♡♡ Heyy guys, thanks for reading, please comment & vote!!♡♡
-LEO-
LOCATION: NERINA ISLES
When Sofía leaves to go into her room, she leaves me and Adriana alone.
"Well, if you need anything I'll be right next to your room, so you can sleep with me," She says.
Say less.
"WAIT NO, I mean wait no I didn't mean it like that. I meant if something goes wrong or if some mishap happens, well no I didn't mean it at all you can't come into my room no matter what happen-" She stumbles over her words
That was kinda cute.
No it wasn't.
I burst out laughing.
"Don't worry, if anything happens, I'll be sure not to come into your room," I wink, which causes her face to become red.
I walk into my room, not leaving her time to answer, and I am surprised.
Woah.
LEO'S ROOM:
The room has a bed in the middle, which is kinda weird, but it looks perfect for this room and it fits the house. Behind the bed, there's a TV stand...without a TV, and a balcony.
I do what I usually do at night, take a shower, and everything else.
I also put a face mask on. I gotta remember to thank my father for packing that.
I mean c'mon, I may be all 'big and strong' but I still take care of myself. Including face masks.
LEOS BATHROOM:
After I peel off the face mask, which hurts like hell, I step into my bed and drift off. Thinking about the person who has been on my mind more than she needs to,
Adriana Agosti.
-ADRIANA-
I wake up and look to the clock beside my bed,
7:08 AM
I quickly make my bed, take a shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed. I then try and find my way downstairs from muscle memory.
I make it down, and I walk around, trying to remember how to get everywhere, when I see Leo in the kitchen, pouring milk into a bowl with....Lucky Charms?.
Fucking Lucky Charms? What is he 7?
"You're up early," I say, walking to the kitchen island and taking a seat
KITCHEN (pretend there are black chairs across the whole wooden island:
"No shit." He says sarcastically, as he grabs the milk.
"I got like no sleep last night," I say, trying to make a conversation so it is not just awkward silence.
"Same, I don't fucking trust this place at all or Aleksei." He says back.
I nod my head, "Yeah, everyone seems weird. But after this, we can become the Mafia Don, and leader right?"
He nods his head.
I clear my throat, "Why are you eating...Lucky Charms?" I ask.
"Why the fuck not, they're delicious." He says as he motions his hands to the bowl.
"Ok well, can you pour me some?" I say.
"No." He looks at me for about 5 seconds with a straight face, probably waiting for my response.
Thanks.
"Fuck you I'll get some myself," I say as I start getting up.
It's too early for this shit.
"I'm kidding, I'll go get it." He jokes, putting his hands up in a surrender motion.
"Jeez who shitted in your breakfast this morning," I hear him mutter under his breath.
"You probably did," I call back.
"Haha. You would know if it was mine. I took the biggest shi-"
"Leonardo Toussiant I swear-" I cover my ears.
"I'm kidding again, take a joke."
"I took you, didn't I?" I retort before I even realize what came out of my mouth.
Why does this always happen to me?
"You wish you did," he murmurs.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing, just getting the gremlin her damn cereal," he mocks.
He places the cereal in front of me and pours milk into the bowl and goes and sits down across from me.
I start moving the cereal in a circle and moving it around with my spoon.
"What are you doing?" Leo asks me.
"Making sure you didn't shit in it, obviously," I say, still moving it around with my spoon.
"Oh my god, you are unbelievable," he remarks while smiling and shaking his head.
I give him a small smile and take a small bite of my cereal.
I slowly munch on it, taking in all the flavor.
"Holy shit this is amazing," I say as I eat more.
"Wait, have you never had lucky charms?" he asks, his face puzzled.
"Nope, 'strict Mafia diet' according to my father," I answer, putting air quotes on the 'strict Mafia diet'
"Remind me to buy you some after this whole thing is over." He notes.
"Only if it doesn't have any shit in it" I joke.
"I can assure you, I will tell you if there's any shit in your food." He jokes back, matching my energy.
"Thank you, your work is very appreciated," I say sarcastically as I continue eating.
We mostly eat in silence, occasionally commenting on small things.
"Hey Leo." Emily says 'seductively' while sliding up to him and sliding her arm up to his upper bicep
Please tell me this is some sick joke.
"There goes my appetite." He says.
"I can fill you up if you want..." she asks suggestively while tracing her fingers on his tattoos.
"What the actual fuck was that." I drop my spoon, making a small splash, as Leo smirks at me.
"What?" She asks obviously as she moves her fingers onto his shoulder, and down to his chest.
"You're touching him, in places he probably doesn't want to be touched. Get the fuck out." I point to some other random place in the house.
"Fine, but I had fun last night Leo, we should do it again," she says as she gets up and leaves.
Why am I so pressed about this?
"Jealous much?" Leo asks.
Yes. Wait, no. I was not.
"No, why would I be jealous? I just don't want her touching anyone like that." I defend, crossing my arms.
"This place is fucking sketchy and I don't like it." Ben walks over to the island and sits right next to Leo.
"Agreed."
I stay quiet, slightly nodding my head.
"Awww, cat got your tongue?" Leo asks, tauntingly.
I sneer and flip him off.
"I still don't get why we can't have 1 big school or nothing at all." He adds.
