“That isn’t true,”

“Yes it is,” 

“No it isn’t!”

Another kick shook the table, glasses messily clinking together. Isaias shot forward, steadying his full glass of orange juice. Not that anyone noticed with the stream of loud conversations drowning out the twins' savage scuffle underneath the table.

Carmen huffed, “- I mean, can you believe it!” Hand exaggeratingly waving around expressing her point, tossing another kernel in her mouth, “Now ‘Neighbour forty-four’ blasts their music every morning till I start banging their door down. This is the fourth time this week!”

Carmen usually had her fair share of bad luck with neighbours. And moving apartment to apartment hasn’t actually changed her fortune. Some had thin floors, hearing every single stomping footstep from her ceiling, other’s had squeaky barking dogs in a clearly no-pets allowed building. And most concerningly, a ballet dancer who loathed their instructor to the point that Carmen swore the student was whispering curses across from her door. 

But something about ‘Neighbour Forty-Four’ got to her.

Jon’s eyes blew out wide in recognition, “Is this the person who left a half-eaten pie outside your door - hey!” He scrambled forward grabbing Suyana from sprinting out of her seat.

Now with a pair of fresh clean overalls, ones that weren't covered in mud. Or worms.

One particular kick had Coya hissing at her brother. Beginning another round filled with growls and hisses. Asto had come down stairs, and now sat beside the pair of lovely twins, a tick working on his eyebrow with each second the pair kicked and shoved.

Isaias could only be so grateful that his aunt had placed both of them in the opposite directions. Clearly a much needed separation given their earlier not so friendly interaction. Not that things were better now. Isaias avoided any eye contact with Asto, firmly keeping his eyes in one direction in hopes not to clash with the other.

Sadly, this was no social event where they could actively avoid each other from two points of the room, simply passing with passive-aggressive gestures and insults, no, this time they were forced at close proximity and they had to deal with it. 

So, Asto ignored Isaias’ whole entire existence as Isaias struggled to do the same.

Carmen enthusiastically snapped her fingers, “Yes! El mismo! I’ve never seen this person, never hear them, and never met them. Nothing! From when they moved in, it’s like they’re invisible,”

Maywa hummed in thought, “Maybe, they have night shifts,” Sprinkling a handful of popcorn in her encebollado. “Would explain ‘fourty-four’s’ weird behaviour,” She pointed out, spoon in her hand.

“Is that what we’re calling them now?”

Carmen shook her head,“And I really doubt someone with night shifts would come in the morning to raise their speakers to the max with heavy metal music till the afternoon,”

Jon hauled Suyana back into her seat, “Maybe, they're still getting to know the place?” 

Carmen gave him a flat look, “They moved in two years ago, Jon. I might be a new resident but apparently ‘fourty-four’ has a notorious reputation,”

“Maybe it’s a vampire!” Julio blurts out, jumping with a yelp by a sudden collision under the table, knocking over Asto’s full spoon of rice over the table.

“What was that?” Maywa turned with a suspicious look at the twins.

Asto’s eyebrow twitched as he turned, eyes narrowing down, the pair shrank under his gaze. Suyana began a battle between her dinosaurs, making quacking sounds as her father fumbled for napkins.

“Maybe,” Carmen pondered amusingly, “It would explain a lot,”

Jon snorted a chuckle, “Not the stacks of candles left in the middle of the hallway,” He countered, balling up the tissue of rice as Suyana reached over and snatched it from his hands. 

“Or them trying to burn their kitchen down in the middle of the night,” Carmen groaned, the twins huffed at the revelation and began another stream of bickering remarks.

Maywa laughed brightly, “Another mystery in the pile of unanswered mysteries of your apartment complex,” Taking a mouthful of flavourful soup.

Smacking his hands together with a twinkle in his eye, ”Write a book, that's the title!” Jon said excitedly.

Another round of laughter and chatter rose up once more. Isaias blinked around the table, dazed at the loud and chaotic environment he was shoved in. It was new and unfamiliar. His long fingers twirled his spoon in the thick fishy broth, knocking around soft chunks of yuka.

