Hello! After a month I was able to update this story and I'm extremely sorry. This week I finished my first round of exams (yeah, here in Portugal we can do the same exam twice) and finally was able to post this chapter. I hope you like it.

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Paths – Chapter 9 – Classmates

"How many years until I have a beard?"

I sigh, cleaning the razor and grabbing the towel from my shoulder to clean up my face.

"Maybe five years…"

"A real beard!"

"In ten years…"

"Last time you said that it was going to be in seven!"

I drop the towel in the laundry basket and Michael gets off from the bathroom counter. He always sits there when he decides to watch me shave. Which has been always lately.

"Well, I'm not certain. But I'm sure that you'll have a lot of beard in ten years."

He looks satisfied with the answer and starts entering my bedroom.

"What are you doing?" I say, following him and getting ready to throw him out of there. He's seated and playing with the Rubik's cube, ignoring my question. I hate that and he knows it. Ignoring me makes him powerful between the two of us, and I can't accept that. I'm older!

"Do you know what you're wearing tonight?", he asks without looking at me.

"What?" I ask surprised. "Get out of my room! I have that sorted." And I do. Why wouldn't I? It's just a get together, not a fancy dinner. I don't really need to choose my clothes previously to an event like this. I'll just grab something clean and casual from my wardrobe.

He drops the cube in my desk and starts leaving. I can hear his footsteps on the stairs when he says, almost screaming.

"Hermione likes boys who have a good appearance!"

What?

"Who told you that?" I scream back, poking my head through the bedroom door. He is already downstairs.

"Mr. Granger!"

Translation: Mr Granger likes boys who have a good appearance. That's the type of boys he wants to see with his daughter. Good subliminal advise, Mr. Granger.

Sometimes I wish I could get him out of the picture. He's making me feel pressured. Of course, if it wasn't for him, maybe Hermione and I wouldn't be friends. But also, we could have a different type of friendship, not so rushed and more natural. I wouldn't be so curious about the things I don't know about her. Because when you befriend someone, you aren't searching for anything, like I am.

I go back to my wardrobe and pick some random jeans and a polo shirt. Mark says that 'it's best piece of clothing you can use to show off broad shoulders, after sleeveless shirts'. Why am I bothered about showing off something I don't have, it's beyond me.

Speaking about Mark, I'm still worried and a lot confused about what happened yesterday. I was really surprised with the way he acted after I told him Hermione's name. And I didn't get the chance to ask him about that because he left after I could do it. He just asked me if I was sure that she was going and to warn him if she changed her mind. When I called him, 2 hours later, his mom was the one who picked up the phone and she said that he wasn't at home.

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was wrong but nothing came to my mind. I'm sure that Mark saw her, the day we threw the ball to her backyard. And I remember that he thought that she was pretty. That's why his reaction to her name doesn't make sense. It's unusual, true, but not frightening. Later I decided that maybe he recognized the name from the Shakespeare's play. Which would make a little sense since he hates Shakespeare and anything related to books. Lousy excuse, I know.

After some cologne and a quick re-check at the mirror, I say goodbye to my mother and siblings and head to the driveway, where my car is parked since school ended. I check if everything is fine and clean up some crumbs and spots I find in my dashboard. Fortunately, I bought a new vanilla freshener. Does she like vanilla? Another thing I'll find about tonight.

I lock the car and start walking to her front steeps. I can see that someone is near the front door; the shadow moving and I don't need to ring the bell because the door opens instantly.

"Goodnight", he says to me smiling politely.

"Goodnight Mr. Granger. Is Hermione ready?"

He looks behind him and approaches me, almost closing the door behind him.

"She's upstairs with her mother." He answers and then puts a hand in my shoulder and I get nervous when he looks me in the eyes. "It's everything sorted for tonight? Do you need anything?"

"Hmm… it's everything alright." I say after swallowing. "What time should I come back with her?"

"Oh, I'll let you decide that. I'll not cut your time with your friends just because Hermione is with you."

"Maybe 11:30…"

"Listen, Luke." He chuckles. "Just make sure that Hermione has a good time. Maybe she'll need a little help to get used to what you and your friends do, but I'm sure that she'll adapt." He grabs his wallet and starts taking some pounds. "Maybe you'll need a little more. I haven't been in a pub for a while. With the inflation and all…"

He hands me the notes and before I can object, Hermione appears at the door.

