Episode 2

In the following weeks, the routine of teasing between Nick and Rafaela continued as usual. To everyone around, they were just two teenagers picking on each other, but for Rafaela, something was different. She began to notice Nick in a way that made her uncomfortable. When he laughed loudly with his friends or made his infamous jokes, even if they were annoying, it was hard to ignore the sparkle in his eyes.

And what bothered her most were the other girls. Nick was always surrounded by popular girls, especially Vitoria, the preppy girl in the class. Vitoria was beautiful, her long, shiny hair was always loose, her designer clothes and the perfume she used left a trail wherever she went. She seemed perfect, and Rafaela considered herself the opposite.

During break time, since Ava was absent that day, Rafaela sat in a corner of the patio with her lunch. From afar, she watched Nick leaning against the wall with two friends and three girls around him. Vitoria, as always, was glued to him, laughing exaggeratedly at anything he said.

A pang gripped Rafaela's chest. It was a feeling she couldn't name, but it made her restless. She lowered her eyes to her lunch, trying to focus on something else, until she heard a voice that made her freeze.

"Hey, Rafaela!" Vitoria's voice sounded loud and clear, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.

Rafaela looked up, suspicious, as Vitoria approached with her venomous smile.

"I'm going to give you some advice, okay?" Vitoria began, her voice sweet but laden with sarcasm. "You better take your eyes off Nick, because he would never look at someone... like you," she said, looking Rafaela up and down.

Rafaela frowned, trying to figure out why Vitoria was there.

"I don't..."

"Oh, please!" Vitoria interrupted, laughing. "As if I haven't noticed the way you look at him. But seriously, save your time. Nick has nothing to do with girls who look..." Vitoria stared at her from head to toe with disdain. "Like a boy."

An uncomfortable silence fell. Rafaela felt her face heat up and the words catch in her throat. She wanted to react, but deep down, part of her agreed with her classmate. Who was she to compete with girls like Vitoria?

"What about me?" Nick asked, approaching.

"Looks like she has a crush on you," Vitoria said, making Rafaela even more embarrassed.

"But she's not my type, I would never be with someone like her," Nick said, staring at Rafaela without revealing that his heart was racing. "We're more like enemies..."

Vitoria gave one last triumphant look and returned to Nick's side, moving away from Rafaela, who was upset by the whole situation.

"I wouldn't be with someone like you either... Idiot!" she said angrily.

In math class, Rafaela couldn't concentrate. As she tried to solve an exercise, she felt a note slide onto her desk. She looked to the side and saw Nick sitting in Ava's place, his face propped up on his hand, watching her with a mischievous smile.

Rafaela unfolded the paper, which read:

"Why are you angry? Did Vitoria slap you down?"

She glared at Nick, who pretended to be very interested in the board.

"It's none of your business."

Rafaela took her pencil and wrote underneath. She folded the note and returned it. Nick read it, laughing softly, and scribbled another message, handing the paper back.

"I'll tell her to stop, only I can pick on you, okay? Only I can do that. You're mine!"

Upon reading the response, Rafaela felt a shiver in her stomach. She pursed her lips, annoyed, but she couldn't help feeling a spark of something like relief. At least, with Nick, she never felt invisible.

Despite this, Rafaela remembered Vitoria's words, which echoed in her mind like an open wound: "He would never look at someone like you."

She looked at Nick once more, who was now drawing something random in the corner of his notebook. Maybe Vitoria was right. After all, to him, she was just an easy target for teasing.

"I can't like him," Rafaela thought.

That night, Rafaela locked herself in her room and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Even though she had never cared about her appearance, Vitoria's words had remained in her mind like a shadow.

"Maybe I should change..." she said, thinking about her seventeenth birthday that would be on Saturday. "I'm not that ugly..."

Rafaela pulled a strand of hair, imagining what it would be like to let it grow. At school, they always made fun of her for looking "like a boy," but now it hurt more than usual. And Nick... Well, he didn't help. He noticed her, but not in the way she would like.

"If I bought some new clothes... Maybe some more feminine ones..." she thought, biting her lip, hearing the living room door open as her father arrived.

With these ideas in mind, Rafaela ran to the living room, where she found her father sitting on the sofa, grinning from ear to ear.

"Dad, can I talk to you?" she began hesitantly, hugging Carlos.

"Of course, daughter!" he replied, more animated than usual. "But first, I have some news to tell you." Before Rafaela could say anything, her father interrupted her. "Daughter, I have incredible news!"

"What news?" Rafaela was curious.

"I got a promotion at work! They finally recognized my effort! I'm going to be the manager of the new branch."

"New branch?" Rafaela repeated, her heart starting to race.

"Yes, yes! But there's a catch..." Her father hesitated, adjusting the cap on his head. "The branch is in another city. We're going to have to move."

Rafaela froze, happy for her father but not expecting that news.

"What?!"

"Calm down, daughter, it will be a great opportunity for both of us, and I'm going to earn a much bigger salary. We're going to start a new life!" Carlos smiled, as if that solved everything.

But for Rafaela, the world seemed to be falling apart.

"What about school, Dad? My classmates? We just moved to this neighborhood..." She tried to argue, feeling her voice already faltering.

"You're going to make new friends, Rafa!" Carlos replied as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "And between you and me, it's not like you like it here that much, right? You've only been in this school for two months and you've already complained several times about some Nick."

Rafaela opened her mouth to respond but held back, remembering the times she had complained about the school. Maybe she had said that a few times, but now everything seemed different. The school was where Nick was. Where she, even with all the teasing, was beginning to understand what she felt.

She ran to her room and slammed the door.

"Daughter... Rafa..." She didn't respond, she needed to be alone.

"Why now?" she whispered, feeling the tears streaming down her face.

Lying on the bed, Rafaela hugged the pillow and thought about how ironic it was: just when she was starting to worry about her appearance, when she was willing to change, everything was going to end.

"Will Nick even miss me?" she asked, her heart heavy.

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