8.

“YOU WHAT?”

I rolled my eyes at my brother’s tone, pulling the phone away from my ear. When I was sure that my eardrums were safe from his super loud yelling lecture, I brought the phone closer to my ear again.

“Are you done, drama queen?” I asked him.

“Kris, this is serious! You can’t just stay with a guy!”

“Well, first of all, you have lost the right to tell me that after you enrolled me as Kris Noodles Mendes and second, I have no other option, also, third, don’t worry, my lips are sealed, I will find a way to get out of this house as soon as possible.”

“No, stay!” my brother rushed.

“What? Are you serious right now? Not seconds ago you were giving me crap about staying at a guy’s house,” I reminded him disbelievingly.

My brother sighed, “I know. But, I am more concerned about your safety, especially with Isaac on loose. And, from what you have told me about this Alex guy, he seems pretty helpful.”

“Yup, only when he doesn’t grill me with his never ending question,” I told him.

I heard chuckling on the other sidee, “I am pretty sure you can handle that, smartass.”

“I don’t know, for how long, before he practically shakes it out of me, by strangling me.”

“Looks like you have found your match,” he teased.

I scowled at the screen, “I think I liked the over protective brother better.”

“Just saying,” he said in a defensive tone, “I mean he sounds as annoying, moody, stubborn and grumpy as you.”

“I am not grumpy,” I deadpanned, “besides, I know how to smile, even if it’s fake. Alexander, the great doesn’t seem to know how to move his facial muscles to form a smile.”

“Are we talking about me?”

I jumped twenty feet in the air, when I heard Alex’s voice from the bedroom door.

I wasn’t lying when I said twenty feet, because I landed face first on the ground, along with my phone. I groaned in pain and quickly reached for the phone to cut the call.

“Wow, I had thought that you were a loner,” he commented, leaning against the door, “but, looks like I was wrong. Who were you talking to?”

I rolled on my back, groaning again, then, turned my head to look at Alex from that position itself, “Just how insensitive are you? Instead of standing there and interrogating me, you can come here and help me.

“I think I will pass,” he mused, dramatically, “because every time I help you, I am the one who ends up getting hurt in the end.”

“Ugh!” I exclaimed in frustration and got myself up, rubbing off the nonexistent dust from my clothes. Then, I looked up to meet his eyes, “You do realize that you are helping me by letting me stay here, right?”

This made him go still and speechless. I shook my head and smirked at him, “Poor Alexander always ends up helping this not so damsel in distress somehow.”

It was true. He did always end up helping me, consciously or unconsciously. Not that I was ungrateful for all he had done for me, but, still, it was fun to sometimes see his jaw drop on floor.

“Whatever,” he grunted, “I am here for something important.”

I sighed and plopped down on the bed, “Yes, yes, I know. Your baby formula and all other baby supplies are in here,” I said, pointing under the bed, and trying hard to keep a straight face.

“For the last time!” he roared, marching towards me, “they are not mine!”

Of course, I knew that they were not his. Before leaving, Millie had informed me that all the girls and guys in their group had a special corner in their rooms reserved for Stella. I still had no idea who Stella was, but, I did know one thing: that super baby deserved all the love and attention it was getting from these people. I already loved her, even after just meeting her once.

But would all of this information stop me from teasing Alexander, the great? No.

I crossed my arms over my chest, “Sure. They belong to your second personality, which arises from within you on occasions. I can assure you that your second personality is a cute cry baby,” I declared, unable to control my laughing fits.

The way Alex pulled at his hair, made me worried for a second that he would uproot them from his head, permanently.

“That’s it. You are shifting to the guest room,” he announced, pulling at my arm.

“What? No!” I protested, lying on my back and spreading my legs and hands, in an attempt to stake my territory on the whole area of the king sized bed, “You can’t separate me from this comfy bed. I have grown so used to it now.”

I really liked his room so much. It was so neat and clean (I know, totally unexpected from a boy!) and it was so spacious. The color scheme was cool and easy to the eyes. I had fallen in love with every nook and corner, from the one devoted to his musical instruments to the one devoted to Stella. And, the best thing was that lingering smell of his shampoo and cologne (I seriously needed to stop before I developed some kind of shampoo fetish!)

He raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me, “You have been here just for a few hours.”

I shook my head vigorously, “Please, no,” I begged him, “I am sorry, I will not tease you ever again,” I said, crossing my fingers inconspicuously.

“Well,” he said, folding his arms across his chest, “spare me the acting. I was going to shift you anyway. This is my room and I need to sleep here tonight.”

Before I could reply, he opened his mouth again, as if in realization, “Oh, wait! You know what? You can sleep here. Just make sure not to come out of this room after 10pm.”

That made me frown.

Oh no! Did he find out that I had plans of raiding his bathroom for shampoo tonight?

But, I acted unfazed and wiggled my eyebrows at him, “Why Alexander? Some special girl coming tonight?”

Okay, where did that come from?

Alex rolled his eyes, “I wouldn’t dream of inviting ‘someone special’ with you in the same house.”

I got up from my lying position to sit at the side of the bed, “Then, what is it? Why do you want me to remain locked up in here?”

Alex blew out a breath, “Not that it’s any of your business, but, we are having a boy’s only night. So, you better stay in here.”

“Is that like a boy’s sleepover?” I asked him in confusion.

“Yikes, no!” he exclaimed, “only girls do boring things like sleepover, we guys do fun things like watching horror movies, playing games, eating junk food-”

“Excuse me,” I interrupted him, “who are you calling boring? Girls are perfectly capable of doing all the things you just mentioned!”

He scoffed, “Whatever. I don’t have time to argue with you right now. Just make sure to stay in here after having dinner.”

And with that, he strode off, not giving me time to even blink.

I was startled for a second when my phone started ringing. I reached to it, to see an unknown number flashing on the screen.

“Hello?” I said cautiously, after accepting the call.

“Hello? Kris?” someone whispered from the other side of the line. Someone who sounded a lot like Hailey.

“Hailey?”

“Yes!” she squealed, “you got that right! Now, listen to me. Keep your windows open tonight.”

“Um…why?”

“Because,” she started slowly, “we are coming over for a girl’s only night!” she finished excitedly.

And, then…she hung up, before I could ask her how she got my number.

Oh man, it was going to be a long night!