- A m a r a R u s s o -
"You are actually shipping them together?" Salvino said incredulously.
Normally, I would think that he was disgusted at the prospect, but from months of listening to him criticize and make fun of me, I knew that he wasn't being mean. He was genuinely confused. The same with Santino.
Look at me, finally able to tell their moods and appearances apa- wait. When was I able to notice the difference between the two of them?
Oh well. Who cares.
"Yeah," Sandeo shrugged, "Like why not?"
"Uh... Because the two of them are leagues apart, not even counting the fact that their personalities are so different." Santino replied. "Anyways, are you even sure Salvestro is Ophelia's 'taste' in men?"
"How would I know?" Sandeo asked, "It's just a feeling, y'know?"
"Salvestro wouldn't go for Ophelia though, right?" Salvino said, brows furrowing together. "Actually, is he even allowed to get with the household staff?"
"Don't think so." Santino muttered, "Though I certainly hope not. We do not need anyone getting anymore relationships."
"No one here other than Salvatore has a relationship, Santino." drawled Sandeo, and Santino and Salvino sent each other knowing looks.
It seems like Salvino has been told Santino's small secret.
Honestly, I would've been surprised if it weren't for the fact the twins don't hide secrets from each other for long. Especially after the incident with Sandeo, I'm not shocked to see that Salvino pried the secret out of Santino's lips.
"What." snapped Sandeo. "Are you hiding something from me?"
"Nope." Santino said casually, his secret well protected under his mask of nonchalance.
If only I had their secret-hiding skills...
"Are you sure?" he accused, narrowing his eyes as Santino scowled.
"What." Salvino snapped. "Do you not trust us?"
Sandeo pretended to think about it for a minute, tilting his head to the side. "No." he finally deadpanned.
"Right." Salvino muttered under his breath. "Shouldn't have expected anything else."
"Well what did you expect." demanded Sandeo, and I could already tell that the situation was gonna escalate.
I swear, these three cannot stay in the same room with each other for more than ten minutes.
It was then I decided that I was going to leave the room. I do not want to be part of this when it blows up, and I already knew that it will. There wasn't a single doubt within me that thought the three of them would explode against one another. Or in better terms, the twins and Sandeo will get into a huge argument, soon or later.
"Yeah, I'm just going to go." I said quietly, but they were already too far into their fight to even talk, much less pay attention to me.
I stood up, looking behind me to make sure the seat was free of my period blood. When I was sure that there was no type of leakage, I was quick to scurry out of Sandeo's room, running back to my room.
I shut the door quietly, letting out a breath of relief just as shouting ensued. I had no doubt that if Salvatore was home right now, they wouldn't be yelling at this level.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they will still fight. However, I was nearly a hundred percent sure they'd make sure to keep their voices down to save their ass from getting kicked and burnt to hell by Salvatore.
As Salvestro was the only one home right now with the other household staff, I doubt that they would have much to worry about.
Salvestro is the more level-headed of all the brothers, and doesn't lash out as easily.
But now that I was here and couldn't participate in the drama happening just a few doors away, I was bored. At least there I had something to observe and entertain myself with.
Or maybe I could paint.
It's just I have no idea where my art supplies are.
~
"Hey, Stella." I greeted.
I found Stella near the door to the backyard, watering the smaller decor plants we had.
"Good afternoon, Sweetie." she said kindly, giving me a kind smile. "What can I do for you? Are you hungry? Is your stomach hurting? I can get you some food and Advil if you want." she said quickly.
"No, it's fine." I chuckled. "My period cramps haven't started yet."
"Oh, that's good." she laughed. "I remember that when I still had my period, I could barely get out of bed."
"Was it that bad?" I grimaced, and she nodded, waving her hand.
"It's fine now though." she dismissed. "I'm an old granny now. I don't have to deal with blood anymore. Back onto you though. Are you hungry? I can make you a light snack before lunch."
I shook my head. "No, I'm not hungry. I'm just wondering if you know where my art supplies are."
"Art supplies?" she repeated, frowning slightly.
"Yeah," I nodded. "Like my brushes. Paint."
She tilted her head to the side, brows knitting together in concentration. "Oh!" she exclaimed, and with a gesture, she motioned for me to follow her.
"I know where they are." she told me excitedly. "I put them away for you when you were MIA."
She meant when I was gone for a while.
Unsurprising, really.
"It's fine." I said.
We soon reached a room, and inside was literally an entire music room filled with different instruments.
"Why do I not remember this room." I murmured.
Stella shrugged. "This room isn't used."
"But there are so many instruments here." I awed, and she gave me a somber look.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I don't think I should be saying this, but let me tell you a secret."
