The Mathemaniacs entered their routine of practices for the championship. They already had their methods of studying, testing each other and supporting all. It included after classes meetings, online group chatting, exchanging of math books and articles, among others.At any normal day, they would sit with their best friends for lunch, which is very natural. Then they could catch up about movies or sports, like any other kid.But the weeks before a competition, they sat at the same table for lunch everyday. And they took this opportunity to quiz each other, simulating the ‘National’.Their friends understood this and admired their dedication. Mandy explained all that to Mark, and was a little bit surprised when he declared that he would sit with them. She accepted his decision, but told him honestly that even having him by her side, she wouldn´t be able to give him her full attention.What she didn´t grasp yet was that being by her

On a Sunday morning, Carol and Mandy would stay in their pajamas and have breakfast together whitout any hurry. They would eat well, because later, they would need their strength to go running in the park, as always.In these opportunities, they talked about everything that had happened during the previous week, or they would make simple plans for the next one.Sometimes they only told jokes and talked about music and movies. It was Sunday, after all.Then, when the doorbell rang, Mandy went to answer it without any idea of who it could be.And what a surprise she had! There, at the front door stood grandpa, grandma, papa and nana.Behind them, baggages and parcels. Mandy´s enthusiasm and screams of joy caught Carol´s attention and she soon joined the cheerful greetings at the entrance.“Mom, dad! John, Helen! What a pleasant surprise! Come in, come in. Mandy, help me with these bags.”As they entered, Carol le

After Arthur had his talk with Paul, he decided to propose to Carol on the next Saturday night.The family was gathered at Carol´s because they had to dress up, since they were going to a social event, as Arthur´s guests. It happened to be the charity event of the year, that night, and the most celebrated high society people would have dinner and a gala ball.At Carol`s, everybody was excited and looked their best. The men in suits and the ladies in gowns. Mark was already there, wearing a dark blue suit and it looked great with Mandy´s soft blue dress. They matched.The grandmother´s dresses were classic and very nice. A pink one for Lily and a green broidered one for Helen.As for Carol´s gown, it was exotic and beautiful. As it cascaded down the perfect curves of her body, you had an impression that it was silver, because it made her shine. But as soon as she moved gracefully, it changed to a golden color and still shinnin

Things were pretty busy at school too. The preparations for the Math Championship were intensified since they day for it was approaching.And everybody else was a little crazy with coming up tests in every subject, specially for eniors like Mark and Charlie, since they were also applying to different colleges and preparing themselves for interviews, in case they were invited in the selection process.But even with this full agenda, it was impossible to ignore that student´s personal objects kept disappearing. One girl noticed that her braces went missing. And that caused astonishment, not only because it had no commercial value, but also because who would want a used one. And it would probably not even fit the person.All the wonder was to no avail, until the day that Charlie noticed that his new swimming goggles went missing. Not only were they new, but they were also a present from his girlfriend Dorothy. And she had his name engraved on it.&ldqu

Carol had to ask Arthur to limit the number of guests for their party. In all his excitement he had intended to invite almost a thousand people.“I want the world to know that I love you, Carol. I want to make it clear that we are together.”“Oh, honey, I think the world already knows. We are in all the main broadcast vehicle that exists. We´ve even made it to the worst gossip magazines.”“We did it, didn´t we?” He seemed proud as he embraced he tightly.“You are having a great time with it, because while the gossipers call you “The king”, The empreror of gold”, they refer to me as an alian who came from a distant planet to rob your heart.”“Hahahaha. Did you also read that one? It is my favorite.”“Why?”“They only say that about the top celebrities. The people they admire the most. Since there are not enough adjectives, they p