Episode 2 - The Bell
The teacher fell silent.
Two exact seconds.
Her mouth slightly open.
She didn't understand what she had just heard.
The murmur grew like an electric current.
She blinked.
Shook her head slightly.
—Order. Everyone, back to your seats.
Eliza was already seated, looking forward with absolute serenity.
He remained motionless.
His cheek still warm.
Class continued.
It was mathematics.
Numbers on the board.
Equations.
Chalk scraping.
But the classroom's attention wasn't on the board.
At the far end of the room, a group spoke in low voices.
Constant glances.
Small laughs.
They didn't understand.
They didn't accept.
The bell rang.
The teacher closed the book.
—Don't forget to finish your homework for tomorrow —she said firmly—. And study. We'll have a small exam.
Brief pause.
—See you tomorrow.
Chairs dragging.
Backpacks lifting.
Noise filled the room.
It was lunch break.
He didn't move.
He never went to the cafeteria.
It was always the same.
Shoves.
Laughter.
Food falling "by accident."
Eliza stood up.
Took his arm.
—Let's go.
He raised his head.
Pure confusion.
He didn't understand what she was doing.
But he let her pull him up.
At that moment, the group from the back advanced.
First Sebastián Blackwood.
Behind him, Adrián, Lucas, and Martín.
They positioned themselves in front of them.
Sebastián smiled, tilting his head.
—Where are you going?
He looked at the girl.
Looked back at him.
—Terry, where are you going? You're not allowed in the cafeteria, remember?
The name fell heavy.
Terry.
Some students stopped to watch.
Sebastián took another step closer.
—Do you really think you can appear out of nowhere and sit with her?
Soft laughter behind.
—A girl like her shouldn't even look at you.
Eliza turned slowly toward Sebastián.
Her expression wasn't anger.
It was something worse.
Contained contempt.
—Who gave you permission to speak to me?
Sebastián blinked.
She took a step forward.
—Who are you to address me?
The hallway fell into silence.
—I don't speak with commoners who haven't been introduced.
The word fell like a blade.
Commoners.
Sebastián tensed his jaw.
—I'm just trying to help you —he said with a forced smile—. You could be with someone who has a name that matters. With money. With position. Not with a loser like—
He didn't finish the sentence.
Eliza had already taken Terry's arm again.
—Step aside.
Her voice wasn't loud.
It was firm.
—And don't get in my way again.
She tried to advance.
Something caught her attention.
On Terry's back, there was a paper stuck.
She tore it off.
Unfolded it.
"HIT ME."
Laughter erupted.
Sebastián couldn't contain his smile.
Eliza made a ball with the paper.
Threw it straight at his face.
The impact was sharp.
The laughter died.
—If you touch him again —she said without raising her voice— or use his name to humiliate him…
Her eyes didn't blink.
—You will suffer the consequences.
Total silence.
Terry felt his pulse in his ears.
Eliza glanced at him.
Her expression changed slightly.
—Let's go.
She pulled him gently.
Then, almost in a whisper that only he heard:
—Your moon is hungry.
She guided him toward the hallway.
Sebastián said nothing more.
But his gaze was no longer mockery.
It was a challenge.
She didn't let go of his hand.
First she took him by the arm.
Then she intertwined her fingers with his.
Her skin was warm. His, cold and sweaty at the same time.
She led him down the hallway as if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if the scene in the classroom had never happened. As if that kiss hadn't exploded the morning.
He walked rigid.
Staring at the floor.
Feeling every gaze drilling into his back.
Whispers.
Laughter.
The sound of phones being lifted discreetly, like insects moving between hands.
He didn't know where to put his eyes. If he looked at people, he felt they were mocking him. If he didn't look, he felt like they were closing in on him.
She walked straight.
Confident.
With the calm of someone who needs no permission.
As if the building belonged to her.
When they entered the cafeteria, the noise dropped slightly.
Not into silence.
Into attention.
Conversations changed tone. They cut off halfway, then returned in a lower murmur, as if everyone spoke without stopping their staring.
She led him straight to the line.
She took a tray.
Then another for him.
—What do you want?
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
His throat closed as if filled with cotton.
She chose for both of them.
She paid without even glancing at the price.
Pulled out her card naturally.
The machine's beep sounded too loud in his head.
He stood there watching her.
More confused.
Smaller.
More exposed.
She took both trays.
Turned around.
And guided him toward a table.
Not a secluded one.
A visible one.
A table where everyone could see him. Where no one could pretend nothing was happening.
She sat down first.
Forced him to sit beside her.
So close their shoulders touched.
The murmur thickened, as if the air had turned to water.
She picked up a utensil.
Looked at him sideways.
Smiled slightly.
—Eat, my love.
Some girls dropped their glasses.
Nervous laughter.
A couple of almost inaudible "no way."
She leaned a little closer to him.
—I'm your moon, remember?
He didn't understand anything.
His face burned, from his neck to his ears.
His hands trembled, and he didn't know if it was from shame or fear.
In the back, Mateo and Iván watched the scene without blinking.
Jealousy disguised as disbelief.
Lin Mei observed them in silence.
Her gaze wasn't surprise.
It was something more complicated.
Something no one else noticed.
At that moment, another shadow approached.
Sebastián.
Tray in hand.
Fake smile.
He walked straight toward the table, slowly, sure that everyone was watching him and that it gave him power.
He pretended to trip.
The movement was exaggerated.
Too perfect to be an accident.
The tray tilted.
And for a second, Terry saw everything in slow motion:
The shine of the sauce.
Steam rising from something hot.
The rim of the glass trembling before spilling.
Then it fell.
Hot food.
Drink.
Sauce.
All over his shirt, his vest, his legs.
The impact was wet.
Heavy.
The heat seeped through his clothes and clung to his skin like a dirty hand.
For a fraction of a moment, there was no laughter.
Only that kind of silence that comes right before humiliation, when the body still doesn't understand whether to react or stay still to make it worse.
Then it exploded.
Immediate laughter all around.
Sebastián took a step back.
—Oh —he said with false concern—. How clumsy of me.
Terry couldn't breathe properly.
He could smell everything: spilled food, wet fabric, Eliza's perfume, the sweat of people laughing nearby.
The entire cafeteria was watching.
And Terry, covered in food, didn't know whether to stand up…
or disappear.
Sebastián didn't let go of her hand.
He frowned.
—What did you say?
And he threw the first punch.
Straight at Terry's face.
It didn't connect.
Terry had already moved.
His body reacted before his mind understood how.
He twisted his torso.
Planted his foot.
And launched a front kick.
Clean.
Straight to the chest.
The impact was brutal.
Sebastián was thrown backward.
Three.
Four meters.
He hit the floor, the air knocked out of him.
A second friend reacted immediately.
Lucas.
He lunged with a punch.
Terry ducked.
The blow passed overhead.
Without fully rising, he turned his hip and threw a low kick.
Straight to the ankles.
Lucas lost his balance.
He fell on his back.
A dry thud against the floor.
Terry stood up.
He set himself in a fighting stance.
Hands up.
Legs firm.
Breathing steady.
Sebastián's other friends froze.
They hadn't expected that.
One looked at the other.
They hesitated.
They didn't advance.
Instead of attacking, they retreated.
They helped Lucas up.
Then went to Sebastián.
Sebastián remained on the floor.
One hand on his chest.
Breathing with difficulty.
He coughed.
A thin line of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
His eyes no longer held mockery.
They held rage.
And pain.
He let himself be lifted.
Without saying a word.
He left.
The cafeteria was in absolute silence.