Gnik Nus

Chapter 9

It was finally time for the second group to embark on their midnight escapade. After hearing our stories, Ben, Kylie and Jenny were excited. Brian was asleep (we hoped) so we were up ready to farewell them on their journey. Ben and I went into the kitchen to briefly kiss goodbye. So far only Jenny knew about us, and I can tell you it's definitely not easy keeping it a secret in such a tight knit group.

At midnight on the dot, the trio, all equipped, snuck out the front door of the apartment and into the unknown. Ethel and Jack were asleep (in the same bed) so it just left Adam, Peter and I. It was incredibly rare to only have this small amount of people together at once as all eight of us were usually confined to the apartment. Unfortunately, this meant I was forced into an uncomfortable situation - I was questioned.
"Is there something going on, Sophie?" Peter asked me.
"What? What do you mean?" I asked in return, confusedly defending myself.
"I think you and Ben don't realise that we notice, but we do. Your secret little kisses? Yeah, not so secret."
"Oh, this is embarrassing," I put my hands to my face.
"Why?" asked Adam, chuckling lightly.
"We didn't want you guys to know! We tried so hard keep it from you. Jenny knew though."
"How long has it been going on?" Peter asked.
"Literally, we got together on the same day we found out about Kylie and Ringo, so not that long at all."

"Why did you try to keep it from us?" Adam asked.
"Well, we were sort of embarrassed to have you guys know, considering we live together and all. We didn't want to be the awkward couple amongst you all," I explained.
"We're fine with it," Peter said, "Honestly."
"Well I know most of us are," added Adam, "I'm not sure some of them even know. I mean, we picked up on it, Ethel had also, and you're now saying Jenny knows too. I'm not sure if Kylie's figured it out."
"Oh, god no! She's the one person who I don't want to find out!"
"Why? Aren't you best friends now?" asked Adam.
"I gave her so much crap about her and Ringo and denied her claims of something going on between Ben and I… I feel so disrespectful towards her! She's funny about Ben. I don't know why but she acts differently towards him."
"I have noticed that a little bit actually. Maybe she has a crush on him," Peter suggested.
"Maybe. But if that's the case, then she'll have lost all respect for me."

We didn't realise an hour had passed until we heard the others coming through the front door. We questioned them about their London adventures and they told us stories from their night. Kylie went to the bathroom to change into her pyjamas, so we had a chance to sneakily discuss her. Jenny was first to comment.
"Kylie was acting pretty strange," she told us.
"Yeah, she kept ignoring me for some reason," Ben added.
"Actually, we were just discussing her before you came in," I revealed.
"Yeah, about how she acts towards you," Peter said, directed at Ben.
"What, by ignoring me?" Ben questioned.
"It's not just that," I said, "She eyes you suspiciously when you're not watching. Something is definitely going on."
"There must be a reason she holds that grudge against you," Peter commented, "Oh, and Ben? We know about you two."
Ben looked at me and back to the rest of them who all gave him a confirming look.
"Well, I wasn't too fussed on hiding it anyway," he shrugged.
Was that why he deliberately made Jenny notice?

Kylie had re entered the room and crawled straight into bed. We all watched her, and I could tell that each of us were contemplating the same thing - whether to ask her about Ben or not. Silent communication through eye contact to each other told us that now would not be a good time since everyone needed to get to sleep. Kylie would no doubt be grouchy if we grilled her now. There was one person who was brave enough to ask the question that was plaguing all our minds…

Unlike the morning after my late night escape, I was not the last person to wake the next morning - Adam and Jenny were still asleep when I woke. I could hear Ethel, Kylie, Jack and Brian in the kitchen having breakfast. Peter and Ben were talking in hushed tones on one of the lounge suites. When they saw I was awake, Ben chimed, "Good morning sleepy head!"
I mumbled something in reply as I grumbled and stretched, rubbing my eyes. I pecked Ben on the cheek and went to the kitchen, tummy rumbling. The gang were having cornflakes. I screwed my nose up at the cereal and proceeded to prepare some toast in a zombie-like fashion.
"Good morning Sophie," Brian greeted chirpily.
"Morning," I greeted them half-heartedly. It usually took me a few minutes to become fully awake.

