💐بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم💐
(In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)
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I've had my heart broken before
And I promised I would never let me hurt anymore
But I tore down my walls
And opened my doors
And made room for one
So, baby, I'm yours
Oh, baby, I'm yours.
- Alessia Cara♡
____________________________________
______________
Shawn's P.O.V.
Steadying my aim and closing one eye to look a little more closely, I pull the trigger, sending a bullet through the air and hitting the target right in the middle, for the fifth time in a row today.
"Damn it! How do you keep getting it every time? I swear that I've shot over ten times but haven't hit the middle even once!" Jack grumbles and I spare him a quick glance before looking back at the target ahead of me and holding up my gun towards it again.
"What can I say? I'm a natural."
Another bullet splits the air and hits the middle of the target yet again. And that's number six.
"Quit being an ass, Mendes." Jack retorts and I snort. "If anything, you're the only ass here, Jack."
"Yeah, sure, stay in your head, bro." Jack chuckles sarcastically as he aims at his target again and I roll my eyes at him. He's always so annoying and pessimistic during practice, and as much as it annoys the freaking crap out of me, he's still my best friend and I wouldn't change him, really.
Bullet number seven hits the middle of the target and I lower my gun as a slightly satisfied grin tugs at my lips, cocking the hammer, ready to shoot again.
"Seriously, was your dad in the military?" Jack asks and I snap my head up at him and give him a hard look. He looks at me questioningly before getting the hint and looking away from my eyes down towards the gun in his hand. "Right, sorry."
"You should be."
I point the gun up again at the target and steady my aim, recalling the very first time I held a gun in my hands. I was only sixteen years old and had just met Jack a few days before getting introduced to Lorence. I was standing right in this place, the weapon in my trembling hands and target right ahead of me.
Lorence created this really spacious training facility at the back of his mansion for all of us to practice shooting, since they were all gonna have to hold guns if they were to work with him. And he wasn't the kind of mafia boss who'd give away a gun to someone who didn't know how to use it, since he knew that it would increase the chances of us getting involved with the police. Not that we haven't once or twice before, but those times were only proven to be false, or maybe not-so-false accusations of gun and heroin possessions.
Lorence had been a mastermind for all the years I'd known him, he'd carefully planned out everything he wanted to do from the very beginning and noticeably succeeded at it. He was able to avoid the police in so many situations and as far as I know, has never been caught doing anything illegal and courted for it. I mean, I'd give him a slow clap for being such an evil genius, but then again, I know all the horrible things he did and still does.
And as great as I am with aiming and shooting, I've never actually shot someone dead before. I mean, I would've if I had to, but to this very day, I've never been in a situation where I needed to shoot someone down, and hopefully, that day will never come.
I've seen Jack and the other guys and even Lorence shoot people dead before, but I never really did that. I mean, yeah, I've shot people who were after us in the shoulder or in the leg before to hold them back with no intention of killing them until we had enough time to escape, and I hated the feeling of doing that, but I never really used a gun to kill someone before, at least, not deliberately.
I don't know how Jack does it. I don't even know what goes through his mind when he does it. Is he chill with shooting people down? Does he regret it afterwards? I don't know, and I never will.
I pull the trigger, sending the eighth bullet towards the target and lowering my gun once again. I examine the target for a few seconds, seeing the medium-sized hole right in the middle whereas the rest of it isn't even the slightest bit scratched.
This should feel like an accomplishment to me, any guy my place would've been thrilled getting eight perfect shots in a row, but as much as I should feel proud of myself, I'm not. I don't know if it's because I feel like learning to hold a gun and shoot people is completely nonesense and inhumane or it's just the fact that I've done it so many times that it just doesn't matter to me anymore.
Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn my head to see who it belongs to. His dark eyes stare into mine and his mouth pulls into a smirk as looks down at me, being a few inches taller.
"Nice shot, kid." Lorence's words come out rough and low. I spare him a small, almost invisible smile as I look away from him. "Thanks." I mutter.
"Maybe Gilinsky here could learn a thing or two from you, Mendes. Right, Jack?" He yells over to him and Jack simply rolls his eyes and steadies his aim before pulling the trigger once more, scoring really close to the middle but not directly at it. "Shit!" He curses as he cocks the hammer, readying himself to shoot again.
Lorence turns his attention back to me a second later. "Anyways, I need to to run a few errands for me." He says and I nod quickly. "Of course. Whatever you want."
"Excellent," He smirks as he throws his arm over my shoulder and we walk across the facility towards the mansion, a very uncomfortable feeling settling down in my stomach at this.
"So," Lorence starts. "you've been practicing a lot, I see." He says and I nod. "And as far as I've observed, you're an excellent aim." He says and I look at him momentarily before looking back down at the dirt beneath my feet.
"Think you're ready to shoot someone in head?"
I snap my head up towards him as soon as we reach the back door, my eyes widening at his words. "W-what?" I manage to get out.
"You heard me, kid. I need you to go after someone." He tells me. "I felt like you were the perfect person for this. You know, since you're one of my best, and you're my right hand, after all."
He cocks his head to the side and peers down at me, suspicion evident in his features. "Unless of course, you're scared?"