"Probably because they don't want us to kill each other overnight," Sung-ho says, walking up to the kitchen and sitting next to me.
Where did he come from?
"Not a bad idea," Leo says.
"Did you sleep well, Adriana?" Ben asks, turning his head to me.
"No not really, I was tossing and turning the whole night" I answer.
"I bet you would sleep 10 times better with me in your bed," he says while smirking and wiggling his eyebrows.
This mf better be joking.
Leo's jaw clenches and his hands turn into fists until his knuckles are white.
"Jealous much?" I ask in the same tone he did to me.
Leo gets up aggressively and shoves his chair.
Ben smirks at me, "Damn he's already down bad."
What does that mean?
"What was that all about?" Sung-ho asks, pointing his fingers to us, and where Leo was.
"Oh it's nothing," I reply, turning my attention to my now soggy cereal.
I quickly eat the rest of my cereal and walk to the living room, where Adowa is watching a random cartoon.
"Adowa?" I ask.
She turns her head and slightly jumps, "Hey Adriana! I was trying to find my way to the kitchen, but then I ended up here and this cool show was on, so I planned on sitting down for a few minutes, but it was like calling me so whenever I tried leaving I just couldn't! So it's been a couple of hours and I'm still here and now I'm realizing I haven't even found the kitchen!!" She exclaims.
How does she talk so fast?
"Ok ok ok, well how long have you been up?" I ask, taking a seat next to her.
"I didn't get any sleep."
Oh.
"Oh, uh-"
"But anyways, I was thinking about this idea I had last night, and I thought about a cool gadget. So basically you know how everyone here throws knives, and daggers, and whatever they can find?"
"Yea-"
She cuts me off, "So I was thinking of a gadget that could accelerate the number of weapons that are.....'throwable', so you can have infinite knives, and whatever people use. It would kind of attach to your wrist, like a super thick bracelet. Or I should call it a wristlet!" She laughs a bit, "and inside of the wristlet, there are..." She trails off into a lot of cool engineering words that I have no idea about.
What is she high on, Capri Suns?
"Woah, don't know how you think about all that cool stuff, but I respect you. Maybe you should make it today in the school, or whatever the fuck it is." I suggest.
"Yeah, I was thinking of doing that." She says, then turns her attention back to the cartoon.
I turn my attention to the cartoon, and the more I watch, the more I'm addicted to it.
-LEO-
"Hey Leo," Emily says, trying to be seductive, she's failing miserably.
Although Adriana does it without trying.
No, she doesn't.
She slides her arm up to my upper bicep.
Ew.
"There goes my appetite," I say, pushing the cereal away from me.
"I can fill you up if you want..." she says while tracing her fingers on my tattoos.
"What the actual fuck was that," Adriana says while dropping her spoon.
She's jealous....?
I smirk at her.
"What?" Emily asks, as she moves her fingers onto my shoulder, and down to my chest.
"You're touching him, in places he probably doesn't want to be touched. Get the fuck out." She points to some other random place in the house.
"Fine, but I had fun last night Leo, we should do it again," she says as she gets up and leaves.
My stomach drops.
Adriana doesn't think we did it, does she? She knows I have higher standards than that piece of shit.
"Jealous much?" I ask, smirking.
"No, why would I be jealous? I just don't want her touching anyone like that." She says defensively, crossing her arms.
She is so jealous. I hope.
"This place is fucking sketchy and I don't like it." Ben walks over to the island and sits right next to me.
"Agreed," I say. Ben would probably be the only other one I MIGHT be able to trust here.
Adriana stays quiet and nods her head.
"Awww, cat got your tongue?" I ask, tauntingly.
She sneers and flips me off.
"I still don't get why we can't have 1 big school or nothing at all." He adds.
"Probably because they don't want us to kill each other overnight," Sung-ho says, walking up to the kitchen and sitting next to me.
I swear he comes outta nowhere.
"Not a bad idea," I say.
"Did you sleep well, Adriana?" Ben asks, turning his head to her.
"No, not really, I was tossing and turning the whole night" she answers.
"I bet you would sleep 10 times better with me in your bed," he says while smirking and wiggling his eyebrows.
You have to be fucking serious like she would ever sleep with a guy like Ben.
Would she?
My jaw clenches from just thinking about it, and my hands turn into fists.
"Jealous much?" She asks in the same tone that I did to her.
I'm not jealous.
I get up and shove my chair, storming out of the room.
No, I'm not jealous. I'm tired.
I bet Adriana would sleep even better with me.
I walk over to a few chairs and a bookcase and grab Shatter Me and start to read it, trying to clear my thoughts.
"Why the hell are you reading?" Sofía asks, walking up to me and sitting down on the chair next to me.
"Why the hell not." I retort, mocking her.
"I'm bored, there's nothing to do, and I don't like this place," I complain.
I sound like a child. I might as well be one because I ate, as Adriana said-
Stop thinking about her.
"Yeah, that Marinara or whatever the fuck her name is won't let us do stuff until she gives us a tour." Sofía jokes.
"Yeah, where even is she?" I chuckle, putting down my book.
"Students call? I answer!" Marina calls.
What the fuck?
"Hey," Emily says from behind her. Aleksei also steps out too, without saying anything.