Once I had my toast I opted to eat in the lounge/bedroom (something Brian did not approve of). Soon Adam and Jenny had both woken and Ethel, Kylie, Jack and Brain had joined us to watch the morning news. As we sat in mostly silence, I could feel the question brewing from someone. Any moment now, Kylie was going to be faced with the task of explaining herself. I had just made a crunch sound with my toast when he piped up.
"Kylie," Ben started. The ones of us who knew what was coming tensed. Kylie seemed stunned to have him talk to her - I don't think they've ever had a proper conversation. She turned to look at him, alarmed.
"Kylie, do you have a problem with me?"
She seemed even more stunned after that. She eventually managed to formulate a response.
"What? Why would I have a problem with you, Ben?" she replied in an airy voice.
"We've all noticed your hostility towards me… the way you ignore me for no apparent reason. How you glare at me behind my back. Have I done something to offend you?"
"No, of course not!"
"Well what's the problem then? I know you have an issue of some sorts. Please tell me what the problem is so we can resolve it!"
"I don't think it can be resolved," she said, her fake airy voice replaced with a more serious one.
"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"It's a matter that cannot be overcome."
"Please explain," Peter pressed.

Kylie stood up quickly, appearing distressed, and started pacing the small area of clear floor space. With her back turned and her hand on her forehead, she asked Ben an odd and seemingly irrelevant question.
"Ben, what is your last name?" she asked.
"What does that have to-?" he started asking before being cut off.
"Just tell me please!"
"It's, uh, Ross."
We watched her arm fall and her shoulders sag.
"What's the matter?" Ben asked, "Kylie, what is it?"
Slowly, Kylie turned around to face us. Looking Ben directly in the eye, she said, "Mine too."
"Well, uh, wow, what a coincidence!" Ben exclaimed, "What are the chances?"
"They're very, very low, Ben," Kylie retorted, becoming quite snappy.
"I don't see what the problem is."
"Oh, you don't? I'll spell it out to you."

We all watched her in suspense, Ben especially.
"Your name is Benjamin Michael Ross. You live in Seattle with your parents Jane and Laurie and your older brother Andrew."
"How do you know this?" Ben asked, becoming alarmed and suspicious.
"My name is Kylie Jane Ross. My father is Andrew Sean Ross."
In an instant we could all figure out just exactly what that meant.
"You're Andy's daughter?" Ben asked in disbelief.
"Yes - therefore, you are my uncle."

It's safe to say we were all reeling from the recent revelations, but Ben was most in shock. He just found out that the sixteen year old girl he had been living with for the past few months was his future niece. This certainly explained why Kylie had acted so weird around him.
"This is why I've been keeping my distance!" Kylie explained, "I've suspected ever since I got here but I didn't know if it was true… now I know that it is."
"How does this type of thing happen?" Ben asked, still shocked, "How do two relatives end up together here? Is anyone else here related?"
I highly doubted that. Ben was obviously not taking the news too well.
"This can't be right - you're from Australia, are you not? I'm American and so is my brother!" he started to get agitated.
"You move to Australia in 1985. Your father - my grandad - gets offered a job and you all move," Kylie explained.

"This can't be true," Ben sighed.
"Come on, Ben, it has to be," I encouraged, "Kylie knows everything about your family. She shares a surname with you. I can kind of see the family resemblance too."
Ben and Kylie immediately snapped their heads to look at each other and examine their similar features.
"All my life I thought my Uncle Ben treated me special," Kylie commented, "And now I know why."
"He knew you before you were even born!" I cried.
"You do know what this means, don't you?" Kylie asked everyone around the room, "Ben gets to go back home."