My entire being lit up at being told a secret, and I eagerly leaned in. Extremely prepared to hear what she has to say.
"No one has touched this room in years." she murmured, "And you want to know why?"
"Why?"
"It's because this room used to be used for Samantha and two very special people." she sighed, eyes holding a distant look.
"Who?"
"Their names were Xavier and Xander." she said. "And you can say that they were kind of like the twins."
"Were they a pair of twins?"
"Yep." she replied, popping the 'p'.
"Well where are they?" I questioned, and she pointed upwards.
Me being me, I raised my head to the sky, only to be met with the image of the ceiling staring right back at my face.
"Huh?"
Stella chuckled. "Not literally, Sweetheart." she told me gently, laying an old hand on my shoulder. "But... figuratively."
It took me a while to understand what she meant, and when I finally did, my eyes turned into full blown saucers.
"Oh my God."
"Yeah," she murmured wistfully.
"When did they... y'know." I questioned awkwardly. "If you don't mind saying, that is."
"I don't exactly remember," she stated softly, "But early March, is when they passed away."
I stayed silent, not liking where our conversation went.
Stella seemed to be thinking the same thing as me, because she quickly went to get my art supplies. "Here."
It was all put into a box, and setting it down, I opened it to see all of my art stuff there. From my paint brushes to my canvases, it was all sorted neatly together.
"Thanks." I said gratefully, but Stella waved it off.
"It's perfectly fine, Sweetie." she waved off. "Now go back. Lunch will be ready soon, and remember, don't tell anyone I told you about them. It's a sensitive topic for all."
"Alright." I said, and I made a split second decision.
Before I could stop myself, I wrapped Stella in a tight hug.
"Thank you."
Stella seemed surprised at my actions, but was quick to recuperate the feeling. "No worries."
~
I tilted my head to the side, not liking the way my art looked.
I had drawn an image of a dying rose. Wilted, let's say, and it hasn't turned out how I wanted it to.
Sure, others may think that it looked great, but I didn't like it.
I was missing something, I just don't know what.
I'm sure that many other artists would agree with me, saying that if they don't think that the artwork is done, it is not done.
"What the hell am I missing." I muttered, tapping the smooth, wooden handle of the brush to my mouth.
The rose was a beautiful dark red, though the ends of its leaves were fading into a deep black, the life slowly seeping out of it.
It was eerily beautiful.
But it was still missing something, an important component.
"Maybe the leaves need to be more tilted?"
At this point, I was talking to myself, though I could care less. I was in my... Art space, you could say.
A knock on the door had me pausing.
"Yeah?"
"It's Stella."
"Oh, come in!" I said, and I heard the door opening and closing softly.
"Here, Sweetie." she said, bringing me an entire bag filled with pads. "I went shopping and thought that it would work best if you had your own pads instead of asking Ophelia for one every few hours."
My jaw literally dropped to the floor. "Oh. Well, thank you." I said gratefully, canvas forgotten as I went to the bathroom to help her set up my stuff.
"My pleasure." Stella responded. "Though I have to say, you won't be able to hide this from the boys for much longer. They are bound to find out, sooner or later." she warned.
I nodded, knowing that I was only delaying the inevitable. "Yeah I know." I sighed. "I prefer the latter option though."
Stella frowned, but didn't say anything knowing that this was my choice.
"Alright then, Sweetheart." she murmured. "I'll just get going. I have a few more things to do before I start on dinner with Ophelia, alright?"
"Yeah, okay." I nodded. "Thanks, again."
"No problem."
~
I laid in my bed, groaning.
My stomach, or lower abdomen, was in so much pain, I had given up trying to finish painting. Instead, I was now laying in bed, rolling around in the bed sheets.
Thankfully, Stella had changed the sheets right after breakfast, making sure that no blood stains were resting on them so as to not give my brothers any indication of my slight girl problem.
"Amara?"
A knock on the door had me burying my head deeper into the pillows, though I did make a sound of acknowledgement.
"Hmm?" I groaned.
"Dinner's ready." the person said.
"Okay." I muttered back loudly. "I'll be down in a few."
"Great. We're waiting for you."
I still couldn't place the voice, but my sleep muddled mind didn't care as it forced my body out of the warm, protective blankets. Stepping out of the warmth of the covers, I ruffled my hair as I let out an unladylike yawn.
Right as I made my way to the door, I felt the pad, soaking wet from my blood sticking right onto my... area, let's say.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Do I have to change?
I'm taking a shower after this... Yeah, I'm too lazy to change. Not even counting the fact that I just want to get dinner over and done with so that I can go back to bed.
I walked down the stairs, rubbing my eyes and stretching my arms so that I don't look like I had just gotten out of bed. Even if that was true.
