On a normal day like any other, Dan was sitting at his desk thinking about... whatever Dan thinks about in moments like that.
His friends approached him, full of curiosity.
- Hey Dan, how's the bet going?- Brandon asked, with Josías and Jonathan by his side.
- What bet?- Dan said — he'd apparently forgotten.
- Don't play dumb, Dan- Jonathan said, unable to believe he'd actually forgotten.
Dan had always been like that — sometimes he forgot important things.
- THE BET TO WIN OVER NOEMI!- Josías finally said.
Dan finally remembered the bet.
- Ahhh... right, I remember now. It's going great, don't worry- Dan said, clearly lying.
His friends looked at him, knowing he hadn't actually tried anything yet.
- Really? You're kidding me- Josías said, obviously not believing him.
- Seriously, I mean it. You guys relax, I'll make Noemi fall in love with me- Dan said with a confident smile.
His friends smiled.
- Well, good luck then, buddy- they said before going back to their seats.
- Sure, sure- Dan said.
After that, he started thinking — without remembering the bet very well.
- Now... who was Noemí?- he whispered to himself.
Classes passed, everything was boring until the bell rang, Dan's teacher left, and since the next teacher didn't show up, they had free period.
Dan thought to himself: "Hmm... what can I do now? What don't I do usually? Read? Yeah, let's go to the library." Dan stood up and left the classroom heading for the library.
When he walked in, it was like fate — he ran into Noemí sitting at a table, alone, reading a book with great attention, as always in her own little world.
Dan knew he had to do something to move the bet forward and tried to approach, but before he could take another step, he thought: "If I go over without a conversation topic, she'll probably ignore me again. So... I'll watch her first to learn more about her and her likes."
Dan nodded, satisfied with his idea. "That way I'll have an idea of what to talk to her about," he smiled, proud of his so-called great intelligence.
But then Dan thought again: "Wait... isn't that considered harassment? Though... would it be harassment to girls if a cute guy did it? Would it?" He thought hard but finally said: "Nah, it won't be."
Quietly, Dan walked to the bookshelf behind Noemí. When he got there, he moved some books aside to see what Noemí was reading.
Noemí was reading a book from "The Lord of the Rings" saga.
- "The Lord of the Rings"... "Lord of the Rings"... "Lord"... "Rings"- Dan made a surprised face as he mumbled the words.
- Rings? Is it a book about getting married or something? No, wait... Lord... it must be a romantic story about a lord trying to get married- Dan smiled again, satisfied with what he'd "figured out" from the title.
Dan tried to get closer, pretending to walk past her or look for a book on the shelf behind her — but she never took her eyes off her book, she was too focused.
Dan rolled his eyes when he saw Noemí didn't even look up for a second.
Dan grabbed a book from the same Lord of the Rings saga and sat at Noemí's table, trying to make her notice he was there — but he didn't succeed.
Dan opened the book and flipped through it quickly: "Ha, look, it's not a romance! HAHAHA" he said to himself.
Dan sighed and pretended to have a question about the book.
- Hi... excuse me, you're Noemí, right?- Dan said with a smile.
Noemí finally looked up from her book at Dan. When she saw him, she froze, unable to say anything, her cheeks slightly blushing.
- This book seems interesting but I don't know the chronological order, and since I saw you were reading it, I thought you could help me- Dan said with a kind, friendly look.
Noemí, still unable to say anything and very nervous, stood up suddenly and quickly left the library.
Dan stayed at the table, frozen in disbelief, looking at the door with another sigh.
- Does she hate me?- he said to himself, seeing how she always avoided him.
But when Noemí left the library, her face blushed even more as she thought: "Again? Why does he talk to me? Because... I..." Noemí couldn't believe the most popular guy in school would talk to her like that — even though she didn't mind it deep down.
Dan sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
- This can't be... I already lost...- Dan said, looking at the library ceiling — but he wasn't going to give up yet.