My lips part slightly and I quickly shake my head. "N-no, sir. I... I'm not."
The smirk returns to his lips as we enter the building. "I knew you wouldn't let me down, Mendes."
We walk into a long corridor as I nod slightly, keeping my eyes at the carpeted floor beneath me. "Would never, sir."
"That's my boy." He patts my shoulder. I spot Hailee walking down the corridor a far distance away from us, her eyebrows drawing together in confusing at the sight before her. I shake my head slightly when Lorence isn't looking to let her know everything is alright, well, almost.
Lorence lowers his lips to my ear. "I'll let you in on the rest of the details later on, first thing in my office tomorrow afternoon. For now, you're free to go." He says and I nod. "Oh, and tell Pretty Princess over there about this, she'll be coming with." He tells me and my eyes almost widen, but I swallow the lump in my throat and nod.
"Will do, sir."
"Good," He says and unwraps his arm from around me. "see you at my office tomorrow." He says before speeding down the hallway. He passed by Hailee and she gives him a slight smile and a nod and watches him dissappearing down the hall before quickly dropping it and speeding towards me.
"What the hell was that all about?" She asks me, shock evident in her voice. I sigh and tuck my hands deep inside my pockets.
"He's sending us after someone."
.......................................
The girl sat in the almost empty café, stirring her coffee clockwise and counterclockwise with a small teaspoon, awaiting her partner's signal to move. She wasn't a coffee drinker, but she had to order something if she wanted to stay at the café, and coffee seemed like the cheapest thing on the menu.
The cold morning air burst through the doors, disturbing the warmth of the café as soon as someone came in, earning multiple glares from people for letting in the cold. The girl simply sighed and looked back out at the window, watching small raindrops trickling down the glass and landing at the bottom of the window.
She normally didn't frequent cafés, but it was the closest she could get to the target before recieving the signal to move, since all the other nearby places were closed, not her surprise, though, it was almost 6:30 a.m.
"She just left her house. Move."
She heard her partner's voice coming through her earpiece and she pressed the button as she saw her target walking down the sidewalk across from where she was.
"I see her. I'm on my way."
She quickly stood up from her seat, leaving two dollars on the table before exiting the café, keeping her eyes on her target as she walked down the pavement. She waited until the target was a little further down before crossing the street and following her down the pavement.
Pale, yellow light coming from the overhead streetlight illuminated the dark morning, just barely enough light to be able to see around properly aside from the faint sunlight coming from the east.
The girl was careful to not step on any puddles of mud or rainwater. Partly because she was wearing her favourite boots and the last thing she wanted right now was to get them all soaked up in sticky mud and wetness, and partly because she knew it would be the only noise in the cold, dark, empty street and would cause the target to turn around, thus, see her, which would've been way worse at that point.
The target made a left turn, and the girl sped up her steps a little bit so she wouldn't lose track of her.
Everything has been carefully planned out for all phases of the plan they needed to carry out. The girl's partner was supposed to carry out the practical phase of the plan, but then they realized that she would be able to get more coverage going out there while her partner would watch over everything that happened from afar.
And although she hated waking up so early every morning to watch the target's every move, she knew what was waiting for her after this was all over, and she knew it was all going to be worth it in the end.
As the target rounded the corner towards another empty street, the girl slowed up her steps just a little in order to keep a safe distance between herself and the target, making it less likely for the target to hear any sounds behind her and turn around.
Soon, the school the target supposedly attended came into view and the girl smirked, knowing she was one step closer to achieving what she wanted.
They neared the school gate and the target went through and instantly spotted her friend then ran over to her. The girl stopped a safe distance outside the gate and pressed the button on her earpiece.
"I'm going in."
..............................
Camila's P.O.V.
"So, how are things going with Muffin Boy?" Sofia asks me as she and I both grab trays and move to stand in the cafeteria line. "No awkward moments?"
I turn to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'awkward moments'?"
She shrugs as she takes a step forward in the line and I initially step forward as well. "I don't know," She looks me in the eyes. "There are just these moments when you two would lock gazes."
I narrow my eye at her and shake my head as we step forward once more, reaching the food belt.
"Still don't get your point."
"What I meant was..." She grabs a bowl of salad then places it on her tray and I do the same before we both move forward. "You two would both just stare at each other all googly eyes for what seems like forever and then..." She trails off as she picks up a cheeseburger and I pick up a ham sandwich.
"You..." She trails off again, smirking. It takes me a minute to get the hint and my eyes widen and I quickly smack her arm, nearly knocking her salad off her tray.
"Sof! It's not funny!"
Regardless of what I say, she laughs and moves further down the line towards the drinks section.
"It's not even supposed to be funny, Mila. I'm serious." Sofia takes a water bottle and a can of soda while I take a bottle of lemonade and one of water before we leave the line.
"You do have moments like these when you two are so close to kissing, right?" She asks me and I roll my eyes at her. "Even if we did, would it be any of your business, Nosey Rosie?" I mock.
"Okay, so I admit to being nosey sometimes-" she starts but I quickly cut her off. "Sometimes? Seriously, Sof? For the past few weeks that I've known you, you've always been nosey!"
"Have not!" Sofia fakes a hurt expression.