"There you are, sis!" Sandeo exclaimed when I had entered the dining room.
"Hi." I mumbled back, not having the energy he has to recuperate the feeling.
"You alright?" Salvestro asked, brows furrowing in concern.
"I'm alright." I nodded. "Just tired."
"You've been in bed all day though." he countered, lips pulling into a frown.
Instead of answering, I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly and stared at the food laid out in front of me.
Tonight, we had steak with some mashed potatoes with carrots and broccoli.
"Thanks, Stella." I murmured gratefully, sending her a thankful look.
"No problem." she answered as she left the room. "Ophelia's the one who's telling me what to do, after all."
"Ophelia is still not allowed to touch the kitchen tools?" Salvestro piped up.
"Nope." Stella answered, popping the 'p'. "Salvatore didn't give the okay yet."
"Well tell her that I said that she can." he stated. "What good is a private chef if they aren't even allowed to cook their own dishes?"
The question wasn't meant to be answered - a rhetorical question - and thankfully, no one bothered to answer it as Stella gave him a nod and scurried out of the room.
"Is Salvatore out again?" Santino piped up for the first time.
"Yeah," frowned Salvestro. "He's been busy as of late."
"Busy? With what?"
"Alicia and Rosy." he sighed. "Alicia's demanding to be let out of the house, and Salvatore has them situated in one of our many establishments to give them the privacy they want."
"So where is he?"
"Probably doing work."
"He's that busy?" Salvino asked.
"You have no idea." Salvestro answered, shaking his head. "Anyways, enough about him. Tell me, how is life?"
"Boring." we all echoed simultaneously.
Salvestor blinked. "Right, well, Sandeo. You are graduating this year, aren't you? Don't you have a grad party?"
"Not really." Sandeo said. "I can't, remember? I don't have a graduation party because I technically didn't finish."
"Wait, you aren't having a graduation party?" Salvestro asked, appalled.
"No." replied Sandeo bitterly. "Apparently, since I missed the majority of second semester, I am unable to go. Kind of stupid, but whatever."
"Oh."
I stared at him, my jaw on the floor as I gaped at my older brother.
A senior's graduation party, also known as prom, is something every student looks forward to. The fact that Sandeo is missing it... It must have hurt.
"It's fine though." Sandeo said, a weak smile on his face. "At least I still get to graduate. The fact that I missed so much and am still getting a diploma and don't have to completely redo grade twelve... It's enough for me."
No one could deny the defeat in his tone, and it only made everyone feel worse about themselves, even if we had nothing to do with it.
"I'm going to talk with Salvatore. See what I can do about it." Salvestro promised, but I'm pretty sure that the promise was a useless one even when Sandeo's eye lit up like a Christmas tree.
How would Salvatore be able to convince the principal of a school to- Oh.
I had no doubt that with just a small amount of persuasion from Salvatore, the principal would be more than glad to-
"Bambina, get that look off your face right now." scolded Salvestro, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Salvatore would never do whatever you had just thought of." Salvestro continued, and my face twisted into a disbelieving smile as I chuckled awkwardly.
Mhm, like I would ever trust that. For God's sake, if Salvatore wanted, he could literally force the entire school board to literally bow at his feet-
"Bambina, stop it right now." Salvestro reprimanded. "Salvatore wouldn't do that."
He paused for all of two seconds, before coughing. "I think."
That's not reassuring.
"You think?" Salvino repeated dryly.
"Yeah," Salvestro nodded. "I think."
"What do you mean, 'you think'." Sandeo asked. "I doubt Salvatore would do whatever Amara was thinking."
I stared at them, my jaw dropping to the floor as I watched the four brothers converse with each other as if I wasn't here.
"Hey, hold up." I interrupted as loudly as I could. "How did you know what I was think-"
"Your facial expressions say it all, Amara." Santino cut in before I could finish. "You seriously need to work on hiding them. It's so obvious to see what you are thinking."
My eyes turned into saucers. "It is?"
"Yeah," He dipped his head in a positive affirmation. "You are terrible at hiding your emotions, and it's not just me saying it."
"Anyways." Salvestro said. "Back onto topic. Sandeo, I'm sure that Salvatore will be able to convince your principal, or whoever is in charge of the prom thing to let you go to prom."
Yeah, convince. Does pointing a gun to a guy's head and force him to let your brother go to prom count as 'convince'? If it does, my entire life was a lie.
Salvestro sighed. "Not like that, Amara."
"Then like how?" I retorted. "The only way I can think of that is even plausible to what Salvatore would do is to..."
"Point a gun at our principal's head?" Salvino finished for me, being extremely helpful. It was unexpected.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Amara." Santino tutted. "Salvatore wouldn't ever do that. I think."
