Marcella Wellington's POV

When I was a child, my parents always scolded me when I did something wrong. My sass wasn't always appreciated by them. Sometimes it made me question if I could act like my true self around my parents.

With time I noticed how relieved I would feel after dancing, my heart rate would lower, and my scrambled thoughts would calm down. The emotions eating me up inside would settle, and I would have a clear mind. That was how dancing became my outlet.

As my body moves with the beat and I match the tempo with my emotions, it allows me to create a deeper connection with myself. When words fail me, dancing is another language I became fluent in.

Along with sarcasm of course.

It became not only a language for me but for Lucas, Giá and Nate.

"Guys, I want to dance," Nate says after acting mute for three days.

Giá wheels Nate in his wheelchair while Lucas and I walk behind them.

"I assume you ladies are going to comply with his request?" Luca grumbles.

Lucas watched Nate like a mother hawk after the hospital personnel left us with him after his anxiety attack. A strange expression rested on his face till the Lealtad clan showed up.

Giá shrugged and continued pushing Nate's wheelchair to a nearby park while Lucas and I fell in step behind them.

"So, how was your talk with Xena?" Lucas asks.

-

I shudder every time I think about it. After Abuela gave me a lecture that knocked a few years off my lifespan, Diego drove me to school on Tuesday. I went straight to the Editor's Lair and walked into her office. The whole place was trashed, and she was smoking pot with a dead look in her eyes. I felt guilty that I might have messed things up further for her. I rethought my actions on the spot.

"What do you want, Marci?" She took the stick in between her lips and inhaled.

"What are your plans for the talent show coming up?" I watch him keenly and stay closer to the door.

She blew out a cloud of smoke. "The talent show can go and fuck itself."

An eye roll left my features, and I walked out of the room. There was no way I could reason with her in that state, and there was also no hope of this show holding unless I could get someone from the Editorial team to get the fliers printed out and tie up some loose strings.

As the week progressed, I was able to convince some of Diego's classmates to interview the contestants, while I was lucky enough to talk to the principal to agree with the prize I had in store for the winner. The only thing left was to convince an Editor to get the fliers printed out, and I knew just the man for the job.

During lunch on Thursday, Lucas, Giá and I cornered a certain Editor that owed us favours. Felix was in the company of the druggies and the smokers and looked close to tears. One of them held out a knife and approached him. I can assure you that getting involved with this kid will be more hassle than getting fleas off a dog.

We stopped next to the group, and I coughed to get their attention. The ring leaders of the two groups looked up and gave us sceptical looks.

"How much does he owe you, people?" I surveyed the crowd.

The top dogs of the groups exchanged looks, and one of them spoke, "One thousand dollars."

Giá whistled, making them turn their heads towards her, "That's quite a large amount. If you get your cash, are you willing to let him go?"

I detected a small amount of emotion in her voice and fight the urge to do a double take in her direction.

"Gentlemen, I can assure you that you will get your money on the night of the talent show. Until then, you will not trouble Felix." I say.

One of them scoffs, "You rich kids think the rainbow shines out of your asses?"

I levelled the insulter with a glare, "I dare you to repeat that sentence a bit closer to my ears."

I was pushing my luck here, but my dad is similar to Lucas'. The security detail that follows us from time to time isn't far behind, and judging by the grown man sitting in the stands watching us like a hawk, the ring leaders realised it too.

"If we don't get our money by then, you can say your final goodbyes." The other ring leader sucker punched Felix in the jaw, making the latter fall onto the grass.

They walked away while Giá went closer to him and took his face in her hands.

"I must be in heaven," Felix groaned with blood dripping from his lip.

Lucas mocked him, "I'm pretty sure that nosy fuckers aren't allowed there, but you can push your luck on this one, mate."

"Felix," I walked closer to him, "I have a pact for you."

He spat blood near my black flats, and I resisted the urge to kick him because that would not work in my favour, and it would be mean.

Nah, let's go with the first reason.

"Lucas and I will pay the bill you owe to the drug dealers in this school, and in return, you will help us print out fliers for the talent show."

Technically this is manipulation, but I don't have a choice.

-

Giá sets up her phone on the speaker. A classic Jon Bellion song called All Time Low. With a cast on his leg and arm, Nate surprised us by arm tutting to the whole song. He even did one-handed finger tutting. When he finishes, tears cover his eyes and make his glasses slip off his face.

I could feel his sadness because no one deserves to go through what Nate has gone through. I can only hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel of pain for him.

