brothers.

2~ Just Like The Rest

I had the grilled cheeses ready in no less than 5 minutes. After I gave them their food, I immediately left. I didn't want to spend time cooped up with them when they clearly didn't want me there.

In that case... step 5: explore the house.

It was the last step, but as important as the rest. I needed to find out what kind of chores I'd probably get, how much food I could eat, what rooms I wasn't allowed into... all the precautions.

I found Susan and Davis's bedroom, which I only took a peek at. Nothing interesting there, except for a few nails in the walls I managed to notice. It seemed like they removed a few picture frames.

The hallway was the same. Family pictures everywhere, but with some missing. I found it a bit curious. Maybe they put the nails in for new ones?

I found two bedrooms that were shared. One was presumably for Kyle and Jack, being the larger one, and the other was for Tommy and Harry.

There were two locked doors. In one, I heard Susan and Davis talking, so it was probably my new room. The other was unknown. As I moved to check the latter, the bedroom door opened, revealing Susan. I quickly jumped away from the other door.

"Oh. Diana. I thought you were with the boys?"

"Uh... I wanted to kinda... explore the house. Save you the trouble of giving me a tour. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, of course not." She smiled.

"Diana!" I heard from downstairs.

Hesitantly, I turned. "Uh, yeah?"

"Where are you?"

"She's up here, Kyle," Susan said. "Are they treating you alright?"

"Yeah, they are."

"Are you sure? You don't have to cover for them."

"Well... like you said before... it might take some getting used to. I get it."

Kyle came upstairs, a fake smile stretching his lips. "Uh... we were just calling her to, uh... play PS5 with us." More footsteps followed as the other three appeared behind him.

"That's nice of you." Davis came out of the bedroom. "We're just going to show Diana her new room and then you can go."

All four boys tensed, their fake smiles disappearing. I noticed Susan and Davis shifting uncomfortably.

Something was up.

"Um... Mom, we were thinking..." Jack stepped forward, his hands laced behind him. "Kyle and I thought that maybe we could apply for late housing. That way Diana could have our room."

Susan sighed, tensing even more. "That's very generous of you, but we've been over this. You don't need dorms. So she's going to use this room."

"Well... that room has a draft, you know? She might be uncomfortable," Harry said.

"There's no draft, Harry," Davis said, crossing his arms.

"How about Harry and I sleep downstairs? She can have our room." Tommy tried smiling pleasantly, but instead looked constipated.

I looked between them. This was an... odd scenario.

"Um... I don't want to inconvenience anyone. If you'd like, I can sleep in the den, or the basement..." I glanced at the extra door. "Or there." I pointed.

"Oh, that's... that's the attic," Davis said.

"I'm cool with sleeping there."

The boys immediately protested, shaking their heads. "It's way too cold...", "It's really cramped and small...", "You won't like it there..."

What was with these guys?

"Alright, that's enough." Davis said firmly.

"How about the den?" Kyle suggested. "The sofa's really comfortable, and there's room for her to put her stuff-"

"That's enough," Susan snapped. "End of discussion."

The tension was thick. I swallowed, uncomfortable.

"It's fine. Sorry to bother you." Kyle held up his hands and nudged his brothers to follow him. They all went back downstairs.

Susan sighed, massaging the bridge of her nose. "I'm so sorry about them, Diana."

"Uh... it's fine, Susan. There's no problem." I stared at the spot where the boys had been standing, utterly bemused.

"Davis already brought in your bags. You can settle in. Sorry for taking so long."

"No, you're good." I entered my new room, my jaw dropping at the sight. It was beautiful.

It was as big as the other rooms, with medium-sized windows and a soft carpet. A full-sized bed was against the left wall, decorated with flower-patterned quilts and pillowcases. Two white side tables flanked it.

A matching white bookcase was set up against the wall next to a desk of the same color, which had a purple desk chair. A purple-shaded lamp that matched the lily purple wallpaper stood on the surface.

"We tried to fit yellow into the bedroom, but we couldn't really find anything that matched," said Davis. "We can buy you some other things you want to give your room a little more... you."

I smiled. "I- I love it. I love this room. Thank you so much!" I sat on the bed. "Thank you both. It's perfect."

Susan smiled, the tension in her face dissipating. "Let us know if you need anything." They left and closed the door.

Well, this was cool. A nice room like this all to myself? I couldn't even remember the last time I felt so comfortable.

I went over to a long, yellow-framed mirror standing near the door. As I looked over my appearance, confusion settled in. What was that look they were all giving me before? They all stared at me so weirdly.

A couple bruises were slightly visible, but I'd practically saturated my face with foundation. It was cheap, sure, but it worked. My hair wasn't out of place, and my clothes were appropriate. Nothing to warrant that kind of look.

I sighed again— I'd lost count of how many sighs I'd taken today. In every 'nice' family, there was always a little catch. Always something to have to tolerate. Usually, the family was too inexperienced to 'handle' me and my... issues. With the Thomas's, they sent me to that prison of a private school.

Now, I had to deal with the brothers.

They weren't half as bad as most bio children or other foster children were towards me. But it was because they'd obviously promised to behave, to treat me nicely, to make me feel welcome. Sooner or later, they'd drop the front and start torturing me.

They were just like the rest. I was sure of it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts so far!