What's up with him, why doesn't he say anything?
"These kiddos got lost together, and I happened to find them!" She exclaims.
How could Aleksei be lost, if he got a 'sneak peak' of the house?
Emily looks scared.
I would be too if I was alone with that Aleksei guy.
I mean, doesn't everyone know that Russians are always suspicious?
"Well, don't just sit there, let's get this tour going!"
Sofía and I look at each other weirdly and then follow Marina.
"How did she just....appear?" Sofía whispers.
I shrug in response.
Marina gathers everyone in the living room, Ben and Sung-ho came from the kitchen, busy cracking up over something, probably some stupid joke, and Adowa and Adriana were already sitting on the couch watching Looney Tunes.
"Everyone follow me, we are going to start the tour of the island now!" Marina says.
Great. So excited.
-ADRIANA-
"Everyone follow me, we are going to start the tour of the island now!" Marina says.
We all follow her outside of the house, and in front of it is a small Land Rover, waiting for us.
Marina is in the front row, Sofía, Leo, and Aleksei are sitting in the middle row, and in the back row are Adowa, Sung-ho, and Ben. Leaving no space for the rest of us.
Emily and I.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
"Cmon girls, just sit on somebody's lap." Marina points at the two of us.
No thanks.
I hop in first and sit on Sofía's lap, which is right next to the door I came from.
"Jeez, you're fat." She remarks.
I scowl at her.
"Excuse me, you didn't leave any room for me!" Emily whines.
Really....I didn't know that!
Kidding, I knew that. I just don't give a fuck.
"Adriana, hun, you gotta move to the other side, alright?" Marina asks as if I'm a baby who doesn't understand English.
Aleksei slightly smirks, if I wasn't looking before I wouldn't have noticed...
Bitch.
"Oh, uh, okay." I awkwardly laugh and scooch over to the other side of the car, where Aleksei sits.
I sit on his lap, but try and make it so I'm as far away from him as possible. He on the other hand is looking straight at my ass, not trying to hide it at all.
Leo's jaw clenches.
Aleksei puts his hands on my waist and closes his eyes, and I cross my arms, trying to think of anything but what's happening right now.
The next thing I know, Leo grabs me by my waist and slides me onto his lap with ease, as if I weigh nothing.
Oh, thank god. This is so much more comfortable. Wait what- no it isn't, it's equally as awkward and uncomfortable.
"What was that for?" I ask. I'm glad nobody is paying attention to us, Sofía yelling at Emily for being too fat, Aleksei looking out the window, and the rest in the back are just laughing about something random.
"As you said earlier, I don't want him touching anyone like that." He mocked me from what I said earlier.
His hands stayed on my waist, his thumb slowly tracing circles, but I didn't feel uncomfortable at all.
I felt safe. Like a home typa safe.
Wait what- no, I didn't.
I take another look at Aleksei, and I see Leo glaring at him, while he looks out the window, as if nothing happened.
I lean back on Leo's shoulder, and try and relax for a second.
"Now why the fuck can't somebody sit in the front?" Sofía interrupted my zen moment, obviously mad about this.
"Because we have to make it fair for all of us!" Marina exclaims.
"Well, it's not fair for me because a fatass bitch is currently sitting on my lap, and is crushing my legs, do you understand how uncomfortable this is, it's like having a fat pig on your lap, no, it is like having a fat pig on your lap" She corrects herself, while Ben snickers and she gives him a sidewards smile.
I saw that.
Leo continues to rub circles on my waist with his thumb until I nearly fall asleep before Marina scares the shit outta me.
"We're here!!" She screeches.
I jump from her loud voice, and me being half-asleep.
Leo snickers, while he slowly...almost teasingly...takes his hand away from my waist, and I roll my eyes at him.
Emily opens the door, and Sofía practically kicks Emily off her lap.
"Fatass," she mumbles.
I reluctantly got out of my spot, and out the door. Leo, Aleksei, and the rest follow after me.
"Alright students, here is the school!" Marina motions over to the school.
BSFTM 'school':
"Holy. shit." Ben gasped.
"Damn." Sung-ho awed.
"Frickity tic tac!" Adowa calls.
"Eh, I've seen better," I say.
Everyone looks at me with wide eyes.
I was clearly joking.
"Like what?" Sofía challenged.
"I was kidding," I reassure them, "This place is really cool."
"That's what I thought, bitch." Ben says.
"Go burn in hell you fat fuck." I retort.
"If I go I'm taking you down with me," he says, smiling.
"C'mon guys, we gotta make it in time for your first training day!" Maria says enthusiastically.
"You can burn too," I say under my breath but Ben hears it and snickers.
"What's so funny guys?" Emily asks annoyingly.
"The fact that it looks like you're smuggling a watermelon you spawn of satan," I say, and Ben bursts out wheezing and I follow suit.
Everyone stops and turns to look at us.
Leo glares at Ben, who just winks in response.
What is his deal, it's clear we are barely even friends, making friendly, wholesome jokes about people, well almost.
Is he still jealous?
Nope, he wasn't in the first place.
Probably has a resting bitch face. Sofía does.
All of us follow Marina, who is already almost at the entrance.
"Someone's impatient." Sung-ho comments, while we all rush up to catch up with her.
