Chapter Text
Neha wanted to scream.
Or cry.
Or throw up.
Or all of the above actually.
And no, she was not being dramatic. Not when she was partnered with fucking Alejandro Burromuerto. Resident pretty boy. Well, pretty boy with functioning brains, Justin did exist after all.
It wasn’t that she actively hated the guy. He wasn’t too bad when it came down to it. It was funny listening to the comments he’d make when he thought no one could hear him, and he was chill to be near when he didn’t act faker than Duncan’s hair colour.
No, the problem was his appearance. Alejandro was too handsome to be real, and that wasn‘t a compliment or anything like that, it was a universal fact. Hell, it was probably the universal fact. The grass was green, two plus two was the same as two times two, and Alejandro was the epitome of attractiveness.
To put it in laymen’s terms, Alejandro was a beacon of attention and thus someone Neha would actively avoid in any situation conceivable. Otherwise, her perfectly curated background character life at school would come crumbling down and she would have no peace left in her life. It was hectic enough at work and at home, and things already had starting to creep into her school life with their psycho headmaster trying to insert himself into her life. This class was her refuge. She was perfectly content watching her classmates and their nonstop barrage of drama and sitting in the background of it all. Ever the observer, never involved. Not like she was in school enough to do so, the perks of working for your headmaster’s boyfriend meant she could skip ‘for work’ whenever she felt like it.
In conclusion, this project with Alejandro could be the death sentence she’d been waiting for ever since last week went a little bit too well.
Technically speaking, they were in a group for the project, but all of their project mates were unreliable at best making the situation basically Neha and Alejandro. Well, at least she hoped so because Neha was not going to carry another project on her own. Someone had to pull their weight.
Duncan and Izzy never gave two shits about any of their grades with Duncan failing and Izzy somehow not. And Tyler and Owen were, in the nicest terms, absolute fucking idiots. So yeah, Alejandro was the only viable option.
But being realistic, Neha will end up doing all the work anyways when she eventually gets annoyed with everyone and their ‘processes’.
“How about we go to my house to study? Would that be respectable enough?”
“No.” Neha immediately denied. She could practically feel the frosty glares surrounding her from Alejandro’s ‘admirers’ and like hell was she going to draw any more unnecessary attention to herself by walking straight into the eel's den like that. Izzy may not care about that sort of thing- she’d relish in the potential pot stirring actually- but like previously stated, Neha wanted her school life to remain calm.
“Ah, do you have any suggestions then?” he asked her with a stupidly perfectly groomed arched eyebrow.
“The lib-”
Owen interrupted her. “Oh! Do we get to go to yours?” What. The. Fuck.
Actual treachery.
“Ohohoho, I want to see where the shithead lives.” And Neha wanted to see Duncan curl up and die where he stood. Shame life never worked out the way she wanted.
“oooo, yay! A trip to Ne-Ne’s.”
“I don’t really mind where we go dudes.”
“Ah I see, so everyone is in agreement, we shall hold our first meeting at Neha’s house. I am sure it is as lovely as you.” Neha rolled her eyes at what was clearly a backhanded compliment. She was far from the definition of lovely. The opposite in fact. And she was perfectly content with her appearance, she wasn’t the levels of ugly to be noticed everywhere she went, and she certainly wasn’t attractive enough for anyone to take notice either. The perfect balance of average and slightly less than that allowed her to culture an aloof personality and reputation, so people leave her the fuck alone. And she was certainly content with her personality as well. The cold standoff smart ass bitch who wasn’t attractive or nice enough to be seen as popular? It was perfection.
But since she clearly wouldn’t be able to argue against it….
….Neha came to a terrible terrible conclusion.
She could use this. If Neha could weird them (especially Alejandro) out then they wouldn’t want to spend any more time with her then she could do the project on her own and never have to speak to them again. It was perfect actually.
“Sure, but if you want to come round, we’ll have to work around schedules. I’ve got work most evenings,” and every other afternoon, “so we’d have to meet up either early morning or late evening.”
“When’s your next day off?” The big guy asked her.
“I mean, I guess I have just a meeting with the headmaster today about the library?” about his boyfriend more like. “And then I’m supposed to meet with a friend, but I could always rearrange that…” apparently there was a new potential university student that needed tutoring. From what she saw of their essays, they were a fucking idiot. If it was up to her, she wouldn’t bother. But she had made a promise to at least meet with them before deciding… she still thought they were beyond hope however and had wanted to get the meeting over and done with so she could reject them to their face and get on with life. Guess she’ll just have to wait a couple weeks longer then.
“Sounds like a plan! We can walk over together; I have debate club after school today so I will be staying back anyways. I will just inform my mother of our new plans.” Ever the gentleman, Alejandro turned to them all. “If that is alright with you all, of course.”
“Yeah, I’ve got detention tonight but that’s it.” Wow. What a surprise. Truly, it was almost like pigeons could fly- oh wait, would you look at that?
