BitterSweet

CHAPTER NINE

AURELIA FARIS BLACK

Last night was a mess and after all of that all I wanted was to just sleep. Nate came in right before I fell asleep and apologized. I just wanted everything to be over.

I sigh as I tie my hair into a high ponytail. It's the day after and I'm honestly so scared to face them. I cringe when a minor cut on the tip of my finger starts bleeding. I grab a wet towel and apply pressure. I look outside my window- it's still dark out but the ends of the grass are highlighted by the sun. I turn away and head downstairs, trying to act normal like last night didn't exist.

Lucien is standing at the bottom of the stairs and I almost cringe. I try to ignore him and walk past him like normal but his arms block me. I look up.

" I'm sorry," he apologizes. " I'm sorry for how I reacted yesterday. It was immature of me" he says as hugs me and places his chin to the top of my head.

I hug him back " It's okay." I reply but It comes out uneven. A moment of silence goes by, " I think you should apologize to the wall you punched though." I say in a joking manner.

" I sure should" he chuckles and I grin.

" I should go eat breakfast, I'm starving "I pull away, giving him a smile before leaving.

I walk under the arch and Alessandro appears. I look away, trying to look busy as I adjust the apple watch around my wrist, Lucian bought it for me back when we went shopping. I glance over at where Lucien punched the wall. Wow, it is already fixed. Rich people things.

" Aurelia, are you sure you are okay with starting school today? You know, after yesterday?" Alessandro appears in front of me, slightly crouching.

" Yes," I answered. I don't want to delay school just because of this. " I'm okay, I can handle school."

He looks at me giving me a chance to change my mind before agreeing. He hands me a plate of blueberry pancakes. I smile internally seeing the slightly burnt edges. He must've made this. I thank him and go sit at the dinner table. I ate the whole thing, I'm pretty sure Alessandro decreased the portion size after yesterday.

By the way, the pancakes were actually disgusting.

Hera comes down soon and cringes when she sees the pancakes. She walks away, grabbing a croissant instead. I wave at her and she just stares into me. Her eyes flutter close before she reopens them. She smiles at me then looks away. She seems really tired.

...

I walk into school and everything is so clean and fresh. They must've just mopped the floor since it's still slightly wet. Nate dropped us off.

" Here I can take you to your first class." Hera says, gesturing to me to follow her. I grab onto the handle on her backpack and she leads me through the crowd.

After being shoved and shoving multiple people we finally ended up in front of my first class: AP Language.

She hugs me and leaves. I walk in. The class is still pretty empty, about 6 desks occupied out of about 25.

I grab out a pencil and I wait until class starts. It doesn't take long for the bell to ring. The bell sounds so different, better than the one at our old school. The one at my old school was too quiet and most times you wouldn't hear it over the students.

A guy walks in, seemingly unaware of the bell already rung. He puts away his phone and scans the room. It lands on me. The teacher gives him a glare but doesn't bother to say anything.