"What are you doing here?" Clara asked making Keenan give her an awkward smile.
"Well erm I go to school here."
"Oh right,"
"What are you doing here?"
"Well I uhm I also go to school here, todays my first day." She replied as she rolled back on her heels. Keenan nodded before looking behind her where Carolina stood.
"You're Carolina right? I think we have maths together." He said making the girl light up slightly as she nodded.
She gave him a big smile as she stepped forward slightly. "Yeah we do." She said as Keenan returned her smile.
"Here come meet my friends." He said as he grabbed Clara's hand dragging her towards a group of people with Carolina close behind. "Guys this is the girl I told you about." He said making Clara perk up.
He spoke about her? But their meeting was so vague surely he didn't have much to say.
"The one with the scary brothers?" A girl asked making Keenan nod. At that the girl lit up as she jumped up from her seat and made her way towards Carolina and Clara. "Finally other girls." She all but squealed. "I've been stuck with these idiots for far too long." At that a paper ball came flying at her head making her turn to glare at a dark skin boy who just gave her a sheepish smile. She rolled her eyes before turning back to the girls who watched her in amusement. "Oh right! My names Amelia." She said with a soft smile.
"I'm Carolina," Carolina said pointing at herself before everyone turned to look at Clara expectantly.
"Oh erm I'm Clara." Amelia smiled at her before stepping aside and letting her see the other two boys who sat in the beanbags behind them.
"That's Bruno and Lucio." She said pointing at the boys who threw their hands up in greeting. "Come sit." She said pointing at the other beanbags.
Clara glanced at Carolina hesitantly before both girls made their ways to the beanbags.
"You said it's your first day right?" Bruno said making conversation.
"Oh erm yes." Clara replied awkwardly. She wasn't very good at talking to people her age.
"How are you liking it so far?" Lucio continued as they angled their bodies towards her.
"Oh erm it's nice. It's a very nice school." She replied politely making the boys scoff.
"This school is far from nice."
"Yeah especially Mrs Mariano, she's so mean to me and I honest to god still don't know why." He said with a dramatic sigh.
"Didn't you put a frog in her desk last semester?" Amelia said raising an eyebrow making Lucio give her a sheepish smile.
"Ok maybe I do know why." He said making the group laugh.
"Anyways Clara where did you live before?" Keenan asked making her turn to him.
"Oh erm I lived in Arizona."
"America?" Lucio said cocking his head to the side. "I figured. You talk funny." He said making Clara scrunch her face up.
"I don't talk funny." She replied making Lucio laugh.
"i dONt tAlK FUnNy," He mocked putting on a horrid American accent. Clara stared at him in disgust before she put her hand up.
"That was the worst accent I've ever heard."
"Leave her alone Lucio." Bruno said throwing a paper ball at the boy.
"Where are you getting these from?" He said throwing the ball back at Bruno who only shrugged at him.
"That's for me to know and you to well... not know." He said making the group shake their head at him.
"What class do you have next?" Keenan asked making Clara search her bag for her schedule.
She handed it to the boy who scanned through it . "Oh we have almost all the same classes." He said flashing Clara a bright smile. "What about you Carolina?" He asked her making the girl perk up.
"Oh I don't have my schedule with me." She said making Keenan shake his head.
"That's ok. I'm pretty sure we have maths and history together. You sit at the back right?"
Carolina stared at him in shock. No one ever noticed her. " Yeah." She replied making him smile at her.
"Cool."
"So," Amelia said redirecting the conversation as everyone turned to hear what she had to say.
The time passed quickly as Clara felt herself becoming more and more comfortable with the group.
Carolina though was on cloud nine. Her whole life she has been the backup friend. The friend that was easily cast away whenever anyone else came along and to be honest it hurt. Though she never wanted to admit to herself it hurt she knew it did. But now she was surrounded by a group of people who included her into their conversations. They asked her questions and asked about her opinion on certain things and that made her feel good. That made her feel really good.
The bell rang eliciting a groan out of the group.
"Oh Clara we have science together." Keenan said flashing the girl a wide smile. Clara returned his smile before picking her bag up as everyone began to stand. The group said their goodbyes before they all took off towards their classes.
"So how long have you been attending this school?" Clara said attempting to make conversation.
"Well I'm quite new myself. I joined about a month ago." He said turning to her but she had her eyes trained on the ground in front of her.
"So why did you move here from arizona?" Keenan asked making Clara turn to look at him.
"Oh erm, my step dad died so I came to live with my brothers." She said making Keenan tense up.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry." He said mortified that he had asked her the question.
Clara gave him a small smile before shaking her head at him. "No no it's fine." She said making Keenan nod but he certainly didn't feel any better.
"What about you?" Clara said. "Why did you move here?" Keenan visibly tensed up as his face hardened slightly.
"Oh erm my dad got a new job." He said looking away avoiding eye contact.
It was obvious he was lying but Clara ignored that. She knew how it felt to have to hide things from people. Though she couldn't help her mind wandering back to his younger sister.
"No daddy bad!"
Maybe, just maybe, he was hiding the same secret as her.
__________
Emilio lent back onto the hood of the car as he watched his sister leave the school building with a girl he hadn't met yet. He let a small smile out as he watched her laugh at something she had said. He was glad his sister was making friends.
He had been scared she would be too shy or nervous but she seemed to be doing just fine. Though he couldn't help but have a bad feeling about the kids she had been sitting with at lunch. They seemed... like brats
And if he knew anything about his sister he knew she wouldn't fit in with people like that.
"What are you waiting for?" A voice said from behind him making him turn to face his twin.
"Oh I don't know maybe just your younger sister?" Emilio said with sarcasm laced into his tone making Ricardo roll his eyes at him.
