His hands were trembling when he held her, as if the warmth of his body was hiding a volcano of anxiety beneath it.
Then he pushed her lightly by the shoulders, held her tightly, and said in a trembling voice:
"Where were you? I was worried about you... Why did you run off suddenly? What happened?"
Lavinia raised an eyebrow, pretending to be indifferent:
"You ask too many questions. I just saw someone I know, that's all."
He looked at her for a few seconds, then smiled sarcastically:
"Ah, arrogant as always... You went to that new guy, didn't you?"
She stifled a sudden gasp and screamed inside:
"husbaaa!" "I almost exposed myself"!"
"The new guy? And why would I go to him anyway?! Are you insane?!"
He said, squinting at her: "Mira said you were running after him..."
Lavinia muttered as she averted her gaze:
"Ah, damn... And why would I run after him anyway?!"
They both turned to leave, but she suddenly stopped, looked back with a hint of shyness, and said:
"Thank you... for worrying about me."
Silence.
The scene was quiet and still, yet it felt like something out of a movie... Lavinia's smile sparkled in Mikel's eyes, who seemed utterly captivated by her...
Then he lowered his head, hiding his embarrassment, and said:
"Yeah... yeah. I worry about you because you're... the troublemaker."
She smiled and said softly, "Idiot."
He replied in a low voice as he walked away, "Fool."
"Nooo, you're the idiot."
"No, you're the fool."
When they each reached their front doors, they turned to look at one another, laughing silently, as if they both knew this day would remain a small memory in their hearts.
After that exhausting exchange, Lavinia entered her room and took the album out of her bag.
She sat on her bed and flipped through the photos.
And then… she froze.
Strange, new photos — of her — in that abandoned inn!
"Impossible… how? New pictures appeared out of nowhere!"
But what puzzled her even more…
The old man wasn't in any of the photos.
She sighed.
"Maybe… I'll ask him about this later."
The next day began with physics class.
The lab, the chemical smell, and the strict teacher… the worst combination.
And unfortunately, her lab partner was… Rocky.
"Why today of all days?!"
She was flustered, her hands trembling as she tried to pour the substance according to the teacher's instructions.
Rocky said with a calm smile:
"Relax, why are you so tense?"
Suddenly, he moved his hand toward hers to hold the flask she was holding — but what made Lavinia lose control was that their hands touched…
Without realizing it, she quickly pulled her hand away, which caused some of the liquid to spill over the sulfur…
Resulting in a small explosion — the colored liquid splattered across the table, and smoke began to rise.
Rocky quickly pulled her toward him, and she almost tripped because of it.
"Oh my God! We exploded!"
The students quickly gathered around them, watching the mess they had made.
Lavinia's eyes were wide as saucers as she clung to Rocky.
Rocky looked at her with concern and asked, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
"I'm fine, but the lab looks like a scene from a horror movie!"
The teacher entered, eyes blazing, and started shouting:
"What is this?! Who did this?!"
Lavinia raised her hands as usual and said:
"It's not our fault, it's your explosive materials! Who teaches students with such chemicals? Is this a class or a demolition lab?!"
The students burst out laughing… even Rocky laughed for the first time.
But the teacher wasn't joking.
"You will be punished by cleaning the lab… alone!"
She shouted, "Impossible! This is against human rights!"
At the end of the day, everyone was busy.
Mikel was at basketball practice — I don't know what's so fun about an orange ball…
And without even asking, I knew Mira was with her friends cheering for Mikel…
As for Lavinia, she stood in the lab, surrounded by scattered tools, sighing in frustration with both hands on her face. "Damn it, how am I supposed to clean all this by myself…"
"This is my punishment for trying to be a good student?!"
Then… Rocky appeared out of nowhere, suddenly.
"Can I help you?"
She turned to him quickly, as if she had seen an angel, and cried out dramatically with joy:
"Finally! Someone wonderful offered to help me! You… you're my savior!"
He smiled softly and said, "I was part of this mess too, so I should help."
They began working together.
While cleaning, they talked.
Rocky told her about his old school and his friends. He seemed truly happy as he shared stories about his life before coming to this school...
Without realizing it, she asked curiously, "Rocky, why did you transfer to this school?"
He looked surprised, then avoided answering.
"Um… about that, it's not important. You don't need to know."
She replied shyly, "Hahaha, I'm really sorry. I just thought you loved your old school… sorry if I went too far."
"I'm sorry for making you feel awkward. It's just that I don't want to remember that…"
To break the tense atmosphere, Lavinia started talking about her friends here and the things she liked…
Their laughter filled the room, and they found themselves sharing many things in common.
"Maybe… he's not that bad after all."
When they finished, Lavinia ran at full speed to the classroom to grab her purse. The room was empty… completely quiet.
Just as she was about to take her bag, she heard footsteps approaching the classroom…
It was Mira… and her friends.
"Oh no, they're coming!"
She hid under the teacher's desk and whispered:
"Let me be mischievous just this once, just to scare them."
Lavinia was used to this kind of childish behavior with Mira on many occasions…
But suddenly…
The girls entered the room. Mira sat at her desk, crossing her legs, and said:
"Ah… Mikel is such a great guy. I don't know why he keeps hanging out with that annoying giraffe all the time!"
Lavinia froze as she listened.
"I'm… a giraffe… huh, that's my nickname, isn't it? Maybe she's joking?"
Her heart pounded.
Mira continued, "Yeah, I hate her. She's annoying and stupid. I don't know how much longer I'll have to put up with her… her and her nonsense…"
The girls' laughter mixed with the vibrations of anger echoing in Lavinia's head.
"Mira… my friend… said that about me…?"
But she stayed under the desk, silent, listening to their mockery and laughter about her…