12- Two peas in a pod

Editing in Progress

Chapter 12

"WE DEFINITELY CAN'T LOSE THIS CHANCE IN RACING" Savannah yelled to the ceiling. Kehlani nodded in agreement. It was half a million pesos, only a fool would lose this chance.

"I just need to steal a good racing car and hack into their server just in case of any mishap" Savannah rubbed her chin in a thinking as she started calculating in her head.

"It is in three weeks, so I will get you a car, and you train till you drop"

"Wow, the encouragement" Lani replied with a fake enthusiasm.

She went back to the mirror sink where she kept her things and started fixing herself to give her the same nerdy goody two shoes she is known for.

This was another thing Savannah knew how to do.

Hack.

It was amazing the amount of concentration and seriousness she gave to it that Kehlani sometimes asked if she was hoping to study engineering or coding in university. But Savannah always just laughed it off and asked where she was going to get the money to fund it.

"I wonder how long you can keep this façade up" Lani expressed while watching her. Shrugging her shoulders as she finally adjusted her fake glasses and slouched her body.

"I also want to know when you will tell your brother that you are not as innocent as he believes you are" she replied, slouching her body as if to get the perfect body posture.

Rolling her eyes, "It doesn't matter, what matters is that I am putting food on the table, clothes on our back, and paying the bills"

"What does your brother even do, tho?" That was the question that usually floated in her mind every time her brother said he was not coming back home for a while. It's not like he comes home bruised or anything. So she just assumed he would spend his time playing video games or something without putting too much thought into it.

She also never bothered to ask him because she knew there was a slight percent that he might ask her where she gets her money from. And that was not a secret she was ready to share yet.

"I have no idea" Lani finally responded as they left the toilet, ripping the 'out of bound' sticker from the door. Soon, Kehlani's phone began to ring.

'Did you lose your way to the garden behind the library?' Santi's voice rang through the phone.

'AAH! Sorry, I got held up by something.

'Well hurry up we are all waiting for you, and I am starting to get incredibly hungry' Santiago complained before Kehlani gave her a series of apology then ended the call.

"Your brother?"

"YEAH, I am having lunch with him and the other boys"

"Other boys? You mean the boys from this morning".

"Yes"

"Since when did you start making friends?" Savannah blurted awkwardly, looking away from her friend's eyes. 

To Savannah, Kehlani was her best friend. Because of her family background, she had issues trusting people and even when she did, she was always made fun of. It is humiliating for her. It's not like she wished to be poor, or she had prayed to God to be born into a poor family.

But Kehlani didn't mind it, she was happy to be her friend and chat with her. However, it was Savannah's idea to not talk to her in school. Savannah believed that Lani would ultimately abandon her once she entered school.

In Savannah's words, Kehlani was what she called beautiful. Even though she wasn't from a well-furnished household, she still dressed and looked beautiful. Her clothes are always right for the seasons or weather, she dresses provocatively when she wants and dresses conservatively when she wants.

Smile.

She was always happy. Her smile sincerely made her day. She was just a very cheerful and bright person, it was hard not to like her.

Truthfully, Savannah was grateful, not Jealous of Kehlani, but she was grateful to have a friend like her. That was why she was worried when she came to class and saw her surrounded by the trios, laughing and smiling.

She knew it was inevitable for their male classmate not to find her attractive and want to date her. But she hoped Kehlani wouldn't just date and forget about her existence just because she had a boyfriend.

"Since I gave Joaquin an answer to Mr. Manuel's question" She added on.

"You know, your brother scares me," Savannah said truthfully. Lani gave her a weird and awkward look as if asking why.

"Like one day," Savannah said as she began narrating. "I wanted to hang with you, so when I called, It wasn't you that answered, and he goes 'what?' and I am thinking to myself, this man does not know me… why the hell would anyone in their right mind respond with what?!" she asked sounding offended with what Santiago had said, Kehlani sniffled a peal of laughter as she continued her story.

"Then when I told him I wanted to speak with you, he just said 'She is not around, call later' and the call was cut short. OOH! I wanted to tell him to shove the phone up his ass" she finally finished, but the story had left Kehlani laughing as she apologized in between.

"Want to eat with us?" Savannah asked as she soon saw the garden view upfront.

"And risk my perfect image to be ruined? No, thank you" She rejected instantly.

"Perfect fake image"

"TCH whatever" she responded but soon became quiet.

"Hm? Is something wrong, savvy?" The black and white-haired girl asked her friend.

"Just don't go get a boyfriend and forget about me" She mumbled, pouting her lips. Kehlani was quiet for some minutes before blowing in a belly laugh.

