❝Never mess with the Royals. You'll feel the flames of hell before you even get there.❞
Back then, I wasn't anyone special. I wasn't some hero who saved anyone. I thought I was smart. I knew I was quiet and observing since I didn't like attention, u...
My eyes open blearily as Chase's voice. I hear his footsteps running down the hall and downstairs.
I groan and sit up, even though I want to roll over and go back to sleep. I won't get anymore sleep; the twins are up and wanting to open presents (we brought them along with us from our house), and soon Killian and Zaine will be up and excited too.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed and stand up, stretching with a yawn. I quickly go to the bathroom and brush my hair before I head out of my bedroom and into the hall, still wearing my pale aqua fuzzy-as-hell pajamas. Zaine is standing outside Clove's door with Killian, both of them knocking loudly.
"Hurry up, Strange!" Zaine shouts, his brass ring catching the light and reflecting it onto the wall. "It's Christmas!"
"And I'm tired!" Clove shouts back.
"And we don't care!" Killian replies. "Now get your lazy butt up!"
I walk over to them. "Lemme try," I say. The two boys step aside, watching me. I knock on the door loudly, "Strange, if I have to suffer with no sleep, I'm making you suffer with me!"
I hear Clove groan. "Fine. Only because us girls need to stick together."
"Are you saying you would abandon me if I got captured?" Killian asks, acting offended.
"Maybe," Clove replies as she opens the door. "Come on. I call dibs on the couch."
We all head downstairs. In the living room, we find the twins searching through the pile of gifts we stacked on the coffee table last night since there's no Christmas tree. We sort through the presents, making six smaller piles of each person's presents.
Once everyone has their pile of gifts, Killian and Zaine sit together on the love seat, Clove lies down on the couch, Chase and Rhea share one of the cushioned armchairs, and I sit on the other.
"So who's first?" Rhea asks.
"Me!" Zaine says, grinning.
"How 'bout we take turns?" Clove suggests. "Like last year."
We all agree. The twins are the first to open a gift. Chase picks the one from Rhea, while Rhea chooses the one from Chase. From his twin, Chase got a set of toy race cars, while Rhea got a brown haired doll named Melody. I smile as they hug each other tightly in thanks.
Next is Zaine's turn, and he picks the present from Clove, which turns out to be a white shirt with the words: My job is top secret. Even I don't know what I'm doing.
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Zaine grins, "perfect. Nice choice, Strange." He takes off his pajama shirt and puts on the new shirt, that grin never leaving his lips. "I love it. Thanks."
