Trusting My Brothers

Chapter 16

"By the way, my name is Cole."

I just look at him after he says that. "Umm, did I ask?" 

All that does is make his smirk a little bigger. "Nope, but now you must return the favor."

I casually lean back in a way that mocks him and say, "I don't have to do anything."

"Well, I guess I can continue to call you babygirl."

After rolling my eyes, I turn to pay attention to the teacher. For the remainder of the class, I feel his gaze on me and start to feel uncomfortable. He seems to be kinda nice but also acts like a complete asshole. I mean he was literally just beating a kid up like an hour ago. Everything about him I don't usually like in a guy. Yet I could tell when I looked in his eyes that he was like me, broken. I wonder what his story was and if it was as bad as mine. This might sound a little cheesy or cliche but I feel like I am drawn to him. Usually this stuff only happens in books or movies, yet this is how I feel. Just leave it for now and think about it later.

When the bell finally rings, I shoot up from my seat, gather my stuff, and go to my next class, which was Math. Taking my normal seat, I wait for class to start. About two minutes later, this girl walks in and sits next to me. She has brown hair with highlights and black eyes. Noticing that she was new, I introduce myself to her.

"Hi, I'm Liliana."

She looked startled at first but then relaxes almost immediately after turning to look at me. "Hey, I'm Val. You know, you are the first person to talk to me today. No one wants to be friends with the new girl." Val seems really cool and laid back. I'm glad she wasn't a part of the popular group cause if so, I don't know what would happen.

"Don't worry. That was me last week actually. I know what it is like, but I personally don't care. I'm kind of quiet and also don't want anything to do with the students here." I say.

"Honestly, same. They act like a bunch of rich assholes and the bitches that think they run this school are as dumb as a rock. Thank you for not being a bitch." she said.

I laugh before saying, "Well I can be a bitch depending on the circumstance. When the popular girls, or as I like to call them, the Barbie's come at me, I act like a totally different person. I may be quiet but I am also quite lethal." 

"Damn girl. That is literally me, though I am not as quiet. I can tell that we are going to be best friends."

We both laugh and then the teacher comes in. "Okay class. Get out your textbook and flip to page 120."

Before the bell rang, Val and I checked our schedule and have all of our classes together except for English, Art, and music. We both start walking to our next class together, laughing about this dumb meme we saw. I turn my head to look to my left to see Cole. He catches my eyes and gives me a wink, causing me to blush. What can I say? He is pretty attractive. Stop it, Liliana. Nothing is ever going to happen. I turn away from him and continue walking with Val.

The next class passes by in a blur and the next thing I know, it's lunch. Due to the fact that I got into an argument with my brothers, I decide to just sit at another table with Val. Honestly, I just can't deal with them right now. They are probably going to get mad at me again for the stupidest thing in the world, and I already have the Barbie's after me. 

Sometimes, I wonder what would happen if they find out that I fight and know what the family business is. I actually asked Michael one day what their gang was called and researched it. The name was 'Diavoli Travestiti'(Devil in Disguise.) Apparently, they are one of the most powerful gang in the world and the thing that scared me out of everything was the amount of people they murdered. I had a panic attack after I read an article on it and had to sneak into the home gym to release everything going on in my mind. At least I semi kept my promise to Michael; I was doing really well until I had that argument with my brothers. I guess this is just another reason not to trust them. They are oblivious to everything I do unless I break a rule.

Val and I go to one of the back tables after going through the lunch line and sit down. I just got a slice of pepperoni pizza and she got chicken nuggets with fries as well as a slice. We were there alone for about five minutes until we were joined by three guys. I recognized two of them, Liam and Cole. The third person must be a friend of theirs.

"Umm...hi," I say shyly.

"Hey, Lili. Is that all you're eating? You need to eat more food." Liam said in a brotherly tone.

"I'm fine, Lee. I am just not that hungry. This is my friend Val. Val, this is one of my best friends, Liam."

Val says, "Nice to meet you. I thought you said that you didn't really talk to anyone, Liliana."

"Well, I guess Liam is the only exception, besides Michael, my other best friend. We knew each other before I moved here. I will tell you more about it later." Val just mumbles, "you better."

Cole says, "Well, are you not going to introduce me, baby girl?" 

This dude may be hot, but he is so arrogant and cocky, and I got all of that from talking to him for like five minutes. Liam looks at me with a questioning look, probably cause of the nickname. "Val, that douchebag over there is Cole."

She starts laughing at how I introduced him and I soon join in. Eventually, all three guys are laughing with us and once we calm down I ask Liam, referring to the third guy, "Who is this?"

"Oh, that is Frankie. Frankie, this was that girl I was telling you about, Liliana." Liam said. Frankie's eyes light up once he knows what Liam was talking about.

For the rest of the lunch break, I chat with them and we just talk about random things, like what our favorite colors were, what some of our hobbies were. We eventually leave to go to class, but right before I get to the classroom door, I am stopped by my brothers. Now what. 

They all have that intimidating look on their face and I keep my emotionless mask on so that they can't see how scared I was.

"Stay the hell away from Cole Rivera." Matteo says.

A/N: Hey guys. I am changing Liliana's age from fourteen to fifteen. Her love interest is sixteen, so I think that the one year age difference works better. Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the story.