Inside The House

IV

I can finally consider the day at school a success. Elizabeth, whom I unfortunately didn't see in the crowd in the stands, told me that she saw everything. She congratulated me and agreed with me that the plan was good after all. It made me very happy because it was not only her opinion. On my way out of the school, there was thunderous applause directed at me on my group's chat. Of course, none of the three boys spoke up, but that wasn't what I wanted either. On the other hand, I did not receive any words of contempt from their side, which of course was a kind of success. Aurelia did not speak to me after the whole incident. When we returned to the Von Rostov mansion all she did was stare at the phone screen, of course. Buck, on the other hand, was very interested in my first day at school. I told him a truncated story related to the dance, but said nothing about the boys. I figured it wasn't important. In fact, it wasn't. Nothing really bad happened on their part. Hostile looks and comments about my relationship with the Van Rostovs were the least of my worries.

After returning to the mansion I sat down to do my homework. There weren't many, but
I wanted to look at them to know what level the group was at. It seemed to me that the assignments were perfectly balanced. Math took about an hour, Biology and Geography about half an hour in total. Other subjects, it's hard to say, I don't remember anymore. I also looked through the books that were already waiting for me in my room in the Von Rostov mansion.
I was most interested in one called "Knowledge of Culture." This is the famous subject that kept Alex, Randal, and of course Rayan from making it to the next grade. From the book, it seemed that the only thing you needed to know in this class was what writer wrote what work, what painting depicted what. The situation was a little difficult for me because the textbook had mentions of the country's artists. I knew nothing about those.

It was time for dinner. I realized that this was the most important part of the day in the life of
a family home. It didn't matter if one was hungry or not, everyone had to come to dinner.
I changed into slightly looser clothes than the ones I was in at school and went down to the main dining room. It was an opportunity to take another look at all the inhabitants of the house. During the day, this is made considerably more difficult because everyone is busy with their own activities. Gregory was supposedly in the office with my mother all day. I wondered for
a moment if my mother was going to work anywhere at all, and quickly realized that she was apparently going to help out for the time being with Luna's work, which turned out to be
a fashion designer. I regretted that Buck wasn't here. The main dining room was just for the family and their guests.

In the main seat sat Apolonia, of course. The old she-wolf had introduced such
a regime into the house that until she sat at the table, no one could sit. To her right sat Gregory, with my mother by his side. On the other side was Luna with Aurelia. I was seated next to a teenage girl which was pretty obvious from an adult perspective. After all, to them we were still just children. Aurelia was dressed in the same sweatshirt as last time. The one with the boxing team logo. I had known for a long time why she envied me being assigned to this group.

Pyra and Myra served the first course prepared by Ezekiel. Caramelized tomatoes with rosemary and baked feta cheese were served as an appetizer. Everyone began to eat.

- How was your day at school children? - Gregory said, chewing the first bite of his appetizer.

Aurelia, of course, didn't speak, just rummaged through her appetizer with her fork. She looked confused or angry. Or both.

- Children? - Gregory repeated.

Just as I opened my mouth with the intention of saying anything, Aurelia interjected.

- I don't like tomatoes. I'm not going to eat it.

She didn't like it, but grandmother Apolonia was certainly fond of this delicacy. She ate it with her eyes closed and chewed for a long time as if she wanted to get all the flavor out of the dish.