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countessofravenclaw · 8 months

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¿Puede la ondulación cambiar una marea? part two

Have you ever imagined what would happen if instead of of making Ambar Sol, Sharon would have aproached her problem with more level-headedness? What if, instead of throwing her daughter's life into a curve she just fires the Valentes, in hopes that they go back to Mexico and never find out the truth? Well, it was never going to be that easy, "everything you want you can achieve" being the family motto and all the for the Valentes after all. Monica and Miguel, could easily find another job, and so they do, with another family. A family that ends up being a bit of a surprise for Luna and all her friends

“So, I hope that you are hungry because our new chef is Mexican, so we’ll get to see what she really is capable of.” Isla said while looking at her watch.

“Yeah, about that,” Gastón cleared his throat, “Little heads up, about someone starting today or that you had even hired somebody, would have been nice.”

“We tried to tell you,” Isla responded, “But you practically ran out of the door in the morning.”

“A text would have worked,” Nina heard Gastón mumble while his arm tightened a little bit around her. She was sure that no one else except her had heard it.

“Gastón, we know you are not exactly keen on this,” Marco started talking, looking at Gastón, “Decision has already been made, you know why we're doing this. Try to have an open mind.”

“They are coming from horrendous situations with their former placement. Their employer brought them to this country and now has fired them out of nowhere. The least we can do is provide them with steady employment after that.” Isla started talking, “It is the least we owe to society and people less fortunate than us.”

“I know that,” Gastón sighed, “Mom, Dad, you hired the Valentes. I don’t have anything against them, but this has become about ten times more awkward.”

“Yes, their names are Monica and Miguel Valente,” Marco and Isla looked at each other confused. “What do you mean?”

“You’d really know this if you paid attention to what I do at Roller—” Gastón continued, “—this would not be a surprise, but Nina’s best friend Luna Valente is practically our captain.”

“You know them?”

“You could say that…”

***

Luna was emptying her suitcase in her new room. So much had happened in so little time…

Her parents were working for Gastón’s parents? They were living in his house now? Gastón, Nina’s boyfriend and… Matteo’s best friend.

Was this why the last name Perida had sounded vaguely familiar to Luna. Nina had probably actually said it at some point.

He was from a high-society family? Yes, Luna had been aware of Matteo and Ambar being obviously rich, Delfi and Jazmin probably not being far off… Nina also was well off given Ana’s and Ricardo’s jobs. Was everyone at Roller uber duper rich now? Luna didn’t understand anything anymore. She had never really given a thought to anyone else’s financial status. Gastón was a millionaire?

Luna looked at her phone. Nina had not answered any of her messages. They needed to talk asap.

“How are you doing here?” Monica arrived at the door, handing Luna some sheets.

“Well, enough,” Luna shrugged while hanging another shirt in the closet, “Do you know if can I paint walls here as well?”

“Not sure,” Monica crossed her arms, “But we can ask.”

“Monica, is Luna here?” Miguel appeared at the door.

“Right here!” Luna jumped out of the room, “Whats up?”

“They asked me if they could meet with you.”

“With me? They as in Gastón’s parents?”

“Yes, Senora Isla and Senor Marco wanted to talk to you,” Miguel tapped Luna on the shoulder.

“What am I supposed to say to them?”

“You could thank them for covering your attendance at Blake,” Monica suggested.

A couple of cold conversations with Senora Sharon about her performance at Blake floated to the forefront of Luna’s mind as she started following her dad through the hallways. Wasn’t Gastón one of Blake’s top students, did his parents have similar expectations for her as they decided to sponsor her, just like Sharon had had?

Luna tried to recall anything possibly Nina had talked about them in passing at some point. She didn’t really remember… but nothing negative had ever been said. Maybe it was a good sign that Nina had almost never talked to her about them, which meant that there really was nothing to report.

While they were walking Luna noticed that the hallway walls had a lot of pictures. Most of the being of nature and stuff like that.

Miguel stopped in front of a door. Luna’s eyes fixated on a picture collage on the opposite wall. A lot of them were family pictures and surprisingly the majority of them had Matteo in them in some way or another.

“Luna,” Miguel nudged Luna in the shoulder and showed her through the door. They walked into a room that was clearly an office, a shared office.

“Senora, Senor,” Luna just stood next to her dad as he addressed his new bosses.

This was the first time Luna really got a good look at them. She didn’t have much first-hand experience on how much biological parents and children resembled each other, given she didn’t have ones herself, but on this instance, the resemblance was really strong. Gastón really looked like his father. Luna also had to note that his mother was really beautiful.

“Miguel, I need flights to Mendoza and back for next Monday,” Senor Marco said to Miguel.

“I’ll arrange them right away,” Miguel nodded and to her surprise Luna watched her dad walk away from the room and she was left standing there alone. She was not even sure if Senor Marco and Senora Isla had even noticed her.

“So, you must be Luna,” Senora Isla suddenly addressed her. Yep, they had noticed her.

