Chapter 16: Memories Part 16 - Clash of the Past

"Ee? What is this place?" -Rodrigo wondered, who was in a dark room-

The place where he was, was completely dark and empty, he decided to speak for the second time and the echo of him confirmed that in that place he was completely alone. Without even knowing where to go, he began to walk in front of him and after a few steps a door appeared in front of him, emanating light and it was clearly seen. Rodrigo decided to take the doorknob and turn it, but before he could do it, the door moved away from him at high speed, he could only continue behind the door and when he was going to take it, the floor breaks and Rodrigo falls.

After the big fall, with a lot of effort, Rodrigo manages to get up a little and is suddenly illuminated by a yellow light. When he sees his hands, they are covered with blood and he sees his stepfather bled out in front of him. Rodrigo's face showed confusion and surprise, and after that more lights appear, this time, reflecting some classmates, who spoke ill of him because of what they were seeing.

Murmurs and screams were what he heard and then Alice, Rose and Ana appeared, looking at him with disgust while he was still on the ground and then they left the place where he was.

"Girls Wait ... don't go..." -said Rodrigo, trying to get up, but without success and extending hand in the direction of the girls-

All the lights had been turned off for a few seconds and then one turned on in front of him, the girl who was now illuminated by the light was Caroline, who was not scared when she saw all the blood that was all over her body and just began to speak.

"Poor thing ... although, I didn't think you were this kind of person ... I'm very sorry to have to tell you this ... but ... I can't be by your side anymore ... I can't be with ... an Assassin"

After she finished saying that, Caroline left, but her light was still on. Rodrigo could see his last friend getting away from him too.

"Caroline, don't go" -Rodrigo shouted desperately- "CAROLINE!"

When he shouted the last thing, Rodrigo had awakened from his nightmare, but even with his eyes closed he extended his hand and grabbed something soft and soft, it was Caroline's chest, she had gone to wake him up by order of the tutor. Caroline was embarrassed by Rodrigo's action and gave him a strong slap that sent him flying a bit.

"It seems that Rodrigo wants to go back to the beginning of him" -said Rose, laughing a little-

"Ouch, that hurt" -said Rodrigo, rubbing his cheek where he received the slap-

"I think you'll have to make an effort if you want to exceed the number of times you touched Alice's chest, Mr. Pervert, your new counter is at 3" -said Ana bothering him-

"It was not on purpose" -said Rodrigo defending himself-

"There is yes, it is already very credible"

"Although well, who can blame you, it is in your nature to act in a perverted way, since that gives you perverted power and without that power you would die" -Said Ana-

"He already stops treating me like someone who only makes perverts" -said Rodrigo, then he turned to see Caroline and said- "Caroline, you do believe me, right?"

"... Rodrigo perverted" -Said Caroline- "But I forgive you because it was because you were asleep"

"She still thinks I did it on purpose" -Thought Rodrigo-

"Hey now, stop bothering him" -Alice said with a strong voice-

"Already, has appeared the ex..." -said Rose, but before she continued Ana covered her mouth-

"Shut up, idiot, you forget that Caroline shouldn't know that part" -said Ana whispering to Rose in her ear-

Caroline looked at the strange behavior of the 2 girls with confusion and Ana said something randomly to get Caroline distracted.

"Although, it does not seem strange to them that the 3 times this has happened, Mr. Pervert shouts Caroline's name just before waking up" -said Ana nervously and quickly-

"Yes, it's true" -Affirmed Rose-

"It is possible that Mr. Pervert has a wet dream related to her" -Said Ana-

"wet... wet... wet?!" -Said Caroline, embarrassed by that possibility-

"Maybe in a swimsuit or in sports class clothes" - Ana continued saying.

Caroline was more embarrassed.

"No, that's not it, don't say impossible possibilities that will tarnish my reputation!" -Shout Rodrigo-

"Heee? But if your reputation is already very ruined by ..." -Said Rose, who was again silenced by Ana-

Both girls argued again and Alice hit both of them on the head and told them to stop and stop bothering him at once.

After that, Alice approached Rodrigo and Caroline.

"Although, if it is a bit strange that you always shout his name when you wake up, and even more so that you fall asleep in class, since you did not do it since last year" -Alice said with a calm voice-

-Rodrigo looked at Alice seriously and said- "There are times, when I'm just sleepy"

"I ... I see ..." -Alice said-

A strong tension could be felt between them 2 and this tension was specifically noticed by Caroline.

To get out of that tension, Rodrigo apologized to Caroline for what happened and she accept.

Ana got up from the floor and said that in 3 minutes, the next class would begin.

