Lost Ones

by Rute Canhoto

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Marina's dream started off being quite pleasant, but soon total collapse occurred and it returned to the horrific event of that afternoon. At the very moment she was dreaming that she was being pushed into the water by Joana, she let out a scream and woke up. She sat up in bed, panting. The bedroom door opened and Joshua entered; it seemed that he had run there. He settled beside her and put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. He kissed her forehead, while telling her that it had just been a nightmare. But it wasn’t just a nightmare - it was real and had happened very recently. Despite that, he was right; it had already passed.

  Obeying his gentle touch, Marina lay down again. Joshua lay down beside her, on top of the sheet. He supported his face in one hand, sticking his elbow on the mattress and, with the other, he stroked her hair in a smooth, continuous movement. She said nothing and just enjoyed the tranquility the gesture conveyed.

  They were like that for some time, when Marina murmured with shyness, “Thank you for what you did.”

  “You’re welcome,” replied Joshua while stroking.

  In an even lower tone, Marina asked, “Does this mean that you’re no longer upset and that we can go back to being friends again?”

  Joshua stopped moving his hand and Marina felt as if he had slammed an imaginary door in her face. For him, the reason that led him to be angry with her was very valid. What had happened to her that afternoon didn’t erase everything, nor corrected things.

  He stirred uncomfortably on the bed, to next relax again and resume what he was doing. “Don’t think about that now,” he replied.

  It wasn’t a clear ‘yes’, but it also wasn’t a resounding ‘no’. Marina pushed herself further back to lean into his body and murmured, “I hope we can go back to being friends soon. Do you believe that I miss you?”

  Joshua didn’t respond. He deposited a tender kiss on her cheek and cuddled up next to her, ending with both falling asleep with the boy holding her in his arms.

  Unlike what happened before, this time she was awaken by Joshua, who had got up meantime and was now closing the blinds of the window. Marina rubbed her eyes and noticed that the light was fading outside. What time was it? She tried to focus on the clock on the bedside table and took a leap when noted that it was 6.45p.m.

  “What?” Joshua asked, concerned.

  “The time,” Marina said a little alarmed. “It's late. I have to go home or my mom will get worried.”

  Joshua sat beside her, bit his lower lip and prepared to tell her something he wasn’t quite sure he should have done. With a low tone of voice, he announced, “While you were sleeping, I searched for the number of your mother on your phone and I called her. I told her what had...”

  “What?!” interrupted Marina. “Why did you do that? She must have freaked out. I'm so doomed! I'll hear a king size sermon.”

  “Why would you be lectured at when the guilt of what happened was not yours?”

  The fault wasn’t hers, but she was used to taking the blame without having any responsibility. She was sure that her mother would tell her that she should have taken the negative grade instead of putting up with that, that she should have tried to impose herself to the teacher’s orders, and blah-blah-blah…

  Joshua cut short her mental chatter. “As I was saying, I told her everything, and of course she got worried. However, I calmed her. I told her that you were fine and that you were asleep. We agreed that she’d pass by here at 7 to get you.”

  Marina turned in bed, in order to be front to him. She looked into his eyes. He was being so kind to her, though he was still upset with her. If he didn’t exist, that boy had to be invented. She kneeled and gave him a meaningful hug.

  “It's almost time for my mom to arrive. I'd better go get dressed. If she sees me like this, she’ll have a heart attack,” she joked while getting up.

  Leaving Joshua alone in his room, she went to the WC to change clothes. She did it easily and fast, which proved she was back in shape. Ready, she picked up her sports bag and brought it with her when to the room. Joshua was arranging the bed when she entered. She approached him and handed him the t-shirt. “Thanks for the t-shirt,” she said.

  “Wanna keep it? My brother wouldn’t mind that.”

  “No, but thanks for the offer.”

  Joshua moved toward the wardrobe while he said, “In that case, I'll keep it in my stuff. You never know when it may be useful again.”

  “I hope that’s never,” Marina hastened to exclaim.

