One

The driver opened the back door for her mother to get in and, in the meantime, Cyra got in from the other side of the SUV, it was a black Mercedes, it looked like new, and probably was.

Tony, the driver, introduced himself once he got to the driver's seat, Cyra smiled softly at him but didn't say anything, she knew better than to talk while Cassandra was working, wish she was doing right now, from her phone, responding to emails and phone calls the entire ride.

Cyra was used to it so she just focused on the music playing in the background, and enjoyed the view that she was being presented with during the car ride.

When they finally arrived the driver opened the door to Cassandra again, while Cyra got out by herself, fixing her dress softly. She eyed the house and thought about the money they must have, but again her house would probably be just as big and they were only two.

She followed her mother who gave her one last warning look and smiled at the man that came greet them at the door, he seemed to be in his late forties, so Cyra assumed this was indeed Mr. Rhodes.

"Frank, it's a pleasure seeing you again, it's been too long since our last encounter!" Cassandra said with a smile on her face. While this happened Cyra stayed behind her, giving the two the time to greet each other, but always with a small smile on her face, in case someone else was watching.

Be ready for everything at every time, always. That was the first rule in her books.

"Oh Cassandra, it's so good to see you, it's been too long for sure, I can't believe you are moving here, the world is a small place." The man responded with a smile of his own.

"The world isn't that small, rich people just tend to stick together." Cyra thought to herself, not daring to say anything until someone talked to her directly.

"You must be Cyra, I'm Frank Rhodes." He turned to her with his hand ready to shake hers, and a smile on his face.

The girl took his hand in hers and smiled back saying "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rhodes, my mother always spoke greatly about you." Wish wasn't exactly a lie, because even if she didn't remember hearing about them before, in the present day, her mother had said they were good to have around, but she didn't know if it was just for power or if it was an actual friendship.

"Oh please call me Frank, we are almost family, no need to be formal." he said before motioning for them to go inside. That reference to family made her want to roll her eyes, but she just kept her mask on and smiled while letting him guide them inside.

Cyra looked at her mother who sent her an approving look, wish gave a little more confidence to the girl, she wasn't shy, she actually loved meeting new people, but when her mother was involved everything she did ou said needed to be perfect or else she would be receiving disapproving looks and words for days, making her feel even less appreciated and overthink everything.

Frank guide the duo to their dining room, where the table was already set and where four other people were sitting. All of them looked in their direction once they realized they had entered the space, and the older women, Mrs. Rhodes, Cyra assumed, got up from her place and came to greet both of them.

Cassandra already knew her, so when she turned to Cyra she gave her a smile, that didn't look like a genuine one, while she introduced herself to her.

"Hi Cyra, I'm Rose, I'm sure you will adore Malibu." Rose said.

"Hello, it's really nice to meet you, Mrs. Rhodes. I'm sure I will love it here." Cyra replied. Being corrected by Rose that asked for her to just call her by her first name.

They proceeded to sit in their spots at the big table, being Frank at the top, with Rose by his right side and Cassandra to his left, followed by Cyra, who was sitting next to another girl, who looked around her age. In front of Cyra was a boy who looked slightly older than her, who didn't even spare her a glance, keeping his attention on his phone, and by his side was a younger girl, who hadn't stopped staring at Cyra, wish was a little creepy but the teenager just smiled.

The adults started to talk about the last time they had been together, wish was on a business trip in New York, but Cyra zoned out and lost herself in her thoughts. She was worried because earlier she had seen a warning about a hurricane that could hit the region in a few days and she wasn't thrilled to go through that experience. Storms, in general, scared her, but a hurricane would send her to her personal hell.

She was pulled out of her line of thought when the girl next to her touched her arm and smiled at her.

"Hi, I'm Sarah."

"I'm Cyra." She replied smiling.

"I know." Sarah said with a chuckle "My dad and Rose didn't stop talking about your arrival literally until you got out of the car."

"Oh, well I'm sorry you had to endure that." Cyra chuckled.

