Cariño

13

Natalia stepped out of her chauffeur's car and put her bag on her shoulder.

She saw Lu and Guzmán standing on the stairs and so she walked up to them slowly.

Lu turned around and smiled at the brunette "Hola, Talia. How have you been?"

Before Natalia could respond, she heard a car horn behind her "¡Bonita!" Natalia didn't need to turn around to know who was shouting at her.

She looked at Lu who gave her a nervous look and so she turned around and saw a smirking Valerio in his car.

Natalia waved at him and turned back to Lu "Why didn't you tell me he was coming back?" Lu shrugged "I didn't think it was important since you have a boyfriend." Natalia looked down "We're not together anymore." Guzman's eyes widened "What? When did this happen?"

Natalia sighed "Let's just say we were not as loved up as we may have seemed. We agreed that we're better as friends than a couple. But then I found out that he was moving back to Venezuela because of his mother's job so maybe that was the reason he wanted to end things. I doubt we would have made the long distance thing work."

Guzmán nodded "I called him when he came back from his school tour in Venezuela. He said that the school there isn't as exciting and outgoing as this one."

Natalia scoffed "Yeah, I gathered. At least I have more time for myself now. Anyways I'm gonna head inside. I'll catch up with you guys later."

Natalia walked up the rest of the stairs and into the Las Encinas building. She passed many students that were standing by the reception. She scooted past chatting students and reached the hallway.

Natalia walked down the steps with a sad look on her face until she saw Ander. She smiled at him and so did he. "Hi, Talia. Did you see who I saw today?"

Natalia nodded "Yeah, I just saw him. It's gonna be weird, right?"

Ander sighed "Yeah, I mean he's always been a trouble maker. Remember when you guys used to date?"

Natalia frowned "Yeah, we were a troublesome pair. It was for the best that we broke up."

Ander scoffed "Well, let's just say you never looked at Tomás the way you looked at Valerio."

Natalia rolled her eyes "I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Ander chuckled slightly "Oh, I think you do. I'm not the only one who noticed."

Soon Guzmán and Lu joined the pair and Guzmán hugged Ander "How are you? Long time no see."

Guzmán laughed "Hey, how are you doing?" Ander pulled away "You didn't post a single photo."

Lu then started to play with Guzman's tie "There's barely any single at his grandparents' house in Asturias. A cow is a cow, regardless of how many filters you put on it. But it was very relaxing. Like a chill out..."

Lu's attention was taken by Samuel García walking down the stairs. Natalia looked at him and knew that Guzmán would be happy.

Soon Ander and Polo noticed this and unfortunately so did Guzmán.

He looked at Samuel coldly and walked over to him. "What are you doing here?"

Samuel scowled at him "I have just as much right as you to be here."

Guzmán dropped his bag and swung a punch at Samuel causing everyone to pull him back.

Samuel fell back into the classroom. Samuel got up and Guzmán punched him again.

Azucena ran into the room and saw Guzmán being held back by his friends "Guzmán stop!"

He turned around and caught eyes with Nadia who was also in the classroom. Azucena made everyone sit down and Natalia sat next to Ander.

Azucena looked at the classroom "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. From all of you. Guzmán, I can't even begin to imagine what you are going through."

Guzmán looked up "No, you can't." He then sat up "And now imagine that you had to bump into the one to blame for all that pain in the halls all the time."

Azucena shook her head "Samuel isn't the one to blame."

Guzmán scowled at Azucena "If Samuel hadn't come to this school...if Samuel and his fucking brother had stayed in their shitty, little village, none of this would ever have happened."

Azucena stared at Guzmán "Your father got him the scholarship."

Guzmán fought back "You're the one that renewed it. Why?"

Azucena shrugged "He's a good student. It wouldn't be fair." Guzmán scoffed "Fair?"

He then stood up and walked over to Azucena "Marina is dead. My sister...is dead at 16 years old. Is that fair?" Azucena shook her head "I'm not going to argue with you."

Guzmán turned around and looked at his classmates "From now on, just so you know, if you talk to that vermin, you are dead to me! If you're with me, you're against me."

Azucena sighed "This is not about taking sides, Guzmán." Guzmán turned back to her "Yes, it is. And you have already chosen yours."

Guzmán walked away and Natalia put her head in her hands.

Before they could begin their class, Valerio stood up "Please, one question." Azucena rolled her eyes "Valerio. Is it important?"

He then continued "Sure. Isn't there supposed to be a welcome party or something here?"

Azucena frowned "Do you think we're in the mood for partying?"

Valerio looked behind him and touched a boy's face "Haven't you seen those faces? It's precisely after something as awful as this that these people need...to have fun. To have fun, dance, drink."

Natalia scoffed and rolled her eyes. She knew that having Valerio back meant trouble. Big trouble.