[ 1 ] 1950

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"You're a good boy and just because you don't speak their language doesn't mean they're any better than you are."

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Robert Yahir Vega Capo wasn't like all the other typical boys growing up in Australia. For one, he wasn't a native Australian--his father Hector Vega was from Mexico, born and raised, and was on duty as an ambassador to his country in Australia. His mother Montserrat Capo was from Spain, in the mountain regions of Catalonia. They had met when Hector was doing a year studying abroad at La Universitat de Barcelona. She was there studying music and they fell madly in love.

They then got married and moved to Mexico where Hector launched his career as a politician. In Mexico they had their first four kids--Fernando, Ernesto, Elenore, and Elaine. When Mrs. Vega was pregnant with their fifth child, the president made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

Mexico's president at the time, Manuel Avila Camacho had been a friend of the Vega family. He offered Hector the position of ambassador. He needed someone in Australia, and Hector seemed perfect for the job. He was young, intelligent, and had a way with people. And Hector had always wanted to see the world, which was one of the big reasons he went to Spain during his university years as well. He took the job and the family of six, soon to be seven, were off to the foreign country.

Robert had been the only one of his children to be born in Australia, but he was given both Spanish and Mexican citizenship upon birth as well.

For three years they lived in a grand mansion, paid for by the Mexican government. During Hector's term as ambassador, a new president was elected in Mexico. But he liked the work Hector was doing, and appointed him for a second term. By this time, Bobby was three years old, and they lived in that house three more years, in a neighborhood where people who worked for the Mexican government lived. For the first formative years of his life, Bobby and his siblings lived surrounded by people they felt comfortable around. That all changed when Hector Vega's second term as ambassador ended.

In 1950, Hector Vega and his family decided to stay in Australia. They had been there almost ten years and were comfortable in their new country. His children were happy. The only problem was that they had to move out of the mansion and into some place more affordable for them. Over the years as an ambassador, Hector had been paid well and had enough money to invest in a soap bar factory. The rest of the money would go into a modest little house for his family to live in.

When they saw the house, the family instantly fell in love with it. It had a garden, a big back yard for the kids to play in, and it had three bedrooms. One was for the parents, one for the girls, and one for the boys. Since Bobby's older brothers were several years older than him, Fernando was thirteen while Ernesto was twelve, his parents placed him with his sisters in their room. Elaine was only two years older, while Elenore was three years older. The room was also big enough that Hector and Montserrat had separated a small segment of the room for him with a curtain. But Bobby didn't mind it. Because his brothers doubled his age, he had always been closer to his sisters growing up. He preferred being around them, even.

The very next day after moving into the house, Bobby had been playing with a football when he accidentally kicked it too hard and it went flying into the neighbor's yard. 

It fell right beside a little girl who was sat in the grass, having a tea party with her dolls. The little girl looked no older than him and she looked up to see where the ball had come from. She was surprised, since the house next door had been empty for almost a year now. But now there was a family, and as her eyes met with the neighbor's, she realized they had a son who seemed about her age.

The little boy's voice broke through her thoughts. "Ball..." He called, pointing to the football. With one word from him she was able to catch a slight accent and she figured English was probably not his first language. This was new to her, since she had never seen a foreign person before. But she was even more baffled that he didn't look different. He looked like any other little boy in her neighborhood.

She got back on her feet slowly and picked the ball up in her arms. 

He nodded his head frantically, his mind racing with a jumble of thoughts, thinking of ways to communicate in a way that she would understand him. "Give to me please..." He pointed at himself.

She walked closer to the fence, which was slightly taller than both of them and threw the ball high into the air. When it came back down, it did not fall at his feet, but rather it was pierced by one of the arrows on the fence. She saw instantly the way his spirit dropped when he saw his football run out of air and she felt bad for him. She didn't know what she would do if something happened to her doll.

"I'm really sorry." She said with a frown.

He just stared at the ball, still stuck on the fence, his eye twitched a little with annoyance, but he whisked it away because he knew she really hadn't done it on purpose. It was an accident and she really seemed to feel bad about it. Besides, it wasn't like his footballs lasted him very long anyway. It was at least once a week that he would get his mother to buy him a new one at the grocery store because the one he had was either lost or stolen. His mother was going back to the grocery store the next morning and he would just ask her for a new one.

He gave a shake of his hand, assuring her with hand signals that it was okay. And with a friendly smile on his face, he pointed to himself. "Me, Bobby Vega..." 

Then he pointed at her and she gathered that he was introducing himself and wondering what her name was.

For a reason she could not fathom, she felt warmth on her face as a blush tinted her cheeks. She looked down onto the ground before replying. "Hi, Bobby. Its nice to meet you. My name is Hayley Reid."