“I’ve got tennis anyways and I didn’t want to miss it!” She wondered if Tyler even knew how to play it or if he sat on the bench the entire time.
“Well, we don’t mind staying back, right big O?!”
“Right!” The big guy gave Neha a thumbs up and a wink. Neha, still very much annoyed at him for putting her in this situation in the first place, did not respond.
“Maybe we’ll finally be able to summon the bathroom ghost!”
Great.
This was all going to be just great.
~~~
Admittedly, Alejandro did not know what to think of his assigned group. They were certainly not his usual crowd. The punk, the fatso, the crazy, the idiot, and the book nerd.
Nearly all of which were stereotypes. Nearly all of which mostly fit perfectly in said stereotypes. All Owen did was eat, talk about eating, and act disgusting. Izzy was unpredictable in the nicest of terms, an actual psychopath in the less nice. Duncan had an actual criminal record and was constantly in detention for some reason or other. Tyler was a self-proclaimed academically challenged jock who despite being on all the sports teams spent most of his time sitting on benches.
And then there was Neha. She stood out in the way that she did not.
By all appearances, she looked like the standard shy book nerd who would fluster over any compliment and secretly needs the validation she had been denied previously. With her long hair and fringe that she hides behind, and the long thick skirts accompanied with mix matched oversized hoodies or jumpers. The constant squinting that bordered a glare and the books she would carry around like they themselves were a part of her outfit. Never truly put together or well presented like she did not plan to put any effort in her appearance at all.
So based on experience from all of his previous schools, all it would take to win her over and keep her under his thumb was careening his attention to her slightly. A stray compliment here and there, a charming grin and a suave wink for her to be throwing herself at his feet and eating out of the palm of hand so he could remain in the position of on top. Grades, athleticism, social standing.
And he had even found that when he had originally joined the school at the end of summer a couple of months back that everyone catered to their obvious stereotype, more so than the others he had met before. It had made his gracious climb to the top easy and painless.
So imagine his surprise when at the very end of the academic year when the test results came back, he was second place. Alejandro was too sidetracked with claiming Heather’s throne socially. He was too distracted with her obvious reactions and their brewing rivalry and emotions. Of course they had dated a couple of weeks into this, a claim to maintain placement and the status quo as well as to quell the distraction. But the opposite rang true, over the summer it had deteriorated (if it were even in a good position in the first place) into competition over everything- into arguing and fighting over everything. But he supposed that was what was to come from a relationship built solely on one-upping and beating each other. They just didn’t work; Heather’s passion was solely born from hatred and agitation misunderstood as affection. Alejandro’s was a means to an end, sure he had hoped for some companionship however it became clear days in she could not have what he was longing for and that was that. A continuation of a relationship that had long since died for months, they had finally accepted defeat at the beginning of the new academic year.
But in the end, Alejandro had won over all of her sycophants, friends, and enemies. Oh he still hung around her of course, her easily reactive nature was amusing after all, but there was no love lost whatsoever. However it was this distraction that had rendered him unable to see the rebellion under his nose. The one person who refused to fit and stick into the same boxes everyone else did.
It was unsettling.
There was no comfort of a song and dance that he played at every single school he had previously attended. No set routine that he usually followed that ended in his destined victory.
In fact, Alejandro had sworn that his only rivals academically were Courtney, Bridgette, and Trent. They were the only ones who not only shared all his classes but actively studied. And so, he had been so distracted, so unprepared, that he hadn’t noticed the true threat to his perfect run until it was too late.
Neha had achieved an average of 102%. It should not have been possible.
None of his usual tactics had worked against her either. His flirtations to throw her off which had worked so well on Heather and Brdgette were met with ignorance and apathy, his attempts to isolate her socially momentarily like with Harold and Courtney were rebuffed without a lift of her finger.
She was so invincible that it was not a challenge like Alejandro had first expected. It was a plainly unfair massacre on his end. He was the one who suffered in his attempts, not her.
It was like she was mocking him. Not acknowledging his existence while he tried to get under her skin. No, in fact the reverse was true. Because how could she? How could she afford to skip so many classes and sleep in the rare ones she did attend. How could she have all of this power over more than half of his class but not even acknowledge it or use it against him and his scheming. How could she dare play off his hard-earned victory of near perfect grades as him being slippery.
He had overheard her back then. The words stained into his mind and what had truly started his downfall in attempts against her.
“Looks like you might have competition.” The brute had stated.
“Not really.” She had scoffed. “The eel may have slid his way to the top but all that means is he’ll have to lose his grip at some point with the environment he causes.”
“Environment?”
“He’s like an eel don’t you think? An eel dipped in grease swimming in motor oil. Slippery enough to glide his way into the top. But also clearly so volatile. All it would take is one small spark and his tactics will burn him into ashes, and if he’s not careful enough that same slipperiness will hinder him and send him sliding back down to the bottom.”
