Bruna smiled as she looked out of her bedroom window and saw the sun shining across the street. There was nothing she loved more than being outdoors in the sunshine with her friends and today was not an opportunity she was going to pass up.
She reached for her phone and sent a text to Fabio, her friend who lived a few houses down the street; 'park today?' it read. A few minutes later, Fabio had replied with 'yes baby! I'll pick you up. Luís and Ricardo are coming too'.
Bruna was happy with this news; Fabio, Luís and Ricardo had always been the in-crowd in Londrina, the town where they all lived, and recently Bruna had started hanging out with them and a few of the others from the neighbourhood. Bruna had grown up on the same street as Fabio so had been friends for years, but this was different; now she felt cool with the others around as well.
Since she had turned 18, she had been taken under their wing and been taken to parties and raves that she would never have dreamed of going to on her own - there was even an impromptu weekend road trip to São Paulo that she was a part of. Her life had changed with these three guys and it was a seemingly endless exciting time.
An hour or so later, Fabio texted again to say he was on his way and Bruna should meet him at her front door. She shouted a brief 'goodbye' to her mum and went out the front door to see Fabio striding towards her from down the street.
'Hey Bruninha,' he said, smiling.
'Hi Fabio,' replied Bruna, reaching up to embrace her friend as he reached her house.
Fabio was 6'1" to Bruna's 5'2": mixed race with black curly hair, he had grown into a good looking young man and Bruna found herself often attracted to the muscular physique and impressive cheekbone structure that her old friend exhibited.
'The other two are in town, they're going to meet us there,' said Fabio, twirling his football on the end of his finger.
'OK,' said Bruna, 'we should stop off and get some supplies on the way.' Fabio nodded in reply and the two friends headed to the park, picking up food, beers and some spirits on the way.
Strolling through the town and over the road bridge that crosses the Ribeirão do Cambé, Bruna looked out at the twinkling reflections the sun was making on the water. So calm and peaceful, she thought, contrasting with the traffic whizzing past her other shoulder.
By the time Bruna and Fabio had reached the clearing that bordered Córrego Capivara, Luís and Ricardo were already there. Bruna could make out Ricardo's tall, lithe body as they got closer, and saw him flick strands of his mop of thick black hair away from eyes. Luís was standing beside him, shorter in stature and with darker skin, he grinned as the two newcomers approached him before giving a warm hug to Bruna and pecking her on the cheek.
'Hello sweetheart! I see you have brought beers for us!' he said with a chuckle.
'Yep, plenty to go round as well,' replied Bruna, delving into her bag and handing a beer to each of her friends before taking one for herself.
The clearing was as secluded as it was spacious - an open expanse of grass over a small stream that had very few passers by. Generations of young adults in Londrina had used it for all kinds of recreation, but these days it was where Bruna and her friends called home. They would come and while away summer afternoons drinking, chatting, laughing and today was no different.
