Three boys and a girl

Chapter 1

First Name/s: Rosalie Anne

Family Name: Paris

Age: Eighteen (18)

Occupation: Student (NYC TRANING)

Father’s Name/s: Sebastian Robert Paris

Mother’s Name (Maiden): Lillian Cecile <Tulip> Paris

Siblings: One (1) <Deceased>

Fathers Occupation: Superior Midnighter

Mothers Occupation: First Lady

Reason for Protection: Recent death of brother (intent is suspicious)

Place of Protection: CONFIDENTIAL

The piece of paper in my hands was important. At least that’s what I had been told. My goodbyes were short and sweet as were the explanations I was given. “We want to protect you, sweet heart.” My mother’s voice floated eerily into my head. “A safe house is the only way. Who knows how long you’ll last if you stay in New York?” My mother. The optimist. The sun was relaxing as it cast a morning glow on the street and I could now understand why my parents had called Florida “the city of sun.” It was a nice street. Suburban houses with suburban gardens. Suburban people with suburban cars. Suburban pets, suburban shops, suburban boys and suburban girls. I could hear the distant sound of crashing waves in the distance. At least I lived close to the beach. I was standing on the front porch of a one of the bigger houses in the area. My parents had at least given me the pleasure of luxury. Even if I was sharing a house with four other people. My future house was beachy to say the least. The light tanned wood rose in rows and every now and then a long glass window separated the beams. Through the window adjacent the door I could see soft white carpet and wooden framed couch with starchy white pillows. A picture of a frangipani hung in a frame above the television. I examined the light wood of the door, inspecting for a doorbell. When I couldn’t find any I knocked three times, the sound solid and sharp. I looked around as I heard a muffled “Hang on a sec!” and the sound of heavy footsteps bounding to the door. A moment later and the door flung open, a broad shouldered muscular guy in his late teens standing in the door way, his black hair tousled messily. “Cool.” He said. His dark eyes inspecting me. “Female.” I ignored that comment, for his sake and squinted up at him. “I’m Rosalie Paris; your new roommate?” The guy looked at me his smile friendly and sweet. He looked a little like a puppy dog in his blue boardies and white tee. “I’m Nathan.” He said, sticking out his hand. I shook it. “Nice to meet you Rosalie.” I bit down the wish I could say the same for you and switched to a “Yeah, sure. Can I come inside?” My brother had always said I was as blunt as a hammer and I had always replied that the comment didn’t even make sense. The brief thought of my brother still brought a pang of sadness and guilt with it, even though it had been 2 months since his death. “Well at least you’re not shy.” Nathan stood by to let me pass and I waited for him to shut the door before continuing. No point in getting lost. The hallway was tiled and long, the walls painted white and bowls of shells decorating the tables that marked every new arch way. I followed Nathan through the first arch. “Living room.” He said, moving his arm in a wide circle. This was the room I could see through the window out front. The couches were in the middle of the room, a glass coffee table resting in front of the three of them. I could see the kitchen easily from here. The white and blue benching acting as a kind of half wall. I felt the unspoken request to reply to what Nathan just said. “Wow, very, err, living room-y.” Nathan laughed a big growling sound. It wasn’t a bear-going-to-eat-you-now growl, more of a hee-hee-I’m-a-big-scary-teddy-bear growl and it was comforting in a really strange way. “Beautiful English, my lady.” He said doing a very middle ages bow. I laughed unwillingly, a short burst of compressed giggles. Nathan straightened up and eyed me curiously. Automatically I eyed him back. After a couple of seconds he blinked and broke into a broad smile. It looked kind of confused as well but I pretended not to notice. He may be hiding something, sure but he could just be, you know, stupid. “Well you can sit down.” Nathan said pointing to the couch. “I’ll just get the others.” I nodded and waited for him to disappear out the door before sinking into the rough but surprisingly comfortable couch. Huge windows covered the back wall giving me a nice view of a large deck/platform thing that was littered with classic late teen boy stuff including water pistols. Three words. Oh. My. God. I sat on my hands and swung my legs restlessly against the hard frame of the couch in a constant rhythm. One two three. The past month had dragged on, seeming to go on for ever but finally they had decided that Samuel’s death, his murder had something to do with my father’s power. One two three. The obvious conclusion; some weird attack on the Midnighters, my people. I sighed, looking dejectedly around the sunny room. One two three. So this was my fate; doomed to live among the Normals. Slow, weak and lazy. My new lifestyle. One two three. Definitely a severe change from the Midnighters, people born in the darkness sworn to fight the evil. It is usually at this point in my thinking when I pause to appreciate the irony. I heard the sound of the door hitting the wall and I looked up, jerked out of my thoughts. Nathan led two other guys into the room and immeadiantly I stood up, brushing imaginary crumbs of my summer dress. One of the guys was shorter than Nathan with a crisp haircut of mousy brown.  He had intelligent green eyes and was dressed down in a pale blue stripped polo shirt and three quarter denim cut offs.  The other guy was just as tall as Nathan maybe taller, with the lean muscular build of an athlete. He had blond hair that reached up to his shoulders and bright sea blue eyes. He was wearing jeans and an open shirt. He looked like he has just got out of bed. “Uh guys this is Rosalie, the new roomie.” Nathan broke the silence as we surveyed each other openly. “Rosalie this is Alex and Shaun.” I gave them each a polite nod. Shaun winked back and I felt my heart hammer unexpectedly in my chest and I could only pray that I hadn’t turned the same colour as my hair. The awkward silence stretched thin, like the skin of a balloon. Oh, god I hate introductions.  “So.” Nathan said, swinging his hands in front of him. “Glad to see we’re all so comfortable with each other.” Alex and Shaun thawed out, laughing in that incensing guy way. Personally, I didn’t find the comment that exciting. Sarcasm is the last reserves of humour, when you can’t think of anything clever to say. Doesn’t stop me from using it. “I can’t believe we finally got a roomie.” Alex said, his voice dripping idly with a barely disguised hint of histrionic tones. “And not a bad looking one too.” Added Nathan dropping down beside me on the couch. “Meh.” Continued Shaun, moving towards the fridge. “Drinks?” Whilst Nathan and Alex muttered their agreements I silently fumed. “Meh?” I hissed trying and failing to keep too much acid from leaking into my voice. “I am so totally more a ‘eh’ type of girl.” Shaun came back carrying four Cokes and he and Alex sat opposite. I kept my eyes steady, hoping in vain he didn’t see the quick glance I gave his well-muscled chest. Hey, don’t judge me. He held my gaze and it was hard not to lose myself in the sky blue waves of his eyes. His mouth was hooked up at the corner and my instinct was to wipe that crooked grin off his face before he could pull a knife at me. Luckily, I suppressed my instincts. “Eh?” He inquired setting the four drinks down on the table and taking one of the matching single chairs opposite Nathan and I, the wooden coffee table separating us. “Yeah.” I said, shoving my hands between my knees and looking at him straight in the eye. “You know, like meh but a little more optimistic.” He nodded taking a sip of his coke. I felt the couch shift and Nathan turned to me, one of his massive arms draped across the couch. “Yeah, dude.” His voiced trembled with laughter. “She’s definitely ‘eh’.” They all laughed the kind of conglomerate of laughter that collected and intensified. “Oh yes, your all so funny, picking on the new roomie. Oh how I admire your bravery.” The laughter stopped and I had a mini but concentrated freak out. Once again I had ruined social conversation by acting like the Midnighter inside of me. Each boy looked at me, like I was the new specimen in the slide. “Sticks up for herself.” Shaun was nodding. “Admirable.”