"Have so! And you know you can't deny it, Sofi!"
"Would you two just stop bickering over pointless things and join us over there? Brina and I have been waiting for you guys forever." Hailee's voice sounds from behind us and I feel her arm on my shoulder.
I turn my head towards her and see that she's resting both her arms on either one of Sofia and I's shoulders and staring at the both of us with what seems like annoyance with a slight bit of humor.
"Are you two just gonna stare at my enchanting beauty all day like that or are you coming already?" A grin tugs at Hailee's lips and Sofia glares at her and nudges her with her elbow, making her laugh and step away, leading us towards the table where Sabrina sits alone, her nose stuck in a book.
Sofia and I set out trays down on the table and sit down next to each other as Hailee sits down next to Sabrina and across from us.
"Hey, Bri." I smile at her and she looks up at me and smiles. "Hey, Mila." Doesn't take her more than two seconds to look back down at her book.
"What are you reading?"
"It's a novel called Red Queen." She tells me, not taking her eyes off her book. "Really?" My smile widens slightly as I watch her dark eyebrows furrow as she concentrates on the book before her. "I've read this book before, it's amazing."
"Then no spoilers, please." Sabrina holds up her index finger, grinning as she keeps her eyes on the book. I giggle slightly. "Oh, of course not."
Just then Ariana approaches us with a girl I've never seen before. I smile at the both of them as they stop at the table, lingering my eyes on the girl for few seconds to take in her appearance.
She's wearing a white and navy blue striped, long-sleeved crop top, a pair of dark, high-waisted jeans, black, leather ankle boots and a black, leather jacket simply thrown over her shoulder. Her golden blonde locks are a work of art over shoulders and her features seem somewhat Asian, and I can't deny the least that I envy her beauty.
I smile at her and she returns it just as Ariana speaks up. "Ladies, this is my friend, Dinah-Jane, and she'll be sitting with us today and possibly for the rest of the year." Ariana smiles at Dinah-Jane and she giggles before they both turn to look back down at us.
"So please, be nice to her and behave. I mean it, Sofi." She narrows her eyes at her and Sofia gasps, her hand racing up to her heart, causing several laughs to sound around the table.
"Dinah," Ariana turns back to her. "these are my goofy friends, Camila, Hailee, Sabrina and Sofia." She points each of us out to her before taking her gaze off of us for a minute. "And... that's Lauren." She says and I immediately whip my head towards the direction Ariana's looking at and in fact see Lauren approaching our table.
She smiles at me then quickly averts her gaze towards Dinah. "Hey." She says quietly. "Hi," Dinah smiles at her. "I'm Dinah."
"Pleasure, my name is Lauren." Lauren smiles and extends her hand for Dinah to shake. She gladly takes it and shakes it. Lauren cocks her head to the side and narrows her eyes at Dinah for a moment. "Hey..." Lauren studies her. "I know you."
Dinah visibly tenses and giggles nervously. "Y-you do?" Lauren nods. "You're the new member of the cheersquad, right?"
"Oh, y-yeah." Dinah smiles and nods, her features relaxing. "I am."
Lauren smiles at her. "It's really nice to meet you."
"You too. Love your boots, by the way." Dinah points downwards, causing Lauren to look down at her boots. "Oh, thanks." She smiles up at her. "Your top is on fleek too, though." Lauren compliments her and Dinah giggles and thanks her.
After a couple more moments of complimenting each other, Lauren sits down next to Sofia while Dinah sits down next to me and we all begin making small talk.
"So, are you new here?" I ask Dinah and she nods. "Sort of, my friends and I moved here together just three weeks ago and I only started attending here two weeks ago." She smiles.
"Oh, so you live with your friends then." I say and she nods. "Yeah, I demanded to move out of my parents' house as soon as I turned eighteen. It's not that I didn't want to live with them anymore, but since I'll be going away to college soon, I thought that I would start getting used to living on my own. And coincidently, my two best friends were also planning to move out." She explains.
"Do your friends attend here too?" I ask her and she nods. "Yeah, one of them does and her name is Normani, but she didn't show up today because I might've accidentally-on purpose turned off her alarm clock last night." She snickers and I laugh.
"Seriously?"
"I mean, it was the best prank I could think of at that moment!"
"Savage!" I shake my head, smiling.
"I know." She admits proudly as she flips her hair. "Anywho, the other one is a freashman in college and her name is Ally." She smiles and I nod.
"Cool, what is she taking?"
"European History." She says and I nod.
"So," I start. "where did you come from?" I ask Dinah. "I came here from Malibu, California." She smiles. "Wow, that's so cool. I've always wanted to visit Malibu." I smile at her. "Why did you choose to move to Miami?" I ask.
"Well, for starters, Ally got accepted into college here, and I've always wanted to live in Miami, something about this city is really special, I've visited family here with my parents before once or twice and I was absolutely fascinated by this city. And so I set a goal in my bucket list to live in Miami when I turn eighteen." She smiles at me and I nod.
"To be very honest with you, this school wasn't really my first choice, but it was the closest thing to our apartment building and I didn't want to drive to and from school every day for too long. I mean, I would practically spend my day driving around." She laughs and I simply let out a soft chuckle.
