Demure

|| 𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐑𝐎 ||

               An alarm clock went off, blaring. "Time for school!" A woman with a sweet voice calls out as she knocks on Santiago's wooden door. "Get up, Mijo. You'll be late for school." She said before Santiago let out a groan. "A-a few more minut-" He muttered before going back to sleep. His bedroom door opened aggressively by the hand of his father. "Mijo! Listen to your mother the first time, or you will get a beating!" A man with a deep voice said angrily, disappointed by his son. Santiago's eyes opened instantly and he fell off his bed, onto the dark brown wooden floor. "Y-yessir!" He said, rubbing his eyes and stood up.

               "S-Santi! Guess what!" A little boy said, running into Santiago's room. "What do you want, Emilio?" Santi asked with his morning voice as he grabbed his school uniform from his closet. "You stink! Ha Ha!" He laughed out before running off. "Fuck off." Santi said annoyedly before Emilio yelled out, "Dad! Santi said a bad word!" "Emilio-" Santiago tried to take back quickly. Footsteps approached his bedroom door and Santi stood there in fear. "Why are you using bad language in front of your brother? You're supposed to be better than that." His father said in his deep voice, scaring Santi. "S-sorry, dad." He said, still facing his closet with fear. "Don't do it again." His father said before walking off.

               After getting ready for school, Santiago went downstairs to their kitchen. Their personal chef, cooking a gourmet breakfast for them. "I'll be skipping breakfast today, grazie." Santi said with a fake smile. He added before heading to school.

                Rafael headed downstairs to find Jackie preparing breakfast. "Um...why does it smell like something's burnt?" He questioned his sister as his nose took in big whiffs of air. "Pancakes for breakfast, just like how mom made them." She said with a big smile, putting a towel over her shoulder, staring at a pile of pancakes on a plate. Rafael eyed them and raised an eyebrow. "Hurry! Try them." She insisted, putting her hands on her hips, very proud of herself. Rafael hesitantly gulped and poured a drizzle of maple syrup onto a hard, darker than normal, pancake. He took a deep breath, praying he won't die, and bit into it. It took him every inch of him to not throw anything up, he swallowed and took deep breathes. "Mmm, a c-crunchy...pancake..." He said with a fake smile and tapped the pancake with his fork, clink clink. "I'm not that hungry Jackie, but thanks for the pancakes!" He said hurriedly grabbing his lunch bag and headed out the door. "Wha-" Jackie said as she shrugged. "More for me." She smiled and started eating them.

               After locking up his bike on the bike rack, Rafael had his headphones on, listening to music. He looked up and saw Joey, he greeted him with a smile. He took off his headphones and wrapped them around his neck. "Hey Joey, You okay?" He asked full of concern. A sigh left Joey's mouth and he nodded with a slight smile. "I'm okay, just worried about Val." He said with a lot of worry in his voice. "How is she doing?" Rafael asked, playing with his headphone wire. "She is...going through a lot." Joey said before Rafael interrupted. "I got you dude, I can help you take care of her." He said insistingly. "Thanks, Rafael." Joey nodded and headed inside the school.

               The bell had rung for first period. Inside Literature class, back in the seats they had the other day, Rafael had sat next to Joey. He looked over to Valeria's seat and had noticed she wasn't there. All he saw was Santiago sitting in the seat next to hers. "Wher-" Rafael started to ask before she walked through the classroom door. Her hair up in a messy ponytail, no makeup on her face, and her button up not buttoned up properly. Everyone had a sense of confusion as they saw Valeria and silence filled the room, even Mrs. Fuente didn't say a word. Everyone. Speechless.

               "I'm not sitting next to him." Valeria said with no emotion, pointing towards Santi. "I-" He muttered before Valeria spoke again. "I said, I'm not sitting next to him." She repeated, trying not to break down in front of the class. "O-Okay, can someone switch seats with Valeria?" Mrs. Fuente asked before Rafael quickly grabbed his backpack and sat in her seat, next to Santiago. Without a thanks, Valeria sat next to her brother and laid her head down on the table.