Building My Life

Chapter 33 - Despair in the Math Test

Josias had inadvertently drenched Pamela with the hose while gesturing for her to leave. Pamela screamed, kicking up a fuss far beyond proportion; she wasn’t nearly as soaked as she pretended to be.

Uélton burst out laughing, drawing the attention of the other masons. Josias turned to him, realizing his friend had been the one to orchestrate the prank.

“Uélton, you shouldn’t have done that!” Josias scolded, but Uélton didn’t seem to care.

“That bore wouldn’t leave you alone. I had to do something,” Uélton said between fits of laughter.

“You’ll see!” Pamela shrieked, pure hatred gleaming in her eyes. “I’m going to tell my parents!”

Romualdo approached the commotion. “What’s going on here?”

“That clumsy, wretched helper sprayed me with the hose!” Pamela screamed, pointing an accusing finger at Josias.

“This girl came here just to argue. She wouldn’t leave, and she’s interfering with my work,” Josias defended himself.

“You call this ‘work’?” Pamela scoffed.

Uélton stopped laughing and stepped toward Romualdo. “Seu Romualdo, I’m the one who turned the tap. Josias didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Then apologize to the lady,” Romualdo said, his voice cold and serious. “And then she can be on her way. We have a lot to get done today.”

Pamela had hoped Romualdo would publicly reprimand or humiliate them — perhaps even fire them on the spot. She smiled slightly at the thought.

“I’m sorry, mistress,” Uélton said, his tone clear with irony as he turned away.

When she realized that Uélton’s apology was a sham and that even Romualdo was walking away, Pamela’s smugness vanished. That was it? No punishment?

Josias picked up the hose, wet the cement, and began mixing it with his hoe. He had already completely dismissed her presence. But Pamela wasn’t ready to retreat.

“Just wait until I tell my friend!”

“You aren’t going to tell her a thing.” Josias raised his head and looked at her coldly. “If you tell her I wet you, you’ll have to explain what the hell you were doing here in the first place. And when she hears you came here again to tell me to stay away from her, she won’t just tell Fabrício to go to hell: she’ll end her friendship with you. If you can even call it a friendship.”

Pamela clenched her fists, channeling all her fury into them. The anger was even sharper because she knew Josias was right. She had to swallow her pride and slink away in her damp blouse before she caught a cold.

***

Later, at lunch, Uélton found Josias and pulled up an empty bucket to use as a seat.

“Have you eaten yet?” Josias asked with his mouth full.

“Not yet.” Uélton leaned in curiously. “Now, tell me: what was that girl doing here pestering you?”

“It’s your fault for telling your mom the clothes belonged to your brother,” Josias said, glancing at him with dismay. “Now she’s convinced I’m unworthy of Melissa.”

“Forgive my language, but Melissa isn’t exactly high society to be rejecting someone like you,” Uélton said indignantly. “Who does that girl think she is?”

“It’s getting weirder by the day.” Josias swallowed his food and looked up thoughtfully. “I’m not even dating Melissa yet, even though she gave me her number.”

“You stallion!” Uélton exclaimed, patting Josias on the knee in congratulations. “You actually got her number!”

Josias offered a small smile, unable to resist Uélton’s infectious excitement. “Yes, but it won’t be easy. I know her father is the one who usually answers. I need to practice how to talk to the old man so he’ll actually hand the phone over to her.”

“That’s the hardest part of any relationship, getting past the father.”

Both men laughed openly.

***

Meanwhile, at high school, Melissa and Pamela were taking their math test.

However, the morning’s events had left Pamela rattled. The fear that Josias might tell Melissa everything gnawed at her. She couldn’t even complain about her damp blouse, because Melissa would naturally ask what she had been doing at the construction site.

Pamela glanced at the clock on the wall. Only twenty minutes left!

She looked at her test paper: she hadn’t even finished half of the problems. Arithmetic and geometric progressions were difficult topics. She had studied with Melissa and their friend Jenny, and then studied alone. She should have been ready.

But it seemed that when Josias had soaked her blouse, he had washed away the formulas from her brain as well. Every time she tried to check a solved question, she realized the math was wrong.

In contrast, Melissa and Jenny were working through the problems with ease.

Students who finished their tests stood up and handed them to the teacher, who watched the remaining class struggle with a touch of sadistic pleasure.

Melissa finished and got up to turn in her paper. Pamela panicked. Ten minutes!

Taking advantage of the small crowd of students blocking the teacher’s view, Pamela stood up and craned her neck to see the paper of the smartest boy in class.

Unfortunately for her, the class “genius” was a total rule-follower. When he felt someone hovering behind his neck, he shouted at the top of his lungs:

“Teacher! Someone’s looking at my test!”

The teacher and every student standing — including Melissa — spun around. They caught Pamela mid-motion, trying to shrink back into her seat. It was painfully obvious that she had been trying to cheat.