“Witty.” Added Alex, his green eyes dark with curiosity. “She has brains.”

“Cute” Nathan finished. “I have no idea what to add to that.” They were still staring at me, hypnotised by my every move. An evaluation. This was more like it. I stood up, the dresses clinging tightly to my knees.  “I am not a freaking test.” I said as slow as the tempo in my head would allow. “You cannot grade me depending a couple of answers in one sitting.” The three boys were scattered around the room; Shaun sprawled in the chair, his empty coke bottle spinning between his thumb and forefinger, his sky blue eyes trained on me curiously, the spark of life evident in the cobalt swirls. Nathan was still next to me, his chocolate brown puppy dog eyes staring at me, although I couldn’t see him, I could sense that he was examining me. Alex was standing near the open kitchen, leaning against the blue marble counter, his slender arms crossed over his chest. The silence was full of motion, thoughts swirling and mixing with first impressions, facts blurring into judgments and the aspects of my personality decided in the heartbeat of silence.  I stood tall, facing their verdict. Shaun shrugged his gaze on the spinning bottle in his hands. “Sounds good to me.” The tension in the room deflated, the afternoon sun shining through the glass windows. Nathans warm hand tugged on my hand, pulling me down to the couch. “That means your officially part of the gang.” He said, ruffling my hair. I smiled but it felt forced. I was a little bit relieved, though. The tiny hard ball at the bottom of my stomach had evaporated, letting me relax a bit. At the top of my head I could feel the gentle tug of strands being pulled, the culprit; Nathan looking amazed at every strand. “Your hair’s pink!” He said, still tugging a couple of strands and examining it. I let him, my hands playing with the flowy material at the bottom of my dress, which was hard considering how close it stuck to me. “Her hair is pink!” He announced to the room, I watched both boys, although the classification is certainly insulting. They rolled their eyes simultaneously. “We’ve noticed.” Shaun said dryly. “It’s been that colour since she walked in.” I watched the glint of the bottle as he spun it. Around and around and around. “You are actually very blind.” That was Alex; he was walking over, settling in the single armchair next to Shaun. “But…” He let the sentence hand, finally letting go of my hair. He looked at me and I felt it was my duty to gravity to turn to him. His brown brows were raised and his eyes were slightly mystified. “Is that your actual hair colour?” Because Midnighters have a slightly different inner structure to others our pigmentation has a slightly different colour wheel. “Yes. This is my natural hair colour.” The boys sniggered into their hands and Nathan opened his mouth, aghast. “Well she’ll settle right in.”