"Probably just rushing to get laid from one of the teachers." Ben jokes.
"Damn Marina, I see you," Sofía remarks.
How the hell did we not catch up to her, she's walking so fast.
"For your information, there are only 3 teachers here, your ballroom dancing teacher, your self-defense / offense teacher, and your driving instructor. All of which are females."
"Damn Marina we support," Sung-ho claps while he, Sofía, and Ben start dying from laughter.
"But I already know how to drive!" Emily whines.
"Yeah, driving into a tree," Ben retorts.
"This driving instructor is not a 'normal' one, she will be teaching you things you will need to know in the future," Marina says as if she knows something is going to happen.
"Oooh is she gonna teach us how to use turn signals?" Emily asks, "Sorry, dumb blonde am I right?" She giggles, while annoyingly tapping her head, trying to get the blonde out of it.
What the fuck was that
"I'm gonna pretend you never said that shit," Sofía says,
"Wait, you guys don't know how to use turn signals...?" Adowa asks.
"No, we do, Emily doesn't, that's probably why she crashes into trees," Sung-ho says in between laughs.
Everyone starts laughing again until Marina snaps her fingers.
"This 'funny' behavior will not be acceptable in the school. These teachers are serious, and I doubt any of them have the time to deal with your jokes." She advises us.
This group cannot be serious for the life of them.
"Ok mom," Ben retorts sarcastically.
"What are we in, kindergarten?" Sofía says sarcastically
Everyone agrees with her.
"With this behavior, you might as well be," Mariana says.
I scoff.
"We don't need your pep talk of useless advice that we won't end up listening to," I say.
"Most of us are all capable of protecting our country / continent without this stupid ass school. We'll probably forget all the stuff you 'teach' us," Leo adds, and everyone agrees.
"Alright, well if you want to get on their bad side. That's fine by me." Marina says.
"My timbers are currently shivered." Ben mocks.
Everyone laughs, then we all step inside the building.
-LEO-
I have not been able to get the thought of Adriana sitting in front of my lap and having those pink, plump lips around my-
No stop it, you don't like her.
Horny ass.
Marnina shows us the whole school but it looks like no one cared enough to pay attention, or was too tired.
It wasn't really a school, it was more of a huge warehouse with only training equipment and weapons.
It was now evening, and we are all exhausted.
"When is this going to be doneeee?" Emily whines.
"For once I agree with her. This is so fucking exhausting." Sofía adds.
"I know hun, we will be done in a sec. I just have to show you all this. Your sports racing class." Marina leads us to the outside door.
"Then can we go back to the house, and you can all sleep," Marina opens the door to our sports racing class.
Holy shit
BSFTM SPORTS RACING (it's super unrealistic but whatever):
AROUND THE MOUNTAIN ↓
"DAMN." Ben gawks.
"Holy shit," Sung-ho remarks.
"That's fucking sick." Sofía says in awe, "Where are the teachers? You said they'll beat us up or some shit for messing around right?" she says as she sticks her leg out and trips Emily when she walks by.
"Oops," she says sarcastically.
Emily scoffs, "I hate this fucking place, you guys keep ganging up on me like I'm a punching bag!"
"Is that supposed to make us feel bad for you?" I ask and Sofía snorts
"Well, the teachers will be here tomorrow for your first actual learning day. For now, you guys can explore this field here. The road goes around Minnever Bluffs, which is a huge mountain on the isles." Marina explains to us.
"Really? No way! I guess that means the road is for driving on, right?" Ben says and I fight the urge to laugh.
"No, it's to eat dinner on, obviously." Sung-ho crosses his arms.
"Dammit, I thought we were gonna swim in it," I add.
Marina clears her throat, "Boys." she warns.
"What," Ben says in the same tone.
I watch as they glare at each other for a few seconds, then Ben backs out, turning his attention back to the racing track.
"Why would we need to be racing to prepare to lead the Mafia?" Adriana asks, curiously.
Adowa agrees, "Yeah, shouldn't we be doing some pew-pew kinda stuff? She motions hand-guns.
Marina starts to speak but then hesitates as if she was going to say something she wasn't supposed to, "Well, there will be plenty of missions that require driving, right? And besides, it's always good to know these skills, hence why you are doing ballroom dancing." She explains.
Somethings off about her, but I can't pin my finger on it.
"I thought we did the ballroom dancing because of the masquerade ball?" Sofía asks.
Marina's eyes widen, and a raindrop falls onto Adriana's nose.
Why are you looking at her?
Because she's prett-
No, she isn't. Well, that sounded wrong, she's not ugly but-
I shake my head, clearing my thoughts, and focus on the conversation.
"Well, it's going to rain, so how about we all head back to the house?" Marina steers the conversation towards something else.
We all follow her inside, then out of the school, and back to the old car.
"Same spots as last time?" Adowa suggests.
"You know it." Sung-ho answers.
"Yup," Ben adds.
"No. Please not again." Sofía complains.
I look over to Adriana, wondering what her answer would be.
Not that I care.
Her face is red and she's silent.
I smirked a little at that.
"Hop in guys, let's hit the sack!" Marina exclaims!
Isn't it 'hit the hay' or did I learn that wrong.
