• AMALIA •
My father walks in half an hour later. He has a smile on his face, but it dims when he sees my half empty plate.
"You don't want any more?" He asks.
I shake my head.
"Okay." He says quietly. "Do you wanna start getting ready? We can get going soon."
I nod. He smiles. "Alright, I'll meet you downstairs." He leans over and grabs the plate, as well as the empty mug of tea, then kisses my forehead before leaving. I wrap my arms around myself and go on my phone for a few minutes until I check the time.
09:13.
I start getting ready.
•
When I walk into the dance studio, my dad behind me, I take in all of the clutter. All the boxes of costumes in the main area and documents everywhere.
"Hey, Amalia!" Kiera exclaims. "You can go into studio three, Oliver is already here."
I nod and smile. My dad wraps me in a side hug and plants a kiss in my hair before I quickly walk into Studio Three.
Oliver is on his phone when I walk inside, but he looks up at me and smiles. We've been texting a lot recently, and he's been what I think is a really good friend.
Not that I'd know what qualifies for one.
"Hey, Lia."
I smile at the nickname and wave at him. He stands up after discarding his phone on the floor next to his water bottle.
"You ready to start?" He asks. I nod.
He walks over to the phone connected to the speaker and presses play. As the intro to our song begins, we get into our first positions.
• LORENZO •
After talking with Amalia's dance teacher and asking her to give my little girl a few breaks between dances so she can eat the food I packed for her, I walk out to my car and get in.
When I'm almost home, I get a call. I answer it while keeping my eyes on the road.
"Hello?"
"Is this Lorenzo Romano?" A feminine voice asks from the other side of the call.
"Yeah."
"Hi, this is Amanda calling from student services. Your son, Cole, has been temporarily suspended for getting into fights and talking back to teachers. Are you able to come and get him?"
My eyebrows raise in surprise. The last time Cole got into a fight, he was in year seven. He's in his first year of sixth form now.
"Okay, I'll be there soon."
I end the call and drive to the school as quickly as I can, parking outside and storming in. Cole is waiting on a chair in reception, arms crossed and his head down. I can see the blood and bruises on his knuckles, as well as a forming bruise on the side of his face, just beside his eye.
He looks up. Before I can ask him what happened, the headmaster walks out of his office and offers me a polite smile.
"Mr Romano, please come in." He says. "Cole, you can stay there while I talk to your dad."
YOU ARE READING
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Teen FictionAmalia Romano is a selective mute. After years of enduring abuse from her step father, who has ridiculed and hurt her mercilessly, she doesn't want to talk, for fear of what might happen if someone doesn't like what she says. But then her step...