"And somehow, I managed to join the cheersquad on my third day here," She tells me.
"I mean, it should feel like an accomplishment to me, but I'm not really interested in cheering on hot guys who don't think of girls as anything more than play toys." She shrugs and we both share giggles.
"Well, why did you join if you weren't interested?" I ask her. "Ari here pressured me," She gestures over to Ariana who's laughing over something with Hailee. I should've figured. Ariana's on the cheersquad and absolutely loves it, she even almost got me to join in. Thankfully, Sofia saved my ass.
"telling me it would be fun and would give me a little boost towards being somebody in this school, but I honestly couldn't care less." Dinah shakes her head. "Especially since the captain is some stuck up bitch named Isla. That only made it far worse." I amost forgot that Isla was the captain of the cheersquad. Now I really have no reason to blame Dinah for disliking it.
"Ugh, I know, right? You should live with her, though." I smile at her. "Wait, you..." She puts her hand over over mouth. "you live with that Isla bitch?"
I sigh heavily and nod. "Sadly, yeah."
"Roommates?"
I shake my head. "It's a long story."
"I got time."
"No, seriously, it's a really long and boring story, I'll tell you the whole thing later, though." Or maybe not. I smile at her and she nods.
I hate opening up to other people about the series of unfortunate events, otherwise known as my life, especially to complete strangers. I mean, Lauren knows everything because she's been there with me through it all, and I only told the other girls the outlines of my story, without getting too deep into personal details.
However, Shawn is the only person who I have gotten the courage to tell my story to completely. I do hate having to open up to other people, I'm a pretty closed off person and I like keeping all of my pain to myself. But with Shawn, it was different.
I felt like I was talking to someone I've known for years, when in reality, I've known him for over a month, maybe. The words just flowed out of me like a river, and once they came out, I couldn't stop. I knew then and there that I wanted to tell him everything. It felt good to be able to tell someone other than Lauren about each scar that I have, let him go deeper than anyone has ever had into my life and into who I am.
Telling him everything felt nice.
"I still don't understand why they'd put a junior as the head of the cheersquad when there are clearly more experienced seniors on the team." Dinah tells me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"The head of the cheersquad is decided by the public, and since Isla is a golden girl in everyone's eyes, she's been chosen to lead the squad, much to the disapproval of the seniors, of course." I tell her.
"Shit, that sucks." Dinah says. "She's such a stuck up."
"God, I know." I shake my head. "What year are you in?" I ask Dinah. "Senior." She says.
"Really? Me too." I smile at her. "In fact, everyone at this table is a senior, well, except for Brina over there." I point across the table to Sabrina who's still focused on the book in her hands. "She's a sophomore."
Dinah nods as she looks at Sabrina then turns back to me. "So are you planning on quitting the squad soon?" I ask her and she shakes her head.
"Nah, I think I'm sticking around for Ari, she was really excited when I told I would join in and she'd be devastated if left so quickly. And besides, it can't be that bad." She smiles and shrugs.
"Oh, trust me, with Isla Colbern, it's always that bad." I laugh and she joins me.
Suddenly, making new friends isn't so scary after all.
...................................
Hailee's P.O.V.
"Wait..." Sabrina furrows her eyebrows as she bites the back of her pencil and picks at the edge of her spiral notebook, as if trying to concentrate. "So 'x' equals... 6.14!" She grins widely and I giggle and high-five her. "Exactly. Good job, Sleeping Beauty."
"Now matter how much time passes by and what we go through, I will never understand why you call me that." Sabrina grins and shakes her head as I stand up.
"Well, for one, you are a beauty," I tell her and she rolls her eyes and smiles before flipping her hair dramatically. "Stop it." She waved me off and I giggle.
"And two, you like sleeping a lot." She looks up at me and smiles. "That one's in fact true."
"Come on, someone who usually sleeps eight hours at night and four after school, how can that not be true?" I grin at her and she shrugs. "And three, you're blonde, and so is Princess Aurora." I smile at her. "Not to mention that you do have similar features as her."
"Who knows?" Sabrina smiles and shrugs. "Maybe I'm actually Princess Aurora and I'm just pretending to be a high school student named Sabrina Carpenter after I ran away from the castle because I wanted a normal life."
I tilt my head and smile at her. "You should really put that in a book."
"Oh my God! You're totally right!" She squeals excitedly before gasping. "Hey, I might even make New York Times' Bestsellers list!"
"Yeah, yeah," I giggle mockingly and cross my arms over my chest. "finish your homework." I say sternly and she quickly drops the smile and looks back down at her notebook, muttering a soft "Okay."
I make my way towards the kitchen and open the fridge, examining it for a little, trying to find something suitable for lunch.
I've been helping Brina with her schoolwork a lot lately, that used to be Sofia's job but since she's been really busy lately with the boutique and the deals and shit, she hadn't had anytime to spend with Brina at all, and I understand how she feels, well, sort of. I mean, she's practically running the boutique now, Lorence has been givijg her a lot more work lately for a reason I know not of, and she's also dealing with her own schoolwork. I mean, she's a senior for God's sake! She's trying to maintain good grades at school so that she can score well later on on her SAT exam, not to mentioning that she's working her butt off to get an internship with some famous Parisian fashion designer who will be taking a year in Miami next year in order to open her new boutique here.
