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...
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A voice cut through the haze of sleep, followed by a not so gentle shake of my shoulder. I groaned, curling further into my blanket.
"Go away," I mumbled, my voice muffled by my pillow.
"Not happening," Luca said, his voice way too chipper for this hour.
Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away.
No such luck.
"Come on," Luca's voice is closer now, too close. "You don't wanna be late, do you?"
I peek out from under my blanket just enough to glare at him. "I do, actually."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, too bad."
With an exaggerated sigh, I sat up and threw my blanket off. Luca stepped back as I dragged myself out of bed, my limbs heavy with exhaustion. I didn't do mornings. I hated mornings. And having to wake up for school just made it worse.
I shuffle toward the bathroom, not bothering to say anything else. Frizzy and untamed strands stick out of my bun and my eyebrows look all bunched up. How pretty I am. I lift my loose t shirt and observe. At least I get to appreciate my morning skinny though.
I splash cold water on my face and fix up my hair. I felt slightly more human and less like a troll awaking from it's slumber—until I stepped out and saw Luca still there, sitting at the edge of my bed leaned back on his elbows.
I frowned. "Why are you still here?"
Luca shrugged. "Wanted to talk to you about last night."
I tensed. Of course he did.
"Listen Lia—"
"No Luca, I don't want to talk about it. I get it. He hates me and it's fine." I cut him off, mumbling the last part more to myself.
Luca sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "This was not how everything was supposed to go," he muttered under his breath.
I furrowed my eyebrows, "What do you mean?"
Luca sat up straighter, running a hand through his hair. He looked... frustrated. Not at me, but at the situation.
"I mean—" He hesitated, like he was trying to figure out how much to say. "We're supposed to be happy now." He said under his breath.
I blinked. "What do you mean?"
Luca let out a humorless laugh, shaking his head. "When we found out you were coming to live with us, we talked about it—about how we needed to make sure you felt... welcome."
I scoffed. "Yeah, well, great job with that."
He visibly winced.
"I know. Damon was—" He exhaled sharply. "Damon was never supposed to act like that."
