Playing Poker [BEING REWRITTEN]

6| Hope

Rayland

"Sombra?" [Shadow] He whispered almost inaudibly. I recognized his Spanish accent from anywhere.

"East?" He quickly wrapped his strong arms around me, squeezing so hard hurting my already bruised ribs. I was about to cry, not because of our little reunion but because I was in so much pain, my nose and my ribs.

He seemed to notice the pain and immediately connected it to my nose.

"I'm so sorry Ray. I didn't mean to..." He rambled on, I was too focused on the pain that I tuned him out. He dragged me to what I assumed was the nurse's office based on the medical instruments around the room. He called the nurse over and she examined my nose.

"All I can give you is ice." She shrugged, walking over to the freezer and pulling out an ice pack.

"Thanks." I muttered. Weston dragged me to his locker and pulled out Ibuprofen pills. I took a pill and swallowed it dry.

Weston was just always there. He's saved my life more than once without even knowing. He knows about the abuse to a certain extent, from Raymond and Darren. He has snuck me out of the house, gave me food, but most importantly, he was always there for me. It's scary how much trust I put into this one person; I trusted him with not just my darkest secrets but my darkest moments. I trusted him with my life and that was what was so scary.

"I'll introduce you to my friends." He practically dragged me to the cafeteria. He sat me at a table with three boys, including the asshat from this morning.

"What is she doing here?" He growled. Why the fuck is everybody growling?

"What is your problem?" I scowled.

"You got me detention this morning." He growled again.

"You got your own ass in trouble with your yelling." I responded. He shot me a death glare, stabbing a fork in his pasta.

I would not wanna be that pasta.

"What was your name again, Raymond was it?" He sneered. I could feel West tense beside me and I froze.

"No, this is Patrick." I wanted to facepalm myself there and then. I heard snickers around the table. My cheeks would probably be tomato red if I had lighter skin.

"Well, nice to meet you Patrick. I'm Spongebob." He replies, a smug smirk on his face.

"I would say nice to meet you too, but I wouldn't want to lie to you." He rolled his eyes and muttered a 'whatever' under his breath.

"Anywho, I'm Alexander. West has never brought a girl to the table. Now that I think about it, he hasn't brought anybody to the table before, we're the only friends he has since he got here, It's quite sad actually-" He rambled before he was cut off by another boy at the table. Weston put his head down in embarrassment.

"I think she gets the point Xander." The black hair boy interrupted, strangely similar to Myles. Almost reading my mind, he continued. "I'm Matteo, Myles' older brother." He smiled at me. I simply nodded in response.

A loud noise erupted in the cafeteria. I turned my attention to the noise, only to me greeted by my stepbrothers, a few taller boys and a girl in front of them. Her brown wavy hair in a high ponytail and gym clothes covered her body. As she walked, the scent of sweat and flowery perfume filled the air.

"Ugh, it's them?" West groaned.

"What's wrong with them?" A lot. I already knew the answer because I live with them, but I don't know what they're like at school.