The Vanishing Glass
The next day was Luz's birthday, unfortunately, a school day. Camila made her favorite breakfast and let her control the music on their way over to the school - so Camila heard anime music and some covers - "See you in a few hours cariño" Camila hugged her daughter and headed to the zoo. She had not told her about a small surprise Luz would have in a bit.
To Luz's happiness, to an extent, that day was also a field trip day, which cut her schedule in the middle, having only two classes, when the teachers pretty much forced her classmates to sing ''Happy Birthday'' to her.
Around 10 AM, Luz and her classmates arrived at the zoo, where Camila worked, for their field trip " 'Morning children, my name is Camila Noceda. I will be your guide today. Please, don't touch the glasses, you might startle the animals" She walked in. The students followed her, Luz walked towards her mother "You didn't tell me that the field trip was here. How could you hide something from me? My mother!" Luz asked dramatically.
Camila giggled "I wanted to make a surprise, oh, and we can go and grab something to eat" Luz nodded and walked back to the end of the mass of students "So, the weirdo's mom is our guide? Great!" Andrea, a blonde girl with blue eyes and a line of pink hair, rolled her eyes "Are we going to learn about unicorns or griffins? Maybe the lake ness monster or bigfoot" The girl mocked Luz, her favorite punching bag.
Luz looked down, not wanting to cause a scene, not after she stole some spiders for a school project two years prior. She took a deep breath and followed her mother. They saw all kinds of animals, and about an hour and a half later they stopped to eat. Andrea made a fuss about her pudding being about 2 centimeters smaller than Luz's. After Camila had to apologize for the fourth time, they headed to the reptile house.
"Ok kids, now for your assignment..." Mrs. Madison, their middle age science teacher with purplish hair, said and the students groaned all at once "Don't give me that, you are going to choose one of these animals, and write an essay about them, a minimum of 2 pages, their habitats and behavior as well as their evolution story, now, go on!".
The students scattered around and started thinking and taking some notes about the animals there. In the end, Luz, Andrea, and Violet, Andrea's best friend or as the others called her, Andrea's lackey, stopped by the largest snake there "What's that?" Violet was short and chubby, had puffy curly black hair and glasses "It's a Boa constrictor, commonly find in central and south as well in tropical parts of North America and Caribe" Luz explained.
"How do you...?" Andrea asked confused and annoyed "I've come here a lot" Luz explained, "Apparently is from Brazil, why it isn't moving?" Violet read the info tablet beside its cage "The species yes, but he was bred in this zoo, and judging by the time... He must have just eaten so, it's digesting it, probably sleeping".
"Wake up you stupid snake!" Andrea tapped the glass repeatedly trying to wake the snake up but the Boa didn't make a single move "Ridiculous, utterly..." Andrea and Violet turned to look at another animal. Luz sighed and approached the Boa "Sorry buddy, she can be a real... Annoyance ---- It must be boring all those people coming and going, tapping on your face all day long" Luz said.
To her surprise, the snake rose until its eyes met hers, maybe she was going insane but she could swear the snake nodded in agreement "Have you ever wanted to just run away? A life of adventure and emotion, instead of the same boring?" She asked.
The snake once again nodded, agreeing with her, she could only imagine how awful and boring that snake's life must have been, people complaining and demanding him to move as if he had chosen to be there hearing people tapping that glass "Hope one day you get the freedom you want" Luz said smiling.
"Are you talking to the snake, weirdo?" Andrea mocked "Look An! The snake is awake, it's huge!" Violet said amused "Out the way Luzer!" Andrea tossed Luz aside and started glaring the Boa through the glass and when the snake slide back to a burrow she started slamming the glass to lure it back.
Luz stared at the scene annoyed, as if wasn't enough Andrea bullied her and many other students she was even bothering that poor snake. It was so unfair and Luz hated it, she just wanted it to stop, that the snake could have a real-life, away from all the people who caged him behind the glass "Stop..." She whispered, tears starting to form in her eyes.
And her prayers were heard, when Andrea went to slam the glass yet again, her hands met nothing, and she fell into the snake's small habitat. Violet let a high-pitched scream, Luz was perplexed, and Andrea stayed motionless in the small puddle the snake used to bathe itself. The Boa left the borrow and slid to the other side of the glass, passing mere centimeters from the blonde's face, and once outside, it glared at Violet, and the girl almost passed out.
The boa slid between the legs of Luz, who could not move and it rubbed its head on her ankle as if it was a cat and Luz could swear she heard it speak to her "Thank you, amiga!" The boa made its way out of the reptile house with its newfound freedom "Mas qué Cara-" Camila was interrupted by the screams and cries of Andrea and Violet.
The rest of the morning was a mess, while Violet only cried, Andrea had the biggest temper tantrum Luz had ever seen in her life, she called her mother, and they both threatened to sue the zoo, and the owner and Camila had to almost kneel asking for forgiveness until the two of them were satisfied.
Andrea tried to get Luz expelled at some point, accusing Noceda of manipulating the snake and letting it out to hurt her. Her mother tried to counter, arguing that it was unlikely and that no one would ever want to hurt Andrea, but the girl was determined, crying louder every second and even rolling on the ground.
"Luz, apologize to your friend" Camila ordered silently "Pero mamá!" Luz tried to argue "Ahora Mija" She ordered "Okay mamá" Luz stepped forward and sighed "I’m sorry Andrea, I should have a... Ahm... I should have done more... To help you???" Luz tried to apologize for something she didn't even know in the hope to end the whole thing.
"See sweetie, she apologized, it's okay," Andrea's mother said and the girl stopped and sobbed a little and accepted it. The zoo was closed for the day and the students went back to their houses. Luz knew that her mother was both angry and sad, so she stayed silent the whole way back home, her birthday was ruined and she wanted the day to end.