DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities between this story and any other story are purely coincidental. Any feedback is welcomed, just email me at faeris.of.them.all@gmail.com.
I've got to say guys (and girls, I'm all about equal opportunity) that I am loving the feedback so far. I am sorry that I'm a little (a lot?) late on the story. I've been caught up in the vicious cycle known as `finals' and haven't been able to devote as much time to the story as needed. I was also a little sleep deprived from studying while I edited some of the story so please don't start pulling out your pitch forks and torches just yet. I can improve, I promise. Just don't leave me... ever. But seriously, I hope you enjoy the story and keep sending me feedback and questions about the story and where it may (or may not?) be going.
I awoke feeling better rested than I've ever felt. `This feels like a good day coming my way,' I thought. I could even hear birds singing beautiful bird songs; I don't know what other songs they would be singing other than bird songs, outside my windows. I lifted my arms above my head to get a good stretch in. `Ah,' I thought, relishing in the orchestra that was the popping of my joints. That's when I realized I didn't shower last night. I gagged a little when I smelt myself. I don't always smell like roses, but I'll be damned if I'm going to smell like a dead plant. I quickly made my way to the bathroom to wash up. After my much needed shower I pulled the only towel that was on the rack. It seemed a little small to be a full size towel though. In fact I'm pretty sure it's a hand towel. It barely covered up my junk. `As long as nobody sees me it's alright,' I thought (foreshadowing?). So I kept the towel on instead of actually putting on any pants. It made me feel daring and free walking around my room like this. I'm pretty risk-averse so little things like this are how I get my `jollies' off. `This room needs a little sunlight,' I thought. I walked over to the balcony doors, to pull back the curtains. I flung the curtains back, unleashing a torrent of sunlight into the room. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes to take in the moment. `This sunlight feels so warm on my skin, maybe I should start sunbathing on the balcony,' I thought. When I opened my eyes I received the shock of my life. I wish I would have taken in my surroundings before I stood in front of my glass doors enjoying the sunlight. Standing on my balcony was not one, but two McMillan brothers; Jake and Billy. Jake was standing on a step ladder with a screw driver in his hand. He stood there with his mouth slightly agape, as if he was trying to say something but the words got caught in his throat. Jake quickly averted his eyes when he saw mine widen in terror. Billy on the other hand was making no attempt to hide his stare. His mouth was also hanging open, and his eyes were almost as wide as mine. I could feel every liter of blood I had fight its way towards my face. I don't know if I was blushing out of shock, embarrassment, or pure rage. I quickly and forcefully drew the curtains closed and held them there, as if they were suddenly going to start fighting back. `Please let this be a dream, please let this be a dream,' I thought (it wasn't). I made my way to my dresser and wardrobe and dressed myself as quickly as possible. I have to admit, that little show scared some of the exhibitionist out of me because I put on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve turtle neck. I quickly made my way downstairs. If I was sick of being around a McMillan then the kitchen was the last place I wanted to be. The whole damn family, minus their dad, was occupying my kitchen. Lindsey and Sarah were at the counter helping my grandmother with some of the cooking. Toby was sitting at the counter playing with some of his toys. Kyle was situated in a high chair while Aunt Lydia was making faces at him. This isn't the way I expected my morning to go. "Good morning honey," Grammy said when she noticed my presence. "Morning," the twins said at the same time. Nope, I'm still not getting used to that weird twin thing. "Morning," Lydia said, still keeping her attention on Toby. "What's going on?" I said, not quite sure what to make of the various guests. "Tom had something come up, also Jake and Billy are upstairs fixing that light on your balcony," Grammy said. "Unfortunately I'm quite aware of Jake and Billy," I said with a bit frustration in my voice. "Oh. What happened?" Grammy asked. Aunt Lydia quit entertaining Kyle and joined in on the conversation. "Did someone forget to wear their pajamas?" she asked with a bit of smile on her face. I sat down next to her and laid my head on her shoulders. "Something equally mortifying," I said, still trying to wipe the memory out of my mind. My statement was followed by the sound of the kitchen door opening. I looked up to see my former audience entering the kitchen. Jake quickly dropped his head, probably because of shame, when he noticed me sitting at the table. Billy on the other hand was shame-free and giving me a huge smile. I felt naked all over again. "Did you guys fix that light?" Grammy asked. `Who gives a flying fuck about the light,' I thought. "Uhm, yeah," Jake said, still not daring to look at me. "It should be working just fine now." "Thank you so much, and you too Billy," Grammy said. "It's no problem," Jake said. "Yeah, it was worth it," Billy added, earning himself a well deserved elbow from Jake. "Well why don't you two hard working boys sit down and the girls and I will finish these delicious crepes," Grammy said. "I'm not that hungry," I said. "Are you not feeling well sweetie," she asked with a concerned look. Lydia on the