Sofia's Secret Mafia Brothers

55. Escapism

TW: Suicide attempt

The moment Sofia entered school she knew something was wrong. She saw people whispering, pointing at her, and looking at her with pity.

Why?

She picked up her cellphone and with an uneasy, even panicky feeling she scrolled through Instagram. No, it's impossible. They couldn't share that video. How? Who exactly would do it after yesterday's meeting?

Sofia couldn't believe it.

Why, why, why did it happen?

She won't be sitting and crying in the bathroom this time. She needs to leave.

"Sofia? Is everything okay?"

She almost bumped into Bruno, they were now in the school corridor, there were a lot of people there and for Sofia, it felt suffocating. She didn't respond, she just started walking towards the school entrance. "Sofia where the hell are you going?"

"Stop following me," she commanded.

He didn't listen, of course, he didn't. "You're acting weirdly. I am not leaving you alone"

"The video is out. I don't want to be here now" Sofia admitted.

"Sofia-" Bruno started speaking, his brows furrowed as he looked at her with compassion. Pity. She didn't want pity.

"Don't. I just need to leave this place. And you can't come with me because my brothers are going to kill you if they find out you helped me" she explained.

"I don't care," Bruno said firmly. "How do you want to leave, anyway? Your bodyguard will inform someone immediately that we left," Bruno asked trying to keep up with her pace.

Sofia stopped for a second to think. Bruno was right they couldn't just run out of the school and hope for the best. And then the idea sparked in her mind.

"You will leave through the main entrance alone. Take your car and park it on the other side of the school building" Sofia decided.

"There's a fence on the other side," Bruno said skeptically.

"I will just climb over it," Sofia said with determination.

***

Soon, Sofia was sitting in Bruno's car and they were driving away.

"Can you turn off your phone? I don't know if my brothers would be able to trace it but probably" Sofia requested.

"Okay" Bruno sighed and turned off his phone with a heavy heart.

"How come you can drive a car, I thought in Italy you need to be 18 to get a driver's license?" Sofia asked curiously.

"I am 18. I lost a year of school when I was 12. Me and my parents were in the car accident"

"Oh shit, I am sorry," Sofia said with sadness. Bruno shrugged his shoulders.

"It's okay. Everyone came out of this alive but I was for a few months in a coma" Bruno continued. "So where do you want to go?" he asked.

Bruno decided to go along with Sofia's plan because he knew she needed some time alone. Hell, he would need that also after experiencing what she did.

"Taormina?" She asked hopefully.

"Why there?" He asked with curiosity.

"Something about the views of that place is so calming. It feels like a fairy tale place, not a normal town" she admitted. Besides, it's the only city outside of Catania that she went to more than once. It became her place and she would always think about that place with nostalgia and fondness.