To the Real You

Veinticinco

Nobody else can fix me, only you

-Only You

-Cheat codes, Little Mix

A lot of things were running through my mind during the examination period.

Firstly, the papers weren't as hard as I thought they would be and it was no doubt thanks to the meticulous instructions handed to me by my student teachers and my endless nights of painful study. It felt good to be rewarded for days of endless hard work.

Secondly, the ideas for elevating Savannah from diamond in the rough to diamond in the sky were rather endless. I'd spoken with Diego about it and roped her into a written(faux) agreement. The thing was that if she'd been genuinely reluctant to perform I'd have backed off. But I saw the stars in her eyes anytime we mentioned the Carol Night performance. She wanted to, but felt she wasn't enough. Which, in my opinion, was Trump-level bullshit.

Lastly...

Dante...

My head was still trying to wrap itself around the truth of his birth and the circumstances around his estrangement from his family. It got me angry for him. His sister, Esther, had no right to bully a smaller boy for making the hugest mistake of his life. She also had no right to tell him about his father Michael.

I mean, plenty parents don't even tell their kids about their biological parents till they turn twenty or something and she'd mocked him for something he wasn't responsible for when he was what?

Eight?

It was okay for her to be angry and her anger was rather understandable, but nothing could justify her saying those things.

And his mom? Let's not go there. I have no qualms with a woman choosing to abort a child born from rape. It gets difficult to stand the idea of the father and it's even worse when the child looks like the father, albeit the child is not the father and shouldn't be punished. But if it's her choice then, who am I to judge? But she chose to have the child and she has that responsibility to look after all of Dante's needs.

She didn't.

Instead, she kept her picture perfect family and decides to waltz back into his life almost a decade later because she can no longer look herself in the mirror for abandoning her son with his ever-travelling aunt?

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

What kind of family does that?

And now they want to waltz back into his life and force him to embrace them back even though he'll always be standing at the edge of the family picture...

Wondering what he did to deserve such hatred...

It wasn't fair, all it made me want to do was hold him in my arms and go all ballistic on people that were there to hurt him. Because he was one of the sweetest people I'd ever met. 

Dante was kind and selfless, always putting people he loved first. He hated confrontations and was very quiet but he could stand up for his friends when needed. He was smart but humble, polite and generous with undertones of being unsure of himself...

And now I know why...

God, I hurt for him.

"Tate? Don't break your pen on the question paper, please?"

Principal Pierre's voice brought me back to focus and I blushed, mumbling a apology.

Luckily for me it was the last paper of this blasted exam and it was English Language. I was kinda having a field day with the stuff and all because English was kinda my thing and all. So I was done before it was time. I had just been poking around with my punctuation and spelling and pondering whether it was oesophagus or esophagus, when I'd drifted into thought lane.

The sad part was that I couldn't leave until my hour was up and I couldn't nap either.

I was tired.

(Kinda tough writing an exam... alone... with your damn Principal as your invigilator... no room to cheat, ya know?)

"You've been doing quite well, considering your late arrival, Tate... your tutors deserve extra credit for their own annual exams. That would, of course, have been applicable f they were writing finals."

"Yes, Principal." I said slowly.

She nodded and continued clicking away at her computer. It was easier to exist in the silence than to make small talk. But when she laughed aloud at something, I found myself at a crevice called fear.

Her laugh was reminiscent of a pig's snort.

In between keeping a straight face and not looking up at her, my back was drenched with sweat. I could feel her laser stare on me, as though waiting for me to laugh.

"Mister Rodriguez." 

No longer Tate... Christ!

"Time's up."

Thank goodness!

"WHOOOOOOO!!!"

I screamed, running into the cafeteria and barreling into Andre at our table. He fell over and nearly kissed his pasta.

"Little Man!" He called, slamming our hands together in what he calls a 'manly' handshake. It hurt though but I don't tell him, "You done?"

"You bet the fuck I am!" I said, slumping into my seat. The table was grinning at me, even Blanca and some even slammed me in the back.

Dante nodded.

I felt warm everywhere.

The rest of the meal was spent asking me about the papers and laughing over my Annette-laugh predicament. Andre was on the floor, wheezing and the rest of the school thought we were crazy.

But we didn't give a fuck.

I loved these guys.

My eyes net Dante's and he smiled at me in a way that spoke volumes of how much he appreciated me. It felt great being looked at like that... especially by him...

Wait...

No...

This was the worst nightmare of any high school girl...

I couldn't be in like with Dante, right?

I mean, he has Blanca and Blanca likes him back...

And he thinks I'm male!

Unless he's bisexual or by some chance is a closet gay( which he shouldn't be because I'm female), nothing in this world would make him look at me that way.

I should just backtrack... yes backtrack...

So I turned from him, ignoring his look of confusion and began to converse with Eduardo.

Backtrack... yeah I can do that.

HOLA,

Sorry for dropping the cliffhanger and going missing. I was... having a well-deserved sleepy time in my soft as hell bed. :P

Adios,

Cadi.