After going to Rafael's grave with Ben yesterday, I felt slightly more at peace with my family.
Even though my parents still forgot about me, and Nicolas was still in hospital, I felt like I had let something off my shoulders.
But walking through those school doors, everything felt different.
Bella hadn't come into school with us this morning, deeming that she needed to stay by Nic's side.
Nic was going into surgery today, only a few days after his injury.
Ben and I had had to cram into the car with the littlies, meaning I had to sit in the backseat with Liam as Matteo and Madeline were still in their car seats.
"Hey idiot. Heard you and your brother are starting to form a friendship again" Veronica just had to appear behind me.
"Veronica, its none of your business- "and with that, she slammed my back against some nearby lockers.
She was taller than me, but that was only because she was wearing heels.
Oh, how I wished Rafael, Nic, Leo or even Elliot was here to help.
"You are nothing but a backstabbing bitch. You are going to ruin your family. Oh wait, you don't even have a family" Veronica leaned on top of my body so she could whisper in my ear.
She was pushing me so hard into the lockers, that I could feel the bruises forming on my back.
"Leave me alone, Veronica" I gritted out, tears threatening to fall down my cheeks.
"Not until you leave my boyfriend alone" Veronica gritted back.
"He's my brother and I'm his little sister for god's sake" I angrily pushed her off of me.
"He hasn't thought about that since you killed his older brother" Veronica continued, giving me space.
Once she was off of me, I ran into the nearby girl's bathroom.
Hailey had texted me earlier this morning saying that she wasn't feeling well, but she may turn up later on in the day depending on how she felt.
I was used to that.
Leo had football practice on Monday mornings, so I was just left alone before the first period.
Not that I was actually thinking of going to any of them.
I was going to sit in the bathrooms for as long as I could.
---
I walked into my first period, knowing that Sav would already be seated beside one of her friends.
Goofing with my friends, I sat on the opposite side of where Savanah would normally sit.
It didn't cross my mind to look at her spare seat, until one of my friends nudged me.
"Ben, where is your little sister? She's normally in this class, right?" Ethan asked, looking at the spare seat that my sister normally occupied.
Ethan was Elliot's older brother.
Elliot and Savanah had met when they were younger as they both had been born without enough blood.
I had become close with Ethan as Elliot used to always come over to ours with Leo and Hailey.
They were the inseparable, the four of them.
But now Elliot had to stay in hospital.
"Yeah, she might just be running late or something" I didn't pay much attention, knowing my sister wouldn't miss a class.
---
10 minuets had turned into 20 minutes, then it was 30 minutes.
The first period was almost over, and my little sister hadn't appeared.
Worry was starting to build up at the bottom of my stomach.
Why had she not turned up?
She wasn't one to miss any class, as it would reflect back onto her academic report.
I never knew why she cared so much about her academics, but that was her thing.
Her and Rafael were always the smartest in the family, having many different badges hanging off of their ties.
"Hey Eth, I think I'm going to see if I can find Sav" I whispered, packing my books up and sliding them into my school bag.
"Yeah, sure. I'll get notes for you from the start of next class" Ethan whispered back.
He always had my back.
"Mr. Garcia, why are your books packed away? Class hasn't finished" Mrs. Jones asked, stopping the lesson.
"I don't feel well, Mrs." I lied right through my teeth.
"Come here and I'll write you a slip then" she then walked back to her desk, buying my lie.
I wasn't going to the health centre.
I was going to find my sister.
Once Mrs. Jones had filled out my slip, I was out of that room, making it look like I was going to the health centre, but quickly ducking around the corner.
I grabbed my phone from my blazer pocket, then searched through my contacts, looking for my little sister's number.
I pressed on her number, hoping that I could hear her voice from the other side, reassuring me that she was ok, but all I received was the ringing tone.
I tried texting, but I didn't get a response.
Where would she be?
She wouldn't go to the cafeteria during class, knowing that she would get caught.
She only goes to the library to study during lunch times if her friends aren't there or she is waiting for one of us to finish practice.
She only eats outside when its warmer, so she wouldn't be there.
I think my only option is to check the girl's bathroom.
She wouldn't stall in the hallways for 30 minutes, that's for sure.
I checked both ways of the hallway I had just come down, making sure that no one was coming, and making my way to the nearest bathrooms.
I hadn't seen her since she had walked through the front doors of the school, so I assumed she would possibly be around there.
I walked towards the nearest girl's bathroom.
I hoped there wasn't any other girls in there.
I slowly creaked the door open, hearing slight sniffles coming from one of the cubicles.
I just hope that isn't my sister that I can hear.
I slowly walked in, checking that no one else was in the bathroom, before closing the door behind myself.
"Sav?" I softly called out, not even recognizing my own voice.
The sniffles halted, confirming my thoughts.
My sister was in here, crying.
"Sav, it's just me, you can come out" I walked slowly towards the closed door, standing in front of it, waiting for the lock to unlock.
It didn't unlock.
"Sav? Come on, come out for me" I lightly knocked on the door as the sniffles continued.
"Sav?" I questioned, knocking a little harder.
"What are you doing in here?" a voice entered into the girl's bathroom, but I ignored it, focusing on my little sister, hiding herself in
"Sav, please just come out" I started to slightly pound on the door, hoping that the lock would change.
