What is family?

Chapter 19

Arianna

"I will give a tour to Arianna.", Ash said to Vince.

The moment he said that I froze. Why does he want to give a tour to me? Will he scold me for talking to Angelina? Will he blackmail me into doing his chores, or worse, will he hit me?

All these thoughts were making me restless. I was looking down at my lap, continuously fiddling my fingers, hoping out of hope that Vince would refuse. But his reply made me all the more nervous.

"Okay.", Vince replied.

He then said something to Theo and walked away. Everyone were speaking to each other, but I was only concentrating on my thoughts of what is Ash about to do.

"Arianna", Theo's voice brought me out of my thoughts.

I jumped a little at his voice and looked at him. He looked at me with a little concern in his eyes. Is he concerned about me?

"You seem a little tensed. Are you okay?", he asked in a gentle tone.

I can't tell him about Ash's warning. If I tell him, Ash will be all the more furious and might hate me forever. So I decided to keep the matter a secret.

"I-I'm f-fine.", I stuttered.

Theo looked at me with a little suspicion and then sighed.

"If you have any problem, you can come to me anytime. I also saved my number in your phone. You can call me if you need anything. Yes?", he said gently.

"Y-Yes", I replied.

He patted my head with a small smile and got up and fixed his suit.

"Have a good time together, you both.", Theo said looking at me and Ash.

Ash just nodded his head and I kept fiddling my fingers. Theo smiled at Angelina, who gave him a small smile in return.

"Have a good day, Theo.", she wished.

Theo then turned around and started walking out of the dining room. I don't know if I trust Theo, but he seems to be the person, I feel the safest with. I had this huge urge of asking him to stop or at least telling him that I don't want Ash to give me a tour. But, I didn't voice my thoughts. I am scared. Scared that it will make things worse.

After Theo walked away, everyone resumed their breakfast. I started swirling my spoon in the bowl of cereals and not actually eating. The tension of what Ash might do was so huge that I couldn't bring myself to eat.

"Anna", Angelina called me.

I looked up at her and she had a small frown on her face.

"You're not eating. Didn't you like the cereals? Do you want to eat something else? Miss Sofia will make you something else if you want?", she said in a soft voice.

How can I tell her that it is not the cereals but Ash, who is preventing me from eating? I was going to answer but I remembered Ash's warning of staying away from her. So, should I answer her or ignore her? I don't want to ignore her. It feels awful. She's been good to me all this time.

What should I do?

But before I could answer, Dylan scoffed.

"Leave it, brat. She is just being an attention seeker.", he scowled.

It hurt. His words hurt. Though I've been taunted a few times at school, all these years, it still hurts. I just want someone to understand me.

"Dyl, you're being mean. She's not an attention seeker. She's been through so much these past days. She requires time to settle down. We have to be more understanding.", Angelina said.