P a r i s ~.•*•.~ALEX WALTER~.•*•.~

003•

"Holy-"

"Told you." Cole said smugly.

~.•*•.~

Later, after the girls had gotten changed and all their belongings had been brought up, they started unpacking.

Beside her bed, on the cabinet Monique had placed some picture frames showing her and her family. Her favourite was one in a frame covered in pearls. It showed a photo of her, Jackie, Lucy, and there parents, around two years ago. They were sat in a cafe in France and had politely asked a stranger to capture the moment on her mothers phone. She had hung some fairy lights around her bed frame, and at the foot of her bed was a cork board (it's contents in a box beside it) she was waiting to put up. On the shared vanity was a tin that had two hairbrushes, a curling iron, and a hair straightener, beside it two make-up bags with the girls names on them.

They were in the middle of unpacking their suitcases when a knock came, and a voice from behind the door spoke.

"Girls, it's me. Can I come in?" Katherine said.

"Sure." Jackie replied.

"Will told me about what happened at the pool. I am so sorry about Albert. He just gets really excited sometimes." she said apologetically. "So how are you two settling in? Can i get you anything? I'm sorry there's not more room up here yet-" she had began to ramble a little so Jackie interrupted.

"It's fine. Sorry we're taking your space."

"Oh please. I do not have time to paint anymore with all the kids running around. I want you to have it." She said moving another easel back towards a wall out of the way.

"How'd it go at the surgery?" Monique asked remembering why the older woman had left in the first place.

"Oh, um, it went well. Uh turns out Bo had a really bad ear infection. He's gonna be fine. But it was bothering him, and it was bothering his owner." Katherine said with a chuckle.

"Did you study veterinary medicine at Columbia?" the older girl questioned. "I saw the picture of you and our mom."

"No. Uh, i got my first degree at Columbia, and then I went to vet school at Colorado state. Such a long time ago." Adding the last part jokingly.

Monique had begun to drift of again. She was thinking about how much her life had changed over the last few months, and what it would be like here, with the Walters. And then she started to think about the Walters. How they were all so kind to her, most of them. Thinking about them got her to thinking about Alex.

He had told her that her name was beautiful. He had smiled at her. He had made her blush. And the way her held her hand made her chest flutter. It made her want to hold his hand all the time. She wanted to see him, to speak to him, to be near him, and she didn't even know him. She had had crushes before, but none felt like this, Monique wasn't even sure whether it was a crush. She sat on her bed hazed by him, by Alex. She thought about his eyes, his freckles, his lips.

"Monique, honey, are you hungry?" were the words that pulled her out from her daydream.

"What?"

"Are you hungry? Me and Jackie were just heading downstairs because were about have dinner." Katherine asked.

"Um...No not really. i think i might just stay up here, and finish unpacking if that's okay." She said.

"Okay. Well just come down and change your mind." Mrs Walter smiled before leaving the room with Jackie.

When they got downstairs, it was chaos. Lee and Jordan were playing soccer, Parker was on her rocking horse, and Alex was yelling for Benny to 'attack' him as they both carried wooden swords and shields.