"But dad. . ." Angelica whined as Ray stood by the doorway with his arms crossed on his chest.
"You are too predictable." Ray sighed as he shook his head, annoyed that his two younger children made an attempt once more to go to school with Al.
"I told them it wouldn't work." Al pointed out as Angelica cried.
Al knew this was all an attempt from his younger sister to thaw their father's heart so that he would allow them to go to school with him.
"Angelica Lawrence, stop that drama now." Ayanna told her daughter in a stern tone. "Your father and I need to get to work and he is only thinking of your safety."
"But mom, how will Andres and I know about the real world if we never get to experience it?" Angelica pouted.
"She has a point, mom." Al couldn't help but side with his sister.
Their parents always wanted them to remain grounded and to understand the complexity of the real world, but unlike Al, Andres and Angelica never got the chance to experience it.
"Mom, Dad, what if they came along to school today, just one day as new kids." Al suggested. "I won't even pretend to know them. They will get the full experience."
Ray gave his son a worried look. He knew what Al meant by the full experience.
There was a chance that Andres and Angelica would experience getting bullied while at Al's school.
"Are you sure you want this?" Ray asked his younger son and daughter.
Both Andres and Angelica nodded vigorously. They always wanted to go to school with their brother.
Ray looked at his wife and sighed.
"Go get your contacts, maybe wear a wig, Andres." Ray suggested, much to the younger children's excitement.
Both Angelica and Andres quickly dashed up the stairs to get ready.
"Borrow a car from one of the staff, the worst one possible." Ray instructed the head of security. "Drive Andres and Angelica to school. Al and the others will take the usual route."
"But sir, we're supposed to be in your security detail." The head of security reminded him.
"Look, it's a choice between our children and us, the priority will always be the children." Katerina said in a cold tone, making the head of security shrink back.
He had heard stories about how Katerina Chan could take on a well trained ex-army man on her own during training, he had no intentions of angering her.
"Yes, sir, ma'am." The head of security said as he quickly dashed off to do as Ray ordered.
"Will you really pretend not to know them?" Eric asked his cousin as they waited for Andres and Angelica to return. "We have no idea what kind of treatment they will get at school."
"Andres and Angelica said they wanted to see what the real world is like. I get one chance to show them the reality, I'm not about to show them rainbows and butterflies." Al scoffed as Andres and Angelica came running down the stairs.
"We're ready." Andres declared.
"You get one chance, learn everything you can." Al told his siblings as he bid goodbye to his parents and aunt.
Al told Andres and Angelica about how things would go before leaving with Cara and Eric.
They made their way to school as they always did, getting dropped off in an isolated area near a bus stop. Then taking the bus to school.
When they did arrive, many people excitedly came up to Cara, checking up on her.
Cara was shocked that so many people had been concerned about her wellbeing.
"New kids." Eric whispered to Al as they walked to their lockers with Cara.
Al spotted his siblings as they looked around school with their schedules in hand.
It wasn't a big school. The elementary students, like Angelica, were mixed with the highschool students such as Andres and Al.
"Wow, you two look lost." Fred, one of Al's old friends said as he approached the two new kids.
"Sorry, we're new." Angelica said in a squeaky voice, clearly elated to be in the same school as her eldest brother.
"Well, I think," Fred began to say as he waved over some of the former popular kids. "We should give you two a proper welcome."
Fred moved to grab Angelica, but Andres was quick to push the older boy's hand away.
"It's not nice to touch people without their consent." Angelica told Fred, sticking out her tongue.
"Consent! Wow, such a big word." Fred said in a mocking tone. "Whatever."
Fred pushed Andres away and picked Angelica up.
"Let go of my sister!" Andres shouted as he tried to get to Angelica.
Unfortunately for him Fred's friends pulled him back, with one even punching him squarely in the gut.
"Are you really not going to help them?" Cara hissed as she stood next to Al.
When Al didn't respond immediately, Cara made a move to stop the bullies, but Al grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her.
"I will, just give it some time." Al said with a sigh as he held on tightly. "As I said, I don't want to waste their one chance."
"Don't worry." Eric hummed as he stood beside Cara. "Al would never let his siblings get hurt. He's a softie for them."
"Andres help! Andres!" Angelica shouted as Fred dragged the poor little girl away.
As if sensing Al's presence, Andres' eyes shifted to his older brother, pleading for help.
Al shrugged, telling his brother to find a way to solve his problem.
Andres suddenly turned and punched his attacker, he was no helpless boy. He had years of defense training under his belt, he could take on two highschoolers easily.
Seeing her brother attack the two older boys that tackled him, Angelica suddenly bit down on Fred's hand.
"You fucking bitch!" Fred shouted as he let go of Angelica.
As soon as he realized what she had done, he raised a hand to slap her, only for it to be held midair.
He turned to see Al, grinning at him.
"Are you so pathetic that you would hurt a child?" Al asked as he pushed Fred to the ground.
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