Chương 19: Meeting The Knights.

I'm pretty sure I was drooling with how wide I had my mouth open. I stood in front of Mount Everest. Hold on, that sounded weird, right? Okay, maybe it isn't Mount Everest, but damn this house is big. Grande. Massive. Vast.... It's obvious where this is going, right?

It is bright, filled with windows and marble walls. I could see a gardener picking at the flowers in the huge backyard. There were parts of the house that looked like it was made out of glass or diamonds or something similar because when the sun shine through it from a certain angle, the blurry color of a sunset appears on the ground.

"You'll have something else coming into that pretty mouth of yours if you don't close it anytime soon." I glared at his retreating figure, cursing profanities under my breath at his loose mouth.

I turned to the side of the house and there is a beautiful mosaic on the wall to my left side. It is filled with different drawings, painting and people drawn in such a great detail. I envied the artist with such an amazing talent. Nolan murmured something to Aiden before spiraling away from my sight.

"Wait here," I opened my mouth to protest before he shot me a glare, making me swallow whatever it was that I wanted to say. "I mean it."

I watched him go into the house as I stood awkwardly in the middle of the hallway. It feels so strange being in another house that isn't mine or any of my friends.

"Bloody hell! If this is how every high school girl looks, I don't mind going back." I turned toward the voice as he proceeded to give me a once-over before tilting his head slightly.

I subconsciously wrapped my hands around my body in a useless attempt to hide my body from his crystal blue-green eyes. The guy had hair that was a tad bit darker than Aiden's but I could see the slight resemblance. A trail of light stubble on his smooth face brought out his blue-green eyes.

"Ow! The fuck was that for?" He exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head in pain. Aiden rolled his eyes before folding his arms to his chest.

"You moron, you sure know how to make girls uncomfortable." He responded. "Athena, this is unfortunately one of my brothers, Cameron."

Cameron smiled at me. "Nice to meet you, Athena. I'm only 20. I'm sure I'm not too old for you."

I chose to ignore his comment. Comments like that deserves no response.

Aiden goes around the house, silently telling me to follow. I glanced at Cameron, who only winked at me. The weird thing is, I could clearly tell that he was only messing around with me. I knew he only tried to flirt because he wanted to get on a person's good side.

Aiden led me inside, which was only as beautiful as outside. Paintings filled the house and the grand stairs in the center made it extravagant. The hardwood floors made the room's atmosphere homey but the loud, dark music throughout the house only made my head ache more.

"Hey," Aiden yelled, so loud that I had to cover my ears. "Turn off that shit! We have a guest."

"A guest?" A small voice floated through the air of the house.

Soon, voices are heard upstairs and I looked up, not only to see five chandeliers hanging from the ceiling but also to see one boy running down the stairs and others just walking, staring at me with different expressions on their faces. Either way, this sure was a full house. My mind drifted back to the day Eva came to my house. She definitely doesn't look like she gave birth to this many kids.

I blinked at the number of guys in the room. Their combined smell was a mixture of musk, old spice Gillette, a bunch of colognes and... baby powder? Yeah, that is the smell, but it was refreshing.

A boy of about seven years old came up to me out of the group and examined me. Like, he openly looked at me up and down, even going around me in slow motion making 'hmmm' sounds. I just stood there, pretending like I was fine with being observed.

Suddenly, the boy turned around to face his brothers so I couldn't see his reaction. "She's definitely not like the other girls Denny's brought home before," He said.

Other girls? Wow, I feel so special. I held back an eye roll as the boys murmured in agreement. They all looked similar but different in their appearances. I dug my fingers into my palm, strong enough to draw blood as my head throbs more in pain. I turned to Aiden, who had an amused smile on his face.

"What are you smiling about?" I said. "You plan on introducing me anytime soon?"

Before Aiden could say anything, one of the boys spoke up. "She's surely not like the other girls. She actually wants to meet us."

For some reason, he reminded me of Ash. The boy who spoke up came in front of me and stuck his hand out for me. "Hi. I'm Zachary and I'm 15."

Zachary isn't exactly what I would call handsome, but he is adorable and fidgety. His brown eyes, brown, curly hair and rosy cheeks makes him look cute. He could hardly stay in one place because his foot keeps twitching and his hand is fiddling around with the pencil he was holding.

After Zachary moved out of the way, the other guys introduced themselves to me. One boy, wearing a varsity jacket and sweat pants, shook my hand firmly. He was good-looking with dark brown hair and grey eyes but his smile was smile was contagious.

"I thought you said he was your friend?" I said. Gabe scratched the back of his head shyly.

"I'm sorry about that. It's just-- girls only like getting close to me because they know I'm his brother. I wanted something different."

Aiden who was leaning against the wall, scoffed and rolled his eyes at this.

