FABLE

Chapter Twenty Four

They don't need to turn around for me to know who they are.

Zee doesn't need a hint either - she shrieks so loudly that Felix and Alastaire whip around to face us, dropping a porcelain bowl in the process. Everyone's silent as the bowl smashes on the floor, sending bits of foam and dishwater flying into the air.

"F... F... Fe..." Zee stutters in between hyperventilating. She grabs my shoulders, eyes as large as saucers, and speaks very slowly and seriously. "Ashling. Why are Felix Lockhart and Alastaire Cassiel-Kensington in your kitchen?"

I'd like to know the same thing.

"About time," Felix says.

Even wearing my mom's lumo pink washing gloves, he looks like he walked straight off the set of a music video, dressed head to toe in black with his dark hair falling over his hazel eyes.

And of course Alastaire is as stunning as ever. As usual, he's Felix's polar opposite, the light to his dark. He's dressed in jeans and a white v-neck sweater, the light glinting off the burnished gold of his longish wavy blonde hair.

I currently have two of the most beautiful, most famous boys in the world washing dishes in my kitchen.

The thought alone makes me feel a little dazed.

Alastaire winks at me as he scoops up the shards of bowl scattered on the floor, then places them on the kitchen counter.

"Nice of you to join us, Cupcake."

Oh. My. God. He called me Cupcake. Does that mean... did they see it?

There is a series of framed photos hanging on the wall in our entrance hall. My dad took them on my third birthday, when my mom decided to throw a ridiculous cupcake-themed party, complete with the birthday girl, ie. me, dressed in a puffy dress shaped like a cupcake, complete with beaded sprinkles and organza icing. In every single photo, I have icing and crumbs smeared all over my face, my hands, my hair, so thick you can barely see my skin underneath.

I've asked my mom about a gazillion times to take the photos down, but she says I look cute dressed as a cupcake and smeared with food, and they're her favorite.

Gotta love parents.

I can't believe Felix and Alastaire have seen the wall of shame. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. It could just be a coincidence. Maybe they didn't see it.

"We kept some dessert for you," Alastaire says, placing a bowl of apple crumble on the table in front of me. "Just try not to get it all over yourself."

They saw it.

"Are you ok sweetheart?" My mom asks. "You look a little shaken."

"I'm fine," I lie. "What's going on?"

"Probably best to let these two young gentlemen explain that," my dad says, rising from his seat. He emphasizes the word gentlemen as if challenging the boys to dare try anything ungentlemanly on his watch.

"We'll be in the living room," my mom says as she heads for the door.

"Right next door," my dad says, still glaring at the boys.

"You too sweetie," my mom says as she drags Zee out of the kitchen. I hear Zee's protests as my mom closes the door behind them.

I watch them leave the room with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

A week ago I would have been overjoyed in this situation. Two members of Fable, my favourite band in the world, in my home, wanting to speak to me.