December had come at last, and the town was dressed with festive lights and the smell of chimney smoke. However, the students of the I.E.S El Cerro could not enjoy them yet. The first term was coming to an end, and they had to sprint for the final stretch, the exams week. Fortunately it was already Friday, and they were doing the last exam; physics with the Stuck-up. The classroom was in absolute silence, broken only by the scratching of pens against paper and the occasional snort of frustration, fatigue or weariness. It was no wonder, the Stuck-up's exams were always hard, and this one was not going to be an exception just because Christmas was around the corner.

Even Sofia, who was good at the subject, was finding it harder than usual to solve the exercises. She already had about eighty percent of the exam finished, and she had calculated that if she got the execution right, she would get a six without too much trouble. If the results were also correct it should not be difficult to get an eight. However, if she got two exercises wrong, she would fail, and that was something she could not afford it. Retaking the year was not an option, so she had to solve the last problems any way she could, but the damned things did not want to collaborate.

After reading the statement again, the girl looked towards the window in search of inspiration. The sky was that pale, uniform shade of gray, and thick snowflakes had been falling since mid-morning, causing the handful of excited teenagers to fuss and frolic. But that had lasted as long as it had taken for the next teacher to arrive with his exams. Trapped as they were in the classroom, captive to academic obligations, they didn't even know if it had set.

“I got it!” Sofia suddenly blurted out, a little too loudly.

The Stuck-up looked up, frowning and twisting that bushy Russian hussar mustache he always wore. Sofia, aware that she had spoken too loudly, put a hand over her mouth in apology and immediately returned to her exercises. It took her only a few minutes to solve the two problems, which were still complex, but part of the difficulty lay in finding the correct solution. Once the logic was applied, the rest flowed by itself. As soon as she finished the test, she put the pen down on the paper and leaned back against the back of her chair. The Stuck-up never picked the exams up before the hour ran out, so those who finished first had to wait in strict silence. Of course, with the paper still in front of them, they couldn't get anything out of their bags to entertain themselves, so the spare time could feel incredibly long and boring. Fortunately, it was never more than five or ten minutes.

With nothing better to do, Sofia sought out her friends to see how they were doing. Sara was struggling with her problems. She could see her writing furiously on a scratch paper, crossing out, rewriting, and crossing out again before settling on a solution. Her friend was proficient in math, a subject in which she got good grades, but physics was another matter entirely. In fact, physics was a totally different matter for practically the whole class, since even Lola, who was a covert nerd, was having trouble with it. Sofia managed to solve the exercises because she liked computers and knew how to program, and what wasn't programming as well. That allowed her to look for logical patterns that others found more difficult.

As she looked at Dave, she also saw him struggling with his test. Despite what her furious writing might show, Sara was actually having a great time. Dave wasn’t, it was obvious from the expression on his face, his frown of concentration and the way he kept running his tongue over his lips. He was also moving his leg in rapid jerks, something she had never seen him do before. Sofia bit her lip, a little worried. Dave, like her, had a lot at stake and couldn't afford to retake the year. He had to pass everything to be able to go directly to the Civil Guard exams when the course was over.

Then the bell rang, and the class’s response was almost automatic. Some dropped their pens, relieved that the torture had come to an end. Others looked at each other as if trying to understand whether they were still on the same plane of reality as before, or had transcended to another. There was no shortage of pleas for a few more minutes that, even though it wasn't going to work, there was no harm in trying. Dave, huffing, put his pen down on the table and looked up at the ceiling as he ran his hands through his straight blond hair.

“Gentlemen, take your exam sheets and hand them to me,” said the Stuck-up.

“No, please, five more minutes, I've almost got it,” pleaded one of Lola's friends.

“Miss, stop writing and hand in your test or I won't pick it up.”

“Come on, teacher...” groaned the girl, who had no choice but to obey.

The students handed in their exams and went to their desks to collect all their belongings before returning home. That had been the last exam, so the ritual of asking each other how they had done was accompanied by the enthusiasm of knowing they were finally free. There were still a few school days left, but most of them would be devoted to handing in the exam notes and going over mistakes and questions.

“How did it go, buddies? Well, I'm not going to ask you, mate, you're sure to pass no sweat dropped,” said Sara approaching her two friends.

“I think it went well. It was a pretty tough exam, how about you? You didn't look so good,” said Sofia, turning to her friend.

Confirming her suspicions, Dave ran his tongue over his lips and stuffed the things in his backpack in whatever way he could before closing it.

“To be honest, I have no idea. This subject is not my strong suit. I think I've got some exercises right, at least the execution, but I'm not so sure about the others, and I didn’t have time to finish the last one,” he said.