“Yes, that's me,” Luna got out of her mouth. Honestly, this was really nerve-wracking. Maybe she should just do what Mom had told her to do, “I… I wanna thank you, about giving Mom and Dad the job, and about Blake. I promise to do my best at school and study a lot—”

“You don’t need to give us any assurances,” Senor Marco interrupted Luna.

“I don’t?” Luna let to slip, before realizing.

“We don’t see any reason for you to have the need to change schools,” Senora Isla continued, “Blake is an immensely lucrative opportunity to anybody and a big investment to anyone's future. It was the least we could do. But you don’t owe us anything, it is not our business. We just want to help.”

“Thank you,” Luna was quite taken aback. Maybe she had lived in the mansion for way too long to forget that most rich people were actually quite normal.

“Luna, there have been many adjustments for you during the past year, which is less than ideal. We just hope you feel welcome here. Moving can be hard, especially for someone your age.”

“Yeah, it was, but Mom and Dad always say that I am a fighter. And honestly, it is great here. I found Roller and made great friends…” Luna started explaining.

“We know. Nina’s a lovely person.” Luna froze for a moment, surprised by how they knew who she had been talking about… until she realized that they knew her quite well, as well. Nina was part of this family, kind of, wasn’t she?

“Dad, I took Nina home, the blinker did it again. There’s something off about it,” The office door slid open behind Luna, and she heard Gastón’s voice.

“The black one?” Both Senor Marco’s and Senora Isla’s attention turned away from Luna at once.

“Yeah, the left one has gone on late a couple of times before, but now has done that really frequently past weeks. There is something wrong with it.” Luna had also turned around, but Gastón hadn’t appeared to notice her as he was looking at his parents.

“Maybe it’s time to get rid of that car,” Senora Isla seemed to shake her head, “It is so old, could get dangerous soon.”

“Do we have to? Can‘t you just get it fixed?” Gastón asked.

“I’ll put an order out,” Senor Marco did something on his computer, “But your mother’s right, we should look for a new one.”

“Well, if you want to,” Gastón seemed to shrug and attempted to leave before his mother stopped him.

“We were just talking with Luna,” Senora Isla gestured toward Luna who was still just standing in front of the bookcase in the office. “But, you two knew each other already.”

“Yeah,” Gastón turned toward her from the door and Luna gave him a small wave, “We do. Hi.”

Luna stared at the wall after she walked out of the office. That… had been an experience.

She was about to go back to their apartment and turned around on the hallway… but he had no idea where the kitchen was… or even where she was. It was an evening so sun was going down, and she didn’t know where you could get the light on. The only light was coming through glass double doors at the end of the hallway.

Where was she supposed to go? If she just started wandering around, she would get even more lost.

“Luna?” At the moment she felt like she was in a horror movie. A dark hallway in a strange house… someone attacking her from behind.

Or not. She turned around and saw Gastón looking at her from behind the corner.

“Are you lost?”

“Yeah, little bit,” Luna laughed awkwardly, “It’s so dark in here.”

“Yeah, the motion sensor must be broken on the lights. Mom and Dad obviously have not noticed that.” Gastón said, looking up, “Maybe it’s a good thing that they have someone organizing their affairs now, otherwise, they get nothing done.”

“I didn’t know we were coming here. I think Nina did mention your last name at some point to me, but I think I just forgot it, because that’s how I am.” Luna started saying. “I know I shouldn’t be here wondering hallways.”

“It’s fine, I don’t care,” Gastón shook his head, “I don’t how it was at Ambar’s, but it’s not like that here.”

“That's great,” Luna nodded, not really knowing what that meant, “Where’s the kitchen door? How do you not get lost in here?”

“Well, you get hang of it in nine years. The kitchen has three doors, the closest one is in the hallway, if you turn left.”

“Thanks,” Luna nodded and started walking toward the left hallway, end of which, there was a narrow door, which did lead to the kitchen. Luna breathed a sigh of relief.

It went without saying, that that had been a little awkward. This had probably been the first time she had had a conversation with Gastón, with just two of them. They got on well, and were friends and teammates, but this dynamic was so different. Her parents worked for his now, and Luna lived in his house. It was so different from Ambar who she had never really become friends with —Plus Ambar had thrown her into a swimming pool.

Luna’s phone started suddenly ringing.

“NINA!!!” Luna exclaimed as she answered the phone. “I have been trying to reach you!”

“I saw that.” Nina laughed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Luna sat on the steps that led to their apartment.

“I didn’t find out until today,” Nina explained, “Gastón didn’t know that someone had been hired. We just ran into your parents.”

“I can’t believe it!” Luna continued. “You never told me that his family was like this. THEY’RE MILLIONAIRES?”

“It never crossed my mind to,” Nina shrugged, “Obviously I have always known it. Isla and Marco are pretty known in the business world. I mean I knew who they were before me and Gastón started dating. But I didn’t exactly realize that it was them, before I met them. I don’t know why, Perida is not that common.”

“I guess I should have known, but it isn’t that obvious from Gastón,” Luna continued, “I mean you can tell, just by looking at Chico Fresa.”

“With Gastón it is not like that,” Nina shook her head, “He doesn’t make a number about it, and it definitely isn’t something that defines him, just like his parents.”