The two of them got along really well, they started to know each other, and Cyra saw real potential in this friendship, because they had similar personalities and a lot in common, even though she knew better than to let her in. She would show her a little of herself, but never her soul, her true self because that part of her wasn't what people wanted to see. No one wanted to see the broken girl she actually was, not her mother, not her old friends, and certainly not new ones, so she was going to do what she did best.

Lie. Pretend. Act. And hope that the act turned into reality one day.

"So Cyra," Frank called pulling the girl out of the conversation she was having with Sarah about her favorite part of the beach and making everyone go quiet. "Tell us a little more about yourself."

This was the first time the boy in front of her looked at her directly in the eye and she could swear she saw a little interest in his eyes but it disappeared after a second, morphing into an annoyed one, while his dark blond hair fell a little over his eyes, making the girl feel irritated by his behavior towards her.

Cyra noticed her mother giving her a small nod, trying to get the attention of the girl who had lost a couple of seconds analyzing the boy, meaning she needed to talk properly and clearly, to make sure she saved herself from a lecture later on how inappropriate it was keeping Frank waiting for an answer that should have been on the tip of her tongue right away.

She turned to Frank and said "Well I'm eighteen years old, but I turn nineteen next month. I adore learning new things and studying in general, so I already started a few of my studies for university, since I want to graduate with excellent results. And my biggest aspiration is to be successful in life and keep the family business just as great as it is right now." She paused with a small smile on her face, waiting to see if anyone questioned her about anything else.

"Well that is remarkable, don't you think Thomas?" Frank said turning to face his son, who looked surprised for being dragged to the conversation, and a little nervous.

"Ahum yeah, it's impressive." He said, in a tone that was borderline bored and sarcastic while looking at Cyra for a few seconds before looking down at his phone again.

To say the girl didn't understand this guy was an understatement, she was stunned, how he was just dreaming about the end of this dinner, but again, she didn't know why he was acting like this, maybe he had plans canceled because of their arrival, this though making her feel a little guilty.

Sarah rolled her eyes at her brother's response and said "Don't be rude Thomas, just because you didn't went to college doesn't mean other people can't enjoy it." Her comment making him roll his eyes at her.

After that, the rest of the lunch was filled with talks about their life, business, Malibu, and everything in general.

When they finished their meal, they moved to the living room where they sat on the couches, getting ready to drink some coffee. Thomas was excused and went to his room upstairs, while the rest of them continued the conversation.

Cyra was a little bored, and even though Sarah had been talking to her, she felt tired, she hadn't had a good night of sleep in forever, wish wasn't new for her, but her muscles were sore from the intense training she had been doing, and her mind was restless with all the nerves her mother created with her presence.

"Can I use the restroom please?" Cyra asked, needing a little time for herself.

"Of course darling, it's upstairs, first door on the right." Rose replied.

She got up and walked upstairs, looking for the door she wanted, and getting in, locking the door after she closed it. She let herself slide against the door to the ground, sitting there, and massaging her leg muscles wish were begging for some rest. The pain was normal these days, it was always there, and she knew that the pain was a defense mechanism, the more physical pain she felt, the less her emotional pain would matter.

She started to think about the guy, Thomas, what a little prick. She understood that he didn't want to be there, in all honesty, neither did she, but she felt like he was giving her the cold shoulder for no reason. It's not like she decided to arrive before lunch, nor was it for them to spend all this time here, but he seemed to think otherwise.

Cyra didn't want to give it the time of day, but she couldn't help it. It was something more to that boy, something he didn't let people see. But she could. Because she did exactly the same thing, but her ways were different.

She stayed in that position for about five minutes, trying to get her muscles to relax a bit, but then had to get up because her mother wouldn't be happy if she took too long. So she washed her hands and looked to the person on the other side of the mirror, and smiled, trying her best for a genuine smile to form so no one would see beyond it. She had gotten quite good at faking this kind of thing, so good, sometimes even herself believed that the smile was real and not an act, but then everything always came down on her, and she remembered why that smile would never be genuine again.

And with a neutral face, she unlocked the door and walked out of the restroom, preparing herself for the next few smiles and meaningless chuckles she would need to have. Then suddenly she encountered a hard surface, going against it with her small body.