"Just say dick, not sack." Sofía comments.
"What?" She asks.
"You said hit the sack, just say hit the dick, not sack, we all know what you meant." She explains.
"Hilarious." Marina said sarcastically, then went in the car.
We all get into the car in the same spots as before.
"Cmon girls. Just get in the car. It's pouring out." Marina points to the now pouring rain.
Adriana gets in first, and I grab her by the waist and lay her on me before Aleskei can.
Fucking bitch.
I don't know why, but when I saw him staring at her ass without hiding it, and holding her waist with his hands, I felt an unfamiliar feeling coursing through my body.
Usually, I don't really care since it's not my life.
But with her it's different.
No, no it's not. Nobody should do that with any girl, or boy.
I rub circles on her waist again with my thumb, because last time she looked more relaxed, and she almost fell asleep.
She leans her head back onto my shoulder and closes her eyes, with her lips turned up the slightest bit.
Relaxed. Calm. She looks safe.
No. She doesn't, you're just overreacting this whole thing.
Stop rubbing your thumb, she probably feels weird.
But I don't stop.
It feels right.
That sounded perverted.
Whatever.
I ignore all of the yelling and laughing around me, and close my eyes and imagine all the things I want to do to Adriana-
No, I don't.
Way to ruin the moment, perverted creep.
I blink out my thoughts and start talking with the rest.
-ADRIANA-
"What do you think the sports track is for?" Sung-ho asks.
"Anything but what they say it's for. You guys saw Marina's face too right?" Sofía answered.
"She started to say something then she stopped, did you guys notice that?" Leo says, his hands still on my waist.
Sofía, Ben, Adowa, and Sung-ho all nod their heads while Emily stares out the window, and Aleksei stays quiet as usual.
After the car ride back, Marina went back to the 'teacher's house' or wherever the fuck they go for the night.
We all ended up staying up late and hanging out around in the kitchen.
"So, what do you guys wanna do?" I ask while everyone sits around the island.
If one of them doesn't suggest something I'm going to die from boredom.
"It's really late so I'm gonna turn in for the night." Emily says.
Aleksei grunts with a nod and walks upstairs
"Good night Leo, if you're lonely, you know where I am," She says while she drags her arm down his bicep, then leaves the room.
My stomach drops.
Why do you give a fuck? He can sleep with whoever he wants.
Sung-ho whistles. "Damn, she's got it bad for you,"
"Yeah well she's a bitch, I'd rather date a slimy-backed cockroach than her," he spits.
My stomach rises a little bit, maybe he doesn't want to sleep with her after all.
It doesn't even matter, sensitive little bitch.
"I feel kinda bad for her, we all push her around and she doesn't seem that bad!" Adowa defends her.
I scoff, "I don't, she's a self-absorbed asshole,"
"Yeah, she does sexualize Leonardo, a lot. But I mean maybe she has a tragic backstory?" She suggests, "everyone has one" she mutters after, but I don't think anyone else heard.
"What? Her daddy didn't buy her the right color car she wanted, did she get 1 pair of shoes and not 2?" Sofía mocks, "That girl has had it easy her whole life, a little toughening up here would do her good."
Everyone nods their heads in agreement, "Well, yeah you're right, she is pretty mean." Adowa says, but I can tell she's lying.
She likes everyone, she's too pure. She shouldn't be in our messed-up world.
"Anyways, wanna play hide-and-seek? Or maybe tic-tac-toe?" Adowa suggests.
"I have a good idea," Ben says smiling slightly.
"What is it?" Sung-ho questions.
"We should play, seven minutes in heaven,"
"What's that," I ask, curiously.
"It's basically when 2 people have sex in an enclosed space for seven minutes without any lights-"
What in the hell-
Sofía smacks him in the back of the head to shut him up.
"No maldita perro estupido"
(No you stupid fucking bitch)
"It's when 2 people are chosen to go into a closet or other dark enclosed space and do whatever they like for seven minutes. It could be making out, sex, talking, or nothing at all," She explains.
I look at Ben with wide eyes, "Really, sex in a closet? You suck at explaining things,"
"Yeah yeah, it's the same thing if you ask me," he says defensively.
"Fine, who's going first?" Adowa asks.
"Sofía and Ben," Sung-ho says while slightly smirking at Ben.
"There is no way in hell I am going into an enclosed space with that raggedy lookin ass motherfuc-"
"Ok, I think we all get the point!" Ben cuts her off while grabbing her arm and pulling her up and dragging her to the closet.
"What no! Adriana help me," She reaches her other arm to me as she gets dragged into the closet.
~~~~~
7 minutes pass and they calmly walk out of the closet not saying anything.
"So, how was it," Sung-ho asks mischievously.
"Nothing happened if that's what you mean," Sofía says bluntly.
As she sits back onto the barstool I see something on her neck.
Is that a bruise forming???
Wait no that's a hickey dumbass.
"Sung-ho, Adriana, you're up!" Adowa says chirpily.
I look to Sung-ho with wide eyes.
We aren't even friends, this is going to be awkward.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Leo watching me.
At least making him jealous was a plus.
He's not even jealous.
I follow Sung-ho into the closet and I close the door behind me.
"So what do you want to talk about?" he asks awkwardly.