“You know, they asked to talk to me.” Luna started recounting, “I thought I was in for a lecture about good grades at Blake… but they were so nice. Just wanted me to feel welcomed.”

“Isla and Marco are amazing. One of the friendliest people you will ever meet, honestly,” Nina nodded, “I am not saying that just because I am in love with their son.”

***

“You sure you don’t want me to pick you up? I can do the round trip,” Gastón said to Nina on the phone as he was walking down the stairs the next morning. “Okay. I see you at school. Love you.”

He hopped down before the last step and put his phone into his pocket before sliding the kitchen door open.

“Good morning,” Right, this was a thing now. Gastón stepped at the door as he saw… Monica? That sounded right. Anyways she turned towards him from the stove and was looking at him right now. “Do you want something?”

He had no idea how this was supposed to work with a personal chef. That just sounded weird in his head. They had no breakfast customs in his family, rarely ever even ate it together, outside of like couple times a month and on every first day of school. He often just grabbed something before going to school. Mom and Dad often left before him anyway.

He also wasn’t hopeless in the kitchen. He knew how to cook. Internet was the most valuable tool for that, and his grandma was somebody who loved cooking and saw it as her responsibility to teach her grandchildren. Gastón hadn’t been exempt from that, even when he didn’t see her very often. He was still the oldest grandchild, even when they rarely saw each other in person.

“Look uhm,” Gastón honestly did not know what to say. He really didn’t want to be rude, “I don’t know how this works. Um, if I need something, I ask, okay?”

Thankfully his phone started ringing in his pocket, so he could remove himself from the situation.

“Hey!” He answered Matteo’s video call once he got outside of the door.

“How’s it going?” Matteo looked like he was sitting in a car.

“It’s a long story,” Gastón glanced over his shoulder. “What are you doing in the car? School starts in an hour, and you don’t live that far away.”

“I don’t know,” Matteo rolled his eyes, “Something with the driver and I had to leave early. Dad’s order. He’s literally in Rome right now, and still trying to dictate my life.”

“You know there is a simple solution to that,” Gastón stared at Matteo, “It’s called a driver’s license.”

“I know,” Matteo huffed, “But Sofia says that I don’t need it while I still live at home. And unfortunately, Dad listens to her…” Matteo’s eyes sharpened all of a sudden, “What’s happening behind you?”

“Oh, that’s just,” Gastón tried to come up with an explanation, without making Matteo lose his cool, “I lost the battle, with you know, the staff thing. They started yesterday.”

“Okay,” Matteo seemed to shake his head, “I just thought I saw…”

Gastón looked over his shoulder again and saw that Luna had entered the kitchen.

“NO! I am not seeing things!” Matteo suddenly exclaimed, “That’s Luna! Why is she there? What is going on?”

“Don’t start yelling okay. You’ll frighten your driver,” Gastón walked across the hallway, slipped into their library, and closed the door behind him.

“I hope you have an explanation!” Matteo continued.

“Calm down,” Gastón leaned to a bookcase and huffed, “before you accuse me of cheating or something.”

“What am I supposed to think?”

“You honestly think I am cheating on Nina with Luna?” Gastón raise his eyebrow to Matteo, “I'd rather die than do that. You know what happened with Grandma and Mom’s biological father.”

“I just wanna know what is happening?!” Matteo still looked like he had been hit in the head.

“Okay, I’ll explain,” Gastón laughed briefly, “You know how Luna’s parents got kicked out of Ambar’s.”

“Yes,” Matteo still didn’t seem to grasp the whole picture quite yet.

“And how Mom and dad were looking for staff, despite my protests,” Gastón continued explaining, “Well, they found the staff.”

“Isla and Marco hired Luna’s parents?” Matteo exclaimed again, finally realizing. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I found out yesterday. Didn’t have the time.” Gastón nodded. “Look, let’s talk at school. It is kind of hard to convey all through the phone.”

“We better talk, because I have questions.”

***

“I see, that does sound awkward,” Nina said as she and Luna were walking toward their first class of the day. Luna had been giving her a rundown about everything that had happened last night and, in the morning, “Don’t hold it against Gastón.”

“Of course not,” Luna shook her head, “But all of this does make me realize that I don’t really know him, do I?”

“Well, I do,” Nina continued, “He’s really private when it comes to it. You have only ever seen him at Roller and at school, when he is really sociable, but he isn’t always that extroverted. Plus, he is really independent and never really wanted the staff. He’s not used to it. Ambar has probably had people waiting on her hand and foot her whole life. Gastón’s family didn’t start out like that.”

“What do you mean?” Luna looked at Nina.

“Uhm, I am not sure if I am supposed to tell you this, but I guess it’s not a secret,” Nina looked down for a moment, “His parents grew up quite poor at Cordoba. They are completely self-made and have worked hard. Their wealth is not really that obvious if you don’t know and they are really self-sufficient. I didn’t know that either, from the start.” Nina shook her head, laughing bit embarrassed, “I made a really stupid assumption.”

“What kind?” Luna asked, curious.