He wasn’t used to this, this sort of peaceful loudness.

“So what are you thinking about doing on your free days off, Isaias?”

The question hurled Isaias back into reality, mind scrambling as he blinked, his fingers nearly slipping his hold on his spoon.

“Uh, I haven’t really figured it out yet, something fun? I guess?” Isaias attempted, a light chuckle covering his nerves, shifting rightly into his chair.

Asto's eyes narrowed.

Carmen brightly grinned, “Oh, really? Just so you know, I’m in need of a yoga partner,”

Snorting, Isaias shakes his head, “Thanks but no way,” 

Carmen waved him off, “I’ll graciously give you a few days to think about it till you’re enrolled,” Stretched forward for a slice of lime, taking a pinch of salt and sprinkling on top, “How are you feeling about going back to school?”

Isaias hid his wince as Coya snatched a bowl of popcorn in front of him.

“No one even likes school,” Julio interrupted absently, chewing, his expression scrunched up in distaste for the institution that he’s forced into every Monday to friday.

Suyana shot up her arm wildly holding a glittery dinosaur, “I do! I love school!”

“You don’t count,” The boy grumbled.

“Cam,” Jon jumped in, “We haven’t talked about the school enrollment yet,” Rubbing his thumb uneasily against thick-skinned palms.

“Ah,” She blinked for a moment, snapping her head back to his tíos, and gave him an apologetic smile, “Perdona amor, I just thought it was done discussion,”

Isaias swallowed, trying to keep a smile on, “No it’s fine, my dad told me most of it,”

Not that the man said much, he never really did. That was the type of man Ramon García was. He kept it short and to the point. Isaias had hoped it would at least be a couple of weeks. 

Hesitating, he went on, “What school would I be going to..?”

It was something that weighed heavily on his mind, Isaias dreaded it being a school he knew, specifically those who recognized him. The possibilities were slim to none. This could all be in his head, simple paranoia, but how many upcoming star players did people know who were outed by one picture that went viral? 

They answer; Not many.

Now this time, his tíos gave each other a look, an internal conflicting conversation between them. Clearly not a conversation they were keen on just yet but clearly needed. 

Carmen cleared her throat, reaching for her nearly empty glass of wine, practically sipping on air.

Maywa set her spoon down, giving her full attention to him, “As soon as possible really, I’ve already called a school and they offered a private tour for you on friday,”

Friday? Isaias’ mind reeled. Private tour? His heart plummeted, breath momentarily stuck in his throat.

“But,” Jon quickly cut in, “You won’t be officially enrolled till after two weeks, and hopefully begin classes then,”

Dread clawed its way back, fingers curling against his palm keeping himself from the nervous tick that began to prickle in his mind. All he could do was stiffly nod with as much of a plastic smile he could muster.

Maywa glanced at Jon, “And we’ve given this a lot of thought, and Northbridge Academy is the best choice, they have a lot of things would be great and - ”

Spine bolted up. Isaias couldn’t hear words further than 'Northbridge Academy.’

“Northbridge?” Isaias hysteria bubbling up his throat. 

“Hey,” Coya chewed with her mouth full, blinking with recognition, “Isn’t that your school?” She asked Asto, who was frozen mid-bite, eyes blown wide.

“What,” Asto said quietly, his face slowly twisting.

Isaias must’ve heard wrong. No way. This must be some sort of fuck up, perhaps the mispronunciation of the name. It can't be the Northbridge Isaias knew. There was no way.

This can’t be happening.

“Uh-oh - ” Julio quietly sang to his sister.

“As in Northbridge, Northbridge? “ Isaias disbelievingly coughed out, “The school that...uhh, I - wait,” He shook his head in confusion, “Northbridge?” 

Maywa soothingly placed her hand up, and went on, “They have a great educational curriculum, this will be a good chance for you to catch up and - ”

Northbridge Academy, a basketball school team Isaias went against in a home game. Their home game to be exact. It was bad. 

Isaias risked a glance at Asto, whose expression had darkened like thunderclouds, eyebrows fully narrowed down with something akin to unbridled fury. Thunder. 

