Continuity

“The other day I went to the burger joint and the cashier flirted with me.” Joel said proudly.

“I think… uhm” Imobach hesitated whether to tell his friend. “I think she has a girlfriend.”

He didn't believe it, he knew it, he was sure, he knew the girl, they had met several times at the municipal swimming pool.

“What? Pff, what are you saying? She was flirting with me, she smiled at me.”

“She was just being nice.”

“I tell you no.”

“She's kind. I also smile when I want to empathize and it doesn't mean I'm being vain.”

“Yes, and as soon as you stop looking like you're in the dark, you hook up with everyone you come meet.”

“I don't do it on purpose.”

“Don't remind me.” he said through gritted teeth.

The two of them, sitting on the park bench, enjoyed the last rays of spring sunshine, their skin warming little by little without burning and the breeze causing the leaves of the palm trees to slightly drown out the sound of the cars.

Imobach leaned his head back, he wanted to relax completely, he was not uncomfortable even though he looked like he was on a barber's couch, one of the worst tortures known. His friend imitated him seconds later.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Coral sang happily.

The brown-haired boy opened one eye, then closed it again as soon as he saw them.

“Resting” he replied.

“Girls, sit down.”

Joel stepped aside, leaving space on either side, and patted the wood. Coral was the only one who obeyed , Adassa remained standing, her gaze immersed in the screen.

“Hello” Adassa simply said.

“And that smile?” Imobach asked.

“I'm happy, the exam went well…”

“She do it well.” Adassa interrupted.

She didn't even lift his face when she made the comment.

Coral turned her head, her mouth still open in surprise, but she continued.

“…there are fewer and fewer races left, and that means more time in the summer to catch waves and watch series.” she celebrated early.

“That reminds me…” Joel closed the gap. “I already saw the series about that redhead you like so much.”

“Yes? Who of them? Ah! Volleyball?”

“Yeah, I mean, no, you know, the one with the spiky hair and powers.”

“Sand control?!”

“No, no. It hardens and has sharp teeth.”

“Ah! Yes, I love him very much, he's a little sunshine. Have you come to the rescue yet?” Now it was she who approached him. She didn't let him answer. “I knew from the moment I saw him that I would get fond of him, he's one of those characters that the author makes you can't hate.” She moved her hands while explaining everything. “I'm up to date with the manga and then he has a mini-development arc... hello? He rocks, well I won't tell you anything, but you're going to love him." She stopped for a few seconds to take a breath. She wasn't used to speaking so fast. “If you liked him, there's going to be another one that will sing to you, I think it will come out in the next one…”

“Coco…”

“Sorry.” She turned to her brother. “But you know how difficult it is to find someone who likes my anime, the anime itself.”

“Yes, well, not really. We can watch it together in the summer and read it too. Or if you want between exams… That way you can distract yourself” he raised his eyebrows, relaxed, confident. “Do you fancy it?”

Imobach preferred to remain in the same position, as if he were impervious to conversation. His sister, who had just turned seventeen, could be capable of getting rid of a fly, no matter how friendly it was.

“I, uh… I have more fun watching anime alone, I just go back several times and comment for myself.”

“I don't mind. Shall we meet on Sunday? I'll watch you surf first.”

“I, no…” She tried to make eye contact with Adassa, but she was still with her gadget and Imobach still had his eyes closed. “ I prefer not.”

She grabbed his brother by the thigh, that only meant one thing “I'm falling, help! He's my type, the type of people who like me”; and he reacted.

“Enough.’ he said.

Joel Jose was his middle name and the one preferred by his family, tilted his head a few degrees until he understood.

“Sorry, Coral.”

“It's nothing, it's just that…”

“Your ideal partner is 2D. Book or series.” Her brother said.

“Hey!” she hit, weakly, her brother's elbow.

“Deny it.”

And I could do it, if I were more specific, I would have said white-haired, serious and rude, intelligent, tsundere , powerful and selfless, but yes, it could be summed up in 2D.

