Missing ↝ ÉLITE ²

THREE

CHAPTER THREE
Careful

SITTING AT HOME watching Handy Manny wasn't exactly Arlo's idea of a fun Saturday, but there wasn't anywhere else she'd rather be. Diego lay his head in the girl's lap while Izzy was up in her room, probably on her phone.

Manuel and Esme were currently upstairs, packing. They were about to leave on another business trip, leaving the three Calero siblings home alone again. Part of Arlo was glad, they looked at her like some kind of breakable object– worried that if they mentioned Marina's name or the school, she'd crack. But at the same time, she couldn't blame them. Having one of your close friends die in front of you while being covered in their blood wasn't something you could just get over in one night.

Alma came out of the kitchen with a small smile as she handed her and Diego two bowls of cut up fruit. Arlo smiled at the woman. "Thanks, Alma. You do too much."

Alma winked at the girl and briefly placed a hand on her cheek. "It's no problem, Lo. You've been stressing since school started."

Arlo leaned up and kissed the woman on the cheek, disturbing Diego's peace on her lap. As she sat back down, her phone started to ring and she glanced down to see it was Samuel. The girl licked her lips before telling Diego she'd be back before she ran up to her room to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Lo, you're on speaker with Rebe." Samuel explained.

"Hey, girl." Rebeca chirped.

"Hey, Rebe. He any good at boxing yet?" Arlo wondered.

Rebeca scoffed. "Your little brother could probably take him down."

Arlo laughed. "I'd actually pay to see that."

"We should set it up." Rebeca snickered.

"You two are the worst." Samuel grumbled.

"Aw, Samu. Don't be such a baby." Rebeca joked.

"Alright," Arlo chortled, intervening as she knew the banter could go on for a while. "Will you guys tell me why you called?"

"I told Rebe everything."

Arlo paused. "Like everything everything?"

"Everything." The boy confirmed.

"Don't worry, girl. My lips are sealed." Rebeca assured.

"Okay..." Arlo trailed. "Is that what you called to tell me about?"

"No." Samuel said. "You know how I told you this all revolves around Carla? Well, we need to find a way to get close to her."

"If I tried, she'd see it coming a mile away. Marina tried getting close to her and look what happened."

"I know. That's why I was thinking I do it."

Arlo quirked an eyebrow. "Get close to her how?"

"Biblically." Rebeca quipped.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Arlo countered. "Look what happened to Christian."

"Lo, it's the only plan we have. We have to find out what she knows."

"Look, Samu, I've known Carla all my life and she's not a complete monster, but you still have to be careful of her–" the girl then stopped abruptly, noticing her door was opened slightly and she sighed before she closed it. Izzy liked to eavesdrop and thought Arlo didn't know, but of course she did. "–Marina was right when she called Carla manipulative. She can't be trusted. Not to mention her asshole of a father, Teo. Christian's accident wasn't an accident at all. You could end up like him or worse."