“I never told you?” Nina questioned, “I just…” she felt herself starting to blush. It felt stupid now, that she really had made the automatic assumption that most of Gastón’s parents' wealth had been passed down, instead self-made, which had been especially in poor taste given the untimely death of most of his grandparents in the first place. Sure, her own were dead too, but they had all died out of old age while she had been a child. That was a bit different from cancer and a car crash that resulted in leaving children behind. “I assumed that the Villa bosque de Rosas was a family estate.”

“The Villa what now?” Luna stared at her.

“You don’t know?” Nina looked at Luna, “They have this country villa, outside of Buenos Aires. It is really beautiful there. I don’t know if your parents will work there as well, so you might get to go there.”

“They really are rich, aren’t they?” Luna leaned against the wall. “Mom and Dad said that Senor Marco and Senora Isla are really important business people.”

“I am sorry, but it sounds so weird for you to call them that,” Nina started laughing, “Gastón didn’t even let me call them Mr. and Mrs. Perida for a start.”

***

“I can’t believe it!!” Matteo was about to pull his hair out, “How did this happen?”

“I can’t say how Mom and Dad found Monica and Miguel,” Gastón shook his head, “But here we are. There is nothing to be done, no matter how awkward it is. I just need to adjust, I guess. And Nina’s right, there are some silver linings. Wanna come for dinner?”

“I have to make Luna forget about me,” Matteo grunted, “How’s that gonna work while she lives at your house?”

“Maybe this will give you the added boost to tell her the truth,” Gastón shrugged.

“Where are they even staying?” Matteo questioned, “Did your house grow and extra wing for the servants?”

“This is not embassy housing Matteo,” Gastón sighed, “I don’t know who lived in our house before us, or did they have staff or not. You remember the cellar garage that we used to hide in often? The one that had the stairs from the kitchen?”

“Yes.” Matteo nodded.

“Mom and Dad got it renovated with the other things in our house and it’s a small apartment now,” Gastón explained, “They have been planning this much longer than I have known.”

“They don’t care, as long as we’re careful.” Gastón and Matteo heard some familiar voices coming from down the hall.

“Careful of what?”

“Never mind.” Gastón and Matteo saw Luna and Nina round the corner and start to walk towards them. Nina was shaking her head, responding to something Luna had said.

“Hey!” Gastón greeted them as they stopped next to them. Matteo wasn’t really sure how good of an idea it was to talk to Luna at the moment, but he couldn’t just forbid Gastón from talking to his girlfriend.

“Our class doesn’t start for another twenty minutes,” Nina had grabbed Gastón’s hand, “There is a book I have been trying to find. Will you come to help me?”

“Of course,” Gastón responded immediately, and they were gone.

Matteo kind of felt betrayed, that Gastón had just flat-out abandoned him in the middle of his personal crisis, but honestly, he could not blame him. Gastón and Nina going to the library surely had nothing to do with books, Matteo knew that better than well at this point. Matteo honestly envied Gastón, he always had for his family, but especially now, with nothing holding him back from being with the one he loved.

“Sooooo,” Matteo realized that he had been left alone with Luna in the hallway.

“Uhm, yeah,” Matteo scratched behind his neck awkwardly, “I heard about your situation.”

“I’m sure you did,” Luna responded, “I had no idea about any of it. I guess I just didn’t figure it out.”

“Well, I am glad that your parents’ situation got worked out,” Matteo nodded, “I am happy for you. Isla and Marco are really good people, it is going to be much better there than at Ambar’s.”

“People keep telling me that.”

“Well, you should believe us,” Matteo smirked, “When have I been wrong, Chica Delivery?”

“Many times, Chico Fresa,” Luna rolled her eyes at Matteo.

***

“I would make a guess about what house of these you live in, but I cannot even imagine living in the basement of one of these,” Simon stared at all the houses lining the streets, as he followed Luna. “You sure real people live in these houses?”

“You don’t need to guess,” Luna skipped ahead of him, “It’s that one.” She pointed to the house at the end of the street.

“Of course, it’s the biggest one,” Simon joked. The house Luna was pointing to, was a big modern looking, sleek, and cubic-shaped building that had a lot of big windows. The house was surrounded by a stone wall that had a wide gate at the front. “I mean, good for Monica and Miguel, truly, but where do you keep finding these millionaires?”

“In Buenos Aires I guess,” Luna shrugged, “Come on.”

“Wait, Luna, isn’t this the gate?” Simon stopped as Luna just casually walked past the gate. “Aren’t we going in?”

“Oh, right,” Luna stopped on her tracks, “We don’t use that one.”

“What?” Simon didn’t understand anything. “Then how do you get in?”

“There’s another gate on the other corner of the wall,” Luna explained, “The gates have fingerprint scanners, and a license plate reader or something. Only the family can get through the front gate, without a car, I think. My fingerprint only works for the side one.”

“Why?” Simon questioned.

“I don’t know,” Luna shook her head, while they were walking alongside the wall that ran on the right side of the house. “Security, I guess.”

They stopped at a smaller single gate at the back corner of the wall and Luna inserted her right index finger on a small circle. Simon heard a click and Luna pushed the gate open and they walked inside the yard. The house’s garden was very well-kept and beautiful.

