"Alrighty, all the main rooms are upstairs. Every night except for Sundays, we have something we call Family Dinners." Des told her, opening the door for Ellie to pass-through then closing it behind her. "We have seven other kiddos here. Thankfully the house is big enough so no one has to share a room."
Em was just about to start down the stairs when the sound of a car pulling up stopped her. She now had two options.
One, run down the stairs in hopes that she'd get downstairs before the new girl came in and risk being noticed for the fact she'd probably be breathing heavily. Two, wait at the top of the stairs and get a look at the new girl before meeting her, and risk looking very very strange standing silently and watching. She vouched for the first option– the new girl would need someone and Em wanted to be that someone. She started down the stairs full pelt, trying hard to keep her breathing level so she wouldn't be too out of breath by the time she got down.
Ellie's stomach churned at the mention of ”Family Dinners”. That was going to be a challenge. She was glad to hear that she wouldn't have to share a room with anyone this time. It didn't always go well when she did. ”Wow, talk about a full house.” she joked, looking around the room before seeing the other girl. ”Oh, hi.”
"Hello Em, this is Ellie. I'm going to go round up the other kiddos." Des said, eyes crinkling up in a smile as they walked up the stairs, knocking on every door. "Hey kids, the new kid is here, you don't have to meet her now but remember we have family dinner tonight."
Holding her breath, Em held up her hand in a wave and smiled. "Hey! Welcome!" Don't seem too excited. You'll weird her out. She tried to hold in her uneven breathing, but let out a cough. A cough.
Her face flushed but she maintained the smile.
Min-Hyuk walked from his bedroom down to the door, taking his precious time.
" 왜 우리는 새로운 아이를 가져야합니까? 우리는 이미 많은 것을 가지고 있습니다. 당신이 나에게 묻는다면 또 다른 성가심."
He mumbles to himself, a little loudly than he meant to as he walked down the stairs. The sun shining in had made his black hair look almost blue as the rays hit him.
Zane saw a glimpse of the new kid and Des talking to Em. Great, a distraction. He said, glad that he could execute his next steps of plans. He hurried down the stairs and avoided the three of them and started looking into the kitchen cupboards. He found the plastic wrap, Oreos, and tape. He then rummaged around the living room and found some copy paper and glue. He wanted to start with all the original pranks and jokes before getting to the intense ones. He wasn't allowed near any sharp objects in the house so finding a way to cut paper would be a challenge. He headed back to his room, his arms full of supplies and materials as he shut the door with his foot.
He laid out all of his items onto his bed, visualizing all the reactions again, with a clear goal in mind. He took out his crayons, the only drawing utensil he was allowed to use since it didn't have points and started drawing on the paper. His drawing skills were great in his opinion considering his only materials were crayons, at least he had that going for him. He went into the bathroom, lifted the seat and place the plastic wrap on, making sure it was smoothed out with no noticeable wrinkles. He then opened the Oreos and scraped out the cream and added toothpaste, resealing the container. He ripped off a sticky note and added some encouraging and welcoming quote before sticking it on the Oreo packet. As he left the room he placed the plastic wrap around the door and headed to the newly furnished room.
He had to hurry before Des came up the stairs to show her her room. He placed the box of cookies on her bed, clearly in sight before again covering the entrance with the plastic.
He ran out of the room before they could get upstairs and locked himself back in his room.
Ellie tried to keep smiling and look friendly, but she couldn't keep it up for the whole night. ”I don't suppose you would know which room I can drop off my bags in, do you?” It’s the first night, maybe I can use that as an excuse.
"Oh please, stop being so nice would you?"
Min-Hyuk says steppeng off of the last step, closing the huge book he had been reading. A mini sketchbook in his back pocket and a small stick of charcoal covered in plastic wrap so it wouldn't get on his jeans. That was his only drawing utensil. If he tried to hurt himself with it, it would merely crumble.
Blake slipped downstairs after putting his snacks in his room, he had gotten it up before Des had seen, so that was good. He did, however, stand behind Min-Hyuck like he could protect the smaller boy. "No one's nice on the first day." He muttered quietly, making eye contact for a moment before ducking back behind Min-Hyuck.
Ellie let her smile fall to her usual neutral expression, raising a brow at the two boys attitude. ”Fine then. Can you at least tell me who to avoid? Other than you both.” she said with a small amount of ice coating her tone.
(Lol its Min-Hyuk. Or is he purposely doing that XD)
With a sigh he looks behind him with a slight grin, then turning around to face the girl.