If it had been bad, he would have named his not so fleeting (almost eleven years) crush on Mr. Malfoy.

“Yes, but it's ugly that you say it.”

“And you're going to get your revenge by licking the spoons and then offering me them to eat with?” Coral took a breath of surprise. “Did you think I hadn't noticed?”

“Platonic loves are also a thing of the past.” She cleared his throat to ignore Imobach's comment. “Well, what I was going to say.” She steered the conversation back to the blond guy. “It's nothing, if you had continued like this I would have fallen.” She laughed.

“Ah… And you, brunette?”

“Don't even think about it.” Adassa responded loudly.

"Received" His lips turned straight, his expression simple. He drummed his fingertips on his pants. "So... have you discovered anything about the cave?"

Luckily, finding topics of conversation was his strong point.

"What cave?" Coral asked, leaning on her brother.

“The cave, Godínez ravine, you know,” he replied. “No?” He looked over to see if his friend understood him.

“Nothing.”

“I thought you were already looking into it. With that website thing.”

“No, after the third case we took an unconscious break.” Imobach took advantage of the position to put her hair up in a ponytail.

“What a shame, considering how famous it is…”

Coral was intrigued.

“… you know, the whole school is talking about it. I don't doubt that the newspaper will pay well if they find out what it is.”

Adassa did the same.

“But well, better not, because it's dangerous, you know.”

“Let's go.” Imobach concluded. “You've already given them enough conversation.”

Standing, the boys were almost the same height, although Imobach was just a few centimetres taller, and the width of his back didn't help either.

“See ya” Adassa said goodbye in what Imo interpreted as a reluctant "come on."

“See you later. Bye, Joel.”

The two boys walked away and Adassa spoke.

“You see, I didn't remember the name.”

“Didn't you remember?”

“It's just that I thought I would never see him again and anyway... this way I don't memorize useless things.”

"You know I can hear you?" Joel complained from a few meters at the park entrance.

“Yes, I said it out loud.” and she sat down.

“Let's go, I'll treat you to something.” Imobach took him by the back and guided him.

"It's Joel Jose," Coral murmured when they were out of earshot.

“How are we going to do it?” Coral asked.

Yûusuke's face remained static... as usual.

“You're not going to participate?! You said yes.”

“Yeah.”

“So? Spill it.”

“No.”

“But you said you were going to continue with the club.”

“You are the leader, do it yourself. If you are the face that gets the fame, you are also the face to lead. Prove it.”

“But, okay, why so rude now?”

Yûusuke sighed resignedly.

“I'm not going to do anything that will compromise the flow.”

“Wasn't it easier to say that from the beginning?”

“A word to the wise is enough, that's how it is in English, isn't it?”

Adassa nodded, then put the computer down on the table and raised his finger in a talking pose.

“And just so you know, brunette” She liked the expression. “I'm the boss.”

“Yes, well... we should talk about it.” Coral was sure that she had to be the ringleader.

“It's not the time.” Adassa cut her off. “Look. It's the Barranco Godínez bug. There have been noises for a long time but no one has known what is causing them.”

Adassa continued scrolling through the page, having gathered enough information that any question she was asked would only require her to point to a spot on the screen.

“Of course, as a leader, he has an advantage over you," said Yûsuke, sincerely.

“But I am the one who has assembled the team, without people to execute the information is useless.”

“Two are missing”, he replied.

“Tere is in the library, but I'm 190% sure she'll join, it's a cave, pff, I'll eat a whole onion if she doesn't, well... a slice, you never know. And Imo…”

As discreetly as one can make when facing the enemy, she whispered in Adassa's ear. She pointed with her index finger at the left corner of the computer.

“Imo also, the case goes back to the seventies, I won't tell you more. To the wise, few words are used.”

She looked at Adassa for acceptance of her jibe, but she shook her head. Coral had thrown the ball… but it had gone out of bounds.

Strike 1.

