CAPO

6. School

The sun peaked through the patted curtains into Arabella's bedroom. She was sound asleep, living in a small cottage with her cats and a few cows on her small farm.

The three missed calls didn't wake her earlier, but the shrill sound of her phone going off again did this time.

She rolled over, groaning. She slid her finger over the screen, her eyes shut tightly as her groggy voice spoke, "Hello?"

"You're late, doll,"

Her eyes snapped open and she took the phone from her ear, looking at the time.

8:05

She had to be at school an hour ago. The girl gasped, "Fuck! Shit, I'm sorry!" She muttered, throwing the covers off of her legs.

"That's quite all right, I've Ben keeping your class company,"

"My god, Giovanni—"

"Relax, Arabella." He said calmly. Arabella felt like she might cry from embarrassment. "I'll see you in five," She muttered, ending the call as she swung open her closet. In her rush, she pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a white top, stripping out of her sleepwear and quickly slipping on her work clothes.

She rushed into her bathroom and brushed her teeth quickly, completely forgetting makeup and her tangled brown locks.

She put on a pair of white tennis shoes and grabbed her back and papers, rushing out of the door. The school was a ten minute walk from her house and she cursed herself as she rushed down the stairs to the front door of her apartment building.

She hailed a taxi, telling the driver her location and telling him to rush as much as he could. She was at the school in exact five minutes and she payed the driver and dashed into the school building.

She ran to her classroom, hair flying wildly behind her. She smiled at a few children as she passed them and at a few teachers before she turned the corner to her classroom, her mouth never taking a moment to stop muttering a string of profanities.

Just as she wanted to open her classroom door, she heard Giovanni inside, "And then what did you do?"

"You punched him? My god, only because he took your toy? You didn't ask for it back?"

The girl smiled to herself as she opened the door to her classroom.

"Hello, miss Jones!" The class said in unison. The girl smiled, "Hello, kids. How are we today?" She asked, making her way to her large, brown desk in front of the class. The class broke out into soft chatter then as she smiled apologetically at Giovanni.

"I'm so sorry,"

"There's no need to be. Amy was just telling me about what she did during the break,"

Arabella looked at the short blonde girl, smiling at her, "Yeah? What did she do?" She asked, putting her bag and papers on her desk.

"My brother took my toy and then I punched him!" The girl blammered, her eyes wide with excitement as she grinned.

"You punched him?" Arabella exclaimed, smiling widely at the nodding girl. Giovanni stood, towering over Arabella. She watched as he took his seat at the classroom door, motioning for her to proceed.

The girl inhaled and exhaled deeply before she took the papers from her desk, holding them to her chest. "Now, kids. As you all might have noticed, I was late this morning. Mr Giovanni kindly held you under his control for a while, but now I'm back, yes?"