Page 9 of Her Passionate Hero

“She’s getting away,” Heather cried.

Now Aliana could see more clearly, she saw a boy sitting astride Jose, hitting him. Lupita was trying to drag him off her brother. Aliana took the opportunity to grab her hair and yank it out of Heather’s hands.

“Now I tell teacher,” she threatened.

“Dirty foreigner, she won’t believe you,” Heather laughed.

Aliana was on all fours. She couldn’t stop her tears. It was true. Her teacher hated the way she talked. She was constantly correcting her in front of the other children. She only liked the way she wrote on the paper.

“―ever hit her again, I will beat you bloody.” Aliana looked up to see who had said that. It was a boy she recognized from the hallways. She thought he might be in fourth grade. Jose was in fifth. The boy had an odd name. He was a Hunter like in Snow White. He turned to Aliana. “Go tell the teacher.”

Aliana shook her head. Heather was right, they wouldn’t believe her. The boy got off Jose and stood up. He looked around at the other two girls.

“If you ever touch her again, you’ll answer to me.”

Lupita looked scared, Heather smirked. It made no sense to Aliana. None of the children’s actions that day made any sense. Not her friend, Heather, not Lupita and Jose, not even her rescuer. She stood there trying to stop crying. When she got back to school, she ran to the bathroom and wiped her face. When teacher asked her what was wrong, she said she fell down. Even the teacher’s lack of interest made no sense. Aliana vowed to never do anything to bring attention to herself again. Too bad her actions had nothing to do with being a target for bullies.

***

Aliana shut off the shower and stepped out. It had been a long time since she had thought about her school days. Her hands trembled as she pulled on her soft pajamas. She hated remembering how powerless she had been. The memory must have surfaced because of how Mateo had made her feel.

She considered again whether she was doing the right thing not to go to the police. To begin with she wanted to save Nicolas, but when they threatened her mother, all of her faith in authority left her. If Mateo had been able to knock out her security cameras and know exactly what room her mother was in? She shuddered at his power. No, she couldn’t risk it.

She got into bed and shoved the pillows behind her back. She crossed her legs and put her hands on her knees. She breathed in and held her breath for a count of three, then carefully released it for a count of ten. She did that twenty times until she finally felt herself begin to calm. She could stop counting her breaths and just ease into a state of being.

When she opened her eyes, she wasn’t surprised to find her face was tight from dried tears, but she felt more relaxed. Not good exactly, but more centered. In control, that was it, she felt more in control. She uncurled and pushed the pillows away and turned out the light. It was a mistake.

She got up and went over to the plug on the wall and switched on her sunflower nightlight. She went back to her bed and wrapped her down comforter around herself and burrowed in. She stared at her nightlight until she finally slept.

***

“What really happened to you?” Lottie hissed.

They were sitting in the back corner of the teacher’s lounge eating lunch. Aliana was tired of all the attention she had garnered that morning.

“I was in a car accident.”

“Your car was fine. I checked it out.” Carlotta Rodriguez peeled off the film from her microwaved diet meal and grimaced.

“I was in a friend’s car,” Aliana whispered back.

“You don’t have any other friends but me. You’re anti-social, remember?”

It was true.

“A new neighbor moved in,” Aliana told her. “We were going to lunch, and she wrecked the car.”

“You’re such a bad liar.”

It was getting frustrating that everybody doubted her word these days. She needed to work on her ability to deceive.

“Oh, my God, you’re trying to think of ways to become a better liar!” Lottie hissed again. “Stop it. I’ll tell your grandmother on you. By the way, that would have been a much better lie. You should have said she’d been driving.”

“I had her license revoked a couple of years ago, remember?” She’d felt terrible, because they ended up having to sell her grandfather’s car as well, and that was what hurt her Babička the most.

Lottie grimaced. “I forgot sweetie.” She put her hand on top of Aliana’s. “I remember how tough that was for you. But she had a good run, she’s damn near eighty. Now tell me what really happened.”

“I can’t.”