Chapter Text
Carla was sitting on one of the many benches on display in front of Las Encinas. Her eyes were unfocused, her mind clearly far from school. She had so much on her plate, not that you’d ever hear here complain about any of it. She never complained when, after long hours at the restaurant, she still had to cook for her mom and herself once finally home. She never complained about having to take care of the bills and make sure there was food in the fridge. She didn’t even complain when her father, that wasn’t even a part of her life outside of the check he sent every month, made her switch school last year and sent her to Las Encinas where all the rich kids went and everyone was already someone. They all knew each other since before they were born. She had to take extra examinations to obtain the scholarship. She had to use some of her college fund to buy uniforms. And still, she did not complain. Sometimes she wondered if she would snap one day. She was always collected, strong, independent. She was smart and calculated. So she never complained. She took care of her mother, went to school, aced every test, went to work, always made herself available for extra shifts and only relaxed on Sundays, for a few hours, with a book. She knew that is was the only way she could get herself to college, choose her own path, far from her father’s schemes and to never mirror her mother’s mistakes. She loved her mother, she really did, but she was hopelessly childish. She wasn’t made for adulthood. Maybe when they were wealthy she did okay, Carla can’t remember, but now... She couldn’t work to save her life, she had no sense of responsibility, she lived for her soap operas and the wine deliveries she got every month. It was her husband’s way of saying “Sorry I left you behind”. To her mom, it was like love letters she gladly shared with her daughter. To Carla it was a reminder that money mattered more than they did in his book. And no expensive bottle of wine, no matter how delicious, would make her forget or forgive it. Carla let out a soft sigh and allowed herself to come back to where she was. Cars were passing by, stopping only a few seconds to let her classmates out. Of course they all had private chauffeurs. She was glad that the legal age for driving was restricted to 18 in Spain. It would have been such a pain to watch them all compete, trying to have the most expensive car. Another sigh left her mouth. Maybe if her father hadn’t lost all his money, she would have been drove to school, she wouldn’t have a shift after school... Would she still be Carla though? Would she have been as resilient ? She pursed her lips.
People were whistling and shouting none-sense after a car that was arriving a little too fast. Carla curiously observed as none other than Samuel García Domínguez got out of a brand new Tesla, from the driver’s side. He definitely wasn’t of age. He smiled and saluted. Carla rolled her eyes. Rich kids...
“Electric cars my friends. Better for the environment. All pleasure, no guilt” He winked at the crowd and let out a chuckle before thanking his driver, that was now thankfully back behind the steering wheel and jumping at Guzmán who was obviously mocking him. As they were walking towards school, Carla realized she was still looking at him. As if on cue, Samuel looked her way, and as their eyes met, gave her a wink. Carla couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at this. He’d winked as if they shared a private joke when in fact, they never once spoke to each other. Even though they had several, if not all, classes together. She didn’t mingle with her classmates. She had two friends. She was quite close to Ander who, as the principal’s son, had been the one to show her around when she first got here. The school was huge, they had a swimming pool, huge locker rooms, a gym, extravagant showers... Ander was nice and funny, he never cared for her social status and was quite understanding of her position. While they were getting along very well, she always refused to hang out with his friends, she had made an exception for Polo and well... It didn’t end well to say the least. She also surprisingly got close to Lú. No matter how she acted around school, she was pure at heart. She was kind and fiercely loyal and honestly fun to be around. She was really there for Carla after the whole Polo thing... Carla was fine with two friends. She didn’t need more, didn’t have time for more. She just hope that whenever she found out who screwed her up last year, they will not be, or get, involved. Because once she got to the bottom of this, she’ll have no mercy.
*
Samuel was glad he’d managed to get so much attention from his little stunt. If he could make them pay attention to the possibilities that lay in electric cars, it was one more step towards educating them about caring for the planet. It was hard for him to get their attention on this subject. No matter how many events he organized, telling people who had anything they wanted how to be careful about the way they consumed... It was no easy task. But he was nothing if not resilient. He knew that doing stupid shit was the fastest way to get people talking. Especially in Las Encinas.
Carla entered the classroom as he was sitting, front row obviously. Samuel had never talked to the girl. He rarely noticed her. He knew her to be a top grades student and a friend of Lú and Ander but that was pretty much it. She had arrived last year, on a scholarship, there was a lot of whispers about it but as she never mingled with them they left her to her own devices pretty quickly. She almost intrigued him. She was mysterious and undeniably beautiful. Which was one of the main reason why he didn’t really try to talk to her. Well, Marina was the main reason, her jealousy to be exact. At the thought of Marina, Samuel’s stomach dropped. He tried to focus on getting ready for their class, chasing the feeling away. But the door was opened now. He gripped the edge of his desk until his knuckles turned white, trying to quietly calm himself.
