Chapter II - Telmo & Teodora

"Thank you Gabriel, you can sit down now. Nice job."

If she could, Gabriel would now bury herself inside the nearest dark whole. As she walked through the lined rows of desks of her classroom, the laughter and the comments of her colleges echoed on her ears. And they weren't nice. She fell on her chair and hid her pinked face behind her book as one of her colleges walked up in front of the class to read his essay. She barely heard the boy start talking about soccer.

She felt so embarrassed. When she had left home to school, she was sure that her essay about magic and fantasy was a good essay, but when she started to read it out loud in front of the class and the teacher, as she started the first paragraphs, the other kids started laughing until she ended... and kept on laughing as she sat down.

"Hey Diniz!" she looked back to a big kid, three chairs behind hers called Bruno. "Watch out when you go home or the bad Witch from the West might come and get you!" and laughed as the others did the same. "Or maybe the monsters you have under your bed!"

Gabriel sunk even more behind her book. Now even her ears were pink. That was being the worst day of her life and she was glad it was the last one before vacations. She looked around to her classmates as they kept on laughing and repeating pieces of her essay, trying to imitate her voice. Only two kids weren't laughing. They were sat on the back of the class and both looked serious at her.

She stared back at them for a while. They always sat on the back of the room, always together. She thought it was strange that they hadn't laughed... but then again, they didn't talk much. Gabriel remembered their names: the Altor twins, Telmo and Teodora. She realised that she had never talked to them since they joined her class four years ago.

Telmo and Teodora were strange kids. Both were short and had dark auburn hair, Telmo's was short and spiky and Teodora's was by her middle back and straight. Both had pale skin and freckles and always dressed in dark clothing, most of the times with long coats, no matter if it was hot or cold. Their eyes were dark, almost black. In those four years they didn't make friends and usually hanged together. The other kids always found them strange and in some way abnormal because they didn't hang with them, or played with them, and barely spoke. They liked to be alone, reading books and talking in mute. But they were smart, the best of the class.

Gabriel quickly looked towards as she realised they knew she was staring at them, but inside she was burning with curiosity. She never saw who brought them to school or who went to pick them up... No one knew where they lived. They were strange and she wondered why.

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"VACATIONS!!! Yay, we're free!!! Whoohoo!!!"

Paper and books were thrown into the air as kids ran out of classes after the bell ring, running to the sunny playground, almost running over each other. They were free, free for two long gorgeous months! Laughter and plans for vacations floated in the warm air.

"What are you going to do on your vacations, Gabriel?" She looked back when she heard her name. Three girls walked up to her and she smiled.

"Not sure Andreia." Gabriel said, adjusting her bag on her shoulder, taking off her jacket and tying it on her waist. "Depends on my parents' work but I don't believe I'll go out this year."

"Dad says we'll go to Paris this year." Said Marguerite, a tall girl with dark short hair, right next to the blondie Andreia.

"I'm going to Algarve." Said Andreia like it was the most important piece of news of the year "And this year mom will let me take Vânia with me!" she laughed and patted the shoulder of Vânia, the girl right beside her. "And when Marguerite arrives from France, she'll go too! It'll be so great!"

"Yeah I guess... Well, have fun." Gabriel said sincerely with a bit of jealous. "Send me a postcard."

"Yeah, yeah right. Bye!"

"Bye, have a nice summer." Gabriel waved at he girls and sighed, adjusting again her bag, brushing away a lock of her golden brown hair that kept on falling to her eyes, seeing them going away. She wasn't sure if Andreia, Marguerite and Vânia were really her friends. They always seemed to cut her off of their plans, but whenever they needed something they always came to her. With a sigh she walked to the school gates.

She had to cross the whole school to get to the gates. The school was big, had loads of grades on it, from grade one to the ninth grades. Then kids had to change schools. Gabriel couldn't believe she still had a couple of years there. Though she liked school, she didn't like that school, or her class at least. Her classmates always picked on her, making her feel she didn't belong there. Sometimes she wished she could change schools...

Gabriel looked at her watch, it was almost 4 PM. For sure that Nanny had already a delicious little snack prepared for her! As her stomach groaned, Gabriel laughed and started running, the books and pencils bouncing on her bag until...

"Oh not now..." Gabriel moaned stopping on her tracks as she looked at the gates. Bruno and his posse were there, blocking her way.

"Hello Diniz. Nice essay you made today. Fairies flying around and all..." Bruno, a big and muscled boy with a bulldog-like face smiled at her, showing his yellow teeth. Gabriel made a sickened 'eeeww' sound almost in mute. "I think you didn't gave me your lunch money today."

"I never gave you my lunch money." Gabriel retorted stepping back as Bruno and three guys made her walk back into the school.

"You'll start now!" Bruno laughed but his giggled came out strange, like he was choking.

Gabriel stepped back until she couldn't do it anymore, being cornered against a wall. She looked back and to the sides, trying to see an escape route, but the boys had got her trapped. She swallowed hard now feeling afraid.

"Gimme the money." Bruno ordered.

"N-n-" Gabriel swallowed hard again, trying to be brave. "No!"

"What?!" Bruno looked at her with his green eyes wide open in amazement but that turned him even more furious. "Grab her Marco!"

A guy just as ugly as Bruno walked to Gabriel and grabbed both of her arms making her scream in pain as she tried to get free. She pushed and pulled, trying to escape from that firm grip as the boys laughed.

