Not So Élite

Chapter 15

"Please slow down," Polo took Cynthia's drink from her, "You'll end up getting sick."

"With Samuel just arriving, I'm pretty sure I'll sober up in a few minutes," she drunkenly pointed at the entrance, where Samuel had just entered, "Just wait till Guz sees him."

Ander groaned and grabbed her hand, pulling her up and going to the two boys. Guzmán was ready to fight Samuel again, and they arrived right after Samuel pushed Guzmán.

Cynthia wasn't able to understand what they were saying over the loud music and her drunk state, but she jumped into action when Ander and Polo went to hold Guzmán.

She helped Lu push Samuel back, enough to at least separate them for a few seconds. Ander and Polo kept pulling Guzmán back as he cursed out Ander. Cynthia walked over to them, purposely bumping Valerio, and told Guzmán, "God, Guz! You can't just enjoy one night without making a scene?"

"Cynthia, don't start with me," Guzmán warned her. She paid no mind to him and kept going, "I mean, seriously. Enjoy the night, and leave him alone. He's not even doing anything."

"She's right," Ander backed her up, "Leave him alone. He's a good kid."

"Sure! He's your boyfriend's pal," Guzmán rolled his eyes, "How brave you've become. You're both taking his side, right?"

"This isn't about taking a fucking side," Cynthia walked closer until their noses touched, "This is about you letting your emotions take control. You can't keep acting like a fucking animal, you twat."

She gave him one last look and returned to Polo, who thankfully still had her drink.

"Now you understand?" She took her drink and downed it in a single gulp.

- - -

The rest of the night had been a blur. Cynthia knew that Ander left at some point, and she had shared a few blunts with some random chicks. She was crossfaded for the rest of the night and let herself enjoy everything. Polo had called Jaime for her, mostly because she couldn't see straight enough to text him, and let Valerio walk her to the car as he and Lu left at the same time.

The next morning, Cynthia sat in class with her head in her hands, experiencing a major hangover. 

"Did you take painkillers?" Ander whispered to her in the middle of class.

She groaned and nodded, wanting nothing more than to go home and sleep in her dark room. During class, Azucena entered the classroom and announced to the class that Christian had gotten into a motorbike accident last night. Ander and Samuel asked questions as Cynthia kept her head in her hands.

"Do you want to come visit him?" Ander whispered at the end of class.

"Sure," Cynthia accepted and shook her head, "I think I'm going to stay in the nurse's office for the rest of the day."

"Cynthia, you've never had a hangover this bad," Ander was slightly worried about her.

"I'm fine, Ander," she shook her head, "Don't worry about me."

She gave him a quick kiss and left to go to the nurse, lying that she had hit her head against a desk when she had gone to pick up a pencil.

When the day finally ended, she gave Ander her car keys, telling him to drive to the hospital.

"No way in hell am I driving your car," he gave her back her keys, "It's a speeding ticket waiting to happen."

"Fine, I'll drive," she snatched her keys back and got into her car, waiting for him to get in. It was a somewhat longer drive than they had anticipated, but they eventually arrived there and parked in the garage. The two made their way up to Christian, where they saw Samuel, Lu, and Carla.

"I thought you didn't like Christian," Samuel looked at Cynthia.

"Contrary to popular belief," Cynthia leaned against Ander and accepted his arm around her shoulders, "He and I were actually friends. Plus, he's a sweet kid and it'd be wrong not to visit him."

Carla's parents arrived, drawing the 5 teens' attention as Carla asked what her father was doing there. 

"I've come to see Christian," he announced. 

"They told us that they won't tell us anything new until tomorrow," Lu told him.

Cynthia didn't care for what he would say. She strongly disliked him, mostly because of his close friendship with her own father and the whole watch scandal. 

She grew suspicious when he kept insisting on them going home, so they all stood up to him. Teodoro turned to Cynthia and smirked, "I don't think your father would like this."

"My father is across the Atlantic. He minds his own business," Cynthia stepped out of the safety of Ander's arm, "So you should mind yours."

Teodoro's smirk dropped and he walked away from them, going to Christian's parents.

They waited until Teodoro finished talking to Christian when the teens were allowed to go in. He explained to them how he would be paying for Christian to receive medical treatment in Switzerland, raising Cynthia's suspicions on what he would gain from everything. Finally, Teodoro left the room and let them say their goodbyes.

"Champion," Christian referred to Ander, "Look after Samu for me, okay?"

"Don't worry about me," Samuel spoke up and Ander assured Christian, "I will."

"Little heiress," he was now talking to Cynthia, "I think you'll have to find someone new to race on the motorbikes."

"Wasn't really much of a race," Cynthia sniffled, "I let you win that one time."

"Come on," he rolled his eyes, "Admit that I beat you so I can go in peace."

"Maybe," she smiled and he smiled back at her.

Christian finished his farewell with Lu, joking with her. Everyone except Carla left the room, giving the couple some alone time. 

- - -

"Miss Cynthia?" Samantha walked into the dark living room. Only a small lamp on the side provided enough light to show someone sitting on the couch.

"Miss Cynthia, it's late," she walked closer to the young woman. She was sitting on the couch, an empty bottle of wine on the coffee table, and tears down her face.

"Today, he would've been 25," Cynthia shakily breathed out, "He would've been 25 and we would've been celebrating with a big party."

"Miss, you know you shouldn't drink when you're upset," Samantha cleaned up the slight mess.

"Upset? Samantha, my brother would've been 25 today, had it not been for my father," she wiped her tears with her sweater sleeve, "Carmelo would have had his own house, a girlfriend, or maybe a wife instead, and a few dogs, because he loved dogs so much."

"It's best not to dwell on what could have been," Samantha sighed and sat next to her.

"He turned 18, wrote up his will, left me his 15%, and killed himself," Cynthia turned to face the older woman, "My father verbally abused him to the point where he would rather die."

"Miss Cynthia, it was a car accident," Samantha tried to reason with her.

Cynthia scoffed, "My brother was a streetcar racer, Samantha. He was alone on that bridge, his car was perfectly fine, and the weather was dry. Cameras show that he drove as fast as possible and turned right on a straight bridge, so his car would fall into the water. It wasn't an accident, it was premeditated."

Samantha stayed quiet, reaching her arm around Cynthia.

"Why are you here right now? You should be sleeping," Cynthia shrugged off her arm.

"A member of the security staff notified me that you looked distraught," Samantha told her, "I worried, so I came to check on you."

"You can go home, Samantha," she rolled her eyes and stood up, slightly swaying, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Jaime also entered the room, "And it's fine to not be fine."