8: Making mistakes

Time: 14:00. Location: Student Council, Hoover High School.

"I promised I'd help you with Jason. Why would you think I'd change my mind?" Stefan says. He sips his cup of steaming coffee, and chews as it sits with a bad aftertaste on the tongue. He sets the cup on the counter and pours in a sachet of creamer.

"Clarissa or the principal could have forced you to twist your plans" Veronica says from the couch, leaning back with her arms raised and cell phone held high. Her light black hair, usually tied in a ponytail, now falls free on the lizard-shaped cushion, a pillow she guards warily so no one crushes it with the butt. On her wrist Veronica wears her hair bun red like a temporary bracelet.

"Thank you for reminding me that I'm a slave" Stefan takes another sip and runs his tongue over the lips. He looks pleased. "Besides, Clarissa is still upset with me about Marylena's party"

"What will you do to make it up to her?"

"We'll take the weekend to travel to a wrestling fair. She loves those things, the masks, the tights, the spiked bats. We'll leave early tomorrow and I expect to be back by Monday morning"

"Good for both of us. But please don't buy a spiked bat, that would be tempting fate" 

"Too late... She made me promise to get her one at the fair" Stefan says with the expression of a soldier who only knows defeat. "She says when she wears it it will always remind her of me"

"Cute. Now let's list the non-potentially dangerous activities in which a person would use a spiked bat... You start"

Stefan lays his back low on the counter and sips his coffee in silence. A minute of calm passes, and Stefan notices how Veronica seems lost in her cell phone, an unusual attitude for her compared to the rest of the students.

"Can I ask what you're so interested in, or am I intruding?"

"I'm looking information about a person"

"Really? Would you tell me the name of the lucky boy or girl?"

"Oleksandr Onyshchenko. It sounds Russian but it's actually Ukrainian, I know because I googled him. He's supposed to be a top guy, but there's no information on someone with that name. I searched Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, the FBI's most wanted list... Nothing"

Stefan puts a hand under his chin.

"That name rings a bell..."

Veronica watches Stefan out of the corner of her eye, and quietly waits for the boy to clarify.

"Isn't that the name of the president of our honey industry? I could swear I even saw him during the last year honey festival. A really... Shocking man"

"Shocking?"

"Tall, stocky, a little old but looking as healthy and energetic as an Olympic athlete. There's also his dentures, false teeth, metal... I'm guessing stainless steel"

"Hot"

"Don't mock, he could be a war veteran"

"Anything else you can contribute to the mission?"

"I'm not one to go around digging into people's lives, Veronica... And as far as I know neither are you. Any reason for you to investigate this man? He's a little old for you"

"A maiden's heart is a sea of secrets"

"That line... Titanic, right? Clarissa cries every time we see her, but don't mention I told you or I'm a dead man"

Veronica promises nothing. Type: Sweet Hills Honey.inc, president, in the search. The company's official website appears as the first option. She enters and discovers a website adorned with cloying flowers and a giant cartoon bee, as well as a listing of the different types of honey they harvest and distribute, red being the most expensive and popular. Exploring the website Veronica finds the profile of the president, Oleksandr Onyshchenko, with no photo and accompanied by a description so vague and prefabricated that it is worth the same as nothing. Veronica's lips form a line in disappointment.

The door to the room is pushed open. Both Stefan and Veronica look at the panicked student, the poor boy needing to catch his breath before sounding the alarm to Stefan.

"Clarissa went crazy in the parking lot! She's killing a-!"

Stefan doesn't stop to listen, shoves the student away and runs off. Veronica ties up her hair and runs after her friend.

At first Stefan was going like a bullet, imagining worst-case scenarios made him ignore any muscular complaints. But as the distance added up, the limits of his fitness began to slow him down. Veronica catches up without breaking a sweat and keeps up with Stefan's speed until they cross the double doors to the stairs of the parking.