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?” the brute had asked.
“How can I not when he’s so obsessed with shoving it in all of our faces?” she had scoffed again. “It’s outright depressing that our classmates are so blindsided and oblivious.”
The brute had paused before asking out of what Alejandro assumed was curiosity. “You’re not gonna do anything ‘bout it?”
“What’s the point? They’re gonna believe what they want to.” She had shrugged off before saying something that made the brute laugh, something that Alejandro hadn’t heard due to their growing distance or over the roaring in his ears.
How could she see through him and just not care, he had spent the summer months questioning over. Not retaliate, not cower, not use this to blackmail him. She had said it like she was speaking common sense and not tearing her way through everything Alejandro had carefully put in place.
And yet, she had not once acknowledged him first. No, unless he had initiated conversation, she ignored his existence.
Who did that?!
But even with that in mind, Alejandro had started to run out of starting topics and excuses that wouldn’t be brushed off almost immediately with a scoff or a blank look.
His attempt to worm his way into her social life through her friends was impossible. Her friends had all made him uncomfortable. Owen was the bane of his existence, Katie and Sadie were too …fangirly for his liking, Eva was too aggressive and had even threatened him, Izzy was insane, Ezekiel had many problems and Trent…Trent was alright actually. How he ended up in that group was a mystery to him. Although it had apparently had something to do with a bad breakup with Gwen.
And the worst part was that at no point did any of them doubt her. He brought up her assholeness and rude, spiteful behaviour, the constant insults and shit-talking. But they had all took it in stride, as if it had been an adored part of her personality. A lie, no one would care for him the same so why her? It was ridiculous.
When he had tried to bring into question her attendance streak to their teachers, he was told that she was granted special permission from headmaster McLean himself. She was even favoured by the teachers, like they catered to her needs. The world caved to her demands but, she still did not care.
And yet, despite all of those inconsistencies, all of these unknowns, no one ever questioned her. No one outside of her group even approached her. Every response he was given when probing their other classmates on her were nearly all the same: she was a rude nobody.
Neha was untouchable in a way Alejandro had never experienced before. A perfectly crafted confliction.
But no more, not when Alejandro was entering her private space. It was a perfect excuse to get something to use against her. Something that would finally give him a reaction other than smug or blank.
They had approached a house at the bottom of a street.
“Hi Amma, I’m home.” Neha called into the house after she opened the door. The house was certainly…interesting Alejandro thought to himself. It was run down, with plenty of, well, character to put it lightly. It looked nothing like the houses in Alejandro’s neighbourhood, too small for that. In fact, he was sure he could fit this house into his own at least 5 times.
“Neha, my sweet baby, how was your day?” A woman had appeared in the doorway. She was short and he could see the resemblance between her and Neha, but she certainly had an air of maturity around her. In fact, there was a youthful look about her, some kind of unearthly beauty her daughter clearly did not share.
“It was alright. We got given a new project. A group one.” She gestured to them all and it seemed like only then the woman registered they were there.
“Neha,” the woman scolded, “why didn’t you warn me we were having guests.”
“We only found out about it today, Vir went home early, and I was busy.” She explained.
The woman sighed, shaking her head slightly. “You need more rest.” Considering how much she slept in school, Alejandro doubted that. She then perked up, smiling at them all. “Come in, come in. please make yourselves at home. Are you all wanting to stay for dinner?”
“Please, we do not want to be a bother Mrs Devi.” Alejandro denied, his mother would have his head in if he had intruded. And based on the look of the house, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to try any of the food here. He did not want to catch anything.
“Oh how polite, though it’s not Mrs! And absolute nonsense. I always make spare. Though you are in luck, one of Neha’s brothers couldn’t make it today. His youngest is sick so him and his wife are staying back just in case. It’s a pity, but it does mean we have spare seats tonight.” oh, Neha had brothers too. He could not remember a single instance that she had mentioned that. “So if you all don’t mind, I would love to host you all for dinner!”
“I’m not gonna say no to free food.” Duncan shrugged.
“YESSSSSS!” Owen bellowed loudly, soon joined in by Izzy who apparently was trying to one-up him in noise. Ms Devi chuckled at them good naturedly, exhibiting far more patience than Alejandro could ever.
“I would love to! And uh…it’d be pretty insulting if I said no, wouldn’t it?” Tyler asked slightly awkwardly.
Ms Devi’s face lost its smile as she nodded gravely, “oh I would take complete offence to it.” Ah. So Alejandro could really not refuse the request, could he? She would take offence and then single him out for it. That, Alejandro could understand, she was a lot like his own mother in a way.
“I would also love to Ms Devi.” Her face brightened up, smiling fully once again.