Really, really, bad. 

Isaias felt himself shrink back on his chair. The slight hope that his tíos might’ve chosen any school but Northbridge in their city was crushed in an instance. This can’t be happening.

“- you’ll have the support you need around you while you start your studies again,” Maywa explained, eyes attentive, Isaias hadn’t heard most of what she explained.

The jump to his fingers had nails digging into joggers, the sting burning. There was a silence weighing down on him, Isaias didn’t know what to say or think.

“And more importantly,” Carmen interrupted with a smile, “It’s a few train stops from my work place, so you can call me anytime you want me to pull you out of school,”

Both Maywa and Jon turned to Carmen, giving her a dry look.

“What?” Carmen asked, pressing a palm to her chest, “Is that not what you wanted me to say?” 

“The point is,” Maywa continued, setting her eyes on Isaias once more, ”I know you’re worried about the school, but one of reason why we thought of Northbridge Academy is because of their diligent care of their students,”

“They take this responsibility seriously,” Her voice turned sharp, and though her edged words weren’t directed at him, he flinched all the same.

The failure that Isaias’ school resolved his situation was not forgotten by his aunt. Isaias looked away, the ache sat on his chest, unpleasant and raw.

“And,” Maywa added, “There should be that trust between parents and the school, it’s one of the major reasons we’ve chosen this school for you, Isaias,” 

“You do understand that, right?” Maywa softly asked.

Isaias could only give a nod.

Maywa breathed in a grateful breath, an easy smile making out in her soft edged features, “Friday isn’t until a couple of days, we’ll talk about this more before then,”

With a lump in his throat, “Yea’, okay,” Isaias hoarsely replied.

Jon smoothed out the lifted curls behind his head nervously, “Is that okay with you? Right?” 

The older man attempted, twisting his rough fingers nervously, “If you need more time, we can always make a call back,” He firmly assured.

Maywa shot her husband a look, he opened his palms with a helpless shrug, a small alien frown making its way on his face. This was a subject that his tío’s were still discussing about, something they didn’t agree on, that subject being Isaias. 

“At least it’s a school we personally know,” Carmen added delightfully as she passed another bowl of popcorn to the twins, they wildly cheered, “Asto enrolled for how many years now?”

Jon cleared his throat as he gave a cheery nod, a familiar smile brightening his face, “About a few years now, and at least he'll be there to look out for you,” Said with a relieved smile.

Isaias' entire being recoiled at the sentence.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Asto said, dropping his spoon into his plate.

The entire table stilled into silence, Isaias' shoulders tensed and he didn't dare look in Asto’s fiery direction. 

“Antonio -” Jon blinked, surprised and his tone upset.

Asto suddenly shot up from his seat, his chair screeching, “Can I go? I’ve got work to finish for tomorrow,” He said, voice hard with indifference, and fists curled at his sides.

“Yup,” Maywa dismissed, and Asto sharply strided out of the kitchen.

“Wait, hold on -” Jon got up from his chair, Maywa placed a hand over his shoulder. 

“Let him have a minute,” Maywa said, Jon hesitantly sat back down, a serious scrunch between his brows.

The table settled in an uncomfortable atmosphere, except for unaffected Suyana playing with her glittery dinosaurs and what seemed a balled up tissue acting as a volcano.

“Told you,” One of the twins whispered to the other, earning a scowl.

The other wiped their ear with a look of disgust, a sudden kick had the glasses clinking.

“Ow!” Julio hissed furiously.

Jon squinted his eyes, “Who's been kicking underneath the table?” The twins immediately ducked their heads down.

Carmen's lips thinned, her fine manicured nail tapping on the wooden table. “I guess that means more popcorn for the twins,” Who were being scolded by their father, Suyana dropping one of her dinosaurs on the floor, she howled a cry and jumped out of her chair.

“So” Carmen smiles, “Thinking about doing something before friday?” She asked, changing the conversation.

Isaias tried a smile but it was a lousy attempt.

This can’t be happening.