Louis's Pov
"Hey, are you fine?" Brendan suddenly asked looking at someone behind me.
"Yeah, I am." Shaden replied with a frown and then rolled her eyes as we kept staring at her.
"No seriously. Is everything alright? Do you need our help in anything? Tell us if some creep or an ass is bothering you. We will take care." Eli said showing off his biceps.
"Guys! I am really fine." Shaden said with an amused smile.
"Really? Then how would you explain the bruises on your face which keeps increasing every day?" Casey asked.
"I –" she was cut short by Jordan.
"And don't say that you ran into a pole." He warned.
"Of course not. That's like the lamest excuse ever. It's like announcing 'Geez, I got hit by a bunch of goons but let's see if I could fool you'." She said rolling her eyes. "But instead, my reason is I ran into a group of idiots and got into a fight and they kinda kept coming back to fight with me, thus the bruises." She said pointing out at her face.
"Why aren't you filing a police complaint?" I asked looking at her with narrowed eyes, hoping that she would understand that I am not buying her story.
"That's because Enrique, I started the fight. They were going their way and I was being my arrogant self, which led to the fight." She said with a shrug.
"Woman! Stop fighting with people and getting hurt. Do you want your brother to see you all bruised up when he meets you?' Jess asked with her hands on her hips.
"Naah, he will be here in another two weeks. I spoke to one of the main guys and apologized, he said he will take care of it. So I don't think they are going to stop fighting me in another week. And one week is enough to get rid of the bruises and make myself look beautiful like before. So no worries." She said giving us a Diva's pose and then blowing a kiss.
"What other kinda shady shit do you get yourself into?" Ashton asked.
"I donno Ash, sometimes when I am bored I sell coke and some other times when I feel highly sadistic, I slit the throats of guys who are over 6 ft tall, have blonde hair and hazel eyes and I especially gain pleasure from my victims when they are baseball players." She said describing Ashton.
Ashton looked terrified and moved away from her while Casey just breathed out muttering 'Wow'. Haru, Bell and Jordan started cackling while Ashton just scowled at them.
"Anyway, are you excited for him to come?" Sam asked, diverting everyone from the formal topic.
"Of course." She said brightly. "That's the only thing on my mind since the past three weeks. If he wasn't taking physiotherapy, I would have urged them to send him here as soon as possible. I am dying to see him." she said with a deep sigh. Only when she puts down her walls like in this kind of situations, I can see how tired she looks.
"Are you going to hire any caretaker for him?" Haru asked.
"I don't know. I don't think so. I can do most of the work at home, so I don't exactly need anyone for that. And Naeem is nine; I don't think he needs someone to take care of him. I asked my manager at the garage and Eliza aunty if I could get him to the work place and both of them agreed. Theo is kinda exited because he is gonna meet someone his age. And when I am in school, Ron's mom said she will take care of him. So I guess it's solved." She said lazily drawing circles on her binder with her finger.
"Aren't you gonna send him to school?" Ashton asked. She looked at him as if he was crazy to even suggest something like that.
"No. Not immediately. He needs time to recover and also to adjust to this new environment. And we are the Obeids; we are born with high IQ. We learn stuff fast." She said with a smug look.
He just rolled his eyes at her and turned to the front as Miss Jones entered. And as usual Shaden bent her head over her shoulders to sleep. But unlike her first month here, she looked very relaxed and it is now easier to make her smile. Probably because she is going to be here with her brother.
But I can't help but worry about her. How is she going to handle a brother who has been in coma for almost a month without the help of her parents?
She still never mentioned anything about her parents. We didn't ask her anything regarding that matter either. I don't think she would tell us the truth even if we asked her. Everyone is giving her the space hoping that she would someday open up to us but I already know that she is going to lie to us about it even if she is going to speak to us anything about it. So let's just say that I am only waiting to see what kind of creative story she is going to make up this time.
**********
"Isn't she gonna come today?" Brendan asked when the first period ended.
"Naah. I don't think so. Naeem is gonna come today. She must be in the airport by now." Jake answered as he passed by our benches. Jess raised an eyebrow at him, both amused and surprised. Haru on the other side looked totally confused.
