After her encounter with the cinanthrope, Sofia went home and tried to get some sleep. However, she laid wide awake in her bed until the early hours of the morning. A lot of questions had been running through her head, and the only conclusion she could come up with was that she wanted to help him, and not just from the hunters. She wanted to let him know that he was not alone, that there were others like him, and that she was willing to be by his side if he would let her come close. It was true that what she desired most was a normal life, away from the supernatural world, but she didn't have the heart to turn her back on him after how sad and lonely he seemed to be.
That's why she was so tired that morning when she got to class, and on top of that first period was Spanish history. They were learning about the 19th century, a period that was exciting if they taught her about the Empecinado, the 3rd of May uprisings and Pepe Botella. Unfortunately the teacher, a forty-something guy with a gray beard, square glasses and who always wore a Hawaiian-styled shirt, preferred to go over all the articles of the many constitutions that emerged during that time. That the man spoke in a sleep-inducing monotone voice didn't help either. Sofia was having trouble keeping her eyes open, and it had only been five minutes since the start of class.
“And during the signing of the Constitution of 1812, which they called the PEPA...” A dry knock was heard at the door... “Because it was signed during the day come in,” said the teacher without varying his voice’s tone one iota.
The door opened and Sofia awoke with a start. In through the doorway came Dave, Sara's friend, the boy she had called a ‘cocky pretty boy’, the same one who had dropped to the floor to play with her dog while smiling like an excited child. He wore an off-white sweater under his black motorcycle riding jacket and jeans that fit his legs and butt. His straight hair was tousled due to the helmet that hanged from his arm, and there were dark circles under his blue eyes. He was panting as if he had ran up the stairs, something that he had likely done, and he looked at the teacher with an apologetic gaze.
“You're late, Mr....”
“Rich... Adler, David Adler. Sorry for being late.”
“Ah, yes, the new student. Find a seat, Mr. Adler.”
Dave nodded and looked around the classroom for an empty seat until he located a desk nobody was using at the back, right next to where Sofia was sitting. The instant their eyes met, the boy tilted his head to one side. Sofia felt so ashamed of how she had behaved towards him that she was unable to hold his gaze. After licking her lips, she looked down at her notebook, which was scribbled with something that looked more like a child’s attempts at drawing grass than writing.
The truth was that she had been thinking about Sara's words, and the idea of pursuing the normal life she longed for had been gaining more and more strength. First she needed to apologize to him, of course, and she didn't know how she was going to do that.
With his desk chosen the boy walked towards it. The reactions from the class were not long in coming. A collective murmur broke out among the students and Sofia, with her finer hearing, was able to pick up on many of the things her classmates were saying. Some wondered where he was from, since his last name sounded German, and others commented on his motorcycle attire wanting to know what kind of vehicle he drove. More than one girl and the occasional boy pointed out his looks wondering if he had a girlfriend or a boyfriend.
“Silence, gentlemen, let's resume the class. There, there, young lady, stop chatting with your classmate and pay attention,” said the teacher in his monotonous voice, trying to regain the attention of a class full of kids who had found something more interesting than the 1812 constitution.
As he walked past her, Sofia she noticed his scent again, that pine and greenery perfume that was so appealing to her because it reminded her of her forest. She dared to steal a furtive glance at him as he sat down. Yes, he was cute, she wasn't going to deny the obvious, and she couldn't blame her classmates for noticing him. Besides having nice facial features, he was a tall boy and his body seemed well toned. Dave had said that he didn't find it easy to make friends, that he didn't tend to be liked. Seeing the sensation he had caused she found it hard to understand how that could be possible. Surely at his previous high school he had also attracted the attention of the girls.
As if he had felt that inquisitive gaze fixed on him, Dave turned to Sofia and their gazes met again. Embarrassed, Sofia let out a choked gasp and ducked her head to concentrate on her scribbled notebook. Since she wasn't drawing enough attention to herself, she also felt her cheeks flare with an intense blush that she was sure wouldn’t go unnoticed. She wanted to hit herself for reacting in such a stupid way.
“I just want to apologize...” she whispered to herself in a very quiet voice.
As she pretended to take notes, she looked at him sideways, hoping to be discreet enough not to attract his attention again. The boy’s brow was furrowed in an expression of concentration, and he nibbled his pen’s cap while making a visible effort to stay focused. The golden light streaming in through the window fell on his hair and highlighted its blond color. Frustrated, she began to tap on her notebook with her pen. She just wanted to apologize, it shouldn't be that hard.
The change of class came even earlier than Sofia had expected, perhaps because she had spent the whole hour imagining different scenarios about how to approach the boy to apologize. The shrill sound of the bell took her so much by surprise that she couldn't help but wince. Sofia became aware that, no matter how many scenarios she had visualized, she still had no idea how she was going to broach the subject. Well, she told herself, clenching her jaw to gather her courage, it would be best to just walk to him and blurt it out.
