Chapter Twenty Two: The Cousins
Aesha’s POV
My jaw dropped to the ground as I opened the door to my new room. “This,” I said to my new brother, “This is my room?”
A king sized bed was placed on one corner. The walls were painted my favorite color, icy blue. Glass windows covered one area which made me see the full view of the city. The room also had a walk in closet, a mini refrigerator, air con (duh), a dresser, a comfy fuzzy carpet, a flat screen TV and the best gadgets, even a new phone on top of my bed.
“This. Is. Heaven.” I told James whilst leaping on my new bed, “I love my new life!”
He rolled his eyes at me and sat on the bed as well, “You better get used to it, Elsha.”
I admit, it was a little annoying when he gave me my nickname but now only a few minutes after that happened, I kind of like it already. I’m going to feel being a sister to a guy, feel the pain Cylene is going through with having a younger brother.
“Don’t you have somewhere to go to? How about school?” I asked him.
He shrugged, “I’m homeschooled and it’s Saturday today. I don’t usually go out. The parents don’t allow me except for business and all. They always force me to ‘interact’ with their business partners’ kids.” He used air quotes for the word ‘interact’.
That reminded me of Cole.
“That’s totally unfair!” I screamed, “You need to get out more!”
He crossed his arms and leaned back on the wall, “You’ll get used to it. We’ll be seeing each other a lot then. I was so excited when Mom introduced you to me. Despite her blabbing about you, I looked forward to having a sister to keep me company.”
I smiled sincerely at him but didn’t say anything.
He smirked mischievously, “So let me hear your life story.”
I tensed up. He wants to hear my sob story? How I committed so many mistakes? When I got broken hearted? Damn, what kind of brother you are?
I shifted uncomfortably in my bed, “I’m not sure if you’ll be alright with listening to my suffering. I might end up flooding the building with my tears.”
“I don’t mind you crying,” he said.
I stared at him flatly then I started telling him the story, beginning from when I met Kennedy.
Then I reached the part when I met Cylene, “At the starting of high school, we found out about this band called the Purple Angels in our school. The three of us loved their music and pretty much considered ourselves their number one fans. One day, the student council announced that they didn’t want the band to have jams at school. We were the first to protest, and luckily the council decided to take off the rule. This one guitarist in the band, Cylene Rogenson, she liked us instantly and we became great friends. She’s actually eighteen now.”
I told him one of the biggest things that happened in my life: my friends discovering my powers. “See,” I told him whilst he was listening eagerly, “even up to when we met Cylene, they still didn’t know about my powers. And then that day came when they eventually found out. I was in the room carelessly playing with my powers and the three of them saw it and they were shocked. I had to explain everything to them, and they had to take it all in. But they didn’t look at me as a freak; they didn’t look at me differently.”
Then I moved on with Cole up to the part when I found Mom. “Turns out, she was lost in that neighborhood and her cellphone was low battery. And then she took me here. It took the whole night just getting here.”
“So you broke your heart by breaking Cole’s heart?” he asked after I finished.
I groaned and buried my head in my hands, “Don’t remind me.”
Honestly, it did feel good letting it go. Letting everything go.
~~~~~~~~~~~
“Why are you wearing a jacket? I’m not going to set off a storm here, James.” I told him.
He smirked, “In your story, you told me you made your bedroom a winter wonderland. Now, I wanna see you transform your new room.”
I shook my head, “I don’t know, James. The frost might spread throughout the whole building.”
He gestured at the ring, “You’ve got that to control your powers. Come on, Elsha, show me the snow!”
I hesitated. I don’t want the past to redo itself again. I’ve done a big mistake sending Shaelon to the hospital so what if I accidentally freeze my brother whom I’ve only known for a few hours?
“You know what happened to Shaelon. I don’t want to hurt you, James.” I said. He grabbed my shoulders, “It won’t happen again because the past is in the past. Just let it go!” He sang he last part, and I actually smiled at that.
“Okay,” I finally gave in.
A wave of ice and snow came swirling from my palm. It rose up to the ceiling and stopped on the surface. I let the ice and frost scatter and spread this time. In a matter of minutes, the ice was covering the ceiling, the walls and the floor. Next, the decorations. I put up a crystal solid snowflake on the ceiling. Little snowflakes dot along the walls.
James gaped at the sight in awe, “You’re so amazing, Elsha,” He tackled me into a tight hug.
“I’m sure I am, James. I’m sure I am.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
I walked towards the dining room, with mom by my side. “So,” she said, “Did James show you every corner of the house?”