"How could I do that- and besides I haven't seen anyone interested in me" she reassured with a shrug.

They soon waved at each other as they parted ways

"Don't forget about tomorrow, meet me at Jamie's place" Savannah yelled from the distance she was at. Only nodded and did not turn back as she went in the direction of her brother.

🌟

"Did you find what I said you should find?" Quin asked as he settled down with his lunch on the table. Carlos and Xavier had joined Santiago on his makeshift lunch table with his sister, and Quin had arrived later on.

"Ah yes, and it is as you suspected, she is Alberto's daughter. Juanita Rodriguez".

"Alberto D Rodriguez" Joaquin muttered as he bit down on the chicken sandwich he had bought from the Cafeteria. This mid-forty-year-old man was getting too cocky for his old age. And all Joaquin wanted to do was to cut down his wings.

Joaquin had remembered when Don Alberto would plant lies and deceit in various clans about the Armani clan, which always led to an all-out war.

But sure the Armani clan would always win but still that exchange of what? It wasn't until Alberto realized that his plan to ruin the Armani was just giving them more members did he stop. Every family they defeated was given three choices.

Either they would die there and then, or they would become part of their family and have their mark tattooed on their body. Or they swear an unbreakable allegiance and death would be the only option if broken.

"Isn't he the old man that launched different wars against us?" Xavier commented, which perked up Santiago's ear.

"War?" he asked, looking up from his phone.

"Yeah! Oh! You hadn't joined the clan by that time" Carlos said with a grin on his face. His comment only got a nod from Santi as he went back to his phone. "That bastard is probably planning something again, sending his child here," Carlos said coolly.

"Nah I don't think so… she has always been here since the beginning" Xavier corrected as he sat down. Quinn hadn't said anything, as he was still somewhat glaring at the man's picture on the tablet screen.

"She maybe got jealous that Lani was talking to Joaquin" he continued saying. "Isn't that right?" he questioned Quin but didn't get any response from him.

"Oi Joaquin!" Carlos called out, snapping his fingers in front of his eyes to get his attention. He was successful as Quin glanced at them.

"What?" he asked as his friends were all staring at him. Even Santi had looked up from his phone.

"You are so out of it… what's up?" Xavier asked.

"Nothing just the name Rodriguez puts me in a foul mood" He responded dryly. Leaning his head backward to rest on the chair, he took a slow breather and looked back at his friends.

Not too much to his surprise, they had put a little distance between them. They didn't want to be around Joaquin when he was irritated. Joaquin had this explosive anger and tended to lash out at anything and everything in his sight of view.

"What were you guys saying again?" he asked but got no response as they were either making sure he was visibly calm or thinking about how to word their response as they were still on the topic of Rodriguez.

Giving them a crooked brow, they knew they had to respond, "We were just thinking about why Juanita suddenly spoke to you… maybe she did at the quest of her father" Santi said.

Even though among the trio, Santi was the last to be initiated into the clan, he seems to be the only one who would last longer in a fight between him and Joaquin.

Joaquin was born and raised into the family, Carlos joined later, then Xavier, and later on Santiago joined. It was only Quin and Carlos who had experienced the war between Armani and Rodriguez.

"Ah? No, she just spoke to me because Kehlani was talking to me" he shrugged as he popped open the apple drink bottle.

"Speaking of Kehlani… where did she go to?" Xavier said after her name had been repeatedly mentioned. Sighing to himself. Santiago began dialing his sister's number.

[Did you get lost on your way here?] he questioned snarkily, immediately the call was picked up.

[Sorry! Had to do something on the way there. I am almost there, tho].

[Well hurry up the guys are waiting for you, and I am getting kind of hungry]

[Sorry!] She apologized before ending the call.

"She said she got caught up in something" he reported back to them as they continued their discussion.

"Sorry!" They heard a familiar voice say. Turning around, they were met with a running Kehlani.

"Sorry I am late" she apologized for the umpteenth time. Kissing her brother on the temple as a sign of apology and began bringing out his food.

"What kept you?" Quin asked as she looked up to answer him.

"Oh! I met a friend of mine, and we were talking about stuff" She rolled her shoulders feigning ignorance.

"Friend?" Santiago asked, not hiding his suspicion, "You have friends?"

"Yes!, Yes, I have friends" she yelled at him. Remembering what Savannah complained about, she turned her attention to her brother.

"I have a bone to pick with you" She added sharply as she began eating her lunch. This statement earned a perplexed brow from Santi, who turned away from his half-eaten meal to his sister.

*Edited*