doomed and people will start calling me crazy. So much for my only proof, she thought. Intrigued and a bit discouraged, she returned next to Ana and finished equipping herself.
Feeling that she had to justify herself, she said, “I got the mark of his hand on my back, but it disappeared. But I'm not a silly girl who can’t think. If I was pushed now, you would see red on that spot too, but it would disappear with time. I no longer have the mark, of course; it has been two days since then. Anyway, I should have taken a picture of it.”
Ana agreed. She should have taken a photo, but she always took the risk of being considered a liar, and people could claim that she had done the mark, which wasn’t very complicated to do.
In response Ana affirmed, “Don’t torture yourself, let it go. It doesn’t matter anyway, even because we’re handling your protection next. Now we have to go to the gym; the teacher has been calling us for some time.”