Love Thy Enemy

Chapter 4: High School

Tommaso, Marco and Alessio are standing in front of the school when I get there. I feel drained but I have to get through the day. After all, time waits for no man.

"T'sup Ana" Tommaso walks towards me, Marco and Alessio stay behind.

"Hey" His arms go around me and he holds me tight. "You're a good hugger" I smile at the familiarity of a friend. Tommaso would never have left me.

"Looked like you might need one"

"Yeah, I did" I hold onto his warmth a bit longer before pulling back and walking towards the others.

"We missed you at the beach this morning" Marco says casually, but behind that innocence there is somewhat of an accusatory tone. The beach, could I forget? I've been so caught up in... my enemy's blood. I look to my feet, a bit ashamed.

"I know. I just... I got in late yesterday and..." But I have no excuse, not without admitting to my crimes. Marco storms inside the school, leaving Tommaso standing beside me, a hand on my back, and Alessio in front of me. Alessio's jaw is set and his hands keep fisting and unfisting like he is trying to keep his cool

"You got in late yesterday?" Alessio mocks, putting out his cigarette. The question is a rhetorical one, but I still answer.

"Yeah" I snap, looking right at him. Alessio pushes off from the wall he'd been leaning against, his expression changing from disappointed to furious in half a second.

"So? Were you too tired to remember our mom's funerals?" Tommaso lets go of my lower back and kissed me on the cheek. I expect him to say something to Alessio but instead he tells me he will wait for me inside.

Tommaso leaves and it now it's just me and Alessio going toe to toe

"You know what, Alessio, I don't have to explain to you why I forgot to wake up at six in the morning to watch you cry on a beach" I snap back, I can fight my own goddamn battles. Alessio takes a threatening step closer.

"Ha!" he laughs humorlessly, "do you remember what we told each other five months ago? Or are you too tired to remember?" Five month ago we made our vow to never forget.

"Tutti giorni fino a che giustizia sara' servita" every day until justice has been served

"And has justice been served?" he asks, pointing to the sky as though God were the answer to his problems, as though God were more powerful than the Locals. I shove him hard, willing him to fall.

"No! But just because our mothers were killed doesn't mean I have to stop living"

"Oh please, you're alive enough! I saw you at their bar, last night, I was on that fucking beach!" Alessio's eyes burn holes in mine, but they don't make me want to hide, they make me want to punch him. I am so angry I am shaking. Veste wasn't the only friend who left me on that beach, Alessio left me too.

"You don't know what you saw. You have no clue, what happened last night"

"No, and apparently neither do you, so let me fill you in, you were fucking one of them, right out in the opened like it was the best time of your life" Suddenly I become aware of everyone watching us, school mates and teachers alike.

"Keep your voice down!" I hiss, looking around at my classmates who are no doubt starving for a peak behind the curtain. "What are you talking about?" I whisper, suddenly realizing that Alessio had seen what I have forgotten.

"Oh, so you really don't remember? You, topless and looking like a rotten whore as some douche licked his way to-" But before he can finish that sentence, a fist connects with his face, bringing him to his knees. I hear the sound of bone cracking before meeting the man in front of me.

"I knew we would be seeing a lot of each other," Valentino greets me. Fuck