Tod felt the grip on that greeting of hers, her gaze different to him, and a small fury in her voice, but something did not make him take all that into account, except that she said Henrie kept talking about him, yes, made Tod's head into several conflicts."Why did Henrie talk about him so much?" It made no sense, but he eventually remembered that Henrie had always tried to be more like him, and for the first time something seemed to fit in his head, but he would not let it pass.

Tod just nodded and replied in a quiet voice:

"Henrie talks a lot about me? How interesting!" He exclaimed, staring at her and Henrie, who looked away, almost flushed with embarrassment.

"But I think we'll get to know each other very well." She finished smiling and finished her coffee. "But now that I already know everyone!" Lucy said, almost getting up from her chair.

"I do not want to be rude, but I'm going to have to steal my boyfriend for a while." She finished pulling Henrie by the arm as if he insisted to get up.

Tod and Fred stared at the scene with no reaction at all, they simply acted as if nothing had happened, but apparently Henrie did not like her reaction very much and with a voice in a tone above said:

"I can stand up alone!", he snorted. "And, guys, I'm sorry! Maybe we could mark another day for coffee." He said, staring at Tod as if he could see the bottom of his soul just by looking.

"It's all right!" Tod replied with his head bowed trying to keep as little eye contact as possible.

Henrie realized that and just got up and put his hand on Tod's shoulder in a farewell gesture, headed toward the cafeteria exit next to Lucy. Fred analyzed until they actually left the place to be able to comment.

His face was already red from holding so much to speak and as soon as they disappeared from sight he exclaimed:

"My God! What just happened here?!" He took a deep breath. "I'm completely bewildered. Since when did he have a girlfriend? And how can she be so beautiful?" He finished filling Tod with questions, but there was no answer, since Tod seemed lost in his world trying to absorb everything that had just happened.

"What do you mean he has a girlfriend?" Tod said, practically shouting.

Fred was startled by that reaction, since he had just asked that, but then he controlled himself and only calmed him down with a few words:

"All right, my friend! The important thing is that we know now and we will be smarter.

"What do you mean, smarter?" Tod turned completely to Fred with a confused look.

"I say..." He took a deep breath. "That we're sure now that what he's doing to you is just a joke, since he's dating, do you understand?" He stood up and pulled Tod to do the same.

"Where are we going?" Tod asked.

"Let's go somewhere else." He took a deep breath. "I'm afraid I'll find something worse if I stay in this place." Fred replied with a quick movement toward the door of the establishment.

Tod only followed him without blinking and in minutes were already on the way home, since they were practically neighbors. They continued the way talking about the theory of everything that happened, but they remained at the idea of ​​all that Henrie was doing was joking. It was not long before Tod arrived at his house. He said goodbye to Fred, who continued down the path for two more house ahead, since he had an appointment with his parents in the late afternoon.

Upon entering the house, before he could go up to his room, Tod was interrupted by his mother.

"Son!" She almost shouted.

Tod heard that thin voice ringing in his brain, and in a swift movement he went to the meeting from where she came. She was in the kitchen putting some ingredients out of the refrigerator and preparing to make dinner.

His mother was a little short, about 5' 5''. Short hair down to the neck and dyed almost red. She did not look fat, but she was not that thin either, let's just say she was average. His features changed quickly when he saw his son, he looked worried, but before he could say anything she continued:

"A friend of yours called here and said he'll come by later to talk to you."

"Friend? What a Friend?" He asked, feeling his heart racing and trying to do all his footsteps of that day in the head thinking if he had forgotten that commitment.

"Honestly, I do not recall the name, but he said that by eight o'clock that night would be here."

Tod's head did not seem to make sense, though lately it was the only thing that did not work very well for him. He simply stared at the wall clock in the room and noticed that it was still four o'clock in the afternoon, but as he curled up to get ready he went up to his room to do this difficult task. On the way he still tried to remember who the guest would be, so much so that he checked his cell phone, calendar and e-mail and there was nothing written down.

Overcome by fatigue he went to the shower. On the way he separated a red T-shirt and jeans, and headed for the bathroom. The cold water fell on his body and it was as if he was taking everything bad that would have happened that day. His bath took longer than usual. He got ready, took care of his hair, face, and clothes and then went downstairs to see if his mother needed any help. As he passed the room again, he noticed that the clock was already 15 minutes to 8:00.

He approached the kitchen and asked:

"Need help?"

"Wow! Someone seems to be very fragrant." She hissed with a small smile. "I'm glad you asked, I do! Could you cut those vegetables and make a pretty salad?"

Tod was embarrassed by that remark, but decided not to respond and began to cut some vegetables and separate them. Silence ruled the place, but he stayed for a few minutes until Tod asked his mother:

"Wow! It's very fragrant, what do we have for dinner?"

"Pernil marinated with pineapple and herbs!"

"Mmmmm! Delicious, but why such a food? Is it some special date, and am I forgetting?"

"Not at all!" She snorted. "It's because your friend is coming here and I decided that I would not stop serving you, because he is your friend and almost never comes to visit you." He finished by finishing something that looked like a sauce in the pan.

They kept talking and making all dinner preparations that time flew by and minutes before they finished the bell rang. Tod's heart almost jumped through his mouth, but that only happened because he was frightened, since almost no one wore that bell. But it did not take long and he went to the door. On the way he checked the clock again and it was eight o'clock sharp, he was a little startled by the punctuality, but soon after he recovered and opened the door.

His body was completely unresponsive to the image he had just seen. His eyes were fixed. It could not be! It must have been a joke or something. It was him. Tod's body was all petrified and said nothing, and before he could sketch any reaction, he just heard:

"Are not you going to invite me in?" Henrie asked, smiling a little when he saw Tod like that.