A ring of people surrounds and records the spectacle. Stefan makes his way through and arrives in the center, discovering Clarissa hanging over a fat guy. Clarissa grabs the man by the man's mane while with her other hand she repeatedly punches him in the face, ending up smashing his sunglasses, which are left lying on the asphalt next to a broken camera.

"You like filming young girls, don't you? Fucking pervert! They'll fuck you up in jail, but first I'll fuck you up!"

The guy tries to open his bloody and swollen mouth, but Clarissa shuts him up again with another blow that knocks out two of his teeth. The man no longer has the strength to keep his head up, but that is not enough to calm the fury of the quarterback. Clarissa places her hands against the guy's face and proceeds to press her thumbs into his eyes.

Stefan clings to his girlfriend's back, wraps his arms around her and pulls back, wanting to prevent a crime.

"Clarissa, stop!"

But the girl doesn't react to the call, her bloodshot gaze remains riveted on the fat guy, though her attention seems rather lost in ancient and still hurting hatreds.

"You hurt little girls?! Then feel the pain of little girls!"

It becomes clear that Stefan's forces are insufficient to stop Clarissa. Veronica advances and grabs the blonde's arm, so firmly that she can no longer move it, although the rest of her body continues to fight. Martha and Lucy, who have just arrived, see the spectacle and as soon as they get over their fright they enter the ring and pull as well, while Jordi stands in the middle of the crowd and with open hands asks for calm.

"Calm down, people! He is not a pervert, he is my cameraman!"

The students ignore the journalist, continue filming and cheering, eager to get a viral video for the Internet.

"Hit hard, Classy! He was filming me, I saw it!"

"Show that pervert who's in charge at this school!"

"Kill the sexist pig!"

"That hurts, baby! Keep it up, let it sting!"

"Someone who wears those clothes at that age has to be either a loser or a lunatic!"

After much struggling they manage to separate Clarissa and sit her down on the asphalt. The quarterback roars, stands up, thrashing and slapping her hands without looking. Martha leaps away before they can reach her, and the elbow coming towards her collides with Stefan's nose. A crack is heard and Stefan falls to the flood.

The crowd falls silent as they see someone they recognize and appreciate get hurt. As soon as they smell the possibility of consequences, the students back away and disperse. Stefan sits up and holds both hands to his nose, a trickle of blood trickling down to his lips. Veronica leans toward him and spreads his fingers apart.

"Let me see" 

"I'm fine, I'm fine... It was just the nose. Ouch!"

Veronica assesses the damage with a stoic expression. 

"I'm not an expert, but... You'll live"

Clarissa is dumbfounded and pale as a ghost, her pupils are just a few dots in her horrified countenance, it's almost as if she was the one who was hit. Facing Stefan the girl mutters an inaudible "I'm sorry", and runs away.

Stefan follows his girlfriend with the eyes and sighs as she disappears behind the school. With Veronica's help, and keeping one hand pressed to his nose, Stefan stands up and looks at his friend with pleading eyes. 

"Can you talk to her? I need to go to the infirmary, and also get that man healed"

The strangers surround the fallen companion and try to get him to react, without success. Veronica casts a skeptical glance at Stefan. 

"She's your girlfriend, not mine"

"She doesn't like to talk to me after... She makes mistakes. But I don't want her to go off on her own either, not without knowing first that she won't make any more crazy things" 

What mistake is Stefan referring to? The inordinate anger? The hitting him? These are the kind of questions that come to life in Veronica's head, but she avoids saying them because she understands that this is not the right time. She nods and gets ready to leave, but first she has a question for the strangers.

"Who are you, people?" 

Jordi looks back at her, but it is not him who answers, but Stefan after recognizing him.

"Is Jordi Snake... From the Scale Storm Project. I'm a subscriber to the YouTube channel"

Jordi gives a reluctant smile, partly happy to be recognized. 

"A contact told me in advance that the welcome to this town would be intense. He didn't lie"