These people are the biggest hypocrites I know. I'm not even lying at this point.
"Wow." I muttered sarcastically. "Not even you believe it yourself."
"If you think of it that way..." Sandeo chuckled. "Then yeah."
"Salvatore wouldn't do that, Amara." Santino chimed in. "It will only be used as a last resort, so don't worry too much about it."
Last resort?
Did I just hear that right?
It will be used as a last resort? Oh my gosh, this family is going to make me go insane one day.
"Yeah, last resort." Santino repeated, as if he needed to tell me it again when I've already heard it thousands of times in my own head.
Salvestro let out a breath. "Don't worry, Bambina. Salvatore wouldn't go to those extreme measures for something as small as this. And he still has a reputation to protect, remember? He can't just go shoving knives down people's throats just because he wants to."
Right.
Kinda forgot about that.
But if Salvatore really wanted, he can technically just hire a bunch of people to threaten whoever was in charge of the prom thing. This made it so that his reputation was protected even while he was getting what he wanted. It was a win-win situation for him.
"Bambina, don't go there." Salvestro murmured exasperatedly. "Salvatore will just send in a great amount of money in the form of a donation to the school. The people will most likely try to repay him by letting Sandeo join the party even when he missed half of the school year."
"But why aren't you allowed to go?" I frowned, still not understanding.
"It's because we go to a private school, Amara." Sandeo sighed. "It's in the rule book. Something about if you miss too many classes or don't pass your grade, you don't get to go to prom. It's what encourages us to work hard and not slack off as private school parties are the best. Especially the senior graduation parties."
"That's a dumb rule." I commented.
"You can say that again." Salvino drawled, giving me an amused smirk. "I'm just glad I'm not in this idiot's year. Then I would've had to trouble Salvatore about something as small as this."
"Hey! I'm not the one troubling Salvatore." Sandeo protested. "In fact, I've never said anything about saying anything to Salvatore. It was Salvestro!"
My ears are going to explode soon. These people were so loud, and I was literally sitting right next to them as they screamed and ripped apart my eardrums.
"Can you guys please lower the volume?" I asked, but I was just ignored, only causing my own emotions to rise.
Shit.
Hormonal problems are coming!
Right then, Santino came screaming from the other side of the table, slamming his fist onto the wood as he and Sandeo jumped into a verbal sparring match. Salvino seemed to be joining as well, the three of them arguing like always.
Now, on any other day, I would just sigh. But today? Oh God, they are about to die, and I won't have any regrets. I think.
"Will you guys shut up?" I asked as kindly as possible.
When it seemed to be of no use, I stood up, the chair making a horrible creaking noise on the floor as I narrowed my eyes at the three of them.
Salvestro just stared on, shaking his head as he scooped some potato into his mouth.
"Why is it always my fault!" Sandeo growled.
My eyebrow twitched.
"I never said it was your fault!" Salvino retorted.
"Well it certainly seems like it!" Sandeo fired back. "And stop teaming up against me! It's not fair!"
"Life's not fair!" Santino yelled. "Get used to it!"
My finger twitched, and I felt my stomach contract in pain.
If they don't stop...
"Why do you care who I'm going to take to prom?" snarked Sandeo, and I felt my own eyes widen in shock even as my anger flared ever so slightly.
Why would they talk about who Sandeo was taking to-
"Just wondering who would want to go out with you of all people." Santino threw at him carelessly.
"Why you-"
"WILL YOU GUYS SHUT THE FUCK UP?" I screamed, and four pairs of surprised, steel-blue eyes turned to stare at me.
Welp, I guess there's no going back now.
***
So, I don't want to be a disappointment, but I have something to say to you all.
To put it simply, my 'tests' are coming soon (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I'd just rather not say it because it'll make me have to believe the fact that it is coming when I don't want to believe it), and I am stressing out. With the book constantly being on the back of my mind each and everyday, I am unable to focus my mind on other important matters.
I seriously considered not finish writing this chapter, but I felt like I owed my readers one last chapter, and an explanation as to why I am going to stop writing for awhile. Furthermore, it has come to may attention that it was one of my reader's birthday today,
Don't get me wrong, I will still continue writing, but I am going to be taking a slight pause, so that I can gather and focus my time on studying.
I hope you guys can understand and forgive me. I am sincerely sorry for not being able to continue at this time. I wish you all an amazing rest of your life, and I will get to the story as soon as possible.
I love you all so much, and don't wait up! I don't know how long I'll be gone.
Thank you for all the support so far, and I hope you can all forgive me. I'm so sorry.
~ CRAZY40429 💋
QotC: Do you forgive me?
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