Chapter 9: The alumni meeting (Act 3)

In the corridors of the "Secondary School # 13" of "Coral City", some people were still looking for that remarkable speaker of the alumni meeting, Aaron Santiago, who by his mere presence had conquered the hearts of the audience, however, he was suddenly dragged outside the meeting room by a mysterious woman who came out of nowhere. Meanwhile, from inside an empty room, that mysterious woman watches the entire scene through a half-closed door, and, seeing that no one had followed them to her hiding place, she carefully closes the entrance.

- Mysterious woman (thought to herself): * sigh * this is what they really mean when they say "aerobic", huh (...)

The woman turns to where Aaron Santiago was sitting, who was recovering from all his social anxiety, inhaling and exhaling:

- Mysterious woman (slightly worried): Are you okay?

- Aaron Santiago (panting): Yes (…) Of course (…)

- Mysterious woman: Are you sure? I would not like to see a dead person around here.

- Aaron Santiago: Nothing happens (…) I'm just taking a breath (…)

- Mysterious woman: But we didn't run that much, did we?

- Aaron Santiago: It's not that (…) * takes one last big breath *. It's just, well, I'm not very good at dealing with crowds, as you may have noticed.

- Mysterious woman (smiling): Yes, I could realize it.

- Aaron Santiago: Anyway, I appreciate it. You were very timely.

- Mysterious woman: Well, it's not like I've been following you or something. It was just a coincidence that we met.

- Aaron Santiago: Eh (…) Yes, I suppose you are right.

- Mysterious woman (flirtatious): Although (…) I have to admit that I have been watching you since you arrived.

- Aaron Santiago (uncomfortable): Oh yeah (…)?

- Mysterious woman: Yes. Look, you're a bit (…) noisy. You get into a lot of unnecessary trouble. That makes you stand out.

- Aaron Santiago: (…)

- Mysterious woman (smiling): Although, you know how to handle it quite well. Like this time when you defended the receptionist from that rude emcee.

- Aaron Santiago: I am not very proud of that conversation (…)

- Mystery Woman: You got a bit overworked with your arsenal of bad jokes, but, hey! Surely there was one among all that made me smile at least.

- Aaron Santiago: Well, you are the second person today who tells me something similar (...)

- Mysterious woman: Anyway, it was great that in the end they were able to reach an agreement. Not even Mario Benedetti could write that "truce".

- Aaron Santiago: (…)

- Mysterious woman (excited): Oh! Regarding the speech you gave, it was phenomenal. Really!

- Aaron Santiago: Well (…) I didn't actually write it at all (…)

- Mysterious woman (interrupts Santiago): Although (…) Well, I am not saying that I am completely sure of it, but your speech reminded me a lot of an old Argentine tango.

- Aaron Santiago (trying to keep seriousness): You know (…) A person always has to take inspiration from somewhere.

- Mysterious woman: That is very true, and I believe you, but, if Carlos Gardel were alive, he would surely call it plagiarism.

- Aaron Santiago (embarrassed): * sighs * Has it been noticed a lot?

- Mysterious woman: You slightly changed the context of the lyrics, but, in short words, yes, I noticed it.

- Aaron Santiago: Wow (…) What a shame (…) I (…)

- Mysterious woman: Look, you don't have to explain anything to me, okay? (…) Besides, you don't have anything to be ashamed, after all, I don't think the others noticed it.

- Aaron Santiago: Do you really believe that?

- Mysterious woman: Completely. So much so that I can tell you that 99% of the people in that room have never heard a tango on their own. The remaining 1% represents you and me.

- Aaron Santiago: Your statistics are a bit exaggerated, don't you think?

- Mysterious woman (feigning exaggerated astonishment): Indeed, I am not a statistician (…) You have discovered me!

- Aaron Santiago (feeling awkward): (…)

- Mysterious woman (annoyed): Wow! You really are someone difficult to make laugh.

- Aaron Santiago: Yes (…) many have told me that before. Well (…) I think I should go now. It was a pleas- (…)

- Mysterious woman (interrupts Santiago): Wait! Seriously? Are you just leaving like this?

- Aaron Santiago: Well (…) Yes. In fact, that's what I'm doing.

- Mysterious Woman: How rude! Saying goodbye without even thanking me by my name?