I mean, I'm a senior too, but Sofi's dealing with a lot, and the least I could to help her is assist Sabrina with her work. Although, in most cases, really, she doesn't need any assistance. Sabrina's actually a very intelligent girl, but Sofia tells me that I should still inspect her work and make sure she's doing fine.
"What do you wanna eat, Bri?" I ask her as I keep examining the fridge. "Uh, noodles, maybe?" She looks up at me from her notebook as I turn to look at her. "Wait, those instant noodles that only require hot water?" I crook a brow.
"Exactly." She looks back down at her notebook. "But that's not food, Sabrina. You won't feel well fed if you had three cups of those." I tell her and she looks up at me and shakes her head.
"I'm not really in the mood for anything heavy. Besides, I've already eaten well at school."
"Yeah, your book, maybe." I snort as I turn back to the fridge.
"Hey!" She protests. "I was eating! I swear!"
"Yeah, sure." I smile as I close the fridge then move towards the right-hand top cabinet and open it, pulling out a cup of instant noodles. I rip open the plastic wrapping before opening the foil lid half way and pulling out the spice packets and the foldable, plastic fork wrapped up in plastic. I heat up some water in the kettle, dumping in all the spices into the noodles in the meantime.
As soon as the water heats up, I grab the kettle, carefully carrying it towards the cup of noodles and pouring the hot water in. As soon as it's almost all the way up, I place the kettle back on the counter then close the lid of the cup, placing the fork on top to make sure it doesn't open until the noodles are done.
Just then, I hear loud knocking on the door and quickly move out of the kitchen towards the hallway, the knocking getting louder by the minute.
I open the door, scowling and clenching my fist, ready to throw a right hook at the person causing us this inconvenience, to find that it's only Sofia wearing a horrified expression in her face.
"Sofi? What's wrong?" I furrow eyebrow as I take in her ghost-like paleness.
"Hide Brina! Quick! Jack is coming!" She whisper yells and my eyes widen. "What? What is he doing here?"
"It's doesn't matter!" She spits. "Just go hide Brina and I'll buy us some time!"
I nod quickly and go back inside to see Brina looking at me, worry lining her features. "Haiz? Is everything alright? Who's at the door?"
"It's Sofia. But we don't have time right now, get up." I order as I look around, trying to find somewhere suitable to keep her until Jack leaves.
"What? Why?" She questions. "Just get up and collect your things! Um..." I run my fingers through my hair as I look around, my eyes suddenly landing on the door of my bedroom. Perfect.
"Go to my room and lock the door."
"Why? What's going on?" Sabrina's eyebrows wrinkle. "Look, I'll have plenty of time to explain later," I say as I head over to the kitchen and grab her noodles for her, carefully carrying the cup so I don't scald myself. "now, all I can say is that I'm just obeying your sister's orders. And she says 'hide'." I hand her the noodles as she swings her backpack over her shoulder and carries her notebook in her hand.
"Here are your noodles, now please, please be co-operative with me and go to my room and lock the door. And do not come out unless I tell you to, okay?" To my surprise and luck, she doesn't protest, but nods quickly turns on her heel and starts towards my room.
As soon as I hear the satifying click of the door locking, my muscles relax and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in. Alright, she's safe now.
I lean against the island and close my eyes, trying to calm myself down a little. Why the heck would Jack even show up to our apartment? In all the three years I've known him, he's never paid us a visit, not that I wanted him to, and had never spoken to Sofia and I outside of work. So him showing up here definitely took me by surprise.
I open my eyes again and spot Sofia coming into the living then push myself off the island towards her. "Where's Bri?" She asks.
"I hid her in my room, don't worry." I assure her and she sighs in relief. "Okay, good."
"Where is he?"
"On his way up here with Shawn." She answers. "Did Shawn mention why he's here?" I ask her and she sighs and shakes her head.
"All he said was that it wasn't work-related." She tells me and I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head to the side. "Then why is he here?"
"And how the hell am I supposed to know?" Sofia throws her arms up in the air. Suddenly, we hear a voice sounding from behind her. "Hey!" Shawn whisper yells and we avert our gazes to him. "Where's Brina?" He mouthes.
I point behind me to my room and he nods, his features relaxing. A second later, the ass, also known as Jack Gilinsky, comes in behind Shawn and I have to force myself not to roll my eyes.
"Oh, hey, Hailee," He grins, his hands deep in his pockets. "didn't expect to see you here."
I cross my arms over my chest and tilt my head to the side, faking a smile at him. "Technically, I'm supposed to be telling you the same thing, you know, since this is my apartment." I mock.
Jack looks around awkwardly, shoving his hands in his pockets deeper still. "Okay..." He mutters as Shawn shakes his head at me. I simply roll my eyes as they walk further into the living room, Sofia and I remaining in our positions as we both eye Jack suspiciously.
"So," I start as lean against the island. "what brings you here today?" I ask him, my voice coming out low and cold.
"Nothing," Jack shrugs. "just thought I'd hang out with you guys for a while."
