Elizabeth was so deep in her thoughts that, when they were interrupted by someone touching her shoulder, she got up from the ground terrified, thinking that perhaps Deborah and her friends had come back to do something else to her, her eyelids clenched with fear she said:
- "Do..don't hu..hurt me !!" - she stuttered with fear, more tears came out uncontrollably, but the voice that spoke to me was completely different from Deborah's, making her open her eyes
- "Are you okay?" - Was her question, I took a good look at who it was and to my surprise it was Leonardo, he looked at me with concern which gave me the security of telling him what happened
- "is that" -I wiped away my tears and continued- "De..deborah and her friends came to threaten me and bu..burned my no..notebook" - when I reached the part of my notebook my voice got stuck and broke, my eyes filled with tears again , some escaped without my being able to avoid it and Leonardo gently removed them with his fingers while he tenderly caressed my cheeks while smiling at me with understanding I could hear him say in a barely audible whisper "...those bitches..." Not for nothing I still had the hearing of a cat, my cheeks were colored red when I noticed that a small purr left my throat from his caresses, he looked at me with a smile full of grace and said
- "I know the teacher already told you my name, but I am Leonardo De Luca, nice to meet you Elizabeth D'Angelo" - she gave me a sincere smile when she finished speaking, instead I gave her a shy smile
- "The ta..taste is mine" -I got stuck when I spoke while I felt how my cheeks burned as I continued to feel his soft caresses, but my eyes fell on that scar on his wrist, my curiosity demanded that I ask him, but my My head was screaming at me that this is none of my business, in the end Leonardo ended up discovering where my eyes were looking and with a soft laugh he asked me
- "Are you curious to know what happened to my wrist?" - My whole face burned when discovered and with a timid movement of the head I let him know that I was curious.
- "Well, I got this scar when I saved a cute kitten from a fire, she was trapped in the flames while mewing for help and I of course saved her" -he replied, my heart jumped when I heard that, already that reminded me of a young man who saved me when some humans who were smoking threw away their cigarettes creating a fire, now I knew why it became strangely familiar to me, Leonardo's voice took me out of my thoughts - "you know, you have the same color of hair and eyes that of that kitten that I saved "- he looked at me as if analyzing myself and I could only look away nervously -" surely it was only my imaginations, I'm sorry Elizabeth if I made you feel uncomfortable "- he said it with sorrow as he separated a few inches from me, for some reason my heart felt heavy when I watched him walk away
- "Don't worry" - I answered, playing with my fingers a little nervous
- "What did that notebook have, for you to react that way?" - When I asked that, the anguish returned to me and with sadness I replied
- "This notebook was given to me by my brother Joaquín so that I could draw everything I felt, it was very precious to me since it was the first gift he could give me ..." -little tears were formed in my eyes before the impotence of not having been able to do anything to save my notebook, Leonardo just sighed and looked at me with pity
- "What if at the end of school I accompany you to your house so that we can both explain what happened with your notebook to your brother?" - I wonder with a conciliatory voice along with a soft smile
- "Okay, thank you very much De Luca" -I felt less stressed knowing that I would have someone by my side when I told my brother what happened, not because Joaquín got angry he has never been angry with me but rather because of my own shame at not being able to save something that he gave me
We spent the rest of recess talking about our lives and what we did every day Leonardo told me that he likes to go jogging in the mornings, help his mother in whatever way he can, he also told me that he is an only child and that he only has to his mother, I did not want to ask about his father because I thought he would seem very intrusive in his life, apart from that I listened to everything he told me since I had been a cat for most of my life it seemed very entertaining to me what he was telling me and without our noticing the bell rang announcing that we had to go back to our respective classrooms, although Leonardo and I were already in our classroom, soon after the room was filled with all our classmates and when they were all there present although three students were missing because of the three empty desks, I already knew who was missing and the truth was, I was hoping, no, I prayed that those missing students would not show up, but unfortunately for me just before the teacher entered a, Deborah and her friends entered with hurried steps who gave me a look full of malice along with a mocking smile making me shiver with fear as I looked away with fear but I felt a comforting grip on my hand looking to my right I could see Leonardo giving A smile that made me feel better, they sat in their respective places while their expressions changed to one of disgust at seeing what De Luca did, just after a few seconds a man with a severe look, gray hair, brown eyes entered dark, gray loose jean pants a white shirt along with a black plaid sweater and board
- "The director informed me that we have a new student, so Miss Elizabeth I am your teacher Enrique Valdez and the subject I teach is chemistry" - he spoke to me with a serious but kind voice
The hours passed and more classes had all equally interesting, in total this day I had psychology, chemistry, literature directed by professor Beatrice Palmieri a woman close to 40, black eyes, hair of the same color, short stature of 1.65 She wore a close-fitting skirt that reached her knees in a dark blue color, a white shirt with a friendly look, finally we had mathematics that was directed by Professor Donato Barone, a 46-year-old man with dark brown hair with some gray hair, baggy pants of light gray color, dark blue short-sleeved shirt along with a black waistcoat of 1.78 height
At the end of the last hour, it was already 15:00 PM and as Leonardo had promised he accompanied me to my house, of course before we went to spend a while in the square and eat an ice cream idea that came from Leonardo since according to him it was for That the nervousness that I was carrying would subside, for which I was very grateful, once about 40 minutes had passed we went back to my way home and when we were in front of my door Leonardo spoke
- "calm Elizabeth, I don't know your brother, but I'm sure he won't be mad at you" - he said giving me a consoling smile, I on the other hand just sighed nervously and gave him a smile, before opening the door.