"He is right. She sounded very excited when she was speaking to me yesterday on the phone." Haru said rolling his eyes as Jake smirked at us.
"Now you speak to her regularly?" Eli asked with narrowed eyes to which Haru coughed awkwardly and turned to Jake to change the topic.
"How do you even know so much about her?" Haru asked scowling at Jake.
"Oh Japanese boy, you guys aren't her only friends here." He said smirking, making Haru scowl more. "And I am being her substitute at the garage until a week. After that, both of us are gonna work together." He said with a careless shrug though a small smile was playing on his lips. He seems like a totally different person whenever it involves her. Not that he suddenly changed from a douche to a warm hearted person. No. He just acts very differently when it concerns Shaden. In a good way. With that, he walked away from us and towards his friends.
"I have never seen him like this after his sixth grade. He suddenly turned into an ass after that spring break." Brendan said following Jake with his eyes.
"Oh right! You guys were like best friends back then." Casey suddenly said and I looked at him surprised. They both were best friends? Now that's news to me. When did they grow apart? And why?
After two other classes, I walked out of the class and called Shaden to ask her when she would be coming back to school.
"Enrique?"
"Simba."
"Did you call me just to remind me that horrid name?" she asked with a small smile in her voice.
"Naah! To hear you call me 'Enrique' with that sweet voice." I said in a teasing tone.
"Enrique" she said in a serious voice though I know that she is anything but serious.
"Ah! That's all I wanted to hear." I said in an exaggerated tone.
"Well, since you already heard my voice I am gonna cut the call." she said and I immediately shouted her name to stop her from actually cutting the call.
"Fine, I wanted to know if you met your brother." I said defeated. There was a small pause and I didn't know if I should ask her again or give her some space to collect her thoughts. At last she sighed tiredly.
"Yeah." she said in a tired voice.
"You don't sound that happy?" I probed further.
"You can't really be happy when your own brother doesn't remember you." she said in a strained voice and even before I could respond anything she spoke again. "Don't take me wrong. It's just that I have been so excited to meet him and though I know that he lost his memory, I was kinda hoping that he would remember me as soon as he sees me. But no such luck." She said with a humorless laugh.
"That sucks." I said at a loss of words. I didn't know how to console her. It's terrible to know that your younger brother doesn't remember you.
"Tell me about it." She laughed again in the same tone. With despair dripping through her throat. I immediately wanted to hug her and console her by telling her that everything will be alright though I don't know the full story. But a small voice in me, the stupid logical voice kept asking a single question through and through. Will it though?
"I am sorry. I didn't mean it to come like that. I just didn't know what to say."
"No. It's cool. Not your fault." she dismissed. "And it's not like I expected him to remember me. I was, you know, preparing myself for that. I was asked to brace myself so that I wouldn't get hurt. I mean I already spoke to him on phone and knew that he couldn't remember anyone. But I had a small hope that he would remember me once he sees me. But he couldn't and I don't blame him." she said sniffing again.
"Hey Shaden, listen to me. It's okay to feel like this. I know you were preparing yourself for this. But this is a huge deal. Your loved ones not remembering you is always heart breaking. It's okay to feel sad. I am happy that you are at least showing your emotions instead of hiding them." I said. I know this is not the way you console a person but this is Shaden and she needs logic to recover from her misery. "So now go back to Naeem and make new memories. You know that it is hard for anyone to like that horrid personality right? So good luck with that." I said trying to cheer her up.
"And yet you love me the most." She said in a bored voice probably rolling her eyes.
"Well, what can I say? I have a horrible taste in people." I said shrugging and she just laughed at that.
"Listen, my brother is here. I need to go back." She said and I could hear Cam's and some young kid's voice in the background. That's probably Naeem. But I stopped her before she cut the call.
"Hey, listen. Do you like wanna meet with me in the evening?" I asked suddenly feeling stupid for even asking.
"Hmm why?" she asked sounding genuinely confused.
"Well, I wanted to play in the playground. And if you get Naeem with you, it would be relaxing for him to forget for a moment that he lost his memory and play happily." I said trying to convince her into coming. I wanted to stand as her pillar if she is dealing with some emotional stuff. I know it is hard to break her walls, but I am not stopping myself from trying.