“Not everything, Mom. We stopped to look at my room in the fourth floor. But I’ll make sure to visit the fifth and sixth floor.” I answered.
She laughed, “Well then, you probably haven’t seen the large indoor swimming pool yet.”
Godammit, they – I mean we – have a freaking indoor swimming pool?! What else don’t I know about?! An indoor parking lot full of expensive cars?!
We stepped into the dining room, which was a lot roomier than most places here in the building. The chandelier hung from the ceiling and a long wooden table stretched out in the room. And the food was like a large buffet. Appetizers, main courses, snacks, drinks and desserts, they were all there. The utensils were the spoon, knife and fork. The drinks were served in wine glasses and the plates; bowls, saucers were all fine china.
“You didn’t have to throw a big lunch for me,” I told mom.
She laughed. Again. “Oh, Aesha we didn’t throw any feast for you. Yes, this is a feast though, it’s not just for you. James’ cousins, aunts and grandparents are visiting right now and we made sure to cook a lot.”
Oh, okay, so I’ll be the new girl here who doesn’t know anyone of the bigger family.
“Oh,” was all I said. She put a hand on my shoulder, “Don’t worry, you’ll have great time meeting them.”
As if on cue, the door burst open. And I heard James scurrying towards my side while Mom headed to the door to greet them.
“So, you must be excited to have your cousins here, huh?” I said to my brother.
His nose wrinkled, “Not that much. I’m pretty much the youngest so they kind of take advantage of their seniority.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I said but before I had the chance to add anything to that, James grabbed my arm and dragged me to an old lady.
“James,” she beamed when she saw him.
“Hey, grammy.” He said, “this is Aesha. Ya’ know, the girl who’s always in Mom’s mouth?”
Grammy pulled me for a hug, “Oh, sweetie, welcome to the family.” I nodded shyly.
James elbowed me in the stomach, “Grammy sends me everything I ask for.”
I frowned at him, “You know, you pretty much have everything you need.”
Grammy smacked the back of his head, “That’s right, boy. Listen to your sister.” And I burst out laughing.
“Just go on, introduce her to your Aunt Jenna. I’m sure she’ll love her.” She told him. He nodded and led me to a beautiful middle aged woman who has blonde hair like John’s.
“I’m guessing she’s your dad’s sister.” I said then he nodded his head.
“Hey, Aunt Jenna. This is Aesha.” James came up to her. Jenna took my hand and shook it, “It’s nice to meet you-“ But she was cut off by someone who screamed, “Jamie!”
Jenna sighed, “I guess I’ll leave you with your cousins.” Then she walked away.
James sighed as well when he noticed a brunette girl heading towards us. She looked about eighteen, Cylene’s age.
“Well, well, Jamie. You’ve grown up!” she said, ruffling his hair. Then she turned to me, “Is she your girlfriend? Did you finally grow a pair and asked someone out?” she sounded hopeful.
I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing and my brother turned beet red. “This is Aesha actually,” he said.
The girl’s eyes lit up, “You’re Aesha? Aesha Camarell?”
I replied, “Yep,”
She hugged me tightly. “Sorry,” James apologized, “she’s too friendly.”
She rolled her eyes at him and held out her hand, “I’m Ella Mikie Falron. My mom is your Aunt Jenna.”
I smiled and took her hand but instead of shaking it, she grabbed it and took me to the living room. A blonde haired boy was sitting on the couch, his eyes glued to his phone.
“This is Bennie,” Ella introduced me, “my younger brother. He just turned eighteen.”
“Hey,” Bennie greeted me, looking up from his phone. Ella gave a slap on the arm, "What the hell, El?!" he yelled. "Have more manners, Bennie." His sister told him.
Ella rolled her eyes yet again, “Just go to the dining room. There’s a whole buffet in there.” Bennie licked his lips and zoomed towards the dining room, leaving me with a quick, "Nice to meet you, Aesha."
Ella shook her head in disappointment, “Sorry about him, Aesha. But I guess you’ll love the twins.”
The twins? Another set of twins?
Ella led me upstairs and to the living room there. Two identical twins with dark brown hair were sitting on the couches, watching TV.
“Hey, guys!” she greeted them. One of the twins took the remote and turned the TV off. They both turned to us, “Hi Ella. Who’s the girl?” they said simultaneously. That was creepy…
“This is Aesha,” Ella said. The twin on the left stood up, “I’m Jayrhie Carley,” she said. The twin on the right stood up like her, “I’m Valencia Carley,” she said.
