Low Blow
POV: Elena
I found out that during the attack at the birthday party, my uncle Salvatore was shot in the shoulder and needed surgery.
The others preferred not to tell me when I woke up because they were afraid that I would get sick because of the head injury.
Two days after the party, I managed to talk to Anabela, who told me that she had been saved by her brothers and that she had broken her arm when she was thrown by the explosion.
I told her that I had been saved by a boy and she started making up romantic stories based on that.
This amused me and distracted me from the atmosphere in the house.
Since the attack, everyone has been tense as if someone would knock on the door and start shooting at any moment.
Anabela tells me that things are the same at her house, according to the information she has, the Americans were responsible for the attack at the party.
And I remember Lorenzo's conversation with uncles Salvatore and Carlo.
At that moment, I am sitting on the sofa watching a television series that I don't understand very well.
The others are gathered in the basement as usual. I decide not to interfere in their affairs, but the fact that I live with almost twenty people and don't even see their faces bothers me.
I get up from the couch and go to the kitchen, find one of the maids and ask her to help me prepare dinner for tonight.
The mandatory dinner didn't happen on Monday, so I decide that it will be today.
I discover that the maid's name is Lauren and she is a very nice woman. We talk about her life, she studies gastronomy and has a four-year-old daughter.
We finish dinner at eight o'clock sharp and now it's time for the hard part.
My relatives are in the basement and I can't go there. But I miss them and that won't get in my way.
Lauren wishes me luck, well, so do I because I'm going to need it
I walk to the elevator and press the button for the basement, taking a deep breath as the elevator descends, praying that this will work.
The door opens only to show me an iron door that, luckily, is open.
I enter cautiously, ready to flee at the slightest sign of danger.
The first person I meet, luckily for me, is Grandma. She looks at me in surprise before changing her gaze to one of irritation.
I stop walking and wait for her to come to me.
"What are you doing here, Elena?" she asks me angrily.
"I wanted to see my family," I say in the same tone as her.
She looks at me shocked, both by what I said and by me using the word family with them for the first time out loud.
"I understand that you are busy, but I miss you," I admit sincerely. "You miss dinner every day, you don't show up for lunch or breakfast."
"We are sorry, Elena, but we really need to resolve this urgently," she says. "It is to protect the family."
"And in the process you have to distance yourself from each other? What is the point of all this effort if you end up losing the very thing you are trying to protect?" I ask, unable to hide the hurt in my tone.
I sigh and run my hands through my hair.
"I made dinner, if you want to eat, come upstairs before it gets cold." I turn away, leaving Grandma standing there staring at me.
I go back to the kitchen and sit alone at the table. I wait for them for a whole hour, but none of them show up.
I eat alone and then ask Lauren to put away the leftovers or take them home.
I go up to my room and lock the door. Now I'm the one who doesn't want their company.
I wake up with a nightmare churning in my stomach, I run to the bathroom and throw up all my dinner.
I've been like this since the day of the attack.
The nightmares had disappeared since one of the boys always slept with me, but now they don't have time to help me with it and so I wake up like this every night.
I look at the clock and it's two in the morning, it's early to start the day, but I won't be able to sleep anyway.
I take a shower, put my hair in a braid, put on jeans and a black button-up blouse.
I grab my school bag and go down to the living room.
I leave my bag by the front door and go to the kitchen, I make a chocolate cake and pancakes for breakfast.
By four in the morning, I have everything ready and the table set, not that anyone is going to have breakfast with me.
I stay on the phone until six in the morning when I hear a sign of life from the others.
The first one to enter the kitchen is Vicente, he greets me, but I ignore him.
The others gradually arrive and when it's seven thirty, to my surprise, everyone is in the kitchen.
"Good morning Elena," my grandmother says and I take a deep breath so as not to freak out.
"Good morning," I reply without emotion. "I'm going back to school today," I say and everyone looks at me.
"I haven't authorized your return yet," Lorenzo says harshly.
I look at him angrily.
My God, I'm seconds away from exploding.
"I can't stay in this house anymore, Lorenzo," I say calmly, even though my blood is boiling. "You're all busy and I'm alone here and I'm going to freak out if I continue."
"This isn't an argument, Elena," Lorenzo says harshly.
"Exactly, because I never asked you to," I say, standing up, my self-control slipping away.
He also stands up and stops in front of me.
"You will not leave this house until I authorize it, I am your guardian if you don't remember" He says with his arms crossed and no one from my family interferes.
"And as my guardian I have full right to education and learning, and depriving me of that could take away your custody" I say showing him that this game doesn't work with me.
"No one will take you and you will be left unsupervised there" Lorenzo says already losing his patience.
"I can walk and I am old enough to take care of myself" I say irritably and walk around him.
"Do you remember what happened last time at school, are you sure you know how to take care of yourself?" He says coldly and could easily have punched me in the stomach.
I turn to him in disbelief at what he said and my gaze goes blank.
"And even with supervision, none of you can stop what happened to me, so it doesn't make the slightest difference" I say somberly and see that I hurt him the same way he hurt me now.
I leave the kitchen and grab my backpack. I slam the door before leaving the house.