Chapter Thirty

...…

Luan's point of view

In the dormitories we were resting to see what verdict the sophomores took in the morning. Alison was taking a shower, but I noticed that it was taking a long time. And I knocked on the door.

-Alison, you've been there long enough, you're going to get cold at this hour.

He opened it with a shirt on, a pair of pants and wet hair.

-I'm sorry, I thought about it for a long time.

-You're right, anyone would be scared of that meeting.

I noticed that he was staring at me and suddenly he approached me.

-It looks like you almost caught up with me,

-Ah, that, not that I felt bad about my height, but I feel happy, now I will be able to look at you all from above.

He touched my head and said.

-Meanwhile he continues to look at us from below.

I avoided looking at him for a while, he left me a little off base, his expression.

-Here I have more or less a possible decision from that group.

-Room one is Snaider's, I think maybe they will vote against sending the petition. Room two is Adrian's group, but also Hana's, so I'm not sure what they will do. -The group three, there are several friends of Santiago and Snaider, maybe they can vote in favor of me. But the group four which is Santiago's is very divided, I think there is nothing to do there. Group five is much worse than group four.

-You've heard that they've done something like this before.

-Yes, they have done it five times, but with people from their own year, this is the first time they have done it with someone outside their own group.

-Everything was planned by Adrian.

-Not only for him, there are several who think the same way, but they don't show it so much.

...… .... ...

After Alison and her classmates left. The classes would meet to decide what their vote would be. At that moment Santiago appeared in the middle of the crowd.

-I can give my opinion on this.

-I think we made it clear yesterday that we don't need your intervention here. Likewise, this is how it would be with Snaider as well -I'm talking about the representative of class two.

-I'm sorry, Santiago, but school rules require that the president not get involved in meetings of this kind even if he belongs to that class," said Hana.

-They're really going to do that. They're really going to do that," Hana said, "simply because they feel inferior to him.

-Please, you can come out, we are wasting our time here with tigo-commented the class two representative.

-It's all right, I won't say anything, I'll just stay here and listen," said Santiago.

The five classes met in different parts of the hall, and discussed how they would vote. Until almost an hour later, each class had made its decision and they all met again.

-I believe that each class has reached its verdict, so please raise the page that is on your desk, to decide whether or not to make the Hana comment.

Classes two and four had a sheet of paper with a circle around it indicating that they were in favor of making the request.

Classes one and three had an X which indicated that they did not agree to make the request.

There were murmurs for and against class five for not raising their hand.

-Because he did not give his verdict, class five-asked Hana.

-Well, we simply felt undecided and declared ourselves neutral," the class five representative replied.

-I ask you, please don't drag this out any further. You yourself know when this happens, the representative of the second year classes must make the decision and in this case it is you-Hana comment.

-Yes, I know, but I'm making the point of view of my classmates in this decision. There are 24 of us and half voted yes and half voted no.

-And then what do you decide," asked Hana.

-It's obvious that Alison is a strange person and attracts a lot of attention, but I think she should still be here. Although there are many things that are a mystery. Like the day Luan Olivera fell in the river, and he saved her.

-You could give your answer right now," said the class one representative.

-Let me finish. Following my explanation, I was the one who gave the idea to Snaider after what happened

In the expedition. Therefore I am obliged to return the favor. I decide that the request will not be delivered.

-You're stupid, Alison took away your spot for the nationals. And just the moment you can hit back, and instead you help him out," said some sophomores.

-You know you're jealous of him, from the moment you started proposing to do this, I could see it wasn't because of what he did. Rather they feel inferior and jealous because he is almost catching up with them, they are a bunch of resentful people.

Classes two and four threw objects at the boy in response to his comment. Meanwhile, Santiago was happily observing his classmate's decision.

The event room was divided, some of them annoyed, because they could have taken Alison out. Others were happy because they would have been more amused by the competition between the two Fernandez brothers.

-Arnold called him Santiago.

-Hello Santiago, I thought you'd already left.

-I wanted to thank you for Alison. I know you were upset when they pulled you out of 12 for putting him in, and you wanted to get out of school for that.

-Ah, that....let's say, I thought about it, and I decided to go on with my life as a student again, but I think I want to measure up to it.

-I'll tell you, when I see him.

-You know, at the same time I'm worried, if there are so many who are angry at him because he's close to outperforming the standard of a sophomore here. In the state schools it's going to be worse, everyone will go against him, even though he's the weakest.

-I know, I asked for his statistics yesterday, Alison 430 speed 53, endurance 49, strength 51.

- My CE 522 at CE, 57 in speed, endurance 57, strength 56-Arnold said.

-Too bad getting the statistics up is so hard now. The military cutter looked at the president after saying that and asked, "Are you paying attention to me?

-Hey, I didn't pay attention. Alison's friend has raised his stats a lot, and the administration is concerned, and it's come to the attention of the Ministry of Education.

-He? ..... Aahh... the day they gave the results, he was about 15 short of reaching level two.

-Now he is.

-What? At what point.

-Both of them train almost every night.

-You could tell me their statistics.

-Luan 148 speed 37, endurance 32, strength 29.

-It's pretty impressive, how they managed to get to that level.

- That's not the worst thing, he's almost past Alison in altitude. And maybe she'll get to ours.

-Are you playing?

-No, everything I tell you is true.

-Tell me, why do you get along so well with that boy?

-The year before, two third-graders made a joke on me, and they took my clothes. While I was taking a bath.

-ha..j..

-You can laugh. I got over that.

-ha-ha-ha-ha.

-That was in one of the bathrooms in the teachers' block. I stole a shirt from a classmate and managed to get to the infirmary. Most people would stare at me and laugh at me. When I got there, in my eagerness to get in, I fell backwards. And I saw him in that place.

-He immediately thought you were some kind of pervert.

-I don't know, but he took off his high school jacket and gave it to me. That got me thinking. While everyone was making fun of me, a stranger shook my hand. Then the nurse came in and I had to explain.

-I wonder what the nurse would have thought if she had seen you come in like that.

With a smile Santiago answered.

-We will never know, but I am happy he is staying here.

... … …. ….. …. …. ...…

After Santiago spoke with Arnold, he met Hana who was helping to pick up the event room.

-Hi, you're upset about what happened.

-I'm sorry, I'm not one of the crazy resentful people.

-You know I wasn't asking you about that.

-What are you talking about?

-You know why, but since you don't want to talk. Tell me how you felt about this trial.

-It was a waste of time, I think that instead of doing this kind of thing, we should have met for the state tactics.

-Yes, but, it was necessary to do this. Because we would have lost another member of the state troopers. So we can do it tomorrow. Even if Adrian is absent.

-We are a week and a half away from State and you are as calm as the third year captain.

-With the little time left, there is not much we can do. Rather. From the capabilities of each one to make a plan for that event.

-The previous year's qualifying event was capturing the right flag.

-If this year will be something similar, so we are somewhat calm and thinking about making a strategy. And there will be 20 schools left, and it will be a total of 240 students, then if we pass we will have to fight four fights of which only 15 students will qualify for state. Hopefully, even five from this school will be able to get there.

-Ok, you look very confident, but tell me, are you over it?

-I think so, it was difficult, but it's just a problem from the past. It was really uncomfortable to hear that talk at the meeting.

-And what do you think of it?

-He's still cute, although I think he's attracted to that girl Samantha, amazing that he'd let a girl touch him and approach him that way. None of us could.

-Apologize to him?

-I'll do it at the state-run, for now we have to wait.