I don't even hold back my humorless chuckle as I look at him incredulously. "Since when do you hang out with us? I've known you for three years and barely ever spoke to Sofia and I. And now all of a sudden you want to hang out? Believe me, you're not fooling anyone, Gilinsky. We all know who you really are." Never have I ever been more honest about my opinion on someone to their face like I am today.
"I-I..." Jack tenses as he looks around. "I mean, yeah, I know that you and I aren't really the best of friends and stuff, but maybe we could change that? At least, for Shawn, since he and I are best friends?" Jack looks at me and I almost cringe when he says 'best friends'.
I almost decline, but the sincere look in his eyes makes me want to think about it. Niether Sofia nor I trust him, he doesn't even really seem like a trustworthy guy, and what we've heard about him at work kind of stabilized our opinions on him so we've tried to avoid him as much as possible.
But now, he seems like he really wants to make things right, and I can't deny, a part of me wants that too, but another part of me still thinks that he's trouble.
I look at Sofia the same moment that she looks at me and she nods. I sigh heavily and turn back to Jack and Shawn who are standing across from us. What do I have to lose?
"Whatever."
..................................
"See ya, Jack! Great having you here!" I smile as I yell over to him as he approaches the hallway with Shawn. "Same here, Haiz. We should totally do this again sometime." He smiles and I nod.
"Sure." I wave at him as he disappears down the hallway with Shawn and I hear the door slamming shut behind them.
I quickly turn to Sofia and cross my arms over my chest. "Why do I feel like we've misjudged him?"
"You're not just feeling it, we did misjudge him." Sofia smiles as she plops back down on the couch. "He's actually pretty chill. I can't believe we've known him for three years and haven't seen this side of him before."
"It's the fact that we chose to only see his bad side, the side that we've heard people talk about, and eventually, developed it in our minds that it was who he truly was." I tell her. "How mistaken were we all these years." I shake my head.
The past two hours that Jack has been here, we got to know him a lot. He's actually a great person and has a pretty cool personality. I never thought I would ever own up to this, but he's actually a nice guy.
I didn't think he'd be like this at all. I always thought he'd be a shallow person who has no real life outside of work, but he's the complete opposite of that. I guess that people aren't always what they appear to be at first, and I hate myself for judging him before even really knowing him.
"Though, I still don't think we should tell him about Bri." Sofia says and I nod in agreement. "Of course not. We don't know if he'll tell Lorence about her or not. It's best if we just keep her hidden from him. We can't risk Brina's safety."
Suddenly I remember that Sabrina's still in my room. "Speaking of Sabrina," I say before turning my head towards my room. "Alright, Bri, you can come out now!"
A few seconds later, I hear the door unlocking just as Shawn comes back into the living room. Sabrina comes out with her stuff, dropping her backpack on the floor and crossing her arms over her chest, staring at us all with narrow eyes.
"What was going on?"
Sofia and I look at each other, trying to think of something to say but Shawn speaks up first.
"We were just having a friend over."
I look at him like he's crazy and he only spares me a quick glance. Sabrina raises her eyebrow at him. "Then why did Haiz tell me to get insde her room and lock the door if that really was just it?"
"Because that friend was here to deliver something special for you." He grins at her and she tilts her head to the side. "For me?"
Shawn nods and smiles at her. "Close your eyes, Bri."
Sabrina scrunches her eyebrows at him for a moment but chooses not to protest and closes her eyes as Sofia and I look at each other like idiots, not having the slightest idea what the hell Shawn is talking about.
Shawn moves behind the couch and pulls out a white, medium-sized box. "Hands." He says to Sabrina and she holds out her hands, confusion still visible in her features. He places the box in her hands and steps back a little, smiling in amusement.
"Alright, you can open your eyes now."
Sabrina does as he said then looks down at the box in her hands. She furrows her eyebrows as she examines it before looking up at Shawn. "What is this?"
"Open it."
Brina looks back down at the box and takes the lid off, gasping in shock as she stares at the content. She slowly looks up at Shawn, still awestruck. "You... y-you... you got me Beats? Headphones and speakers?"
Shawn shakes his head, smiling. "Actually, I didn't," Sabrina tilts her head to the side, furrowing her eyebrows.
"your sister did."
He refers to Sofia and she looks at him like he's crazy. "What..." Shawn gives her a look and she drags the 'A' as she averts her gaze over to Sabrina.
"... are you doing, Shawn? I was planning to give those to her later on." She giggles nervously. "I thought now was a good time." He smiles at her.
In less than a second, Sofia is thrown back on the couch with Sabrina on top of her, hugging the life out of her.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Sofi! You're the best sister ever!" Sabrina yells as Sofia laughs and hugs her back. "You're welcome, baby. Now please get off of me, I can't breathe!" She laughs and Sabrina pulls away from her and stands up, mumbling a small "Sorry."
"This is the best day ever! I'll go get my laptop from upstairs to try them out!" She says excitedly before rushing towards the door. "Be careful!" Sofia yells to her.
"Alright, Mom!" Sabrina laughs before we hear the door slamming shut. Almost immediately, we both turn our gazes to Shawn.
