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"Xael! I didn't know you knew anyone here!" I exclaim, folding a mixture of dry ingredients into the macaron batter, some pain stabbing my arm. "What did you come here for?"
Xael rubs her arm, chewing on her lower lip before responding. "I came here to fill in for someone so they could fill in for Terry, but I see that you've already filled the position."
"Hey, Xael?" Daria calls. She then proceeds to ask a question I don't understand any part of, to which Xael replies using terms I still don't understand.
"What?"
Xael shrugs. "It's the simplest solution."
I shake my head, amazed. "Yeah, no? I understand zero percent of that exchange."
Xael laughs at me. "You can understand baking recipes and terms, but you can't understand simple cooking terms?"
"Cooking and baking are two very different things, Xael."
"Yeah, that's true-"
"Jason, focus!"
I finish mixing up the batter and transfer the mix to a piping bag, pulling out the silicone macaron mat from underneath my station and putting it on a cookie sheet.
"I don't understand how anyone is able to make those," Xael comments, watching me pipe perfect batter circles despite my body screaming at me to stop moving. "Or, actually, bake in general. Baking is hard."
"It is," I agree, finishing up my piping. I tap the sheet on the countertop a few times, then set it off to the side, making sure it's out of the way. "Okay, I'm done for the time being. What do you want to do?"
"Heard you needed some help in math?"
I roll my eyes, looking over at Cray, who whistles and looks away.
"Dammit Cray!"
Cray chuckles as I lightly push his shoulder, leading Xael out of the kitchen. 4:37, gotta bake the macarons in 40 minutes. 5:17, right? Right.
"So, where we headed?" Xael asks. I shrug, spinning around to face her and nearly knock over a vase. I almost double over as my back hits the pedestal edge, perfectly nailing a bruise.
"Whoops, shouldn't do that."
"Don't want to be indebted to the damn rich people?"
I shake my head, grinning at her reference. "No, no I don't."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"To my room!" I decide, walking back towards the kitchen. "Which is this way!"
"Seriously?"
I grin sheepishly at Xael, shrugging. She rolls her eyes at me, a smile on her face nonetheless.
"So, how do you know Lukas and Cray?"
"Ah. I work with Lukas' cousin, Sadie, at her barn," Xael explains. "Well, it's not actually her barn, it's just where her horses live."
"Hey, I know Sadie!" I exclaim. "Also, you still have your apron on."
"Lemme go return that real quick." Xael walks into the kitchen and reappears a few moments later, her body apron free.
"Are you joining my brother and I for supper, or are you going to eat with the staff?"
"I was going to eat with the staff and catch up with everyone, but I can eat with you if you want-"
"Hey, we're eating with the staff!" I interrupt. "Did you hear that Sophie got her hormones?"
"I did!" Xael exclaims brightly. "I'm super happy for her! Think she'll be joining us tonight for supper?"
"Well, I suppose she might-"
"Sophie!" Xael and I shout, spotting a girl walking away from us. She turns around and smiles at us both, racing towards Xael.
"Azalea!" Sophie exclaims, throwing her arms around Xael, who giggles and hugs her back.
"Hi, Soph!"
"What am I, chopped liver?" I ask. Sophie moves away from Xael and slides her arms around me, kissing my cheek before stepping back. I cringe inside, lots of bruises being pressed.
"So, how's school been?" Xael questions. Sophie opens her mouth to answer, then looks between the two of us.
"You two know each other now?"
Xael and I shrug, exchanging a look.
"Just met today-"
"Hello, Daniel." Conner walks by our group, shoulder checking Xael as he goes. "Nice facial hair."
Sophie's hand shoots up to her chin as Xael turns and flips off Conner's retreating figure.
"Asshole," I grumble, flipping my brother the bird as well and immediately regretting it. "Sophie, your skin has never looked clearer."
I turn back around to see Sophie inspecting her face with a compact mirror, frowning as she turns her head.
"There's no hair?"
"There's no hair," Xael assures the girl. Sophie sighs and puts away her compact mirror.
"Are you going to eat with us, flower?" Sophie asks, looking over at Xael.