  The response was somewhat abrupt, which saddened Joshua. He lowered his face and stared at the shirt in his hands as something precious.

  Possessed by guilt, Marina felt that she had to correct things. She took the t-shirt, grabbed his hands and made him sit on bed beside her. She took a good look in the deep of his green eyes, so that he could see that she was telling the truth, and declared, “Joshua, what I meant was that it would be nice not having to wear the t-shirt again for the same reasons as today, although I wouldn’t mind putting it on for other occasions.”

  ‘Other occasions’? That also wasn’t quite what she meant and, said like that, it even seemed that she was suggesting something intimate. She was burying herself deeper and deeper.

  The doorbell interrupted them and Joshua rushed to get up from the mattress. He went to the closet and kept the t-shirt that would be hers whenever she wanted to wear it. Then, he turned to her and noted, “I believe it was your mother. Let’s go then?”

  Marina wanted to say no, since there was still much more to talk about. She knew, however, that her mom would be concerned and thought it was best not to keep her waiting. In response to Joshua’s question, she picked up the sports bag and followed him in silence into the kitchen.

  She didn’t remember having gone through there when they entered, but this was normal as she was in such a deplorable state then. Her appreciation of the kitchen was fast and short, since she was surprised by a panoply of people she didn’t think to be at home: Joshua’s parents and his brother. The boy was just like Joshua. Intrigued, she approached to have a better look at him, but soon she changed her mind, when he became aware of her presence and showed himself a little bothered. Feeling that she had to apologize, she stammered, “Um, sorry. It's just that you look so much like...”

  “Yes, everyone asks us if we’re twins,” stated the boy between a bored sigh. “Hi, I'm Dennis. And you must be Marina.”

  Marina blinked in amazement. “Yes, I am. How do you know my name?” She soon regretted asking this. What a dumb question. Of course Joshua had explained everything to his parents and brother.

  Dennis rolled his eyes in a censure way for her missing something that was quite obvious and grumbled, “Everyone in this house knows who the famous Marina is for ages. Joshua doesn’t talk about anything else.”

  Marina and Joshua blushed severely, while he hastened to order his brother to shut up. That guy had to learn to keep his mouth shut. Embarrassed, Joshua tried to divert the issue, explaining that perhaps the similarities between them were due to the fact that they had such a little difference in age. To end the conversation, he told her that his brother also attended the same school as they, but he was in 10th grade.

  “Really? I’ve never seen you there,” she said to Dennis. “I mean, I may have seen you, but most likely I got you confused with your brother. Sorry about that.”

  “Never mind,” replied Dennis, as he turned back toward the television, since he had already lost too much of his favorite series.

  The mothers were talking animatedly when Marina approached them. Luísa received her with a hug and her first question was, “Are you sure you're really okay? Don’t you want to go to hospital?”

  Marina felt like rolling her eyes, but she didn’t do it. Luísa was her mother, so it was normal that she was worried. Instead of the cold response she had planned, Marina merely assured, “I'm fine. Seriously, it was nothing compared with the fall off the bridge. It was just… a dive
. A bad, horrible, disgusting, terrible dive.”

  “Tomorrow I’m going to talk to the Headmaster. I will allow them to submit you to something like that again. Those canoeing classes will end for sure!”

  Mom spoke with such conviction and anger that Marina even felt pity on the Headmaster. On second thought, she could obliterate him, the idiot psychologist, the Physical Education dictator, and the smug Joana. She was torn from her thoughts by her mother who, after looking at her watch, exclaimed how late it was, therefore it was better to go home. They both thanked the hospitality of the family, and Joshua and his mother escorted them to the exit.

  Luísa had left the work van right at the building’s gate, so they didn’t have to walk far. They got in the vehicle and headed home. The trip to the old building was short as well: in less than three minutes they were home. They were practically neighbors who lived in different extremities of the same avenue.

