My name is Raquel Kroam.

I like to spend time by myself. I don't think I'm very athletic, but I like to dance. I dance as a show, a performance, not with someone else. I also don't like to show off to an audience, I just like to dance. It's weird, I guess. Although we're all weird, in a sense.

I've never liked a guy, not even Ocko. I mention it because a lot of people get the wrong idea. We're close, we've been in the same grade since we were kids, and we trust each other. That's not why we're friends, though. He has his group and I have... well, sometimes I go to his house to hang out, when I feel like talking. I'm more of a loner.

I've never liked a boy, not even Ocko. It seemed weird to me that the most popular and handsome boy in school, who all the girls have crushes on, didn't provoke anything on me. For a while I thought I just saw him as a friend and didn't want our relationship to change, but a few years ago I realized that wasn't so much the case.

—Hey, hey, Raquel, have you read this book? It's really good!— exclaimed the girl next to me.

I turned around. Erica was looking at me excitedly, showing me the cover of her book. I looked at it: "An asshole on trial". It was a very popular book among girls, a romantic novel where two people from different socioeconomic classes fell in love.

—Yes— I answered— Do you like it?

—Yes, very much!— she exclaimed, as jovial as a little girl— And you?

—No— I answered, perhaps more curtly than I had intended— the main character does several horrible things to the girl, in the name of love, and she ends up forgiving him. It's a very unpleasant book.

Shortly before I finished my review, I realized that I was giving Erica a very bad impression; I was rejecting what she liked so much. But it was too late.

I looked at her again. I looked for her grimace, waited for a change of subject or maybe she would try to leave, uncomfortable, but Erica just smiled wider.

—Really? How amazing! I never thought of it that way!— she exclaimed.

This surprised me.

—I thought you expected me to like it too.

—I would have loved it! But it's a valid opinion. You're absolutely right, the girl totally lets herself suffer. Maybe that's why I like it, the protagonist suffers all that and still wants to be with this man. And the way things are going, he seems to be changing his mind.

I thought back. Erica must have been a little past the middle of the story.

—Where are you in the book?— I asked her.

—They're getting ready for the big dance— she said.

Shortly before the plot took a turn, and the man's ambitions made him reject the leading lady again. But if Erica had already endured the book that far, she would like the dance, too.

I felt like a fool for thinking she would be offended. To me, girls who like those kinds of novels are all the same: brainless and shallow. I didn't expect one of "them" to accept a different point of view.

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Later, during recess, she approached me. She seemed excited to talk about books, and although they weren't much to my taste, something strange happened as we spoke.

First we talked about my whole opinion of the book I was reading. I laid out my problem, which was more than I had told her before, and she listened. Then she told me what she thought, answered some of my points and accepted others as good arguments. We chatted all through recess until suddenly the bell rang early.

I wondered how; it had barely been five minutes. I looked at my watch to be sure, but then I realized that it hadn't been five minutes, but fifteen. The bell hadn't rung early, time had just run without me noticing.

—Well, it was nice. Shall we go back to the classroom?

I followed her without thinking much. Suddenly I was sitting in my seat, still unable to digest what had happened: I had had an interesting conversation. With a girl my age, from my class.

I turned to look at her. Erica looked bored, trying to make sense of what the biology teacher was dictating. At one point she looked up, looked at me and smiled. Her blonde hair glistened in the afternoon sun's rays, her gaze intense like that of a wild beast, her expression goofy and childlike, and most importantly, that she smiled at me.

I became afraid that she would catch me spying on her, so I returned my gaze to the front and acted as if I had done nothing.

For the rest of the day I caught myself thinking about her a lot. I tried to keep her out of my head, but in the end I had to accept reality.

The next morning, I sat at my post and waited. The other people arrived one by one, I turned to look at them each time I heard a voice approaching down the hallway to the door, and I was disappointed each time. I tried not to, but I would catch myself turning anyway at the slightest noise. Luckily for me, I wasn't too late. Suddenly Erica appeared, her back hunched and dark circles under her eyes. She passed me and gave me a silent wave, a wave of her hand, an attempt at a smile over the morning's sleep, and my heart filled with joy.

I was too smart to deny it any longer. I fancied Erica.

I don't usually like people, I actually tend to avoid them, most people are just annoying. But I found myself looking forward to the next time I could interact with Erica, that she would pay attention to me.

Too bad she liked Ocko, it was easy to tell.

