Although it was quiet cold, which was not surprising considering that every morning the cars were covered with a white film of frost, most of the students of the I.E.S El Cerro had decided to go out to the playground during recess. The sky was rather cloudy and it was threatening rain, but as long as it wasn't pouring the students would occupy the entire length of the playground. Sofia and Sara were just under one of the trees, in an area with bushes and dirt paths that gave them a little more privacy. Normally their friend would be with them, but Lola had asked him for help with something about biology and he had agreed. At that moment the young man was sitting on a bench next to the girl, who had the biology book on her legs in a demure attitude. The distance between them was just enough so that Dave did not feel particularly uncomfortable, and she was very careful not to touch him even a little. However, her smile and body language gave away her true intentions.

“I can't believe he doesn't realize what Lola is doing. Lola is not an idiot, she gets good grades. She asked him for help with biology because she's noticed he's good at it,” Sofia pointed out.

“Dave is shy but not dumb. Of course he knows what Lola is doing, but he's not as rude as you and he doesn't mind lending a hand,” replied Sara as she eagerly ate her chorizo sandwich.

“They deserve it, and you know it. They are as false as a wooden coin and saw through them from the start,” Sofia spat, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, mate, but you love to piss people off. Sometimes it's better if they think you're an idiot and don't know about their bad intentions, so they don't catch you by surprise. They work harder when they think you're smart, and then they can really fuck you over,” explained Sara with a shrug.

The expression of irritation on Sofia's face softened when she heard those words. The truth was that everyone thought of Sara as a dim-witted brute, something like a good-natured and somewhat goofy big girl, but nothing could be further from the truth. Besides being a good friend who had pulled her out of a deep hole of misery, she was a much smarter and more cunning girl than people gave her credit for. Letting them think she wasn't allowed her to have an almost complete control of the whole class and anticipate a lot of situations. Sara would be terrifying if it weren't for the fact that her heart and intentions were noble.

Again she turned to Dave, who was explaining something to Lola with open enthusiasm, his lips curved in a controlled smile that would be wider if he wouldn’t hold it back. Sofia felt her own mouth respond by gently tugging the corners into a smile to match her friend's. Lola, misinterpreting his gesture, showed an expression of clear interest that the young man naturally did not reciprocate. She was not as clever as she thought she was, for it was quite evident that Dave's enthusiasm was because of what he was talking about, not that he had fallen for her charms. Sofia had seen him many times in biology class, and whenever Rosa spoke, he always had that very same expression. He was in love, of that there was no doubt, but not with a person but with a science. Genetics was fascinating to him.

What Lola did notice was the moment in which the young man looked in his friends’ direction, when his eyes met Sofia's and that smile of enthusiasm softened. It was a brief instant, one that made Sofia's cheeks turn pink and Lola's pale, but it was enough for the other girl to realize that her attempts to seduce the boy were not working. If Dave was noticing his companion's bout of jealousy, he showed no sign of it, nor that he even cared about it at all.

“Priceless!” Sara laughed heartily. “Seeing Lola's face when she realized that the dude’s only got eyes for you. I would buy a time machine just to be able to see that moment in a loop.”

“Don't talk nonsense, Sara. He doesn't like me. Besides, he told me that he’s not looking for a relationship right now,” answered Sofia, who, despite being absolutely convinced of her words, couldn't help but feel the blush on her cheeks increase.

“I know, but what you want and what you feel are not always the same thing, don't you think? You don't want any relationship either and still...”

“Don't say it, don't even think of saying it!” Sofia cut her off, noticing that despite her attempts to control it, her cheeks were giving her away.

“Say what? That you...” said Sara, jokingly pretending she hadn’t understood what Sofia meant.

“Sara!” she exclaimed irritated.

“Okay, okay! I'm not saying anything, but you are a couple of idiots, the both of you.”

The girl laughed again, and that made Sofia blush even more, if that was even possible. She didn't really need to hear what Sara was thinking to know what she meant, but she didn't want to. Again she turned to her friend. The boy had finished his explanation and was saying goodbye to Lola, who was no longer smiling so much and had a somewhat strained attitude. Sofia didn't want to hear it because, if she did, the doubts would increase, and she was already confused enough.

When she first met him she quickly realized that she liked him, because he was undeniably cute. However, as she had gotten to know him, what she felt had changed, and she had started to not care about the way he looked. She enjoyed spending time with him, she smiled when they were together, and she felt alive every time they went out on one of their runs through the forest, but it was nothing like what she had felt for Angel, and she had loved Angel with all her heart. What she felt for Dave was just friendship, nothing more, and she didn't want to ruin it by imagining things that weren't.