  While her mother went to the kitchen to take care of dinner, Marina went to her bedroom. As she undressed, she was graced by a delicious aroma: her skin smelled like Joshua’s perfume. She sighed. He had been an amazing friend; she was grateful and felt that she had to tell him that. She hastened to put on the pajamas, sat on the bed and pulled the phone to text, ‘Thanks for everything you did today. I have no words to describe how amazing you were’. She sent the message to Joshua right away. The answer didn’t take long. It said, ‘You don’t need thank me. I would do this and much more for you. I know you would do the same for me.’ ‘I would do much more’ was a suggestive expression, but she knew it was true. Even when he was upset at her, he was a friend she could rely on. Would he still be upset with her? Maybe a little bored, but he seemed willing to give her another chance if she asked him, so why not try? She sent him another text, saying ‘Do you want to try the journey from my home to school tomorrow?’ The answer came almost instantly, ‘OK. I’ll pass by your house at 9. See you tomorrow, beautiful.’

  It was a deal! Happy, she left her room and went to the kitchen.

  The thrust of Joana dominated the supper, overloading Marina in emotional terms. Finally, mom seemed to realize that she was already sick of that issue and mentioned a final comment by way of an upshot, “Luckily Joshua was there to get you out of the water.”

  With no further delay, Marina corrected, “It was Lucas who saved me.”

  “Who?” asked mom, a bit puzzled.

  Marina blinked her eyes, assimilating what she had just said, She repeated the correction, this time completing the sentence to avoid confusions. “Who took me out of the water was Lucas, and later Joshua took me to his house.”

  “Lucas? And who is this?” inquired mom as she lifted one eyebrow in suspicion.

  “Just a guy from my class. He was my partner in canoeing.”

  Her mother frowned. She had never heard her daughter talking of boys and now, from one minute to another, she spoke of two. It was suspicious. What did they mean to her? Since this was a conversation she wasn’t ready for, she changed the theme and talked about was on the news.

  After cleaning up the kitchen, Marina said goodbye to her mother with a good-night kiss and walked into her chambers. She prepared the rucksack and chose the clothes for the following day: some gray pants and a pink belted shirt. With everything ready, she got into bed and turned on the TV.

  Alone in the room, she felt the remnants of the sensuality spell of Joshua broke entirely. Free from his influence, she became conscious that she was worried about Lucas. The last time she saw him, he was going to try to get rid of the dark man. Would he be alright? Could the man have hurt him? She sought the answer in her heart. He was fine; if there was anything wrong with him, she would feel it.

  Reviewing the events in a second, she concluded that the one to blame was Joana, not the weird guy. She could guess that had would be sentenced with an insignificant punishment, after all she was the school’s pretty pet girl. For Marina, Joana wasn’t getting away with it; she was willing to take justice into her own hands. She forced herself to shake off the negative feelings. She had to be sympathetic, pure and… come on! If Joana messed up with her once again, she would give her a mighty beating and that was it. That hex had no right to play with other people’s lives. Tired of thinking about the episode and everyone involved, she decided to put a stone over the subject and to focus on the show that was on.

  TV soon lost interest and Marina fell asleep. That night, she had a strange dream, in which she was back to the hot dry land she had walked before in another fantasy, and Lucas was there, again sitting on black hot rocks. His provocative smile was reduced to a grimace of hate and he seemed shrouded in shadows. Although she trusted him, she feared that he would hurt her, so she moved away in the opposite direction. Some rays of sun began to emerge then in front of her, and from them Joshua burst through, overflowing with happiness and peace. That was the right way to go, she knew that she should run into his arms. However, and against all logic, she stopped and turned toward the demonic Lucas. She was attracted to him with such intensity! He was shrouded in darkness, but what if she could set him free from the clutches of evil? Seeing that she wasn’t moving, not picking any of them, both guys decided to resolve the decision for her. They launched themselves into a terrifying fight, in which the clash of their bodies sounded like thunder rumbling. To prevent them from hurting each other, Marina interposed between them and suffered the blows, falling down to rise no more. She woke up all sweaty and panting. Would that dream be trying to warn her that she would buy a war if she kept insisting on having two friends so different from one another? She hoped not. Reluctant, she turned in bed, curled up in the sheets and counted sheep to fall asleep again.

