hope you're staying safe, angels x

WHEN JAY DIDN'T SHOW up the next day either, Gabriela decided it was time to go to his house and drag him out. So the third day when he wasn't in first period either, she excused herself and left the classroom. Sahar had insisted to come along and Gabriela would have refused, had it not been for the fact that she had called her personal driver.

So here they were, on a Wednesday morning, in the back of luxurious car while on their way to take a guy along against his will. Gabriela hadn't expected to be in this situation, but she supposed it could be worse.

"Nice car," she said to Sahar as she leaned back against the soft chair.

"It's electric," Sahar said with a dazzling smile.

Gabriela nodded in approval, before glancing at her phone when it went off. She hesitated for a second when she saw Mateo's name, but decided to ignore it then. He'd just want to help and skip class as well if she told him where she was going. There was no need to distract him with her problems when he was doing so well with his attendance lately.

"Have you been at St Joseph a long time?" Sahar said," I heard people don't survive a year tops usually."

"Weak people don't," Gabriela said," but unfortunately, yes, I have been attending St Joseph a long time. It's the third school I've been to, but it feels like I'm stuck in this one for now."

Honestly, to her parents it wouldn't even matter if it was the fifth. They loved her, she knew that, but it seemed like they had no hope for her from the beginning. Both of them had attended St Joseph as well, before deciding not to finish high school and elope halfway through. After their shotgun marriage they returned, when it was obvious a diploma was needed for almost everything in life, but the way they talked about it it seemed a bit like a joke.

It was like they expected her to do exactly the same. They never pushed her to study, to do anything, to build her future. For them it seemed like they would find everything okay and though she appreciated that they were supportive, most of the time it just felt like they didn't really care. Her future was already set in stone for them, but all she wanted was to shatter that in pieces.

She didn't want to live in her small town forever, didn't want the image of someone who would amount to nothing stamped on her. No, she just wanted to be able to give a good life to her parents and have one for her own, one where she would be able to do anything she wanted. Her future would shimmer in silver, instead of dull gray, and she'd enjoy her life, not just accept it like her parents had.

At first it had felt like that was almost too much to ask, but when it did, she had just learnt not to ask anymore. Hard work paid off, even when the sleepless nights and endless cramming drove her crazy sometimes. It had to, because to what end was she doing all this otherwise?

"It seems lively," Sahar smiled," I prefer it to Athena, really."

"You do?" Gabriela frowned.

"There's no bragging or power games here," Sahar shrugged," everything seems so simple. If you don't like someone, you fight them, if you don't want to do something, you don't. It usually is way more complicated, with all the connections and the influence everyone has."

"I suppose it seems simpler," Gabriela said," though I'd just like to go to a school where people take studying a bit more serious. Universities don't take kindly to a St Joseph alumna, unfortunately."

"Then they're stupid," Sahar said as she took Gabriela's hands in hers," I heard you're the best student in the school, Gabby, they'd be lucky to have you." She looked her in the eye then. "Wait, am I allowed to call you Gabby?"

"Yeah, of course," Gabriela smiled.

Though Sahar seemed a bit the typical dense, rich girl at first sight, with the diamonds on her fingers and the Louboutins on her feet, Gabriela was beginning to like the girl a whole lot more than she would've thought. She gave that feeling to people of midsummer rain and bonfire nights, warm, soft and sparking with happy memories.

The rest of the ride passed quickly as they talked, but right when they rounded the corner Sahar became silent. She stared at the gigantic mansions in the street, her eyes settled on one at the end.

"It's worse for Jay," she said," so don't be too angry at him, okay?"

"What's worse?" Gabriela said.

"Everything," Sahar said," he gets recognized wherever he goes, whether it's because of his face or his surname. At least for me there's still a fair amount of the population who don't use makeup and don't know about DC, so I don't really get treated that differently often. There are few people who don't know his father. His face is plastered almost everywhere."

"But isn't ambassador Ryder well liked?" Gabriela said," I don't imagine he gets a lot of harassment."

"He is," Sahar said," but that just makes it worse, really. Everyone expects him to be just as great as his father, they either kiss up to him or mock him for being so different. I doubt he has a lot of people around him who approach him for himself. It's that way for all of us, but ambassador Ryder's fame really takes the cake."

That was true. Whether it was because he played such an important role in politics or because he was quite handsome, the magazines and newspapers had taken a liking to him. He was forward-thinking and his plans were well thought-out, the charisma he radiated visible in every interview. Somehow he just seemed like a very down to earth guy, with all the charities he donated to and the honest smile on his face.

Gabriela never really had liked him that much though.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but he just reminded her of Penelope's father, who used to beat her until he was sent away to prison.

"Is he a nice guy?" Gabriela said," the ambassador, I mean."

"I have no idea," Sahar said," this is my first time coming to their house. I just got the address from my mother."

Though she had asked the question herself, Gabriela already knew the answer. There was no way Jay was that tense about his parents if he really liked them - but on the other hand, perhaps it was just because he didn't want to talk about them. People had probably pestered him about his father all his life, so she would understand that.

The car pulled to a halt in front of the house then and they both stepped out. Gabriela looked up at the gigantic gate around the house, before her eyes landed on the intercom. Sahar buzzed it and they both waited, a low voice resounding through it after a moment.

"Who is it?"

"Gabriela Ruíz and Sahar Dirani," Gabriela said," we're Jay's classmates and are here to drop off some homework."

"Jay? You mean Jae-Soo?"

"Ah, yes, excuse us."

"I'll check if you're classmates, stay there."

"Sir, if I may," Sahar said," I'm the daughter of Firuza Dirani. I got transferred to St Joseph along with Jae-Soo, as I'm sure you've heard."

A few murmurs as he talked to someone else, before his voice became louder again.

"Alright, Miss Dirani, come on in."

The gate buzzed open, slowly revealing the gigantic frontyard. Splatches of red and orange dotted the trees around the gravel path, the white mansion towering out at the end of it. The beginning of fall was leaving it's mark everywhere, from the yellowing of the vines climbing around the side of the house to the withering roses on the balconies. Gabriela noticed the two guards standing outside the mahogany door then, their eyes trained on them.

"Miss Dirani," one nodded in acknowledgement.

The other one opened the door, but before they went in a woman stepped out, clad in the same expensive, black suit as the other two. She gestured for them to hold their hands up and Gabriela frowned.

"You need to be searched before you enter the house," she said as only explanation, before beginning with Sahar who had already complied.

Gabriela reluctantly held up her arms then and when the woman fished her phone out of her back pocket, she had to keep herself from snatching it back.

"No phones allowed," she said, before holding up her hand to Sahar.

Sahar took hers out of her bag, handing it over without even protesting. Gabriela supposed she was used to it; this was way more her environment than it was Gabriela's after all.

"Come on in," the woman said then, stepping out of the way," you'll get your phones back when you leave."

When they stepped in Gabriela's eyes widened, the sheer luxurity of the interior distracting her for a moment. As soon as she heard the door click shut behind her though she was reminded of where she was again.

Perhaps she had just walked right into the lion's den.