“Are you sure I am allowed to be here?” Simon asked as they started walking alongside the inside of the wall.

“Surely,” Luna just nodded, “We’re gonna be at our apartment anyway. Which is in the basement, by the way.”

“Wait,” Simon stopped as he saw the glass double doors on the house, which led to the terrace, open, and two people came out. They were far enough away that there was no way to clearly see them but looked like younger people, a man, and a woman. “Are they part of the family?” Simon squinted his eyes, something was looking off… or maybe a little too familiar.

“Oh my gosh!” Luna suddenly exclaimed, “I totally forgot to tell you. It has been so crazy and…”

“Then tell me,” Simon had to do a double take, “Because I am starting to freak out.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t tell you!” Luna continued, “But yeah, this is Gastón’s house. Mom and Dad work for his parents.”

“What?” Simon stared. It made sense now why the figures outside looked so familiar, but now he had more questions. “How did that happen? He lives here, in this house?”

“Yeah, his parents are kind of millionaires,” Luna nodded.

“Since when?” Simon guessed you learned something new every day now. That’s what you get for leaving your home for another country. Yes, he had been pretty aware that the Blake kids at Roller were all at least moderately well off, given how fancy that school was, from what Luna had told her. But it had never crossed his mind that Gastón was one of the wealthiest of them.

“I don’t know since when,” Luna shook her head, “Nina never told me, and there probably aren’t any dates for this kind of thing.”

“Does she know?”

“Yes, Simon, she does,” Luna rolled her eyes at Simon, “We had a long convo about this. He’s her boyfriend.”

“Hey!” Simon and Luna turned around to see that Gastón had noticed and walked up to them, and Nina was with him.

“Hi!” Luna greeted them, while Simon just stood there.

“Nice house you got here,” He finally said.

“Thanks,” Gastón laughed, “I guess. Truth be told, I don’t know how much I like it myself, but I had no say when we moved. It’s way too big for just three people. I don’t know where Mom digged this up.”

“Would you have an opinion on the matter when you were eight?” Nina questioned.

“Probably not.”

“Well, we’ll see you later!” Luna greeted the others cheerfully and took Simon’s hand and started dragging him to behind the house. “Come on. I wanna show you my new room.”

“Doesn’t this kind of feel strange for you?”

“At first, of course, it did…” Luna said while she was looking for the key from her pockets. “...but it’s been a week and honestly, we could have it worse. Always focus on the positive—Yes!” She pulled the key from her backpack. “This only works on this door, but I am sure losing it, would have put me in huge trouble.”

***

“We need to gather everyone so we can discuss what we need to fix the rink.” Luna hopped to sit on the stage, while Nina sat next to her. Simon, Pedro and Nico were putting down their instruments and Jim and Yam, plus Matteo and Gastón were sitting at the cafeteria.

Luna tried to avoid eye contact with Matteo. Things had not gotten any better and she had to let it go… he was seeing someone else. But it was quite hard, given the new situation she was in, living in his best friend’s house. She often found herself wondering when she heard footsteps outside of the kitchen, if Matteo was there?

“So, we need so many things,” Luna continued talking, listing all the kinds of things she thought they would need for renovations…

“Are you sure this is wise?” Ambar interrupted her as she entered the cafeteria with Delfi and Jazmin.

“What do you mean?” Luna looked at Ambar.

“I am just not sure about this.” Ambar continued, “It was your idea, but you won’t be here to organize it.”

“I repeat, what do you mean?” Luna started getting amused. She had no idea what Ambar was getting at.

“Well, you’re going back to Mexico, now that your parents aren’t working for us anymore,” Ambar crossed her arms. “I am heartbroken that it is happening. You of course have needed some time to get organized, but when are you leaving?”

“You’re leaving?!!” Jim and Yam exclaimed.

“No,” Luna started laughing, “I am not going anywhere. Mom and Dad have another job here.”

“You’re not?” Ambar looked astonished and tried to mask it, “Well that is amazing news! How much grace time has Blake given you then, before you change to your new school?”

“Ambar, I am not changing schools either.” Luna just shook her head.

“But how is that possible?” Ambar kept staring, her cool composure starting to falter, “Madrina was the one who got you your place at the school, she’s obviously not paying for it anymore.”

“Well, she’s not, but Mom and Dad’s new employers are.”

“Who would be crazy enough… I mean gracious enough to do that?” Ambar asked, really sounding astonished this time. “Who are they working for?”

“Us.” Everyone turned toward where Gastón and Matteo were standing.

“Us? What do you mean US?” Ambar turned to look at Gastón, “You mean your parents?”

“You if anyone know who they are—” Gastón sighed, “—and how obsessive they are about education.”

“Okay, what is going on here?” Jim interrupted.

“Yeah, we fell off the wagon,” Yam shook her head.

“Okay, so to recap,” Jazmin suddenly jumped up on the stage out of nowhere, tablet in hand. “Luna’s parents got fired, and Gastón’s parents hired them. How did that happen, I thought you didn’t have any staff?”