  The music she had chosen as the phone alarm, one of her favorite, woke her up in the morning. Animated, she got dressed and went to the kitchen to have breakfast. She was enjoying her bowl of cereals when, at 9a.m sharp, someone knocked at the door. She figured it was probably Joshua. She ran into the bedroom to fetch the rucksack and rushed to the door. When she opened it, she saw no one. A scarlet shine on the doorstep made her look down: it was a red rose. She took it and noticed that it had no card or any kind of identification that would allow her to know who had offered it. Two names came to her mind, but she chose not to create false expectations. She went back inside, filled a glass with water, took it to her room and put the rose inside.

  Again someone knocked on the door. Marina rushed to see who it was and this time she found Joshua, who greeted her with a very cheerful tone, “Hello, good-morning! How are you today?”

  “I'm fine,” she replied.

  “Are you ready to go to school?”

  Marina assented, while figuring that she could try to find out if Joshua had been the one offering her the rose with a simple question. She decided to put it to him as she locked the door behind her. “Were you waiting for long?”

  “No, I just got here now. I fell behind a bit, so I had to run here. I was afraid that you were already gone.”

  Possibility number one discarded. Joshua claimed that he had just arrived, so it couldn’t have been him offering the rose. Or he was lying. They had been upset; he might not want to show weakness and, therefore, had left the rose on the step to not have to face her. It was possible. She would think about that later.

  The path they followed was much easier and quicker than the one of the other day, so they got to school twenty minutes later. Joshua was impressed.

  “It takes a lot less time to get to school if we take this way. In my case, I have to travel a greater distance, but it’s easy and the result is a considerable saving on time.”

  “Yep,” agreed Marina. “You have to live here many years to know the secret nooks and corners of the city.”

  Taking the lead, Joshua suggested, “I hope to learn them soon. Maybe you can give me a more complete tour one of these days.”

  Marina wasn’t sure of what to say. If she answered yes, it was like setting a new date with hi
m and she was not ready for such a thing. What if he wanted to schedule a day right away, and later he saw her talking to Lucas and snapped? They would be mad one more time. She chose just to raise her shoulders by way of a ‘maybe’.

  When they were approaching the school’s door, Ana came running towards them. When she got near to Marina, she asked her, “Hey, baby. How are you today?”

  Marina smiled and calmed her, “I'm great. You know how I am: It hurts to fall, but I eventually get up with just a graze on my knee. You said it yourself, remember?”

  Ana bit her lip and muttered, “Ouch! You hurt your knee?”

  Marina gave a small pat on her shoulder and criticized, “Ana, don’t be such a Blonde. It was a metaphor,”

  Ana rolled her eyes and Joshua had a good laugh. Ana didn’t correspond to the blonde cliché associated to dumbness, but that time she had failed to escape from it. Angry, Ana turned to Joshua and put the hands on her hips, so that he would see that she was furious and didn’t think that chuckle very funny.

  Joshua rushed to shut up and put his hands in the air to surrender. Still trying to control his laughter, he said, “Okay, girls, see you in class. I'll look for my brother to give him a notebook he forgot at home. See you soon,” and entered the school lobby, leaving the girls alone.

  With that information, Ana had put the question, “So, the pretty boy has a brother who goes here too, huh?”

  “Yep, and you cannot imagine. I met him yesterday and he looks like Joshua's twin.”

  “Twins? Yum-Yum! Double dessert. That way, you can have this one and I'm taking the other,” stated Ana, rubbing her hands as she conceived a lot of conquering plans.

  On the trip ​​to the lockers, Marina told everything she knew to her friend, who promised to be more attentive, to see if she could find him. She couldn’t lose sight of gorgeous guy number two or she could risk him being ‘fished’ before she got to him.

  The first class of the day was Portuguese. They got into the room and sat down, while the classmates did the same. Joshua went in last, looked at the empty table behind Ana and Marina and bit his lip. Although no one was sitting there, he knew who usually occupied the place and that made him tense.

