𝐆𝐈𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐎, a young girl who's never known stability. Raised by a reckless, unstable mother, she spent her childhood caught between drug runs and police raids, ruining her right for a normal childhood. One night when her mother go...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"You're never going to believe what he tried to do next, Gia," James gossiped like he was one of my girl friends.
"What?" I asked, kicking my feet up onto my bed as he told me every bit of how this rookie at the station messed up for the 5th time this week. I placed my phone on speaker as I laid in my bed.
I missed chatting with him, venting about little stuff in my life that used to piss me off. Now it just doesn't feel the same.
James sighed dramatically into the phone. "Alright, Gia, enough about me, spill. How is it there?"
I groaned, rolling my eyes at the thought. "I start school tomorrow,"
"Damn, so early?" He mumbles.
I know right.
"Yeah, you know it's just... it had to happen sometime I guess." I muttered, fiddling with the ends of the blanket beneath me.
James sighed. "Gia just remember, you don't have to get used to things that suck, yeah?"
I exhaled, leaning back against my bed. "Yeah, yeah. I know."
There was a beat of silence, then James' voice softened. "And your brothers? Are they... I mean, they're treating you alright?"
I hesitated. My usual comeback sat on the tip of my tongue, but for some reason, I didn't say it. Instead, I stared at my ceiling, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"...Yeah," I said finally. "It's fine."
James didn't answer right away. "Gia."
I forced a laugh, fiddling with the bracelet Luca had gifted me yesterday. "What? It's not like they've locked me in a tower or anything."
James sighed but didn't push. "Alright. Just making sure."
There was a beat of silence over the phone, the sound of multiple phones ringing in the background, indicating that he was at work.
I heard his name called, then a small crash sound.
"For fucks sake," he mumbled under his breath.
"Look, I gotta go Gia, this idiot got his head stuck in the vending machine."
I buried my head in my pillow, muffling my laugh.
He chuckled on the phone, I could practically see him shaking his head. "Take care of yourself, yeah Gia?"
"Yeah," I mumbled. "You too."
I hung up the phone, flopping on the bed.
I haven't spoken to Rafael since our tense exchange last week, and his absence from my daily routine is almost eerie. It's as if he's mastered the art of disappearing within the same walls we share. Ace, on the other hand, doesn't even bother with subtlety—his disregard for my presence is deliberate, almost calculated.