“What did you do in the third one? I've done it three times and each time I got a different result, what the fuck!” said Sara.

“I'd rather not talk about numbers. We won't match and I'll get more nervous than I already am, and that's the last thing I need,” said the young man, in a slightly weaker voice.

“I'm not bad at it. Do you want me to give you a hand with this subject?” Sofia commented.

“God, I'd really appreciate it. I'm doing fine in everything else, but this one...” he huffed. “It's a subject that's beyond me. I've spent the last few weeks cooped up at home studying physics, and I'm not sure if it's done any good to spend so much time on it.”

Sofia knew that was true, because for a few weeks, more or less after showing her the wolves in the woods, they had met only a couple of times to go for a run. Other than that, she had only had a chance to see him in class, since the rest of the time he excused himself by saying he had a lot of studying to do. Sofia was not careless, but neither was she such a model student that she couldn't go out for a walk, something she had been doing with Sara. It was a way to get away from her studies and clear her head. That was far more helpful than spending too many hours on it.

“Guys, look out the window!” Lola shouted to the whole class, at least to all those who hadn't already fled, which was a good handful of students.

Instigated by curiosity, the students, including the three friends, peered out of the window. In a second the complaints about the exam’s difficulty, and the whispers and murmurs calling the teacher names that were not exactly kind, were replaced by a collection of almost thirty enthusiastic smiles. Flakes as big as grapes were falling from the sky. Everything, from the parking lot to the street, the road and the park right in front of the school, was covered in a thick, white blanket.

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“Guys, I suggest a great plan to celebrate the end of the exams, why don't we all go to the park and have a snowball fight?” Lola commented.

There were several nods and glance exchanges, and most of the students agreed to it. Those who didn’t were promptly convinced by their friends. The class was not a cohesive unit, it was more like a large group made up of smaller groups, but they spent hours together and had eventually developed a certain sense of belonging.

“Well, I like the idea. Shall we join? I think we're going to have a blast,” said Sara.

“With her? No way,” said Sofia, shaking her head.

“I'm up for it. It would do me good to get away from my studies. I've been doing just that for too long and I need a change,” said Dave, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “Come with us, it'll be fun,” he added, turning to Sofia with a smile.

“Oh, okay, but because you two are going. I don't want anything to do with that little brat.”

“You're so grumpy, mate.”

The whole class left the building and went to the park across the street. Crossing the street had been no problem since the heavy snowfall had completely stopped the traffic. That was a huge inconvenience for the inhabitants of El Cerro, but it didn’t even cross the students’ minds. At seventeen and eighteen years old, they were still kids, and the snow, that exceptional phenomenon that was only present in winter, brought out their most childish side.

“How are you going to get your motorcycle out?” Sofia asked as they walked towards the park, the snow crunching under their feet with every step.

Dave looked down at his vehicle, which was completely covered in snow, and shrugged.

“I don't know. I guess I'll call my godfather and ask him what to do. He'll probably come pick me up in the SUV and we'll leave the motorcycle here. It’s not like I’m going to be able to drive it around in this weather.”

“How are you getting to class then?” asked Sofía, tilting her head a little.

“Oh, I’ll… find a way, I guess.” Dave scratched the back of his head and licked his lips.

Behind them walked Rodrigo and Luis. They were far away so as not to be easily heard, and they chatter in whispers, as they used to do lately. In fact, the twins Zipi and Zape, as Sara liked to call them, looked like a pair of gangster apprentices trying to conspire, something they were evidently not particularly good at considering that Sofia was catching on to everything they were saying. To be fair, however, it was thanks to her weredog senses. A human would have had a harder time understanding what they were saying.

“I haven't seen a sign of the damn mutt since the night I almost put a bullet between his ribs. It looks like the bastard has learned his lesson and is definitely gone,” Rodrigo said, his words igniting Sofia's blood and instincts.

“Man, I’m fed up with the fucking dog. You're obsessed. He's already gone, let him be and don't pay Miguel any more attention. In the end he's going to do something stupid, SEPRONA will catch him and he's really going to get it because of you,” said Luis, who didn't seem to want to talk in whispers anymore.

“You saw what I saw. That dog was not normal. It was huge, with gigantic paws. I'm sure it's a wolf hybrid or some weird mutation.”

“Or a simple mastiff, man, my old man had one and I know what I'm talking about. Just ignore the dog already.”

“No way. I'll put that animal down.”

“Do whatever the fuck you want.”

Irritated with his friend's obsession, Luis sped up his pace and walked past the three friends who were just ahead of him. Unlike the rest of the class, the boy turned left and walked down the street, wading through the deep snow as best he could. He wasn't the only one who was angry. Sofia was fighting the urge to growl, and her friend was scowling with his jaw clenched into an angry grimace. The short hair on the back of his neck seemed to be bristling.