“Dave, you see…”
As Sofia stood up, a group of girls and a boy who was a friend of theirs surrounded the boy's desk, who seemed surprised and overwhelmed at having so many people around him. The group began to harass him with questions of all kinds. They wanted to know where he came from, whether he had a girlfriend, and also inquired about his tastes in series, books and video games. Dave ran his tongue over his lips and tried to respond politely to all of them, something he was finding difficult because the girls were talking all over each other.
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“It looks like our pal is not going to have much trouble making friends,” said Sara with a laugh when she approached her friend's desk.
“It doesn't look like he's very happy with the attention,” Sofia pointed out.
“Of course, because he's as shy as a mouse and he doesn’t like being in the spotlight. I told you you'd like him, you thick-headed lass.”
That he was shy was quite obvious. Even from the start he had seemed surprised to see so many people there, and now he was looking around searching for some kind of escape route. Sofia let out a quiet sigh. From her desk she grabbed the first thing she had at hand, which was her history notebook, and walked over to his desk. She had no qualms about pushing those girls out of the way, since they were not her friends, and one of them gave her a sour look that Sofia ignored. With a forceful blow, more to attract the attention of the little group than that of the boy, she dropped the notebook on the table.
“Here are the history notes you asked for the other day. Later, when the classes are over, I'll give you the rest, but you have to give them back to me before I need them which would be, well, I need history for Friday, biology for tomorrow and...” she told Dave, who was looking at her as if she had grown a tail.
“Hey, wait a minute, you know him?” said Lola ‘the snob’, who, as always, was dressed to the nines.
“Yes, we've been friends for a while. Do you mind giving us a moment alone? I have important things to tell him and I can't with you girls fluttering around here,” she said without making any effort to hide the dry tone of her voice.
To make her intention even clearer, she fixed her eyes on the other girl's and raised her shoulders. Her whole body language was telling her to leave.
“Pse!” Lola clicked her tongue and turned to her friends with a certain haughtiness. “Let's go, girls. We'll have time at recess to talk to him.”
Lola brushed his hand as if by accident, but Dave licked his lips and withdrew it without any regard. After bidding him a rather effusive farewell, the little group left. Sofia kept her posture tense until she saw them sit back down at their desks, and only then did she allow herself to lower her shoulders and relax. As she turned to Dave she saw a small smile curving his lips. It was cute, that was Sofia's first thought, but it would be much cuter if he didn't hold it back.
“Thanks, they were stressing me out a lot.”
“You're welcome. They're a bunch of bimbos, but in a week they'll forget about you. They always do the same thing, they play with the new student until they get bored and then throw him away.”
“Did they do that to you too?”
“No, I made it very clear from the start that I wasn't looking for friends. That's why they can’t stand me and look at me like I'm a bug.”
“Oh...” The boy looked down at the notebook on the table, a notebook full of scribbles and with a horrible handwriting that didn’t look anything like the neat calligraphy that could be seen in his own.
“You can keep it to copy the notes from the days you weren't here. I'll give you the other ones later,” said Sofia, then bit her lip and looked away. “As for the other day, I'm sorry for the way I behaved. I'm not a monster, but I have a rather complicated past.”
Rosa, the biology teacher, entered the classroom and went to her usual seat causing a commotion of students running back to their desks. Upon seeing Sofia standing up and chatting with another student, something that was not at all usual for her, she smiled as if it was the best thing that had happened to her all day. Rosa’s attempts to save her made Sofia a little uncomfortable, not because she didn't appreciate it but because she couldn't. She couldn't save her from her genetic inheritance, from her past as a huntress, nor from the way Angel had hurt her. However, as she returned to her seat, she couldn't help but smile back.
“I understand,” Dave said in a quiet whisper. “That you have a complicated past, I mean. I... we don't have to be friends if you don't want to, I'm not going to force you into anything, but I'd like to avoid putting Sara in an awkward situation, so we could at least try to get along. Do you agree?”
Sofia smiled.
“Yeah, it's fine with me.”
The boy smiled back, that restrained smile that wanted to be wider but he would not allow it. However, he did give in a little, just enough to give her a glimpse of the white teeth underneath his lips. Again Sofia thought he had a very pretty smile.
“I can't believe she's friends with that guy. I mean, did you notice? He's like super hot. Why would he want to hang out with a feral beast like her?” said Lola in hushed whispers.
Sofia bit her lip and looked down at her notebook. Normally she didn't care what Lola thought of her, but that had hurt because there was a grain of truth in it. After the way she had treated him, why would a nice, quiet boy want to be friends with an aggressive, insecure she-wolf like her? No, he didn't want to. What he had offered her was to maintain a certain cordiality so as not to make Sara have to choose between the two of them. Realizing that hurt her more than she thought it would because, for a moment, she had fantasized about the idea of normality that Sara had offered her.
Again she looked at him sideways. The boy seemed quite interested in what Rosa was explaining, since he was taking notes as if he didn't want to miss a single word she was saying. However, there was something different about him. He had a slight frown on his face and his left hand was holding the pen so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. Though what caught her attention most was the hair on the back of his neck. It was bristled.