  “Oh, boy… He’s staring at the table behind us. He must be losing his mind and thinking about not talking to me again.”

  “You think so? He doesn’t seem that kind of guy,” alleged Ana in his defense.

  Marina wasn’t willing to put her hands in fire for that, as she didn’t know what was going on in his brain. Ana also shouldn’t do it for him: she had put hers in the flames for him the other day and quickly got burned when he acted like a child. Joshua stared at Marina, smiled at her kindly, waved his hand and took the place next to his friend. The gesture meant that they were not angry... yet.

  The teacher told them to be quiet and drew everyone's attention to what was scheduled for that lesson. “I know we’ve been studying the language evolution, nevertheless I need to evaluate your writing skills, so over the next hour I want you to write something, such as a tale, a story... a legend of your home town. Go, get to work.”

  On hearing the words ‘legend of your home town’ several voices echoed, murmuring the name of Almira, the enchanted Moorish of the city, whose voice was still heard in the castle on Augusts’ warm nights calling for the knight D. Gonçalo, her beloved. Marina wouldn’t write about that; there were already too many classmates thinking about doing the essay on her. Moreover, she had read the book ‘Almira, the Enchanted Moorish’ and that would certainly influence her. As she was very fond of stories related to magic elements, such as ‘The Mists of Avalon’ or even the story of Merlin she had watched in a movie, she decided to tell some sort of a tale involving magic, gods and curses. And romance. Eugh! It was best not to bet on novels, since they could extend forever. How about telling a story within another? For example, she could imagine two riders in the woods in search of a mare that ran away; when they sat down to rest, one could tell the other about the curse of that part of the woods. It seemed a good idea.

  She opened her notebook on a blank sheet and began to write. She bit the pen cap while she allowed the ideas to flow into her thoughts. She found herself staring at Ana. Her friend appeared to be anxious and out of ideas on what to write. It was one of her problems: Ana took too long to decide on things and often needed help to do so.

  Seeing that no one looked at them, Marina asked, “What’s wrong?”

  Annoyed, Ana confessed, “I don’t know what to write about...”

  Marina thought for a split second and returned, “You can write about many things. Look, imagine a date with Dennis and tell what you would do.”

  Ana’s cheeks went red and she rejected the idea, “That would have too many details that could not be included.”

  “So tell what happened yesterday at the pier. It makes a good drama,” proposed Marina.

  Ana looked at her with a piercing gaze and noted, “That’s a little egocentric, don’t you think so?”

  “Sheesh, you don’t settle yourself for nothing!” groaned Marina. “Tell about the happiest day of your life, or the saddest. It’s up to you. I'll start writing now. We’ll talk later.”

  Marina turned forward and stared at the blank page, while mentally recovering the ideas she had had. She took the pen and began to scribble.

  ‘Vendior awoke Alexis quite early that morning. They had to hurry, because a mare had fled the barn and they had to go look for it. Alexis jumped out of bed and dressed at a glance. In less than a minute, he was at the gate waiting for Vendior.

  “Where do you think it has gone?” he asked to Vendior.

  “To the woods and that's what worries me. It’s a very treacherous place this time of the year.”

  “You'll see that we’ll find it soon and that everything will be well,” rested Alexis.

  The sun didn’t even have time to say 'good-morning' to the plants and already Alexis and Vendior had left; the quest would take a while.

  It was near lunch time when Vendior finally found the track of the animal. They followed it carefully, until Vendior stopped and dismounted. Alexis did the same.

  “I'll have to come back here tomorrow alone,” said the old man.

  Not understanding why he said that, Alexis questioned, “Why?”

  “We’ve reached a section of forest that is quite unstable. Trees fall inexplicably, and out of nowhere, we find shifting sands. Some say that this place is haunted.”

  Alexis’ eyes glowed with curiosity, “Really? Haunted?”

  “Yes. Let's sit down a bit there. If you want, I can tell you why they say it is haunted.”

  The boy didn’t take long to reply, “I’d like that very much.”

