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The name Ander appeared on Natalia's phone as she laid down on her bed. She opened the message and sighed at what it said.
Ander I'm outside. We need to talk.
Natalia rolled her eyes and put on her slippers. It was currently 10pm and Natalia was extremely tired.
She didn't feel the need to speak to Ander at this time but didn't want to make the boy come all of that way for nothing.
Her mother and Joaquin were laughing with each other in the lounge and didn't notice Natalia sneaking out of the house.
She quietly closed the door and saw Ander standing behind the gate in the bushes. She didn't want to open the gate as she didn't want to make any noise.
Ander stood in front of Natalia and looked like he had been crying. Natalia frowned "Is everything okay?"
Ander stared at her "I wanted to apologise. I knew that it would be better to do it in person than by text."
Natalia looked down "Well, I'm not ready to forgive you."
Ander nodded "And that's fine. I just wanted to let you know that I regret it. I wasn't thinking straight. I just want things to go back to normal."
Natalia's eyes widened and she scoffed "Back to normal? Things will never get back to normal. Not after what Polo did.
I don't care if it was accident or what, he deserves to go to jail for what he did to my best friend. You're no different."
Ander started to tear up and Natalia could hear the pain in his voice "Please, Talia. I need you right now. More than ever."
Natalia shook her head "Well, I don't need you. It's getting late, you should go home." Ander nodded and walked away and Natalia ran back inside.
Natalia quietly walked back up to her bedroom and saw her sister sitting on her bed. "What are you doing in here? You should be in bed."
Savanna stood up on Natalia's bed and looked at her sadly "Can I sleep in here tonight? I don't wanna be on my own."
Natalia looked at her sister with pity and then rolled her eyes "Fine, but promise me you won't start snoring."
Savanna tucked herself into the left side of Natalia's bed and Natalia slipped into her side.
Savanna was the first one to sleep and to Natalia's knowledge, Savanna did snore loudly that night which meant that it would take a while for Natalia to sleep.
***
"Tomorrow, university officials are coming to talk to you. They don't have time for all of you, so please indicate your first choice.
They might interview you. We'll come around to collect your forms in just a minute."
Ander's phone suddenly started ringing and he turned away from the class, answering it.
"Polo, stop calling me, for fuck's sake." He ended the call and turned back to the class.
Natalia looked at him with interest and then looked back to Azucena.
After class, Natalia went to her locker and pulled out her book for her next class.
She looked to her left and saw Guzmán walking over to her in a rush.
He leaned against the locker next to her "Are you speaking to Ander?" Natalia scoffed "No chance. He's an asshole, Guzmán."
He nodded in agreement "I know, but you need to speak to him about Polo.
If Ander testifies then Polo might be charged with Marina's murder."
Natalia laughed "There's no way in hell I'm speaking to him, Guzmán. Why don't you do it?"
Guzmán sighed "I'm not speaking to him. I could try but don't blame me if it gets heated. He doesn't feel any remorse for what he's done."
Natalia shrugged "Well, I would know since he came to my house last night apologising." Guzmán frowned "And what did you say?"
Natalia looked down "I told him to fuck off. Serves him right." Guzmán stood up from the lockers and turned to Natalia "I'll try and talk to him, okay?"
Natalia closed her locker and nodded "Okay." She walked off towards the school exit.
***
Natalia had spent roughly ten minutes with the University rep and was starting to get bored as he asked her many questions.
The only thing on her mind was the message that she had received from Samuel that morning. Carla told the court that she had made up the accusation.
Natalia tried to think of the reasons why Carla would do that.
The only thing she knew was that as long as Polo was still in school, she would never be able to find peace with Marina's death.
Natalia was snapped back into reality when the University rep looked up from his small computer at Natalia and smiled "What kind of University would you like to attend?"
Natalia shrugged "Well, I want to go to dance college. Preferably somewhere away from Spain. It's best if I start fresh, in a new country. But, I don't know if that's still what I want to do. Everything has been a bit hectic and I don't know if I have the same passion for dance as I did before."
The man nodded and continued "Well, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?" Natalia thought for a second and sighed "Honestly, I have no idea. Hopefully on stage performing for a huge audience."
The man excused Natalia and she walked out of the room. Natalia regret opening the door when she saw Guzmán punching Polo in the face and lifting him and dropping him on the Oxford University stand.
Natalia was even more shocked when she saw Valerio rush to Polo's aid, helping him get up. Azucena ran out of her office and sighed when she saw Polo on the floor.
She called everyone back to class and made sure everyone was sitting down. Natalia was sitting next to Samuel.
Azucena directed her anger towards Guzmán as she spoke "It's over. Do you hear me? I won't tolerate any more of this! Do you know how embarrassing this is for the school? From now on, the slightest misconduct or lack of discipline...will mean immediate expulsion. No excuses, no exceptions. That means you won't graduate."
Guzmán kept his head down but spoke up "That's unfair."
Azucena looked at him and raised her eyebrows "Very well. Let's talk about justice. All charges have been dropped against your classmate."
Samuel gestured towards him "He's a murderer."
Azucena looked at the boy "The person who accused him retracted her statement. It's gone on her permanent record. She may even face legal consequences. So to make things crystal clear...if anyone so much as touched a hair on his head, I'll see to it they don't finish the school year and that it goes on their permanent record. Understood?"
Natalia scoffed causing Azucena to give her a look. She walked out of the room and the students continued with their class.
