The woman stood over me, her eyes and posture betraying the anger and rage she felt as she towered over the girl who shivered in the corner. I felt the fear pulsing through my veins as I cowered in the corner.
"Bitch, you think you can talk to me like that? You are nothing. You're just a whore. Look at how fat you are. But you like it, don't you? You like the fact that workers look at you and perv on you with their eyes. You're just a slut."
I covered my ears with my hands to block out the painful words. The woman reached forward and started slapping me, the nails scratching my hands that were trying to protect my face.
The woman drew back and looked down at me with disgust apparent in her face.
"You're the reason I gave up everything. I gave up e erything because you were born. You are the reason I'm in such a pathetic situation, bitch."
My hands slipped into my lap and I dug the nails of my right hand into my left forearm. Hard enough to cause blood to ooze out.
The woman hardly noticed. She looked at me with barely concealed contempt on her face. She leaned down and in a sudden move of defiance, I looked into her eyes instead of looking away or down. The woman looked at me and then slapped me hard. Then she grabbed my shoulders and started to shake them.
"Isabella."
I refused to look up.
"She's hurting herself."
"Would you stop shaking her!"
The woman looked down at me breathing hard. Then she raised her hand to hit me. And I finally spoke.
"Stop it, mama. Please, stop it" I whimpered.
"Isabella? Please wake up, tesoro. It's okay. It's just a nightmare." That was not her mother's voice.
"No, please don't hurt me. Please." I whimpered.
"Isabella, it's just a dream. Snap out of it." Said a voice full of authority. Victor.
My eyes snapped open. Elijah was holding down my right hand and Luca was holding down my left hand. Alex was sitting on my legs and Roman was standing at the foot of the bed. Victor was sitting in front of me and his hands were on my shoulders.
"Could you get off my legs? I might need them." I said trying to shrug it off and change the topic. Everyone just gave me an 'are you serious?' look but Alex got off while rolling his eyes.
"What the hell was that?" Luca was the first to break the silence. Shit.
"I would like to know that too." Victor said in a calm voice as his eyes seemed to bore into my soul.
"I-It's nothing" I said, cringing as my voice broke.
"For god's sake, it wasn't nothing." Alex was the next one to explode.
I flinched at his loud tone, the screaming from the nightmare still echoing in my mind. Victor noticed it.
"Everybody out." Victor said in a deadly voice, still staring at me. When no one complied he turned towards them and one by one everyone trickled out.
"Now, neonata, you will tell me what is going on."
"That was a memory. An old one but still a memory. My mother was one of the best mothers in the world but she had two flaws. One, when she was angry, she would say whatever came to her mind. Two, she was controlling, too controlling. And I'm not the kind of person who would buckle under authority. We had an on/off fight all the time. I loved her but I also hated her." I looked ruefully at the nail marks on my skin. The old scars that were littered on my left arm had almost faded and the new, recently given ones stood out.
"She loved me and did everything for me. But she always wanted me to be someone I was not and that pissed me off. She wanted me to be everything I wasn't. I hated it. the thing is that in Indian culture, getting hit by parents is normal. If you say your parents never hit you then you are special. I sadly was not special and I got hit. That was the nightmare. I blamed, still blame myself for everything that she told me. I was wrong. But things went downhill a couple of months ago. I snapped and told her so many hurtful things that I regretted as soon as I said them. She was shocked and after that our relationship never recovered. I sank into my studies and she sank into her art. We were civil but that was it. We didn't talk unless we had to. And I regret that. I regret that before she died all we exchanged was a polite 'goodbye'. I hate myself for that." I finished not looking into his eyes. I expected him to be angry. Who hurts their own parents that way? I just fiddled with Alex's hoodie keeping my gaze down.
"It's okay, neonata. You couldn't have known. You are still just a child. Don't feel bad about it. I'm sure your mother forgave you. You are her child." Victor says reassuringly, his face uncharacteristically soft. I gave him a soft smile and he stood up offering a hand to me. I took it and he pulled me up. He then pushed me towards the door, "Get ready, sorella, you have to attend school today."
I happily skipped out of the room and went to mine. I hopped in the shower and got out my outfit for the day. As I was getting more comfortable around them, my outfit choice changed and I was reverting back to my actual style.