“We have to go for a weekend, I don't know how long the cave is but it will be the best. Also, flashlights and water, we can't do as badly as in the first expedition.” affirmed Coral, quickly recovering herself.

“To our advantage, we did not expect to find tunnels.” Yûusuke added.

“What a brain you are.” Coral made faces to annoy him.

“That's what I've been saying all this time!” Adassa jumped.

“I didn't think your civilization was capable of that. One has the right to make mistakes.”

Coral covered Adassa's mouth, she knew that the rudeness she was going to utter was exponentially greater than what she had heard.

“Well, well, well.” Coral had a thirsty smile. “And this is said by someone who can travel in space-time but still needs a charger for his cell phone.”

Very bad. Adassa's jab was better, rude and very disrespectful, but more ingenious and a worthy bang!.

Strike 2.

"If you're going to keep making us look bad in this part of the universe, I'll get up and leave!" Adassa threatened. It was a lie, she wasn't going to miss the fun of being with her friends.

“Okay. Getting back to the conversation, any defensive items? We don't know what we're up against.”

“That would be nice, I'm too valuable to be lost” said you know who.

“Do your parents tell you that because you spend an hour talking to them every day?” Coral asked in a sarcastic tone.

This time it was Yûsuke who shut Adassa up. He had asked for it, but there was no question of sinking the leader .

“It doesn't hurt to protect ourselves. Nothing more?” Yuusuke insisted.

“Like what?” Coral tried to understand what he meant but for her there was nothing else missing. It was simple, like when she wanted to go to the beach, she just needed to know what time the bus left, the bikini and, perhaps, the board with the wetsuit, if when she returned there was no one at home it was a good excuse to visit someone.

He kept his mouth shut. In fact, he leaned back and bent his ankle over his knee, made a gesture, and lifted his chin to force her to continue.

“I don't know... we already have the time and place, security, supplies…”

“But say it now! Otherwise he's not going to take it out and you're indirectly interfering.”

“You're right, I am causing irregularities but I'd rather not die in another universe inside a cave or, worse, have a criminal record.”

“Okay… so what you want is a map.”

“A rope and a small first aid kit, he continued. I want to know if any authorization is needed to investigate inside.”

“Finicky!” Adassa accused.

“Fastidious?”

“Exquisite.” Coral clarified.

The boy nodded.

“I didn't know I was going to be here so long, and now we're relatively well-known.” he looked inquisitively at Adassa.

“So you were going to leave us in the lurch?” Coral intervened and acted dramatically.

“Yeah.”

“Oh…” a gust of anguish hit Coral. “How ugly. We had taken you in.”

“Why? I barely knew you.”

His speaking in the past tense calmed her down a little.

Yuusuke knew from the beginning the needs of his ¿friend?, it still seemed strange to him to consider her like that, but he preferred to be honest, it was no longer necessary to seem charming and nice like at the beginning.

“Well, loyalty.”

“For this very reason, loyalty is owed to oneself and to loved ones. I did not know you.”

“Blah, blah, blah!” Adassa cut off the conversation. “If you're covered in mud, anyone would do anything to get out of it.”

No one needed to know that she would be the first to jump off the ship, she wouldn't stay far away, like a fly, but she would go first.

Coral picked up the phone to talk to Teresa, she wished she was there at that moment.

“Different human beings, different opinions.” concluded the man with the mole on his chin.

“How sad…” Coral crossed her arms, caressing the top of her biceps.

"The next time I mess things up, you're coming with me!" she threatened the girl who had taken her in.

“It's not a question of bearing the weight of guilt”, she replied.

"Look how she backs off!" Adassa nudged the boy. "We know how the little dog hunts," she whispered.

Yuusuke nodded, not because he was right, which he was a bit right about, but because he understood the saying.

“But then they say the horoscope is fake…” Coral stood up. “Today she said an unexpected situation will disconcert you, I'm leaving to adapt to it".

Strike 3.

Out!