I froze. I thought for a moment that Erica really had no intentions with me, but that couldn't be the case. I was the most popular guy, the most handsome, all the girls wanted to dance with me.

—Is she playing hard to get— I wondered— maybe she talked with some of the girls and they told her to do that? Argh, I hate it when they do that, it just slows everything down!

The gang went outside. I insisted and insisted, and after a good two or three minutes I got her to stand up and go with me. There we danced for quite a while as a group. I tried to ask her to dance alone with me, but the others followed us wherever we went.

Dancing made everything go more smoothly. I managed to catch Erica's attention with funny moves and flashy dance steps, and even made her laugh a little. From the clumsy way she moved, I figured she didn't have much experience doing it. I wondered if she wasn't used to parties.

We were having a great time, but suddenly, at the end of a song, she suddenly left. Surprised, I followed her into the house.

—What happened? —I asked— Don't you want to continue dancing?

—No, I got bored— she confessed.

—But you were laughing and everything! We were having such a good time!

But she shook her head.

—I laughed a little, but I'm still bored, and I'm tired. I think... I think I'll go.

I opened my eyes wide and gasped. I didn't understand what had I done wrong.

—Would you say goodbye to the others for me?— she asked.

She stared at me. I understood that she was waiting for an answer. This was my chance.

—Wait, Erica, why are you leaving?

She looked at me strangely.

—I told you, I'm tired.

—But... it's a party, aren't you going to stay until the end?— I pleaded.

I know I wasn't talking as the coolest guy in the world, but I couldn't understand how a girl like her could just walk away from a party. There was still so much to do, so much fun to be had. We could dance until we were exhausted, eat as much as we wanted, hang out with new and familiar people, even go to some dark corner and make out.

—No— she replied— See you Monday.

And she left. I stood there in the living room, puzzled. Erica wasn't going to wait for me to pull myself together.

—What's wrong with her?!— I shouted in my mind.

I quickly reached out and grabbed her hand. She stopped and looked at me, not to speak, but rather paused in her walk. She looked ready to leave at any moment. I wanted to insist, but when she looked at me with tired, unfriendly eyes, I remembered that she was not just any girl. For the first time I was a little afraid to make her angry. I knew she wouldn't hurt me, but irritating a girl with super strength seemed like a bad idea anyway.

—I... I'll walk you— I managed to say.

She put her feet together and turned to look at me, dismayed.

—Huh?

I was surprised at what I had said, too, but confronting her about it didn't seem like a good idea, and letting her go simply looked like a wasted opportunity. So that was the only thing I could think to say.

—To my house?— she wondered.

It was too late to back out now.

—Yes— I answered, hoping I wouldn't regret it later.

Erica laughed.

—It's not necessary, my dad is coming to pick me up...— at that she looked at the floor, suddenly shy, —but if you want, we get closer and walk for a while. I wouldn't mind.

I smiled, hopeful. I could spend some more time with her without having to make the trip to her house at that hour.

-------------------------------------------------------

I went to tell the others, and although they were as confused as I was at first, they calmed down when I told them I would explain later. After that we walked with Erica out of the house and into the cool night. It was nice to walk at that hour; there weren't many people on the streets, the temperature was good and, with less general noise, it was easier to talk. We could even hear our footsteps clearly.

I didn't know what to talk about. I usually find it easy to initiate and manage conversations, but Erica was not someone who often got upset. In fact, I don't think I'd ever seen her upset. It was weird and a little scary.

But I shook my head. She was no monster, she wasn't going to suddenly jump at me and bite my head off just because she was a little upset.

Somewhat anxious, I looked at her face. She was looking down at the ground, her brow furrowed.

—Are you okay?— I asked at last.

She didn't look at me.

—Yes, just tired— she said.

The same thing she had said at the party. I began to think she might be telling the truth.

—Maybe you did a lot of exercise before coming?— I ventured— Did you run or ride a bike or...?

—No— she cut me off— I was playing at home, I watched some anime. I ate well and went to bed early this week.

I ran a hand over my head. There was no reason for Erica to feel this tired, although she didn't act like she was exhausted either. She didn't look like someone who had done a lot of physical activity, but rather someone who had been studying for a long time and needed to distract herself with something.

Just as I was giving up, she looked at me.

—I'm sorry I left the party so suddenly. I just couldn't stand it— she confessed— so much noise, so many people, nothing fun to do, it made me nervous.

I looked at her confused. That was precisely what I couldn't get into my head. There was so much noise, so many people and so much to do, that party was pretty good.

In that moment of relative silence, I decided to stop trying to make sense of it. Erica was talking about it all as something unpleasant, so I took it as that, something unpleasant for her. Then I began to understand.

—You're like Raka— I noted.

—Huh?

—Raquel. You're just like her... or rather, in that aspect. She doesn't like to hang out with people either, and whenever she can, she avoids large groups. Wow, I didn't think I'd find another person like that.

She looked surprised, then a little more cheerful than before.

—Now that you mention it, Raquel IS like that too! I had not noticed!

I was happy. I almost felt like saying "You should get together and become friends" but it was weird when what they had in common was just staying away from people.

—Sorry for insisting so much, back there— I apologized— I wanted us to have a good time, that's why I wanted you to stay on the party so much. But that wouldn't be possible if you didn't like those things.

She smiled.

—No, it wouldn't— she sighed— but thank you for understanding.

—What? What are you talking about?

She looked at her feet.

—People don't usually understand. They insist that I hang out with them. When they don't get it, they get mad at me. I think they feel my lack of interest as an insult or something. They see it as an option, but I can't... I just can't give any more.