- Aaron Santiago: * sighs * Thank you (…)

- Mysterious woman: No. You have already said that. You need to say: "Thank you (…)" * extending her hands indicating him to complete the sentence *.

- Aaron Santiago: (…)

- Mysterious woman (annoyed): Are you serious? You really don't know who I am?

- Aaron Santiago: * shakes his head briefly *.

- Mystery Woman: You have to be kidding me (...) It's me, Betty (...) Betty Schwartz! Your old classmate (…)! We studied together in this same school many years ago (…)!

- Aaron Santiago (in exaggerated joy): Oh! Betty! Of course! I didn't recognize you with that new haircut. How have you been?

- Betty Schwartz (incredulous): You really don't know who I am, do you?

- Aaron Santiago: I'm sorry. I don't.

- Betty Schwartz (upset): Betty Schwartz? The famous "idol" of our school generation? (...) Half of the student body wanted to hang out with me!

- Aaron Santiago: And the other half?

- Betty Schwartz: * pensive * I don't know. I think they were intimidated by my fame or maybe (…) * reacts * Wait! Don't try to change the conversation topic! You really don't remember me, do you?

- Aaron Santiago: I'm sorry, I didn't use to pay much attention to those things (…) I really did come to take the classes.

- Betty Schwartz: * expression of total disbelief * (…)

- Aaron Santiago: Well, it was really a pleasure meeting you by first time (…) I mean (…)! again, Betty Suárez (…)

- Betty Schwartz (upset): "Schwartz".

- Aaron Santiago: Sure, Betty Suárez "Schwartz"!

- Betty Schwartz (very upset): (…)

- Aaron Santiago: But I have to withdraw, so, with your permission.

- Betty Schwartz: Denied.

- Aaron Santiago (puzzled): W-What! But why?!

- Betty Schwartz: I'm not done with you yet!

- Aaron Santiago: (…)

- Betty Schwartz (taking her words seriously): Look, I'll be honest with you. I need your help, okay?

- Aaron Santiago: * sighs * Okay. I hear you.

- Betty Schwartz: A few days ago, somewhat dark events happened to me in Europe, where I have done all my life and my artistic career. It happens that manic woman appeared at my apartment late at night while a co-worker and I were discussing some business issues. That woman came armed, and with the intention of killing us both. First she aimed at me, but, in an attempt to defend me, my partner pounced on that woman, losing his life on the spot when she fired her gun. Even so, all that movement gave me enough time to escape from the place, so I went directly to the police station, who decided it would be wise to hide away from the city while they sorted out the whole investigation thing, and since no other place came to mind, I decided to return to Coral City.

Santiago listened to Betty's story carefully, and although her body language did not give her away as a liar, the experience as a doctor that Santiago had acquired over the years dealing with patients of all kinds indicated that something in Betty's anecdote was not entirely true. Either way, giving her a chance, Santiago asks her:

- Aaron Santiago: Well (…) And exactly what do you need from me?

- Betty Schwartz: Let me stay at your house as this all comes to an end.

- Aaron Santiago (distrustful): Hmm (…) How long are we talking about that could last?

- Betty Schwartz: Undefined.

- Aaron Santiago: Don't think I'm saying this offensively, but, did your artistic career not earn enough to pay for a modest hotel room?

- Betty Schwartz: * shakes her head * It doesn't offend me. And no. I fear that my assailant's crimes go beyond the attempted murder. Arriving at the police station I realized that all my bank accounts had been looted in their entirety, so my hands are tied financially speaking.

- Aaron Santiago: I imagine the plane flight here was courtesy of the police department.

- Betty Schwartz: That is correct.

- Aaron Santiago: Someone from abroad cannot help you with some financial support?

- Betty Schwartz: No. The police prohibited me from asking my acquaintances for help. They said it would be a way to expose my location for my attacker, plus it could put the lives of my loved ones at risk if she found out about it.

- Aaron Santiago (ironic): Sure, so it seemed more reasonable to put my life at risk (...)

- Betty Schwartz: Not at all. She doesn't know I'm here.

- Aaron Santiago: Let's suppose it's true (…) Why me? You studied in this city, and you said you were very popular, didn't you? It seems to me that you must have someone who can help you.

- Betty Schwartz (evoking an empty look and a melancholic smile): Surely you know that fame in school youth is something ephemeral. I never really had a single true friend while I was here. And my family, well * looks down * (…), it's something embarrassing and a bit sad to tell, but in essence I'm alone anyway. In short, I have no one.