“You’re asking the wrong person,” Gastón pushed the tablet away from his face. “Mom and Dad didn’t see the need to ask my opinion. We didn’t have anybody… for years, but Dad got a promotion where he works at and Mom is contracted for a real estate project for a couple of years now, so they had the bright idea of getting in-house personnel.”

***

“I thought you were going to get rid of the Valentes!” Ambar stormed in the mansion’s living room and interrupted Sharon, who had been reading a newspaper.

“What on earth are you talking about, Ambar?”

“I thought that the Valentes were supposed to go back to Mexico. Wasn’t that why you fired them?”

“Ambar, you know I don’t like to repeat myself,” Sharon continued sternly, “Now what are you talking about? I don’t owe you an explanation about my personnel affairs.”

“Luna’s still at Blake, still at Roller!” Ambar scoffed, “If you were going to fire them, why didn’t you make sure they went all the way back to Mexico?”

“Ambar, wait.” Ambar stormed up the stairs, leaving Sharon sitting on the sofa… “Rey!”

“What is it, Senora?” Rey walked into the living room.

“How could you have let this happen?” Sharon started drilling into Rey, “Valentes are still here in Buenos Aires.”

“Senora, you never specified—”

“Save your excuses,” Sharon interrupted, “I don’t want to hear them. You need to find where they are, who they are working for, and who is paying Luna’s tuition.”

“Of course,” Rey nodded.

“And make it fast. Anyone who helps the Valentes are going to regret it.”

***

Luna was humming along to a new song Simon had shown her today as she opened the gate and got inside the walls. Honestly, she had started to become more adjusted to the situation.

Mom and Dad seemed to enjoy their jobs, and the whole place had much more relaxed atmosphere. The place was really nice and maybe it started to feel like home, kind of. Gastón’s family were really nice, and the awkwardness had started to dwindle during the past weeks, which was a relief.

Everything was going well… or as well as it could. Matteo was still a huge issue in her life. Luna didn’t understand anything anymore. He had been starting to come around more, with fixing Roller and the Open, even joining back up with the team, but at the same time he was still pulling away. And he was seeing someone else… there was no point wallowing in this. She really should stop…

Luna's eyes fixated on the main gate. The yard was big and the side gate far away, but view was still completely unobstructed, and she had good eyesight.

A silver-colored, really fancy-looking car pulled up to it, but instead of the gate opening up, it just stopped, and someone got out and walked to the walk-in gate, and opened it up?

The strangest thing was that she recognized the person. It was Matteo, those curls were unmistakable. That he was here was not a surprise itself, obviously, this was his best friend’s house, but the gate confused her. She had expected him to wait at the gate for someone to come and open it up to him… But he had just walked through? That should not be possible.

Luna started walking forward while looking at Matteo.

“Chica Delivery?” Matteo was suddenly in front of her, “Are you spying on me?”

“Oh, noh!” Luna shook her head. “I just saw you come in… Uhm, what are you doing here?”

“For dinner,” Matteo answered casually, “What’s your mom making?”

“No, I didn’t mean that,” Luna corrected, “you came through the gate.”

“Yeah, how else was I supposed to come in?” Matteo looked at her amused.

“I don’t know,” Luna shook her head, “But if it’s broken, I should probably say something—”

“What on earth are you talking about? The gate is not broken.”

“How did you get in, then?” Luna asked Matteo.

“I opened it,” Matteo started looking bit confused by Luna’s questioning, “What are you getting at? It is not like I climbed over like some burglar.”

“But, how are you bale to open it?”

“I have had a key to this house since I have been 14,” Matteo showed a silver key which was bigger but still similar to Luna’s own, “I never even asked, but my print was included since the beginning when the gate was installed.”

“They told me that only family can get through that gate.”

“Well, I am family,” Matteo looked at her, “Isla and Marco have basically taken me in whenever I have needed it. They are my family more than my own sometimes, with everything with my dad.”

“What is it with your dad?” Luna questioned. Matteo never really ever talked about his family and his parents.

“Well…” Matteo seemed to take a breath and think before talking—

—But then his phone started ringing.

“Well, look at that,” Matteo started walking away, “I am late for that dinner.”

“Remember that we have the Open on Friday,” Luna said to her parents as she climbed up the stairs from the kitchen. “You can make it, right?”

“I think so,” Monica said from the stove. “Miguel, was it that Senora and Senor were not here for the weekend?”

“Yes, they’re in Canada,” Luna watched her dad open some kind of calendar on his tablet. “Come back on Monday.”

“Well, then our weekend will be quite open,” Monica closed a cabin, “I’ll still need to cook, but one person is easier than three. Not that it has been hard, honestly it has been really refreshing. Senora Sharon was always so particular. Miguel, you haven’t heard anything of her?”

“No,” Luna watched her dad shake his head, “I don’t think we are going to either.”

“Wouldn’t she want to know that we're doing well?” Luna questioned.

“I don’t think so,” Miguel continued, “It’s probably quite unlikely that we’ll hear of her again, maybe that’s a good thing. I got the impression that Senora Isla and Senor Marco aren’t that friendly with her, and I trust their judgment. They probably know more about her than us, in the end of the day.”