I catch his glasses and walk closer to him. I pull him into a hug and Lucas with Giá. We silently tell him that no matter what happens, we will always be there with him.

His tears soak my shirt, but I don't mind. I rub his hair and allow him to express himself the only way he knows how to.

Lucas places a hand on Nate's shoulder when we break apart, "You'll be okay, Nate."

Nate stares ahead as if he could see through the cynic at eye level with him. "My only regret was that I never got to tell her goodbye, but with her sacrifice, I can only hope that I don't muddle up the rest of my life."

I scoff, "You forget one vital thing, Nate. You're one of us, and if you muddle it up, we'll kick your ass and help you set the record straight. Just like always."

My boyfriend offers me a warm smile while Giá exhales, "We still have one more problem to address. Nate, you're still a minor, and since you have no legal guardian here in the states-"

Lucas swore, "Well, shit. Don't tell me we have to battle a foster system now."

"No, we don't. Abuelo and Abuela agreed to adopt Nate into our home. After we leave here, Nate is coming to the townhouse with Marci and me." My best friend offers a small smile.

Nate nodded, "Thank you, Giá."

"I didn't even need to convince them. We couldn't change Abuela's mind after she walked into the ward. Although we were given a lecture in Spanish and English."

I groaned, "How about we work on the routine we promised the principal."

That's right, the principal needed more than cash to host the talent show. I offered him mid-show entertainment, and he accepted. We spend our afternoon practising the routine and throwing cheap shots at each other.

-

It was the night of the talent show. To say that the tension in the room is high would be an understatement.

The audience is filled with different parents holding pamphlets, and discussing among themselves. The student body sits in the remaining seats and looks to the stage. Some even brought popcorn, probably expecting the night to be a disaster.

I hope it isn't.

A lot is riding on this night, and I will ensure it goes according to plan.

Felix did a great job in making the fliers, banners and pamphlets. He gave it to us when we walked into the school and disappeared. Gia wanted to go after him but chose not to.

Note to self; shake some sense into my best friend.

Mr Leo was among the judges, along with Abuelo, the principal and Xena. They exchange pleasantries as the score sheets are passed around them. The large dark shades on Xena's face don't go unnoticed by me as she glances through the papers in her hand.

"You think she went overboard with the pot?" Giá asks from her place beside me at the corner of the stage.

"I don't think Bestie, I know." I sigh and look into the crowd.

I stop my jaw from dropping before I get diagnosed with Trismus.

There sat Diego, Ian and Jade in one row. They were talking and laughing with each other instead of exchanging death threats.

Did I miss something these past two weeks?

Lucas snapped his fingers in front of our faces, "I hate to say this, but I don't think this plan will work, Marci." His eyes shifted from us to his dad's painful stare.

"Oh please, you're never sorry to be negative," Giá says.

I hold eye contact with Mr Stuart, "Trust me on this Negative Nancy, he will pick someone from here, I can bet you that."

Mateo walks onto the stage and is given a microphone. Lucas, Giá and I walk to the first row of seats, where Nate sits in his wheelchair at the end of it. I kiss his cheek and sit beside him.

"Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Grim Stone's annual talent show. Tonight we will see a round of acts. The stakes are higher this time because the winner will be allowed to work for Mr Leo Stuarts in Stuarts Studios and a grand cheque of two thousand dollars. This won't affect the scholarship offered to the sports teams because the winners from this show and the sports competition will work together." The crowd claps. Mateo takes out the list from inside his waistcoat. "Let's begin the night."

As the show progresses, I become as anxious as Lucas because all the acts performed tonight are horrible. No offence to the student body, but it looks as if they have as much talent as a rock. I hoped that one of the dance groups would perform, but none did, not even the Acappella groups. Only the drama geeks and the Chemistry lords who almost set the school on fire took the stage tonight.

Mr Leo turns around in his place on the judges' table to glare at me. I resist the urge to scoff. This old man doesn't know if I want to cheat him, I would. I owe it to Lucas not to....yet.

Mateo wipes sweat from his brows and brings the microphone towards his mouth, "We have one more act. Before then we have an interlude which consists of our upcoming dancing artists, they aren't competing for the prize so give it up for The Troupe. "

We take our cue and walk onto the stage. The name of our group has been in debate for a while. Since we were going to perform tonight, Nate came up with the name. I wheel Nate onto the middle of the stage while Giá and I flank his sides, and Lucas stands behind him.

