December 3rd, 2019
"I don't get it," I mumbled to myself, setting down my pencil and paper a little too roughly.
Alan had gotten some of our homework from Harry, who'd texted him the assignments and whatnot. I'd asked Harry to send my maths assignment, but I was quickly regretting that choice. I'd missed the last two weeks of school, and I was severely behind. I already struggled with math, I didn't need to be worse.
"Hey, it's fine, I'll help you," Alan offered, scooting closer to me on the bed. He pointed to one of the problems I was working on. "It's synthetic division, so you draw the little box and the line, and put the negative three in there," He squinted at the paper momentarily. "And then you fill in the blanks,"
I frowned, trying to follow his instructions but failing. "Fill in the blanks... how?"
Alan pointed to the equation. "It's really just multiplication here," he said. "You multiply the coefficients by the x value and then add them at the bottom. Here, like this," He grabbed my pencil, flipping over my paper and walking me through an example problem, making sure I understood every step. "Does that make sense?" he asked after I'd messily done one of my own.
"Yes, I think so," I answered slowly. "Grazie,"
"Sure," he replied casually. "Help me with English later?"
I giggled softly. "Deal,"
The room went quiet again as Alan and I went back to work, Eli and Cato both absorbed in their laptops. Cato had made it clear that the boys weren't allowed to fall behind on schoolwork, so the three of us had agreed to spend some time working on it. He'd said I didn't have to, but I thought it was only fair. I didn't want to get any farther behind anyway.
A knock on the door echoed throughout the room, making my head turn up as it opened, Felix, Des, and Emilio standing in the doorway.
"Is Neo okay?" I asked immediately, fear wrenching in my gut.
Felix nodded, forcing a small smile. "Yeah, he's fine. He gets out tomorrow,"
"He's been asking about you," Emilio said with a grin, which made me feel a lot better.
"What are you doing here?" Cato asked in a low voice, rising to his feet.
Felix surprisingly kept his cool, not retaliating. "We'd like to speak with Mia if that's alright with her,"
I glanced at Cato briefly before turning away and nodding. He looked half-ready to answer 'no' for me. But I think I wanted to talk to them too. Felix had helped me that night. He'd probably saved my life by letting us go.
"No," Alan interrupted, clenching his fists. "Hell no,"
"Alan, it's fine," I told him, my voice clipped. I watched him scowl but didn't object any further. "Can you guys give us a minute?" I asked my brothers shyly.
Cato nodded grimly. "Okay," he said reluctantly. "But we'll be right outside the door," His eyes shifted to the Mendosas. "No offence,"
Felix had a loose grin on his lips. "None taken,"
Eli squeezed my hand as he crossed the room. "Holler if you need anything, okay?"
I nodded as the three of them left, looking mildly upset about leaving. Alan lingered for a moment longer, giving me a wistful glance before he shut the door after him.
"I promise we're not here to hurt you," Emilio said quickly, looking genuinely remorseful.
"We came to apologise," Felix clarified. "Look, I know there is absolutely no excuse for what we did, and we shouldn't have done it. It was cruel and a giant mistake. And... and we're sorry," he finished, glancing at me.

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Reconstructing Amelia (unedited)
Teen FictionMia Albright can't remember anything before the age of four. No parents, no family, nothing. Living in a small town in Italy with her younger brother and a dead sister, Mia is hidden away by her abusive foster father. When Mia moves to New York, she...