"I didn't have it in myself to go with grace and so the battleships will sink beneath the waves"
-Taylor Swift
When lunch time finally rolls around Atlas and I head towards the cafeteria to meet the new students.
"So... What do you think about the new kids?" I nudge Atlas with my elbow.
"I don't know... They seem cool, I guess?" He shrugs.
"Are you asking me?" I smile up at him.
He looks down with a smile of his own. One that quickly turns into a frown.
"I don't know, I just- I've been having this feeling since I woke up. Like something's wrong, you know? I don't wanna blame it on the new kids, though. It's fine- I'm fine... It'll just go away on its own."
"Hey" I grab his hand and stop him in his tracks, "Don't do that. Don't ignore your feelings just because they might be wrong. You're allowed to have bad days."
He looks at me and nods his head with a small smile. "Thanks, Thena."
With that we continue to walk towards the cafeteria.
Once we arrive we are surprised to see that nobody is there. Atlas and I share a strange look because we were late and we figured that they would be waiting for us. Maybe they saw that we weren't coming and left? Or were they held up at one of their classes and are on their way now?
Atlas spots Matteo walking by and asks him if he has seen the new students.
"Who, Hulk and his girl?" Matt asks.
"Nope, haven't seen them since this morning. Sorry guys."
With that he entered the cafeteria and went straight to our brothers.
"So, what?" I ask Atlas, "Do we just wait, cause I'm kinda hungry too and I'm grumpy when I'm hungry so I do-"
My rambling gets interrupted by the voice of a girl calling my name. I turn around and look quizzically at the young brunette who blushes furiously at the attention.
"Um, aham, hi?"
I raise an eyebrow. "Hello?"
"Uh, are you Athena? Moretti? Athena Moretti?" She asks, stuttering.
"Yeah, do you need something?"
"No no, I don't, I just... You know he asked and, I don't really know him, but I have this thing and I can't say no and I know it's really bad for me but I can't really control it. I just hate confrontation, hate it... It's not like it's something crazy to do, his request I mean, I don't mind it, but he doesn't really know me and the girl was like, super intimidating and I-"
"Sweetheart, calm down. What's your name?" Atlas interrupts the girl.
"Um, Right, sorry. I get carried away sometimes without really realizing and... Right, my name is Amy. It's actually Amelia but everybody just calls me Amy, or Ames or Melly-poo... That's just my mom actually so..."
"Okay, Amy. Did you need something from me?" I ask.
"Yeah, yes!" She smiles. "This weird guy came up to me with this really tall girl and they wanted to know if I know you. I told them I know of you, I mean everyone knows of you, you're Athena Moretti... Anyway he told me to find you and that you'd be waiting here, which is weird cause how would he know, right? So he told me to tell you that you have until the end of last period to return him the boy? I don't even know what that means. So creepy right?"
I ignore the girl's questions and look up at Atlas with a frown.
"Ivan?" he murmurs.
"I don't know..." I whisper back, "Who else?"
I turn my attention back to Amy.
"Did he say anything else?" I question.
"Um, no. I don't remember..."
"Try harder please, anything at all?" Atlas intervenes.
"Well, I heard something but I don't think he was talking to me."
"What was it, Amy? Please don't make this hard." Atlas mutters impatiently.
"He said something along the lines of 'let's see how strong you are without your big brothers, doll'. But I don't think he was talking to me 'cause I don't have any big brothers." Amy told us with wide eyes.
"Okay, thanks Amy. You've been really helpful"
With that we quickly rush into the cafeteria and inform our brothers about the resent events. Quickly we all head into an empty classroom and lock the doors.
"Okay, so... Where do you think they are now?" I ask.
"I don't know, they must be somewhere close, though, right?" Apollo answers.
"I don't think they've left school. They're expecting Ivan by the end of the day." Ares mutters.
"And they can't risk us getting away." Matteo adds.
"What about Alex?" Gray asks, "Have you told him?"