"Yeah, we're both going to," I answer. "We'll have macarons for dessert."
Sophie's eyes brighten upon hearing the word 'macaron'.
"You made macarons?"
"I'm making macarons. They'll be finished in about an hour."
Sophie pouts, crossing her arm.
"Can I just say that I love your dress?" Xael interrupts. Sophie grins and twirls, making the dress flare.
"It has pockets too!" she exclaims, sticking her hands inside of said pockets excitedly.
"Did you make it?"
Sophie nods, pulling her hands out of her pockets and fiddling with her hair.
"Stupid spin, messing up my hair," she grumbles, looking at Xael. "Please help me?"
Xael turns Sophia around and rakes her fingers through Sophie's hair, making each strand go the same way.
"Got a hairtie?"
Sophie pulls a thin hairtie off of her wrist and hands it to Xael, who quickly braids Sophie's hair.
"Finished," Xael says, moving some hair strands to frame Sophie's face.
"Thanks boo," Sophie giggles. "I gotta find my dad, do you happen to know where he is?"
Xael points towards the staff entrance, and Sophie skips away, waving at us over her shoulder.
"Your brother's an asshole," Xael states once Sophie's out of earshot. I nod in agreement, walking in the direction of one set of stairs.
"So." I start up the stairs, glancing over my shoulder to make sure Xael's still following. "You watch anime? What's your favorite?"
"I'm currently watching Tokyo Ghoul. That's definitely at the top of my list, along with SAO and Blue Exorcist."
"Dude, Kirito is badass!" I exclaim, kicking open my bedroom door. That was a mistake. "Welcome to my humble abode."
"Nice room," Xael comments. I collapse onto my bed, crossing my arms behind my head and cringing in pain.
"So, what do you want to do?"
"Math, like I said." My arm is smacked by a rolled up packet and I sit up, laughing.
"Okay, okay." I stand up, smiling, and put my hands up in a surrender position.
"Sit down," Xael orders, pointing at my gaming chair. "And why do you have a nice-ass gaming chair as a desk chair?"
"Do you want one?"
"I borrowed it."
"From?"
"Conner." I look up at Xael and watch her stifle a laugh. She notices me looking and rolls her eyes.
"Math, Jason," she states. I sigh and take the packet from her.
"Just so we're aware, I don't like-"
"I don't care, we're still doing math."
"Fine," I groan. "But I don't understand what I'm supposed to be doing."
"So I've been told."
"Right." I grab a pencil and tap it on the desk. "Cray."
"Woah, that's a huge bruise!" Xael's fingers brush the hair away from the back of my neck and I involuntarily shudder.
"Yeah, Conner did a number on me earlier."
"That's from Conner? When?"
"Sometime in the afternoon. I'm fine, really."
"This doesn't look fine."
"I'm okay." I tilt my head back and look into Xael's eyes. "I promise."
Xael nods slowly. "So, what're you guys-"
A crack of thunder sounds outside and I bolt to my feet, staring out my window at the dark gray clouds.
"Jason, look at me."
A flash of lightning. Thunder rumbles. My feet pound the floor, desperate to get to somewhere let me hide-
Arms wrap around my waist and music fills my ears. I'm picked up and brought to a different room, then set on a bed.
Xael crouches down in front of me as Lukas wraps a blanket around my body. I pull it close, leaving only my head exposed.
Lukas crouches down next to Xael. He moves his mouth, but I don't hear his voice. Xael reaches up slowly and moves one side of the headphones away from my ear.
"We're downstairs," Lukas states. "Where we were earlier. The storm is going to last for at least an hour, maybe more."
I nod, looking down at the ground.
"I'll stay here with you if you want," Xael says. "Or do you want to be alone?"
"Stay," I whisper. Xael nods, standing up and dragging a chair over to sit in front of me. Lukas gets up and leaves the room, patting Xael's shoulder as he goes.
"So," Xael begins. "You got a favorite book?"
I shrug. "It's kind of a book. It's called Hey Delilah. You read it on a website called, uh... something. Don't remember."
Xael snickers, and I glare at her.