“Are you okay?” Samuel looked to his left, surprised to find Carla sitting there. Now that he thought about it, he was always close to the wall, never in the middle. It must be her usual seat. Carla raised a brow at him, clearly expecting an answer.
“I’m fine” he breathed, letting go of his desk “Just a headache coming, I took a pill, it should be fine.” Lies came too easily to him now. Carla nodded before going back to the book she was reading. Though he never paid her any attention before he kind of was curious about what she could be reading. He was a huge reader himself and found little conversation of the kind in his friends. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
“What are you reading?” Carla frowned but Samuel couldn’t tell whether it was out of annoyance or surprise.
“As you like it.” Her voice was soft, she clearly was too focused on her book to say more. Or look back at him. Samuel smiled at her answer. He was a big Shakespeare fan. The disguises, the schemes. The way he writes about love. It was always a delight. Well, his comedies at least.
“It’s one of my favorite” he spoke softly, the words barely above a whisper. “The way Rosalind has Orlando wooing her all over again... it never cease to amuse me.” Samuel chuckled, whether at himself or at the play, he couldn’t say.
Carla looked up from her book then, a small smile tugging at her lips. Samuel wanted to make her smile again. Her lips were barely lifted, her green eyes sparkling with interest. It was fascinating to him what would it take for her to smile fully ?
“Really now? The more I read on, the more I find Rosalind to be quite full of herself personally. Twelfth Night was more to my liking.” She smirked. “ A love triangle with everyone miserable turning into the perfect weddings. I have so much fun reading it every time.” Samuel gave her a warm smile, delighted to defend his favorite play.
“Twelfth Night over As You like it? Orsini clearly loves men, Olivia switched so fast she must’ve had whiplash. It’s really all let’s be gay in secret but oh wait, we have to be straight to marry, let’s do it this way!”
Carla laughed at his grimaces, clearly bemused by his way of reading the plot. Samuel instantly wished he could hear her laugh again.
“In my opinion, you should read it again Samuel” she pursed her lips “I am not sure you actually pay attention to what you read.” Samuel opened his mouth to retort something but the teacher came in. Her closed his mouth, brows furrowed. As he got ready to type in whatever the teacher was already saying, he didn't see the way Carla’s lips twitched as she suppressed a smile.
*
“Marina! I thought you were staying home today?” Samuel hoped he looked as delightedly surprised as he tried to sound.
“I wanted to come have lunch with you. Plus it’s already miraculous that I passed last year’s finals with top grades. I thought it would be wiser to attend this afternoon’s classes.” Marina shrugged, giving him a beaming smile. Samuel could feel Carla had stiffened at Marina’s words. Maybe she didn’t like his girlfriend. He dismissed the thought, focusing on sounding contrite. “I’m sorry baby, I need to go home for lunch” he gave her his winning smile “I’ll see you tonight though?” Marina looked slightly disappointed but nodded. Yeah right.
“Okay! I’ll try to catch up with Guz!” She was out of the room so fast, Samuel barely had time to blink. She was probably relieved to not have to pretend loving him for a few hours. He turned to Carla who was packing her bag. She seemed elsewhere.
“I do know how to analyze my readings you know.”
“Hun?” Carla taken out of the reeling of her mind, barely registered his words. She cleared her throat.
“What are you talking about?” Her face was clear of any emotion, mask-like, her eyes piercing into his with a cold intensity that surprised him.
“About Shakespeare, I pay attention. I’m quite smart actually.” He added cheekily. Carla noticed his dimple, she found it very cute, she huffed at his words though.
“Are you now?” Her brow was yet again lifted at him. Samuel could feel it was in her nature to do so. He took it as a challenge.
“How about I write you an essay about Twelfth Night and you’ll be the judge of that?” He gave her his hand, ready to shake on it. Carla was tempted to refuse, she had no intentions of befriending him, she didn’t care about his opinion either. But she did hear Marina mention something very interesting about her grades. Maybe if she got close to Samuel... She did notice how he had slightly straightened up when she came in. He almost seemed uncomfortable for a second. If there was trouble in paradise... Boys were so easy to wrap around her fingers.
“Well?” His hand was still stretched between them. Carla shook it. His hand was soft, nothing unusual for a boy who never worked a day in his life.
“Deal. I’ll be waiting for it. Tomorrow” she smirked as he looked taken aback by the deadline. But Samuel loved a good challenge. “Deal.” He was still smiling as he made his way to his car. He really loved challenges, and he had a feeling Carla would bring him a handful.