A Family Forgotten

Chapter 1.5

Kota

We stood in front of the building Mr Blackbourne would be teaching in, getting a feel for the surroundings while we were scouting out the campus. The air was cooling down as the end of the year grew closer, and the trees were getting barer and barer with each passing minute.

Victor stood on my left as we scanned the windows and the few students loitering outside, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, a material he wore the minute he moved out of his parent's house. It was still weird to see him so casual, the jeans along with an old baby blue tees, probably one of Luke's. Growing up, he was always forced into the expensive name brand shit, always looking pressed and ready to own a company.

He looked so much happier in his new look, more comfortable.

In the frantic move back to South Caroline, his luggage was the only one to be lost somewhere in the system. Until they find it, he was to wear our clothes. Nobody seemed to mind.

"Seems like a decent school," he noted, glancing at the few students. A girl, our age, with light brown hair and orange tips, gave him the side-eyes, a universal signal of 'let's hook up'. But, just as he did with all other girls, he was oblivious, and Gabriel and I rolled our eyes at him. Honestly, I couldn't tell if it was an act or not, as he was given straight up offers for it, and he turned them down, every time.

Of course, I couldn't say anything. I did the same thing.

"Our insider claims the students are pretty chill. Makes our job easier." Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, the newly cut locks sticking up. I snorted.

"Our job? What job is that?"

He shot me a sideways look that I had me coughing down another snort. The only job we had was to not get in trouble. A job I doubted would be followed, knowing us. We had a knack for finding trouble.

"It's our duty to make this school a fun and adventurous place. I haven't seen a single bottle of beer yet. That's just not okay." Gabriel shook his head in mock disappointment. Victor and I shared a look. Gabriel and his dramatics.

"Whatever illegal thing you're thinking, stop it. We're here to learn, not party," I said, hoping this would be one of the few times he'd listen to me. He turned his startling blue eyes on me, testing me.

Ever since we had to leave Charleston, he stopped. His faith in the Academy, in our work, was shaken. We had it all: our family of ten, our girl, our future, everything we needed. Then it was taken from us, for good reason, of course, and we lost it. I refused to fault the Academy, knowing they had a good reason to do it, but it didn't make the hurt any less.

Gabriel was one of the few who took it hard, harder than the rest of us. Which was understandable. With his blood family non-existent, he relied of us. On her. Then she was gone, too.

I knew we'd see her again, someday. I hoped, at least. But I was the leader, and not the overall leader, the one who made the decisions; I was the leader who made sure the family wasn't falling apart. If I fell apart? We'd be over.

"Why don't we get a look inside." Victor broke in, interrupting us. Gabe sent me a small smile in apology as he turned to the stairs, another girl looking him up and down. She focused on his chest, where his shirt (that was a size too small) showed off what he earned from working out. I saw only the back of his head when he looked at her, but from the way she looked away, a flush growing on her cheeks and neck, I knew he had to have gave her his smile known to make girls flock to him.

The idiot.

While Gabe was occupied, I turned to Victor. His brown eyes were looking at Gabriel, but focused somewhere else, in a different time, different life. "We need to find her, Kota." His tone was determined, desperate. I knew the feeling.

I shook my head, though he didn't notice. "There's nothing we can do. You heard her." I told him, wishing I had a different answer.

He tore his eyes away, focusing on me, in the here and now. His look gave his 'fire eyes' a whole new meaning. "I also heard her tell us she hopes she can see us when it's all said and done." He waved his hands around him. "We finished it. Now we're back in South Carolina. Let's find her."

I wanted to rationalize it like that. I did. I wanted to find and touch her and lover her with everything in me. But I couldn't. I knew she had the ability to put us together. To get North to smile again. To get Dr. Green want to be a doctor again. To make us a family again. I knew that.

But I didn't know if she wanted to put us back together again. I didn't know if she wanted us. They, we, I, couldn't get rejected by her, couldn't lose her again. We'd be finished.

I stared at him, unsure what to say. I wanted to tell Victor my fears, my hopes, the factors that could ruin us. My green to his fire. But a girl, short for her age, which had to be around ours, came down the stairs, her dirty blondehair covering her face, her head bent over as she shoved papers in her book bag hazardly.

A very familiar book bag.

I stumbled over, my breath caught. No. No, it couldn't be. It had to be a coincidence. But I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure. Her height was the right size, and her shoes, her white sandals, were ones I saw in Nathan's house often. In the back of my head, I knew Victor was confused by my distractedness, something I was never prone to be. But the thought of her, right there, was ruining my thoughts, the reasons. My heart was pounding, willing to break free and run to her, away from her, both. My eyes crossed.

In my daze, I didn't notice her aiming for me, her feet making quick work of the steps down the stairs. Before I knew it, her left shoulder came in contact with my arm, and she stumbled, but made no comment, continuing on her path. I stared after her, willing her to look up and look at me. To confirm my hopes.

I wasn't sure what to do. Tell Victor? He'd want to know. But he was one of the few that took it hard when we left her. It took him almost two years to go back to his old self instead of staring at nothing with Vivaldo screaming in his ears. What if I was wrong? What if it was a different girl? I'd have given him hope only to lose it. I refused to do that.

With a last look at her back as she met up with another guy, one that seemed oddly familiar, I turned back to Victor, only for him to have joined Gabriel.

My heart heavy, I took the steps two at a time to start the tour of Mr. Blackbourne's future classroom. "If only," I whispered to my past self, the one with no hate in his heart.

     If only.

______
Hey! I'm so sorry it's been a while. Here's a POV from Kota. I'm wanting to keep these chapters shorter than Sangs. Hope this will hold you over until the next chapter

Til then...bye bye!