"I'm sorry, I'm not making fun of you," she promises, her laughter subsiding. "It's just that I write Hey Delilah."
"Wait, really?"
Xael nods, and I face-palm.
"I cannot believe this. I almost fanboyed about a story to the person who writes it."
"It's always nice to hear that people enjoy my writing. And, yes, I've also fangirled about a story to the author."
"But it's embarrassing!" I whine. "You're Azalea!"
"If it makes you feel any better, no one else knows. Mainly because no one at our school would read a lesbian love story, but whatever."
"How many people have asked you which guy she's going to end up with?"
Xael rolls her eyes in response.
"Too many to count. I'm worried stupidity is contagious."
"Haven't they kissed already too?"
"Yeah, but people are just dumb. Earlier today someone asked me for a hint of which guy she's going to end up with- here, I can pull it up."
Xael sets her phone on my lap and I read the conversation, snickering at everyone being a smart-ass.
"Wait, this guy's handle is conconman?" A sense of dread fills my body as I stare at the guy's nickname.
"Yeah. It's his username. He didn't bother to change it to his actual name, and I didn't want to force him-"
"Xael, conconman is Conner's handle."
Xael looks at me in shock.
"Conner," she says slowly. "Conner Roye. Your brother."
I press my lips together and nod.
"Conner enjoys your story."
"Conner is voluntarily reading a story about two girls falling in love."
"But isn't he homophobic?"
"Yeah, he sure seemed like he was," Xael mutters. "Could it just be him trying to keep up appearances? Does he really not hate-"
"Shut the fuck up," Conner growls, wrapping an arm around Xael's neck. "Queers are freaks. They're goddamn freaks."
"Conner, you're reading a story about people in the community!" Xael exclaims, grabbing Conner's arm and shoving it away from her throat. "What do you have to say about that? Huh? Is someone forcing you to read it? If that's the case, why all the support for the story?"
"I have no clue what you're babbling on about."
"So your Discord name isn't conconman?"
"Because I'm the only Conner out there?" Conner chuckles dryly, cracking his knuckles. "Right."
Conner exits the room and I pull out my phone, looking at my blocked list.
"Let me see conconman's message again?"
Xael opens her phone and holds it out to me. I check the profile of conconman and notice that it's the same profile picture and number tag.
"This is, without a doubt, Conner," I state. "The picture's the same and the number is the same too."
"Could we stop talking about Conner?" Xael smiles weakly, taking her phone back and slipping it into her pocket. I nod, putting away my own phone.
"So, what should we do?"
"Twenty questions?" Xael suggests. I nod. "I'll go first. What's your favorite animal?"
"Squirrels," I answer. "They're basically tiny cats. Favorite time of day?"
"Either sunset or midnight. Sweet or sour?"
"Sweet. Chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry?"
"Vanilla. Cake or pie?"
I frown at her. "That's such a hard question though!"
Xael shrugs, laughing.
"Personally, I don't like pie. It's a false cake."
I nearly double over in laughter at her words.
"A... false cake?"
"Don't you judge me!"
"Sorry, 's a bit late for that."
Xael rolls her eyes, and I notice the smile she's trying to hide.
"Yes, it's a false cake. Don't start. It's your question."
"Indoors or outdoors?"
"Indoors. Favorite candy?"
"Zotz."
"Zotz are fucking delicious!" Xael exclaims. "I don't understand how people don't like them."
"Well, there's also people that don't like Pumbaa and Timon in Lion King, so..."
"Wha?" Xael cocks her head. "How does one even- what."
I shrug. "I have no clue."
"But- hula! Hula in drag!"
"What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?"
"Luau!"
Xael giggles.
"I still don't understand how one can hate Timon."
"Well, there's definitely people who don't like him. Next question. Favorite Disney movie?"
"Probably the Balto trilogy."
"The what now?"
Xael gapes at me, and then her phone buzzes.
"Have you never heard of Balto?" she gasps, whipping out her phone. "How? And why? You're joking, right?"
I shake my head, and she sighs, holding her phone out to me. I look at the cover of a VHS tape, and then a notification from Discord pops onto the screen.