"Fight! Fight! There's a fight!" someone yelled and kids ran gathering around them, observing and ignoring Gabriel's pleads for help. Marco kept on holding her arms, squeezing hard so he'd be still.

Gabriel was on the verge of tears still pushing her arms away but Marco was too strong. It wasn't fair they'd be bulling on her because she was small and weak... it wasn't fair... just... wasn't... FAIR!! She clenched her teeth in rage as tears streamed down her red and hot face. She managed to grab Marco's shirt hard and yelled.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!" and pushed him away from her.

Before an astonished 'Ooooohhh' from the crowd, Marco literally flew back a couple of meters, past Bruno and hit the floor with a heavy thud. Then all it was heard was silence as the kids looked among each other. How could such a flimsy girl like Gabriel push away a guy like Marco at the point of making him fly?

Gabriel looked at her hands, trembling and pushed her now messy hair away from her face, pale as a ghost. She felt her hands and arms hot, making her tremble with the sensation. Panic was all over her face as everyone stared at her.

"Get her!" Bruno yelled at his friends. Without a second thought Gabriel ran away, pushing the other kids as Bruno and his posse followed her yelling. She ran as fast as she could, knees trembling and hair floating around her. She crossed the playground, dust floating under her feet as she ran, but she couldn't shake them off. The boys were fast and were already close behind her.

After turning the corner on the building near the ninth grade classrooms, Gabriel looked over her shoulder to see if they were close. And they were, dangerously close, waving their closed fists at her. She ran even faster until she tripped over the laces of her boots and fell. She felt the fabric ripping and felt pain on her knees. She quickly turned around to see blood on them.

Bruno stopped right in front of her, trying to catch his breath, tired and sweaty. "You-you can run" he said among deep breaths "But you can't hide!" he pushed up his sleeved and with clench wrists he walked to her, his friends right behind her.

Gabriel covered her head and yelled in fear "HELP!!!"

"Oi! What are you doing? Hey!! Shit!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

Gabriel tried to see though her fingers why was Bruno screaming but the only thing she saw was two dark shapes in front of her. Beyond them, Bruno and his posse were running away like they had seen the devil. After running around the corner they were gone.

"Are you ok?"

"What?" scared, Gabriel backed away before she realised who was kneeled beside her. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, momentarily blinded by the sun. Then she realised it was a girl. In front of her, a boy was watching the kids running away, hiding something on his pocket. Seemed like... a stick or something, maybe a slingshot, Gabriel was not sure. She looked at the girl. "Teodora!" she exclaimed.

"Are you ok?" the pale girl asked again.

"Y-yeah..." Gabriel replied, observing Telmo walking towards them, looking at his sister with a slight smile.

"Your knee is bleeding." Teodora took a tissue out of her pocket and pressed it against Gabriel's knee.

"I don't think they'll come after you again today." Telmo said taking Gabriel's hand, helping her up.

"What have you done to them?" she looked at the twins, they now looked fairly normal, as they made sure that each other were okay.

"It doesn't matter, the important is, they won't be bulling with you anymore." Teodora said back. The kids looked among each other, they were the only ones there.

"How did you do that?" Telmo asked to Gabriel as he and his sister helped her to walk and sit down on a stone bench near the soccer field.

"Did what?"

"Near the gate, how did you push Marco away?" this time Teodora asked, taking another tissue as the other one was already full of blood, looking at her brother.

"I dunno... I just pushed him." She said pressing the tissue harder.

"Gabriel, the guy flew away from you." Telmo stated looking at his watch.

Gabriel didn't reply after that statement. She had seen him fly, but how she did it, she really didn't know.

"Look, guys" Telmo and Teodora looked at her "Thanks for your help, you saved me and I really appreciate it, but now you'll have problems because of me. Bruno will be after you."

"We don't care." Teodora made a big smile. "We'll change school in September, we won't be here anymore. So that's not a problem."

"Oh! And to which school are you going?" Gabriel asked curious and became even more curious with the glance the twins shared among them.

"It's a... a boarding school." Telmo said and Teodora nodded vigorously.

Gabriel stared at the kids again, something telling her they weren't telling her the whole school and looked at her watch. She was so late. She hopped Nanny wasn't worried about her delay.

"We have to go home." Teodora said like she was following her thoughts and rose. "Can you walk?"

Gabriel tried to get up but she fell again on the bench. Her wounded knee was hurting. She sighed, nodding no. "I don't think I'll be able to walk home, I'll have to call my mom to pick me up. The thing is, I dunno if she's at home."

"Mom could help treating her wound." Teodora said to her brother that frowned a bit.

"I dunno... We never took anyone home." he said back crossing his arms. Both seemed to forget that Gabriel was there.

"I bet she won't mind, besides you heard her, she can't walk on her own." Then she added in mute. "Or... WE could help her."

"We can't do that!" Telmo retorted in low voice looking at Gabriel sideways.

"I can make it home, it's not a big deal." Gabriel said. "I only have to walk slowly."

"Nono. We live near here we can help you, then mom or dad will take you home." Teodora smiled again and took her arm, putting it around her neck. Telmo sighed but did the same. Partially being held by the twins, Gabriel started to walk.

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Note: Hmm... really not happy with this chapter. I have the impression I've repeated myself a lot... didn't I??? XD If you don't give me your opinion I'll surely kick your butt across the room! »-« Joking!