After a bit, we arrive at the hospital wing. The doctor at first doesn’t notice us. She is signing a few papers. I smile when I see her. She is my friend. I always came here when I needed help. She taught me about the importance of doctors. Because of her I decided to become a vet.

“Doctor Lily! Please! We need your help!” I say very desperately.

At first, she smiles when she hears my name, but the moment she sees us, her expression turns to horror. She helps us put Rafael on a bed. So much blood comes from his nose that he can’t even speak. I hold his hand. Doctor Lily brings him a towel and some medicine. She even sends her assistant to get us some new clothes.

“What happened?!” she asks after she helps Rafael. “Did you get into a fight?!”

“No.” I say. “But this is exactly what he’ll say.”

“Who?” Doctor Lily asks.

“Our chemistry teacher.” I say. “He came with a sack of tomatoes and forced our classmates to throw them at us. He had papers for expulsion to manipulate everyone.”

Doctor Lily puts her hands to her mouth, her expression changing to fear.

“But that’s impossible! Where did he get those?” she asks.

We all look at each other. Neither of us has any ideas. Suddenly, an idea hits me.

“Wait! Doctor Lily, did he ever make an excuse for why he didn’t come to school? An illness? Anything?” I ask.

“No, not that I know of. Let me check!” she says and starts looking in a drawer. “Aha! No! Wait, but, how… It says that he’s been present at school all this time. Didn’t you tell me a few days ago that he’s been absent for a long time?” Doctor Lily asks confused.

“Yes, he didn’t come to any of our classes. Was he present at other classes?” I ask.

“He must have been… You see, our school, in order to make sure every teacher is here on time, has a book in which we sign that we arrived. He signed for every day.” Doctor Lily explains.

Then his full plan hits me.

“Are teachers supervised? To make sure that they get to every lesson?” I ask.

“No. We didn’t think it would be necessary. Why come to work and not go to a class?”

“Because like this he can trick people that we’ve been absent from his hours. Which means he can expel us!” I say.

“Wait! How many lessons did he have?” Selena asks, realising what I’m saying.

“Twenty…” Rafael answers while looking at the floor. “He tricked the whole class!”

“This is how he could do more for the rest of the class!” Selena says furious.

“What do we do? We could motivate our absences?” Rafael asks.

“Maybe you could try, but I one hundred percent can’t. My parents had to motivate me those weeks I was late after the fall break.” Selena says.

“Then what can we do?” Raf asks terrified.

“I don’t know.” I say.

“I’ll inform Ms Smith!” Doctor Lily says seriously. “She’ll know what to do! But don’t do anything in the meantime. We need to be careful about this. It’s clear that he’s prepared. And manipulative! So, you must be careful!”

We all nod, and I return to helping Rafael. After the assistant returns with some clothes, we get out of the school and go to the boat. We knew we would be safe there, and we would be able to discuss our plan on what to do. Me and Rafael talked constantly, but Selena was fully silent all the way to the boat. It is slightly raining today. It is cloudy and it is getting dark. Selena picks up a big rock and throws it in the water. After that, she falls to her knees. I never saw her this angry or exhausted before.

“Selena, it will all be ok!” I say.

“No, it won’t be! This is not as simple as you think. I know why he did it…” she says and gets up.

She turns to us. Her face is full of rage and sorrow. Tears flow down her cheeks. Seeing her this emotional takes me and Rafael by surprise.

“Come, help me repair the boat!” she says.

“What? In the rain?” I ask surprised.

“Yes. Working helps me focus.” Selena says and then gets to work.

Me and Rafael shrug and do as she says. Luckily for us, we left all our tools here. After we start, she speaks again:

“I think it’s time I told you how this boat crashed.”