Heartstrings ━━ Miguel Diaz ¹

𝟬𝟰. bullies shots

CHAPTER FOUR
they assume you know nothing

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     𝐑aegan woke up to a start. She made her way straight to the kitchen after washing her face, only to find her father in his usual work clothes. He looked like he just finished cooking. She greeted him with a small 'hello', and he smiled back at her. She hastily snatched her younger brother's empty plate━who glared at her and called her some shit that he just made up, which she ignored.

     Feeling satisfied with what she had, Raegan went back to her room with a plate of hot pancakes swimming in chocolate syrup. One could almost say that she was drowning her pancakes.

     "Raegan, get ready! You're almost late!" She heard her father call when she walked away.

     Glancing at her attire, she grimaced at her appearance. She checked the time on the wall clock and sighed when she realized that her first period had already started. Thinking that it would be pretty useless to go now since they were probably halfway into the lesson now━she decided to call a certain friend of hers. She tapped her fingers on the wheel of her car as she waited outside her house.

     He didn't answer. She tried once more and felt relieved when he answered. However, it wasn't him who talked. It was his mother, Carmen, and she sounded a bit worried for some reason.

     Flash news: Carmen had told her that Miguel got badly beaten up at the high school Halloween party because of some group of boys. By group of boys━Raegan knew exactly who it was. And by the sound of her voice, Carmen completely knew about him getting into karate with Johnny.

    She immediately drove straight to their apartment building without hesitation. Standing outside their door, she knocked furiously, bidding the person who opened the door a quick 'hello'. Then she marched inside to find her idiot of a friend whom she found on the couch, looking like he just rolled down the hill for the fun of it.

     "Miguel, what the hell were you thinking?" Raegan exclaimed, and the boy frantically darted his eyes everywhere. His mother only smiled faintly as she sat at the end of the couch.

     "I-I-I was━" He stuttered, but then became surprised when Raegan gave him a huge hug. It made him slightly wince because of his bruises.

     "Sorry," She mumbled. Then glared at him once more. She smacked his arm which earned a groan from the boy. "You could've died!"

     Carmen continued to watch them with slight amusement, but it was obvious, she was still mad about what happened to her son. Miguel told her all the details about what happened to him when his mother left the apartment. After that, the duo just continued hanging out in the living room while his grandmother did something in the kitchen, as usual.

     "I gotta talk to Sensei," Miguel blurted, abruptly standing up even in his state.

     Raegan frowned and pulled him back down on the couch. "You're not well yet."

     Miguel sighed and held her arm like a koala, giving her the best pleading face he could muster, trying to guilt trip the girl he'd grown close to. "Please?"

     Raegan briefly flicked his forehead and he fell back on the couch, crying out dramatically.

     And that is how they ended up downstairs, waiting for Johnny to get out of his damned shithole. Raegan stayed a few steps away from them as Miguel went over to talk with Johnny. From far away, she could see that he looked completely baffled and miserable at what the man had said to him. She sighed quietly. It wasn't good. He was sad. She didn't want to see him sad.