“Morning,” Luna had just finished her breakfast when she heard Mom talk. She looked up and saw that Gastón had entered the kitchen. “You’re here for the weekend right.”

“Yeah, where would I go?”

“Of course,” Monica shook her head, “Still getting used to how things work here. I just asked because Senor and Senora will be gone.”

“Yeah, I know. Mom and Dad are going somewhere. So much for staying home more.” Gastón rolled his eyes, “And please don’t call them that, you don’t need to do that to me.”

“Of course.” Monica nodded.

“Luna, are you almost ready?” Miguel asked while still on the tablet, “Blake is calling. I have a thousand things that I need to get to today, so I better get you to the school.”

“Do you need a ride?” Gastón had stopped at the other kitchen door.

“Um, do I?” Luna looked at her dad and then back to Gastón.

“Well, if you don’t mind,” her dad answered, “You drive right?”

“Yeah, I do,” Gastón pulled a card from inside his phone case and showed that to Miguel, “Got the license a couple of weeks after my birthday last year, with manual and all.”

“It would be a huge help.” Miguel nodded and then looked at Luna.

“Great,” Gastón nodded, “I am leaving right now, so…”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Luna got up from the table. “Do I meet you outside? I will get lost in the yard though.”

“What?” Gastón didn’t seem to understand what she had been saying, “Just come through the front door.”

“Okay.” Luna grabbed her backpack and followed him through the door. She had only ever seen the house's living room from the door, but now she really got an excellent look at it. Big windows that went from the ceiling to the floor, dominated the walls and there was a tall spiral stairs next to the door. They went through a sliding door, which led to the entry of the house and out of the door.

Luna had seen the smaller building on the left side of the house many times now. She hadn’t really paid attention to it, but it must have been the “new” garage because as she recalled, they were living in the old garage now.

Luna followed Gastón to it and watched him press some button on his keychain that opened one of the garage doors. The garage was big and empty outside of one car, which was black and pretty fancy looking, not that Luna knew anything about cars. It looked like the one Tino used to drive her and Ambar around.

“Do I sit on the back or…?”

“You can come to the front,” Gastón said while unlocking the car and opening the driver door, “It doesn’t matter.”

So Gastón really drove? Full-on car. That became very clear when he pretty effortlessly backed out of the garage and drove out of the gate.

Luna had never really witnessed someone her age driving, or even thought about it, it had always been something adults did. She hadn’t even thought about driving herself either. Simon had a license… Luna was pretty sure about that. She remembered cheering him on before his driver’s test, but Simon never had driven often anyways, at least when Luna had seen. He hadn’t had the need to in the Cancun, they had their skates.

If Gastón drove a car, did Matteo do too… Ambar surely didn’t, right? Matteo did have a driver too.

“How old is your house?” Luna opened her mouth, she didn’t like awkward silences.

“I don’t really know,” Gastón shook his head, “I think it was like couple years old when we moved here… but I don’t know. If you want to know, ask Mom, she surely has a case study on it. Does that for a living after all.”

“Were the walls here from the beginning?”

“Yep, the gate is new. Ironically, we used to climb over the walls with Matteo, when nothing was locked,” Gastón turned the corner. “We did stop after we ended up in the ER, sprained ankle and wrist. Mom and Dad were not very happy nor were Alexander and Sofia.”

Alexander and Sofia? Alexander and Sofia Balsano? Matteo’s parents?

“Did Matteo fall too?” She asked.

“It was his fault,” Gastón nodded, “And his idea, and obviously he was the one who got away with the smaller injury… Nina agrees with Mom and Dad, surprisingly she has not demanded that I cut ties with Matteo, with how much he makes me put my life at risk.”

“That does sound like Matteo.” Luna rolled her eyes, “And he still claims that he has never fallen.”

“That’s not true,” Gastón shook his head, while his hand shifted the gearshift, “You’d be surprised how much stupid stuff he has done. He’s an idiot, but you gotta love him.”

“You don’t need to tell me that,” Luna rolled her eyes again, “He has made it pretty clear where we stand.”

“I know you two have your issues, but I know Matteo loves you,” Gastón continued, “I have known him for a long time, he’s an idiot and doesn’t know what is best for him. But you have to understand him too, with everything with his dad right now, and what happened to his mom…”

“Wait, what happened to his mom?” Luna turned her head in surprise. When she really thought about it, Matteo never mentioned his mother, only ever talked about his parents. Though, that something had happened to her, had never crossed her mind… “Is… is she dead?”

“Uhm… I don’t know if I should tell you,” Gastón turned the steering wheel a little tighter than normal when turning left, “I should have never brought it up, it is not my business, in reality.”

“But you didn’t tell me, I guessed,” Luna kept insisting. She couldn’t let this go now. Anything that could explain Matteo’s behavior was valuable. She should have realized earlier that if someone could have known, it would have been Gastón. “Come on, tell me.”

“Lucia Balsano,” Gastón seemed to relent, “I never got to meet her, she died in 2009. That’s why Matteo and his dad started traveling so much, until they landed here five years ago.”

“Then who’s the Sofia you mentioned?” Luna tried to piece things together.

