Chapter 6

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Robbie stopped the car, and I looked up from my phone. I had been texting my mom to tell her how I was doing. We had barely spoken these past few days. She was so busy with my brothers and I was busy setting everything up. We had fallen into a game of phone tag where we didn't really have time to have a proper conversation. 

I felt rude to be texting while Robbie drove me, but I didn't know what to say after the conversation had become somber. To be honest I didn't really want to say anything either. 

I looked at him confused by our sudden stop. We had just passed a dense forest. There was no way we could be at their house.

"Why'd you stop? I asked him?"

"We're here, just need to find the remote to open the gate."

I looked up to see a colossal manor behind an iron-wrought gate. It looked like something you would see in a BBC special on some Bronte book.

"Are you serious? This is your house?"

"Yeah," He answered, reaching over me to open the dashboard.

"This is not a house; this a museum," I said in awe.

"Sometimes we have galleries, where we open it to the public so, yeah, I guess it's both. Found it," he groaned, reaching deep into the console.

He looked up at me after finding the remote, and I suddenly realized how close he was. He had put his sunglasses upon his head, and I could see the smattering of freckles on his nose and the specks of blue and yellow in his green eyes. My stomach involuntarily flipped, and my head told it to calm the eff down, remembering how rude he was. This guy can take his stunning green eyes and fly a kite somewhere.

"Yay! You're here!" Said a voice from behind the gate. I saw Robbie's jaw clench, and he sat upright in his seat as he pressed the button to open the gate.

Maria motioned for him to put down the convertible's top, and after he did, she jumped into the back seat.

"Lia!" She hugged me from the back seat. "Baby brother, thank you," She said and ruffled Robbie's hair, something he did not seem to like very much. He was very cat-like, I observed.

Robbie drove into the estate, and Maria leaned over the seat to look at me.

"So, how are you guys doing? I hope your ride was alright; sorry again for not coming with Robbie to pick you up."

"It's okay," I said.

"I got breakfast, so I hope you're hungry."

"I could eat," I said, smiling. Food always turned my mood around.

Robbie dropped us off at the front. He said it looked like it was going to rain, and he wanted to put the car in the garage.

Once he drove off, Maria turned to face me, "Okay, was he super awkward? I am so sorry again; I know my brother can be kind of taciturn... for lack of a better word."

Taciturn. I mused. Was that private school lingo for pompous ass?

"I mean, he was quiet, but afterward, we talked a bit, and it was okay." I decided not to tell Maria about our conversation. The fact that her brother was a presumptuous snob was not her fault. She was obviously really sweet and nothing like him.

"Oh, that's good," She answered. The relief in her voice was evident.

I wanted to ask why she was so relieved, but I didn't want to pry either.

Maria opened one of the large entrance doors that led us into their foyer. It was massive, with a wraparound staircase and gleaming marble floors.

"Wow, your home is gorgeous, Maria,"

"Thanks, my mom will appreciate you saying that. She renovated everything two years ago. Hey! you want to know what my favorite thing is?" She asked, slipping off her sneakers.

I followed what she was doing, unsure if they had a no-shoes policy.

"What?" I asked.

"After they wax the floors, you can slide across to the kitchen," she said and ran off.

I laughed and ran after her; her personality was so bubbly you couldn't help following what she did.

We slid into the equally impressive kitchen only to collide with two very unsuspecting boys. Maria was caught by a tall blond. He grabbed her by the waist with one arm and steadied her with his other. I was not as lucky; my safety net was a lot less ready for my collision. So, instead, I crashed into him, and we fell onto the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"Owww," I groaned, rubbing my shoulder and sitting up. I pulled the sleeve of my shirt up to see if I was going to bruise.

"Oh, it's okay, take your time," a voice under me teased.

I looked down to see a curly-haired boy with the bluest eyes and a mischievous smile looking up at me.

"Oh, my goodness. I'm so sorry," I said, my cheeks burning up as I realized I had unconsciously decided to straddle his stomach while assessing my injuries.

"Christopher," He held out his hand, introducing himself.

"Wow, Chris, I see you've been working out," Maria said, teasing him.

"Lia," I said, giving him a tight smile. I didn't have to look in the mirror to know my face was an embarrassing shade of pink.

I suddenly noticed Robbie had joined us as well. How long had he been standing there? He looked annoyed, as usual, and was biting the inside of his cheek.

Maria was cracking up, and I didn't know if it was from her collision, mine, or both. "Lia," she said, calming down. "This is Jesse, and as you now know, that's Chris." I shook Jessie's large hand.

"I didn't know you guys were going to be back from Australia so soon. Is Lana back too?" She asked.

"Yeah, Coach wanted to start practicing early and pretty much threatened to cut us if we didn't come back by today," Chris answered, running his hand through his messy curls. I noticed he was not shy with piercings. He had an eyebrow piercing and a black ring on his lip.

"Are you guys on the boy's track team?" I asked. 

"Nah, it's the soccer coach," Chris answered. 

Maria made her way to the kitchen counter, where she had set out all the takeout. "Well, I didn't expect you guys to be here, but as usual, I ordered a ridiculous amount of food. So, I think we will be fine." Then she turned to me. "Chris and Jessie are Robbie's best friends, and Lana is Jesse's sister and my best friend. I hope you guys can meet; I know you'll love her. Hey, you don't mind them joining us, right?" She asked me, before interrupting herself; "—Wait, where's Lana?"

"Lana is coming back on Wednesday," Jesse rolled his eyes. "She met some guy and wants to spend a few extra days over there; you know how she is."

Chris nodded in agreement and mouthed 'boy crazy' to me. He smiled, and his eyes shined with mirth.  I did not know how to react to him; his smile was infectious, and I caught myself smiling back. It was interesting to think he could be friends with someone as serious as Robbie. I wondered how that dynamic worked.

We both noticed I was staring at him at the same time, and he winked. I blushed and looked away quickly.

I was not the most experienced with boys since my focus was on school and track rather than dating. I only ever dated one boy, Marcos, in middle school after everyone pretty much pressured me.

While I am very goal-driven after I finish my tests and track season is over, it hits me how isolated I can make myself. In my quest for a perfect report card and scholarships, I tended to ignore relationships. When that feeling hits, social acceptance can become attractive, in whatever form it comes.

Marcos was friends with all the popular girls, and it was nice to have friends outside of Danny and Nicole. Not that they weren't enough, they just didn't go to my school.

I dated this boy for almost three years before discovering he was cheating on me the entire time. It turns out he wanted to date me because of my image. His father was a principal, and I looked like a good match for his family.

He also got to lie and say he was hooking up with me. He conquered the seemingly frigid Cecilia. It made him seem like such a stud. Not that I was actually against having sex. I just didn't want to have sex with him. In the meantime, he fooled around with a girl from the nearby high school. She had a track record for being good with the boys— if you know what I mean. I honestly did not care when I found out. I didn't feel anything for him past physical attraction.

What stung me was how fast my "friends" at school went back to pretending I didn't exist.

Moving to New York, I hoped to change this and make friends in school that weren't just friends with me because I was dating the hottest guy. I hoped to have friends in school that actually like me.

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A/N

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