"Luke!" She says, descending. "Sorry if I'm late." She's adjusting the light jacket while at the same time, Mr. Granger silently obliges me to take the money.

"It's alright, we have enough time." I say. Mr. Granger winks at me and shows a hidden thumb in the air, in approval. She smiles and gets closer and I can tell that her smell changed.

"What time should I be back?" She asks her father.

"Whenever you want. Just have fun and be careful. " He looks at her, almost surveying. "And don't take which is not necessary."

The way he's looking at her tells me that he isn't talking about some feminine gear girls use to carry with them. I frown but no one explains…

I've been driving for only 5 minutes but that was enough time for her to start drumming her fingers on her legs, biting her lip or worse, her nails. Taking advantage of the red light, I look at her.

"Nervous?"

She looks away from her hands and grins at me.

"No. I'm just afraid."

"Of them? You don't need to…"

She chuckles and the light turns green.

"No, I'm not afraid of them. I'm afraid of my behaviour around them. "

"Really?" She nods. "Don't worry about that. Normally, they are very friendly. I know that they are very curious about you and I don't know what Mark or Annie told them but I'm sure that you'll feel welcomed. Maybe not right away, but eventually."

"That's nice…" She pulls her purse to her lap and starts playing with the zipper.

I don't believe that she'll stand at least 3 hours with them. Until now, I never thought about Hermione being shy and honestly, what she is doing is sort of crazy. We've been friends for a week and she trusted me enough to accept an invitation to something like this. In my case, I think I'd have declined.

Let's see: she invites me for an evening with her friends from the other place. Would I be able to spend a couple hours with people who are different? Wait! They're not that different. They are like her. Gifted. But I really doubt that I'd feel attracted to them like I'm her to her. But maybe I can't see what's different in her because I like to see her in a way that suits me more. I see her as an adorable girl. A girl who isn't afraid of saying what she thinks. A girl who has a smile that changes my day. A girl who knows a lot and knows how to share her knowledge without being boring. And I love that. I love her.

"Hermione?" She looks at me. "Just let me know when you're bored or uncomfortable ok? We'll leave." I smile reassurely to her.

"Don't worry. It'll be uncomfortable, I'm sure of that, but I'll survive." She sighs. "And my father told me that I'll only be able to evaluate my night tomorrow."

Mr. Granger. She's doing this because he asked to.

"Forget it." I say, feeling a certain rage. "If you want to, we leave earlier and go home. Or somewhere else." I take a quick look at her expectantly but I can't read her face. Did she notice my lame invitation?

We are at Mark's door. She's slightly behind me and I can hear her shallow breaths. I ear some voices inside: Annie arguing with someone, Jack laughing really loud, Renan arguing with a lot of cursing (with Annie for sure) and Rachel telling Mark to open the door. Before I have the chance to apologize to her for their behaviours, it opens.

"Hey Mark!"

He isn't looking at me but at her. I position myself aside and when I was going to introduce her to him, he steps outside and extends his hand.

"Hello… Hermione Granger."

I look at him, expecting some kind of chuckle from Mark, because this kind of introductions (handshake plus a girl's full name) is one of his ways of flirting, but somehow I must have forgotten about what happened yesterday. He has his lips pursed and his looking directly at her.

At the same time, Hermione has her mouth slightly open and a surprised look. She approaches him slowly to shake his hand.

"Mark… Mark Henley?" She is narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah…" he says releasing her hand, taking a step back.

"Wait…" I say, interrupting whatever was happening between the two of them and looking to their faces, searching for answers. Maybe I slipped out to Mark that she was Granger, maybe, but I'm completely sure that I didn't told her about Mark's last name. I rarely spoke about Mark with her! I need to ask. "Do you know each other?"

They are looking at each other, making a silent conversation that I don't get. Then Mark gives up and looks at the floor. Dammit, they dated each other! And things ended badly. I can feel the tension in the air and I'm so curious about what happened that I'm almost forgetting that I'm interested in someone who used to date Mark. Something that I promised myself it'll never happen.

"Luke?" Hermione calls, looking at me. Maybe my thoughts are well expressed in my face because she quickly averts her eyes.