"Her. She's not gonna like you anyway"
He says with a sigh, looking down at his book then back at her, the sun was hitting only one eye, making it appear almost purely white, the other one close to black.
"Zane will probably try to prank you, so don't eat anything he gives you," Blake said skittishly, he was stimming with his hands, mostly just rubbing them then flicking them out. "He's still nice though. The people you want to avoid are at school, they'll beat you up if they think you're weird."
Ellie sighed, ”So nothing new there. Thanks for the warning.” Unnecessary but still… She gripped her bags and headed upstairs, deciding to go and look for her room on her own. She didn't bother to change her expression this time. Maybe the other kids would think she was just tired.
Looking back at Blake as he turned around, taking a step back. He actually had forgotten his name and was now trying to remember. He was never good with names.
"Blake right?"
He says looking at him with a plain expression.
The only glimpse Sam saw of the new kid was the car pulling into the driveway as she ran down it. She put her headphones in and started at a jog down the street. In past experiences she had found it better not to be around when the new kid got there. One, she tended to snap at them. Not a great way to start a new relationship. Two, everyone made way too big of a deal out of new kids arriving. Who cares? Just another kid in their fucked-up Brady Bunch. Nothing to celebrate.
Blake nodded slowly, that was his name. His fingers were the only sound that was heard in the awkward silence that he was supposed to talk in. Blake had lived with the people in this house forever, but he was still anxious around them.
"Hmm, Min-Hyuk. Call me Huck and I kill you"
He says looking back at the top of the stairs, then back at him. He had stayed quiet long enough and his only friends were the demons and shadows he would see when he was anxious. Though they were getting a tad annoying.
"I know your name already…" Blake trailed off, then looked startled. "Sorry." He muttered before bolting back upstairs to his room. You're an idiot Blake. He told himself before going back to his chemistry book that he had left on his desk.
"Um…youre fine?"
He says Blushing a tad as he let out a laugh
"Oh okay…"
He muttered to himself before heading back upstairs himself.
Em had been standing frozen as the two boys talked to Ellie, and the second both were distracted she had slipped away and ran back to her room, rubbing her chest viciously. The second she was indoors she stripped down to her underclothes and stationed herself in front of the mirror.
Her chest was heaving and reddened, and as she anxiously studied it a flash of pain shot across her torso.
Her face crumpled. "What's this?"
She turned back to her bed, pulling out her notebook from beneath her pillow in search for a sickness to the symptoms.
Cough, swollen and red chest, chest pain, shortness of breath.
It didn't take long for Ellie to find the only room with an open door and Oreos on the bed. She hesitated at the door, that one boy’s warning about pranks making her more anxious before actually entering her room. Well tried to. Her eyes closed reflexively as she collided with a thin, invisible material. She dropped her bags, a bit loudly, as she peeled the film off her face. ”Real mature.” she grumbled throwing the plastic wrap in the trash can. For now, she elected to ignore the prank cookies on her bed and start unpacking until the inevitable Family Dinner. At least then she could meet this mischievous Zane.
Cleo burst through the back door wearing a giant sunhat and gardening gloves. She had been out in the back most of the morning pruning the little garden that she was allowed to maintain. She sighed smiling–as usual– and plopped down a whole mess of vegetables into the sink to clean. "Good Morning!" She chirped to no one in particular. Cleo didn't think there was anyone downstairs.
She hummed as she turned on the sink, the water crisp and cool. Turn it as hot as it will go. Let the heat burn off your skin. Cleo shut her eyes for a brief second, tapping the center of her brows as she always did when she had a bad thought. "Nope! Not today." She replied breezily, picking up a potato. "That's just nonsense." She laughed to herself, although anyone that would have been listening would have noticed how strained it sounded.
Turning around at the girl that just came in with a sigh. Turning around he leisurely made his way upstairs, down the short hall and to his room at the end.
"So much for making a friend"
He mumbles to himself as he pulls out his notebook, writing the name "Blake" on a single page along with a few other names. It was the names of everyone who lived here and he's talked to. Or they have talked to him. Then on other pages were drawings of everyone that lived here. Only the ones that he remembers their name of. Which was only three. "Clea, Zane, and Blake." The pictures were incredibly accurate, though sketchy. Rough edge edges and alot of lines. Somehow they were still good.
Blake slammed his book shut with a groan, why were they teaching him stuff he learned already? That was so stupid. At least he had his online friend, Misha. They met she was asking for help on a forum and he helped. He was really lonely when he got to the house and Misha made it better. "Hey Mish, how you doing? Got any interesting equations you need help with?" He typed out, now he just had to wait for a response.