"Whatever." He said turning towards the entrance where he saw Clara bidding good bye to a... boy? A boy!
A glare hardened into his face as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. She hasn't even been here two weeks and she was already breaking rules. He knew she was going to be trouble.
"Wait till Lorenzo hears about this." He muttered under his breath as he got into the drivers seat as Clara began to approach them.
Emilio met her with a hug before the two entered the car.
"How was you day Tesoro?" He asked her making clara turn towards him with a smile.
"It was good. I made some friends." She said as her smile widened but Emilio dropped slightly.
"Is it the people you were sitting with at break?" He asked internally begging her to say no.
Clara's smile dropped an inch before she picked it back up. "No I don't think they'd be very good friends." She said making Ricardo scoff.
Emilio turned to send him a sharp glare before turning back to clara. "So who else did you meet."
"Well you remember the boy from the mall?" She started making Emilio raise an eyebrow.
"a boy?"
"Well erm yes but-"
"Didn't Lorenzo say no boys?" Ricardo interrupted with a sharp tone.
"Well yes but he-"
"I wonder If he'll react when he finds out you've been breaking his rules."
Clara's eyebrows scrunched up as her heart rate began to quicken. "No I-"
"So fucking disobedient." He said with a click of his tongue.
"Shut up Ricardo." Emilio said sending him another glare but the damage had already been done.
Clara's mind was running at 100 miles a minute as her breath began to pick up slightly. What would Lorenzo do to her? Would he take away her clothes? Starve her for a week? Tie her to the bed? Or would he- Clara immediately shook the thought away. Surely he wouldn't go that far.
She bit the inside of her cheek as her hands began to shake. Quickly wedging them under her thighs she took a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart.
"I mean honestly who do you think you are?" Ricardo seethed making Emilio hit his arm only fuelling his anger. "You barge into our home, spend our money and now break our rules." He began to speed the car up as his anger began to rush through him faster and faster.
"I'm sorry ok? stop." Clara said as she clutched onto her seatbelt.
"Ricardo stop!" Emilio said but the angry boy ignored both parties as he pressed down on the acceleration making Clara clench her eyes shut as memories began to flood through her brain.
"You think you're better than us?!" He yelled out speeding up even more making Clara hold back a sob.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry stop!" She cried as she felt her body jolt from the sudden acceleration.
"Ricardo stop the fucking car!" Emilio said trying to snap his brother out of his rage.
Clara gripped onto the side of her seat as panic began to rise up spreading through her like a wildfire. Invisible hands wrapped themselves around her throat as her mind became hazy. Her thoughts weren't her own as flashbacks of her mothers twisted body flashes through her brain. The screams of the people around her as they realised there was child in the car deafened her as she scratched at her throat trying to let air into her burning lungs. The smell of gasoline invaded her senses making her want to scream.
Emilio turned back feeling his heart break at the fear and pain etched into his sisters face. "Ricardo I swear to god." He yelled out grabbing the wheel turning them off the road forcing Ricardo to slam his foot down onto the brakes.
They came to stop with a sharp jolt making Clara let out a cry of pain as the seatbelt dug into her ribs. Emilio sat still for a moment before he sprung into action. He practically jumped out of the car before making his way to Clara's side to make sure his sister was ok.
"Clara?" He called out as he opened her door. He knelt down to be face to face with her as the girl kept her eyes clenched shut. "Hey, hey Clara?" He tried again but she refused to open her eyes as she clenched onto her burning ribs.
"You're ok. Hey hey look at me you're ok." Emilio tried but the girl was far too scared to listen. Emilio panicked. He didn't know how to deal with a situation like this.
Anger flooded his brain clouding his judgment as he stood up to his full height. He immediately flung Ricardo's door open before grabbing him by the collar.
Ricardo, who didn't even have his seatbelt on, stared up at his twin in shock before Emilio pulled him out of the car. Without missing a beat he drove his fist right into his brothers face making Ricardo take a step back before looking up at Emilio with so much rage in his eyes. "What the fuck is wrong with you!" He yelled out making Ricardo clench his teeth.
He immediately shoved Emilio back pulling back his fist ready to hit him. An indescribable emotion flashed through his face but it was gone as quick as it game.
He retracted his hand with a scoff before storming off in the opposite direction.
Emilio only glared in his direction before turning back to his sister who now had tears rushing down her cheek as her breathes came out short sharp and strangled. Pulling his phone out of his pocket her dialled Romeo's number as he kneels back down to Clara's side.
"Clara come on I need you to breathe." He tried but the girl didn't hear him. She was somewhere else. She had been brought back to a place she never wanted to revisit.
"None of this would have happened if you weren't so disobedient."
"Do you think you're better than me?"
"Who the fuck do you think you are?!"
Clara placed her hands over her ears as she let out a strangled sob trying to block out the voices that surrounded her like a tornado.
"No no no," she muttered letting out another sob as Emilio began to panic.
"Pick up pick up pick up." He muttered as the phone kept ringing. "Fuck!" He yelled out when it went to voicemail before looking back at Clara. Putting his hand on her shoulder he tried to shake her out of it but to his horror she flinched back violently making his retract his hand so quickly he almost fell.
Looking back down at his phone he dialled a different number hoping to god he would pick up.
With each ring Emilio began to panic more before relief flooded his veins as he finally let out a small breath.
"Emilio?"
Yo Ricardo kinda sucks.
So I saw the car scene where the Xander speeds up in another book but I can't remember which one it was cause I've read so many of these books but I just thought it was so creative and interesting that I wanted to cooperate it into my book I changed it up a lot so it's not a direct copy but more I was inspired before I see anyone saying I copied another author.
I've been gone for a while but I have an excuse
Well I don't really I just haven't been in the mood to write
Don't be a silent reader xoxo