Unfortunately, the situation an hour and a half later was not as bright. Namely because they had yet to decide on which script to analyse for the project. Tyler had just been suggesting Nicholas Cage movies, Owen was babbling about food as usual, Duncan was on his phone, and Izzy was in fact suggesting Shakespear plays. However she kept switching up what she was talking about like an abomination of an amalgamation of his entire list. It was as impressive as it was horrifying.
Neha groaned from where her head rested on the table before looking up at them. Alejandro had been severely supressing the temptation to poke her with his pen. “I think we should just go for a Midsummer’s night dream. Not only does it display the ideals of love in many forms, but we could easily compare and contrast it to Macbeth if needed. And everyone knows Macbeth is one of the easiest to do.”
“But there is something just so tragic about Romeo and Juliet, no? the epitome of romance wrapped in a layer of tragedy. There is a reason it is so well known my dear friend.”
“I would not count Romeo and Juliet as a romance.” She scoffed. And Alejandro rolled his eyes.
“Oh, and Macbeth is?” Alejandro purposefully narrowed down. He had hoped to focus her attention on solely Macbeth due to it being easier to argue against than A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream.
“Yes. It’s about how the love of power over genuine love -platonic, familial and romantic- can drive one to insanity and ruin your life. How it can twist someone into hating the position they’re in instead of being satisfied. How if you let fear conquer your love it will drive you to ruin. The importance of these connections are what form the basis of our society and prove ourselves to be moral. Not all love needs to be romantic.”
“Romeo and Juliet is quite literally about how the lack of love between two families cost the lives of innocents. How this irrational love can drive people to risk their own life and act irrationally when unable to think. When everything outside is ensuring they smother their feelings of love.”
“And in Macbeth it’s about smothering your own instead of the others. Self-inflicted torture- something that is incredibly relevant in these times.”
“Oh? Abd suppressing yourself for the sake of others is not? I-”
“Woah! You two really know a whole bunch!” the fat oaf interrupted and Neha leant back which only then made Alejandro realise just how close the two had gotten while caught up in their debate. How infuriating.
“Didn’t think you were one of those nerds.” Duncan laughed and Alejandro fought the urge to scowl at him.
“Ah, I just happen to know a lot of Romeo and Juliet, it is romantic after all.”
“Romantic?” the punk snorted and nodded. “Yeah, makes sense lover boy.”
“Ohohohoho, does little Neha have boys around?” there was an intrusion in the room and it put Alejandro on edge. It must be one of Neha’s brothers and that did not put him at ease at all.
“And Izzy!” The aforementioned girl exclaimed in offence.
“And an Izzy.” The man laughed before tucking a strand of his shoulder length hair behind his ear and leaning over. “So watcha doing?”
Neha barely spared him a glance. “School project.
“Ahhhh, gotcha. I think I remember this one. The dreaded group project yeah?”
“Mhhm, why are you bothering us?”
“Can’t I just see my sweet little sister?” she glared at him. At least Alejandro’s suspicions were confirmed however.
“Can’t I just ask my annoying brother a question without him dodging?”
“Yeesh, fine, Amma’s almost done with dinner. Should probably start to head into the living room.” Why not in the dining room? They were already seated there.
“We could probably do with a break.” Neha nodded in affirmation, “We should probably head in then, just leave the stuff here, we’ll come back after.”
“Whoooo! Let’s go!” Izzy grabbed the arm of the man there and dragged him into the other room. Alejandro winced at the rudeness of the action, to manhandle a stranger in their own home. Especially one older than them.
They all sat around one of the couches, leaving the other open. Izzy, Neha, and Owen all sat on the floor with Alejandro, Duncan, and Tyler sitting on the couch.
Food was put out on the coffee table by a familiar face.
Tyler lit up. “Mahavir! Hey bro.” Alejandro was also familiar with Mahavir, although being in the other class he, like Tyler, was on every sport team he was aware of. Unlike Tyler however, he actually participated in those sports. Although Alejandro definitely did not expect to find him here.
“Hey dude! Didn’t know you were coming around, would’ve came down earlier if I did.” Mahavir grinned brightly.
Neha scoffed, rolling her eyes. “And distract us even more.”
Mahavir grinned cheekily, reaching over to mess with her hair more- if that was even possible. “Give me more credit than that Nee.”
“I did not know you were related.” Alejandro admitted once he noticed the look on Neha’s face. One he had seen only once before, when she had absolutely humiliated Ms. O’Halloran.
Neha’s attention turned to him, no longer looking like an agitated animal ready to strike. “Wait, seriously?”
“We’re twins.” They did look incredibly similar now that they were in the same room and next to each other. With some obvious differences, Neha’s eyes were darker, her jawline was stronger and she had a mole on the side of her head. Mahavir was taller with much shorter hair and a bulkier frame.
Another man walked into the room with a tray of glasses of water, he did a double take when he saw them. This one was buff, making the glasses look comically small. “Oh. I see we have guests.” He handed out the glasses and Alejandro took a tentative sip, taking another one when he found that there was nothing notably off about it.