I needed to know that she was ok.
I needed her in my arms.
I couldn't risk losing her, just like I lost Rafael.
I couldn't lose another one to them.
Finally, the door unlocked, revealing my little sister, tear streaks down her cheeks, as I saw her trying to hold in the tears that threatened to fall.
She looked like she hadn't eaten or slept for days.
"Sav" I opened my arms slightly, letting her fall into them.
I held her tightly, as I felt the sobs start to wrack through her body.
"Come on, we need to get out of here" I whispered in her ear, gently manoeuvring her so I could grab her bag, throwing it over the top of my other bag.
I knew that the second period had well and truly started.
I quickly made my way out of the bathroom, one arm wrapped around my little sisters' shoulders – as she hiccupped – making my way towards the outside eating area.
Somewhere where my little sister would feel at some type of peace.
I still didn't know why she had locked herself in the girl's bathroom for the entirety of the first period, but that could wait.
I needed to calm her down and give her comfort.
Once we had made it outside of the school building, I guided her towards one of the tables, letting her sit down, while I place our bags on the table.
I found great difficulty with doing so, as Savanah didn't want to let me go.
Once I had set everything down, I then sat down myself, my little sister clinging her body to mine.
Just like old times.
"What's wrong Sav?" I questioned.
My voice was so soft, that I couldn't even hear it myself.
I didn't recognize it.
"Veronica" that one name made me want to go and throw that bitch into the garbage.
Nic didn't see how she treated us because she always said that we were treating her badly.
That was another reason as to why Nic kept away from Savanah.
"What did she say to you?" my voice wavered towards the end of my sentence, bracing myself to hear what she had done to my little sister to make her breakdown.
Veronica had been bullying all of us since we had met her.
She specifically bullied the younger ones, targeting Savanah because she didn't have anyone to go to majority of the time.
She struggled being a little sister, but she couldn't be the older sister to the younger ones because she didn't know how to protect them because she wasn't protected by us.
This was all my fault.
"She mentioned that Nic and I were forging a relationship again, called me an idiot and a backstabbing bitch. She said I was ruining our family and she mentioned that Nic hadn't considered me his little sister since Raf died that day. But he was the one that held me first. He was the first one to comfort me after Raf died" she explained, hunching forward as she looked like the life had been drained from her face.
I knew that the mention of Raf and Nic had broken her.
Just Veronica appearing would have undone everything.
"Don't worry, you're not the only one" I muttered, being there when Veronica had said the exact same words to me.
"Did she do it to you?" Sav questioned, looking up to me, some sort of hope flickering through her eyes.
"Yeah. Just before Nic's football game when I had gone to the bathroom" I explained, knowing that was all she needed to confirm her thoughts.
"I'm sorry" she whispered.
"There is no need to be sorry for something that you couldn't stop. Veronica needs to be stopped, and we can only stop her through Nic and Bella" I pulled her into my chest, as I felt the sobs start all over again.
Sav was a very compassionate person.
She never wanted to hurt anyone else's feelings, but because she had built her walls up so high since Raf had died, she had to push people away.
I had been through the exact same thing as her.
And that was what I had wanted to stop.
I had wanted to stop her from being hurt.
I wanted to protect her from what has already happened.
I was a shit older brother.
"I need to be sorry. I killed Raf that day. It should have been me that day. I'm not strong enough" she sobbed.
I had no words.
None of this was her fault.
It was none of our faults that we had to deal with this shit on the daily.
"It's not your fault Sav. It's no one's fault" I pulled her even tighter into my chest.
"Could Benjamin and Savanah Garcia please make their way to the principal's office. I repeat, Benjamin and Savanah, please come to the principal's office" the office lady's voice resounded through the school and out into the eating area we were sitting at.
"Come on Sav, we better get going" I tried to stand up and start gathering our stuff, but a hand tugged my blazer.
"Ben-, I don't want to go. I'll get in trouble" Sav looked at me, her eyes pleading me to listen to her.
If we didn't go, we would get into even more trouble.
But I couldn't leave Savanah alone if she wanted to stay here.
"Sav, come on, we better go. We may not even be in trouble" I said, as I grabbed a tissue from my pocket, and gently dabbed it on her tear-streaked cheeks.
Once I had wiped away her tears, she gave me a soft smile, grabbing her bag as I grabbed my own.
We then walked back through the door we had only walked out of moments earlier, and down the familiar hallways.
But once we were about to enter the principal's office, Savanah stopped walking, making me halt my movements as well.
"I can't Ben, I just can't" Sav started to back away, as I saw fear cross through her eyes.
I grabbed her hand just as she went to turn around, forcing her to look at me.
"You aren't going in there alone. If were in trouble, we'll be in trouble together. I highly doubt that you will be in trouble though" I tried to persuade her, as I slowly walked her towards the office, hand in hand.
I opened the door, giving the front desk lady a small smile, as she silently nodded, allowing us to head in.
I braced myself before walking into the office.
When I opened the door, the sight before me had my breath hitching in my throat, as I felt Savanah tug on my hand.
We weren't in trouble, actually.
We were here to meet with someone we hadn't seen in years.
He was here.
He was here, at our school.
Why was he here?
---
Posted: 29.01.22
Updated: 11.04.22
Word Count: 2397
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