Patterns
660 Words
I stopped believing in coincidences when I noticed the blue car again. It wasn't once or twice I saw it around the school premises for the past 3 days
It was parked across from the school gates, engine running, windows tinted just enough to hide faces. The same car that had been there two mornings ago. The same one I’d seen near the orphanage last week.
Palermo was full of cars like that.
But this one felt… deliberate.
I walked away from the car and I slowed my steps, tightening my grip on my bag.
Federico noticed immediately. He always did. His body shifted subtly, placing himself half a step closer to me, his presence a quiet wall.
“You see it too,” I murmured.
He didn’t look at the car. “Keep walking.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s a command.”
That made me stop.
Children spilled past us, laughter ringing too loud against the tension coiled in my chest. Federico turned to me then, his eyes dark, warning sharp enough to cut.
“Maria,” he said lowly, “don’t do this here.”
“Do what?” I asked. “Notice?”
His jaw tightened. “Investigate”
The word followed me into the classroom like a shadow.
That day, I paid less attention to the children’s drawings and more to their silences.
To the way some of them flinched at footsteps in the hallway. To how Luca sat straighter than the others, his eyes flicking toward the door every few minutes like he was waiting for someone. Or something.
During break, I sat beside him.
“You’ve been quiet,” I said gently.
He shrugged. “Quiet is good .”
“Who told you that?”
He hesitated. Just for a second. Long enough
“No one” he replied.
“Luca if anything is going on, you know you can tell me right?”
“Mm hmm”
“ I'm fine Miss Maria, I really am” he said barely meeting my eyes.
I knew he was lying:
But why ?
If no one in school was going to tell me the truth I have find out.
That evening, I confronted Federico in the hallway outside my room.
“You’re not telling me everything,” I said.
He didn’t pretend otherwise. “No.”
“Why?”
“Because you wouldn’t sleep if you knew.”
“I don’t sleep now.”
Silence stretched between us, heavy and dangerous.
“You’re changing,” I continued. “You stand closer. You are more protective. You don’t let me walk alone. You correct how I talk to people. You watch me like”
“Like what?” he asked quietly.
“Like I’m already in danger.”
His eyes flickered.
That was all the answer I needed.
“ Maria You’re not in danger i just need you to stop and listen to me” he said like he was trying to convince me.
I wasn't convinced.
I was irritated.
“I'm not a child Feddrico, I can take care of myself. I just hate the fact that you still don't think I should know the truth. My dad has done that to me all my life and now you?”
He hesitated like he wanted to say something but he couldn't.
“I'm sorry I can't say more than I'm required to” he said.
“I'm your bodyguard and nothing more Maria. I'm sorry if I stepped out of line and made you think otherwise”
I couldn't believe what he had just said.
I stood there staring at him wondering if all I truly was to him was a duty.
He wasn't lying but It hurt to see him set a boundary after we had crossed a line.
We were back to square one. If that's what he wants I'll give it to him.
I walked away from him.
- Writer