I understood that Erica's feelings about people went much deeper than simple weariness. I wondered if Raquel had had to deal with the same thing all her life. We had not talked about it much, I just accepted her as she was when we met. Maybe I didn't try to change her because, unlike Erica, she's much scarier.

I wanted to say something, to give her words of encouragement, to promise her that I would keep it in mind from that moment on and not insist if she wanted to avoid groups. In order to do that, first I had to put together the right words, and then muster the courage to tell her after the way I had behaved, and both tasks were looking very difficult at that moment.

I swallowed. I opened my mouth to start talking again, to say something silly and jokey to follow up with what I really wanted to say. However, she beat me to it.

—This place is not very safe— she commented, looking around.

I looked along with her. I hadn't noticed because I was deep in thought, but we had come to a dark alley, between a supermarket warehouse and a flat piece of land. I looked up, the lights in that section of the street had not been turned on, perhaps they were burned out. But the lights behind us were on, and the ones ahead of us were on as well. We just had to get to the next corner to get back to the light. It was late at night, we were in an unfamiliar neighborhood and at that hour the streets were deserted.

I approached Erica and took her hand, assuming she was a little scared. She wasn't. In fact, I think I was more scared than she was.

—Where did you say your dad was?— I asked her.

—About three blocks down the street there should be a bar. He said he was going to wait for me there.

She pulled a hand-drawn map out of her pocket, but in the gloom of the night we could barely see the white of the paper. We had to get to the corner to look at it. I tried to pick up the pace, but she kept walking like normal.

—Erica, we should go faster— I told her— it wouldn't be unusual for robbers to show up.

It was dark, but when I turned to her, I'm pretty sure I saw her smile.

—Really?— she said.

I didn't understand why she was so relaxed. No matter how strong she was, a bullet could still go through her skin... I think.

Yes, yes, I saw her cut herself with a piece of paper that same week. Her body could withstand blows just fine, but she wasn't cut-proof, nor stab-proof, and no matter how strong she was, I was sure there was nothing she could do against bullets.

I would have liked her to have taken the situation more seriously. There was no reason to joke there. Anxious, I turned toward the front, but then I noticed two men walking by under the light of the corner spotlight, toward us. I stopped in my tracks.

—Maybe we should cross to the other side— I said.

—Look carefully, there are two others waiting for us on that side— she told me, completely calm— One is badly hidden behind that pole.

I looked unsubtly towards the next sidewalk. At first I didn't notice anything because of the darkness, but then I saw a slight movement at the base of one of the posts. It was a protruding belly. There was at least one guy hiding from us, probably more.

Afraid, I looked back. There were three more people walking toward us where we had already passed. There was no escape. We were cornered.

I looked at Erica, worried. She could easily intimidate them, I even thought it would have been okay if she picked me up with one hand and threw me around like a ball, by way of demonstration. To my relief, she remained completely calm.

—She's got something on her mind— I thought— She's going to save us somehow!

I tried to calm down, but we were still outnumbered. Soon the ones in the back, the ones in the front and the ones on the side all came at us at the same time and closed the exits. I counted them, there were eight of them. I saw some knives and at least one gun in their hands. I began to breathe rapidly, about to scream in fear. I realized I could die at that very moment.

One of the guys came up to me at a personal distance and looked at me with a hateful face.

—Give it now— he urged me.

—What... What...— I wanted to ask.

But he held a knife to my throat. The coldness of the metal would have made me scream, but I couldn't do it, because he could kill me at any moment.

—Wallet, cell phone, everything— he urged.

He looked at Erica, stretched out her hand to his chest. I think he was trying to grab her breast, but she stopped him in his tracks. What she did next happened so fast it took me a few seconds too long to process: she pulled him to her as if he were made of paper, grabbed his face and forced him to his knees. In between I heard a snap, loud and ugly crunch, coming from the guy's hand, the one Erica was holding. I took a closer look and noticed that she had broken it. Rather, that it had separated the bones from the middle of the palm up. His fingers were dangling like noodles, involuntarily, while the rest of his arm was twisting around trying to get free.

The guy immediately started screaming. He pulled his arm to free himself from Erica.

—Erica, no, calm down!— I exclaimed between the screams.

But as I looked at her I realized that she was not angry, nor afraid, nor excited in any way. Erica looked at the delinquent with a hint of curiosity, like a child playing lazily with the wooden toys in her grandparents' house; the toys interested her, but they were not so valuable or appealing that she would be careful not to break them.

What happened next was just as fast and a hundred times more confusing than before. I looked toward the other criminals, fearful of their reactions. I noticed that one of them raised a gun and pointed it at Erica. But before he could fire, she picked him up and threw him towards the rest.

I watched the men fall like bowling pins, dumbfounded. Then I turned again to Erica, but she was no longer where I had left her. Next I heard a thump to my left, followed by a scream. When I turned around, I saw a man flying through the air. Another blow and another scream. I looked, an arm described an arc over the street. Several more blows, another man flew to the opposite side, one flew past me. When I managed to catch up with Erica, she had a man by one leg and was lifting him over her head to whip him with the force of a truck on the asphalt. His skull exploded and his brains scattered all over the place. I think I got some of his blood up my nose.

After that, everything became confusing. I remember falling on my butt at some point. I heard screams of fear and pain, thumps as loud as gunshots, and sporadic grunts from Erica. She was moving around like a bird, jumping and thrashing so fast I couldn't follow her with my eyes.

—I have to get to safety— I thought, desperate.

I looked in all directions, searching for a place to take shelter. But all around me were only mutilated bodies. Before I could find shelter, I found her.

Erica approached me, walking calmly. She was shaking one hand, from which dark droplets were falling. In a few seconds she stopped next to me.

Startled, I looked up at her.

—You see? Everything went well— she said.