“Neha’s class has that group project apparently.”
“Oh. Cool. Does Mayank know?”
“No, I didn’t want him blabbing.”
“Oh. Okay, I’ll tell him myself then.”
“Asshole.”
“Wait- are we even going to have room to fit everyone?”
“Viaan can’t come round. Kid is ill.” Neha shrugged.
“Oh, got it.”
“….how many brothers do you have?” Alejandro asked apprehensively because more and more names were being brought up and there were already three in the room.
“Only eight.” She shrugged and Alejandro choked on his water.
“Eight?!” Dios mio, that was certainly a lot. Too much in fact, he barely suppressed a shiver at the thought of eight Josés.
Duncan whistled lowly. “Damn, your parents must have been pretty busy.”
“I really don’t want to think about that.” She grimaced. “Ever.” One of the men let out a boisterous laugh, one snickered, and one looked ill.
There was a slow trickle after that of four more men with everyone taking a seat on either the couch or on the floor with a tray. One seat remained open however, a worn in armchair on the side. One that was left for the family’s matriarch.
It was only after she sat down to eat that everyone else did. But it did not feel the same when he and his family waited for his father to do so out of respect, but more they were waiting and would only eat if she did.
Alejandro poked at his plate.
He did not know what it was, so he ate it apprehensively. There were certainly more spices than he was used to. Despite their heritage, his family rarely ate food that originated from his country. His mother had insisted on the healthiest foods as possible to keep them as healthy as possible- anything fried or too carby was out of the question. And of course, seasonings, dressings, spices, oils, and sauces were additional and unnecessary calories. It was easier to acclimate to the culture that way. So if she had found out he was breaking from his diet…it cannot be helped he supposed. Perhaps he’ll just limit it. Although it did taste quite pleasant. Surprisingly so, it was like a mirage of flavours altering out. It made him homesick with reminders of Carlos and his mother, when they would come around and cook.
So Alejandro decided to focus his energy on observing the room to shove that feeling aside.
It was amusing to look at Neha sitting in the room of her brothers. They all shared the same glow as their mother, a neutral rough type of attractiveness. It was like being in a room full of sleek panthers, lions, and jaguars, lounging gracefully. And then there was Neha. A wrangled mattered little alley cat surrounded by well groomed big cats. It made quite the image. The singlet in the family of swans. Perhaps she had inherited her appearance from her father. He would not know, he didn’t seem to be in the picture after all. Or perhaps she was just a late bloomer, soon to blossom into some beautiful creature. Then again, considering her twin was already there… time would tell he supposed.
Despite the chill in the air, Alejandro’s stomach felt warm. From the food, likely. And the atmosphere itself did not reflect on this cold either. It was like there was a blanket over them all. A soft noise filling the background from multiple conversations around him. for once he was comfortable just sitting in his own quiet, listening and observing. Even when the family’s matriarch left the room, carrying an armful of dirty dishes from everyone, the chatter carried on.
Something knocked into his leg and it brought him out of his thoughts.
“Oh, sorry.” Neha gave him a look over, eyes far too piercing and knowing for his liking. “hey, you okay? You look a little out of it- I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not talk for this long.” That was rude, Alejandro was completely fine. He was not out of his depth. He was just being polite and not interrupting.
“I am perfectly fine my friend; I was just enjoying the food. I thought it to be rude to talk with food in my mouth.
Again, she stared at him in a way that felt like she could see every atom that belonged to him clear as day. “If you say so.”
Alejandro dipped into the kitchen while the others stayed sitting there like heathens. They were invited into a l- well a home that certainly felt homely despite how clearly underfunded the house was and did not offer to help the host with cleaning up. But well, this would be the perfect opportunity to get some information to get ahead of the curve. His previous attempts on reaching the highest position in class had not worked thus far, but maybe if he could find some blackmail he could throw her off and proclaim the title at the top.
“May I help you Ms Devi?”
“Oh please, there’s no need Alejandro, go sit down with everyone else.”
“No no, I insist.”
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and an expression far too similar to her daughter’s. Then she smiled warmly at him. “Well, then I appreciate the help. If you do not mind drying them?”
“Of course not, I was the one who offered.”
There was a beat of silence. Well not exactly. Ms Devi was humming some sort of tune and that filled it. But still, it was not what he had wanted out of it.
“What was Neha like as a child?” she seemed like the type of parent who would never pass up the opportunity to talk about their child- even more so embarrassing stories.
She gave him some kind of secretive smile, like they were co-conspirators in something. “Between you and me, she was quite the troublemaker as a child. Constantly getting into trouble.”
Perfect. “oh? How so?” or eve-
“well, there was this one time when she was about six that she gave us all quite a scare. Her and Mahavir both actually.”
“Really?” he baited with faux surprises. Children would do that naturally he supposed.
