As time goes on you sort of get used to the whole school routine, the same way you get used to any routine. Wake up, school, eat, sleep, it's a constant cycle that just repeats. I take the time to watch what other peoples routines are, like for example you have the crackheads who head straight to the school bathrooms so that they can take drugs in between periods, or the girls from the cheerleading team and how they take it upon themselves to refresh their makeup every hour.

I mention routine's because every time I have history, this person has made it their routine to turn up late every single time. The blue door swings open and a six foot two prisoner enters the cell that we all know as a classroom, Mr Richards looks up from his desk. "Carter, your late"

I don't know about this guy because I don't spend my time watching him -like the girls in my grade- or trying to learn about his life. I'll tell you what's noticeable about him though, his chestnut brown hair, his sky blue eyes, his white v neck plus his sweats. He's basically just your typical white guy, I catch Zoe's eye and she smiles. "Hot" She mouths at me, I roll my eyes

"I'm aware" Carter replies to the teachers comment before walking to the back of the classroom

"Be aware of your detention after school too" Mr Richards says with irritation

He ignores him as he takes a seat, I'll admit I do wonder what makes him so late but I don't care enough to ask. I face the front before opening my history text book and flipping to page seventy, time to learn about the civil war for the billionth time. A note is passed along the left row and I narrow my eyes as Zoe takes it. She looks at it with amusement before leaning over and passing it to me, "What is it?"

"For you" She mouths

I take it before reading the first two words

For Carmen

Looking around the room curiously nobody gives away who the sender is, but then I notice a pair of green eyes staring at me, I stare right back with a look of confusion. He gestures for me to open it so I do, however I wish I didn't.

Let's fuck later

Dylan from the football team has been trying to get me to fuck him since the start of 10th grade, it's been a year now and I've said no over and over again, I don't know why he hasn't gotten the message yet. I scrunch up the note, "Sorry am I dumb or is there a note that says slut for hire on my forehead?" I question

Every student watches me with amusement, minus Carter since he's asleep. Mr Richards looks up from his desk, "Miss Rodriguez-

"That was a question for Dylan to answer"

Dylan looks at me innocently, "I don't have a clue what your on about-

"Ask me to have sex with you again and Te enterraré seis pies debajo you cunt"

He frowns, "She says she'll bury you six feet under" Zoe clarifies

He raises his hands with surrender before going back to work and I sit back. Teachers are useless, I'll tell you that much.

At the end of class it was time for lunch, usually I always sit at a table with my siblings plus Zoe and Sienna but I can't find Santi or Adri.

I frown as I put my bottle of water down on the table, "Have you seen Santiago or Adri?"

Zoe shakes her head as a blonde makes her way towards us, "Carmen"

"Yeah?"

"Santi said for you to meet him by the lockers" Sienna says

I frown, "What happened?"

She shrugs, "I don't know, he just said for you to meet him"

I sigh before picking up my bag and walking out of the cafeteria, I hope it's nothing bad. If Santi got into a fight I won't even be surprised, I'm preparing myself for the bruises and the cuts. But when I find that my brothers face is clean of any marks I frown, "What is it? And where's Adri?" I ask him

"Hey Santiago" A girl in his grade smiles as she passes by

"Hey" He nods

"Focus" I say seriously

My brother scratches the back of his head before opening the door to the girls bathroom and I frown as we walk in. Adriana's sitting against the wall and she looks terrible, her eyes are puffy, her hairs a mess and she's wearing over sized clothes -which she never does-, my sisters a zombie.

I raise my eyebrows a little as Santi and I sit opposite her, "Que paso?" I ask softly

My sister sniffs before mumbling, "Nothing"

I look back at Santiago but he's to busy looking at his twin, "You can tell us Adri" He says softly

"Boys are shit" She finally says

If I was Adri I would've lied. Because now what'll happen is, Santiago is gonna beat the shit out of whoever hurt her, then he'll get suspended and then mom will give the whole family a god damn lecture about why we are bad influences on each other

"Who was it" Santiago says seriously

Adri rubs her head tiredly before lying on the floor, "He said he wanted me and then kissed stupid Fiona Walters, why the fuck would he do that when she's a whore" Our sister complains

I stroke her hair, "If he can't see how great you are then he's a dick"

"What's his name Adri" Santi asks, she sits up before looking at him with fear

"Don't Santi, I don't want him to get hurt" She pleads

She's wasted

"He made you cry"

Adriana wipes her eyes, "Please Santi, leave it alone-

He pulls her in for a hug, "Ok fine, I will" He says softly. She continues to cry into his shoulder and I sigh as she does so, if only she could see that no man deserves her. She's so beautiful but let's herself get caught up with all of these stupid boys

Santi gives me a look as if to say he's gonna break his promise and go looking for this guy, I knew he would anyway. "Get Enzo to take her home, tell him to make sure mom doesn't see how drunk she is"

He nods and I rub our sisters back, "Santi's gonna take you home ok?"

