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AS SOON AS SAMUEL AND I WALKED THROUGH THE MAIN DOORS, I FELT ALL EYES ON US, whispers of Marina's murder spreading through the hall like wildfire. We kept walking, trying our best to ignore the judgmental stares from people who didn't even know us, but I could tell Samuel was struggling. His fists clenched as we picked up our schedules from the reception, making our way to the main corridor. I imagined it would be awkward, but I didn't expect that the second we reached the corridor, we would be met with Lu, Guzman, Polo and Ander, standing silently as if shocked that we dared to come back. Samuel went first, suddenly walking with purpose, and I spotted Nadia in the corner of the corridor, watching the events unfold just like me. As Samuel walked, Guzman walked slowly to meet him, with a face that clearly said he wasn't heading for a simple hello. The group stood behind him, and I half expected Samuel to back down, go run away or something, but it seemed that losing Marina made him stronger. Maybe, finally, he would stand up for himself.
"What are you doing here?" Guzman asked, almost spitting out the words in disbelief, looking between Samuel and I. "I have just as much right as you to be here." Samuel said, standing his ground, yet his words seemed to light a fire in Guzman, who immediately dropped his backpack and ran to swing at Samu, punching him straight in the face. "¡No! ¡Guzman!" Lu screamed as Guzman went in for another punch, grabbing Samuel off the floor and shoving him into a classroom, his friends trying to hold him back, yet it wasn't enough. I pushed past the crowd that was forming in the hallway, rushing inside the classroom, trying to make sure Samuel was okay. "¡Parad!" I yelled over the commotion, hearing someone call for a teacher as Guzman punched Samuel again, the force knocking Samuel to the floor, blood dripping from his lip. I rushed over to him as the rich finally managed to grab Guzman, keeping him back as I tried to help Samuel. I grabbed one of Samuel's arms, trying to pull him up from the floor, and to my surprise, someone else came to help, someone I didn't expect. I looked up, and there stood Christian, throwing me a cheeky smile as we pulled Samuel up, sitting him on to the table as he wiped the blood from his face. "Guzman, That's enough!" Our headmistress yelled, breaking up the fight, causing Guzman to turn to her, his face almost red with anger. "Everyone, sit down! This is how you guys behave on your first day? ¡Sentaos!" The headmistress yelled as everyone made their way to their seats as the bell rang out through the classroom. Samuel and I sat together, and I watched Christian take a seat behind me, Carla taking her place next to him.
"The wound that Marina's death has left in all of us will take a long time to heal. I need your help to achieve it. I need all of your help." She said, looking around the classroom, before approaching Guzman, who still looked fueled with rage. "Guzman. I can't even begin to imagine what you are going through-" He interrupted her immediately, clearly not wanting to hear what she had to say, "No, you can't. And now imagine you had to bump into the one who caused all the pain in the halls all the time." I rolled my eyes as he spoke, how could he blame Samuel when he knew Samuel loved Marina, with his whole heart. "Samuel isn't to blame." The teacher spoke, shaking her head at Guzman, who's anger was building up again, his temper building as he spoke. "If Samuel hadn't come to this school, if he and his fucking brother had stayed in their shitty little town, none of this would have ever happened." "Your father got him the scholarship." The headmistress was trying to make Guzman understand, but instead, he turned the blame to her. "You're the one that renewed it. ¿Por qué?" The headmistress seemed unbothered as if she had expected him to make such comments; She had watched him grow up; she knew how he could be. He was lashing out, purely because he was hurting, and anyone who knew loss, or knew Guzman, could see that. "He's a good student. No sería justo." "¿Justo?" He stood up as he spoke, clearly triggered by her words, "Marina está muerta. She was sixteen years old. ¿Es eso justo?" He said, before turning around to address the class. "From now on, if you talk to that shit, you are dead to me. If you're with him, you're against me." He spat out his words in anger as he spoke, throwing a glance my way, a look that said I was already dead to him, and by taking a seat beside Samu, I had made my choice. "This isn't about sides, Guzman." The headmistress spoke, causing Guzman to turn attention back to her. "It is. And you have chosen yours." He said, before walking away, leaving the classroom, no one even daring to stop him.
"I have a question." The boy from the car this morning, Valerio, stood up from his chair, and already Mrs. Muñoz was eager to shut it down, but Valerio insisted it was important. He stood with his shirt unbuttoned to reveal his vest, his tie was nowhere to be found, and yet no one said a word, although it did make me giggle a bit, thankfully no one heard. He was a mess. "Isn't there supposed to be a welcome party or something?" He asked, smiling as he spoke, yet no one else was amused. "It's exactly after something like this when people need to have fun. To dance, to drink." As he spoke, a few students giggled, including another new student I hadn't seen before, who was sat at the back, and she didn't exactly look like the snobby rich I was used to. She almost looked, well, like us. She noticed me looking and smiled at me. Of course, I smiled back, turning around awkwardly as Valerio kept talking, going on and on about having fun and cheering everyone up. Lu was staring at him in disgust; it was pretty clear they didn't get along.
Valerio wasted the whole of the lesson talking and talking, and no matter how much our teacher tried to get him to shut up, he just kept on chatting. When the bell finally rang, I think even the teacher was glad to be done with him, handing out homework at the door happily as we left. I mean, even after the lesson, Valerio was yelling around the hallways about a party, about living in the moment, and god knows what else, almost all of the rich clique judging him for his behaviour.
Samuel and I checked our schedule as we walked the halls, heading to gym class seeings as that was next on the timetable. "¡Mierda! I just remembered I was supposed to hand in some paperwork to the receptionist." I blurted out in a panic, although it wasn't really necessary, and Samuel laughed. "Go then! I'll tell the teacher what you're doing, okay?" I nodded, blowing him a kiss as we went our separate ways, Samuel heading to get changed while I headed to the reception. "I'll see you on the field!" I called out to him, not even sure if he heard me, not bothering to check if he was even still there. Within a few minutes the hallways had cleared, and the reception was empty and peaceful, the first and only time I'd probably even see it like that. "Hola, ¿En qué te puedo ayudar?" The receptionist pushed her glasses up her nose, indicating for me to come forward with her hand. "Hola. I think I need to give you these?" I said, unsure as I handed over the forms my parents had filled in, not sure what exactly it was for. "Sí, perfecto, I'll take care of that for you." She nodded, straightening out the papers, putting them on a pile with a bunch of other forms. "Gracias." I said as I headed back down the hall, not bothering to rush; I'd only been gone for a couple of minutes.
My leisurely stroll down the corridor felt somewhat eerie; only minutes before, the hallway was loud and filled with chaotic students, now it was just me. At least, I thought it was just me, until I began hearing faint footsteps, although when I looked around there was no one. The footsteps we're getting closer and closer, and for a moment I was genuinely thinking maybe there was a ghost, but as I turned to look down the other corridor leading to the swimming pool, I felt a tap on my shoulder. My head whipped round, not expecting to see Christian Valera, massive grin on his face as he looked me up and down.
"Oye, hace tiempo que no nos vemos... I think it time for us to talk."