Nii: jus' a little thing I drew based on hey delilah character descriptions.
bluestorm: dude, that's sick!!
"Hey, someone sent you something." I point at Xael's screen, and she turns it back towards her.
"Dude, check this out!" Xael thrusts her phone back towards me and my jaw drops.
"Someone drew that. Someone has that much fucking talent. I am wasting my life."
"I can't draw either-"
"No, but you can write elegantly!" I exclaim. "I can get scared of thunderstorms! That's my talent!"
"Jason, c'mon. You have a talent. I don't know you well enough to say what it is, but you have one."
I roll my eyes and sigh.
"I guess I'm a decent model," I mumble.
"You model? For who?"
"Do you know who Alleata is?"
Xael nods, her eyes brightening.
"Of course I do. She's the queen of fashion! No, not a queen. Goddess! She's a goddess of fashion!"
"Yeah, she's also my mother."
"She's your mother?" Xael shouts, jumping to her feet. I nod, gesturing for her to keep her voice down.
"Yes, she is my mother." Xael sits back down in her chair. Her phone falls out of her pocket and hits the floor, but she either doesn't notice or doesn't care.
"She's in London for a while, right?"
"Yeah, she's meeting up with some old friends and won't be back until the first. I'm sure she'd love to meet you when she's back, though."
"You think so?"
Xael grabs her phone off of the floor and smiles at me.
"Do you have any pictures of you modeling?"
I nod, pulling out my phone and opening up my gallery. "Mom made me keep these photos. I kinda like them, but they could definitely be better."
"Holy shit," Xael breathes, slowly swiping through my photos. "And you said you weren't talented? You liar!"
"I said I was decent!"
"You lie!"
"Decent-"
"Lies!"
I roll my eyes and snatch my phone back, grinning at Xael.
"No more looking for you."
Xael makes a face at me that can only be described as 'puppy dog', and I give her my phone back.
"I am only decent," I say. Xael shakes her head, her wavy black hair falling over her eyes.
"Whoops." Xael brushes her hair out of her eyes and looks down at my phone.
"You should be a model." The words escape my mouth before I can stop myself and actually think. Xael looks up at me, tucking a piece of hair behind an ear.
"Me? A model?" Xael laughs, looking back down at my phone. "I'm not attractive enough to model."
"Sure you are. You're fucking gorgeous, Xael. You have the looks to be a model. Can i have my phone for a second?"
Xael hands me my phone and I take a picture of the girl, then send it to Mom. Her response is almost immediate.
Mom: is she a model? Can she model? Ask her if she's willing to model for me.
"So, Mom just asked if you're willing to model for her."
"She asked what now?"
"Mom asked if-"
"Yes," Xael interrupts. "Absolutely."
My phone vibrates in a waltz pattern and I answer the video call. Mom's face pops up on screen.
"Well, what'd she say?"
"Ask her yourself." I put my phone in Xael's hand and her mouth drops open. She quickly closes it before waving at my mother.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you."
"So, are you okay with modeling some clothes for me?"
Xael nods, and my mother squeals in excitement.
"We'll start as soon as I get back from London, okay? I can't wait! Thanks, love!"
The second the call ends I start laughing. Xael looks at me with a confused expression, making me laugh harder.
"I'm sorry," I manage to choke out. "I should've warned you that she gets like that sometimes."
"I just met my idol," Xael whispers, looking into my eyes. "I'm going to model for a goddess."
"Yep."
"How many people know Alleata's your mom?"
I shrug, taking my phone back. "You, me, Conner, and the house staff. We don't spread the fact that our mom's Alleata."
"But- they'd stop bullying you. You could be friends with them!"
"I don't want friends who are nice to me just because my mother is a celebrity. I want friends who hang out with me because they like me."
Xael nods, looking to the side in thought food a few moments before returning her attention to me.
"If I were you, I'd have told them who my mom was," she states. "I guess that's the difference between you and me- you're good, and I'm not."
Question of the chapter: what are Conner's motives regarding Hey Delilah? Why does he read it?
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