The bus arrived in their city, and the first one they dropped off at home was Noemí. She woke up when they arrived, stood up from her seat, said goodbye to the boys before getting off the bus and walking inside her house.
The bus moved forward again. Jack rested his arms on the back of Dan's seat and leaned forward.
—Are you blushing?
Dan's face turned as red as a tomato and he started stammering.
—Ah, W-what? N-no. I d-don't know what you're talking about. Y-you made it up—He looked away to avoid eye contact.
—Uh-huh.
Dan's face returned to its normal color and he turned his head toward Jack.
—Shut up. Dead people and losers don't talk.
Jack grabbed him by his shirt and started shaking him.
—Ow! How much longer are you going to keep that up?!—he exclaimed, annoyed.
—Ow ow ow ow. Okay, let go of me!
The teacher gave each of them a tap on the head.
—Both of you, be quiet now!
—Ouch!
—That hurt!
—Always nothing but trouble with you two! Why can't you be calm like Noemí?!
Jack looked at Dan.
—Did you blush again just hearing her name?
—No...
The two boys arrived home and went to sleep, ending the day.
The next day, Noemí got to high school and walked down the hall toward her classroom.
As she turned a corner, a large crowd of girls was huddled together, surrounding someone.
Noemí kept walking but tried to see who they were surrounding; when she finally saw, she realized it was Dan, which surprised her greatly.
Dan looked nervous and uncomfortable with so many girls around him.
—Hey Dan! Is it true you won the tournament?!
—Ah, yeah...
—You're amazing!
—Will you go out with me?!
—No, better with me!
—No, with me!
—Let's go on a date!
—Ah, wait. My personal space—He lifted his gaze and saw Noemí, who was still watching him with an unreadable expression.—Noemí...
She kept walking and disappeared down the hall.
—Damn Jack! Don't tell me you let me win because you knew this would happen!—Dan thought.
When Noemí was alone in the hall, she looked slightly down at the floor, laced her fingers together and began fidgeting them, feeling somewhat uneasy.
She didn't know why, but... She felt something she did not like.
When the bell rang to start classes, Dan finally managed to get away from the crowd and entered his classroom.
He closed the classroom door and sighed in relief.
—Finally...
—Look who's here, the tournament winner—Brandon said.
The whole room turned to look at Dan and started clapping.
—Congratulations, Dan.
—You did great.
Dan smiled proudly.
—Of course I did. Jack or anyone else can't beat me.
Josias pulled out a notebook and updated his scoreboard.
—Right. So now it's five for Jack and one for Dan.
Dan's pride crumbled.
—Why does everyone have to remind me of that...
Jonathan laughed.
—Alright, alright, let's give Dan a break from all the praise.
—Thanks.
Dan walked toward his seat, but his friends pulled him over to them.
Brandon whispered in his ear.
—But later you're going to tell us everything that happened with Noemí on that trip.
—You guys never change.
In Noemí's classroom, Sofía and Emily walked over to her, as she sat in her usual seat at the back of the room.
—Hi, Noemí—Emily said.
The two sat down in the empty seats beside her, but Sofía immediately narrowed her eyes.
—Hmm...
—Is something wrong, Sofía?—Emily asked.
—I sense something different about Noemí, something I've never seen in her before. Something new.
—Ooh! What is it?! What is it?!
Sofía leaned closer to Noemí's face; Noemí blushed deeply at the closeness.
—Hmm... It's something... Something like...
Suddenly the classroom door swung open and the literature teacher walked in, looking upset.
—Everyone to your seats! I am not in the mood today!
—Uh-oh, her boyfriend dumped her—Emily whispered.
Sofía and Emily had no choice but to drop the conversation and go back to their seats.
Sofía sat down but turned around, narrowing her eyes again as she watched Noemí.
Noemí was confused, but not by Sofía's strange behavior—by that feeling inside her, the very one she and her friend had been trying to figure out.
Classes went by as usual. Josias was assigned to clean the classroom, so he stayed at school a little longer.
After putting the last chairs in place, he walked out of the room, closed the door and headed down the hall.
He was all alone in the corridor, until a nearby office door opened and a girl stepped out carrying a large stack of papers—it was Emily.
Both were surprised to see each other there.
—Josias...
—Emily!