There I was, stepping out of the bus to get to my 2 pin class. The sun was shining bright in the sky... a little too bright, if you ask me. I've never liked the eternal summer we have in this tropical country. I've never understood heat. I've never understood many things.

To get to school I had to take an hour-long bus ride from my horrible neighborhood to Bolivar Avenue. The bus would stop at one side of the avenue, so l had to walk down all the way to school. Nothing special, actually. Many kids my age would do the same or even more. I'm not complaining. What I complained about a lot back then was that I was going to graduate from high school in some months and I hadn't got a girlfriend yet.

Yes, I admit it. Wearing a mustache is probably not the sexiest trait, especially when one's face is devoid of any trace of facial hair other than such a mustache. Yes, I admit it. I wasn't the most sports guy out there. I hated PE, not because I hated sports but because balls hated me. There was no way a basketball or volleyball would go the direction I intended, no matter how hard I tried. I was very good at running, though, so I was kind of good in track and field. However, the little attractiveness I could get from it, I'd totally lose it when my running would also help me run from bullies and dogs. To make matters worse, I had (and still have) problems socializing and spent my days sitting in one corner of the classroom. The wild side of me would make me change corners, though.

So there I was, thinking about how hot the day was and how lonely I was, pitying myself to death. And there she was, her mouth a little open, staring at the door, trying to catch a glimpse of who was going to step outside as if she couldn't just wait a few seconds.

The bus left. The street was empty except for Sofia and me. She was smiling. Her thick lips were a little open, so I could see a few of her teeth. Her hands were holding a notebook behind her. She was softly swinging from side to side.

"Hi. How are you, Jay?"

"Fine. But it's hot, right?"

"Yeah. I mean, I feel like I'm roasted already."

"Were you waiting here for a while?"

"Yeah."

"For me?"

"Yeah."

"Again?"

"Yeah."

"Why, though?"

"What do you mean "why", silly? Let's go." She said this while laughing at a joke I didn't understand, but her cheeks got rounder and she got cuter, so I didn't care.

We went down the Avenue, talking of random stuff I can't even remember now, but there was this uneasiness that never left me back then. Why was I so undesirable?

Sofia studied in a lower grade, so we parted ways when we arrived. There were a lot of people running around, joking, having fun, but no one for me to say hi. I went upstairs and entered the classroom. Some classmates here and there. I sat on the corner, close to the door, and started reading a Biology book. There was a test today and I hadn't even studied one bit.

Alex got in--tall and handsome. He turned to me and said hi and resumed walking towards a couple of girls on the other side of the room who started giggling as they saw him approaching. When did this happen? A year ago, we would be inseparable. We would be the two videogame fans who would spend their days talking and talking about the new FPS or Need for Speed. The rest would have nicknames for us--nicknames I can't even remember nor care about. After "that" incident, he distanced himself from me. It wasn't like he hated me or anything. I feel that he actually tried. It's just that his interests changed. Videogames were not the cool thing anymore. I don't blame him.

Edbert ran in shouting as always. I hated him. Why was he so noisy? But that was not the problem. The problem was...

"Hey, dummy!"

I ignored him.

"Hey, dummy-jay. I'm talking to you."

As he approached, I noticed Alex stopped talking to the girls and glanced at Edbert and me.

"Are you depth, you idiot?"

"Wait. "Depth"? And I'm the idiot here?"

"Wow! I haven't hit your face today. Am I right?"

Alex seemed to have heard this because this time he even turned his back on the girls and paid more attention.

"What do you want, Edbert?"

"I want some notes for the Biology test."

"I haven't even studied myself. I'd need those notes more than you. You're gonna have to study during the break anyway. There's no salvation for your ***." Oh, man. It was one of those days I was more stressed than usual. It wasn't that I felt cocky. It was that I wasn't thinking at all. Oh, man. I got that feeling again, like my eyes are zooming in and out, and out, and a little more out somehow.

Of course, he held me by my collar using both hands and managed to get me off my chair. The noise of the chair's legs dragging on the floor was enough for Alex to come.