"Damn, with all this fuss I couldn't eat" -said Caroline sadly-

"You can eat in class, just place your notebook vertically and eat" -said Ana-

"Or you can wait for lunch, it's the best in my opinion" -said Alice seriously-

"Yes, I think I'll wait" -Answered Caroline-

Little by little, the classmates were arriving and each member of the group went to their seat.

After a couple of minutes after the bell rang, the teacher on duty arrived.

Usually Rodrigo would have paid attention firmly, but he kept thinking about his dream.

"It's the third time already… I guess if that's what I thought… I am not surprised; it has been 5 months since the school year started and things have been improving for me.

Since that time when I started my friendship with Caroline, things have improved little by little, I managed to resume my friendship with the girls and my reputation improved a little, in addition to getting to know Caroline better, her tastes and preferences, we spent a lot good times together during this time. Although the rumors continue to spread among the first years, but you can see that the truth is distorted since I heard a group of boys talk about me, but saying that I had defeated the entire soccer team in a hand-to-hand combat, Ha, the only one I beat was Ronaldo ... But since I heard them my nightmares began ... it is not surprising that these rumors spread ... and sooner or later ... they reached Caroline ... Although Alice and I, along with Rose and Ana, we agreed that we would not talk about the past incident or our past relationship, it is only a matter of time ... before the rumors reach Caroline.

I'm afraid of losing them again... that's why... the best thing will be not to become too fond of them ... so as not to suffer when they leave me again... "

While Rodrigo was thinking that, he was lying on top of his table and looking accidentally at Caroline, who had noticed that.

"Ee? He… is he looking at me? Oh, what a shame ... "-Caroline thought while she blushed-

Rodrigo reacts and starts paying attention to the class, staring straight ahead.

"Uff… I can't believe this is happening to me again… he's been so good to me… so much more than anyone I've ever met… who would say I'd find someone like him after going through hell in North High School… in truth, things were not good there ... but during these 5 months things improved a lot ...

Not only did I get to know him better, but also Alice, Rose and Ana… they have all been good to me, my classmates too, none of them exclude me and I feel really happy here. But without a doubt the best are the four of them, especially Rodrigo, since thanks to him I was able to open up that time in tutoring, when he gave me the courage to say that I like anime in front of all my classmates and that later they would accept me as I am, there were even some boys and girls who also liked that ... that time I was really happy, but it doesn't compare to that time in the park, when we started our friendship and when ... he accepted me as I am and promised to always be by my side ... since that time, every time I saw him my heart began to beat faster and faster and filled me with joy ... and now that I have known him better I can say that I love him, although for some my reasons seem simple, but for me, They are the most precious thing in my heart ... "-Caroline thought as she looked at Rodrigo-

In another part of the classroom, Alice was looking at Rodrigo.

"Not long ago he was looking at Caroline, it could be that he was ... looking at her chest ... no, no, he is more serious now ... but what if what Ana says is true? If he has sexual urgencies? ... no, no, calm down Alice, I still remember when he told me that all the times, he touched me were accidents, with Caroline it must be the same ... but, even so, why did she scream Caroline's name before waking up? I don't understand… maybe he was having a dirty dream and he thinks that Caroline is prettier than me…"-Alice thought as she made a sad face at her conclusions-

Ana, who noticed this, threw a paper with something written to Alice, paper that she fell on her face and then read it.

"I know what you think Alice and things are not as you think, something else happens in Rodrigo's head to make him go back to sleep, so don't get depressed" -said Ana in the note-

"You're right, it's strange that he falls asleep again after his goal, which he said in tutoring class, is to get into the most academically demanding university in the country. When he seriously proposes something, he strives to achieve it, something else must be going through his head"-Alice thought-

She noticed that in the note there was still something else written, so she read it

"Postscript, if you want to get closer to him, you could ask him out on the weekend, with any excuse you can think of"

"What a good idea, thanks Ana" -Alice thought while she was happy-

Rose, who was behind Alice, just thought that Ana really knew how to read people and she was glad for that.

-.-.-.-

Lunchtime had started, and the group gathered their tables to eat together.

Rodrigo with Caroline, Ana with Rose and Alice with Caroline.

"There, as I expected, now I can eat" -said Caroline as she opened the container with her lunch-

Caroline's food looked great and she smelled good.

"Wow, that food of yours smells very good Caroline" -Said Rose-

"Yes, your mother must know how to cook" -Said Ana-

"Jehe, in fact, this time I prepared it, my mother was busy with her work as a draftsman" -Said Caroline happily-

The 2 girls were shocked at that statement and took some food from Caroline. Tasting it, her mouth watered at how delicious the food was.

