LUCAS PONTES' POINT OF VIEW
"...Besides being contraceptive methods, they also prevent the transmission of STDs and STIs," the elderly woman, her voice hoarse from the countless cigarettes she smokes during breaks, only made me even sleepier.
Time seemed to run in slow motion as I listened to Mrs. Eliza lecturing about the importance of contraceptives. I was already getting tired of hearing about condoms this, IUDs that.
I cover my mouth with my hand, preventing the yawn from being heard. I lay my head on the table and close my eyes, the teacher's voice getting lower as sleep and tiredness begin to overcome me.
Sleep begins to win, until someone completely ruins my precious moment, "Haven't you been sleeping well at night, Mr. Lucas?" A hoarse and unbearable voice pulls me from my relaxing moment. I look at her sideways, without taking my head off the table, to see the lecturer beside me with a mocking look.
"Forgive me, Miss Eliza, I haven't been sleeping very well these days," I raise my head to look her in the eyes with an indifferent expression. "Things have been a bit complicated lately, I hope you understand."
She turned her back and said, "I hope this doesn't happen again during my classes. Consider yourself warned."
Without even giving myself the luxury of answering the old woman, I settled back in my chair, rocking back and forth while watching her return to the front of the room. I look at the clock above the blackboard with various notes, it was 11:40, twenty more minutes of waiting and the class would be over. And so I did, I waited.
While I lost myself in my thoughts, time passed, fortunately I wasn't the only one to receive one of Mrs. Eliza's famous "Warnings". Sitting to my right was John, arguing with Mrs. Chimney who held his cell phone in her hands, looking at him with a severe expression. Holding back laughter at my friend for having his cell phone confiscated, I felt a little sorry for him; having your cell phone confiscated by Eliza was the same as asking to be robbed, the old woman would only return it with a guardian's signature, and in John's case, well...
"I-I was just checking the time," he said in a stutter while firmly holding onto the cell phone. I felt somewhat bad for him, not for using his cell phone during the grumpy Eliza's lecture, but because he probably wouldn't see that cell phone again.
"You could very well have looked at the wall clock above the blackboard," taking the cell phone from his hand, she puts it in her small leather bag that she always carries with a symbol written 'L' and 'V' superimposed on it. "Or are you going to tell me that young people nowadays don't know how to tell time on a conventional clock? What a shame..."
My blood boils a little. Of course I know how to tell time on an analog clock. I let out a long sigh and adjust myself in the chair, some other students laugh quietly at my friend while others remain silent, secretly recording the scene with their cell phones. Bunch of hypocritical fakes, I spit mentally.
Ignoring Mrs. Eliza scolding the rest of the room for disrupting her lecture, I direct my attention to the window beside me, and observe the window next door – and the court beyond. I was never a big fan of biology, so the smoking teacher's lecture was my last responsibility.
The court is full, luckily I can make out a small black dot in the middle of the crowd of other dots wearing the school's white and blue uniform, Mateus. Looking at the court reminds me of a bet I made with him before the game started; if his team wins, I have to pay him 20 dollars, otherwise he has to pay me. I hope he loses.
MATEUS RODRIGUES' POINT OF VIEW
I take a running start towards the net and jump with everything I have. Already in the air, I see the ball that was set for me, the moment, the angle, everything perfect for this moment. Like a whip in the air, my spike explodes on the volleyball, the loud sound and the speed of the ball as it hits the left corner of the court behind the libero. I couldn't see if it was in or out of bounds.
I land on my feet and turn to the referee, breathing heavily, sweat dripping down my face, the set almost tied, it was the decisive point. With a wave of his hand and a whistle, it was a point! "Yes!" I shout with excitement and turn to my team who are ecstatic.
"Good one, Mateus!" Brian approaches, raising his hand for a high five, which I genuinely accept, slapping his hand in celebration. "If you play like this in the State Championship, I'm sure the podium will be ours," I give a sincere smile, the Championship was getting closer and closer, I can't believe it's already October, everyone is looking forward to the competition day in December.
"Definitely, Brian," someone says, patting me on the back, resting their hand on my shoulder. I look to the side to see Thiago, our libero, his brown hair falls over his shoulder and his green eyes travel between me and the rest of the team. "I feel like we're getting closer and closer to our goal."
The whole team gathered around me, congratulations and hugs celebrating our victory were given, besides, of course, a lot of laughter.
"Class is almost over," said the libero, looking at his cell phone while putting his backpack on his back. "I'm going first, see you guys tomorrow."
"Bye 'Thiagow'," I say goodbye to the libero, calling him by his nickname.
"See you guys, I'm leaving too, my 'girl' is waiting for me at home," Brian also said goodbye as he went to get his black helmet with pink details.
The rest also say goodbye to each other and go their own way, picking up their belongings left beside the court. I go along and pick up my backpack and put it on my shoulder, not before grabbing my cell phone and seeing a message from Lucas.