"Hey, Eddie. What's going on here?"

"Nothing, man. I just want some help with Biology", Edbert said while letting me go.

"Then come with me. Sara and Ana are talking about it."

Alex went first and Edbert turned to me for a moment.

"You know you won't always have him by your side. You're lucky, loser.", and left.

Geez, was I nervous! But the uneasiness came again as Ms. Farias entered the room. The test was going to start!

She was short and blonde, not too thin, but not too heavy either. She was pear-shaped and her boobs were sort of big, and for us hormonal kids, that was more than enough. Many of us would distract ourselves adoring her, but this was no time for that. I hadn't studied nor prepared any cheat sheet. What was I going to do?

I looked outside. I saw Sofia in the hall looking at me. How long had she been there? She was smiling and hugging her notebook. I waved my hand very slowly and she waved back.

"Good luck!", she shouted so loud that everyone in the classroom (including Ms. Farias) turned their heads to the door and then looked at me.

"Thanks.", I said with a trembling voice that, to this day, I don't know if she even heard. After that she left, running back to her classroom, I supposed.

I was utterly embarrassed, but there was something nice about what she did. I was feeling lonely, angry, and nervous, but she managed to calm all that anxiety. I felt so much better.

No cheat sheet... I was going to fail this test. There was only one option: reaching my bag, pulling out my notebook, and reading my notes from there. But how was I going to do that in front of everyone? I thought most would have kept their mouths shut, except for Edbert, but there were too many people between both of us. He wouldn't have seen.

Still, I had never done that. I had cheated. I had read some notes carefully hidden in my pencil case or asked a classmate for an answer, but, reading the whole notebook? How was I going to do that? It was impossible.

I had the test on my chair. So many questions, so little information in my head. What's "class"? What's a "genus"? "Phylum"? Is there an order for that? My head was a mess. I saw Ms. Farias across the room. I was on one corner and she was on the other side, but there were some classmates in between. There was a 50/50 chance she'd have noticed.

"Think, Jay, think!", I shouted louder than I should have.

"This is not a mall, Mr. Thawne," said Ms. Farias.

I had to do something. My fingers were approaching the bag by my right foot. My heart was beating faster. Boom! Boom! Each time it felt like bombs exploding in my chest. I couldn't swallow saliva. I just remembered I hadn't seen Ms. Farias for a while. The image of her staring at me, judging me, destroying me made me panic for a moment, but I had to see. I turned my head and saw her reading a book. My fingers felt the bag. It was open! Yes! My notebook! It was my notebook! I was going to start drooling and I made a weird noise. Ms. Farias stopped reading and saw around but didn't catch a glimpse of me. I could breathe again... I took the notebook, put it on the top of my desk. It was surreal. This was a test, but my notebook was on the top of my desk. How was that possible? Did I win? I won. I was going to open it. I swallowed some saliva. My eyes were wide open. My fingers were inside the pages already, but... I couldn't. I put it back. I just couldn't. Was I a coward? I didn't know, but I just couldn't. I decided to give up.

After a long while, the bell rang. I didn't write anything but, for some reason, I didn't feel that bad, just a little tired. I couldn't see her in the eye, though. I left the room and caught a large breath.

She was there. Leaning on the wall. She was waiting or pretended to be waiting, considering that the bell just rang. I just imagined her running out of her classroom, recklessly climbing up the stairs, hyperventilating, but then leaning on the wall pretending to be cool. The whole idea made me laugh a little.

"And how was it?", she asked, smiling.

"I didn't do anything."

"But you're a genius!"

"No, I'm not. I think I'm kind of good at some things, but you're overestimating me."

"Shut up. You're a genius. Period. Maybe that test wasn't good enough for you."

I smiled.

"Hey, let's do something."

"Something like what?"

"Something new. Something we haven't done."

I was a little scared of her smirk.

"Uh, huh?"

"Let's go out this weekend. I'm going to make you feel better."