Good Side, Bad Side

After breakfast, Isabella was helping her mom do the dishes. So many people who visited wondered why they didn't have maids when they were rich.

"Mamma" Bella called

"Yes" her mom answered not looking up from the plates she was washing, perhaps she was still angry at her as a result of what happened yesterday.

"I'm sorry" Bella apologized looking down at the plates she held in her hands "For yesterday".

Her mom stopped her rinsing and walked towards Bella after wiping her hands with a rag

"I'm not angry with you" she pinched her cheeks lightly "And I'm sorry for that too"

"But_" Bella was cut short

"Hey do you wanna be late for school?, the car is ready" Leo strode into the kitchen interrupting them

"Bye mom" Bella gave her mom a quick peck and ran out following Leo

"Be good kids okay" their mom shouted after them.

"Okay" she heard their distant voice and turned back to the plates.

*****

Their car screeched to a halt once they got into the school premises, they got down from the car and saw a ruckus going on.

"What's going on here?" Leo asked Bella

"How would I know? didn't we come to school together and you're asking me such a question" she mused and began walking towards the crowd.

She pushed herself into the crowd until she got to the front and what met her view was a sight to behold. There were two guys at the middle staring intently at each other.

The one at the left was tall and good looking with warm brown eyes and longish black hair, slightly curling and a fine white teeth often exposed in a ready smile and the guy at the right had black hair, black eyes, his skin was light moderate brown hue, he had an intense gaze, his eyebrows were joined at the bridge of his nose and he was attractive in a brutal way.

"Aren't they good looking?" a brunette girl nudged Bella drawing her back to reality

"Huh? yes. Of course they are" she said with confusing etched on her face

"Who are they and why are they staring intently at each other unmoving?" she asked curiously and leaned in on the girl in order to hear her clearly due to the noise around them.

"Well from what I know, the one at the left hand side is Francesco Esposito. His father owns and runs a multi-million dollar company, he is every girl's dream and he has a huge inheritance. I'll say that he's the good side" she faced Bella and continued "The one on the right hand side is Stefano Mancini, he's_"

"M_Mancini" Bella repeated the name

"Yes" the girl nodded.

She had heard that name before, right she had heard her dad mention the name a few times over the phone.

"Continue" Bella requested being intrigued by the information

"His dad owns a business company and he's filthy rich" she continued then leaned into Bella's ears to whisper "Rumor has it that his father owns a drug cartel"

Bella widened her eyes at the information as the brunette girl continued

"Stefano got many acting offers because of his unbelievable good looks. It was only on close scrutiny that you might suspect his nose were fixed_it wasn't. His teeth capped_they weren't. And his jet black hair slightly helped along by a bottle of dye_it wasn't" she explained "I'll call him the bad side, he's just the perfect Italian American boy. So it's the good side and bad side" she chuckled.

Isabella pursed her lips and looked back at the duo

"So_so why are they staring at each other" she turned back to the girl.

"Oh that. Well I'm not sure but I know that they aren't in good terms" the girl stated.

"So they've been attending this school since"

"Yes"

"But why are people gathered around them?" she asked again

"Waiting for a possible fight perhaps" the girl chuckled.

The bell rang and everyone dispersed finding their way back to their classes

"Strange" Bella muttered to herself as she got into her classroom. After she had settled down, the teacher came in with Stefano and Francesco

"Hello class"

"Hello ma'am"

"Let's welcome back Stefano Mancini and Francesco Esposito. It's been two weeks since we last saw them" she announced

"Welcome back handsome" some people muttered.

Bella's eyes widened at the realization that they were going to be staying in the same class.

"What?!" she uttered loud enough for everyone to hear, she covered her mouth with her palms just when everyone turned to look at her in awe.

"Are you a new student?" the teacher asked stretching her neck a little higher to get a better view of her. She hadn't seen the face before.

"Ye_yes ma'am" Bella replied and stood up sheepishly.

"Well could you come and introduce yourself to us?" she asked.

Bella walked to the front of the class and waved her hand at everyone

"Hello everyone" she greeted

"Hello" they returned her greetings in a friendly manner.

"My name is Isabella Romano but you can call me Bella"

"Hey Bella" the class chorused.

The teacher smiled and walked over to her, she stretched her hand and said

"I'm Mrs Ginia, the maths teacher"

"Nice to meet you ma'am" Bella smiled and took her hand for a shake.

"Oh and meet our two most brilliant student always fighting for the top spot" she faced Francesco and Stefano "Now why don't you say hi to her"

"Hi Bella" Francesco greeted her first, his brown eyes friendly and open.

"Welcome Bella" Stefano said. But Bella felt that his words carried more than it meant. His tone was a mixture of warning and sarcasm and his eyes displayed series of emotion all directed towards her.

"H_hi" she stuttered

"Now you three, head back to your seat"

Stefano walked down to his seat but not without giving Bella a knowing look, she gulped down her saliva and went back to her seat with her long black hair swaying to all directions.

*****

Pedro Mancini sat at the edge of a king-sized bed staring down at a woman covered with a duvet. Her face was pale and her lips white but one could still tell that she was a beautiful woman no matter how faint. She was clear skinned and fair haired, with hair that hung straight and thick reaching below her waist. Her lips were wide and soft and she was proud faced.

It was his wife Ginevra Mancini, the mother of his four children. She would soon be clocking sixty yet she was still on her sick bed.

Aldo really dealt with him by stealing half of his cartel money leading him to a great loss causing his wife to have a panic attack which then led to a heart attack resulting to her having a stroke.

She got into a panic attack as a result of her also being involved in her husband's success and hearing that the money was stolen by a close worker of his really crushed her. She helped her husband and supported him in every possible way and to hear that all her hard work was stolen away really broke her.

"I'll get revenge for you. For us" Pedro whispered caressing the back of her palm.

She nodded her head weakly in support

"Our son, Stefano is going to carry all this out perfectly. You need to see him now, he's a fine grown young man" he smiled proudly "Very soon we'll get the revenge that we've waited for so long. That bastard thinks he'll get away with what he did, even if he's paid every single penny he stole, I'll never forgive him" Pedro stood up and walked to the window overlooking the vast swimming pool.

"I'll just let him walk freely for now, but when we strike... it's going to be fatal" he smiled dubiously

"G_get 'em Pe_pe_pedro" his wife said faintly.

*******

Bella's hands were piled up with stacks of papers from the principal's office covering half of her face.

"Arrgh!" she exclaimed as she bumped into a muscular figure.

The papers were slipping off her hand but his hands put them in place. She raised her head only to find out that it was Francesco

"Oh hey"

"Hey" he waved his hand at her "Need some help?"

"Yeah sure" she accepted.

He collected half of the paper from her hands.

"Didn't know those fragile hands of yours could carry such heavy papers" he joked

"Well they might look fragile but they ain't" she laughed

"I see" he chuckled and looked at her, she turned and their eyes met with each other's.

Bella immediately looked away with a blush

"Where are you taking these to?" he asked

"To the computer lab" she answered

"Okay then, let's head there" he said

Something about him intrigued her a lot, his smile, eyes, and face. He just had a cheerful disposition.

'Francesco Esposito' she thought