"Look, I hate to be rude, but it's awkward enough as it is seeing that we're not friends, so, could we not talk?"
Oh god, I wish I was here with Leo.
Wait what- no I don't.
"Oh thank god, I thought I was the only one, but I didn't want to be rude."
I laugh a little bit at him struggling to explain himself.
7 long minutes pass and I open the door and walk to the kitchen and sit down with the rest.
"So did anything happen?" Adowa asks excitedly.
"Uh, no." Sung-ho says.
"Gosh darn, I was hoping you two would kiss, smooch smooch."
My mouth drops to the ground.
Leo's face hardens and his knuckles turn white
She did not.
"What? You have to admit, you two would be a cute couple!" She says grinning.
"What? No we wouldn't," I say.
I swear I feel a drop of sweat.
Is it getting hot in here, it feels like it's getting hotter.
"We're friends, we wouldn't date," Sung-ho says defensively.
"Not even friends, more like acquaintances," I say, backing him up.
"Yeah," he says, giving me a, 'she does not think we just kissed, does she?' look.
"Ok, if you say so," Adowa says.
"We do," I respond.
Adowa and Ben start to roll their heads back in laughter, "I was just kidding! You guys are better as friends!" She laughs
"Besides, we all know who Adriana is gonna end up with anyways," Ben adds.
"Yeah, Aleksei has been giving you looks, and don't forget you guys in the car," Sofía raises her eyebrows.
What the actual fuck.
Sofía starts laughing with the rest. The only ones who aren't laughing are Leo and I.
"Relax, it's a joke, you guys don't need to be so uptight!" She says while chuckling.
Leo rolls his eyes, "Anyways, how about we play something else?"
"Yeah, we should all watch a movie!" Adowa suggests.
"That's not a game but I'll take it," I say
"Sweet! Follow me, guys!" Adowa says, but nobody follows her.
She ends up going all the way to the living room without any of us.
Kinda feel bad. Kinda don't.
"Should we go now?" Ben asks.
"No." Sofía answers.
"Please?" He begged.
"Fine."
How are the others not seeing this, it's so obvious that they like each other and did something in the closet.
We all walk over to where Adowa is, Sung-ho carrying popcorn and Leo carrying other snacks.
"Since when were there so many blankets here?" Sung-ho asks, motioning to the giant stack of blankets and pillows.
"Since a couple of minutes ago, I got them!" Adowa answers, taking a blanket and wrapping it around herself.
"Got them while you all didn't follow me." She added, narrowing her eyes at us.
"That's cause we don't like you," Sofía says while sitting down on the couch.
She waits a couple of seconds.
"Kidding," She says as she turns on the flat-screen TV.
We all sit down next to each other.
I'm next to Adowa, who's next to Leo, who's next to Ben, then Sofía, then Sung-ho.
"What movie? Unless you guys wanna watch por-"
"Disney!!" Adowa cuts Sung-ho off.
"Disney?" Leo asks.
Adowa gasps, "You've never watched a Disney movie??"
"Nope. Never had time, according to my father, it's under 'strict Mafia rules' I don't think we had watched TV besides the news," he explains.
Adowa takes the remote from Sofía and goes to Disney+, which I'm surprised we have.
She picks Tangled, and the lights go off when Sung-ho claps twice.
We all eat the snacks and watch the movie.
~~~~~
"Psst."
"Psst.
"Adriana!" Adowa yells.
I jump, slightly frightened since I was pretty focused on the movie.
We ended up watching Tangled, and we are near the end of Princess and the Frog.
"What?" I ask.
"Can I take your popcorn bag and garbage, I'm gonna refill and clean up." She says.
"Sure." I give her my popcorn bag, and empty garbage and she leaves the room, carrying everyone else's trash.
I'm now 1 spot away from Leo,
Not that it matters.
And the movie is almost over.
Leo rests his arm across the back of the couch and spreads his legs out more.
Gosh, he looks so inviti-
Wait what- no.
His muscles are bulging through his already-tight dark blue shirt, and his black jeans are separated the perfect amount for me to su-
Wait what- no. Again.
I blink out my thoughts, and I see Adowa coming back, with more popcorn for us.
She passes out the popcorn in perfect time for the movie to end.
-LEO-
When Adowa leaves, the only thing that separates Adriana and I from each other, is the empty spot on the couch.
Not that it matters.
I push my thoughts to the back of my head and focus on the movie, relaxing, I spread my legs, getting in a better position.
I wonder what it would feel like to have Adriana between my legs suc-
Stop it. She doesn't want to fuck you.
I can feel Adriana's stare on my arms, and then down to my legs, but I try to ignore it.
When Adowa comes back, the movie ends and she sits in between Adriana and the arm of the couch.
Shit.
"Adriana, move!" She presses up against the arm of the chair, pushing her with her feet closer to me
"Shit, Adowa stop." She tries to stop Adowa, but we end up smushed together.
My arm is still on the back of the couch, with Adriana up against me, so to everyone else, it looks like we are cuddling.
I don't mind though.
No, I do mind.
I cross my arms against my chest because it seemed weird with them at my si-
I don't even care.
"So, what movie should we watch now?" Ben asks.
"We should watch Beauty and the Beast!" Adowa exclaims.