Another guy slid over in front of me, wearing a simple v-neck t-shirt and trousers. He gave off this serious aura as he studied me. I straightened up and looked him square in his striking blue eyes. He is handsome, definitely. But he needs a girl who would handle him in a fun way. A girl that would complete his seriousness. Just saying. "I'm Brayden. 22."

"Nice to meet you, Brayden." He kept his face neutral and turned around, walking up the stairs. Okay! Rude!

I turned to Aiden, but he just shrugged and nodded towards his next brother. This one had dark brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a knitted sweater and had a paintbrush in his hand. The headphones around his neck gave off an artistic vibe, as did the other boy beside him... and the other that looked a bit younger.

The first two boy are obviously twins, just wearing different knitted sweaters-- one bright red and the other a white one. Both had the same features, but their dark brown hair was in different styles. One with a mid fade haircut and the other with a fringe haircut. What? I know my stuff.

They put their hands out for me to shake and I did. "I'm Athena."

"I'm Easton." The one with the mid fade haircut and bright red sweater said.

"I'm Daxton. We're 16." The other boy said.

"And I'm Lucas. I'm 13." The smaller one said. He was wearing a washed-out sky blue shirt and his hair was brown but his eyes were gray. He had a pencil in his hands instead of a paintbrush but his hands were covered in blue paint.

They all smiled at me and went down the hallway to a different room. There was one boy left and he was so cute. His big blue eyes and the dimples on his cheek just made me fall in love with him. "Hi, I'm Athena."

He stepped back and took a bow. "I am Cayden and I am seven. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." He could barely pronounce the last word.

"Aww, you're so adorable." I giggled a little as I bent down to his level. He smiled, making his dimples even deeper. I had to hold back the urge to touch them.

He ran to Aiden and jumped into his arms. "Hey, buddy."

Cayden leaned towards Aiden's ear and whispered something to him. Aiden pulled back and nodded at his brother before Cayden ran away from our sight. Aiden nodded for me to follow him.

Aiden led me down the hallway. He turns the knob and swings the white, wooden door open. The first thing that stood out to me is the color that fills his walls: dark blue.

One would think dark walls would make the room dull, but with the white comforter that covers his bed. and the white pillows alongside the white blinds, his room is nowhere near dull. The two colors contrast beautifully.

His bed is pressed against the wall and takes up the far corner, and across from it rests his dresser. There was a study table at the far end of the room with a bookshelf not too far from it. There are video games and a DVD player attached to the television on the wall.

What I find even more interesting is how clean his room is. There's not a stray sock on the floor or a wrinkle on his bed. Even the few football posters in the room hung perfectly on his wall.

"Are you planning to stand there all day?" I looked in his direction to see him sprawled out on the bed with his eyes closed. I sat at the end of the bed, not wanting to sit on his study table. He groaned before peeking an eye open. "You don't mind me taking a quick shower before we start, yeah?"

I shook my head 'no' as he walked to the bathroom. I massaged my temples before I started working on my assignments. Aiden came into the room some minutes after.

"Can I use your bathroom real quick?" He nodded before walking out of the room. I stood up, regretting it almost immediately as black dots clouded my vision. I bawled my lunch into the toilet, clenching my stomach with my hands.

I sat on the floor, weak to even stand to my feet. The pain in my head has gotten 10x worse. I've grown accustomed to headaches over the last few months, thanks to the late-night crying and assignments. But this one felt worse.

Tears welled up in my eyes, willing for the pain to stop. I forced myself to stand up, splashing cold water on my face. Taking deep and steady breaths, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were bloodshot, and my face looks so red.

I have to tell Aiden to take me home. Mom somehow got to know about my headaches, and she got me some medications for them. I hate taking pills, so I saw no need to take the capsules around with me. Besides, I've never gotten one as severe as the pain shooting my skull right now.

I walked out of the room, a slight wobble in my steps. Aiden looked up from the game he was playing with Nolan.

"You alright? You look somewhat pale, and you were in there for a long time." He said, putting the console to the side as he stood up. I walked over to my bag, arranging my books back to my bag.

"Yeah, I'm great. Can you take me home, please?" I pushed him in an attempt to leave, but instead, I almost fell on my face. Thanks to Aiden for catching me.

"Shit! You're burning." He released my hand in a swift move. I moved away from him, feeling the need to sleep the rest of the day away.

"I'm fine. I only need to sleep."

"Well! Tell that to your burning temperature." I grimaced at the tone of his voice.

"Will you take me home or not?" He just stared at me, not saying a word. "Fine. I'll go myself then."

I walked down the hallway, trying to remember the way we came. Beads of sweats formed on my forehead as I started going down the stairs. I was barely keeping my eyes open as the ringing in my head shot through me.

I took a deep breath, mustering all the strength left in me. It's only a migraine. I'll go home and sleep it off. Not seeing the toy in front of me, I toppled down the stairs. I felt pain shot through my body as I hit my head on the last stair with force.

"ATHENA!!" Were the last words I heard before finally let myself slip away into the darkness.

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