A few minutes later...
Sarah stands in the corner of the courtyard, with a tall wall slightly to her right. Behind her, an immense barrier restricts her movement. To her left, a little farther away, there's another wall, delimiting her already scarce space. In front of her, round cement tables and benches harbor enemies on the hunt.
Observing her approaching foes weaving between the cement tables, she analyzes possible escape routes. Two walls—one behind her and another to the left—and a tall wall to her right present themselves as potential exits.
Her hands brace against the wall behind her as an enemy approaches with light steps, ready to pounce. Sarah watches him with a fixed gaze.
In a sudden move, she feints to the left. The boy in front of her reacts instinctively, lunging toward her, while the others in the background shift to the side she pretended to flee.
Unexpectedly, she leaps backward, planting both feet against the wall for a fraction of a second, causing the boy to meet the hot, gray ground instead. She then propels herself forward, diving over the fallen boy. As she lands, she performs a forward roll, ending up near one of the tables. Shadows begin to loom over her; looking up, more enemies are closing in.
Catching a quick glimpse to her right, she notices an empty table near the wall. She dashes toward it.
— Don't let her escape! Today is the day the King finally falls! — shouts a boy standing atop a table, pointing at Sarah.
Everyone charges at her like a horde of monsters straight out of a dungeon.
Her right foot lands on the table, giving her the momentum to push forward. Meanwhile, her left leg extends ahead, slightly bent, searching for support. Her body launches toward the wall.
She has more than enough power and height to reach her goal. Grasping the top edge of the wall with her hands, she pulls herself up with effort, accomplishing an incredible feat in the eyes of those watching.
Standing tall, she looks down at her disheartened enemies, defeated once again.
A gentle breeze brushes against her back, nothing strong enough to faze her. She merely flips her hair forward. After a final glance downward, she spreads her arms wide and closes her eyes, inhaling deeply.
Everyone watches, eyes wide open. The air she had drawn in is suddenly released as her body begins to fall, disappearing behind the wall.
— Run! Run! Let's goooo! — one of the boys shouts, sprinting toward the stairs that lead up and around the wall to the playground. The others, fueled by the excitement, dash after him.
When they arrive on the other side of the wall, they find her lying in a sandbox with her arms stretched out to the sides and her eyes closed as if she were sleeping.
— There she is! Move forward to Atlas! — Another boy shouts as they move toward the sandbox.
They reach it, jumping into the sand, and thus begins a fight where everyone battles to see who will be the last one standing. The tallest boy there picks up the smallest and starts carrying him toward the edge of the sandbox, the little one even tries to squirm, but with no success.
— This is unfair! — The little one complains, shouting as he walks away with his head down.
After a few seconds of walking in one direction, he sees a tall, dark-skinned boy next to a blonde, slender girl, attractive in his eyes, enough to make him feel a bit shy. The two are sitting on swings, laughing loudly.
— She's crazy — Bernardo talks to Marcela while they observe the battle unfold from the swings.
— Hey, Carlinhos! Sit here... You tried, don't give up! — Marcela tries to cheer up the downhearted boy.
— How does she do it? She looks like a warrior who has fought in the Atlas itself. — Carlinhos sits on one of the swings, still upset about the loss. — Do you think she's using one of those new magical artifacts called N2?
— You know it's prohibited for students to use them at school, right? Only adults are allowed to use them — Bernardo reminds him of the rules.
— I heard rich people can buy them illegally. — Carlinhos continues to doubt Sarah's integrity while looking at the sandbox.
— Nooo. Sarah's not like that; she's more like one of those androids that govern Ayda. — Bernardo adds as he gazes at Sarah with a distant look. Carlinhos nods in agreement as he also looks at her.
Standing at 1.66m tall, Sarah stands in the middle of the sandbox, surrounded by high school boys. Three of them are tall, and of those three, two are thin, while the other has a more athletic body. There are also three boys of Sarah's height, one of them also athletic, while the other two are chubbier; all of them are dark-skinned.
To escape the trap the boys are setting, she runs toward the two tall, thin ones. With smiles on their faces, they prepare to grab her.
With a jump between them that ends in a roll, another obstacle is overcome. As they try to catch her, the two crash heads and fall in the sand, hands on their foreheads, quickly beginning to cry. The others start laughing, then the two get up and run away, embarrassed.
— Hey! Where is she? — One of the chubby boys calls out into the wind loudly. Then, he feels hands on his shoulders, and feet pushing against his back, forcing him forward.
Stumbling under the weight of Sarah on his back, he begins to stagger forward, his hands trying to find support. To his relief, he bumps into something. As he regains his balance and lifts his head, he realizes he has just thrown the tall, athletic boy out of the sandbox.
— Ouch! — The boy complains in pain while lying on the ground. — Come on, Cleber... you need to work out, this is not working. — He grumbles at the chubby boy while trying to get up.
Then Cleber turns with an angry face, looking for Sarah, but to his surprise, something as big as him is approaching at full speed; the other chubby boy is running straight toward him.
— Damn... — That's the only thing he can say before both of them crash out of the sandbox, on top of the boy who is just finishing getting up.
— You too, Cleiton! I'm going to your house today, I'll have a serious talk with Mrs. Claudia, I'm dragging you to the gym, this can't go on! You're going to kill me one of these days! — He complains again while getting up from the ground.
— Oh no, Maike, not this story again. — Cleiton complains as his brother Cleber helps him up.
— Forget it! This won't pass today! — He exclaims with conviction as the three head away from the sandbox.
Only Sarah and the boy of her height remain, staring at each other, their bodies stiff, ready for the clash.
— Hey, Sarah... are you going to play ball on the dirt field after class? — The boy asks her.
— What? There's going to be a game today? No one told me anything! — Sarah relaxes her muscles as she incredulously questions him about what she just heard.
— I think they don't want to call you anymore; you humiliate them too much, that's what I heard. — He responds, speculating. — But if you want, I'll go with you, I'll give you props, everything will be fine.
— You're going to give me props? — Sarah starts teasing him in a playful way as she moves closer to him.
— I'm not called Romário for nothing, you know.
— I know, thanks! But if they don't want me there... I won't bother. Let them miss my little tricks! — Sarah looks at him with a slight smile as she runs her hand through her neck beneath her hair.
For a moment, he feels embarrassed and speechless. The bell for recess rings, and Bernardo and Marcela approach the sandbox.
— Hey, Sarah, let's go to class, it's physical education! — Marcela urges her.
Sarah's eyes brighten — Sorry, Rômulo... — Then she runs toward the faucet in a corner nearby.
"Romário" lowers his head in resignation and starts walking toward the bathroom.
Marcela and Bernardo go to Sarah, who is washing her legs.