other hand was giving me a knowing look about my sudden loss of appetite. "Yeah I'm fine. I just have some things on my mind. I think I'll just go for a walk or something to help clear my head," I said. I was trying to be as nice about it as possible without actually saying `I can't eat after exposing myself to two teenage boys! What I'm I? Some whore?' "Ok dear. While you're out could you do me a favor?" she asked. "Sure. What do you need?" I asked, still trying to not to pay attention to Jake or Billy. Grammy disappeared into the pantry. When she returned she had a little bottle in her hand. "I need you to deliver that to the Wilson's," she said while handing me the bottle. "What is it?" I asked. "Oh, just some eye drops," she said. I looked at the bottle. It didn't look like a bottle of eye drops. For all I knew my grandmother could be making me into some sort of drug runner. I then turned and looked at Jake and Billy, the latter still obnoxiously smiling, for a moment. `A mule I shall be,' I thought. "Sure," I said, quickly making my way out of the kitchen. "Don't you want to know how to get there?" Grammy asked as she followed me into the foyer. "Oh. Yeah, I guess," I said. They could live on the moon as far as I was concerned. I'm getting the hell out of this house. "Just follow the road pass the McMillan's house, take a right at the fork and you'll be there," she said. "It's right next to the river dear." "Thanks Grammy," I said. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I turned and quickly made my way outside. I just got of the last porch stair when I heard the door open. `Please let it be Grammy,' I thought. I turned and saw Jake instead. `Damn it,' I thought. "Hey, about upstairs," he started to say. I cut him off. "It's fine, really," I said (it's not fine), trying to kill this conversation before it went anywhere. He started to say something but I just turned and quickly made my way to the bicycle Grammy let me use. I ripped the tarp off of it and was soon making my way out of the driveway. He must have gotten the hint because I didn't hear anything and he didn't follow me. `This is not how I wanted to make friends,' I thought. For the whole ride over to the Wilson's I just replayed the entire thing in my mind. Why did I have to take a shower? Why did I have to have sunlight in that room? Why the hell didn't I just put a pair of pants on? No matter what I thought, it still happened. `Just stop thinking about it,' I told myself. I kept riding until I finally reached my destination. Their house was huge, and it looked kind of like a palace almost. There were really tall windows and a lot of attention to detail. There was even a fountain centered in their circular driveway. `Who would build a house like this out in the middle of nowhere,' I thought. I parked my bike in front of their fountain and walked up to their huge door to ring the bell. Before my finger even touched the doorbell the double doors swung open with ease. Standing there in the ridiculously large doorway was a boy that looked to be my age. He had wavy blond hair that looked like it was styled. He also had bright silver eyes. We were about the same size, but he still had an inch on me in the height department. "Hey there," he said with a slight southern accent. `He must not be from around here,' I thought. "You must be Gabe!" `How does he know my name?' I wondered if my grandmother had run her big mouth to these people too. "Um yeah I am. How did you know?" I asked. "Jake told me all about you," he said. "Jake?" I asked, a little surprised by this revelation. "What all did he say about me?" I was a little curious about what a god like him would be saying about a simpleton like me. "Oh just this and that," he said, waving his hands in the air as if to wave off my question entirely. This and that is pretty much the definition of a vague answer. I must have zoned out for a little bit, because the next thing I knew I was being dragged by my arm into the boy's home. `What the hell is he doing,' I thought. "Umm, I really should be getting home," I said, trying to resist what was essentially my kidnapping in the making. While I was being drug through his home, I couldn't help but marvel at how amazing the inside of his house was. If I thought I had it good at my home in California, then he must live like a king inside this huge castle. The ceilings were vaulted and the windows were huge. There were huge rounded dual staircases in the gigantic foyer. There was even a flashy (some would say gaudy) chandelier hanging from the ceiling. I was in so much awe of the place that I must have lost my will to escape as he kept dragging me through what I would describe as a parade of wealth. Lining the walls of the hallway he was leading me through were priceless paintings and gigantic portraits depicting people of great importance. I'm pretty sure I saw a Picasso hanging next to a Monet. `Is that even possible?' I thought. The entire experience was leaving me a little speechless. Exiting the art museum they call a hallway was an even more impressive seating room. More art lined these walls, along with animal head mounts and coats of arms. There were even full sets of knight armor, standing tall and proud on each side of the gigantic fireplace. "Are you royalty?" I asked a little bluntly. I was still a little mystified as to how this place hasn't been robbed yet. "Royalty schmoyalty, most of this stuff is just glamorized hoarding," he said. He led me over to a sitting area in the middle of the room in front of the fire place. Sitting in a tall leather chair was what I would describe as the stiffest looking woman I've ever had the opportunity to meet. Don't get me wrong, she was very beautiful. She had very light