"No, I'm done with that Disney princess shit." Sofía says.
"Let's watch a scary movie! I need some jazz." Sung-ho suggests.
Everyone agrees, well except for Adowa.
"Noooo, I'm not watching a scary movie!"
"Then go to bed shitface," Sofía says.
Everyone turns their heads to Sofía while I fight the urge to laugh.
"Ok ok, I'm sorry, I won't call you shitface," She says.
"Douchenoggin," she says under her breath, just loud enough for me to hear.
Adowa gets up, "Sorry if I was being a nugget, you guys have fun, but I'm gonna go to my sleeping sanctuary!" She says.
We don't have time to question her weird choice of words because she is already halfway up the stairs.
"Alright, let's do Silence of the Lambs, yes?" Sung-ho asks.
We all agree, except for Adriana who just stayed quiet, who moved a millimeter closer to me
No she didn't, you lunatic, you're going crazy.
Did she?
No, she didn't.
Sung-ho clicks a few buttons, and suddenly we have it.
"What the fuck?" Ben asks in astonishment.
"It costs $6.99, how the fuck did you not pay?" I ask.
"He hacked the system, changed the firewall that required you to buy the product, and uploaded malicious files to change the price to free," Sofía explained.
"English?" Ben says sarcastically.
"He got it for free." She re-worded.
"See, it wasn't that hard was it?" He says tauntingly.
Sung-ho tosses the remote to Sofía, who catches it with her left hand and throws it at his head, and smacks him in the eye.
"What was that for?" He whined.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe for implying that I can't speak English you absolute dickhead," she snaps.
What is wrong with them.
"Ok, you two shut up, and let's just play the movie." Sung-ho shuts them up.
He plays the movie, and everyone gets cozy in their spots.
By 'everyone' I mean Adriana, who seems to be getting closer to me by the minute.
No she isn't.
She wraps her hands around her legs, forming a tiny ball
She looks cold.
Not that I care.
After several minutes of going back and forth between looking at the movie and her, I decide to turn my full attention to the movie.
I never watched scary movies before, I don't think Adriana has either, but so far I'm enjoying this one.
Adriana on the other hand, can't say the same for her.
I can practically see her shaking, and every time a loud jump scare or any loud noises come to the screen, she puts her face in her legs, hiding the view.
"Do you like the movie?" I ask, knowingly.
She peeks her head from her legs, "No, it's too cold, and I hate this movie."
I look at the blanket across my legs, then back at her.
Fuck it.
I take the blanket off of me, and cover her legs with one half, and cover my torso with the other
The blanket doesn't even fit around my lean structure.
I ignore them and look over at Adriana.
She gives me a weird look, which I can't decipher, and then scooches closer to me until our sides are touching.
I tug the blanket more around her than me, to make sure she's not cold anymore.
"Good?"
She gives me a curt smile, "Great." and goes back into a ball, but leans her body on my side.
Only so the blanket will fit around us.
She starts to shift uncomfortably and picks my arm up and moves it so it's wrapping around her
"It's uncomfortable, with it in the spot before." She frantically reassures me.
The way she moves my arm around her with ease made me feel something I can't pin.
No, I don't care.
"Don't worry." I say, rubbing circles on her back, trying to comfort her.
I wonder if she would mind if my hand went a little further-
Yes she would mind!
Further into the movie, nothing happened except for awkward silence, and uncomfortable shifts once in a while.
But, whenever a loud noise came onto the screen, she would grab a piece of my shirt and hold onto it tight.
"For a soon-to-be Mafia Leader, how are you scared of a horror film?" I ask.
She hits my chest lightly but quickly grabs my shirt again. "I'm not even scared. You just can't keep your eyes off me." She defends.
I can't.
Can. I can.
"Guys shut up, it's getting good," Ben says
"You've said that a million times, it's not getting good." I retort.
"This time it will I promise, just shut your mouths!"
I shut up and put my attention to Adria- the movie.
~~~~~
"Damn that was good. You're welcome for the movie pick." Sung-ho asks
"Nobody said thank you in the first place," Sofía responded
"Thank you Sung-ho. Leo, Adriana, and I highly appreciate your nobleness and bravery." Ben holds his hands on his heart.
Sofía throws a shoe at Ben and it hits him right in the other eye
Where the fuck did she get that from.
"Ok, now where the fuck did you find a shoe?" He whimpered.
That's what I want to know.
"That's for me to know and you to find out."
"Alright, I'm done with this shit. See you guys tomorrow." Ben says.
"Same, I fucking hate you all." Sofía adds.
"Except you Adriana, you're cool,"
Adriana lightly chuckles at that and agrees.
"I'm out," Sung-ho tells us.
It's now Adriana and I left alone. Again.
"Well, I'm gonna head out too," I say, "if you have a nightmare, I'll be sure not to come in your room" I joke, repeating our joke from the other night.
She rolls her eyes and her face slowly turns red, "Shut up, I'm gonna clean up this popcorn, then I'm going to sleep too. Don't want Marina to give us a stern talking to, do we?" She says, chuckling a bit.
This is the Adriana I like, she opens herself up to me.
Wait, no. I don't like her. And she doesn't open up.
