Arabella D'Angelo is just a shell of a girl, a mere presence floating through the halls of her Los Angeles home. Her once bright grey eyes and sunshine-like spirit was crushed by the weight of her abusive parents.
Living in a constant state of fear...
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The sight of the dark school uniform laid on the fluffy levender duvet of my bed did nothing to lessen the uneasiness brewing within me. There was a churning feeling growing in my stomach, making me feel the urge to throw up.
My gaze moved over to the digital clock resting on the nightstand, displaying the number six in glowing white light. It was six in the morning, who on planet earth goes to school this early? The school I read in back in Los Angeles definitely did not start this early. But this should be least of my worries, considering the series of events that were about to occur today one after another.
It has been a month since I arrived in Italy and met my estranged brothers. If you you had told me an year ago that I was going to start living with a family other than my mother, I would have deemed you as insane. This was, no doubt, the most unpredicted change in my sixteen years of life and surprisingly enough, I am more than grateful for it.
My brothers are extremely patient with me in every matter, something no one in my life has been with me other than my bestfriend. All five of them are similar, but very different at the same time. They sometimes hesitate to show emotions and doubt themselves if they are taking good care of me, but calms down when I assure them that they are doing a great job.
And now after weeks of staying at home and doing nothing other than eating and sleeping, it was time to start focusing on my studies. Originally, I was suppose to attend school after a week of my arrival here but after the truth of my not-so-good past got revealed, Damon decided to give me some time to adjust and heal. It worked, the bruises which were refusing to heal before had now faded away, just like the pain. Some scars are still there but they aren't as prominent and visible as before. Elijah said they will take a bit more time to go away.
Nonetheless, I am relieved by how things turned out. The fact that they were so understanding about my whole situation and helped me through my whole recovery was really heart-warming. Though there are still times when I get nightmares, they aren't that bad or severe.
However, what I am not relieved about is the fact that I have to attend school again. A whole new place with new kinds of people, it sounds like an endless nightmare to me.
The idea of communicating with unfamiliar people is nerve-wracking, but I am desperately trying to psych myself up to make adjustments with my new reality. School is really tedious itself and when you are friendless and lonely, it gets even more tedious. I really need to get out of my comfort zone and try to socialise with people more, for my own sake this time.
The black pleated skirt fell right above my knees, tightening around my waist perfectly. I buttoned up the white shirt up to my collarbone and tucked it inside the skirt neatly, slipping my legs inside a pair of opaque tights. After wearing the dark blazer with a small brooch of the school's logo on it, I walked towards the tall mirror lined beside the window bay of my room.
