Broken Bonds

Chapter 12

Avery Romano

Pushing myself away from Bea slightly, I turned to face her. I shook my head at her suggestion and sighed,"Don't. There's no point in doing that, Bea. They would probably just think that you're trying to speak up for me. Just leave things the way they are." Bea stared intensely at my face, worry was clearly etched onto her face as her frown deepened as she processed my words in her head. 

"But Bea, if I tell you that I have plans to move out of here, will you be all right with it?" Her eyes widened a little at my words and asked,"Move out? Where?"

"I have yet to decide a place. I plan to do so after I graduate but I just want to know how you will feel about it, especially when you've just returned." 

"Do whatever makes you happy, Eliz. You don't have to consider about what I will feel. Of course, I would love to ask you to stay because I don't want to live apart with you. But you've already been cooped up here so many years, it's time to let go of the past. Moreover, I believe papa would understand and he would definitely support your choices." Bea grabbed my hands in hers and patted it gently. 

My heart warmed at her words and my mind repeated her words,'it's time to let go of the past'.

Bea decided to sleep over at my room and surprisingly I had a good night's sleep without waking up and it's currently 6am. I slowly got out of my side and tucked her tightly into the blanket before I left my room after getting ready for school.

Heading downstairs, I found Alexander and Lorenzo were already downstairs. What a rare sight to have both of them down at the same time. Guess I shall skip breakfast for today. Grabbing onto my backpack over my shoulder, I headed to the kitchen to bid farewell to Missus Dai, to which she stuffed me a bag of sandwiches, since she knew that I would not sit at the same table with them if possible. I hugged her and said a quick 'thank you' before heading out. 

Both of them had now focused on me instead of their laptop and phone in front of them. I quickly walked past them but Alexander's voice stopped me,"I can send you to school." I halted in my steps, I probably would have accepted right away given the past me. 

The same words from last night repeated in my mind once again, 'it's time to let go of the past'. Inhaling a sharp intake of breath, I replied without an ounce of guilt in my voice,"No, it's fine." Without waiting for any response, I opened the door and headed out. First step.

Vincenzo and Mason were already at their seats when I arrived. Mason studied my face carefully and before he could start talking, I interrupted,"I'm okay, Mason." He nodded hesitantly as my response while Vincenzo tried hard to shove his head in between us to get into the conversation. 

"What happened? Why are you not okay?" He asked, with worry laced in his tone. Mason answered instead,"Ariana returned home yesterday. Her twin." Realisation was etched onto Vincenzo's face, probably just remembered that I had a twin. 

"You must be happy that she's back." He smiled at me, to which I returned the same. 

"Oh right, we will be heading to your house for dinner tonight." Mason interrupted and I nodded at his words. We then all resumed back to the class, with Mason talking non-stop to Vincenzo and got a warning again. 

After class, just as I was packing up, Vincenzo passed me a small slip of paper. Raising my eyebrows slightly, he clarified that it was Andrea's phone number which she specially instructed him to pass it to me. And that she told me to visit her soon because she was bored to tears. 

Chuckling at her little antics, I kept the piece of paper in my wallet so that it would not be lost. I would have to inform that Bea came back and I should arrange for them to meet sometime. 

"Are you heading to the hospital for your part time job?" Vincenzo asked as we walked down the corridor, to which I nodded to his question.

"I can drive you there, I brought my car today." He smiled sheepishly at me and I replied,"If you don't mind, thank you." He muttered something under his breath which I only managed to catch something like,'drive everyday?' He refused to repeat what he said when I asked, so I let it go anyways.

Thanking him for the ride, I got off his car when we reached the hospital. He did offer me to fetch me home after my shift, but I politely declined it as it was too much for him to fetch me. 

My shift ended half an hour late and it was now 7.30pm. I sighed as I realised that I had just missed the bus and would have to wait for another 20 more minutes to get home. Stepping out of the entrance, a car horn was heard. My eyes shifted to the black car which was parked at the entrance and the window opened, only to reveal Vincenzo seated in the car.

"Vincenzo? Why are you here? Don't tell me you've been waiting here." 

He grinned widely at me and replied,"Nope, not too long. Come on, get in because we're blocking other cars." I turned back and realised that there were a few other cars behind us and quickly opened the door and slid into the seat.

"Tired shift?" He asked gently, one of his hand was on the steering wheel while his the other was rummaging through the compartment. 

"Hectic. There was a massive car accident along the expressway so many were injured and sent here. Thankfully most of them sustained minor injuries. What are you looking for? Do you need my help?" He grabbed out a bunch of sweets and stretched out his hand towards me. 

"Here, these are Andrea's favourite sweets and she always claims that they give her energy whenever she had a tiring day. Have one." I took a sweet from his palm and unwrapped the wrapper before popping the sweet into my mouth. The sweetness slowly spread in my mouth and I smiled. 

Vincenzo turned his head towards me and smiled as well, then focusing back onto the traffic again. Picking up another sweet, I unwrapped the wrapper and held the sweet to his mouth. He blinked his eyes a few times before he finally opened his mouth and allowed me to put the sweet in his mouth. 

"Recharge completed." I said. We both chuckled out loud as we looked at each other for a brief moment. 

It was things like this which made me want to stay for a little while more. And it was worth everything.

double update! quick question, does anyone use a wireless keyboard? if yes, what is the brand that you would recommend?

Happy reading! -3/9/2022