“They’re both sixteen,” Ella said.
I looked up to smile at her, “Thanks, I think I’m going to like my new cousins.” Hooking her arm around mine, we took a seat beside the twins.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cole’s POV
"I'm not sure I want to do this," Kennedy said again.
My sister rolled her eyes, "All you're going to do is act like boyfriend and girlfriend. Just act all lovey dovey with each other. You don't need to kiss or anything."
I frowned at that thought. It felt so weird doing this with the love of my life's best friend.
Kennedy and I exchanged nervous glances, "Cy, you do know that you pretty much forced us into this. Neither of us wanted this."
"Guys," Cylene said, "come on. Just help me save a relationship."
Kennedy slapped a hand on her forehead, "I don't think Brent's really the jealous type."
Cylene placed her hands on her hips, "Don’t lie to me, Kenny. You both are going to do this and there’s no stopping you.” Then she left us alone in the living room.
Kennedy crashed on the couch, “I can’t understand why Cylene would want to do this. Aesha’s my best friend and she loves you…I can’t do this.”
I sat on the couch as well, “Me neither.”
“I don’t even think it’ll make him jealous. He doesn’t even notice me.” She said.
Oh, Ken, how clueless are you? He loves you and he’ll probably beat me up if we do my glorious sister’s plan! Not that I’m scared or anything, I just don’t want to get in a love triangle with you guys.
I could’ve said that out loud. Dang, I should’ve said that out loud.
“I’m sure it’ll work fine,” I assured her.
“Well, why would she choose you to pretend and do this thing?” she asked.
I put a hand on my chest, “Aw, you don’t like me?” I said, mocking hurt.
She rolled her eyes, “You can be annoying sometimes,”
“I’m flattered, Ken.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t do this Cole. I’m backing out.” Kennedy’s back was pressed up on the lockers and I was so close to her. It felt uncomfortable in so many levels.
I grabbed her wrists before she could run away, “It’s too late now. He’s coming this way, and we have to do this.”
She gulped and started the pretending, “Cole, I don’t think we should do this.” She said, loud enough for Brent to hear.
“Come on, Ken. Aesha’s gone now, and all I have now is you.” I played along, brushing a strand of hair from her face and that caused her to cringe a little. I felt so bad saying that, I felt my heart cracking.
Her hand softly glided on my chest, “But Aesha’s my best friend. I couldn’t cheat on her like that.” Whoa, she’s a good actress. I can already feel Brent’s gaze burning through my neck.
“Go ahead, he’s watching.” Kennedy whispered. I took the next move and put my hands on either side of her, on the wall.
“Ken, forget about her. She’s not freaking coming back or she’s probably dead right now. All that matters is you.” I leaned forward then closer and closer and closer…
Then Brent pulled me away from her, “What the heck, dude?” He raised his fist to punch me, but Kennedy stopped him.
She grabbed onto my arm and pulled me closer to her, “He’s my boyfriend now, Brent.” She gave me a light peck on the cheek.
“B-but, I love you!” Brent blurted out.
Oh, God. What the hell will happen next?!
I felt Kennedy tense up beside me. She stared at Brent in complete shock.
Brent laughed bitterly and rolled his eyes, “As if I’d like a nerd like you.” He yanked Kennedy away from me, “but seriously though, you don’t want to date that player.” He said sternly.
Kennedy looked like she was holding back a flood of tears. She pulled away from Brent’s grasp and ran off somewhere.
I rubbed my temples, “Man, what the hell was that?!”
He turned to me and narrowed his eyes, “How could you do that, Cole? You know very well that I love her!”
“Oh, of course, making her cry like that?!”
“Why were you hitting on her, anyway?” he asked me.
“We were trying to make her jealous,” I answered truthfully.
His brows furrowed, “Why? Do you know something I don’t?”
I turned on my heel and walked away from him, “That’s something you need to find out for yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, who loves the Kennedy, Brent and Cole drama?
*raises hand*
Haha, so Ella, Bennie, Jayrhie and Valencia, do you love your characters? Sorry if you don’t like your character here.
Brent laughing about he admitted his feelings was something I created now, during April fool’s Day because I was seeing too much memes about that in 9gag xD.
Happy april fools! Even though it’s not that today!
-Vireen
P.S. All dedicated to the friends I included here!
P.P.S. Her new cousins, Grandparents, aunts/uncles do not know about Aesha's powers, kay?
P.P.P.S. I thought I wasn't going to make it but finally updaaaaaaateeeeedd!!!!