Rachel immediately regrets not following Hector into the house right away since the place definitely looks like she would get lost in.

A woman, in a maid uniform, comes to her. "Master's room is that way, to the left," she says.

Rachel heard the woman but her attention is on the two men standing farther away behind the woman. They are dressed in black shirt and black pants. Their rolled up sleeves expose tattooed arms.

Somehow they look like a hybrid of the elite bodyguards of a President and henchmen of a mafia boss.

Rachel freezes.

She remembers one of the rumors about Hector. About his family being secretly a mafia household.

"Are you alright, miss?" The woman asks.

"Yes," Rachel says and hurries into the house.

How could Hector leave her behind among a bunch of gangsters? She thinks, and nearly runs to his room.

When she reaches it she knows it's his room because there's a black and white photo of him hanging on the wall. How narcissistic, she thinks while staring at it.

"You can take that to your room, too," Hector says.

Rachel tries to hold back her anger, and her embarrassment. If she had known this day would come, she would've returned his jacket the very next day.

Rachel sits on the large leather couch that's across the TV. His room looks less like a bedroom and more like a studio apartment.

"Can I put my legs over the couch? I want to lie down," Rachel says.

"You can lie down on the bed," Hector says.

Rachel ignores him and lies down on the couch.

"You can't put your legs on the couch," he says.

Rachel ignores him again and closes her eyes.

She's suddenly very tired like she was at the store. From all her anger and embarrassment she believes. Soon, she's asleep.

IT'S BEEN AN hour. Rachel hadn't moved even a finger. At one point Hector touched her forehead to see if she had a fever. She didn't. She just seemed tired.

Hector feels guilty she got sick because of him.

But he also believes it was because she was being silly too. He wouldn't have minded if she returned his jacket later.

He doesn't mind she kept one either.

Hector smiles at her sleeping face.

He remembers how flustered she was while trying to explain what happened. Then he remembers that day.

It's true he left the jacket over the crate so the cat and her kittens would be safe from the rain, but it was also because that jacket was a gift from his mother.

Somewhere deep inside him, he wanted to get rid of it.

But, instead of getting lost among unknown faces, or buried in a landfill, the jacket is now merrily residing in Rachel's room, who probably had taken very good care of it.

The thought makes Hector feel warm inside. The thought of his possession staying with her, someone who would take it seriously and treat it well.

Hector then suddenly reels away from Rachel like he was stung. He shouldn't think like this.

He can't give into her warmth. He can't let her affect him like this. Hector already regrets loving his parents, desolately suffering every day from it.

He won't love anyone else, and give them the power as well to hurt him.

Hector leaves his room.

A WHILE LATER, Rachel wakes up, feeling rested. She looks at the time. It's late.

Rachel calls for Hector, but no one responds.

She walks out of the room in search of Hector.

When she had reached an archway at the back, she hears a laughter. It sounds odd.

A stunningly beautiful woman, dressed in a pristine black dress appears from behind one of the doors. The woman sees Rachel, and starts to laugh again.

Rachel realizes what felt odd before. The woman's laughters sound drunk, or high.

The woman approaches Rachel. Scared, Rachel walks backwards and soon her back is against the wall. The woman reaches her.

"Aren't you a pretty little thing," the woman says, "How old are you? Sixteen? Fourteen? Has he turned into a fucking pedo now?"

Rachel is not sure what's happening, but she doesn't want to be here. She tries to leave, but the woman pushes her against the wall. She grabs Rachel's chin. "You really are pretty," the woman says, bringing her face closer to Rachel's. "Those eyes," the woman says, "they are burning."

Rachel is scared and blinks away her tears. "I'm s-sorry," Rachel stammers, "please let go of me." Rachel's face hurts from the pressure the woman is holding her in.

The woman lets go of Rachel's face and grabs the hair at the back of Rachel's head and starts to drag her further into the house.

"No!" Rachel shouts, "Let me go."

One of the maids hears her and rushes over. "Madam," the maid says, "Let her go please. She's a guest of young master."

The woman stops, surprised. "My son brought her here?" She says.

Rachel almost gasps after realizing this terrifying woman is Hector's mother.

Eleanor pulls down Rachel's hair. Rachel shouts in pain.

"What did you do to my son?! How dare you!" The woman says.

Tears stream down Rachel's eyes as the pain intensifies.

"Mom!" Hector shouts, running over and pushing Eleanor away from Rachel. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

"How dare you bring a woman home?!" Eleanor shouts. "You are just like him. That wretched devil. You're just like him."

The rest of the maids arrive and they block Eleanor while Hector takes Rachel back to his room.

Rachel sits down on the couch, rubbing the back of her head.

"You okay?" Hector says, reaching his hand out to her head.

Scared Rachel retreats from his hand. Hector pulls his hand back. "Sorry," he says.

"I want to go home," Rachel says. She doesn't want to be here even for a second more.

Hector quietly grabs his wallet and car keys and leads Rachel out to his car.

On the way, Hector apologizes to Rachel for his mother's actions. Rachel doesn't respond. She knows it's not his fault. But Rachel feels humiliated, and is still shaken by his mother's violence.

When he drops Rachel off, Hector says he'll have her car sent.

"Thanks," is all Rachel can manage to tell him before heading into her house.

HECTOR STOPS NEARBY a bridge on his way back to home. He hits the steering wheel, swearing.

Of course, she would be terrified, Hector thinks. Someone like her has probably never even met a drunk person before.

Hector doesn't know what he was thinking before, about staying away from Rachel. When the truth is Rachel wouldn't let him anywhere near her in the first place, especially now that she has peeked into his life.

Why would a girl like Rachel would even want to be with a deranged woman and a heartless man's son?

Hector looks down at himself. At the jacket he's wearing, the one he wore when he got a lift from Rachel. He quickly takes it off and throws it on the passenger seat.

He started wearing jackets very young when he needed to cover the bruises on his arms. Later, it just became a habit. Now he looks at his arms. There are no more bruises. No one can hit him anymore.

He should just stop wearing them.

IN HER ROOM, Rachel quickly strips down and takes a warm shower. She hated the way the woman grabbed her. That filthy woman, Rachel swears, still feeling angry about the whole thing.

How can anyone, let alone someone's mother, be that insolent and violent with someone they had just met. Rachel scrubs her arms extra hard.

After the shower, she changes into comfortable clothes and has a warm supper downstairs with her family.

Eventually, she begins to feel better, and thinks about Hector.

How does he live there with that woman? Rachel thinks. Does she treat him like that, too? But unlike Rachel, Hector is strong. Rachel is sure he can defend himself.

But does a child even has to do that in the first place?

Rachel thinks about the moments when Hector had been rude to her. And the moments she had caught him being kind, including today when he cared for her.

Maybe he picked up his rudeness from his mother, Rachel wonders. Or maybe he is just like his mother, but can be kind at times.

Rachel doesn't know. Either way, she feels restless. What kind of life Hector lives? Rachel recalls the day he got a lift from her.

That day Moira said the jocks maybe came to school because they didn't want to be at their homes. Rachel didn't think much of it.

But in Hector's case, could that be true? Is that why he always attended the tutoring sessions each day for an hour after school even though he could've skipped some, if not all? She wonders.

Rachel's heart feels heavy. Because of how angry and scared she was she avoided talking to Hector on the way home. He seemed worried about her, but she just ignored him.

Rachel regrets that. She glances at the closet.

When the school reopens Rachel will return him the jacket and apologize, and thank him properly for his help today, she decides.

End of chapter