The Innocent ↝ ÉLITE ¹

SIX

CHAPTER SIX
Friends

          AFTER A LONG and tiring delay of trying to get Diego in the car and Izzy off her phone long enough to put on her uniform, Arlo finally made it to school, but she was late, already missing home room. She looked at her phone to see texts from Marina asking where she was, a missed call from Samuel and two missed calls from Ander.

She stumbled into her first class, her hair all messy, getting the attention of everyone in the room. Arlo looked at her history teacher, Júlia, and she sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Sit down, Arlo." Júlia instructed, gesturing to Arlo's empty seat next to Ander.

Arlo nodded as she walked to her seat and slumped down in it, leaning her chin in her palm. Ander smiled in amusement before he reached out, trying to smooth down the girl's tangled hair. The girl winced slightly. Ander pressed his lips together, his fingers combing through her hair. "Stay still, your hair looks like a bird's nest from behind."

"Thank you." Arlo breathed out with a smile as she closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

Feeling her phone vibrate, Arlo looked down to see a text from Samuel that read: Nice hair.

Arlo looked up at Samuel who was sat on the other side of the room, smirking at her. The girl subtly held her middle finger up at him so Júlia wouldn't see her. Samuel rolled his eyes before he turned back to Marina.

"Rough morning?" Ander mused.

"Understatement." Arlo sighed.

The class was over within half an hour since Arlo sat in her seat that when the bell rang, she jumped, dropping her pen. It was put back on her table by Nadia who flashed a friendly smile at her. "Busy morning?"

"Yeah." Arlo exhaled. "I am jealous that you are the youngest."

Nadia laughed. "It's not as fun as you'd expect." The two left history class together, falling into step with each other. "Why were you so late? If you don't mind me asking."

Arlo huffed. "No, of course not. Things aren't always this crazy with my siblings, but they decided to be extra difficult this morning."

"I'm not trying to be rude, but don't rich people have nannies and maids to help with their children?" Nadia questioned timidly.

The raven haired girl chortled. "Yes, yes we do. But my parents are hardly ever around. And I don't want either of them growing up thinking they can do whatever they want because they have no one there. I had Alma, our nanny, but I still grew up with too much freedom and it didn't end well. I don't want them making the same mistakes I did."

"But you're so...nice. What mistakes could you have possibly made that was so bad?"

"Thanks." Arlo chuckled. "But you'd be surprised. Being nice isn't always mutually exclusive with fucking up royally."

Nadia let out a laugh. "I see."

As the girls went to Martín's class, the man stopped Arlo at the door. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." Arlo nodded.

"I looked over the work you gave me. And you've made no progress." Martín informed reluctantly.

Arlo's smile dropped. "What?"

"You're a smart kid, Arlo, but you keep making the same stupid mistakes in your work. What's going on?"

"My Mom came back for a few days and when she leaves, it always gets weird in the house and my brother and sister– they're– they're always upset when we're left alone again. I have to take care of them, especially Diego. He's five and he doesn't know–"