Lost in Shadows, Found in Family (A Mafia Reunion Story)

New Friend

Aspen POV

"You two are the new kids, huh," the old lady said as she came up to our table.

"Yes, ma'am," Ashton and I said at the same time. She narrowed her eyes at us and slapped two packets of papers on my table, signaling that one of them was for Ashton. I nodded my head as I handed him a packet and muttered a thank you.

"I have a feeling she doesn't really like us," Ashton whispered to me. I smiled in agreement but was really a little disheartened. I can't believe it's only the first period, and we already got someone to hate us.

"Don't worry about it, she hates everyone," a voice from behind startled me. I turned my head to be met with a guy with a huge smile and fluffy brown hair enveloping his features.

"You sure about that? She seemed to really despise our guts the moment we walked in," Ashton responded.

"Nah, you're good. She's just worse with y'all cuz you're new," the other guy responded. Ashton nodded his head and then seemed to remember something.

"Oh, I'm Ashton, by the way," he said.

"I'm Maven, but you can call me Mave," the guy said, smiling. He then raised his eyebrow at me and asked as if he were from the 1900s, "And this young lady? What would her name be?"

I stiffened and cursed myself for not being able to respond. He's just a boy, he won't hurt me....he probably thinks I'm a coward.....he probably thinks I'm ugly and-

"This is Aspen, my sister," Ashton told him while clasping his hand over mine from under the table, easing my nerves. Mave looked at me a little weird for not replying to him but seemed to shake it off as he continued to talk to my brother.

Turns out we have had second period with Mave, too, but this time we made sure to sit next to him instead of in front of him. Even though he and I weren't exactly friends like him and Ashton probably were at this point, the fact that Ash felt comfortable with him made me feel reassured. I was happy he didn't force me to talk to him, and I was especially happy that Ash seemed to really like him.

Since we have Lunch A, it is right after second period, Ash and I followed Mave to the Cafeteria.

"Y'all should sit with me," Mave said as he was approaching a table. Of all guys. There were four other boys sitting there glancing at us. I took a step back as Ash looked at me and without a second to spare, he answered.

"Nah, it's ok. We have to check with our counselor about something, and that'll probably take most of the lunch period," he said while smiling at them, "Thanks for the offer, though."

Once we were out of sight, he squeezed my hand and led me to an empty table on the other side of the cafeteria, the one furthest away from Mave's table.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Excuse me? No. You shouldn't be sorry for anything,"

"No, but you finally made a friend, and we could've just sat with them, and it would've been fine, and you would've had fun, and-"

"Stop it, Aspen. I would never have fun if I knew you were uncomfortable. You come before anyone and anything else. Honestly, I shouldn't have even gotten close to Mave, I'm sorry,"

"No, no! Mave is okay...h-he's nice, I think," I said softly. I looked up to see Ash smiling and nodding.

"Ok, Mave is nice, but we're not ready for his big bulky friends yet," he said, chuckling softly.

"Yea, who knows? They could really hurt your pure soul Ashy," I said, punching him softly. What would I ever do without him by my side? But one thing's for sure, I need to get over this stupid fear.

Since we technically did not have to meet our counselor, the two of us just ate our lunch together, keeping an eye out in case Mave spotted us.

After lunch, we walked to third period, and Mave found us right before we were about to roam around the entire building trying to find our class.

"Heyyy, follow me, my dear friends," he said as he cut between us to go ahead, implying for us to follow him. How he found us? I have no clue. Was I grateful? Hell, yea.

Since the three of us also had third period together, we sat next to each other again. It went smoothly, but I still didn't manage to say a single word to Mave yet, even though I could tell it was bothering him.

It was finally nearing the end of class, and I was putting my books into my backpack when I felt Ash tapping me on the shoulder.

"Do you want me to walk you to your class?" he asked. We didn't have last period together and I tried not to let it get to my head so that I wouldn't have a mental breakdown.

"No it's okay, your class is the completely opposite way and you would be late if you walked me there," I replied, trying to sound confident.

"You think I care? It's fine," he said.

"No, you're not going to be late on the first day. It's okay, I need to learn the way myself anyway," I said, firm in my words. He nodded hesitantly and we walked out of our class. He squeezed my hand as we separated and I was on my way to find this cursed History class of mine. I kept walking with my head down when I realized I was officially lost. Of course I was. I was about to retrace my steps when I felt my head smack into a body. I quickly looked up while rubbing my head and saw that it was one of the boys from Mave's table.

"Watch where you're going, will you," he snarled without taking as much as a glance at me.

"Excuse me? You're the one who bumped into me," I said, slightly ticked off. He looked at me, well down at me because he's about two heads taller than me. And then he took a couple steps closer to me, and as much as I wanted to back away, I hated that he would be able to tell I was scared. Fake it till I make it. I was still not able to look at him, but it took all my strength to not run away.

"Aren't you the little chick who Mave asked to sit with us at lunch? Probably saw us and chickened out, huh?" he said, smirking. I felt my ears burn, because he was right. I did chicken out. I was about to walk away when he grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face him. I stumbled in shock and almost screeched from the feel of his hand around my arm. He looked at me annoyed and pushed me against the wall before smirking and walking away. I winced as I felt my side throb. The stab wound still didn't heal and that shove did more damage than I thought it would.

"Pfft, look at you. Already getting bullied?" I heard a voice say. I looked up to see Ezekiel looking at me. I widened my eyes at his words and backed away, concealing the pain from my wound.

"I mean, it's only inevitable considering how pathetic you are. Did your dear brother also get sick of you? Is that why he left you?" he mocked. I bit my tongue to keep myself from saying anything and lifted my head to show him my defiance. Soon, some other boys trailed beside Ezekiel, and when he saw them, they just started walking away as if I never even existed.

Once I finally found my class, I was already five minutes late and I looked for an empty seat with my head hanging low. I barely even acknowledged the teacher and just put my head on the desk, making sure no one could see my face.

"C'mon, it's only been a couple minutes since I left you alone, did you miss me that much?" I heard that familiar voice say. I lifted my head from my desk to be met with Mave's playful smile. The smile dropped the moment he saw my face.

"What happened?" he asked in confusion. I just turned away and put my head back down. I heard him sigh and felt his eyes burning holes into my head. Please don't say anything, please don't say anything, please don't say anything. 

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Love,

Day Lilac ♡