“Oh yes! I remember it quite vividly actually, there was a knocking at the door and I remember thinking ‘who could that be? We don’t have anyone coming around today’ only to find out that it was the CSIS looking for a security risk!”
“The CSIS?” Alejandro did not fake the surprise in his voice this time.
“The CSIS. Turns out that Neha and Mahavir were playing spies and just earlier that week Neha had hacked into some forum or website or something. Apparently they got too into the game and hacked into something confidential!”
…what the actual fuck.
“I know, it’s not the typical 6-year-old activities. But believe it or not it wasn’t until the second incident that they tried to recruit her!”
Second incident? Recruit?
“Apparently one of the things she had gotten her hands on was some kind of simulation for military training, but Neha thought it was a video game. She had always been into video games, so of course she wanted to beat the high score. And she did, which had the military sending them to go knocking again! When they realised it was the same person they had tried to recruit her for some kind of program that didn’t actually exist! They only gave up on it when Izzy showed up and wreaked havoc on the place, she’s been a wild child since she was six that one.” She shook her head fondly. “They still pester us every once in a while, trying to get her to work for them- it’s the most entertaining week of the year.”
“Ah, I did not know that her and Izzy have known each other for so long.” Alejandro feared if he focused on any other part of the story he might have a metal break down. How was he supposed to use any of that against her?
“Thick as thieves those two, but she’s known Owen for even longer. Long time family friends.”
“They do not act like it.” In fact, she seemed annoyed with them most of the time. With everyone.
“Not often no, but between you and me that’s just how Neha shows her affection. She likes to act like she doesn’t care, or. She pretends she’s more prickly than she is but she does care even if it isn’t obvious. She just likes to show it in her own way.”
“Ah. I see.” He did not. Clearly it was an ‘only a mothers love’ type of situation.
She knocked her knuckles against his head gently twice, in the same that he had witnessed her do to her own children earlier when they said something amusing dumb, and gave him a warm grin. Alejandro felt out of his depth here. “You don’t have to worry so much, she has a soft spot for you. And clearly she likes you enough so you have a chance. And if she’s not? I’d recommend using her books to woo her. And I know it’s cliche, but I can’t stress how important it is to be yourself. That’s why she likes Izzy, Owen, and Eva, and that’s why she’ll adore you.” …qué?
“Ah wait- I believe you have gotten the wrong-”
“Hey it’s okay, you don’t need to pretend in front of me. I’m a mother, I know these things. But honestly, you must be far gone if you’re already thinking of children. Maybe if I had questioned my ex-husband’s childhood I would have been more prepared for how unruly my children would be!” She laughed out. “It’s nice to see someone preparing for the future though, especially at your age.”
“bu-”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to give you a shovel talk or threaten you for wanting to date,” she gave a mischievous grin, “or for dating, my only daughter. I cannot say the same for my other children however, nor her friends, although I think Neha would be happy to handle herself. But you seem like a nice young man Alejandro, so I’m rooting for you.” She gave him a thumbs up and Alejandro did not know what to do in this situation. It was not like he could admit the truth about his intentions.
“ah, thank you. This conversation has truly been enlightening.”
“I’m sure it was!” she winked. “Now be a dear and help me with these cookies, now that you’ve had dinner you can all have some sweet treats to snack on while you work.”
“Of course Ms Devi.”
“Oh please, call me Amrita. Maybe you’ll end up calling me amma in the future.” She laughed again. Perhaps Neha really was the black sheep of the family.
Alejandro shoved down that weird feeling in his stomach- it had to have been nausea after all. How stupid do you have to be to think he was romantically interested in that- in that gremlin! Although Amrita seemed nice, too nice. That’s how you get taken advantage of in this world. No wonder Neha was friends with Owen if these were the people she was around. Though perhaps the conversation was just a waste. How was he supposed to use any of that against her?
Amrita smiled at him again, full of unwavering warmth that he used to envy as a child watching others and their families. Now he just pitied them.
~~~
“-its nonsensical! We seriously can’t be going with Romeo and Juliet. It’s so …so shitty.” Neha complained for the thousandth time. Why wasn’t he getting it yet? She really didn’t want to do fucking Romeo and Juliet. Literally everyone else would be doing Romeo and Juliet. So if they didn’t, they would literally get a leg up and a higher grade by pure circumstance.
“It is a classic for a reason. Just like there is a reason on why the romance is particularly memorable. There are many points we can discuss here so even if the other groups do it our project will remain different.”
“No. no its really no-”
“Now now Neha, maybe you should listen to this fine young gentleman here,” to Neha’s horror her Amma winked at Alejandro as she passed by them on her way upstairs, “he does raise a good point here.”
“Amma!” Neha proclaimed.
“Neha,” she scolded, “be polite to your guests and listen to what they say. Stop being so rude. Remember, this house is not a dictatorship. It’s a family.”
