Cariño

6

Martín slowly walked around the class giving everyone their papers back. Lu received her paper and frowned "This exam deserves a ten."

Martín continued to pass out papers "Well, so did one of your classmates', and you know that here we grade on a curve, so...I'm sorry." Nadia looked at Martín as he walked back to the front of the class. "Excuse me, on a what?"

Martín looked at the new students "Didn't they explain this to you? Let me show you. Look." Martín walked towards the white board and drew a curve on it.

"This curve maps human intelligence. On one end is a minority with low intellectual ability. On the other, there is a minority which is extremely intelligent. And the majority falls here in the middle. Let's assume the class is a sample of society. There's one with a ten, one with a zero."

He pointed to the middle "The rest are here. There can never be two tens, or two zeros." Nadia looked at Martín "So the grades are assigned before the exam." Martín nodded "That's right. If you're in the lower 20%, you fail even if you did well."

Christian frowned "Damn, that's why I always flunk." Samuel leaned back in his chair "Isn't that a bit unfair."

Martín stood in front of the class "Guys, this prepares you for life. Out there, if you're in the lowest 20%, you don't get anything. And on the podium, there can't be two people."

Lu raised her hand just before the bell rang. Martín looked at her "If you have any complaints, come to my office hours." Natalia stood up and closed her books. She put them in her bag and walked over to Tomás' desk.

Tomás looked up and smiled "Hey! Are you coming to the winery in a couple of days?" Natalia nodded "Yeah, My mother is going earlier so I could meet you there if you want."

Tomás began to pack his things up "Yeah, I'll see you there. How is your mother." Natalia shrugged "I wouldn't know. She's always busy and she never has time for me or my sister."

Tomás stood up and put his bag on his shoulders "And your father?" Natalia sighed "Currently non existent. He doesn't care about me either. He adores my sister though. Probably because she looks like my mother more than I do."

Tomás frowned "Don't say that. Maybe you should call him. He'll probably want to talk to you." Natalia walked out of the classroom with Tomás "He's invited to the winery but he probably won't show up. Maybe if he comes I'll talk to him there."

Tomás stopped outside in the corridor and kissed Natalia on the lips "I'm gonna head to the cafeteria, okay?" Natalia nodded "Yeah, I'll see you later." Tomás walked off.

"Natalia!" She jumped in surprise when Lu appeared in front of her "Do you want to come over after school today? We can look for an outfit for the winery." Natalia shrugged "Yeah, sure." Lu kissed her cheek and began to walk away "I'll see you later!"

***

"So, what colour is Tomás wearing?" Natalia shrugged "I haven't asked?" Lu looked up from the iPad "Aren't you guys matching?"

Natalia shook her head "I don't think so. He hasn't mentioned anything." Lu smirked "Well, you can look hot all on your own."

Natalia laughed silently to herself. Lu continued to scroll through the endless dresses until she found a beautiful, elegant, long, black dress. She turned the iPad around and smiled at Natalia "What about this one?"

Natalia's eyes widened "I love it! Could you send me the link?" Lu nodded "Of course! I think you'll look perfect in it." Natalia stood up and walked around Lu's room.

She saw many pictures of Lu and Carla. She also saw many of her and her brother. They looked happy and almost in love.

Natalia looked back at Lu "Did you talk to Martín afterwards?" Lu looked up from her iPad "No, but I will tomorrow. From what I saw this morning, it looked like he wanted to adopt an older child."

Natalia frowned "Really, so what are you gonna do?" Lu smirked "What any kind person would do. I'm gonna get in contact with a prestigious adopting agency in exchange for being the top of the class again?"

Natalia sighed "Lu, you could get into big trouble. Bribing a teacher won't go lightly with Azucena."

Lu's smirk dropped "You're not gonna tell anyone, are you?" Natalia shook her head "Of course not, but I'm just saying...be careful, okay?"

Lu put her iPad down and stood up "You don't have to worry, cariño. When you have money, you're untouchable."