"Oh Louis! That's really thoughtful of you. But I don't think today is possible. Naeem is very tired with the journey and I want to stay by his side for the rest of the day. But if you are free tomorrow, maybe we can go then. Only if you are free." She said both apologetically and also hopefully.
"Let me check my busy schedule." I said and gave a dramatic pause. "Man! Why am I so busy? My schedule is full. But I'll clear some space for my loyal subjects like you." I said grinning and she just snorted at that and then bid goodbye before hanging up. At the end of the call I realized that I didn't even ask her the first reason I called her for. I just shook my head at my stupidity and walked into the class.
"Where were you?" Sam asked as soon as I entered.
"Went out to speak to Shaden." I said nonchalantly.
"And?" Jess asked and I soon noticed the entire gang gathering around my table. Jake, who never actually interacted with us, unless you consider bantering as an interaction, was in the group too. I just looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"What? You aren't the only guys who are concerned about her." He said in a defensive tone. No one questioned him after that and turned their attention towards me.
"Well, what do you want me to say?" I asked looking at them confused.
"Why are you even asking? Spill everything." Jordan said rubbing his hands together and looking like Gargamel.
"Okay, first she called me Enrique and then I called her Simba. Then we started arguing about the names and she said that - " I was cut short by Casey.
"Dude! Don't finish that sentence if it's about the stupid names. Just tell us the important stuff."
"Okay, Rude." I said pointing at her but when I saw her glare, I decided to continue. "Anyway, she said that she met her brother and she sounded very down because he didn't remember her. Like at all. So she said that both of them are trying to adjust to each other. I think we should give her a break and not call her for a while. She will start feeling bluer if we keep asking her the same questions. Let's not push her into pessimism." I said with a sigh. Everyone agreed with me and I was even more surprised when Jake patted my shoulder and went back to his place.
"Okay, let me just put this out in the open. Jake being with us again is just so weird." Haru stated.
"No, it's not." Brendan defended. "I mean, it's not like he is here with us for us. It was just because he was concerned about Shaden, though none of us actually know the reason." He said and walked back to his place.
"Well, Jake is still his weak spot." Jess said with a grimace and walked towards her boyfriend and rubbed his shoulders.
"What's with the crowd at the corner?" Mr. McAuliffe bellowed and all of them left to their respective places.
After the class ended, since it was the last period I quickly packed my bag and got up to leave the class. "You aren't coming home?" Sam asked as he looked up at me from his chair.
"Naah man! I am kinda tired today. I will take a pass." I said shrugging.
"Uhh? Cool?" He said sounding confused.
"Look man; I will come there for dinner. My Tia isn't going to stay home tonight and she said today's rush is going to be a lot. So I need dinner and you are my source." I said and walked out knowing that best friend somehow has a relieved smile on his face.
And that night, I guess it was family dinner time. Everyone in the family was there. Including Ruby and Donn and that is kind of a rare thing to happen in the family. It's been like that since Ruby revealed about their disinterest in business and since he went against his father's will and started working as a chef. The same year as the accident. After Char, I am not sure if the dinner in the Bennett's family is ever gonna be the same.
''Dude! You did not say that it was going to be a family dinner tonight. Should I leave?" I asked looking around the table at everyone.
Donn and Ruby sat beside each other and though they were always in good terms with each other, they just couldn't speak to each other with their father in front of them. Nate was just on his phone speaking to the council members in the school about a new club regarding the LGBTQ support system. He is such a fucking golden boy. I would like to think that both of us would have a better relationship if it wasn't for Sam's and Nathaniel's differences.
Hayden and Kayden were speaking among themselves regarding the a song which was recently released. Apparently, the singer was Hayden's girlfriend and the actor in the video is Jayden's. Lucky artists, I thought.
Christopher, as usual only kept looking around waiting for food and once in a while looked at his phone to laugh obnoxiously loudly whenever he got a message, and I am sure, it's Joshua, Casey's brother he is speaking to. Jeff kicked at his leg to ask him to keep quite since everyone was looking at him now. He just rolled his eyes and went back to texting his best friend.
