Chapter Six

She catches a bus and in twenty minutes arrives at the bus station. She goes to the counter, shows her documents and asks for a ticket to Sete Lagoas for ten o'clock at night.

The woman hands her the ticket and she checks the time, which is twenty past nine at night.

Marina fills out the ticket, then puts it in her purse and sends a message to her friend who says: "Friend, I will be there in seven hours. Meet me at the bus station at four o'clock in the morning."

Dayane calls her all happy:

"How did you manage to convince them to let you come visit me?"

"I couldn't. I actually snuck out to come see you."

"Are you crazy? What if they find out?"

"Relax, they're going to work tomorrow and won't be back until five o'clock in the afternoon. So, I only have that much time to get home on time."

"I'm so glad you're coming, but please be careful, don't talk to strangers and at four o'clock sharp I'll be there waiting for you."

"Okay. I'll hang up and get on the bus."

"Bye."

She ends the call and waits until ten o'clock at night to get on the bus to Sete Lagoas. When the time is up, she gets on the bus and sits in seat 30, checks her messages, and eventually falls asleep.

When she wakes up, she realizes that she is halfway to a place called Carmo.

She gets off the bus and sends a message to Dayane: "I'm halfway there."

In less than five minutes, her friend replies, "Okay, but please be careful."

Marina puts her cell phone away and decides to buy something to eat at the bus stop.

She goes into a store and buys a fluffy ham cookie and an acai guaravita. She hands the money over to the counter and goes back to the bus.

In five minutes the bus starts and she is snacking and admiring the tree-lined path and a few little fish and seagulls flying around the area.

Marina ends up sleeping for the rest of the trip and wakes up with the driver saying: "Destination: Sete Lagoas. Do you have any passengers who will disembark? "

Marina quickly gets up, grabs her purse and gets off the bus. As she gets off the bus, she sees a tall, light brown girl with curly hair looking at Marina with her hand on her waist.

She sees her friend and runs out, hugs her and says:

"Friend, how nice to see you. I missed you so much"-Says Dayane.

"I missed you too, but I can't stay long, after all I have to get home before five o'clock in the afternoon."

"Okay, but tell me, how is this family that adopted you? Do they treat you well? And your sisters-Dayane says chattering non-stop."

Marina answers all the questions and the two decide to go to the Waterfall, because if anyone finds out she is in town it could cause trouble for her.

When they arrive, she sees a white, thin and somewhat short boy smiling at her. She smiles back and he says:

"Hello, I'm Dayane's cousin. My name is Jurandir."

Marina smiles and shakes the boy's hand and says:

"Nice to meet you. My name is Marina. I didn't know Dayane has a cousin with that name."

"That's because he's my second cousin. He's living in the house you used to live in. You can call him Jura if you like."

They keep talking and they decide to get into the water and bet who can stay longer underwater, while Jura is counting with two stopwatches. Dayane manages to stay for two and a half minutes, Marina stays for three minutes.

They got out of the water, grabbed a towel and stood talking and her friend said:

"My cousin was dying to meet you. He asked about you all the time."

The boy turns red with embarrassment and says:

"You talked about her all the time and I just got curious, that's all."

"I know... You think I don't know that you want her number"-Says Dayane holding back from laughing.

"If you want my number just ask"-Says Marina.

And Jura says:

"Then pass me your number, please."

"Okay"-They exchange phones and the three of them stay talking until dawn.

***

Marina, her friend and her new friend end up sleeping on the grass near the waterfall.

When she wakes up, she realizes that her friend is nowhere to be found and wakes up the boy:

"Swear, wake up. Dayane isn't here"-and he stays asleep and pulls Marina into his arms.

With the tug he gives, she falls on top of him. The boy wakes up and smiles at the sight of her, and their gazes meet. He holds her by the face and she is mesmerized to see his beautiful green eyes.

He puts her down and is about to kiss her, when Dayane appears with a jar in one hand and a juice in the other and says:

"If you want to do some kissing, go on over to the bush."

At that moment, Jura is startled and Marina ends up pushing him away and he slips and falls into the waterfall.

Dayane starts laughing and her friend tries to look for him and jumps into the water in search for the boy. She dives in and finds him on the other side of the waterfall about five meters from where they were standing.

She approaches him and says:

"Really, are you okay? I'm sorry I made you fall."

"It's okay. I'm the one who has to apologize to you for that thing in the grass. It's just that I sleepwalk. I didn't know what I was doing."

-Okay, but what are you looking at?

"I'm admiring the sunrise. Whenever it's convenient, I come to this side of the waterfall and watch it and think, 'How God makes things so beautiful, and that we have to value what we have, because when we lose, there is no way to make up for lost time.

"I know how it feels. I didn't really value what I had, until I lost my parents and now separated from my siblings, but now I've gained a new family that takes care of me, and what do I do? I disobey their order and sneak over here"-she starts to cry and the boy hugs her-"How I wish I had my family back."

They continue hugging and he says:

"You can count on me for whatever you need. If you are friends with my cousin, you already become my friend too."

He wipes at her tears with his thumb and they stand watching Sunrise together and after a while Jura says:

"We'd better get back. My cousin must be worried about us."

She agrees, but before she dives in, he pulls her into his arms and kisses her. She doesn't stop him and pulls him close to her and puts her arms around his neck.

They finish kissing and the boy says:

"That will be our secret, agreed?"

"Okay, but now let's go."

"Okay, let's go."

They take a deep breath and plunge into the waterfall, stopping for breath, since they had used their breath to kiss.

Within five minutes they arrive and find Dayane sitting up. After noticing that there was something different about them, she raises her eyebrow slightly and says:

"At last you have arrived. Marina, someone called you."

"Who called me? She asks, afraid of the answer."

"It was written on the screen Miguel. Who is that? Your boyfriend?"

"That's the man who adopted me. What time did he call?"

"Look, it's been about two minutes"-says Dayane confused-"But why did he call you?"

"I don't know. There's a message here, I'll read what's written."

She checks the message it says:

"Honey, there's food in the fridge. I tried to wake you up, but I couldn't. Work called and they're releasing me early. Noon I'll be home."

She looks at the time and realizes it is seven o'clock in the morning and says:

"I'm screwed."

"What happened?" -She asks her friend.

"He's coming home at noon. There won't be time for me to get home in time. What do I do?"

And Jurandir says:

"If you want, I'll take you by truck. I got my wallet last week. If I hurry with the vehicle, you'll make it on time."

She smiles and says:

"Would you do that for me?*

And he answers:

"I said that for whatever you need I'll help you."