The giant face seemed to hesitate over the girl's reaction and looked at the teacher with a hint of suspicion.

According to the giant head, Achilles was a teacher, and his response should have been to help a struggling student, but he remained still, ignoring Sofia's pleas.

The other boy seemed to be observing everything in silence and with some fear, which appeared to be a typical reaction for a child. However, the bookshelf remembered that this boy had violently kicked the principal's office door alongside the girl, so it also doubted him.

Then, Adam's voice broke the awkward silence:

—Teacher, what are the rules of this bookshelf?

Both Achilles and Sofia looked at him as if he had asked something absurd.

—You're not a kid either! No child cares about that!—The wooden face shouted angrily.

Adam got angry at the shout and responded even louder:

—Yes, I am! I'm 10 years old, you old grump! You're a bad bookshelf, and you don't follow your rules! We should ignore it, let's go, Sofia! This giant face is just trying to deceive us!

The wooden monocle trembled with the insolence of the youngster, but the bookshelf only looked at Adam with doubt. This was indeed the reaction of a child, innocent and trying to help his friend, so the wooden face hesitated. More importantly, to the giant face, the boy seemed to have some signs of being a good person, while the girl did not, making the giant face cautious in making a decision about the boy.

With many doubts about how to act, the bookshelf decided to ignore the boy for the moment. The giant head looked at Achilles and said in a refined voice:

—You don't deserve to be a teacher in my school; none of your students like you!

—No, no, no, no, and no!—Achilles replied, incredulous that this was happening to him. To him, this bookshelf was a school myth—My students love me, I swear they do! Right, Sofia?

—I don't like him, he's mean!—Sofia said childishly, using Achilles as bait to calm the bookshelf—He made me kick the principal's office door; if I didn't, I would have never learned to read. I just wanted to continue my studies!

The giant face seemed to have suspicions and stared intently at Sofia. The giant face's monocle noticed that when condemning Achilles, the dark circles around Sofia's eyes seemed to get slightly darker.

—Children are born pure...—Said the giant face in a calm and refined voice—No 12-year-old child would commit the atrocities necessary to have bad karma, and for that reason: you are expelled from my school!

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*Thud* Upon hearing the verdict, Achilles fainted at the entrance to the teachers' room, falling abruptly to the ground.

Meanwhile, Adam was petrified, trembling with fear. The giant face could expel him too! Just like Sofia, the face had told him he wasn't a real child.

Sofia stood still but turned to see Adam trembling and bewildered by the situation. She wanted to say something to him, but then she began clutching her stomach in pain and fell to the ground. Her white robe ripped, and Adam could see what seemed to be a book trying to emerge from Sofia's belly.

*Ahhhh!* Sofia screamed with force as a book fought its way out of her, tearing a hole in her stomach. In great pain, she looked at her torn abdomen, blood constantly pouring out along with some guts.

—Help me!—Sofia cried out in agony, locking eyes with Adam— Help me, Adam! Stop her! I beg you, please! Please...

*Crash, crash, crash* A yellow book emerged from Sofia's stomach, creating a hole in her belly. In great pain, the girl looked at her torn stomach and the blood constantly oozing out along with some intestines.

Suddenly, the yellow book opened on its own, revealing two completely blank pages.

*Puff* Following that, Sofia's body burst like a bubble, leaving no bones or organs, and the blood spilled on the floor from the explosion turned into black ink.

Immediately, the ink flew onto the book's pages, and the book started flipping its pages on its own, using the ink to inscribe until it formed an identical book to the one Adam had chosen.

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I remember crying at the beginning when I saw Sofia suffering on the floor, but when I witnessed Sofia burst and the blood splattered on part of my body, I turned around and ignored that giant wooden face.

I recall the giant head opening its mouth to say something I could never remember, but I was already running when it spoke, and I started running with all my might. I didn't ask for help; I just ran and ran through those infernal hallways that seemed endless and gigantic.

Several times, the giant face reappeared in front of me to say something, but I was in a trance, running endlessly through those twisting corridors, so I never knew what it said.

Finally, I reached the classroom. I opened the door (I don't think I bothered to close it). I remember hiding under the desk, hands on my head, concealing myself with the padding of the shoebox I had left in the classroom.

I realized that it didn't cover me completely, and the giant head seemed to be forming in the classroom.

I will never forget the desperation that gripped me. I decided to tuck my whole body into my white robe and curled up under the desk, looking down at the floor. That's how I spent the entire day—no crying, no noise—just a white ball huddled under a wooden desk in the school classroom.

I don't know how much time passed (I suppose it was hours). But I remember hearing someone open the wooden door and searching for me for a long time, calling me by name, but I was a white ball (not Adam) at that moment.

Then he found me and said something (I don't recall), but I remember it was Cesar, and he gave me an edible leaf that tasted really good.