ALINA'S POV

"Mr Dubois, what a pleasant surprise!" our teacher exclaimed at the boy in the doorway, obviously shocked at his presence.

"Well, I just felt that your lesson was going to contain something special in it today" he replied with a smile on his face.

I held eye contact as the boy from this morning came closer.

He leant on the front of my table and looked me dead in the eye.

"Well, well, well would you look at where my feet have lead me!?"

"And how long did that take you?" I replied.

He squinted his eyes at me before going to sit behind my desk; I only now noticed that was the only seat available.

Elle nudged me with a shocked expression.

"Since when were you and Raphael together?" She asked me in a low tone

My eyes went wide at that statement

"Together!? That's a good one Elle!" I replied to her, truly shocked she thought that.

She looked at me confused.

Apparently she wasn't joking with that question.

"As if me and him would be a couple. He hates my guts, and I hate his. I can't even think of us willingly being next to each other for longer than a couple of minutes" I told her honestly.

He was definitely not my type!

Elle stared at me for a while before nodding her head in acceptance.

The lesson started and we started paying attention.

It was hard for me though, as I had someone kicking the back of my chair repeatedly.

I finally had enough, so I turned around to stare at Raphael.

"What do you want? Are you ok?" I asked him.

"Heard you guys were talking about me. Am I that handsome?" He asked me as he did a modelling face.

I chuckled a little not answering that.

"What do you really want?"

"Nothing" He replied.

I looked at him exasperated before turning back around.

It was only a couple of minutes before he was kicking my chair again.

I tried to ignore him but he was persistent.

"Raphael, what do you want? Can you not see me and Elle trying to do work here?" I asked him.

"Nope. Can I sign your cast?" He asks.

I look down towards my cast which is in a fairly good and clean condition. I don't want to ruin it with the scribbles of people I don't know.

I'd let my brothers sign it and my friends but no one else.

"Sorry, but you're practically a stranger to me" I told him as I shook my head.

He frowned in reply before sticking his hand out in front of me.

"Hi, I'm Raphael, the best looking guy you'll ever meet!"

I looked at him like he was crazy, but hesitantly shook hands with him.

"I'm Alina" is all I said back, not knowing what else to say.

I didn't plan on spilling my second name to the whole school, as I was worried on how people would react .

He smiled genuinely at me in return.

"There we go, we're not strangers anymore! So can I sign your cast Alina. Pretty please?" He asks me as he batted his eye lids.

"My answer stays Raphael. I'm not letting you sign a cast you made fun of!" I replied.

He wasn't the nicest to me this morning.

His face dropped, and I felt a pang of guilt in my heart. I had to force myself to turn away from him or else I would give into him.

His puppy dog eyes mixed with his sad expression was actually heartbreaking.

I felt really bad.

He didn't bother me again as he sat with his head leaning on his crossed arms which were on the desk, with his head facing the wall.

I wanted him to stop bothering me, but not like this.

I saw Elle in the corner of my eye look at him with a slight smirk.

She just gave me a look saying she'd explain later.

I sighed as I continued my class, not being able to shake the feeling but not being able to face him either.

The bell rang, and Raphael sped out of class as soon as he could.

I stared at him as he left, but his view was overtaken by Elle's face in front of mine.

I flinched back a little, but it was pretty discrete.

"Spill the details on you and Raphael girlie! Not only did you two seem pretty close, but you managed to affect him! He's affected by nothing! And he sure as hell doesn't pout after not getting his way!" She told me.

"You're making him out to be this really scary guy Elle!" I told her.

She stared wide eyed at me.

"He's pretty scary Alina. He's rich and rude, and he fights a lot. He skips class almost everyday, and he makes sure everything, and I mean everything goes his way. He's not someone you want to mess with." She told me seriously.

"He didn't seem that bad. I mean, he is quite rude but he's not the worst person I've ever come across." I replied

"You're messing with the devil Alina" she told me as she shook her head amused

"Also, that's the first time he's come to this class in months. He even stayed until the bell rang, which is unheard of. Do you think it might have something to do with your presence in the class?" She asked me as she winked at me.

"You're pulling things out of thin air here. Firstly, he's not my type. Also we don't like each other. There is no feelings from either of us, I swear!"

She finally dropped the subject of me and Raphael.

"Fine, that can be a conversation for another day. Right now, I can't wait for you to meet my friends, they're going to love you!"

I hope so, I thought to myself.

Elle carried my bag the whole way there and even took my lunch tray.

I told her that I was fine, but she insisted.

Food at this school was free, and they had such good options!

I opted for a hotdog and fries.

We sat down at a table at the edge of the cafeteria, it wasn't that busy right now so we didn't queue long for our food, which I liked.

As soon as we sat down Elle stared waving towards a group of 5 people.

I quickly sent a message to Adrian telling him not to wait up for me as I was already in the cafeteria with some friends

I wiped my hands on my uniform, a little nervous about meeting these new people.

There were 3 girls and 2 boys in the group. They all looked pretty nice.

They all sat down before turning to face me.

"Guys, this is Alina. Alina, this is Ella, Bianca, Bella, Jake and Reese" Ella said as she introduced us by indicating to each person on the table.

"Omg, you're so pretty!" The girl Elle introduced as Bella said.

I blushed in response.

"Oh, so are you! You're all really pretty!" I told them in response.