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Still, it's not like I was drooling over her. I didn't start interacting with people more because of her nor did we become friends. I didn't even think we could become a thing. Although I admit that seeing her every day made me happy, even seeing her from afar while talking to Ocko and his friends.

I liked Erica, but soon I began to notice some strange phenomena around her.

The first time I think it was in the bathroom. One of the faucets was stuck in its place and no girl could turn it, it was a fact of that bathroom, there was just one faucet less.

That day I came out of one of the cubicles after peeing, went to the first sink I saw and tried to turn it, but I couldn't. Of course I couldn't, that was the stuck faucet. So I washed my hands in the one next to it.

Just then Erica appeared.

—I'm thirsty!— she exclaimed, walking at a fast pace.

Suddenly she passed behind me and headed for the sink that no one could use. I tried to warn her that the faucet was bad, but when I checked, Erica was already turning it as if it were nothing.

Water came out. Erica rubbed her hands together, leaned down to take a long sip, turned off the faucet and looked at me.

—Hey!— she greeted.

—Ah...— I hesitated.

Erica waved to me and then left. I stared at her until she disappeared from sight. Then I turned to the sink I had been using.

—Did they fix it?— I thought, puzzled.

I reached for the stuck faucet. I strained to turn it, but nothing happened. I used both hands, but it wouldn't budge a bit.

—How did she do it?— I wondered.

Erica was already gone. I could go and ask her, but it sounded odd. Were there people capable of using that impossible faucet?

My hands soon hurt and I had to give in. The impossible—to—open faucet would remain a mystery, but not for long.

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The second time was after physical education. It was the first class in which we exercised, so none of us were very excited. The teacher made us do several exercises: we ran, did high jumps, even a push—up test. It wasn't too hard for me, because I work out every now and then, but for most of the girls it was almost hell.

Of course, I especially noticed Erica. To my surprise, she had terrible results; she was one of the slowest runners, did the fewest push—ups, and jumped the lowest. She didn't look like an athlete to me, but she wasn't at the level of those fat walrus girls who always did poorly in P.E. either.

After that we went to the dressing rooms to shower and change. I was one of the last ones, because the teacher asked me to help her with the equipment. When I got out of the shower, most of the girls were gone, and the few that were left didn't have much left. In the end I ended up alone in the dressing rooms. A lot of people would feel lonely, but I liked it that way, more space for me.

I was putting on my uniform, when suddenly I saw the door open. Erica appeared in a hurry and came in, looking everywhere except the corner where I was. I noticed that she was looking for something, and that she more or less knew which area she should be in.

I continued dressing without saying anything, assuming she would see me sooner or later. However, she never seemed to notice me. She crouched down between the benches and peered under the locker blocks.

—Where are you? Where?— she mumbled to herself.

At that, I finished dressing. I was about to ask her what she had lost, but suddenly I realized that she didn't need help anymore.

—Aha!— she exclaimed, with her face pressed to the floor and her ass in the air.

I prepared to leave quietly, when suddenly the whole block of lockers under which Erica was standing rose up. There were at least fifty lockers, that was a piece of furniture for two very strong men to carry together, but at that moment it was Erica who was lifting them, single—handedly.

I noticed her. She didn't even seem to be making an effort at it, she just reached out her free hand and pulled out a cell phone.

—There you are!— she exclaimed.

Before she got up, I hurried around the door and escaped. Something told me I shouldn't be there, that she shouldn't see me, as if I had caught her doing something very intimate. I slipped out quietly, I'm sure she didn't notice me.

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The third time was on my way home from school. I met Ocko and Erica walking to a park nearby. I don't normally follow couples, but I was worried that Ocko was going overboard with Erica and forcing her to do things they shouldn't have. It's not because I was jealous, because I wasn't. I would never follow someone out of jealousy, I just wanted to make sure Erica was okay.

I saw them marching down a path in the park and then heading into an area dense with trees. It wasn't enough to get lost, but it was enough to hide from a stalker's gaze.

It didn't take me long to find them, I caught them sitting against a big tree, talking and laughing. They didn't notice me, because I approached from behind, but I could hear them perfectly well.

I didn't head straight for the big tree, that would have been too close. Instead, I went around them, hiding in bushes and thinner tree trunks, until I could see them both from the side. Ocko was telling her bad jokes, which made her laugh anyway.

—She's just pretending to like them— I thought at first.