She felt like arguing for the sake of her pride, to stop herself from being humiliated in front of fucking Alejandro and Tyler and especially Duncan. However, her Amma was giving her that look that she always gave her like she knew Neha was planning on picking a fight with someone. So Neha sighed instead. “Sorry Amma.”
Her Amma looked at her with pride in her eyes and Neha had to turn her head knowing she’d be glowing in pure embarrassment. “I’ll leave you kids be then.” She then left the room like the traitor she was. Alejandro must have said something to her. Fuck. Actually fuck him.
“Now then, what were you saying?” smug ass.
“I was saying that it’s trashy and predictable….” She sighed, “but, maybe you do have a point about the family thing.”
“So then it is decided, we will stick with Romeo and Juliet, yes?”
Fuck him. fuck him so hard in that tight perfect fucking ass. “…if that’s what everyone else wants to do.” It’s not like she had to actually do that. Part of Neha hoped that one of them would object, the other main, much more sensible, part of her knew it was a moot hope seeing as they were stupid. But it really didn’t matter, she could say one thing and do something else. Just like she always did. He had not won yet, even if he stared at her with those smug eyes as everyone else agreed.
“I don’t mind!”
“Don’t care.”
“What are we doing again?”
“Perhaps we should go over the assignment brief once mo-” Alejandro took out his phone to pull it up and instead and stood up quickly, clearly on alert from whatever he saw on it. “Ah mierda- I have to go home now!”
“Oh. Should we hold it off for the next meeting then?”
“Si, however I do suggest you do research for our decided topic. If we all play our part then we shall be done in no time!”
“Suuuure.” Neha drawled out. He narrowed his eyes at her. Neha gave her most charming smile in response. His eyes narrowed even further, a wrinkle even formed above his eyebrow. Even that looked perfect.
“Hey, how about yours next time Al?” Owen suggested. Hell. No. she had thought she had made her reactions clear on all of this?!
Alejandro immediately jumped onto the olive branch like it was a new version of hopscotch. “Ah, sí that will work with me.”
“Of course bro!” “Cool man, I’m kinda curious on how preppy you live.” “oooo, niceee.”
“I am glad we are all in agreement.” He stared her down, knowing full well she hadn’t answered him. Neha scowled and Alejandro smiled like he won something. Creep.
“Well, we might as well all head off now too.”
“Ah, right, shall we decide a date and time at school then?”
“Yeah, that works with me.”
“Come on, lets goooooo!!”
Neha watched blankly from the door as they all left walking together, it was like she was in a daze. Did life seriously hate her that much? Although…perhaps it was an opportunity to get revenge on Alejandro for getting to her Amma. Yeah! That would be perfect actually. See how he likes it when she wins over his family and they peer pressure him into doing her idea while she sits there smug at the devastated look on his stupid pretty face and-
“Oh- Neha, while you’re there, do you mind taking Goldie for a walk? She’s still in your room.” Was called down from upstairs.
“Yes Amma!” it was what she needed truthfully. She liked taking Goldie for walks, it was a good stress relief. Being able to go on walks and listen to a podcast or music or something with some bubbly company that didn’t expect her to hold up a conversation with them. It was peaceful.
As soon as Neha opened her bedroom door (she had no idea how Goldie kept on getting herself in there when she closes the door every morning) she was treated with a golden lab jumping up at her. Neha stumbled slightly to steady herself as Goldie tried to lick her face off.
“Hiya girl.” She cooed. “Do you wanna go for a walk?” her head flopped and Neha grinned. “A walk?” her head flipped again. “Does Goldie wanna go for a walk?” She barked at her and Neha couldn’t stop herself from squishing her face slightly as she pet her. So cute.
It took Neha less than a minute to get out of the house, making sure she had poo bags in her pocket, and five to walk down the street. She grinned every time Goldie would trot forward then look back at her, clearly excited and knowing where they were going.
As soon as she got to the park, Goldie did what she does best, she ran as soon as she was off the lead. Neha walked along the path, venturing off now and again to find a stick to throw before Goldie chewed it up and destroyed it.
Well, she was doing that until Goldie perked up, staring into the distance, looked at Neha, then legged it.
Neha had to jog to catch up, unfortunately. She had never been more glad for Eva’s health and fitness obsession.
When she did catch up, she was treated with an incredibly unexpected sight and ducked to hide without even thinking about it. What the hell was Alejandro doing there? He should have been home already, basking in his dumb victory before Neha pulled the rug out from under him. But no, he was standing near the entrance of the far side of the park, getting the attention from her dog. Neha debated marching over there and putting Goldie back on her leash, but that would require interacting with the guy and his infuriating masks. However at the same time, she didn’t know what he was like not surrounded by all these people- especially to sunshine fluffy balls of golden joy when she knows he despises Owen. Mind made up, she goes to get Goldie hoping for a painless and curt conversation, when a voice spoke up.