The lights went out. We turn on our electric gloves and shoes and start the group tutting we have been working on since Nate got discharged. After the routine, a single spotlight landed on Nate. He starts to do the combo he came up with, and the crowd goes wild. Xena takes off her glasses and glares at us. The anger on his expression blends in with the bright red curls that frame her face.

Nate ends his combo, and we bow to the audience. We come down from the stage, and Mateo directs a few juniors to roll a grand piano onto the stage.

"Fingers crossed that this works," I whisper to my comrades.

Mateo says into the mic, "For our last and final act, our contestant will play a piece for us that he wrote while blindfolded."

The pianist walks onto the stage with a cloth around his head. He sits on the bench and starts playing. While he plays, Nate freezes up beside me.

"Problem?" I turn to look at him.

"I know that tune anywhere. The guys that bully me on the team; he's one of them. He always whistles it when he wants to rally the team to pin me on the spot." he shudders.

I rubbed his back, "Don't worry. They will never bully you again."

A promise I know I can keep no matter what.

The audience stands from their seats and claps for the pianist when he finishes. I didn't hear most of it because I was contemplating our escape plan if Lucas' dad didn't pick his next rising star. I assume that if the whole school didn't boo him off the stage, it might have been good.

While the piano is wheeled off the stage, Xena hands the results to Mateo to announce. She whispers something in his ear, making his facials tighten with an unknown emotion. The look that overtook Mateo's face doesn't go missed by his sister and me.

We have an Editor to corner at the end of this.

Mateo climbs the stage once more and calls out the results from the loser to the winner, "And the winner of the cash prize and maybe an uprising star is Heath Brims."

The Basketball assistant team captain walks up to the stage, accepts the check, and takes a picture with Mr Leo and the principal.

Mr Leo pins me with a look and nods. A strong sense of relief sweeps through me, and I nod in return.

Xena kisses her teeth and storms out of the hall. Giá and I start to follow her, but Lucas' negative sound stops us.

We turn to face him with brows raised, "Girls, that fight isn't yours. Mateo and Diego can handle her. Besides, we've already gotten what we wanted for tonight; no need to pick fights that we won't win." he reasons with us.

I hate to admit it, but he is right. Xena is still our senior, and I'm already in the principal's good graces. I'd like to stay there when I become class Valedictorian.

The gang and I join the rest of the student body to exit the school. We were standing in the parking lot when a black car pulls up in front of us. Jacob's worried look is seen in the driver's seat.

"Marci, sweetie, you're needed in the big house ASAP. Get in!" he flicks his hand to open the passenger seat.

"What happened?" The panic in my voice was evident, but Jacob's was higher.

"Get in, let's go. No time for chit-chat!"

I wave goodbye to the gang and enter the car. He drives out of the school parking lot and goes straight to the mansion.

"What the hell Jacob?" I say as I grip the door and seat belt to keep myself from flying out of the car with how fast he is driving on the streets of Miami.

He grunts and doubles his speed, "There's a crisis in your family home, and Dinah said to get you no matter what."

I felt my throat constrict as horrible thoughts raced around in my head. I tried my best to shake them off, but with the number of cars parked in front of the house, that action seemed impossible.

The car doesn't come to a complete stop before I open the door and run towards my childhood home. I hear Jacob calling my name, but I don't look back. The front door is wide open, and I follow the voices to my dad's office.

The rest of the Lealtad clan that wasn't at the talent show littered the corridors. One by one, they try to stop me, but I shake them off. I even lose my jacket while dodging Abuela's newspaper roll that she used to stop me.

I get to the door of my father's study. The sight before me brought me to my knees, and my hands flew to my mouth.

There is blood, so much blood.

The papers and broken furniture hint at the fight that occurred earlier. My dad sat limply on his chair with a growing pool of blood around him. There is no way I will believe that the person I once called my favourite person in the world will leave me.

I'd rather kill myself first.

I hear the paramedics before I see them. They move to pass me and go to my dad's body. They carry the body out of the room and leave me kneeling on the floor. Everything around me blurs. The commotion of the Lealtads becomes a distant noise as the pandemics ignore me and tend to my dad's body.

The smell of Jasmine drifts into my nose as I struggle to hold in my emotions. I turn around and embrace my mom. Her shaking form did nothing to comfort me. It only encourages me to let it out.

I will not cry.

I will not cry.

I will not cry.

I will not cry.

We watch the paramedics carry my dad's body into an ambulance. The sirens pierce the silent night as they drive to the hospital.

