I'm a Costello

(12) Emotional

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[Valentina's POV]

Everyone had arrived at the dinner table by the time I made an appearance. Lucky enough it didn't seem like I took long. I came a few minutes after Enzo called me.

"Hey Val, excited for school tomorrow?", Matteo asked, watching me.

"Very, very excited", I replied, sitting down in my chair.

"Is that so?", Xavier asked, smiling curiously.

"Oh you have no idea", I said.

"You sure look happy. Why do people no longer smile when they're happy, Dad?", Xavier teased me, glancing once at our father who himself looked amused.

"What's wrong? Do you not like going to school, bambina?", Elijah asked, passing around the food.

"Did you like school when you were my age? ", I asked.

Xander broke into laughter. "Wrong question to the wrong man, Val. Elijah was the valedictorian, elected student of the year and what not during his school days."

"Oh my god", I was actually in shock.

"Yeah, Elijah won awards, while we win hearts of hot girls in school", Matteo snickers at his own joke.

"No, you don't", Enzo shot him down.

I almost smiled watching Matteo get offended so bad. Others weren't so nice or discreet.

"This isn't about me", Elijah rolled his eyes. "Talk to us, Val. What's going on?"

I wave it off, letting them know it's not a big deal. "I'm just being silly. Forget it."

They didn't look convinced. And obviously they won't let it go.

"Why is your mood off then? I've seen your grades from your previous school. You're good in studies...except math though", Ales asked curiously. "And from what I hear, you were quite the troublemaker as well. That only made me assume you thrived to go to school."

"Yeah, but just because I manage to get good marks doesn't mean that I like school. Plus that's not the reason I'm not looking forward for tomorrow", I sighed, playing with my food.

"Why then?", Elijah asked, looking a little concerned.

I take a deep breath and a dramatic pause answering. "Because it's gonna suck being the new student! Everyone will stare, point and whisper behind my back. New place, new environment is...challenging", I said meekly, practically whispering the last part.

Xander, Xavier and Matteo start laughing hearing that. They awed, and pulled my cheeks calling me cute and adorable. Basically they were teasing me and making fun of my nervousness.

"Screw you guys!", I showed them the middle finger and surprisingly enough didn't get scolded for it.

"Boys! Cut it out", Elijah was serious, and they did but still chuckled silently when I wasn't looking.

"Val, I understand you're nervous. That's normal. Don't worry yourself too much about this. The more you think about it the more anxious you get", Enzo smiled sympathetically.

"I don't exactly have control over my brain, Enzo", I said quietly.

"You won't like hearing this, but you're behaving adorably right now", Enzo said.

I glared at him which only made him smile wider.

"Valentina, I have no doubt you'd fit in just fine", Dad tried to build my confidence. "You're natural at making conversation. Heck you won over your cousins within minutes. I understand it can be daunting to make new friends, but as much as I've known you, I think you'll be fine."