“Ah, hello there. And who must you be?” He looked down at her collar and snorted. It was an unrefined sort of sound, one Neha would expect out of Izzy, not Alejandro. “Goldfish? Oh you poor thing.” Goldie, yet another traitor, pushed her head into his pockets clearly looking for food.
“I am afraid I do not have any dog treats on me. Will a pet suffice as an offering instead?” This absolute dork. Neha smirked at the sight. She didn’t know why she was so worried. He really was just an overdramatic weirdo hiding behind a mask of perfection. Neha thinks she preferred him like this.
“Aren’t you a good..girl! I see, women do often fall for me and I can see this is not much different. Though between you and me, you certainly look la mas adorable. Ah, sí, eres una criatura tan hermosa, ¿verdad?” he fucking cooed and Neha was really torn from laughing or staying quiet and indulging herself with the sight.
Unfortunately, his phone rang again and Alejandro looked at the screen but he didn’t answer it, just put it back in his pocket and stood up straight. “I am afraid I must leave you now perrita, I truly am sorry for not having any treats on me. Or sticks or shoes or whatever else you like to chew. Maybe I should start bringing some with me everywhere, no? just in case. Though I do not particularly wish to snell like dog treats…ah well. Adiós perrita” He gave her one last pet before walking away and thankfully Goldie didn’t follow him. No, instead she made her way back to her always suffering owner with what she could have sworn was a dog smile on her face.
Fuck. Fuuuuuck. As she watched the idiot eel walk away, Neha realized with growing horror that she really wanted to climb that asshole like a fucking tree. Or pin him down and see how many times she could make him break that stupid mask until he couldn’t even fathom putting it back on while he’s in her presence. Bared vulnerable, guardless, being forced to accept that she can see and feel and taste everything that he is. She would savour it too, the control over something in her life that she’s been denied for so long now, and she would take such good care of it. Because Alejandro in all his perfection looked and acted like another person in her life who would demand servitude (like her bosses, or customers, or every other rich asshole she knew). So Neha could only fantasise about the reversal. Especially after seeing how weirdly soft he was just acting when usually even his nicer moments were undercut with the same sharpness.
But it was just that, a fantasy.
One forged from reading too much to escape the reality of the world they live in. An interesting thought to indulge in when the stress was there, and one easily tucked away going though real life. Not every thought needed to be acted on, some were just entertaining enough to let pass by and not linger on.
So yeah. Stuff that was resolutely stupid to think about. Getting involved in any way with this idiot would be a death sentence to her comfortable lack of a social life she had built herself. She didn’t want to face the ugly heads of jealousy from her classmates, not when she knows the lengths of cruelty they could go to while she watched them. Not that she couldn’t handle it, she wasn’t weak willed or anything, it would just be a…a pain in her ass. That’s all.
Plus based on the men and women he surrounds himself with, she really was not his type. Not that that was a bad thing of course. It made everything easier, if he gave her any kind of special attention that would make her life a horror. She can stay in the comfortable seat of realism and watch as life’s leading man continued to wrap everyone else around his fingers.
Neha made sure the leash was secured against goldfish’s harness.
She doesn’t need to be involved with him and his perfect life.
~~~~
Alejandro lay in bed, unable to sleep. It was unfortunate, nights like these, ones where no matter how hard he tried his brain refused to halt. There were not particularly many reasons.
So instead, he did what any teen his age did. He scrolled on his phone and then came across a new book recommendation. He was reminded of a screenshot he had taken about one with what he swore was the same author, so Alejandro opened the photo app. His thumb halted before he could scroll down to the screenshot as he instead stared at the series of new images in his phone and what the subject featured was. Or, well, who.
Her.
There were photos of her in his phone. Photos of her laughing with her brothers, of her eating food, clearly unaware of them being taken. Photos that Alejandro had not taken. He scrolled through them, noticing similar ones of Owen and Tyler and Duncan. Then his questions were solved by the next couple of photos being incredibly unflattering clos ups of Izzy’s face and forehead, clearly in selfie mode. She must have taken his phone while he was helping in the kitchen. Alejandro was glad he had his phone password protected. He did not want to know what she could have done with full access.
She was clearly not a photographer. The photos were frankly terrible, caught in the worst moments in terrible lighting and half blurry. And yet he kept flicking back to this one of Neha. She looked soft in it. It could have been the blurry quality of the photo taken, but all harsh lines were no where to be found. Sitting at the table surrounded by family she had looked happier and more emotive than he had ever seen her. It could have been his imagination, or the terrible lighting, but it had truly looked like she had a glow in her eyes.
Neha looked alive. Who does that? Have more life in their eyes in a photo than in person primarily at school.
She was a puzzle, on he had been unable to crack today, but he had been given a hint: she had always been like that. It was a start and Alejandro knew he was destined to see it through.
Alejandro fell asleep with the image of the brunette tormenting his mind.