brothers.

4~ Meeting the Girlfriends

"Diana, you said?" Kyle's girlfriend glanced at him.

"Yeah."

"Diana what?"

"Watson."

They continued staring at me. The blonde shifted, disgust veiling her gaze. "You have got to be kidding me," she muttered. Tommy nudged her to be quiet.

Ignoring her, I went up to them, my legs feeling like Jell‑O. "Um... hi. Like Kyle said, I'm Diana Watson. And you are?"

Tommy's girlfriend whispered something to him, and he shook his head as a response.

"Um... m-my name is Nicole," Kyle's girlfriend introduced herself. "This is Amelia," —she pointed at Jack's girlfriend— "and that's Shirley," —she nodded at Tommy's girlfriend.

I smiled as nicely as I could. "Nice to meet all of you. Uh, what about Harry?"

Jack snickered while Harry clenched his jaw.

"He's the single pringle," said Kyle, making them all laugh. I relaxed a bit now that the atmosphere was a little lighter.

"Shut up." Harry scowled, looking away.

"Okay, you met her now. Can we go?" Kyle shifted.

Nicole nodded hastily. "Yeah, sure."

"Um... is she staying alone?" Amelia pointed at me. They paused, awkward glances shooting around.

"It's fine. I'm used to staying home alone. You guys go," I said.

"You sure your parents won't mind?" Amelia asked them, ignoring me.

"We'll only be out for a few hours," said Jack.

"But aren't they coming back soon?"

Shirley groaned. "Come on, I want to eat! Just leave her and let's go."

"They can't just leave her here. Why didn't you guys plan this?" said Nicole.

"Because we thought our parents would be here."

"Harry, how about you stay?" Tommy said.

"Me? Why me?" Harry gaped in indignation.

"You're kind of a seventh wheel." The other boys snickered, Shirley smirking.

"That's not nice, you guys," said Nicole.

"Someone has to stay with her."

"I'm fine by myself, really," I repeated.

"Tell that to our parents." Kyle eyed Harry sternly, straightening his back as he towered over him. "Harry, you're on babysitting duty. We'll be back soon."

Harry matched his brother's glare, but soon relented. He stepped back, eyes casted down.

"Kyle, we can do this some other time," his girlfriend said.

"It's fine, let's go."

The group hesitantly filed out the door, a tense silence filling the air. The door closed and I looked at Harry. "You didn't have to stay," I told him.

"Forget it." He went up the stairs. I heard his door slam afterwards.

This family was so weird... I'd been with my fair share of weird families, but this one surpassed them all.

I went up the stairs, returning to my room. I stopped, staring at the attic door.

Why not the attic? The boys offered their rooms, the basement, the den... but not the attic. They changed their tunes when I suggested I sleep there.

I opened the door, facing a flight of stairs. They creaked as I started going up. I heard Harry's door open behind me and footsteps running towards me. The sound made me turn, freezing in place.

"What are you doing?" Harry demanded at the bottom.

"I-I was just-"

"No, come down. You can't be up there."

"I just wanted to-"

"I said, you can't be up there. Get down."

Swallowing, I quickly obeyed and came down. Harry practically slammed the door closed. He turned to me with an accusing glare, pointing. "You're not supposed to be up there, you got it? You think you can just snoop around wherever you want just because you live with us now?"

"I'm sorry, Harry, I'm sorry. I promise, I won't go up there again." I inched towards my door, ready to lock myself in if the need came.

Noticing my reaction, his expression softened. He awkwardly scratched his head and cleared his throat, shifting. "Um... sorry, it's just... we have a lot of personal stuff up there that's just for us. That's all. I didn't mean to... sorry."

The tension in my muscles lessened, but I maintained my fight-or-flight stance. "I'm sorry," I repeated.

"It's fine, just don't go up there, okay?" He went back to his room, closing the door more quietly this time.

I relaxed completely, taking a breath to calm my heart rate. I glanced at the forbidden attic door one more time, then went into my room. Curiosity killed the cat. I couldn't risk anything by being an idiot and wandering up there.

What do you think is in the attic?