Lost Mafia Queen (ON HOLD)

Chapter 1

Around 13 years later:

Amara's pov:

'Whole New World' sung by Zayn Malik blasted through my room, waking me up. My eyes slowly opened and immediately closed due to the sudden brightness. 'Urgh! I shouldn't have stayed up 'till 12 a.m. It's all Serena's fault. She's the one who made me stay up so late to watch that movie.', I mentally groaned while still having my eyes closed. Remembering that it was a school day, I mustered up all my strength which was not a lot to open my eyes. My eyes darted towards my phone which was still ringing with Zayn Malik's beautiful voice. I got out of my blankets and reached over to the bedside table where my phone sat with Serena's name flashing on the screen. I swiped the answer option and lazily put it up to my ear.

"Why on earth are you calling me when you're in the same house as me? What do you want?", I groaned into the phone. "Oh my god! Are you still sleeping? Hurry up and come downstairs! Mom made pancakes so get your lazy self out of bed!" Serena's usual high pitched voice screeched through the phone and into my ears. I sighed. It should be illegal to be so energetic in the morning. "Ow don't shout Serena! How are you so pep--oh she hung up," I sighed and got out of bed. I somehow dragged myself towards the restroom to get ready for school. Unfortunately, I couldn't get out of going to school because me and Serena faked being sick just last week. Making excuses now would just make it suspicious.

As I made my way into the bathroom, I faced the mirror to look at my unruly hair. 'Well aren't you a sight.' my brain mocked me. That stupid organ doesn't know when to shut up. My eyes then trailed down to my neck where my necklace hung.

It was a beautiful necklace that looked ancient yet modern. It looked simple enough to wear it to common public places like the hell hole that I call school. The necklace was the only thing that I could call my own besides my name. It has been with me ever since I could remember. The owner of the orphanage that I had grown in had told me that the necklace was already hung around my neck when I was first brought to the orphanage as a 1 year old baby. When I was a little child, the necklace was quite big for me but it fits perfectly now. I only took it off sometimes in circumstances where I didn't want to wear anything to keep my neck breathe or I wanted to wear something else. But I always wore it back by the end of the day.

The only childhood home I remember was that orphanage that I grew up in. Apparently one night, I was just brought into the orphanage by an old lady. The owners told me that she said that my name was Amara Rose and told them to take good care of me, then just left. I tried to get other details out of the owners but they were as clueless as me.

I met Serena when I was around 5 years old. One day I was quite sad because no one in the orphanage wanted to play with me. I felt left out so I sneaked out to go to the park. I went to my favourite swing and sat on it, lost in my thoughts. That's when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a cute girl around the same age as me. "Hi! My name is Serena! I'm kinda bored. I saw you sitting here. Do you want to play hide and seek with me?" she said, waving at me excitedly. "Really? You want to play with me? No one wants to play with me," I had told her sadly. "What! You know what, you are my best friend from today onwards! I have decided. Yep, we are besties. Wait what's your name? I need to know your name to be besties!" she enthusiastically ranted. Giggling at her silliness I told her my name and asked, "You pinkie promise that we are best friends?" while holding out my pinkie finger. She looped her pinkie with mine, sealing the promise as if signing a contract. Well pinkie promises were basically contracts for 5 year olds.

I hung out with Serena every single day. I would always sneak out of the orphanage to go and meet her. But honestly I feel that the owners knew that I was sneaking out but let it go since they knew where I was going and knew that I was safe. How else would I have been able to sneak out so many times?

Serena even took me to meet her parents and I thought they were going to judge me as my clothes were old. The clothes were in good condition but they weren't the finest. However, they took me by surprise when they took me into a big welcoming hug. That was the first time I felt that I was loved by parental figures. Serena's mother, Christina Winchester had baked me the most delicious cookies and Serena's father, Hunter Windchester took me in his lap as he fed me while telling me stories. I later hung out with the Winchester family a lot and got to know a lot about them. One day, I accidentally eavesdropped on their conversation while I was walking down the stairs of their house to get a glass of water as I was exhausted from playing with Serena. I didn't hear a lot but I remembered Christina saying, "Amara is like the second child I have always wanted. She is just like a sister to Serena.". I also remember Hunter agreeing with her and confessing, "I honestly love her just like I love Serena,". I remember tears rolling down my cheek and running to give them a big hug. That was the first time I felt like I had a family.

After 2 years, the orphanage had abruptly shut down due to loss in business and they did not have enough money to take care of the kids. When the Winchester family heard about the news, they immediately came and took me in. Unlike typical kids who would be upset when their parents give love and attention to other kids as they do not like to share the affection, Serena was the happiest girl on the planet. Her words, not mine.

After they took me in, they treated me just like a daughter and even gave me my own room. They have never treated me like I was a stranger. They gave me all the necessities that they gave to Serena. I viewed Christina and Hunter as my own parents even though they weren't my biological parents.

My biological parents. I have no idea who they are. When I started understanding the concept of parents, I started to wonder where my parents were. I had so many questions. Why did they leave me? Did they not want me? Did they not want a daughter? Did they not love me? I remembered that for a certain period of time, I would cry in my room, self-doubting myself and thinking that I was not good enough for my own birth parents. After a while, I stopped doubting myself and decided that I would not cry over people who didn't want me in their lives. People who didn't want me, don't deserve my tears. I haven't cried over them ever since. Besides, I have a family that loves and cares for me. That's all I want and need in my life.

I sighed and broke out of thoughts. I quickly got ready and went downstairs to continue on with the dreadful day that involved school. Hey, at least I'm getting pancakes.

As I walk into the dining room, I hear a series of 'Good morning, sweetie', 'Good morning, honey' and 'Sup loser'. Obviously the last one was from Serena. I kissed Christina's and Hunter's cheek which translates to 'good morning'. I sat down next to my best friend who was devouring the pancakes as if she had been starved for a week. "Eat slower, idiot! You're gonna choke," I flicked my finger on her forehead. She continued to ignore me and ravish her pancakes. I shook my head and sighed. There was no changing her.

"Amara, what time will you be coming back home today from work?" Christina questioned. I quickly swallowed the delicious piece of pancake that was in my mouth and replied to her, "I will be home by 7pm so I would be having dinner at home,".

"Oh that's good! I'm planning to make beef stir fry for dinner. I know you love it," she replied as she went back into the kitchen. I licked my lips as I thought about the mouth-watering beef stir fry that Christina makes. She makes the dish spicy, just how I like it. Pancakes for breakfast and beef stir fry for dinner! This day is getting better than I originally thought..

I looked at the time and we still had half an hour for school to start. Riverdale Valley Highschool was just a 15-minute walk from our house. Hunter then looked up from his newspaper and asked me, "Do you and Serena need a ride to school?" and turned to Serena who was choking on her pancakes , "Careful sweetie. You shouldn't eat too fast." reprimanding her. I mentally rolled my eyes at her and answered Hunter, "No, thanks Hunter. We have enough time to walk to school." I told him and quickly finished my pancakes.

Within ten minutes, Serena and I were out the door, after telling our "love you"s and "good-bye"s. That's when I remembered and facepalmed, "Dang it. I forgot to do my math homework!".