I gave a look of disgust at the unopened packets of makeup. It was a hassle and I was not in the mood. I just put on eyeliner that went with the outfit and made my brown eyes pop. I had gotten the hand brace removed when I was being discharged and it hardly hurt anymore. I grabbed my bag and put on black heeled leather boots. They were my favourite pair of shoes and after pulling them on, I went downstairs.
"Nope! No, you are not wearing that." Was all I heard before I was airborne.
"What the hell!" I exclaimed.
"Language, tesoro. Xander, let her down." Victor said sternly.
I was put down and I stuck my tongue out at Alex who scowled.
"You're not going to let her go out wearing that are you?" He said turning to Elijah and Victor who were sitting at the island.
"Oh, for god's sake, it's not inappropriate!" I said exasperatedly.
If you lift your arms we can see your stomach," growls Luca.
"Not you too. Quick bring me my wand so I can pull you out from under his spell." I said, letting my childish side show for the first time.
"It's not inappropriate, Xander. She can wear it." Victor said finally.
I squeal and hug Victor in excitement. He chuckles as he hugs me back.
"Now go to school. You don't want to be late."
I hug Lijah too and we made our way to the garage. We went to the corner of the garage and I spotted a beauty.
"Oh my god, am I dreaming? Is that a Bugatti Veyron?" I said practically hyperventilating.
"Yes, it is, amore." Roman chuckles as they take in my 'kid on Christmas morning' expression. We head to the car and Roman and I get in while Luca and Alex choose their bikes.
We enter the school like badasses and made a movie-like entry. I separated from my brothers and headed to the front office.
"Excuse me, miss, could you help me?" I say to the receptionist.
"M-Miss Cattaneo, how may I help you?" she said as soon as she looked up.
"I have already learnt everything in my AP Biology class. I was wondering if I could switch it out for something else?" I asked politely.
"You have to give an exam based on the course work and if you pass it with exceptional marks then you can drop it and take up another subject." She recites as though it is rote learned. I nod and she types something into her computer.
"You can take the test today or tomorrow, if you want to?" She said giving me a small smile.
"Today will be fine." I say and with a polite thank you I'm on my way to AP Biology.
"So you think you will be able to answer the paper easily and drop this class, do you?" Mr. Marsh says as I enter and I roll my eyes at him. I'm usually a teacher's pet but this man got on my nerves. I just shrugged and he handed me my test and turned the timer on his desk. I glanced down at the paper and raised an eyebrow. This was much easier than I had expected and I started solving it. I was done a half hour before the timer ran out. I got up and handed in my paper and walked out.
The hallway was deserted as it was the middle of the second period so I started wandering and ended up in front of the music room. I hadn't sung since the day my mum died and now I was tempted to. I walked into the room and stood in the middle of the room. I didn't know how to play any instrument but I loved to sing. I had tried learning a few instruments but I didn't have time to learn it properly. I took a deep breath and started singing one of my favourite songs.
(Play the song now. I absolutely love it)
I didn't have as deep a voice as the original singer but my voice was deeper than most girls and I could hit the right notes easily. I sang with my heart every word resounding in my head. Every word that I could relate to.
I sang until the song ended. I heard a 'wow' and I spun around, stumbling slightly. The door was open and a few people stood there, some recording my singing. In the front stood Jordan, his mouth open. I felt myself go red with embarrassment as my eyes widened. The bell must have rung while I was singing and I hadn't heard it. I pushed through the stunned students and escaped. Or so I thought.
A hand caught my wrist. I spun around and because of my heels I stumbled a little. An arm wrapped around my waist, steadying me. I looked up at Jordan and my cheeks reddened further. He chuckled at my blush, a low sexy sound and I was like damn, boy. He let me go and I stood a little away from him in case someone decided to snitch to my brothers.
"Sorry for startling you. Your voice is amazing. Are you going to choose your elective as music?" He said rubbing his neck nervously. I guess that when I stood a bit further away from him, he thought that I didn't want to talk to him or I didn't like him.
"No, Music is personal to me and also I can't play any instruments and that is a pre-requisite." I said with a smile.
He gave me a big smile and I saw that he had a dimple on his right cheek. I had a weird feeling in my stomach. I had never had a crush and this feeling was new.
"Let me walk you to class. I have the same class anyway." He said with a dazzling smile and I swear my heart stopped. I barely managed to nod. Fuck my hormones.
"Why don't join us for lunch? I would love to introduce to my friends. Also, we don't sit in the cafeteria and instead sit in front of school under the small cluster of trees." He asked me with hope in his eyes.
"Okay.."