Under Jacarandá Stars

Chapter 3

Eric:

Even my friends didn't believe me that Noelia was so different with me, I approached her at her locker with a cautious smile. My heart pounded in my chest as I mentally rehearsed what I wanted to say.

-Noelia -I called out softly. She turned around, her eyes narrowing slightly before recognition softened her features

-Hey, Eric -she replied, while carrying in her arms a large bundle of flyers promoting the weekend fair where we had to present our biology project. -I'm super busy. If you need anything for the project, text me.

She gave me one of the flyers and star giving to everyone who passes through there.

Excellent, now my friends will never believe me. I opened my phone and texted:

I was wondering if we could join after school to do the last observation for our project

The bell rang and I went to my history class, I hate it.

I was almost falling asleep when my phone vibrated in my pocket, it was Noelia texting me, my heart started to beat fast.

Sure, that sounds good. Meet me after school at the front gate?

Yeah. See you then

The day passed slowly, each class dragging on as I anticipated our after-school meeting.

After school, I waited nervously at the front gate. When Noelia arrived, she greeted me with a smile that put me at ease.

-Ready to go? -she asked

-Yeah, let's do this -I replied

As we walked to the main park, our conversation flowed easily. There was the warm Noelia I remembered.

We arrived We arrived at the park, the main park of our city. It had trees, many flowers, and cobblestone paths for walking. We began taking note of all the birds we saw; there were too many.

After a while Noelia asked:

-How many do we have?

-1, 2, 3... 16, 17 sparrows and 1, 2, 3... 53, 54, 55 pigeons

-55 pigeons?! That's too much; there's obviously an overpopulation here

-I think with these last data points, we'll fill out the table, and all that's left is to write the report.

-We could do it at my house -she said. I looked at her curiously -. The report

-Yes, that would be great. Tomorrow?

-No, I have tennis practice tomorrow.

-Wednesday? We need to present it by Friday.

-Yes, Wednesday works -she said pensively -. Jake will come to pick me up, but we still have some time. What do you want to do?

-Umm, an ice cream?

-Yes, I love it

We went to the nearest ice cream shop. She ordered a bubblegum and blackberry cone, and I got my usual, old-style vanilla.

That's the strangest combination I've ever seen -I told her as we sat on one of the park benches.

-And yours is the most boring, so don't criticize -Noelia teased me. I was starting to like this more and more -. I always like to try something new; you never know when you might find the perfect combination, and sometimes the strangest ones are the best

-I prefer the safe choices

-I hadn't noticed- she replied sarcastically, a smile forming on her lips.