I didn't care. I didn't care that we were moving. To be honest, I was actually kind of happy that we finally got out of hell whole of a house. Everything in that house reminded me of the bus accident.
I was in a bus crash 4 years ago but actually turned out to be a mass murder and a children abduction and was even named one of America's most tragic events. I was on a class camping trip when my teacher decided to shoot the bus driver with a Springfield mask 1903 sniper rifle that he hid in his bag. The only reason I knew what kind of gun Mr. Rio used was because my father was the one who taught me all about guns. He used to work at this shop where he would sell guns to people and sometimes when my mother worked, he would take me there and show me all the rifles they had. Instead of taking the wheel, Mr. Rio let the bus hit a rock and make a whole fucking flip and then crash into tree. To make this short, Mr. Rio tortured, raped and killed a total of 21 students. There was only one survivor, and that survivor was me. Even Scarlett died on the fourth day after we crashed
Moving from New Jersey to New York City didn't affect me in any way. My mother and father divorced a year after the crash because they didn't know what to do with me. I was diagnosed with PTSD, Anxiety Disorder, Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and had episodes and nightmares regularly. So one day my dad just left and never came back. No note, no voicemail , not even a text message. Just divorce papers.
A year after the divorce, mom had met Elijah Hugo. Elijah Hugo owned a company called Hugo Finance. Hugo Finance was one of the best Investment banking firms in the world. I'm sure you'll guess, yup they were rich of course. I'm not going to accuse my mom of being a gold digger because that's not who she was. My mother would never do that.
I never met Elijah's son. He talked about him all the time but I never actually met him. His name was Aiden. He was 18 years old and fresh out of high school. He graduated at Townsend Harris High School and he is currently at New York University. Townsend Harris High School was the 2nd best High School in New York and I was going to have to go there too. Elijah always talked about his success and that honestly it got really annoying. Whenever I asked my mom how they met she told me a very "interesting" story. I guess when my mother went on work trip once to New York City she had met him and they fell in love and lived happily ever after. "Love" I would say to my self every time she told me how they met. I don't believe in that bullshit.
I sat in car staring at every house we crossed. We were in NoHo. One of the finest neighborhoods in New York with 3 million dollar houses. "We are here! Aren't these houses amazing!?" my mother said with excitement. " They're okay I guess" I said with zero energy in my brain. I turned to look at the house that we were about to live in. Elijah came out with his son: Aiden. When I saw him I kind of expected him to be different. I imagined him looking like a dork with glasses and rabbit teeth. But he looked the exact opposite. He was wearing dark blue jeans with a white shirt and dress shoes. His dark brown hair was short but clean and you could tell he just had a fresh cut. It matched perfectly with his brown hazel eyes and I kid of enjoyed looking at his face.
I never had a boyfriend before. That's mostly because I've spent the last four years sleeping, feeling depressed, getting high and crying. Yes I lost my virginity years ago but it wasn't memorable. Those four days in the woods were fucking hell.
My dad was a recovering addict and alcoholic. He used to beat us for years whenever he was drunk or high and every time he would hit my mom, I would go next door to Scarlett's house and sleep over. Over the years he went to rehab and got better. The only thing that didn't go away were the drugs. He had a box in the back of the closet in my parent's room that had all kinds of things. From Coke to Marijuana to weed. He used to smoke when he was still around. Dad used to tell us that smoking distracted him and it helped him when he had the urge to drink or get high. A few months after he moved out, I was looking through some of his things that he had forgotten to take and found the box. The box where he kept it all. I was lost and sad at the time so I didn't know what the fuck I was thinking. That's how I became an addict. I was an addict for 2 years until my mom found out when I almost overdosed in my room. Went to rehab for 6 months and came back clean. I relapsed when I found out the Mr. Rio was released. I overdosed again and was dead for 3 minutes and 40 seconds. After that I got clean again.
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He didn't say a word. Not even when we stepped up the several stairs we had to take to even get to the front of the house. We entered the giant white 3 story mansion. I was amazed but of course I didn't show it. Aiden just walked away to who knows where. "The kitchen is over and oh over there is the living room" Elijah pointed to every room in between the big ass hallway. "Well.. I have to go. We are working on some big deals at Hugo Finance"Okay you go ahead. I'll show Zola to her room". Mom seemed excited. I didn't really understand why she was so excited. But I just went along with the vibes and followed her upstairs to where the second floor was. I was lead into a beautiful white walled room. " This is your room. Do you like it?" She asked persistently. " Yea I do. Thanks". There was a moment of silence for what seemed to minutes. "Well.. um I'll leave you alone to get unpacked.
I'm on the 3rd floor if you need me." I smiled and she left closing the door shut the door on her way out. Then mom opened the door again." I forgot to tell you, Tomorrow night we are having dinner at Coppelia." What's Coppelia?" I asked very confused. "Just some Cuban restaurant." I knew it wasn't just a Cuban restaurant. It probably was very expensive.
It's was around 8 pm when we got to the house so after my mom left the room, I just went to sleep. The next morning I was a little nervous. I wasn't used to sitting down and eating as a family. As soon as I got ready I came down to the kitchen. I was wearing a black T-shirt with some black flare jeans and had my wrist brace on. I cut myself a few weeks ago so I had to pretend that I sprained my wrist until the scars would disappear enough so one could see them from far and no one would start asking question, especially my mother. Everyone was in the kitchen. Mom, Elijah, and Aiden. Like I said before, I liked looking at Aiden's face. Aiden didn't say a word. He just started at his phone the entire time. "So.. " Elijah began to break the silence. Aiden didn't look up once. Not even when his father began to speak. " Zola, your mother and I feel that you and Aiden should have some sister brother bonding time." Finally Aiden looked up from his phone with concern. " Sorry I'm busy. I have a few things I have to take care of in the office today." No need Aiden , I'll take care of that for you." Elijah said. "I'm going to set up lunch for both of you and when we come pick you up, you both should know better about yourselves."Fine whatever." I didn't say a word. I just went along with it. Since we had time before lunch, I decided to go to my new room and read for a bit.
A few hours later me and Aiden were in the car driving to whatever restaurant we were going to. When we arrived I realized we were at Union Square Cafe. Before the accident, my mother, father, and I used to come here every 4 months. Since it was a very elegant and expensive cafe, we used to have to save up to come here. Tony, the driver dropped us off at in front of the cafe and first Aiden walked inside but then I followed. When we walked inside, there was a hostess waiting for us to enter. " Hello, welcome to Union Square. Do you have a reservation?" The blonde hostess asked elegantly. I was about to speak but then Aiden said anything but I did. " Yea it's under Hugo." Okay, why don't use guys follow me." She led us to a sanded wooden round table. We sat down for a little bit until the waitress took our order. We sat there in silence and it was weird. Aiden finally said something to break the tension. "So why are you really here?" I was confused. What kind of question is that? " I don't understand" Shirley your here for my fathers money" No, thats not my mothers nor my intentions" Your father and my mother fell in love and that's it"Hm" Who the fuck does he think he is? I can't even believe that this dickhead had the courage to even mutter those word out of his mouth. Who was this mother fucker?
After brunch, we went back to the house . The whole way home Aiden just started at me in the car. I tried not to look but I kept seeing his dark brown eyes looking at me through the corner of my eye. I was still bothered by our conversation at the cafe. Who gave him the balls to ask me such a fucking question? As soon as we got home, I went straight to my room. I ignored everyone and everything and just went straight up stairs. I was already not liking Aiden one bit.