blonde hair pulled into an up do, and not a single hair was sticking out of place. She wore a sleeveless blue evening dress with a string of pearls hanging around her neck, as if she were attending a cocktail party by herself. She had a flawless face, almost too flawless. Her eyes looked strange though, almost like there was a haze of smoke in them. "Mom," the boy said, still gripping my arm. "We have a visitor." She turned her head towards our general direction. `She must be blind,' I thought. "Who is it dear?" she asked with her southern belle accent. "It's not those awful people trying to steal from us again is it?" The boy turned to me and rolled his eyes. "No mom, that was the Salvation Army and they don't steal, they ask for donations," he said. "If they just wanted donations they wouldn't send an army to get them, now would they," she said rather matter-of-factly. "Of course mother," he said in one big sigh. "Now, who has come to visit us?" She asked, still trying to sense my presence to no success. "You know I don't like visitors when I'm in such a state." "Miss Morgan's grandson," he said while pushing me forward. I felt like I was being presented somehow. "He brought the eye drops," he added. Her expression quickly changed at the mention of eye drops. "Good, good," she said. She held out her hands to me as if she were a child receiving her long overdue Christmas present. I placed the bottle in her out stretched hand and she quickly retracted it into her arms. `She must really have a bad case of dry eye,' I thought. "Thank you young man," she said. I was about to say something when the boy cut me off. "Gabe and I are going out for a while but I'll be home before too late," he said, quickly resuming his previous role of dragging me. "Just be home for dinner Rhan," she called out. "Yes m'am," he said. He led me through the previous hallway, into the foyer and out the door. `This kid sure is aggressive for someone my size,' I thought. When we were out the door he looked at me and gave a sigh of relief. "Thank God I'm out of there, she gets so needy when she goes blind," he said. Talk about a great kid. "So, what do you want to do?" he asked me. "I... uhm... what?" I asked. I was still a little shell shocked from the way this kid just slung me around like a ragdoll. "What do you want to do, I'm game for anything as long as I don't have to suffer through anymore of that," he said pointing a thumb towards the door. "I just came to deliver those eye drops for my grandmother," I said. "Besides I don't even know who you are." I wasn't going to let this guy push me around, no matter how cute he nor his accent was. "Duh," he said followed by a slap to his own forehead. He held out his hand to me. "My name's Rhan Wilson, I'm Jake's friend." I studied him for a second before I shook his hand. "Hi I'm," I started to say. "Gabe," he cut in. "I know, like I said Jake's told me all about you. That and your grandmother brags about you all the time." I knew this all came back to her somehow. "Yeah, she really likes to talk about me," I said. "So, now the introductions are out of the way. What do you want to go do?" he asked, still persistent on doing something with me. "I was just going to go back to my grandmother's," I said. I then thought about Jake and Billy and decided that going back to the scene of the crime was not in my best interest. "Unless you know something better to do," I said. I mean if he's a friend of Jake's he can't be too bad. "Sweet," he said. "I know this cool little spot not too far from here that Jake and I like to hang out at." "Ok, that sounds cool," I said. I was a little worried Jake my show up there. "Awesome, let me go grab my bike and we'll head off," he said. He ran back into his house, leaving me standing on his front porch. After a minute or two he returned with his bike. For a rich kid his bike looks just as worst for the wear as mine. "Ok, let's get out of here," he said. "Just follow me." He hopped on his bike and started off towards the road. "Ok," I said, but I don't think he was worried about me not following. I got on my bike and rode up next to him. We weren't riding too fast, so conversation wasn't that hard to maintain. "So," I started to ask, "What's wrong with your mom? You said she goes blind like it's a temporary thing." He just looked at me for a second with a bit of a sideways grin. "Unless that's none of my business," I quickly added. "She has `vision problems' every now and then," he said. "It usually only happens when she's been working too hard." "What kind of work does she do?" I asked. I don't know a lot of jobs that take that much of a toll on someone's eyesight. Unless they get paid to look at the sun, which I highly doubt is a lucrative field of employment. "She gives financial advice," he said. `That's it?' I thought. "It's hard to explain, but she's the best at what she does." "So she's like a stock broker or something," I asked. "Or something," he said a little too cryptically. "I bet you want to know how we have all of that crap back there." "Oh, well I didn't want to pry or anything," I said. "Well my dad is a hedge fund manager, so between his investments and her `advice' we do okay, plus we have `friends' who like to send us gifts every now and then," he said. `If they're doing okay, then my family must be barely above water,' I thought. "Let's take this turn up ahead," he said pointing to a side trail that went into the woods ahead of us. We turned onto the side trail, and I would be lying if I said it was anything but bumpy. My butt felt like it was going numb from the bumps I was hitting. We rode for a little while longer until we reached the end of the trail. `Wow,' I thought. Exiting the woods was like a dream. In front