  Both sat in the shade of a tree and Vendior began the short narrative. According to what he had heard, that part of the woods had been a bid from Lirium, the goddess of flowers and trees. All mortals could go for long walks in it without any danger. In return, the goddess asked mortals only not to enter a certain part of the forest - which corresponded to the one where Vendior and Alexis were about to enter - and not to gather the beautiful lilies that grew there in her honor.

  One day, an innocent young couple decided to take a stroll through the woods, but they lost track of where they were and entered the banned site. As if it wasn’t enough, seeing them as beautiful as his lover, the boy couldn't resist picking a huge bouquet of lilies for his girlfriend. Angry with such an offence, the goddess decided to punish them by taking the boy’s life. The sky darkened, flowers were all replaced by thorns. Instead of short grass, there were now high weeds that interfered with visibility and orientation. All the birds left and never again dared to sing near the spot. The trees became old, dry and lifeless, and their leaves, once green backs, withered and fell.

  The young girl wept over the corpse of her love three days and three nights, until her body and soul couldn’t resist any more, and with grief, she died.

  Some pe
ople said that the lilies still bloomed in that place in the woods, but who dared to try to reach them, would suffer the wrath of the goddess: who got in, never came out. As for the lovers, it was said that the ghost of the girl lived in the forest. It cried every Winter over the death of her beloved and apologized to the goddess for their outrage and boldness. She cried so hard, that the woods now resembled a bog with a treacherous mire.

  That said, Vendior got up and remounted the horse.

  “It’s due to all this that I'll be back tomorrow.”

  “But it’s just a story. I don’t mind going into the woods to look for the mare,” argued Alexis.

  Vendior refused, “No, forget about it.”

  Alexis shrugged, also mounted his horse and returned home. Legend or real, the story of the curse was interesting and he would not forget it.’

  It wasn’t a long story, but if she started to develop the romance of two inconsequential lovers, she would never get out of there. When she began to write, it was difficult to stop, because her imagination swarmed. It was better to stop there or that hour would be insufficient to write what she wanted.

  The bell rang ten minutes later. Marina asked Ana for her sheet to deliver both to the teacher and found that she had written only half a page. Ana shrugged and said that she wasn’t inspired. Marina delivered the pages to the teacher and then returned to her place to pack up her stuff. They rushed to the bar, for Ana to eat something and Marina to buy the meal ticket for the next day.

  Within minutes before being called to Geography lesson by the bell (damned when it rang for entry, but blessed when announcing the exit), they began to head to the room. At the door of the Executive Board, the girls found Marina’s mother. They knew quite well what she was doing there.

  “Are you going in now, mom?” questioned Marina.

  “Yes. I think this will take a while, because I do not intend to pity them when they didn’t have pity on you. Probably, when you get out of the next class I will be here with news.”

  “Okay. When I get out, I’ll pass by here to ask how it went.”

  Marina and Ana went to Geography class. Marina knew that her mom would attack the Headmaster as a beast, and it was well-done for him. Who told him to follow the advice of an ex-traumatized teacher, who seemed to have a screw missing, and to listen to a psychologist who understood zero of Psychology?

  Geography class seemed to take forever. Marina knew that someone was trying to pass ideas of agriculture, but she didn’t memorize anything. She copied the notes from the blackboard and reinforced them with an indication on the book pages she should consult later.

  As soon as she heard the bell, Marina threw everything into the backpack and ran to the Headmaster’s office. She was anxious to hear about what had happened, and, particularly, what consequences would fall on her. Her mother hadn’t left the room yet and the door of the office remained closed. She still had to wait. Trying to control her nerves, she took a few steps from one side to another.

  Shortly after, the door opened and her mother came out with an exhausted air. Impatient, Marina shot, “What happened in there?”

  “An authentic battlefield with many casualties along the way, but everything is solved,” sighed mom.

  “And what did they decided?” inquired Marina, squeezing her own hands in a nervous gesture.