“At least one of those two isn't a complete psychopath,” Dave said, his voice lower and deeper.

“Don't be fooled, he doesn't give a damn about the dog's life. What he has is a little more sense than his friend,” said Sofia, who was very close to letting out a growl.

“Calm down, man. With a bit of luck I'll make a huge ball and put it into that buffoon's mouth,” said Sara, gently grabbing the young man's forearm.

Her words, her attitude and her way of facing life was enough to lift he friends’ spirits. Both Sofia and Dave began to laugh and the expression on their faces softened. That was why they loved her, because even in the deepest of darkness Sara was able to bring some much needed light. Besides, that was the first snowfall of the winter and there was no point in being mad because of some jerk. Together they crossed the street until they reached the park, walking as best they could on a thick white mattress that came up to their ankles. The cold seeping into their shoes was unpleasant, but the three kids, who had just finished their exams, didn't care. They dropped their backpacks on the pile their classmates had formed on top of a bench and joined the fray.

White balls flew back and forth. Young kids full of the endless energy of youth were running all around. Even Lola, dressed to the nines in tall leather boots, a beautiful dark dress and a warm beige coat, was having a great time throwing balls with her classmates. She threw one at Sara, and the huge girl let out one of her thunderous guffaws and started throwing balls back at the girl. Lola's friends rallied to help her, but Sara stoically withstood the projectiles and responded with her own. What was undeniable was her aim. She was really accurate, and always hit parts of the body where she knew she would do no harm.

Sofia and Dave also joined the fight, with her being the one who started it. From the ground she grabbed a handful of snow which she formed into a ball and threw it at her partner, hitting him in the chest. The boy shook off the snow and his lips curved into a mischievous smile, one that made it quite clear that he was about to do mischief and she wasn't going to like it. Slowly, without taking his eyes off his friend's, he bent down and picked up a handful of snow which he shaped with his hands.

“No, no, no, no, no, no,” Sofia began to back away as he turned the handful into a ball.

“Oh, yes,” he replied, smiling.

Sofia started to run. His friend threw the ball at her but missed. Laughing, he chased her around the battlefield, occasionally picking up more snow to form projectiles to throw at her. She did the same, stopping just long enough to grab a handful and throwing it at him as she resumed her run. Some of them even hit, always landing on his chest, arms or legs, never his face. Engaged in that fight that had become a dance without them realizing it, they ran, stopped, dodged when the other approached and started again, interspersed between those natural, spontaneous movements the tossing of snowballs.

In one of those passes they miscalculated. Sofia stopped to throw a ball to her friend but he was too close to her. With his hiking boots sinking in the deep snow, he wasn't able to change direction in time and crashed into her, causing them both to loose their balance and fall to the ground. Sofia ended up underneath him, her lips so close to his that she could feel the warmth of the breath he released in agitated gasps. It was just a few seconds in which time stood still, in which neither of them dared to move, in which Sofia felt her whole body shudder. Dave was the first to snap out of it. Red as a tomato and with an expression of absolute dread, he quickly pulled away from the girl.

“God, I'm so sorry. I should have been more careful,” he said, so nervous that his whole body was a display of signals, from running his tongue over his lips to dodging her gaze, to sniffing the air to his left.

“No... it's okay, I'm the one who stopped suddenly,” Sofia said, sitting down on the snow to at least get out of the hole her body had created in it.

They were both still panting, although it wasn't too clear whether it was from running around the park, or due to what had just happened between them. The flush on their cheeks certainly seemed to indicate the latter. They exchanged a silent glance, one in which they both wondered how the other would have reacted had they gone further, had they narrowed the space until their lips touched. Also, they wondered if they were willing to take that important step, if they really wanted to risk ruining what they had for something that might be ephemeral, born out of a moment of fun and nothing more. No, Sofia decided, abruptly looking away, things were fine as they were and it wasn't worth risking their friendship for such a silly thing.

“Hey, bores! What are you doing lying there? Come and fight!” Lola shouted, throwing a snowball at them, which hit Dave.

Sofia disliked Lola, but she had to admit that it was the first time she was grateful for her unwelcome presence, because at least it was enough to get them out of the awkward moment they had gotten themselves into. They both stood up, Sofia before the boy could even think of offering a hand to help her, and returned to the fray. However, they didn't come near each other again. Yes, they threw snowballs at each other, they played, but at a safe distance and without the mad dashes from before. They were still uncomfortable, still had in their minds the memory of the warm breath brushing their lips in a kiss that never came to be.