Pov, William.
I open my eyes as the sunlight penetrates the curtains of my room, I feel really refreshed. This is the first time I've slept through the night without waking up every few hours and having a hard time falling back asleep.
I smile and glance over at the empty side of the bed. Evander must've woken up before me, because I have no idea where he is.
Then I get this feeling that he's gone or something happened to him. I jump out of bed and run down the stairs.
I hear voices in the kitchen.
I walk in and see him standing there, reaching into a box of chocolate cereal and eating it like he just found something really interesting.
Well, at least he's eating something he guessed could be eaten for breakfast in the morning.
I find his childish behavior amusing and say as I take a bowl out of the cabinet and put it on the table, "Sit down."
He looks at me like he's confused. So I open the fridge, take out a bottle of milk, take the cereal box from his hand, and pour the milk into the bowl. Then I put a spoon on the table and say, "Eat it this way and you'll like it more."
He stares at the bowl, then smiles a little and sits down, grabs the spoon, and tastes it. His eyes open wide. "Yummy, everything is delicious here! I envy you!"
I sit down across from him, arms folded, and say, "What do you eat in your world?"
He stops chewing his food and shrugs, like he's figured out we're different from them. "We don't eat as much as you do. We like to pick bright or colorful things from the forest to eat."
I raise my eyebrows in disbelief, deciding not to dwell on the conversation because I won't understand anything anyway.
The doorbell rings, and we look at each other, surprised.
"Stay here and don't make noises, okay?" I tell Evander in a quiet voice, and he nods.
"Who could it be this early? It's a holiday, and I'm feeling pretty tired today." I let out a sigh and get up, opening the door.
I'm shocked by who I see.
I see a woman with chubby cheeks, short wavy hair, and weirdly wide pants staring at me with a big smile.
She's standing next to a boy who looks about the same age as Evander, or a little older. He's her pampered only child.
"Auntie?"
I fake a smile when I notice all the suitcases by the entrance.
I'm really not in the mood for guests.She startles me when she stretches my cheeks and says childishly, as if I were still a child.
"Look how much you've grown, sweet William. Say hello to your aunt, naughty boy."
Help!
...
"Auntie, are you going to be staying here a while?" I ask, hoping for a "no" as I struggle to drag all those heavy bags upstairs.
I pick a room for her at the end of the hallway so she wouldn't bother me with her snoring.
"Yeah, I guess so." She says excitedly, clasping her hands together, following me to the room I'd picked out for her.
I start to feel dizzy.
That's what I was missing.
I toss the bags in the corner, catch my breath, fold my arms, and stare at the woman curled up on the bed like a whale.
"Comfortable bed. I'm going to sleep. The trip from London to Winchester by car really wiped me out."
"It's not too far away." I say, rolling my eyes in annoyance.
She frowns and sits on the edge of the bed, staring at me with narrowed eyes. "You don't look happy to see me, William."
I sigh, then lean my back against the closet. "How's my father? Is that old man still hitting on girls?"
I see her expressionless face, like she's not surprised by what I'm saying about him.
She smiles a little and stands in front of me. She takes my hand and says the phrase I'm sick of hearing.
"William, forgive your father. He loves you very much."
I say, taking my hand away from hers. "He sent you, didn't he? Tell him I won't accept his apology."
I swallow and leave the room, because if I keep talking with her about him, it would end in a fight like every other time.
It's just how my family is.
I hear my cousin talking to someone, so I stop on the stairs.
I walk into the kitchen and see the boy, who's acting a bit wild, shoving his hands into his pants pockets while looking at my son's body.
I narrow my eyes, watching the playful smile on his lips, and then he says. "You look funny. What's with the boyish clothes? Are you a giant baby or something?"
I see the frown on the goblin's face as he lowers his head, and that's what pisses me off.
"Harry, what's wrong with you? Don't talk to him like that!" I say in a firm tone, and I grab him by the arm to pull him out of the kitchen.
"Let go of me! I didn't do anything. I was just expressing my opinion."
I move my tongue around in my mouth to stop myself from getting angry.
What kind of rudeness is that?