"Don't worry Luke! I know Hermione from primary school, isn't that right?"

She looks back at him and nods.

"True, we were classmates for a few years."

Classmates. I discreetly release the air in my lungs. I can tell that they are telling me the truth because Mark isn't a good liar and if they really used to date, he wouldn't be so polite with her. But the first reaction is still bothering me. I need to understand.

"So why is that-"

"Luke, finally! We can't order food until everyone has arrived!" Annie says loudly while crossing the hall to the door.

"What is he doing outside? Snogging Mark?" I hear Renan shouting from the living room.

Annie rolls her eyes and approaches us, putting an arm around Hermione.

"I'm sorry if they are ALREADY bothering you with their weird chats. Just to let you know, we are better than this." She says, pointing at us. "Come, I'll introduce you! What's your name again? It's really unusual you know? But, don't worry because it suits you. Not that you're unusual. You look very common to me…"

Mark enters after them without looking at me and follows Annie and Hermione without a single word. When we get into the living room, I see Annie introducing Hermione to the girls; Rachel has one hand on Hermione's shoulder and must be telling some joke about us while Camille is smiling politely and even though she's not speaking and 'attacking' Hermione like the others, I can tell that she's curious.

The boys, Renan and Jack, are seated in the sofa, and completely oblivious of the tv-show. They are looking at her whispering things to each other. I decide to get closer to them, sitting beside Jack.

"Hey , how are you?"

"Honestly, we are relieved!" Renan says chuckling.

"Yeah, now we know for sure that you're not into boys, Luke." He says, while grabbing a beer from the coffee table and giving it to me.

"I can't, I brought the car."

"What? You'll spend the night here Luke, like always. Tomorrow it wore off…"

"Maybe later…" I don't want to discuss with him about the possibly of me leaving earlier.

Annie drags Hermione and starts introducing her to the boys. They are very polite to her and it's weird watching my group of friends (or at least, the boys) containing themselves in order to make her feel welcomed. Annie and Rachel are talkative as ever.

"Luke, tell me something." Jack says, leaning closer. " Mark told us that she was out of bounds. Are you dating?"

"Well…" My urge to lie is huge.

"Hey, if he said that she was out of bounds, I'll keep quiet. But it's strange you know? She's a fine bird and Mark never told us that."

We both look at her. She's with the girls, watching some magazines filled with celebrities, gossip and boys. They always bring those to our gatherings, to exchange between the three of them. They must be commenting about some random bloke from some boy-band because Rachel is talking about his 'nice stomach', Camille is blushing and Hermione looks at them, with a look between amazed and curious.

"By the way, where's Mark?" Jack asks and we start to look around.

"He went to the kitchen." Camille answers quickly. "I'll see if everything is alright." She rises from her chair, trying to excuse herself.

"No! No! No, no, no, no! You're not leaving this desk before learning how to appreciate a handsome boy like this one!" Rachel says, grabbing Camille back to the table.

Renan rises suddenly, looking offended.

"What? What about me? Everyone knows that I'm the fittest boy in here!" And starts moving seductively towards Camille, making her blush even more. Embarrassing her it's Renan's favourite hobby.

"Ew, Renan! I've seen you naked and that's nothing amazing about that!" Rachel says, crossing her arms, while Renan is caressing Camille. Annie is shaking her head disapprovingly and apologizes to Hermione, who's watching Renan's almost lap-dance, trying to control her laugh.

"Ergh, I'm glad the food is late or I'd be throwing up…" Says Jack, looking disgusted.

"Let me check with Mark about that." I say, rising from my seat. "Hermione, will you be alright around this madness?"

"I hope you're not talking about me Luke!" Annie says, quirking an eyebrow.

"Or me…" Jack mumbles before taking a sip of his beer.

Hermione smiles reassuringly at me and winks.

I enter the kitchen and I see Mark leaned on the counter, drinking a beer and staring at the wall.

"Mark?"

He averts his eyes from the wall and looks at me. I approach the counter and lean beside him.

"What happened between you and Hermione?"

He chuckles coldly.

"Not what you think, I'm telling you."

I cross my arms waiting for more information. When I see that he doesn't want to cooperate, I ask him again.

"So, what happened?"