"You are a very good cook Caroline" -Said Ana and Rose-

"Jehe, thank you" -Said Caroline-

"I didn't know your mother was a draftsman" -Rodrigo told Caroline-

"A, yeah, she's working for a manga, that great, she's putting all her effort into it" -Said Caroline-

"Yes, it must be" -said Rodrigo, who saw how Alice did not stop looking at him- "Hey, do I have something on my face?" You've been looking at me that way for a while "

Alice was embarrassed and said no, and that she was just distracted, but was actually thinking about what excuse to say to ask him out. After that, Alice took her food out, which was something from the convenience store that she had in front of her apartment, but she didn't say anything about it and started eating.

So that Rodrigo or Caroline would not ask Alice questions about her food, Ana began to comment on the soccer club and her return to high school after the tournament they participated in.

"Isn't it great how the soccer team managed to win the private club tournament? They had it yesterday afternoon" -Said Ana-

"By the way, you're right, that Ronaldo did put in a lot of effort this time, the opponents are getting stronger, but the South High School is still undefeated" -Said Rose happily-

Caroline was somewhat confused, since she did not know who Ronaldo was.

"Who is Ronaldo?" -Caroline asked Rodrigo-

"He is the captain of the soccer team, the best in any physical activity, in addition to having a great fortune thanks to his family's company" - Rodrigo answered.

"I see" -Said Caroline- "Then he must be someone very elegant and refined, right?"

"Mmm, I would say that he is someone impulsive and with little brain" -said Rodrigo-

As the group chatted, many footsteps could be heard, and screams of girls fainting with excitement abounded in the hallways. Ronaldo had returned and was going to room 2B, where Rodrigo and the girls were. Upon entering the classroom, Ronaldo approached where Alice was and as usual, he proposed that she be her girlfriend, but before he could finish, he turned to see Caroline and her beauty completely hypnotized him.

"But who is this beauty that walks around here, my name is Ronaldo Chávez, you are a prestigious lady, could you bless me by telling me your name?" -Ronaldo said as he tried to kiss Caroline's hand-

"Caroline, it's a pleasure ..." -Caroline said as she removed her hand quickly-

"A rude lady, I like that, I will be direct, her beauty has left me completely crazy, I think she has to know about me and my exploits as a sports representative of South High School"

"Yeah, something"

"Excellent, I was wondering if you would please go out with me and become my couple"

"Umm, no thanks, but we can be friends."

"Excellent, then let's go ... wait what?" -Said Ronaldo surprised-

"It's that, you're not my type, you know" -Caroline said somewhat uncomfortably-

"Pe, but ... I am the future representative of * Chávez Industries *, I have a lot of money and I am very handsome"

"Yes ... but ... there is already someone I like ..." -Caroline said while she looked slightly at Rodrigo-

Rodrigo did not notice that, but Ronaldo did, and grabbing Rodrigo by the neck he told him.

"Damn, you beat me, again right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, now please let me go" -Said Rodrigo seriously-

"Okay, it seems that you're playing to be crazy, very good, I challenge you to a duel for the love of Miss Caroline" -Ronaldo said after releasing Rodrigo-

"Aaa… Love? I… I… I didn't mean to, I say um, uh…"-Caroline said as she blushed and embarrassed-

"No thanks, there are 2 things you don't understand, the first is that I and Caroline don't have that kind of relationship, and the second is that I don't want any duel" -said Rodrigo firmly-

"Then let it be a duel for the friendship of Miss Caroline"

"That I told you that I don't want any duel"

"There you are, how boring you are, I suppose I will have to put more on the table, if you win the duel I will give you a weekly pass for 5 people, in a hotel with hot springs that has * Chaves Industries * in its possession, you can use it in the vacations, and if I win, I'll be Miss Caroline's friend"

"You can ask her right now, but your offer is interesting, although you can't make any scandal this week, the next one will be the competition against the North High School and the preparations are made" -said Rodrigo seriously-

"Well, let our duel be in the same competition, as we are from 2 different classrooms, the classroom that gives our high school the most points will win our duel"

"If I do not accept you will continue to bother for a long time, so that's fine"

After that, Ronaldo went with his followers.

"What a bigger problem his arrival represents" -said Rodrigo-

After that he rang the bell and Rodrigo had not eaten anything and was hungry, but he ate in class secretly from the teacher. Unlike last year, this time, it was not Rodrigo who is worried, but Caroline, who kept thinking about North High School and meeting her former classmates again.

"I hope everything is fine ..." -said Caroline in a low voice-