I unlock my cell phone and open the message: "Why did you have to win? Because of you I lost the bet." followed by a sticker of a hand showing a specific finger.
I let out a genuine laugh as I reply to the message: "You can give me the money now before I forget."
After my message, a short time later, a notification from my bank, "Transfer of 20 dollars received from Lucas Pontes..." I smile and put my cell phone in my pocket, happy to have won the bet.
As I walked out of the court, the loud and noisy school bell rang, I covered my ears with my hand to muffle some of the sound of the alarm ringing incessantly for a few minutes. When it finally stopped, the sound of countless hurried footsteps and conversations that seemed to compete with each other to be the loudest filled the air.
Walking a little ahead of the crowd reaching me, I arrive at the school gate and lean against one of the walls outside the school. I chuckle seeing the doorman struggling to handle so many hurried and hungry students wanting to get out of there.
I remain looking at the crowd when the vibration of my cell phone catches my attention for a message from a group I'm part of along with three other people, Lucas, John, and Mario.
Mario: "What do you guys think about us going to the arcade after class?"
Lucas: "I don't see a problem, it'll be good to distract ourselves a bit before the tests start."
Mario: "You're right, and you John and Mateus? What do you think?"
Lucas: "John doesn't have his cell phone, Mrs. Steam Train took it from him. But I can ask him."
Mario: "And you Mateus?"
Reading the conversations, somewhat without reaction, I think for a moment. It shouldn't be a problem if I'm a little late for lunch, my mom should understand if I tell her I'm going to stop by the arcade first.
Before sending anything in the group, I send a message to my mother: "Good afternoon Mom, today I'm going to the arcade with my friends, you can have lunch without me." sent.
A few minutes later I receive a reply: "Okay my angel, be careful okay, mommy loves you very much." Followed by several heart and kiss emojis.
I feel a warmth in my heart, giving a silly smile to my cell phone screen, I reply: "Thank you mom, I love you too."
Back in the group, the messages had already piled up a lot, I quickly read through them so I wouldn't be lost. With my quick read, I managed to understand that everyone had already agreed to go, Lucas had asked John and he had agreed, Mario was making fun of John, only my confirmation was missing.
Back to the group: "I'm in!" I reply excitedly followed by some emojis and stickers. Everyone got excited for no apparent reason, making me let out a genuine laugh. Soon after my message, Mario replies passing on the location of the arcade and some landmarks.
"AHHH!" I shout startled, turning around quickly to see a person with hair as black as night laughing at my face. "You'll get yours, John."
"Ha ha ha ha," he continues laughing at my face, getting on my nerves. "You should have seen your face, it was hilarious! Did you record it, Lucas?"
"Got it all." the blonde held his cell phone pointing at me.
"You can delete that right now," I approach him, getting face to face with him.
"Or...?" he laughs, getting even closer to me, his blonde hair falling over his face and shoulder as he smirks. "It's what I deserve for losing the bet."
"You... bastard," I spit out, trying to snatch my cell phone from his hand, but he just raises his arm up, it's unfair that he's over 6'3" and I'm only 5'8". I try to jump to reach it, but it's no use, the two of them laugh at my futile attempt, and eventually I give up. "Fine, keep the video, but know that you'll pay for this."
"Well, shall we go to the arcade?" John takes the lead, walking down the sidewalk towards the arcade, and the two of us start following him.
"What about Mario?" I ask, stopping my step making the other two stop as well, looking around I search for him. "Isn't he coming with us?"
A short person, dark-haired with a shaved head, the only difficulty would be finding him in the middle of the crowd of students, but after a while I see a small figure slithering through the students.
"There he is," I point to someone approaching from a distance.
"Wait for me," the dark-haired boy says, quickening his pace towards us.
We wait for him, a few minutes pass and soon we are all gathered, Lucas remains calm as always, Mario was panting a little, his forehead shining because of sweat and John still took the lead in the walk. We followed him.
The conversation flowed naturally in our group, after all, we had been friends since our first year of high school which made things easier for us.
John in front pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
"Anyone want one?" The smell of cigarette smoke wafted towards me.
"No, I'll pass," the dark-haired boy raises his hand in refusal.
"Me neither," I do the same as Mario, but with my hand over my nose because of the smell. "Just blow the smoke away from me, I don't want to stink of cigarettes because of you."
"Alright, Mr. Delicacy," he jokes, and I just cross my arms.
"Not delicacy, I just don't like the smell," I retorted.
"De-li-ca-cy, a delicate princess," laughing loudly as he puts a cigarette in his mouth, I just let out a sigh and a small smile.
"Did you forget about me, John?" Lucas approaches him with his arms crossed while looking at the pack.
"You want one?" John holds out the pack, raising a cigarette.
"No," cutting him off dryly while letting out a laugh, he backs away a little.