"Hayley..." He repeated the name, feeling the way it seemed strange as it rolled off his tongue. He had never heard that name before, but it was pretty, and he liked it. The last name was something he would have to ask her to repeat later. Tomorrow was his first day of school, and he was done learning new things for that day.

She nodded and they both turned as they heard a door open. It was the back door to her house and a girl peered out. She looked a couple of years older than her, but no older than ten years old, no doubt it was her sister. Their other sister, the youngest of the family, was already inside the house.

"Hayley, mum says to come inside. Dinner's ready." The older girl said as she looked from her little sister to the neighbor boy that she was talking to.

Hayley rushed back to her spot where she was having tea with her dolls and gathered them into her little arms. She then waved a goodbye to Bobby and ran towards the kitchen door. "Coming Herminia."

The little girl disappeared into the house, and Bobby was left outside with nothing to do.

That was the first time he ever interacted with Hayley Reid, but it wouldn't be the last.

-

The next morning, the five Vega kids had breakfast together with their parents, then the two older boys went out the door to the middle school. It was their first day at Penola Catholic Middle School, while the younger kids had been enrolled at Penola Catholic Primary School. It was the best school in Sydney for middle class children. His older brothers had complained to their parents that all the rich kids went to St. Genevieve's and they wanted to go there too. But the Vegas could not afford tuition for the five kids to attend such prestigious schools. They had to settle for the second tier school. But their father always said that those with brilliant minds could thrive anywhere.

Bobby and his two sisters loaded into the car and their mother drove them to school. Their father had gone out of the house in his own car, going to the soap factory to oversee production. As Mrs. Vega pulled out of the driveway, he saw Hayley and her sisters piling into her mother's car. She was wearing the same uniform that he had, which meant that she was also a student at Penola. 

When they arrived at school, the principal gave permission for Mrs. Vega to drop each of the children off at their classroom given that it was their very first day of classes. First was Elenore who was in fourth year, then Elaine who was in second year, and last was Bobby who was in first year. 

She knelt down and got at eye level with him, and he immediately knew she was about to have a serious conversation. That was usually the sign, or whenever she'd call him by his full name. But he knew because this was his first official day at school ever. He was supposed to attend pre-school since he was four, but his parents had gotten him private tutors who spoke Spanish because he was their youngest child and they wanted to shield him from the world. Especially after hearing from their older kids that the children at school were bullying them for their accents and inability to speak English like they did.

"I want you to behave, and not speak to anyone unless you absolutely have to." She said to him in Spanish, adjusting his freshly pressed Penola uniform. He nodded silently and she continued. "Don't draw any attention to yourself, and if anyone is mean to you, you let your teacher know. You're a good boy and just because you don't speak their language doesn't mean they're any better than you are."

Bobby nodded in understanding and walked into the classroom after giving his mother a kiss goodbye, leaving his her outside. She stood there for a few moments until she finally decided to leave him, her heart aching at the though of leaving her youngest child, her little boy, alone at school. The six year old walked to the front of the room where the teacher was standing, teaching the children how to count to one hundred. She smiled a friendly smile down at him, and all the other children in the room fell silent. All of them had been to pre-school and kindergarten together. This was the first time they were seeing someone new and they were curious about him.

"Okay class." She brought her hands together as she made her announcement. "Please meet our new student, Robert Vega."

At her introduction of their new student, a little girl in the back of the room immediately raised her hand. "Teacher Jane." She called. Bobby's eyes followed the sound of her voice to find it was his neighbor Hayley, who he had just met the previous afternoon.

"Yes Hayley." The teached acknowledged her.

"He likes to go by Bobby." The six year old informed her teacher.

Teacher Jane looked down at the shy little boy standing by her side and she asked him. "Do you prefer us calling you Bobby?"

Bobby understood most of what she said and nodded his head in affirmation. He would not speak unless he absolutely had to, just like his mother warned. He wasn't sure why she told him that, but he was going to obey her wishes.

The teacher went on about how he would adapt well and make new friends easily. Then she went onto explain that she had labeled a pencil box for him and designated a desk in the only empty table left in the classroom. It was exactly next to Hayley and Teacher Jane asked her to take care of Bobby. She asked the little girl to help her new desk mate with anything he might need. 

Hayley Reid quickly took her new role very seriously. 

-

first chapter for this story. 

i hope you all enjoy it. please give it a nice read and a vote. also, please check out the other stories in the series. i promise they won't disappoint you. but i am especially excited about this one. 

like i mentioned before, bobby and arthur are my boys. their stories deserved to be told. and that is why i made spin offs for each of them.

have a wonderful night!

-clary