School
POV: Elena
They had been knocking on my door all afternoon.
Lorenzo arrived first, apologized and said he was sorry for what he had done. I didn't believe a word of it.
Then Vicente knocked on the door, said he knew I was upset and just wanted to know if everything was okay. I didn't answer.
Sandro arrived shortly after, at dinner time. He asked me if I wanted dinner and that he could bring it to my room if I didn't want to come down. I ignored him too.
The last one to arrive was Luca, he knocked and asked me if I could open the door for him because everyone was already very worried and he just wanted to see me.
And at that moment I was debating whether or not I should answer.
I finally decided it was either that or they would break down the door. I put my sketchbook in the drawer and went to open the door.
I dragged my bed back into place and let him in. I sat down against the headboard and hugged my knees.
"Hey, piccola," he says when he sees me and takes a step closer, and I flinch.
I curse myself for it, but at least he understands that I don't want him to come near me.
"I'm fine, you can go now," I say quietly.
"Let me see your face," he says and shows me an ice pack. "I brought this in case it hurts."
I look at him suspiciously and then look up. His eyes darken when he sees the mark on my cheek.
I reach out to take the pack when he doesn't move.
"He didn't mean any harm, Elena," Luca says, but I don't feel like listening to Lorenzo's comments.
If he didn't mean any harm, he shouldn't have done it in the first place.
"I'm tired, please go away," I beg, placing the ice pack on my face.
The relief is almost immediate and I can't help but groan in satisfaction at the taste of the ice.
Luca watches everything with concern, but I won't fall for these games.
He finally realizes that I don't want his company anymore and leaves without saying anything else to me.
I wake up from a nightmare, my screams still ringing in my ears as I jump out of bed, waiting for the slap, waiting for the pain.
When I convince myself that it wasn't real, I decide to go get ready for school.
I lock myself in the bathroom and take a shower, I take care of the cut on my shoulder and some wounds that are on my thighs and stomach. They are almost healing, the cut on my shoulder, on the other hand, is red and sore.
I look at my cheek in the mirror, the swelling has gone down, but it is still a little red.
I cover the bruise with makeup and put on one of my clothes that are in the closet, well separated from the ones they bought for me.
I go down to the kitchen and find Lorenzo and Sandro there like the other day.
"Good morning Elena" Sandro greets me and I wave.
He offers me some of the omelet he is making, but I refuse and just grab an apple.
Lorenzo watches me, but doesn't say anything and I prefer it that way. I don't want his fake excuses and I don't want to talk to him.
Leonardo soon enters with a smile on his face followed by Eloisa.
Sandro chokes on Eloisa's clothes and Lorenzo looks at her disapprovingly.
"Go change," he orders coldly and I move a little further away from him.
"But I like my clothes," Eloisa protests.
She is wearing a plaid miniskirt and a very transparent white blouse.
"I didn't ask Eloisa, go before you're late," Lorenzo repeats impatiently.
She leaves stomping her feet and I understand why Leonardo was laughing, she knew exactly what was going to happen.
I remain silent while we wait for Eloisa to return, putting on some more clothes. She appears half an hour later wearing pants and a tight blouse, but that doesn't show her breasts.
We leave with her complaining, saying that in her old house she could wear whatever she wanted and that the boys oppressed her.
Leonardo ignored us while Sandro tried to explain that it wasn't like that.
When we got to school, Leonardo left us as if he didn't know us. Sandro accompanied us to the principal's office to get our schedules.
I noticed a clear change in my two brothers' attitudes.
Eloisa was acting like the typical spoiled girl, trying to show off that she had money. While Sandro had a mean face and almost a dangerous aura around him.
He got our schedules and I thanked the heavens for having different classes than Eloisa. I didn't have a class with her and she seemed happy about it.
I grabbed the school map and went to my first class.
I managed to get there before the teacher and sat in the back of the room, next to a red-haired girl with blue eyes.
She smiled at me and introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Anabela," she said in English, but I could tell her accent was strong.
"It's a pleasure, my name is Elena," I say, and then ask curiously, "You're not from around here, are you?"
"I'm from Spain," she replies.
"I've never visited, but I find the language fascinating," I say cheerfully.
I speak to her in Spanish and then we switch back to English. She seems like a really nice girl, she tells me she's studying here because her parents moved there for business.
I tell her I've moved to live with my brothers, but I don't mention their names or that they study here. The more distance I can keep from them, the better.
My schedule and hers are the same, and that's great, because I'm not good at making friends and having her around can be good.
The class goes by quickly, my brothers have signed me up for basic Italian because they think I don't speak the language, but I'm not going to show them that I'm fluent in it. Not yet, at least.
I stay with Anabela until lunchtime, when she pulls me to sit at a table with two other girls and a boy.
She introduces me to Liam, Breanna, Carla, and Vivian, they've been friends for a long time from what I can tell and are happy to have me.
"Well, I'm going to show you the social ladder of the school, so you can learn how to survive a lot easier." Breanna says and I pay attention.
"The three main groups are the rich, the players, and the cheerleaders," she begins to explain seriously. "Sometimes they're part of more than one group at the same time."
Anabela nods and Carla laughs.
"Anabela is the only exception. She could be part of the rich group, but she prefers not to mix with those people." Carla says calmly, smiling.
I look at Anabela, assessing her. Her clothes and accessories are of good quality, but not ostentatious. She definitely has money.
"Let me finish," Breanna complains and starts talking again. "The rich group is made up of those people over there." She looks at a table where my brothers are.
I swallow hard and nod.
"The Valentinis literally rule everything here. They're almost kings, but they don't let just anyone get close." Vivian comments "They're also part of the sports group."
"The others are the Ferrari, in this case Anabela's brothers," Breanna continues "They're not as rich as the Valentinis, but they're good friends."
I look at the table and see two boys there talking to my brothers.
"Cheerleaders are the worst breed, they are sluts by nature" Carla says and everyone at the table agrees.
"Anything I should know?" I ask because of their reaction.
"Just don't mess with any of the rich kids and everything will be fine. They will never know you exist" Anabela says looking at the food.
There is something she is not telling me. But it is her story, not mine, I will not get involved.
The girls explain to me more about how the school works and who I should and should not talk to to avoid problems.
In the end I decide that just talking to them will be enough.We are talking when Eloisa enters the cafeteria accompanied by the cheerleaders.
I have to hold back a laugh when I remember Carla's phrase about them being sluts. Well, Eloisa found her own people.
Luckily, Eloisa doesn't even notice my presence. I know she doesn't want her image associated with me, and that's fine.
She walks over to our siblings' table and sits down next to Sandro, who kisses her on the cheek. Everyone in the cafeteria watches, and I wonder what their reaction would be if they found out I was also the Valentini's sister.
As I watch, I see Leonardo's gaze wander around the cafeteria until he finds me. He nods discreetly and then goes back to talking, making faces every time Eloisa opens her mouth.
"I heard she's their sister," Vivian says, holding up a fried cockroach.
"I heard they're twins," Carla says, and everyone looks around the cafeteria for the other girl.
I've never been so happy to be so different from Eloisa.
"If she looks like her sister, she must be seeing some guy somewhere," Liam says for the first time, making me laugh.
"She must be," I agree, even though I know he's talking about me.