I stifle a laugh and then walk up to my room.
-ADRIANA-
When Leo leaves, I start to clean up the trash that was left after the movie.
I hum Smooth Criminal while I clean up, and I'm kinda having a fun time while doing so.
Wait what- no I'm not.
I can sense someone watching me for a while, but I shake the feeling until I'm finished.
I look back at the now clean room and swore I saw Aleksei for a quick second, but I brush it off and walk up to my room.
I pass by everyone's room, in Sung-ho's room I can hear Nicki Minaj music playing, and I'm guessing everyone else is sleeping.
As I walk up to the little circle at the end of the hallway, I look at Leo's door for longer than I should.
I walk up to it, and put my fist near it, ready to knock on the door.
Don't do it. Don't do it.
I slowly drop my hand and walk away, and step into my room.
I do my nightly routine once again, but I feel kinda empty.
Shut up dramatic ass, you're fine.
I walk into bed, thinking about random conspiracy theories I used to read about when I was younger.
~~~~~
I wake up, and I feel like someones watching me again.
I ignore it, it's probably just nothing, and I use the bathroom and check the time.
3:02 AM
I head back to my bed, but I pause.
Did I just hear something or someone?
I slow my breathing to a stop and try to focus on what sound that is.
All I can try to decipher is a "no, please" and heavy panting.
That's not what I think it is, right?
Followed by a gunshot.
I run to my nightstand and grab the gun out of the drawer and rush out of my room, followed by everyone else in alert.
"What the fuck?"
"What was that??"
"Somebody tell me who shot something."
"What the cow poo?"
Everyone is frantically asking questions and talking about what just happened. Aleksei is still silent and he looks tired.
I look at Leo, and I can see him already looking at me, with a worried look on his face. He looks at my shoulders, then down to my arms, and my legs. He looks back at my eyes with a more relaxed look, but still alert.
"Did you just check me out?" I ask, confused
"Not the time, and I was making sure nothing-" He trails off.
"Making sure what?"
"Not important. We need to figure out where that came from."
"Waittt," Adowa says, holding up a finger.
Everyone turns to her.
"Where is Emily?" She asks.
Shit, I forgot about her.
I run to Emily's room with everyone following behind me.
I pound on her door.
I need a better word choice for that.
"Emily!"
No response.
"Emily get your ass out here," Sofía demands.
Still no fucking response.
"Maybe she's sleeping?" Adowa suggests.
"Right, like she slept through a gunshot," Sung-ho says sarcastically.
"Emily I swear to fucking God if you don't get your lazy ass out of there I will drag you by your ear myself" Sofía bangs on the door.
I definitely need a better word choice.
Still. No. Response.
I take my gun from my pocket. I shoot the doorknob and the door clicks open.
Slowly, holding my gun out in front of me, I slowly make my way into the room, the rest of the group following close behind.
There, in the desk chair, is Emily sitting in it with her back facing towards us, I walk up to the chair, gun still in hand.
Adowa speaks up. "Emily you had us worried we thought for a moment you were-"
I spin the chair around and take a step back from what I see, a bullet hole, in her forehead, blood spilling out all over the chair.
"Dead." I cut her off.
"What do you mean dead?" she asks, her lip trembling.
"I mean, she's dead," I explain, moving out of the way so the rest of the group can see her.
Their reactions are all the same, except Aleksei, he doesn't look a bit surprised.
I narrow my eyes at him, and he looks to the ground.
"Everyone go back to your rooms and be on guard." Leo warns.
"We have a killer among us," I say as I exit the room.
"Well no shit, that's our job," Ben says.
Sung-ho snorts.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing."
I ignore him and go to my room.
~~~~~
I'm going through the dossiers of everyone here, finding nothing important that I don't already know or can help me find out who I can trust.
Someone knocks on my door.
Is it him? Wait what- no. I don't care if it's him or not.
"Hey I'm coming in." Someone demands.
I quickly put the dossiers underneath my mattress before they come in.
It's Sofía.
"What was that?" she asks, motioning under the mattress.
I look to the clock,
3:58 AM
"Nothing important, why are you here this late," I ask, trying to change the topic.
"I want to talk to you about something," she says cautiously.
Oh boy, this'll be good.
"About what?" I say making my way over to the balcony while she follows.
"About Leo." she says bluntly.
My stomach drops.
"What about him?" I ask obliviously, leaning on the railing, looking out at the moon.
"I can see the way you look at each other, I'm not fucking stupid. Can't speak for the others though," she says leaning on the rail next to me.
I give her a confused look.
"The way he looked at you when you and Dante hugged, the way he looked at you when we were messing with you on the plane, you know it's not smart to fall in love during this mission, especially now, there are so many people you can't trust," she says while fiddling with her necklace.
She's trying to get me to open up. It's not going to work.
"I saw the way you looked at Adowa when she and Ben were partnered for that dance game. And you guys were snuggled up in the corner last night." I retort.
Sofía doesn't say anything.
"Is this supposed to make me trust you, talking about this, our feelings?" I ask, desperately trying to change the topic.
She purses her lips. "I guess not, just know, if anything else happens, I will not hesitate to kill you, or anyone else. You're not the only one," she says, giving me one final last look, then leaves.
Not the only one, what?