  “Briefly, all of them apologized, but I required more than that. Thus, the Executive Board decided to put an immediate end to the canoeing lessons. You have a ten in that sport’s evaluation and an investigation into the teacher’s actions will be opened.”

  “Really? The coach will be mad when he finds out about that…” said Marina, as she shook her fingers as if she had got burned.

  “As for the boys who helped you,” continued mom, “they’ll have an extra point in their evaluation. Joana’s punishment will be decided by the end of the day at a teachers meeting.”

  It was too much data at once to process; Marina had to digest it little by little. She was happy with the fact of not having to do canoeing any more, and it was great that the boys were rewarded. Having a ten in that sport was excellent. As for the opening of an investigation on the professor’s behavior, it was a common procedure and, in most cases, it ended up in nothing. She only hoped that the teacher wouldn’t start to pick up on her to avenge himself. As for Joana, she would have to wait to find out which punishment would be decided for her, though she had no hope that it would be harsh.

  “Before I forget, the Physical Education teacher must apologize to you in the next class. I really must go now, I'm way behind. Oh, and you, too. It’s already ringing,” noted mom.

  Marina had spent most recess standing in front of the Executive Board office, waiting for news, and the time had flown. With no choice, she said goodbye to her mom and headed to the locker to exchange books. From there, she headed to the classroom, where Joshua and Ana were waiting to know the outcome of the meeting. Before the teacher came, Marina told them everything quite briefly.

  “Cool, Joshua, you'll have one extra point in your evaluation,” congratulated Ana, as she applied a mighty pat on his back that made him cough.

  Recovered from the effects of Ana’s gesture, he replied, “Yes, that's good, but I didn’t do it expecting something in return. I did it to help Marina.”

  “We know that, but if you’re rewarded, all the better,” asserted Ana as she tried to repeat the slap, but this time without success, because the boy managed to escape out of her reach.

  The History teacher went into the room and the students followed him.

  Instead of relieved with the decisions made by the Headmaster, Marina felt apprehensive. She feared reprisals, in particular from the Physical Education teacher. As for Joana, she could take her - she was insignificant. She tried to focus on the lesson. The professor had launched into a report of historical data that could be considered a major annoyance, if it wasn’t for the fact that he explained to them in such an enthusiastic and engaging way. Marina observed him: he was a curious figure, a little over his 50’s. He was short, had a protruding belly, and from his nose hung a pair of glasses that he removed occasionally during his explanations. He was going bald on top of his head, but the bottom had abundant wavy hair. He dressed in a traditional way; somehow, he reminded her of a grandpa. However, his look of beloved grandfather deceived: for him, everything had its time and place. When it was time to tell jokes, they did it; but if it was time to work and the class didn’t let him, he got angry, shouted out loud for them to be quiet, and they had to do what he said or they were in dire straits. That was the mythical teacher Adelino.

  Five minutes before the end of class, the teacher made an announcement. “As you know, I quite appreciate the local history. Therefore, the next class we’re going to visit the archaeological crypt in the castle. Be there 10 minutes before the regular beginning of class, to count down those minutes at the end for getting back to school. Do not forget this. I’ll call your names to find out who is missing.”

  A buzz invaded the classroom. Marina had already heard of the crypt, but she hadn’t visited it. For someone of her age, with no ambition to be a historian or an archaeologist, visiting the crypt wasn’t exactly the first option in her list of activities.

  With the lesson officially complete, students ran for the exit almost in a stampede. In the hallway, Joshua informed Marina and Ana that he was going home for lunch.

  “How couldn’t you be in such great shape? You walk the way to school twice,” said Ana, as she winked her eye by way of approval. He could do that journey as many times as he wanted; she didn’t complain of the beautiful result, she even supported him.

  Joshua admitted that it was tiring to do such climb and laughed at Ana’s comment, that was also a compliment. If he was in good shape, it meant that he didn’t look that bad and, by consequence, would have a good chance of success among females. More important, perhaps this feature would impress a certain someone... but for that, she
would have to be a girl like the others, and she was not, without a doubt.