The following day, in spite of the horrible situation they had experienced the previous afternoon, the two friends returned to the class routine. The exams were just around the corner and they had to work hard if they wanted to pass everything. Due to all that happened, the previous afternoon they had not been able to do as much as they would have liked, since about fifteen minutes after finding Kissy the two girls met up with their friend and took the cat to the vet. After a thorough examination the vet determined that Kissy only had a minor injury on her throat caused by the wire which, fortunately, had closed on the collar and not directly on her neck. She was sent home with anti-inflammatory pills and with a tearful Lola who was very relieved that her cat was okay. Dave and Sofia, that was a different story as they were both pretty pissed off with Rodrigo and his obsession, especially the boy, who suffered one of his occasional muscle contractions.
That morning, when they saw Rodrigo enter the classroom, they both couldn''t help but glare at him, and Sofia would have eagerly growled if she had been able to. If if wasn’t because of the trouble she would get herself into, Sofia was sure she would have punched him in the face right then and there. It wasn''t just because he had filled the forest with traps that were a risk to other animals. It was also because Sofia knew her white cinanthrope was not dangerous. She knew that very well because he sat next to her every day. Dave could have attacked her when he saw her dressed in her hunter attire, and he didn''t. He simply fled. Cinanthropes were like people, there were some that were troublesome and even dangerous, but most were totally harmless and just wanted to be left alone. Sofia knew that very well, she was one and she just wanted to live in peace.
That recess was going to be a little longer than usual because one of the teachers had not been able to come for whatever reason the students didn’t really care about. Instead of the twenty-five minutes they usually had, they ended having almost an hour and a half, so Sofia and Dave went to their quiet place to study. Sara also joined them. Actually everyone already knew about it. Their classmateshad tried to catch them making out, and every time they ended learning something more about physics or community law. Eventually they gave up, although every now and then a student would join them to review, so that place had become known as the Physics Corner.
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Dave twisted his lips into a weak smile and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, a gesture they had made their own, to encourage each other and to let the other know they were there unconditionally. He then huffed and tried to solve the problem on his own. Sofia watched him carefully. He was indeed more restless than in the previous days, not as much as that time when it seemed he was on the verge ofbreaking down, but he didn''t seem to be comfortable or relaxed in any situation.
“Be careful here. Remember that you have to divide by the value of this variable, not this one,” Sofia explained, pointing at the notebook, and brushing his hand as she did so.
“Yes, this way?” asked Dave, while he continued to solve the problem.
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As Sara returned to her exercises Sofia looked up at her other friend. Dave was sitting on the rock, hunched over the notebook on his lap and with an expression of concentration on his face. While he studied, he nibbled absentmindedly on the cap of his pen. He was also twitching his leg a little nervously, a stereotypy he only had when he sat for too long, and she had only seen it at odd times during the month. The young man let out a small huff and put his hands to his head. He then stretched his back and rubbed his lumbar region, which was probably already feeling the strain of sitting on that rectangular stone for so long. Again he returned to his exercises, without even noticing the girl who was looking at him with interest.
“I see you,” said a whisper near her, snapping her out of her thoughts.
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“Don''t be silly, Sara,” she said, getting up to return to her friend, though she could feel the blush that had risen to her cheeks. “How''s it going? Do you have any doubts?” she asked, leaning over him to glance at the notebook.
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“Don''t they see it?” Lola asked Sara, truly fascinated by the exchange she had just witnessed.
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“See what?” asked Dave in his utter innocence, tilting his head to one side.
“Well, he doesn’t see it” added Sara with a shrug.
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Sofia couldn''t take it anymore. Maybe it was the incipient full moon pulling at her energy, awakening it to fill her with the strength to act. Maybe it was the fact of seeing Lola getting pissed off too, while her eyes filled with tears from the distress she went through the day before. Maybe she was simply fed up with this ridiculous persecution of a cinanthrope who had only eaten a damn lamb months ago. The reasons didn’t matter. The only important thing was what the girl did when she heard those words. Suddenly, and to everyone’s surprise, she stood up and jumped over the hedges to face Rodrigo. Lola, the always demure Lola, joined her with identical rage.
“Sofia?” Dave threw his notebook to the ground and both him and Sara went after their friend.
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“Are you calmer?” Dave asked against her ear.
“I''m not going to be a cop or anything,” Lola said suddenly, approaching Rodrigo to slap him across the face with a resounding smack. “This one''s for Kissy!” She slapped him again on the other cheek, “And this one is for me and for the hard time you gave me yesterday!”
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Then he turned and stormed away withwide strides. Luis turned to Lola and, clasping both hands together, made a sort of bow in her direction.
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“Nothing...” they both mumbled at the same time, looking away and blushing even harder.
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Sofia bit her lip and looked sideways at her friend. Their gazes met for a second, but Dave quickly licked his lips and turned his head to sniff at the air at his right. It all made sense to her. Dave had changed to cover more ground faster, but when he found Kissy, he saw her in such a bad state that he knew he needed to get help immediately. Once again, Sofia thought about that night, about Rodrigo and his obsession. A cold fear ran through her stomach. He was completely out of his mind, and was going to end up hurting someone, or worse. She had to tell Dave, she had to let him know that she was his ally, but if she did, he would hate her for being a hunter, and if she didn’t, Rodrigo might eventually get him. He almost had once already. She had no choice, she had to protect him, even if he didn’t want to talk to her ever again.