She nods and I get up before walking out and leaving them be. My best friends are waiting for me by the chemistry room, "Is everything ok?" Sienna asks with concern

I sigh, "No, boy drama. Adris going home"

"Yikes" Zoe tuts

"Yikes indeed"

~*~

"It wasn't her fault mom-

I shut the door behind me before entering the living room, Santiago and Mom seem to be arguing about something. There's two ways to handle the situation, number one you avoid it by going upstairs. Number two, you make a fucked up decision by joining in, I obviously went with the fucked up option.

"What's going on?"

Santiago shakes his head at me but if he can't already tell, it's a little late for a warning. Mom folds her arms, "How could you let your sister get drunk?"

I frown, "What?"

"Was the question not clear enough?" She scoffs at me

If it's not one parent then it's the other, my mom is delusional and if you can't tell already I'm her least favourite child. You know how elephants symbolise family and love? Well if you ask me, spiders are the best way to describe my mom, it fits her genre. Just when you think they've disappeared and stopped bothering you, they show up again, "What makes you think it was my fault?" I say annoyed

"Because your the one that got her into drinking in the first place-

"No I didn't-

"Don't argue with me-

"Then don't accuse me" I shoot back

Our voices overlap each other for the next minute or so until dad comes down the stairs. "What's going on?"

"Su hija es irrespetuosa!" Mom says annoyed

"How the heck am I disrespectful when your the one who started throwing accusations at me?" I scoff

Dad looks at Santiago to explain and he scratches the back of his head awkwardly, "Adri was drunk at school-

"And mom thinks it's my fault"

"Why was she drunk?" Dad frowns

We both shrug and he narrows his eyes at us, "Mi hija" He says to me seriously

"Ask Adri" I walk past him before heading up the stairs, ignoring the many shouts that mom continues to throw at me. After entering my room I open my bottom drawer before taking out a pair of cycling shorts and a cropped hoodie, staying home is definitely the last thing I should be doing right now..... so I won't.

I change in front of the bathroom mirror, taking notice of how my right thigh looks a little smaller than the left, it's annoying how uneven my legs are. There's many other things that I could point out but I'll probably end up doing it later. I take a bottle of water before exiting my room and knocking on my brothers door with annoyance, when he doesn't answer I enter.

Enzo's room is a no going zone, he hates it when any of us go in there. I know it's because he doesn't want us to find the coke and the weed but we already know about that shit, he's just scared of dad finding out.

Surprisingly his bed is made, his bathroom door is open too so I know he isn't here. My eyes do a quick scan of the room before landing on what I was looking for

His car keys

I take them quickly before shutting the door behind me. Usually I'd ask but not today, I just need to get out of here quickly. I head back downstairs before walking past Santiago. "Where are you going?"

"Out" I reply

"Don't be annoyed at me"

"I'm not annoyed, I'm just going out" I sigh

The fresh air calms me as I leave the house, the weather has decided to be kind and warm. I'm going to the gym if it isn't clear already, I haven't been in awhile. I think the last time I went was two or three weeks ago, that's why I was surprised when Zoe said I looked different yesterday. I start the engine before pulling out of the driveway and driving through the neighbourhood

There's a lot of nice houses around here, I don't think I realised how many rich people we're surrounded by.

Rubbing my eyes tiredly, I take a left down the street, after the gym I'm gonna do everything in my power to take a long journey home... maybe I'll get some food. Whilst driving I spot a young girl on the sidewalk, she unexpectedly runs onto the road and I widen my eyes before quickly coming to a halt. Who the heck let's a child walk around by themselves? I know she was trying to cross but I didn't see her until the last second.

I'm sending quick prayers that I didn't hurt her

I unbuckle my seatbelt quickly before getting out of the car. I expected her to at least cry but all she was doing was staring at the car for awhile, then she noticed me. "Sweetie are you ok? Did I hit you?"

She does nothing but stare at me and I tilt my head to the side as I asses her. Misses brunette is wearing a pink sweater with a pair of sparkly shoes on to match, I crouch down in front of her. The streets are empty as I look around, it's just us. "Where's your parents?" I frown

She chews the inside of her cheek but once again she doesn't reply. "Not much of a talker are you?" I say amused

No shit

"It's ok, let's see if we can find your mommy" I then say

Her body relaxes after hearing the words 'find your mommy'

"I'm Carmen" I smile before opening the passenger side to the car. Now everyone knows that it's easy to install fear into little kids so the best thing for you to do is remain calm, it's also best not pressure them because that just makes them run away and you don't want that.

I was surprised when she got into the car all by herself, "Sorry I don't have a booster seat" I reply before shutting the door for her. I then do her seatbelt before getting into the drivers seat, usually kids annoy me but I'm curious about this girl.

In terms of first impressions I'd say she looks innocent and pure, she's quiet -but then again that could be because she doesn't know me- and calm.

"If you see anyone that you know then I'll stop the car ok?"

She keeps her eyes trained on the outside world and I can't help but wonder what she's thinking about right now. My phone continuously buzzes, I shut it off as I focus on driving, hopefully I find this girls family soon.