A Year Of Celebrations

Epiphany

By JalizaBurwell

I hold back a giggle as Luke and Gabriel help each other put on the ugly masks. I can't see their mouths, but I know they are smiling hard by the way their eyes light up with mischief. Luke's eyes are especially a nice warm shade of brown.

"Sh," Gabriel says to me as I giggle, holding my phone up to make a video recording. It had taken Luke a few minutes to show me how to use the feature on the smartphone, and now I hold it between my hands, trying to keep it still despite my unsteady hands.

Their masks are absolutely freaky looking. Flashes of Volto come to mind, but I quickly shake my head of those thoughts. These masks are nothing like the plain white mask. They look like fancy masquerade masks, covering nearly the boys' entire faces, but instead of pretty and elegant looking, they are kind of hideous.

Luke's reminds me of a lion with all the gold and with the frills sticking out from all around, framing his head. I can see his jawline but not his lips.

Gabriel's is a little simpler, but reminds me of a demon with the dark colors and sharp lines. His crystal blue eyes are focused on the task at hand as he plays with the feathers around Luke's mask.

My heart thumps with excitement. After weeks of planning in secret, we can finally do this. We're going to celebrate Epiphany to honor Silas. The idea is to celebrate the baptism of Jesus, along with his birth, but in traditional Greek style.

"Alright, let's do this before the giant wakes up," Gabriel mutters, stepping away from his work of art with a critical eye. I admire him from behind the camera. I always love the focus he has when he works on an art project. He puts more thought into his work than he let's on.

They work their way up to the second floor and down the short hallway to where Silas is still passed out in. My ears pick up on his snoring, and I relax a little, glad he's still asleep.

We've put a lot of thought into today, and I don't want the surprise ruined.

Luke slips in first, light on his feet, with Gabriel right on his heels, sticking close, almost as light on his feet as Luke.

I follow behind, trying my best to be quiet. By the glance given to me by Luke, I know I'm not as quiet as I could be. I'm just too entertained and excited about this.

I never thought Epiphany would become such a big event when I went to North with the idea. But with all challenges given to the Academy boys, once the idea was there, they ran with it. And Silas deserves to be able to celebrate a holiday he used to celebrate when he lived in Greece.

Silas lays on his side, half of his massive frame out from underneath the blankets. He wears dark blue pajama pants, but nothing else, showing off an impressive bare chest. My cheeks heat at how I woke up wrapped around him this morning, snuggling into his chest. I nearly woke up him as I untangled myself from him.

Since being kicked out of my house, I stayed at Kota's for a few days and then his mother got suspicious and I started staying with Sean. In a few more days, I'll be able to stay with Nathan and not have to move around so often. I feel like a burden, but everyone has reassured me that they prefer this instead of the alternative­—living with my stepmother. I prefer it too.

Silas snores lightly as we creep closer, and I make sure to stay back so I can catch everything on camera.

I want to be able to show this to Silas later on as a fun memory for him. I want everything today to be a fun memory for him. He deserves it.

Luke and Gabriel share a glance before pouncing, moving on him, screaming and yelling out.

Silas tries to scramble away from the sudden loud noises and ends up falling off the bed with a grunt.