Teresa's wristwatch reads 7:00 PM when she says goodbye to Noah to meet up with her friends and go to the market. She hears Max's announcement about the party time and walks around the courtyard, hoping to find a familiar face.
She spots a blonde girl with long, wavy hair talking with others near the entrance and heads toward them.
"Sophia?" Teresa asks as she approaches the group, causing them to turn around.
"Teresa! Glad you made it! Come on over," Sophia replies in a confident tone.
Teresa gets closer to the girls, who seemed to be listening to something Sophia was saying before she arrived.
"I was just telling them: I have an idea to call a meeting with all the students in the theater tomorrow morning," Sophia comments.
"But why?" asks Teresa.
"Just imagine: if this situation lasts longer than we expect, it's only a matter of time until Class A starts trying to run everything."
"But what's the problem with that? The students from Class A really are the most capable among us..."
"No. I don't want to be their doormat! Who knows what they'd order us to do? We have to adopt a democratic system so that everyone has a voice and is treated equally, regardless of their class!"
"Even the students from Class D?"
"Teresa, the students from Class D will be the most important piece in making this happen. We have to take advantage of the fact that they must be anxious about being in the worst class in this situation and get them to fight for our cause!"
The other three girls in the group nod, agreeing with Sophia.
"And you guys heard Thomas at the meeting. He told us not to trust Class A," one girl comments to the group. "Imagine if we let them run everything?"
"Yeah... When you put it that way, I guess you're right..." Teresa replies, apprehensively.
"The sooner, the better! In the meantime, let's go to the market and try to clear our heads at this party," says Sophia.
The girls agree and head off toward the market. As they leave, Teresa looks back and sees Noah walking from one building to another with a smiling, blonde boy in a black jacket. She also notices students crowded in the buildings, going in and out.
Arriving at the market, they see about six people, including Max, who are already there. They go inside, greet the nearby students, and head for the shelves.
"What are you planning to get, friends?" asks Sophia.
"This here is my natural fuel," replies one of the girls, as she grabs a bottle of gin from the shelf.
"Crazy bitch!" says another girl as her friend takes the bottle.
"These chips are the shit," says Sophia, grabbing a bag of chips.
"Hey, I think I'm going to split off and look in the other aisles," says Teresa.
"Sure! We'll meet up later, then," Sophia replies.
Teresa separates from the group and begins to walk through the other aisles, looking up and down the shelves, undecided on what to get.
A few minutes later, she arrives at the costume aisle, hesitates for a moment, and then enters. She starts looking at the costumes, seeming thoughtful and unsatisfied with all of them. Reaching the end of the aisle, where the leftovers from the Halloween costumes are kept, she finds something that catches her eye.
She picks up a set of small devil wings and a headband with red horns. She observes the items for a moment, places the headband on her head, looks at herself in a nearby mirror, and notices that the horns light up. She is pleased and puts the set in her bag to take with her.
She leaves the aisle to try and find her friends and, on the way, spots Max with his back to her in the party decoration section. He is talking to someone by his side who is as tall and strong as he is, but has black hair and wears a long white coat over his uniform, almost like a cape. Teresa can't identify who the boy is, but she thinks about the opportunity to talk to Max and approaches the two of them.
She tugs on the sleeve of Max's uniform in an attempt to get his attention. Teresa is substantially shorter than both of them.
"Max?" she says.
"There's another girl who wants to talk to you," says the boy who was talking to Max.
"Oh! Hello, didn't see you there," Max says to Teresa.
"Can I ask you a question?" she asks, swallowing dryly.
Max laughs.
"Look, little one, if you wanna be my bitch, I'll let you, you know? There's room for everyone. Ha ha ha!" he replies, in a natural tone.
"Humph," grunts the boy in the white coat, who is still turned away, making it impossible to see his face.
Teresa is embarrassed and her face turns red.
"Th... that wasn't... that wasn't it..." she replies, still awkward.
Max looks at her with a smile, waiting for the question.
"Are... are you really from Class A?" she asks.
"Yes. Why?" he replies, smiling.
"Do you know Noah?"
"Who?"
"Never mind... that was all, thank you," Teresa lowers her face, sad and embarrassed, and walks away, intending to leave the aisle the same way she came.
As she is leaving, she can overhear comments from the two.
"What a strange girl..." comments Max.
"That behavior will be your undoing someday," replies the other boy.
"No way!" Max laughs.
Teresa moves far enough away that she can no longer hear the conversation.
"Noah must be from Class C, then..." she murmurs to herself, discontented and still a bit embarrassed.
She finally finds her friends, who now have their bags full.
"Looks like you found some things to take too," says Sophia when she sees Teresa approaching. "What's in there?"
"Oh... it's just some food I like," Teresa replies, clutching the handle of her bag.
Thus, the girls talk a bit more and then leave the market without paying, as there is no one to pay.
"Remember to spread the word about tomorrow's meeting, please!" comments Sophia.
The girls agree, and Teresa says goodbye to the group, saying she's going home to get ready for the party. She sees Max through the window, still inside the market, and quickens her pace so as not to be seen.
