Limitless

C H A P T E R 1

Avyanna P.O.V.

All the way to the Academy, I thought about everything and decided that I am going to behave "normal."

I walked in front of the three men, My attempt to relax my tense shoulders was futile. While I think that Mr. Smith left to go to the principal regarding my stunt, I feel the three De Luca man has also assigned him some work.

We reached the desk, Ms Davis looked up at me before she noticed the De Luca men behind me. I smiled at her and leaned forward, " Hello, Soon-to-be-Mrs Jones, Hope you missed me. How is everything going with Mr Jones?"

Her face turned red as she chuckled, "It's going fine, thank you for asking. And I did miss you."

"Are they allowed in my dorm? It's a girl dorm building." I asked.

" Yes, they can go since the building is mostly unoccupied right now." Miss Davis answered my query.

That was the end of our conversation as I made my way down the hallway, them following me with their measured, silent footsteps.

When I was near the lift, my inner voice, Ala, who was sleeping till now said,

I didn't know you can spend trapped with them in a metal four-wall box with no way out for that much time.

My mind spiralled as I realized that once we are in my dorm, we will have the non-avoidable talk but, I can procrastinate, the talk for as long as I can.

But going in the lift means they can start the conversation there only, or worse, try to initiate physical touches such as a hug or such. I will have to avoid it.

At that moment, an idea popped into my mind. I took out my phone from my jeans pocket and acted like I am getting a call.

OTP

"Hey, Sana. How are you?"

"Yeah... Yeah... I have already written the article. It just needs some editing."

"Oh... You need it right now... Umm, okay, I will edit it right now and send it through email."

"Yeah...Okay ... Bye-Bye."

I acted like I hang up the phone. We reached the lift which, didn't take much time to open up. I quickly opened one of the assignments I have saved on the phone and started to re-read it, sometimes typing in some words, too.

We came out of the lift and, I continued my act till we reached my dorm room. My dorm is the last room in the hallway which makes it a bit larger than other rooms. This also means, that most of the unofficial meetings are held here only. On the wall beside my room is a large window that opens only quarters.

There is a birdhouse hanging from the window sill. It is also the secret place for my key to the dorm.

That said, I adjusted my backpack and safely tucked my phone into my jeans pocket before climbing up the window sill. I have done this a thousand times.

I ignored the panic words from the three men and stretched my hand up to the birdhouse to find my key. It took a moment for my hand to touch the key. I pulled it out and smiled triumphantly before jumping down.

I opened the door and walked in. I can feel them looking around my dorm. My dorm has a combination of blue, purple, and neon lights throughout the dorm, which are only used on rare occasions. In the morning, the dorm receives abundant light from the large windows.

You get a head-on view of the living room as you enter the dorm. The living room is an L-shaped room with a mini-open kitchen in front of the living room with island settings. The other side is a bedroom with an attached bathroom. I have my desk set up and my large bed in the bedroom. The walls in front of my bed are covered in photos, posters, and quotes in neon lights.

(I tried to illustrate it in the picture below.)

I put my backpack on the shelves beside the entry point and made my way inside. I threw my shoes carelessly into the living room. I made my way into the kitchen and took out some chilled water bottles from my mini-refrigerator. I entered the living room to see them awkwardly standing.

"You can sit, you know?" I said and plopped on the futon as they sat on the three-person sofa. I placed the water bottles on the table before gulping down mine.

From my peripheral view, I see them taking the bottles and drinking from them hesitantly.

After the awkward silence, the oldest man started the conversation, "Avyanna, How have you been?"

"I still have a pulse, so I must be doing good," I answered.

"Oh... Nice comeback," the second eldest brother said. I gave him a look and asked,

"Mind introducing yourselves?"

A look of hurt flashed on their faces before they nodded and introduced themselves.

"Hi, Amore, I'm Richard De Luca, your father." I tried not to wince when he called himself that.

"Hi, Avy, I'm Domenico De Luca, your eldest brother." He said softly.

"Hi Tesoro, I'm Emiliano De Luca, your second eldest brother." He said with a huge grin.

I nodded and asked the dreading question, " What is your purpose for coming here so suddenly?"

I expected them to be sad that I didn't respond to them after their introduction or be angry at my straightforward questions but, I didn't expect the huge smiles and happiness to flash on their faces. But their answer took my happiness.

"We are here to take you back, tesoro. Take you to your home, to your family. To us." Richard or, should I say, my father said. The colour drained from my face as he continued to speak.

"We are here because our family misses you, to take you where you belong."

"And, where I belong?" I asked through gritted teeth which they, failed to notice due to their over-excitement.

"With us, back at our home," Domenico said softly, making the last bit of patience in me twist. The over-happiness-filled eyes, their smiles stretched in the face- spitting- huge- smile makes me feel sickening.

"No, I don't," I said slowly. The smiles on their faces faltered. Emiliano asked, "What are you saying, tesoro.?"

I took my time to respond.

"I'm saying that I don't belong with you or at your mansion. I don't belong anywhere or with anyone other than myself. And, it gives me immense joy to tell you that your purpose in taking me back to your mansion is going to be unfulfilled. I hope you have a nice trip back. Close the door when you leave. Bye-Bye."

I waved my hand at them before going to my room and slammed it shut before locking it.

I plopped on my bed before grabbing my AirPods from my bedside drawer and connecting them with my phone before blasting music.

After some time, I went out of my room to see, that my dorm is empty, making me release a sigh of relief. I locked my dorm door before going back to my room. I changed into some pyjamas and dropped myself on my bed.

I changed my pop playlist to some soothing songs and, before I know it, I fell asleep.

☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯☯

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Published on - 21 July 2022.