"What was that?" Sofia hisses at him. "What? What the hell were you expecting me to tell her? I couldn't exactly tell her that someone who could potentially put her life in danger showed up at our door! And it's not like either of you had anything to say to her!" Shawn defense himself.
"Yeah, but I didn't expect you to lie to her completely like that! And where did you even get these?" Sofia refers to the rose-coloured headphones and speakers.
"I was actually planning on getting her those for the past two weeks, and seeing that the whole Jack incident came up, I thought it would be a perfect distraction from the truth, and then I decided I'd give you the credit for it." Shawn smiles at her.
"Thank you, Shawn, but you really didn't have to do that." Sofia shakes her head. "Come on, Sofi. She's been blabbing non-stop about how much she wanted them and I just had to get them for her. And besides, Brina's my little sister, too. Don't I deserve to spoil her a little as well?" He grins and Sofia laughs.
"Thank you so much, Shawn, really."
He shakes his head. "Don't thank me, and by the way, don't worry, your turns are coming too, ladies." He winks before starting towards his room and we laugh.
I rest my head back on the couch and sigh heavily. "He never changes, does he?" Sofia smiles at me and I sigh again and shake my head.
"Apparently not. Mila's really lucky to have him." I smile and Sofia nods in agreement before sighing heavily and looking up at the ceiling.
"Couldn't agree more."
....................................
Camila's P.O.V.
Wow. I can't believe that it's already been exactly two months since senior year started. It's the first of November, marking the beginning of my favourite month. I've loved November since the day I learned the twelve months of the year. Mainly, because I was told that it was the month when it rained the most during the year, and I love rain. Like, a lot.
When I was younger, I would always sit at the window seat of my room with a mug of hot chocolate in my hand and watch the rain pouring down outside, creating numerous puddles of water on the streets. And I still do that now.
Something about it was always so fascitnating to me; for starters, the weather is always perfect, at least to me it is. I feel that it kind of has a romantic kind of vibe, as cheesy as that sounds. And it's the perfect time to read novels and drink hot chocolate all day.
Arriving at my house after school, I see Dahlia's car parked in the driveway and mentally thank myself for not letting Lauren drop me off today.
I don't know if she has supernatural hearing or a radar that tracks Lauren's car down wherever it is, but the psycho bitch would always hear Lauren pulling up in front of the house and would always come out and yell at her to get off her property if it's not Friday. And I refuse for my best friend to be treated that way for simply being nice enough to give me a ride back from school after insisting on taking me out for food and keeping me out for at least another hour to cheer me up before having to get home and deal with this shit. If that's what she gets for being an amazing and caring friend that I will never ever deserve, then I'd rather walk back from school every single day than have her take that kind of crap.
Though, it is kind of strange that Dahlia's home early today; she usually doesn't get home from her law firm before 5:00 p.m. and her being home at this hour means that something abnormal is going on.
I walk up the front porch towards the front door and ascend the steps. I pull out my key and unlock the door, seeing Dahlia standing right in my face as soon as I step inside, a more worried than pissed or annoyed expression on her face, an expression that I've never seen on her face before whenever she looked at me.
"Karla, sweetie, listen," She starts, her features visibly tense, making me furrow my eyebrows at her. Since when does SHE call me 'SWEETIE'?
"your sister has a date at 4:30 p.m. and she's upstairs getting ready, would you mind helping her out a little, please?" She says and my jaw almost drops. First of all, that's IT? Isla has a date? I thought it will be much more serious than that! Second of all, since when does she ask me 'if I minded'? And third of all, 'please'? That's definitely a first!
Well, since you asked so nicely, "Of course," I nod. "just let me go put my stuff down first." I head towards the stairs but she stops me by placing her hand on my shoulder. I almost shudder.
I turn back to look at her and she speaks before I do. "Look, Isla really, really likes this guy and she's been talking on and on about him all week, so please make sure she looks good because it would mean the world to her if he showed more interest in her and made things official. Please, help her out." She practically begs me and I nearly gasp.
Who are you and what have you done to the real Dahlia? Not that I mind having you around for a while, though.
I smile a full, real smile at her, for the very first time in history, and nod. "Will do."
She smiles back me and I almost pinch myself when she says, "Thank you." Am I dreaming?
Without further response I turn around and head for the stairs, still unable to believe that Dahlia Colbern Cabello was the lady talking to me just a second ago. Does she have a twin? Or am I just seeing things?
Though, I do believe that her daughter's possible chance at love is making her like that. I know that feeling, well, sort of. I've never experienced it before, but I know that every mother would be really nervous whenever her daughter had a date. But this time, it's kind of different, like nothing I've ever witnessed.
I mean, Isla has had three boyfriends as far as I know, excluding this possible one, and her mother had never been more nervous about her first dates with either of them than she is right now. Actually, Dahlia was never nervous when Isla would go out with boys. Hell, she didn't give two shits when her daughter had her very first kiss, let alone worry about her dates.
I make a quick stop at my room to drop my bag and phone before sprinting down the hall towards Isla's room. I take a deep breath, as if to ready myself for what I'm about to endure, and lift my hand up to knock on the door.
"Come in!" I hear Isla yelling from inside then twist the doorknob and open the door, peeking inside the room to see Isla holding up two tops in either hand and flicking her eyes between either one indecisively.