"Even us?" Reese asked me and he pointed to him and Jake.

"Yeah, you...you guys look nice as well" was all I could tell them before I was beet red.

They did look pretty handsome in all honestly.

They had really nice fluffy hair.

The table and myself laughed at that situation.

We all shared timetables, and found that I had at least 1 class with all of them.

It was great.

"So what made you move to Italy?" Bianca asked me looking genuinely intrigued.

I wasn't about to spill all of my secrets to people I had just met.

"My family wanted a change of scenery, so we moved." I told them.

"Have you seen anyone here that has caught your eye yet?" Bella asked me with a smirk on her face.

I noticed that Jake and Reese leaned a little closer to hear my answer.

I had to get myself together in order to answer and to get a pair of ocean blue eyes out of my head that had suddenly popped into my thoughts, for no reason at all!

"Um.... no not really. I'm sure there's a lot of nice guys here and I just haven't met them yet. What about you guys?" I asked them hoping to change the discussion from my non existent love life.

"Sadly we're all single Pringles, but Elle here has had a crush on someone for a long time, she just refuses to tell us who" Jake told me.

That's super cute.

"I hope you guys manage to work it out! I believe in you!" I reassured her.

She smiled in response at me.

Lunch continued on, filled with chatter and laughter on random topics.

It was a really fun time and I couldn't wait to do this again.

I've made friends! Real friends!

My face lit up at the realisation.

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ADRIAN'S POV

I was walking down the hall to get to Alina's classroom when I got a text.

My heart deflated as I saw that it was Alina saying she had left and was already in the cafeteria with her new friends so I didn't need to wait up for her.

Don't get me wrong I'm really happy that she's making friends. I knew she'd be pretty popular.

It's just that, I only just got her back.

It might sound selfish of me but I wanted to eat lunch with Alina, and be her study buddy in class

I'm not going to intrude on her lunch with her friends though.

I understand that we're 14 and we have separate lives but I'm not ready to let her go.

She's only been back for a little more than a couple of weeks.

I make my way to the cafeteria, knowing every head will turn at my presence.

Everyone knows how powerful our family is, so they don't dare to mess with us.

If someone had the idiot idea of doing so, they've got a big thing heading their way.

I make my way to the table in the centre of the cafeteria which has all of my brothers sat around it.

I spend some time looking around in order to finally see Alina laughing with a group of 4 girls and 2 boys at the edge of the cafeteria.

My face dropped and I tried to hide as much of my expression as I could before facing my brothers.

"Hey Adrian, where's Alina? Also why the long face?" Romeo asked me as he handed me my food, an extra plate to the left of him with a hotdog and some fries.

"Alina's found some friends to have lunch with" I told him as I nodded my head in the direction she was.

That caught all of my brothers attention as they all swivelled their heads to look.

Luca and Romeo's expressions tightened as they saw her laughing with the boys in the group.

I wasn't unhappy with her being friends with boys.

They definitely didn't deserve her but if she ever did have a boyfriend, I'd support her relationship. Only, as long as he treated her like the princess she is.

I can't say the same for the rest of my family though.

"Is that the reason you're upset Adrian?" Rocco's deep voice asked me as he looked at me as if he saw right through me .

I shook my head.

"Are we good brothers Rocco?" I asked him after a minute of silence.

"Of course we are, why?"

I couldn't bring myself to answer that, but I didn't need to as he followed my eyeline.

He sighed at me.

"You've got to let her live her life Adrian. It's good that she's making friends." He told me.

"What if she forgets about us" I ask him seriously.

He gave me a look that translated to "you're overthinking"

"She's in school for a maximum of 7 hours a day, you have the other 17 hours of the day to spend with her" He reassured me.

I guess he was right, I just felt a little lonely.

It was hard for me to make friends; people heard my name and instantly left, scared for their life.

When people did get close to me it was only to use me for my money, power or fame.

I've only ever had my brothers.

And some people outside of school who didn't really know me, but that was it.

"Would you like it if I followed you everywhere? Your scary big brother behind you everywhere you go?" Rocco continued.

"No" I replied.

Not that it would make that much of a difference.

"I know that you have this feeling that you need to protect her everywhere and anywhere, everyday, but she needs freedom to enjoy her life" he told me.

I guess that was true. It's just that she's the best person to hang out with. The rest of my brother, excluding Rocco and Romeo are idiots.

"If you really want to hang out with her in school, why don't you try and make friends with the people she's hanging out with? You won't be intruding then. I'll talk to mom about you changing classes tonight, ok?"

This is why Rocco is the best brother!

I felt my face split into a grin at him in response before fist bumping him in thanks.

It was his love language.

"You don't think Alina would mind me becoming friends with her group do you?" I asked Rocco looking for reassurance.

"I doubt she'd mind, she's an angel after all. Just as long as you act like a friend and not an overprotective brother because that's what no one wants" he told me.

That made sense.

"She'll be ok without us, won't she?" I asked him.

"She's never alone Adrian. We'll still always be watching over her. She'll always be safe with us" he reassured me.

Our conversation ended, and I rolled my eyes at Romeo and Luca trying to death stare the boys on her table .

I could do this. I could be cool.

I could make friends.

A/N- PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOU'RE THOUGHTS ON THSI CHAPTER! Also let me know if there's anything you want to see in future chapters!