“I think I've angered her, and I'm not quite sure how I did it,” Dave said when he approached the two girls.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I can imagine how you did it, dude,” said Sara, laughing again. “By the way, have you seen the last episode of Between Class and Class? A new girl came to Argona High School, and she is just like Lola.”

“Yes! I thought the same thing. I said to myself, 'Look, she's just as much of a cretin',” Sofia answered.

“I used to watch it, but where I live now there's no TV and I can't watch it anymore,” confessed Dave with a shrug.

“It's not a problem, man, what do you say we meet at my house on Wednesdays for pizza dinner and watch it?” Sara asked her two friends.

“I'd really like to, but I don't want to be a bother.”

“You're no bother. My sisters love visitors and pizzas, especially pizzas. It's a good way to bribe them.”

“Thank you, Sara,” said Dave, who then turned to Sofia, the expression on his face suddenly more serious. “About that, where I live... it's near the woods. It's about what we saw the other day, the snare. I didn't recognize the trap and it would have caught me for sure. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind showing me more traps and how to dismantle them, just in case I come across them,” he asked in a quieter voice, avoiding being overheard by his other classmates.

Sofia bit her lip. Yes, she could show him a few traps, but it wasn't something she was particularly excited about. Doing so involved telling some things about her mother that she'd rather not have to tell. He had been on the verge of being caught by a snare, though. It wouldn't have done anything to him, but a foothold trap was something else altogether, and after the encounter with the hunter it was obvious the forest as becoming dangerous. If she denied him that knowledge to protect herself, and something happened to him, she would never forgive herself.

“Come with me after class. I'll show you some traps and how to dismantle them, and in case you're wondering I'm not happy with my mother’s hobby, but it's not like I can stop her.”

“We didn't choose our parents, but I appreciate you helping me with this,” said the young man taking her hand gently to squeeze it briefly.

The rest of the day went by normally, with some classes more interesting than others. When it was over, the three friends went for a bite at the burger restaurant where they first met, and then Sofia and Dave took the motorcycle to go to her house. As soon as she opened the door Kas ran to her to greet her with leaps and prances. Then he did the same with his new friend, and finally went to the young girl's room to lie down on the bed. Sofia told Dave to wait there while she went to get the traps. She went down to the basement and grabbed a handful of old foothold traps and some more snares. She could not allow him to see that room that smelled of death and misery, that place where her mother tanned cinanthrope hides and prepared claws and fangs to sell on the black market.

“I'm not proud of what my mother does, but thanks to her I can recognize and dismantle these traps. I can save lives,” Sofia said as she returned to the room where the young man was waiting. “Kas, go outside. This is dangerous.”

“You said it yourself, it's not like you can choose what your family does for a living,” said Dave, averting his gaze and running his tongue over his lips.

After getting the dog out of the room and closing the door, Sofia left the traps and snares on the floor. The young man looked at them with some interest, but a shadow had spread across his face and his gaze, though it had been there since he mentioned his family. Sofia knew nothing about them, Dave hardly ever talked about his past, and although she was curious she wasn't about to inquire. Unfortunately she knew what it was like to have to keep certain things to oneself.

“You already know the snare, but it's important that you understand how the foothold trap works. This can hurt you, and if you don't know how to open the mechanism it will trap you too. They are illegal but people use them regardless. Look, you have several models, I will show you how to deactivate them safely and how to open them if you step on one,” said the young woman, showing the traps.

For a while Sofia showed him how those instruments worked and how to disable them. She made him practice with her until he understood the mechanism perfectly, and also showed him different types of snares and some more rudimentary traps that could be made with stones and a couple of sticks. The boy was visibly angry, but he also watched those inventions with fascination. Many were incredibly simple, with no particularly complex elements or gears of any kind.

“They are illegal, why does your mother have them?”

Sofia bit her lip and looked away. Without wanting to, she began to tremble.

“My mother uses them as a model to make prototypes of her own inspiration. So far she hasn't gotten what she's looking for, fortunately, but if you see a contraption that's different to what I've shown you here, don't come near it,” she said, staring into his eyes, almost desperately, fearfully pleading him to stay away from anything that smelled of her mother.

“Why? You've already taught me how to open a trap, it shouldn't be that hard to dismantle one of her traps.”

Sofia slowly shook her head, fear very much on her face.

“Not this one. It's meant to catch animals with prehensile fingers, like primates. If you fall into it, you won't be able to free yourself.”

“God... what kind of monster is your mother?”

“You don't want to know,” she answered in a quiet voice, hugging herself.