"Hey." I say quietly as I go inside the room and close the door behind me as Isla looks at me for a brief second.
"Hey." She utters. I bite my lip as I slowly walk further into the slightly messy room. "Your mom said you had a date and told me that you needed help." I say and she looks at me and sighs in defeat as she lowers her hands.
"I do. I'm a mess, Camila! I mean, I usually don't need help with what I would wear, espeically when it comes to dates, but now... I just feel... lost, I guess." She shrugs. "I mean," She throws the tops down on her bed and runs her hand through her strawberry blonde hair.
"I really, really want to impress this guy, more than any other, but I just... don't know what to do!" She says. I simply giggle and cross my arms over my chest.
"I know how you feel, and I'm here to help." Hoping that she doesn't realize what I mean, I step forward towards her bed and pick up one of the tops. "First of all," I examine it for a little, realizing it doesn't look too good for a date before picking up the other one. "what are you planning to wear? Like, what do you have in mind? What do you see yourself wearing?"
I put down the other top and Isla shrugs. "I don't know, I guess something casual but cute would do. I don't want to seem like I'm trying too hard, but I also don't want him to think that I'm not trying at all."
"Then both of these don't work." I point at her tops. "Actually," I look at the rest of the stuff scattered all over her bed. "most of the stuff here doesn't work." I shake my head at her and she looks at me with wide eyes.
"Not helping me at all here!"
I smile and shake my head before taking her hand. "Come on, let's go check your closet again. I'm sure you have something in there."
After only twenty more minutes, I assembled her entire look, hair, makeup and all. It's actually something really simple that makes her look sweet and innocent and just screams 'Isla'. Or maybe the opposite of that, if you know what I mean.
"So," Isla spins around, smiling. "how do I look?" She grins. I examine her appearance and smile widely, metally giving myself a pat on the back for doing such a great job for someone who lives in leggings and sweatpants.
Isla's wearing a peach pink and white striped T-shirt, a pair of blue denim shorts, white and gold Adidas Superstars and a blue denim jacket wrapped around her waist. I paired the look with a gold necklace that has a hollowed, heart-shaped pendant, inlaid with crystals and a matching bracelet.
Makeup is light and soft, especially on the eyes, which is key to the perfect look for a date. Her hair is down and slightly curled at the ends, to be honest, I thinks it's the perfect length for this look, ending right under her shoulders.
"Wow, I did an amazing job." I deliberately voice my thoughts. "I'm serious, Camila!" Isla says. "Do you think he's going to like it? At least just a little? I mean-"
I cut her off by placing my hands on her shoulders and staring down at her shorter form. "Isla, You look beautiful." I tell her honestly.
"And if this guy doesn't like you for who you are, screw him. Just remain true to yourself no matter what, and don't let his opinion about you change your own opinion about yourself. Remember that." I smile at her.
The corners of her lips tug in a smile and she tackles me in a hug, which takes me a little by surprise. Okay, maybe a lot by surprise. Still, I lift my arms up and reciprocate.
"Thank you, Camila. So much." Isla mumbles against my neck and I smile and caress her hair softly. "You're welcome."
As surprising as it is that she's actually hugging me, it feels kind of comforting, familiar.
We pull away shortly and smile at each other. "Now whatever happens out there, he's just a guy and what he thinks about you doesn't matter more than what you think about yourself." I grin at her and she nods.
Isla turns around and picks up a few purses. "Now which one of these should I ta-" She starts but I quickly take them out of her hands and put them back down where they were.
"Uh-uh. No purse, you won't need one anyway. Phone inside your pocket and not a single dollar with you. Let him pay for food." I wink at her and she smiles and nods.
Just then, the doorbell rings from downstairs. That must be Mr. Date. Lame, I know. But I have no clue what the guy's name is, whatsoever.
"That must be him. You stay here touch up a little more while I go open the door for him, okay?" I tell her and she nods.
I quickly exit her room and make my way downstairs, snorting as I near the door. I already feel sorry for the poor loser who's gonna be stuck with Isla for who knows how long. According to her history with relationships, she's the more controlling one of the couple, at least that's what I heard them say at school. According to the people's gossip about Isla, she would always drive the guy insane and end up being the one broken up with. I don't really know what the reality of this is because I've never spoken to Isla about anything concerning her love life at all, never thought to do it or felt like it was any of my business anyways. So for that reason, I'm basing it on what people say and what I personally think, living with Isla and all. The poor guy won't even know what hit him.
I'm sorry if you think that's hypocritical because I was just giving Isla a pep talk about staying true to herself and shit, but I never complimented her beside telling her that she looks beautiful, and she does. I didn't tell her how I thought this was going to work or that this guy is going to like her for sure, and I didn't think it was necessary to give her false hope, well depending on how she's been treating me this week and what I heard the kids saying at school. I personally couldn't careless about her. I'm more concerned for the boy I'm about to be face to face with, really.
I smile and shake my head as I wrap my hand around the doorknob opening the door to see the last person I expected to see right now standing right in front me. I think my heart skipped a few beats.
My eyes widen as I stare at him and my mouth hangs open, my lips uttering the only word that's on my mind right now.
"Austin?"
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