He shrugs and looks at the bottle.

"Are you desperate or you really like her?" He asks bluntly. He moves away and stands in front of me.

"What?"

"Honestly. Are you really interested in her?"

What does he want? I feel myself getting angry with him.

"Why are you asking me that? And what does it has to do with what happened between the two of you?" I say back, almost screaming.

"It has nothing to do with it! Stop changing the subject!"

AH! His nerve!

"You're the one who started!"

"HEY!"

Annie is at the door. She enters and closes the door behind her. She looks like she's about to threat us.

"I don't know what is wrong with both of you lately and now, I don't care. I came here to ask you, Mark, " she looks at him "if you already ordered the food."

"Three margheritas." He replays, without looking at her. "They'll arrive in fifteen minutes."

She looks satisfied with his answer and begins to leave the kitchen. But before opening the door she turns around.

"Please, don't ruin the night for everyone. And Luke?" I look at her. "Stop worrying. Really." And leaves.

I feel uncomfortable. Embarrassed. Annie is right. I have to stop worrying about everything. Hermione seems fine at Marks house. Why I am creating a big deal out of this?

"Do you want a beer?" Mark asks, going towards the fridge.

"No thanks. I brought the car."

"She has a curfew?" He asks, and I notice that he's not scoffing.

"Yes." Why explain? I'm not even sure if she has or not.

He closes the fridge, with some cokes on his arms and starts to put them on the table.

"Luke, don't get mad at me. I just need to know."

"Why do you need to know?" Really, why?

He senses my disdain.

"Ok, come with me!" And saying that, he leaves the kitchen.

I climb the stairs, enter his bedroom and found him grabbing a box from the top of his wardrobe. He places it on his bed and starts ruffling trough the contents. Then he founds something.

"Look at this."

He hands me a photograph. It's his primary school class.

"Is she here?" I ask, searching.

"Yeah…"

I'm expecting to see a little girl with a big curly hair when Mark points to a girl that must be wearing her hair in a ponytail. I get the picture closer to my face, and I don't really know what I was expecting from a ten-year-old photograph.

She is close to her teacher, smiling sweetly. Mark is in the other end of the photograph.

"You weren't close, were you?"

"No. We were classmates until year 6, I guess. After that, all of us got transferred to another school, but she didn't go with us. And none of us was really close to her so no one bothered about that."

"No one? Really?" I look at the girl in the picture and feel sorry for her.

"Yeah…"

"Why?"

He sits on his bed.

"She was different from all of us. She liked different things." He says. I look at him and he is scratching his wrist, with pursed lips and looking absent.

"Well, I think that's common. She is gifted."

He turns to me surprised.

"Gifted?" He asks, taken aback.

"Yeah."

"How do you know that?" He asks me. He crossed his arms and it looks like he doesn't believe in me.

"Her father told me."

"He told you? Ah! That's impossible!" He turns around and walks back and forth on the bedroom.

"How is that impossible? Being gifted is something to be proud of!" I don't really understand why is he acting like this. He looks at me as if I'm crazy and decides to close the door. Is he going to argue with me, again?

He gets closer to me and asks, almost whispering.

"You saw it?"

"I saw what?" I ask, confused. He looks around and gets closer.

"What she can do with it?"

With… what? With her capacity to learn faster, accumulate a lot of information and desire to know more? Yes, I saw it. But why is he acting like this?

"Yes Mark, I saw it." I move him away from me and start to get worried. Now I'm the one who is looking at him like he is crazy. "She knows a lot about Shakespeare and is a real fan of that kind of literary works."

He steps back and shakes his head.

"Shakespeare?"

"Yeah Mark, Shakespeare. What's wrong with you? You don't know what 'gifted' means?"

He has his mouth opens and is only blinking.

"You know that being 'gifted', doesn't mean having super powers, right?" Mark isn't the smartest person I know but he can't be that dumb.

I'm expecting some reaction from him when I hear the bell.

"Mark?" I hear Annie calling him and that's when he 'wakes up'.

"Come on mate, let's get the food." He says, quickly leaving his bedroom.

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I'm sure that you found a lot of flaws in this chapter and I'm sorry about that. Don't be afraid to review and ask anything about the matter. Next chapter will be posted next week (before the next round of my exams :S ).