But then I gave myself a few seconds to listen to her better. Erica laughed like a little girl: sweet and raw, with no qualms about how it sounded to others or whether it made her look unfeminine. It was a very natural laugh, not the kind that silly girls use when they want to get close to Ocko. I admit I got a little mad, first at Erica for showing that laugh to Ocko instead of me, then at Ocko for being in the place I'd like to be, finally at myself, for standing there, spying on them like a pathetic parasite instead of doing something. But there was nothing I could do; Ocko had already won, from day one he had her in the palm of his hand.

I was about to leave, when I noticed Ocko exclaiming something.

—Ah, a bug!— he blurted out, pointing to a spot near Erica's shoulder.

—Where?!— she cried out, startled.

—Here!— Ocko pointed, and touched the back of her neck.

Erica jumped up and slapped her neck so hard it sounded like a gunshot.

—It went into the tree!— shouted Ocko.

Erica turned to the thick tree, over a hundred years old, and slapped it so hard that the trunk exploded.

The roar rumbled in my bones and my stomach. Splinters flew everywhere. The huge treetop rose a few feet before falling to the other side. A bunch of critters ran out and flew in all directions, while Erica and Ocko made distance to avoid the rain of bugs.

Then Erica looked around, and noticed me. I realized I wasn't hiding. Surprised by the shock of the blow, I had stood there, dumbfounded.

—Raquel?!— she exclaimed.

—What?!— Ocko stopped looking at the broken tree to turn to me— Raka? Oh, no!

Erica opened her hands, as if I was a policeman with a gun and I was pointing it at her.

—Wait, don't be scared. I know it's weird!— she shouted.

But whatever she was going to say, she was cut off, because at that moment several people from the surrounding area began to approach, some of them could even see us.

—Shit!— exclaimed Erica.

Without saying anything else, she grabbed Ocko by the torso using only one arm, as if he were a large briefcase. Then she did the same with me, and ran away in a hurry.

—Erica?!— I exclaimed.

I looked at the ground, speeding past. I looked at Erica's legs, moving so fast that only their wake was visible.

I screamed, terrified. I tried to break free, but she was as strong as an iron prison. The wind was hitting my face and making it hard to see, but I clearly noticed how she zigzagged through the park, dodging trees and jumping several meters at a time.

She quickly led us to one of the park's borders, where a large wall of more than two meters separated it from an abandoned house. I barely caught a glimpse of the wall, when suddenly I felt a great pressure on my torso, where Erica grabbed me. Immediately my head and legs pulled down, and I realized that we had jumped. I saw the ground moving away, saw the treetops, saw the big wall from above, and then we fell to the other side.

When we landed and Erica set us down, I stopped screaming to breathe for a while. I hadn't realized I was doing it.

My heart was pounding, very fast. Lying on the long grass, I looked at Ocko next to me. He was as shaken as I was, but he was smiling. We looked like we were coming off a horrible roller coaster, and that roller coaster was named Erica.

I looked up at her, then stood up. She wasn't even out of breath.

—What... How did you...?

—That was fantastic, Erica!— Ocko said, standing up with his arms outstretched.

But she didn't look very happy. She pressed a couple of fingers to her temples.

—I can't believe I broke such a big tree!— she lamented— oh, I'm such a fool.

—I didn't think you were scared of bugs— Ocko commented.

—Oh, no. I get crazy about bugs. It's a reflex.

I stared at her. I could understand her, I too would start moving and shaking uncontrollably when I felt a bug on me.

—Wait, that's the least of it!— I exclaimed —How did you do all that?! You broke that tree, and jumped about five meters, and lifted those lockers, and opened that impossible-to-open faucet in the bathroom. Your strength... is superhuman.

Erica looked at me somewhat apologetically, then looked away and scratched her head.

—Yeah, I guess so.

—But how? Since when?— I wanted to know.

—I don't know. Since I was born. I'd rather not talk about it, it's kind of... embarrassing.

—It's great, isn't it!— exclaimed Ocko.

—It's... unbelievable— I commented.

But unlike Ocko, I wasn't that excited. It was an idea that had been in my head since the day we met, when Ocko mentioned that she had been hit by a truck, and she denied her suspicious bruises. However, confirming it was totally different. Super strength doesn't exist, it shouldn't be. Erica didn't have more mass than other people, her muscles weren't made of anything else... or were they?

She looked like a totally different individual to me. I understood her a bit in wanting to keep it all a secret; it would be unpleasant to have to face the bewilderment of others every time she met them.

I realized that this was going to be an extravagant year.