[...]
At this moment, on the other side of the small town, Noah and Lucien are in an unexpected encounter with Leo.
"Please, Noah! I have nowhere to stay," says Leo, trying to hide his desperation.
"What happened to your house?" asks Lucien, suspiciously.
"I don't live here and I can't get to my house! It's in another city."
Noah takes a second to analyze the situation and feels that Leo is telling the truth.
"What happened to that friend of yours who was with you on the bus?" asks Noah.
"That bastard went to his house and left me all alone! I swear, I have nowhere to stay!"
Noah takes a deep breath.
"Alright, you can come with us," he says to Leo.
"Thank you so much! Really."
"Noah?" Lucien replies, indignant.
Leo approaches the two, and the three of them start walking toward Noah's house.
"Why does your friend wear red-lensed glasses at night?" Leo asks Noah, who is now between the two, in an attempt to keep Lucien from hearing.
"His name is Lucien. And don't worry about it, he's eccentric."
"They help me see red!" says Lucien, laughing. "And I can hear everything you're saying!"
A few minutes later, the three arrive at Noah's house, and he feels a chill at the strangeness of being alone and not knowing where his father is. They go to Noah's room, and Leo asks to use the bathroom. Alone in the room, Lucien lies down on the bed and places his glasses on the table, while Noah looks at himself in the mirror.
"Do you think I should comb my hair?" asks Noah.
"What kind of question is that?" Lucien replies, in a melancholic tone.
"I wanted to know your opinion..."
"Who cares about that, Noah..." Lucien replies, looking at the ceiling.
A silence fills the room, and Noah goes back to looking at himself in the mirror while running his fingers through his hair.
"Noah..." says Lucien. "What do you think of the students from the other classes? The students from Class A?"
"I think they're what I already expected. A little arrogant, but also..."
"They're all incredible, aren't they?" Lucien interrupts him. "The students from Class A are from another planet. I can feel it when I'm ten meters away from one."
Noah remains silent, confused about where his friend is going with the subject. He stops looking in the mirror and turns to see Lucien, who is still staring at the ceiling.
"Doesn't it make you want to have their body? Their charisma? Their intelligence?" continues Lucien.
"But, Lucien, you're the most intelligent person I know."
"And yet, I'm still less clever than you," Lucien laughs. "The fact is, I belong in Class D, where I deserve to be. I am a nobody. When I was born, the stars whispered to me that I would never be anyone. But they were blessed by the hands of God himself."
Noah stays silent, not knowing how to react to his friend's outburst.
"Noah... do you remember that scrawny kid who was in our class at the beginning of the year?"
"Black hair and light-blue eyes? The one who left the school?" Noah puts a hand to his chin, trying to remember.
"We thought he left because of the bullying."
"Yeah, what about him?"
"I saw him today..." Lucien pauses. "He was strong, tall, and talking with Max, side-by-side. He was wearing a beautiful white coat over his uniform, which swayed in the wind like the feathers of a legendary bird."
"Next to Max? But... that doesn't make sense."
"Noah... he moved up to Class A."
"But there's no way someone can move up through the classes so drastically! A person can increase their capacities and skills, but how do you increase someone's potential like that? It's a contradiction," Noah questions, very confused. "It's rare for a student to be transferred to another class, but to walk through all of them, from D to A, is completely unbelievable."
"I know he went to Class A. He had that scent," Lucien replies, reflectively. "The scent of Class A. The scent of the superior race."
The two fall silent: Lucien lying down and Noah pensive, pacing back and forth.
"What was his name, again?" asks Noah.
"The one who escaped from hell and reached Paradise..." Lucien replies. "His name is Dante."
"Dante..."
They both hear the door unlock and see Leo coming out of the bathroom.
"Aren't you guys going to the party?" asks Leo, already ready. "It's 9:30 PM! The party starts in half an hour!"
Lucien doesn't move a muscle upon hearing the urgency.
"I don't know how I can get ready..." says Noah.
Leo calls Noah into the bathroom, opens his backpack, and starts taking out some unidentifiable products. He styles Noah's hair, applying cream and other products, even to his eyebrows. After spending about ten minutes in the bathroom, Leo lends Noah some cologne, and they both exit.
Upon leaving, Noah looks at himself in the mirror again.
"You really are an artist," says Noah, impressed and feeling more confident.
"I have to know how to take care of my appearance for when I'm a lawyer in the future."
Pleased, Noah turns to Lucien and sees his friend still motionless on the bed.
"Lucien?" asks Noah, concerned.
Lucien responds only by turning over in bed.
"You're not going?" asks Noah.
"You guys can go. I'll stay here," he replies, in a position where it's no longer possible to see his face.
"Come on, Lucien... Snap out of it..."
"Leave me alone."
"We have to go, Noah," says Leo.
Thus, Noah moves away from Lucien and leaves the room with Leo. The two grab their last things to take and then leave the house, heading toward the school again.
"Are you taking a notepad and a pen to a party?" asks Leo.
"Precaution. It's a habit," replies Noah.