- Aaron Santiago: Okay, but I repeat to you: why me?

- Betty Schwartz * smiles embarrassed *: Everyone at the alumni meeting were strangers at my sight. On the other hand, although you may not remember it, once you and I were schoolmates, so, seeing in you a familiar face, in addition to knwow that you are a doctor, I was very relieved to see you, because for me it was like meeting a hero with the will to help others indiscriminately. Therefore, when I saw you earlier in the meeting, I did not hesitate to run towards you.

Aaron Santiago thinks for a moment about everything Betty has told him, however, he still does not believe her at all, so, after a brief silence, he replies:

- Aaron Santiago: Forgive me if I am rude to you, but there is something in everything you are saying that does not convince me. Therefore, as long as I do not feel that you speak the truth to me, I have no interest in hosting someone who could betray me at any time.

- Betty Schwartz: No, I (…)!

-Aaron Santiago: But, assuming it was true * he takes a card out of his pocket and hands it to Betty *, here is the address of a refuge. There they will not hesitate to host you and provide you with three meals a day for free.

- Betty Schwartz (annoyed and scared, on the verge of tears): Are you seriously planning to send a woman like me to a public refuge?!

- Aaron Santiago: Eh (…) Yes. The place belongs to a fairly reliable colleague of mine. She is very kind to everyone; an excellent person. I trust you will be fine with her. Good luck * turns in the direction of the exit *.

- Betty Schwartz (bursting out in desperate tears): No! Wait, don't leave me here! I really need your help!

Betty runs towards Santiago trying desperately to prevent his departure, holding him from behind in a strong hug, making him lose his balance, stumbling, crashing into some lockers, and both falling to the ground along with some other things that were nearby. At that moment, Aaron Santiago awkwardly gets up from the floor, and, still a bit puzzled by what happened, takes the opportunity to leave the room quickly, realizing on his way out that he was inside the girls' dressing room the whole time, so, flushed and embarrassed, he hurries even more to leave.

Meanwhile, Betty Schwartz, still staying on the floor of that dressing room, begins to wipe her fake tears, putting her performance aside and regaining her true expression. At that moment, in front of her appears a small Angel with golden hair and dressed in white, who, with her sweet childish voice, tells her:

- Little Angel (distraught): Betty, for goodness sake, that was a complete disaster!

- Betty Schwartz (upset): You don't have to tell me, Ezra (…)

- Ezra: Didn't you tell me that this was a piece of cake for you? What are we going to do now?!

- Betty Schwartz (sad): I (…) I'm not sure (…)

(...)

(...)

(...)

Meanwhile, outside the locker room, Aaron Santiago leaves the grounds of "Middle School # 13" trying to calm down and not to think about what already happened, at least until he can get home. Once outside, he goes to his car so he can leave immediately, however, looking for the keys to open the door, he would realize that he had misplaced them. Anguished, without many options, Santiago performs a quick mental review looking for where the keys could have fallen from his pocket, but it did not take so long for him to remember the exact moment in which he fell to the ground with Betty inside that dressing room. Realizing the obvious and expelling the annoyance from him in a deep sigh, Aaron Santiago heads back to the locker room of "Middle School # 13" to retrieve his keys.

Upon entering the school again, Aaron Santiago decides to take off his jacket so as not to attract attention with colors already recognized by the guests, leaving it hidden behind some bushes. Later, following his path, when passing in front of the alumni meeting room, Aaron Santiago notices a crowd interacting nearby, so, trying to hide his face, he quickly takes one of the many copies of the school yearbook of the generation who were at a nearby table as a souvenir for the guests, managing to go unnoticed.

Once he got to the girls' locker room where he was supposed to lose his keys, making sure that no one was watching, he decides to sneak in, hoping not to meet that strange woman who cornered him in that place a few moments ago. Fortunately, the place was lonely, so he rushed to look for his keys immediately, finding them right in the place where he had fallen next to Betty, so, barely picking them up, he hurried out of the changing rooms, picked up his jacket and he rushed off the school grounds, heading to his car.