"Atlas tried to call him earlier but he must be busy, he didn't pick up." I respond.
"Have you tried Aaron?" Atlas wonders.
"No, but I'm gonna call him now."
"Put him on speaker." Ares requests.
The phone rings for a while and eventually goes to voicemail. We advise him to try again and so he does. The phone keeps ringing.
Just when I'm about to call Tony, Aaron picks up.
"Aaron?"
"Gray! Hey, can you hear me?" Aaron asks panicked.
"Yeah, yeah I can hear you! Where are you guys?"
"We were fucking attacked! For God's sake I'm gonna kill those assholes, I'm gonna skin them alive, do ya hear me? I've had fucking enough!" Aaron shout in-between shots.
"Is anyone hurt?" I ask, terrified.
"Not that I know of. Everyone seems good. Fucking pissed, though, I tell you. Come here you son of a bitch" Aaron shouts on the other line while shots are being fired repeatedly , "Yeah, you like that!? There's more where that came from, for your friends you idiotic pig!"
After that the lines goes dead.
A minute of silence passes over us.
"Okay, listen up everybody" Ares claps his hands, "Clearly our big bros are unavailable so we need to figure this shit out ourselves. So anyone's got any ideas, shoot 'em."
"I have a question..." I raise my hand, "Ivan is with our brothers and our brothers are currently under attack, so why the fuck are we expected to give Ivan to them?"
"Because Ivan is not with them..." Gray murmers.
"What?"
"Ivan is not with them, they must've taken him to a safe house... So since the Russians don't find him with our brothers they suspect that we have him." Gray continues.
"Smart assholes..." Ares mutters.
"What are we supposed to do then?" Matteo asks.
"We fight." I reply.
"Athena, I don't think it's just the two of them that we have to fight against." Atlas softly replies.
"And even if it is just the two of them, what are we supposed to do? It's a school. We can't risk students' lives." Matteo continues.
"We can't give them Ivan either." I remind them.
"We have no choise but to fight." Gray agrees. "We will not start it, they will and we'll have to defend ourselves."
"Do we let our brothers know?" Apollo asks.
"They have enough to worry about right now, Apollo. We can't just call and ask for backup." Ares replies.
"We can't just fight alone though either." I cut in, "We don't know what we're up against, Ares. We need to be prepared for the worst."
"Guys this is a school!" Apollo exclaims. "What about the students? The teachers? We don't kill innocent people, you know that."
"We won't." Gray confirms, "We will create a distraction, a fire or something, and get everyone out. If we're lucky enough the Russians will leave as well and we'll have time to create a plan with the others. Otherwise..." He pauses and looks at me.
"Athena, send Alex a text. We will need some of his men to be on lookout outside the school. I'll call some of mine just in case Alex is still fighting. Everyone's got their guns with them?"
"I've got some in the car." Matteo replies.
"Can you go get them?"
"I suppose... I haven't seen the Russians at all today but what if they have people outside?"
Then we won't be able to get our guns and we'll have to go defenseless in a fight. Great. I know that everyone thinks the same thing.
"Do we risk it?" Gray asks me.
Instead of replying I turn to Matt.
"Matt... Are the guns in a bag? Are they hidden?"
"They're under the back seats. They're hidden well enough, you don't have to worry about that." He waves me off.
"Yeah, but are they in a bag?" I insist.
He looks at me quizzically. "Yeah. In a black backpack."
"Why, what's on your mind?" Atlas questions.
I smile up at him. "Cause now we can send someone else to get them for us. Won't set off the Russians and won't give away our plan. "
"Send who?" Ares asks, "We don't have friends outside of the mafia."
"Well, you don't..." I reply, quickly looking through my phone for a certain contact.
Once I find it I hit dial.
"Hey, Emery! I have a weird request..."
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Guys, I know it's been a while. A pretty big while and I'm so sorry. But I had these really important exams and guess what! I got into med school! Yeah, I know, exciting. Anyway, I love you guys and sorry for the huge wait.
-A