From the broken shelves and littered pieces of paper with shards of glass that covered the floor, the fight that occurred between my dad and someone else was anything but small. His work table was ruined, and his limp figure in a chair will forever be ingrained in my memory.

Another thing to keep me up at night.

-

Abuela helps me to m feet and moves me from the house into a car. She places me between herself and mom. Jacob and Santiago sit in the front while Maya, Abuelo, Shawn and Mateo go in the car behind us.

The ride to the hospital held stiff silence in the air. Many things were running through our minds, but the question in mine was, why?

The nurses in the reception direct us to stiff chairs outside the operating room. My mom and I paced the place as if we were learning how to walk for the first time.

"For god's sake, calm down before we have to put you two in wards of your own," Abuela speaks calmly. Her version of calm, that is.

"What happened?" I ask no one in particular.

I start biting my nails to get my mind off the situation, but it doesn't work.

Santiago sighed, "Sweetie, I don't think now is the best time to tell you that."

I let out a dry laugh, "Not the best time, not the best time." I nod and turn to face the band of relatives seated before me, "I might not be an adult here, but I'm not fucking stupid. I want to know what the hell happened, and I want to know now!" With each sentence, my voice rose, but nobody dares to tell me not to curse.

"Remember that dinner we had a few months ago?" My mom says.

"What does that have to do with this?" I turn my attention to the woman who claims she raised me when I spent the majority of my childhood with the person undergoing surgery as we speak.

She scoffed, "The dinner of my birthday. It ended with your dad and me making out on the table."

Disgust floods into my veins, "Now is not the time to bring up your past sexual escapades." I say with gritted teeth.

My mom grabs my arm and drags me out of earshot from the rest of our kin. I allow her to because I'm curious to understand what she is getting at.

She stops in a lonely corridor and holds my head in her hands. She kisses my forehead and inhales deeply, "I was hoping I would never have to tell you this."

I bit my tongue to prevent a sarcastic remark. I nod for her to continue.

"The year you were born, a note was taped to our front door. It was a death threat. The person wanted you, or they would come after your father. We reported the issue to the authorities, but the case was closed because we didn't get further attacks.

After a couple of years, a woman came into my office and claimed she was sent to give me my pregnancy results. I was unsure of her intentions because I told the doctor I would be coming to pick them up. When she pulled out a gun, I knew that your dad's past had finally caught up with us. I begged her to leave us alone, but she refused. Marcel tried to reason with her, and she backed off when we started giving her money. It worked for a while until she saw you one day. She returned to my office and demanded I hand you over, or I could kiss my husband goodbye."

My mom's face starts turning red, and unshed tears brim her eyes, "I was adamant that no child of mine would live in fear. That was why we split up. I didn't know your dad's past would come back to bite us in the ass. I refused to see reason and refuse to see it now." she sighs.

All I could do was watch the woman I idolised break down before my eyes. It's true what they say; even those that claim they are strong enough to overcome challenges always reach their breaking point.

"Out of the blue, she claimed that her mission was long overdue. She called me to tell me she was in front of our home. She said when she finished off your dad; she would come after you."

All this time, she lied to me. She made me believe I was never enough. I will not be good enough to cater to my younger siblings. It was why we never had any.

Memories of our past as a family race through my mind like a movie trailer. My breathing grows frantic as I try to find a clue. Anything to show me what I missed. What I was too blind to see.

I take a step back as the conflict within me grows.

We were happy.

We were together.

We were a family.

She reaches her hand towards me, but I shake my head vigorously. I refuse to come back into her embrace. I refuse to be lied to.

She holds back a sob, "Marci, please, I did all I could. If Marcel doesn't survive this, then you're all I have left. I.."

Her voice fades into the background as a movie plays in my mind. All the family moments I've had since I was child replays; my first bike rides or recitals. She is hardly in any of them; the only person I see is my dad.

I shake my head and run my hands through my hair. I tug at the strands, trying to remove the sight of my dad's body from my head. They play one after the other, taunting and reminding me of the inevitable.

I take more steps away from my mom towards the exit. She walks toward me. Hurt shines on her face, but it's a facade.

It has always been a facade.

If I want to get past this, if I want to believe what she says and know where to go from here, I'd have to do one thing.

I'd have to find my release.

No music plays in the background, but the ringing in my ears continues to get louder as I bolt farther away from the hospital.

Guy! What do you think? I believe I have answered many questions and started new ones.

Is anyone wondering what lies Marci is referring to?

Stay tuned.

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