Once with the car keys back in his possession, Aaron Santiago opens the door of his vehicle to enter it. Once inside, Aaron Santiago falls completely on the back of the seat, sighing deeply, not being able to believe in how many strange situations he got into in just one day, and curiously, not being able to avoid hearing Betty's voice from his memories:

"- Betty Schwartz: Yes. Look, you're a bit (…) noisy. You get into a lot of unnecessary trouble. That makes you stand out".

Disgusted at that memory, observing himself ironically in the rear view mirror, Aaron Santiago could only think "- Shut up (…) -". Anyway, our character had already lost a lot of time in that place, and it was time to retire, so as usual, he took one last look at the car to see that he did not forget anything, however, instead of missing objects, there was one thing that shouldn't be there, and it is that, when he left the "High School # 13" for the second time, he forgot to return the school yearbook that he had taken from the souvenirs table, taking it with him to his car.

For a moment, Aaron Santiago had the intention of returning the school yearbook, however, he was stopped by the idea of thinking that a third entry to the same scenario for the same chapter would not look very well seen to say, so, taking it between his hands, and not knowing exactly what to do with it, without thinking he began to leaf through it.

The inside of the school yearbook was quite classic, with photos and names of all the students of those times, together with a small phrase of his own. Although the alumni meeting was for a specific school group, Aaron Santiago graduated in the same generation as the others, so the first person he looked for in the book, like any good self-critical person, was himself, finding with a young boy with glasses, misaligned and with an unruly hair, whose caption said "Thank goodness I don't have to see you again". Reading this last sentence, Santiago thinks:

- Aaron Santiago (thinking to himself): Wow, some things never change.

The second person he looked for was his best friend, Ángel San Miguel, who in his yearbook photograph looked identical even in the haircut, but with obviously more childish features. His caption read "Hey! Get that stupid camera out of my sight! ":

- Aaron Santiago (thinking maliciously to himself): Ha-ha-ha! This photo is totally worthy of a Pulitzer! (…) The world must know the truth.

At that moment Aaron Santiago with his cellphone camera took a picture of the portrait of his friend teenage version. Having already selected the cellphone contact and preparing to send the image directly to the Angel himself, a guilty thought stops Aaron Santiago:

- Aaron Santiago (thinking to himself) No (…) This is wrong. I promised myself not to disturb Angel during his vacation. He is my best friend, and I have to do the right thing (…)

Then, Aaron Santiago deselects Ángel San Miguel's contact on his cellphone, only to immediately select the contact of Yulissa De La Parra (Ángel's wife) and send her the photo without hesitation. It took a brief moment for him to receive a reply from Yulissa, who just typed "LOL". Aaron Santiago was just reading Yulissa's message, when just a second later he received an angry message from his friend Ángel San Miguel:

- Ángel San Miguel (writes angrily): Dude, seriously! What the hell is wrong with you?!

- Aaron Santiago (responds): "XD"

At the end of his mischief, Aaron Santiago puts the phone aside, and, without much interest in that school yearbook, he prepares to close it, however, among all those old students described between the pages, a name is written right on the same page than his friend Ángel, who quotes "Berenice Tiffany Schwartz", and underneath a caption that says "I was born to act! So let the show begin!". Reading all this, Aaron Santiago can't help but stay analyzing the photograph of the girl at the top of the text, whose look and smile are intriguingly very familiar to him without knowing why until, suddenly, a memory of Betty appears instantly in his thoughts:

"- Betty Schwartz * smiles embarrassed *: Everyone at the alumni meeting were strangers at my sight. On the other hand, although you may not remember it, once you and I were schoolmates (...)".

Realizing everything, Aaron Santiago closes the school yearbook and leaves it in the passenger seat, looking thoughtful about what happened:

- Aaron Santiago: So Betty Schwartz, huh (…)

As Aaron Santiago thought about his own affairs, the footsteps of a businessman were approaching his car at full speed from "Middle School # 13" across the street, who shouts at Santiago from afar:

- Bernardo Pino (shouts happily): Hello, Santiago! It's me, Bernardo Pino! Would you like to know about the benefits of the homeopathic industry over conventional medicine?!

- Aaron Santiago (mutters angrily): Cool, what I was missing (...)!

Immediately, Aaron Santiago starts the engine of his car, and, pressing the accelerator fully, he leaves the place immediately, before that businessman or anyone could reach him:

- Aaron Santiago: It will be better to leave the mental wanderings for when I get home (…)

---> To be continue... (/°u°)/