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    “chorizo sandwich.


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


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    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.”


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    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


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    “Look, she''s just as much of a cretin'',” Sofia answered.


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    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.


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    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.


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


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