of me was the most tranquil scene I had ever seen. It was a green meadow, with flowers and tall blades of grass everywhere. There were hundreds of butterflies just floating around like this was their Disney World or something. In the middle of this pristine piece of paradise was a huge willow tree. Its long branches seemed to sweep down on the land and caress the very soil that nurtures it. I was in awe to say the least. "Wow," I said, being at a lost for more intricate and precise words to describe this overwhelming feeling I was having. It was like I was coming home after a long period in a far away land. "It's pretty cool. Right?" Rhan asked, as if he knew what my reaction to this place would be. "Yeah," I said. He parked his bike at the edge of the forest and began his march towards the tree, I followed suit. Walking across the field felt surreal. The flowers seemed to turn towards me when I walked passed them, as if to welcome me into their wonderful domain. Even the blades of grass in front of me started to bend themselves outwards, making a clear and un-obscured path towards their mother tree. `I really hope this kid didn't slip me anything,' I thought. When I finally reached the tree, I saw Rhan sitting on the ground with the towering giant to his back. He patted the spot next to him. I sat down next to him and leaned my head into the willow. "Do you feel it?" he asked, looking right at me. "Feel what?" I asked, wondering if my amazement at this place came across as strange or out of place. "The flowers, the grass, the tree," he said. "It's nature at its purest." "It feels amazing," I said. We sat there in silence for a little while. I was soaking in the atmosphere of the place while Rhan had changed his position so that he was lying on his back with his head propped up by a protruding root. "Me and Jake usually come out here and relax," he said. For some reason the thought of Jake and him spending prolonged amounts of time in this serene place elicited a weird feeling from me. "So, you and Jake have been friends for," I let my sentence trail off, leaving an opening for him to respond. "Since third grade," he said. "My parents moved me up here from Tennessee and I didn't know a lot of people. Jake lives nearby so my mom told me to try and make friends with his family. After that, the rest is pretty much history. We've been best friends ever since." I don't know why, but for some reason I was a little jealous of how close him and Jake are. I shouldn't be jealous or anything for that matter. I've literally only known Jake for a couple of days but still. "He's been so excited to meet you since probably forever," Rhan said, breaking my train of thought. "What?" I asked making sure I heard him correctly. "Don't get me wrong. I've wanted to meet you for a while too," he said. "But Jake was almost delirious when your grandmother said that you were coming." "Why would anybody want to meet me that badly," I asked. `And why would Jake be delirious at my visit,' I thought. "Miss Morgan is kind of the de facto grandmother for this little area," he said. "She would watch us all the time when we were younger. We would help her around the house and in the garden, and then one day Jake found a picture of you on her kitchen table. When he asked who the boy was, your grandmother told us the picture was of her grandson, and that he just turned 10. She said that your mom and dad would send letters with pictures in them of you. The letters would always talk about what you got up to and all the fun little things that y'all did. Your parents wrote the funniest things about you. From that day forward your grandmother would read the letters to us and show us all the pictures of you. Jake was probably the most interested of all of us. He would even ask Miss Morgan if any new letters had come in, and we would always wait patiently as you grandmother sifted through the mail. Did you know your grandmother gets the funniest things in the mail? One time she showed us a catalog of scratch and sniff panels, and let me tell you they were wild. Or another time she got an actual albino snake in the mail. How is that even possible, let alone legal?" Rhan kept talking about all the strange things my grandmother got in the mail but I just sort of tuned him out. I was much too busy thinking about his description of Jake's interest in me. He even went as far as to say delirious in talking about Jake's anticipation for my arrival. But why would he be so interested in me? I can't even imagine being more than a blip on that guy's radar, let alone an actual daily thing that he thinks about. `Is he still talking,' I thought as I looked at the boy in front of me making wild gestures with his hands and really strange faces. I came out of my, what I call `thinking of Jake', trance just in time to hear the end of his story. "And that's why all of your grandmother's mail has to be screened by Homeland Security. I still can't believe they didn't arrest her for crimes against humanity after what that poor mail man went through." "Umm, yeah," I said, pretending to have listened to his story which considering that ending I wish I actually would have. "Poor guy." "Tell me about it," he said, shaking his head. "So how much do you know about your grandmother," he asked me. "Umm, why do you want to know?" I asked. "Just wondering," he said, as if such a question was not out of the ordinary. "Want to hear a story?" he asked, suddenly changing the topic at hand. `Does this guy ADHD or something,' I thought. "Sure, what do you have in mind," I asked, giving in to his nonsensical train of thought. "Do you know what the Fey are," he asked. I could tell from the mischievous look he was giving me that I was in for something special.