As if the family wasn't abnormal enough, Sam kept grumbling every once in a while stating how unnecessary this family dinner was and I just rolled my eyes at him when he looked at me. Theodore was the only normal person here, speaking excitedly to both his uncle and aunt who pointedly put their electronic gadgets away, trying to set an example for the children in the house. Not that it worked.
After a while, the table got silent when the food arrived. The maids and Ari together served the food and Jeff said grace. The conversations resumed after this and everyone started eating.
"So who is this girl I keep hearing about from this little tot?" Mr. Bennett asked with a smile, looking at Ari with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh! She is lovely girl." Ari gushed. "Ever since she was here, Theo started doing better in his academics and he also made more friends at school. Apparently, she is also teaching him social skills." She said with a wide smile.
"Really? Who is she? How come I never met her?" Ruby asked surprised.
"You would have met her if you were home more often." Mr. Bennett commented and winced immediately before looking at his wife with a frown. She must have kicked him under the table.
"Then you should have met her by now. Considering that you are home often." Ruby said with a blank face. Sam hid his smile under his palm, probably enjoying this more than he should.
"I was attending to other important things Reuben. Not wasting my time in kitchen." Mr. Bennett said glaring at his first born. The use of their given name made them wince and from the expression on Mr. Bennett's face, I was sure that he regretted using that name too.
"Sure. It must be more important than the welfare of your family members." Sam finally retorted. I am surprised he held himself back for this long.
"Sam!" his mom hissed.
"It is because I am worried about your welfare, I did a background check on her." his father sneered.
"You did what?" I shouted in surprise and then realized that everyone were staring at me surprised and I coughed awkwardly and then looked at Sam for help but he was already frowning at his father.
"You did what exactly now?" he asked with his frown getting more intense every second.
"What? I was just looking out for my nephew." He said defensively. Ari was just looking at her husband in disbelief. But being the good person she is, she didn't speak a word but was just looking for any chance to do damage control.
"Why would you do that? She isn't a crazy person if that's what was bothering you. She is one of my closest friends and as far as I know she isn't a shady person." Sam said in a defensive tone.
"I second that. She is a nice person." Nate agreed with Sam, gaining a wide eyes stare from everyone in the room. He just blushed under our gaze and instead looked at his father. In defiance. That's a great look on him.
"Of course you would say that. If what you are saying is the truth, why and I am asking you, why is she here without her parents? Why is she taking care of her brother alone and why is there no record of her anywhere except in the Indian military base?" he asked looking at everyone smugly.
"Dad, you do realize that you are invading her privacy right? That's so wrong on your part." Donn finally spoke up. "She must have some personal reasons. It's not like all the information about our family is out in the open. We have thousands of things we are hiding from people. So who are we to judge someone who is hiding stuff? When she doesn't want people to know about her, I wish you respect her. I hope you know this, she is doing nothing but good to our family." He said and all I wanted to do at that moment is get up from my chair and do a dramatic slow clap at Donn's small monologue.
"That's enough. Everyone, now silently eat your dinner and leave to your respective rooms. I shouldn't hear a single word from any of your mouths." Mama Bennett said in her strong voice which she usually reserved when she needs things to be done her way.
When her husband was about to speak, she glared at him and he just grumbled something. She gave him a look which said that the conversation wasn't over yet. "Our family dinners have more drama than the shows in sitcoms." She said under her breath, making me stifle my laugh and Sam to glare at me. What? Mama Bennett was speaking the truth. Much more fucking drama than a sitcom TV shows.
"I want Shaden as my tutor." Theo murmured at the end of the dinner. Then he looked up at his Uncle with more determination than ever, as much as determination a 9 year old could muster. "I want Shaden as my tutor and no one else." He said and stormed out of the dining table.
"One fucking Family dinner." Ari muttered with a sigh and widened her eyes. She immediately covered her mouth with her hands when she heard Jeff gasp loudly and Chris immediately started laughing loudly holding his stomach with his hands.
"Did Aunt just swear out aloud?" He asked still laughing making the said Aunt glare at him. He stopped laughing and coughed to cover up the residual humor.