His mom finally steps in and grabs him by the ear, giving him a scolding. "Say sorry to him, you idiot!"
"Okay, sorry! Let go of my ear, it hurts!" He groans, and I smile. Then I look at the goblin, who's staring at me.
I know he wants to ask about these two strangers, and then my aunt starts stretching his cheeks, and I can see the annoyance on his face.
"Hey, who's this sweetheart? he's so beautiful, he is almost unreal."
He's looking at me like he's calling for help.
He doesn't seem to like these two people at all.
I'm trying to think of a believable lie, but there's no way I'm telling her the truth; she'd think I'm crazy. Or I just made up fictional characters in my imagination to deal with the loneliness.
"He's just the son of a friend of mine. He comes here sometimes to spend some time with me since his parents travel a lot."
She says "Oh," smiles at him, and after she lets him go, she leaves traces of red on his cheeks. "How old are you?"
I gasp and rush to pull my aunt by the arm and bring her into the kitchen chair, then I say with a nervous smile. "You must be hungry, Auntie! What do you want me to cook for you?"
She stares at me with raised eyebrows, but eventually she smiles broadly and nods.
"Yeah, I'm really hungry."
...
Pov, Evander.
Who are these two people?
And why has this guy been staring at me since he saw me?
I'm sitting on the couch in the living room, hands folded, and this ridiculous guy is sitting across from me.
My dad's in the kitchen, chatting with this weird-looking woman and preparing food.
We're both quiet until he suddenly stands up from the couch, moves in front of me, leans in, and looks me in the eye, with his eyebrows all furrowed.
Then he says, "Are you wearing contact lenses? That's strange. Your iris color looks pretty natural."
"Contact lenses? What's that thing?"
I've never heard of that before.
I blink a few times, surprised at his reaction as he laughs loudly, then he crosses his arms."You're so much fun."
What's with the smile?
Is he making fun of me?
Why do I feel uncomfortable?
My skin crawls as he whispers a few words in my ear and leaves. "We'll have a lot of fun together."
...
The four of us are sitting at the table. William's sitting next to me, and these two strange visitors are across from us.
I'm not really hungry, but I didn't want to embarrass my dad in front of them. So I joined in the lie, and said: The son of his friend, who spends so much time with him that he's basically like a son to him.
I look at all the delicious-looking food.
William puts the noodles in front of me, and it's become my favorite dish. I don't mind eating only it for the rest of my life. I grab what I knew as chopsticks and try to pick up the food, but I fail even though I've been practicing.
Or maybe the stares of his aunt and her son are making me nervous.
I frown and keep trying until I hear him laugh. I look up at him as he says in a sarcastic tone. "Don't you know how to use chopsticks? Are you retarded?"
That's it.
I glare at him; he's really going too far.
I grab the juice jug off the table and pour it over the bully's head.
Everyone stares at me with shocked expressions, then look at the one who's soaked from head to toe.
You deserve it.
He stares at his clothes with a mouth open before sliding out of his seat and grabbing my hair with both hands. I scream in pain as I try to get away from his grip.
"How dare you, clown? I'll show you!"
He drops me to the ground, grabs me by the collar of my shirt, and forms a fist that almost hits me in the face, but William intervenes at the last moment to push him away from me.
He shouts in a way that totally freaks us out, and we both fall silent.
"Stop it! You two look like kids, and that's embarrassing!"
I'm watching William's face, and it looks like he's about to cry.
"Is this all my family is good at? Ever since I was a kid, it's been nothing but fighting. That's why my mom left us!"
He's speaking in a hoarse voice, trying to hold back his sobs, wiping his tears with the sleeve of his shirt. Then he storms out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
I'm sitting on the floor staring at the ground.
I'm not feeling well.
I get up and rush outside, trying to catch up with William before I lose him. I stop a short distance from where he's standing and find myself in the middle of a garden.
He takes a few steps towards a giant tree and sits down under it, resting his back against its trunk and gazing into the void.
I sigh and slowly walk over to him. I stand behind him and silently look at the image he keeps looking at on his device.
Is that woman in the picture his mom?
That boy in the picture, William, looks a lot like him.
...