The next day, the two girls were getting ready to go to school, where they were already out of Jeayan's room. Amber was tying her shoelaces, sitting on the steps of the staircase while Jeayan walked straight to the kitchen to have their breakfast.
The two woke up early despite sleeping late the night before. They have spent the night, gossiping and talking. Jeayan also talked about her childhood stories with Hamish and Erick, which interest Amber. She had quite a laugh as she listened at their childish antics.
Inside the kitchen, Jeayan's mother, Priscilla Shaw, was placing the food on the dining table. She was laughing at what the man at the dining table was saying.
Jeayan frowned when she saw a familiar masculine back facing her. It was a back that she hardly sees these days. She knew it wasn't her father because he was outside, starting up the car.
"Jaylen?" she said softly.
The man turned around and gave her a grin and wave. "Good morning, sunshine!" he greeted.
Jeayan jumped on him, giving him a hug, nearly making the two of them fall from the chair. "Jaylen!" she exclaimed happily. "When did you return?" she asked as she pulled back.
Priscilla smiled, beaming with happiness as she watched her daughter hugging her brother. She knew how much Jeayan misses him. It softened her heart whenever she saw this.
Jaylen was actually Jeayan's older brother, who stayed at the dorm. He was in his second year at the local university. The local university wasn't actually that far but it was located outside town. Thus, it seems more convenient for him to stay there than at home. He was slightly taller than their father, Zeke, with dark brown hair and a muscular build. Although he doesn't join any clubs in his university, he always did his weights during his freetime. It has been more than a couple of months since he last returned home due to his busy schedules at the university. Hence Jeayan was happy to know he was home. She was quite close with him since they were closer in age.
"Just this morning," he said as he turned back to his meal. Jeayan sat beside him. Just as she was about to ask more, Amber walked in, carrying her backpack.
Priscilla had already eaten her breakfast and was about to clean the dirty dishes when she saw Amber. She beckoned her closer, pointing at the seat across Jeayan and said, "Come and eat your breakfast, dear."
Amber nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Meer," she smiled as she dropped her backpack on the floor, beside her feet. She then took her seat across Jeayan.
Jeayan looked up and grinned. "Mom makes the best pancakes in town!" she said proudly.
Amber just smiled and nodded. After she had sat down, it was then she realized there was someone else at the dining table; someone she did not recognize.
Noticing her confusion, Jeayan began to introduce her brother to Amber. Both of them nodded hello to one another. Jeayan continued to talk animatedly, showing how happy she was to have her brother at home. She started to ask how long he will be staying, why and more. Jaylen just answered her patiently while smiling.
Looking down at his sister, he still couldn't believe that she already has a mate. His parents told him earlier that morning about what happened. He had laughed ruefully that time since he hasn't found his mate yet. To think that his sister got her mate before him was a bit amusing. And the fact that her mate was one of the powerful triplets, he was quite surprised yet pleased. She deserved someone great and Roel was it.
He then took a discreet look at the friend his sister brought home. It was rare that his sister would bring her human friend home, much less his parents. It was not that they do not like human beings but it was just rare since there might be a possibility of them being exposed.
Jeayan was the one who mostly does the talking while Jaylen and Amber just nodded, listening. Amber doesn't talk a lot especially when it comes to talking to someone who she just met. Although she gave off a friendly vibe, she was quite shy in reality. Back then, it was fortunate that Dana herself was friendly as well.
Jaylen, too, was a quiet one. In fact, he and his sister were quite different when it comes to personalities. While Jeayan was wild and carefree, Jaylen was shy and quiet. Their parents used to teased them for having their personalities switched.
After the three were done with the breakfast, their father, Zeke, just walked in the kitchen, wiping his hands with a towel.
"Right on time, dad!" Jeayan exclaimed.
Zeke chuckled. "For what?" he asked.
"To send us to school, of course! Like duh?" she replied, rolling her eyes.
Zeke chuckled again as he patted her head. Jeayan whine when he accidentally messed up her hair. "Jay will send you. Dad will be heading straight to the pa- 'house'," he said, changing his words when he just realized that Amber was listening in.
"Oh," Jeayan said. She then turned to Jay and said, "Shall we go after we're done with cleaning?"
Jaylen laughed softly as he stood up. "Alright."
Zeke patted him on the shoulder and said, "I've just started up the car for you."
Jaylen nodded. "Thanks, dad." he then grabbed his light jacket and put it on. He turned to the other two girls and said, "I'll go wait in the car."
The two girls nodded. Amber helped Priscilla with the dishes while Jeayan wiped the tables. Once they were done, the two grabbed their backpacks and went out of the door, saying their goodbyes to the two parents. Amber also said her thank yous to the Meer couple for their hospitality.
Outside, Jaylen was inside the car, waiting for them. Once the two girls got in, he asked them whether they had worn their seatbelts and when they said yes, he drove off.
The journey to the school didn't take long and with Jeayan talking all the way to school made the journey feel short.
When they finally arrived at school, Erick and Hamish were already waiting for them at the entrance of the school. They were with some other packmates, talking and laughing. Some of the packmates knew what had happened to Erick so they were relieved to see him looking fine and dandy. They weren't allowed to visit him so they could only hear the news from Hamish himself.
After knowing that he was fine, they soon crowded him once he arrived at school. And this was the scene that greeted the three youngsters in the car.
Jaylen tilted his head, a question on his face after he parked the car on the sidewalk. He pressed a button on the car door, which slid the window open. "Isn't that Erick?" he asked, looking over at the crowd.
Jeayan nodded as she and Amber got out of the car.
Just as they got out of the car, Erick looked up and grinned when he saw Amber. He broke away from the crowd and headed over. His eyes widened when he saw who was at the driver's seat. "Whoa! Jaylen! When did you arrive? I could tell it was you but I wasn't sure," he said, bending over at the window to give Jaylen a fist bump.
Jaylen grinned. "This morning," he answered. It was then with a surprised look on his face, he looked over at Amber and back again at Erick. Erick just smiled as he knew what Jaylen was thinking about.
"And congratulations, Erick," he added.
Erick grinned even brighter. "Thanks," he said sincerely.
Jaylen turned his head at Jeayan and said, "Text me if you need a ride home. I'm going over to the 'house'."
Jeayan nodded.
Amber bent a bit towards Jaylen and said, "Thank you for sending us to school."
"No problem."
With a wave of goodbye, Jaylen drove off, leaving the three of them standing at the sidewalk.
Erick turned to Amber and took her backpack from her. "Lets go," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
Amber smiled, nodding as they walked together to school.
Behind them, Jeayan rolled her eyes. "I don't need this so early in the morning," she muttered under her breath before she followed them from behind.
A new face! What do you think of Jaylen?