"Then why did you ask if you weren't going to take one?" muttering, he puts the pack back in his pocket along with the lighter.
"Out of politeness, what would it have cost you to offer me one?" Lucas pouts behind John, provoking him, and I let out a low laugh, Mario looks at me and also laughs a little. "Would it have cost you?"
"Whatever," clicking his tongue, the smoker quickens his pace. We all speed up too, not wanting to be left behind.
"You're going to end up like Mrs. Tobacco if you keep this up," Lucas provokes, making me hold back my laughter, but the muffled laugh comes out anyway, turning into a full-blown guffaw.
"Look, we're almost there," completely ignoring Lucas's teasing and my laughter, John points to the arcade at the end of the street that Mario had mentioned, 'Hall of Arcades' was its name. "Shall we?"
"Let's go!" like a chorus in unison, the three of us spoke practically at the same time as we walked towards the arcade.
John took one last drag from his cigarette before throwing the butt on the ground and stepping on it. We were already in front of the glass door of the arcade, there were few people inside, either because of the time or because it wasn't a very well-known place.
Mario takes the lead now, all of us around him, eager, I was already imagining which games to play inside, maybe a Street Fighter 2 or even Mortal Kombat. Whether I liked it or not, I was a fan of fighting games, no matter which one it was.
"But what is that?!" John's shout catches our attention.
But unlike his almost guttural scream, something else startles me even more; on the ground below us, a circle forms, various symbols adorning it, outlining its shape. And along with it, a strong light threatened to blind me if I didn't close my eyes, but a brightness still remained, even with my eyelids shut.
"T-this is a prank, isn't it?!" I hear Mario's voice falter as he asks, I really hope it is and not an attack by whoever.
"WHAT THE FUCK," a guttural scream from John. "MY EYES!"
I want to see, but the light prevents me from opening my eyes, I try to force myself, but only a burning sensation in my retina is enough for me to give up on the idea. I try to walk forward, but my body gives way and I kneel down, it was as if I was trying to lift a car submerged in a pool of honey – or any other similar liquid.
My breathing is irregular, unable to see or even move, anxiety took over, increasingly hoping for it to pass. The others are surely in the same situation as me.
The strong light began to cease, little by little giving way to total darkness, I knew it was just my eyes closed, still trying to get used to the glare. Little by little my eyes got used to it and I forced myself to open them, a radiant burning still forced me to keep them closed, tears of pain fell from my eyes and splashed on my leg, wetting my pants.
My eyes adjusted, and slowly I began to open them. The more I opened them, the more dumbfounded I became, this definitely had to be a prank, for sure.
I stuttered as my mind tried to process wherever I was, rustic walls brushed with smooth white marble, various also white pillars intricately detailed with golden designs at their bases. The sight of what resembled the interior of a palace or castle took the air out of my lungs. The various windows that followed both to my left and to my right gave an orange hue to the room I was in because of the sun.
The ceiling with several chandeliers that contained bluish stones that emanated light gave the place as a whole a... cozy air? For a moment I had forgotten about my friends, like a reflex, I look around. They were here with me, their reactions so exaggerated that anyone watching from afar might imagine they were fake, but I knew they weren't, after all, I'm like that too.
Below me, a large red carpet stretched both behind me and in front of me, making my eyes follow it forward, it went up a staircase that led to an exuberant vivid mahogany throne with several armored people beside it, along with others in white robes holding what I would say were staffs or wands.
Sitting on the throne was a woman, she appeared to be a little older than me, blonde hair that seemed to shimmer with the orange tone radiating from the windows, her blue eyes like a crystal-clear river seemed to call me. Her clothing appeared to be of the highest class, a navy blue dress covered her body as she stared at us from afar.
And behind the throne, a stained-glass window, the word 'magnificent' seemed insufficient to describe what I saw, I simply couldn't think of any word adequate enough to refer to the work of art. What resembled a young man, with his long brown hair and beard, he wore a white robe that covered his entire body. Holding in his hand a staff with a blue stone at the tip, and at the other end of the stained glass was what appeared to be beasts, I couldn't distinguish any similar animal, the creature seemed to have two large twisted horns, its features resembled a pig with a human, and its humanoid body was furry with claws on its hands and feet. She was astonished by the staff, by the man.
Whispers coming from the direction of the throne pulled me from my trance, they were too low for me to discern anything, but loud enough not to go unnoticed. The woman then raised her hand and everything suddenly went silent.
Rising from the throne, she continued walking towards us, each step she took was enough to make any man or woman lose their breath, her face perfectly sculpted, her lips red, and with a star-shaped earring in both ears.
The sound of her footsteps now echoed in the silent hall until she stopped a few feet away from us. She knelt on one knee, getting face to face with us, I could feel all of our hearts beating as if they were going to tear through our chests, our breathing heavy, but none of us could take our eyes off her. She smiled.
"Welcome to our world, hero."