“Thats Sofia Perelli, or well she used to be. Mom’s best friend ever since we have lived here. She’s Italian and works at the embassy as a geography consultant, which is where she and Alexander met. They’ve been married three years now.”

“Oh,” That was the only thing Luna let out of her mouth.

“I am pretty sure that I’m the only one who knows, I don’t think Ambar or anyone else does,” Gastón continued, “Matteo doesn’t talk about it much, but he isn’t hiding it either really. I mean it’s not a secret, one Google search would be enough, but Matteo might still have my head. I haven’t even told Nina… Not to jump from one topic to another, but I don’t think I can offer you a ride back. Your classes end before mine, the glamours of senior life.”

“How did you know that?” Luna stared at him blankly.

“You have the same class schedule as Nina,” Gastón stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “It’s Monday, so: Ms. Fernandez and English, then double math and finally history. You get off at 2 pm.”

Luna could barely keep track of her own timetable, she could not imagine keeping two straight in her head, which must have taken some dedication, to learn someone else’s. The things Nina had said about him really were true.

“Oh, is this the part where I need to threaten you about my best friend, and treating her well or you’ll never see a light a day again?” Luna asked after a brief silence, “Or is it too late for that?”

“There is no need for that,” Gastón laughed, “I didn’t make myself look absolutely ridiculous in front of everybody for nothing. I Love her. My only intention is to do just that. Speaking off…”

Luna saw that they were pulling up to a parking lot of some sort. She didn’t really know where they were, Dad and Tino had always dropped her off at the front of the school. The house was located in a different direction to the Mansion, so she didn’t yet recognize the route either. Then she saw a familiar face outside the car.

“Nina!” Luna jumped out of the car. Nina had been waiting on the driver’s side of the car, so Luna had to circle the car to get to her.

“What are you doing here?”

***

“I had some free seats, so why not put them to use?” Gastón got out of the car. Luna had practically teleported on the other side of the car.

“Well, that explains how Luna’s on time.” Nina responded after Luna had squeezed her very tightly.

“Glad to be of service,” Gastón grinned, “The school’s that way, if you follow the path. Student parking is little far, but you get your steps in.”

“Go ahead, I’ll catch up with you before class starts,” Nina said to Luna, pointing her toward the road leading to Blake.

“Yeah,” Luna turned around, and started heading towards the school, “Thanks for the ride!”

“Don’t mention it!” Gastón answered back to her and turned towards Nina—Who was staring him dead in the eye. “What? I gave her a ride. Her parents were busy, plus it would have been waste of their time and resources—”

He got cut off, by her practically jumping on him. He hadn’t expected that, given how out in the open they were, with other students coming and going from their cars, but not like he was going to complain about kissing her.

“I thought you were jealous there for a second or something,” Gastón placed his hand on Nina’s waist, “I have been saying that I can start picking you up since the start of semester.”

“Of course not,” She rolled her eyes at him, while moving her hands around his neck, “I told you to get to know her better, I am glad to see that it’s working. I’m proud of you.”

***

“Mrs. Benson.” Rey walked into the mansion’s dining room where Sharon had been drinking tea before dinner.

“Rey, I have told you that I am not to be interrupted!” She put her cup down.

“I am sorry Senora, but this can’t wait.”

“Then what is it?” Sharon looked at Rey.

“It’s the Valentes.”

“Did you find out where they are?” Sharon perked up.

“I did, yes,” Rey nodded and took his tablet out, “It was not easy, but I have connecti…”

“Get to the point Rey! You are wasting time.” Sharon raised her voice, “Who are they working for?”

“Isla and Marco Perida.”

“What?” Sharon was astonished, “Them? That can’t be right.”

“They started working there as soon as their notice here was done.” Rey continued explaining, “They are also financing Luna’s studies at Blake, and saw it personally that there would be no issues with her continued enrolment.”

“Those two upstarts!” Sharon slammed her cup on the saucer, so it made a sound. “They don’t even know what they are doing. They are social climbing peasants! And now they are stealing employees.”

{}

Okay, so like I have previously said, this story was just a stupid impulse. I have had fun writing this, even when I get super paranoid that some Luston shippers, who indeed do exist in some dark corner of the internet, will read the hell into my fic, with is absolutely not the intention. Luston is not permitted in my house r in this page. Anyways, at this moment, I don't have any concrete plans on continuing this, even when this is not the end. This is very open-ended at the moment, and on Tumblr, I have labeled these as parts, not chapters, because they are not chapters. This is one continuous story. That's I haven't named the parts either. But I like I said, this is a pilot for the rest of the fic, this has only been the setup. Do you want me to continue this, because not a lot has happened or yet changed? All of this has happened between S2 eps. 10 and 20. The only thing that's really different to the og storyline is that Ambar is not Sol Benson right now. Things will start changing. What will Sharon do now? Will Ambar still become Sol Benson? Will Lutteo still have the drama? What about Gastón and Nina and everything about Oxford? The things will change

#Soy Luna #soy luna fanfiction #Gastina #Lutteo #Soy Luna Season 2 #Gastteo #Au #Twist #This was just a stupid idea #But I am rolling with it #And having fun

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