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“Apparently, he isn’t that good of a father, stated by Elias Miller himself,” I inform her. She laughs aloud now, raising her head back slightly.
“Wow. A new negative trait to add to the list. Hypocritical. Who knew his arrogance would fail him, too?” she taunts, her eyes gleaming. I think hearing such a thing is mom’s therapy.
Then, I hear the doorbell ring. Mom gets up and walks to the door, opening it slowly. I’m not really one to open doors in the house in case it isn’t someone we know. When the door is entirely opened, Lorenzo steps in.
“Hello,” he greets us. “I asked Elias to drop me off where you told me to, don’t worry,” he assures me before I even ask. I give him a smile of gratitude. He turns to my mom and asks what we were talking about.
“About the jealous excuse of a father your friend has,” she tells him. Lorenzo looks in confusion for a second, scratching his left cheek.
“Jealous? I don’t think I’ve heard that one before,” he points out. My mom closes the door behind him.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say. It just proves that Lorenzo doesn’t know everything about us. He does about me, but Roland’s jealousy isn’t something for me to talk about. When that person feels comfortable, they will.
“So, Ellie won’t kill me, right?” he tries to assure himself.
“She won’t. I won’t let her.” He releases a breath of relief, closing his eyes while he does. He then regains his senses and looks back at me. “You, Valentina Hart, would go against your sister?” he exaggerates.
“I said I wouldn’t let her, not go against her. There is a difference,” I indicate, standing up. His feet are planted in place for a minute, before he walks closer and wraps his hands around me, unannounced. I stand there for a second, surprised. Why is he hugging me? Just like that, out of nowhere.
“Is something wrong? Did you do something again?” I ask him. He pulls back, keeping his hands on my shoulders.
“No. Am I not allowed to hug my best friend?” he asks, his tone mixed between making a joke and being serious. I see a glimpse of sadness in his eyes. Or do I? Am I imagining it? I keep my smile consistent for him though. If something is wrong, he needs that.
“Of course. Of course you are.”
Chapter 14 – Settantuno
Val
The next day, I go to school as usual. Ellie decided on some park not too far from where we live and agreed that Lorenzo would take us, which I find surprising. But school still continues, meaning breakfast pancakes are not an option. Neither is dinner. But I will not go through today without them, so I guess I’m sticking with just Lunch. It’s November 13: the worst and best day ever and I’ve just realized I’m taking Ellie out later today. Let's hope the good part dominates this year.
The first period goes by fast, unlike usual. I look at the schedule on my phone. I have some kind of library period next. A ‘Wednesday usual’ apparently. Guess I’ll see what that is. I walk to the library and get there just before the bell. The place is pretty empty, but then again that could just be me guessing that because of how quiet it is. I walk through the door, spotting some people I’ve seen in my other classes. This is one of the classes I don’t have with Aurora, so I guess I’m working alone.
I cross the rows of shelves to find a free spot. The school has a big library. It’s split into two parts: Fiction and nonfiction. Each side has over twenty shelves, all of which stand at the same height. In the middle are many blue tables scattered around, and some single black sofas at the far end. I find a small corner and decide to check if anyone is there.
Obviously, life decides it wants to irritate me, because it’s occupied. By none other than Elias Miller. He's sitting down cross-legged on the floor, his head in a book. How is he here? Isn’t he a senior?
“Hello?” I ask, which catches his attention. He raises his head to look at me, before his eyes widen. He closes the book in his hand, making sure his thumb saves the page he’s reading.
“Violet. Hi. What are you doing here?” he asks.
“I have this class. Or course. I have no idea what it is. I could ask you the same question though,” I answer, walking closer to the shelf next to him.
“Same as you.”
“I thought you were a senior,” I mention, scanning the books on the shelf. The books are organized by author and genre. Each genre has four shelves, labeled at the front, and those four shelves have books arranged alphabetically by the author’s name. I’m in the romance section—such a coincidence—with authors starting with letters R through T. I’ve seen some of these books online, but I’m not much of a reader.
“I am. I don’t think you are, though. We have no classes together,” he points out. He’s not wrong. I find a book and pull it out. The cover is a light pink, while the spine of the book is slightly darker. I walk to the other side and sit down not far from Elias.
“Well, guess we do now,” I say. I look closer at the book he picked. It’s one of those books with a weapon and a flower on the cover, but the title is unclear from my side. “Fantasy? Honestly,you don’t seem like a book-reading person, but I’m trying not to judge,” I say. I mean, it doesn’t seem possible to be both extremely formal and have time to read. But I don’t think Elias works with his dad yet, so I could be wrong.
“I’m going to end up taking over my parent’s company. Fantasy is a good inspiration for art. And I read books when I have the time,” he explains.Is he really thinking about the company that early? At seventeen years old? Or is he eighteen already? Regardless, he’s thinking too much about the future. I hope that not everything he does has to do with the company, because I’ll have to start feeling sorry for him early.
“You look like you’re years ahead of yourself,” I tell him.
“Well, you have to be when you have my dad as a parent.” We agree on something at least.
“So, do you not do anything that isn’t orchestrated by your father and his company? No hobbies or anything?” I ask him. Roland can’t be that bad that he’s taking away his son’s personality. I mean, I hope he’s not.
