Surviving the Andersen Brothers

Getting Settled

It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning when my taxi pulled up the drive to the Andersen Estate. James and Lilly were unable to pick me up—James was away on business and Lilly was feeling sick—and I didn’t feel comfortable riding home from the airport with one of their seven boys.

       Their home was back in a dense part of some forest. If someone asked me what town they were in, I wouldn’t be able to tell them. It was beautiful was all I knew, one of those places you only ever see in the movies. Their house was huge. It was something out of a dream—stone and glass and covered in vines.

       The taxi pulled to a stop in the “U” shaped driveway, the front door to my right. The door opened immediately, and a beautiful blonde woman made her way down the walk, dark circles around her eyes and her skin pale. It must have been Lilly Andersen.

       I opened my door and stepped out, instantantly wrapped in the arms of the beautiful stranger.

       “Oh, little Jasmine,” she cried. “I'm so sorry we never went to William’s funeral. I am so sorry about your mother!” She stepped back and held me at arm’s length. “Oh, where are my manners? I'm sorry I must be scaring you. I am Lilly Andersen.” She hugged me again, quickly. “Goodness, you sure have grown. Of course, the last time I saw you was when you were born!”

       Lilly stepped to the side, revealing the cluster of boys on the front steps. I say boys but, in reality, any of them could easily be over eighteen. They were all strikingly handsome with blue eyes—but one had green eyes. Their hair color varied from blonde to brown, with shades in between. Tall, too, and well built—again, except for one, not the same one either.

       “Oh, good, you’re all here,” Lilly laughed. She turned her head to the side and coughed into her arm, reminding everyone that she was sick. “Well, don’t just stand there! Get her bags from the taxi and get them to her room. Plenty of time for introductions once she is settled.” She waved her hand at them and they snapped to work. Lilly grabbed my hand and pulled me into the house. “This way, Jasmine, your room is up this way.”

       Lilly took me in to a circular library and up the center, winding staircase. It took me a second to realize that we were in the tower area of the home. The next floor was a room all its own. My room. It was beautiful, black and white coloring with windows every two feet on the walls. A chandelier hung in the center of the room, the crystals matching the color scheme.

       “I hope you like it,” Lilly said. “I tried to get something together from what you told me you might like.”

       Like it? I loved it! It was nothing like what I puctured when Lilly emailed me; it was ten times better! I got to live in a tower, like a princess, in the highest part of the house.

       “It’s perfect,” I told her, stunned.

       “If you go down this way,” she said, pulling me with her down a small flight of long stairs, “you have your own bathroom.”

       The bathroom continued with the color scheme: black and white tiles, and towels. The shower was white, the bath was black, the toilet was black, and the sink was black. Even the wall paint swirled between black and white. It was very spacious and fancy.

       “Extra towels are here.” Lilly opened a set of cupboards and closed them. She walked across the way and opened another door. “This leads to the rest of the house, the boys’ rooms, the studies, studios, more bathrooms, the Theater, and the master bedroom.”

       “Wow,” was all I could say.

       Lilly fumbled around in her pockets for something. She held her hand out to mine, keys dangling in her grasp. “These are the keys to your room and to the house and the garage." She pointed them out. "The one for your room works for the bathroom door too. We haven’t gotten you a car yet, so when you go to school in two days you will have to ride with one of the boys. We’ll get that car, though, when James gets back.”