Another Monday, means once again gathering up the energy to make it through the week. I reluctantly put my clothes on before slipping on my shoes and heading downstairs.
When I walked in, only Max and Roman were down here.
"Oh, Ceres, can you do me a favor and go wake Kade up? Max won't do it" Roman said with an added glare towards Max who just rolled his eyes. I nodded, not thinking much about the request and just walked back up the stairs to Kade's room.
I knocked on the door but got no response, so I tried knocking again. The answer didn't change. I opened the door and with the light flooding into Kade's room from the hallway, I could see that he was turned away from the door probably still asleep.
"Kade...?" I said as I walked up to him. The light snore coming from him was confirmation that he was still asleep. I tapped his shoulder while saying his name once more but he still wouldn't wake up.
"Kade" I said a little louder while now actually shaking him but again he still wasn't waking up. If it weren't for his snoring, I would think he was dead.
The sound of a groan slipping from Kade made me relieved as I could take it as him somewhat waking up but what I didn't foresee was me being pulled into the bed and Kade cuddling me tightly to his chest.
"K-Kade...? You're supposed to get up, not bring me to bed with you...." I said while pushing at his chest.
"Hmm, is that so?" He grumbled. I couldn't tell if he was awake or asleep. I was at a loss for what to do until I remembered what Max had told me the other day. One of the best ways to wake up any of my brothers, but I wasn't allowed to do it to him.
I pinched his nose and used my other hand to cover his mouth and within seconds Kadence was up and gasping for air.
"H-Honey? Why'd you do something so cruel?" He panted out.
"Max told me to" I said bluntly and at my response Kade chuckled darkly.
"Is that so? Well, thank you for coming to wake me up but next time a simple pat or shake will do" he said and I frowned.
I had tapped him, shook him, and even thought about pinching him but he just wouldn't wake up. Deciding to just leave it alone, I left Kade's room and headed back downstairs so that I could eat breakfast.
Once we were finished, Kade dropped us off at school and when I walked into the classroom, I saw that I was the first one there. It didn't bother me, it just meant that I got to sit in my seat and go on about my business without the eyes of others watching me.
While waiting for class to start, I had taken up to just looking out the window at all the snow that still had yet to melt away. It still shined all sparkly and pretty underneath the sun but of course, there were some parts where the snow was black from dirt. It made me sad to see it but there was nothing I could do about it.
"Good morning!" I jumped in my seat at the loud voice that greeted me and turned to see...Diablo..? No...Diana? Yeah, that's her name.
Everyday since our encounter, she's stuck to me like glue and I had no idea why. I didn't engage in conversation with her nor did I even acknowledge her presence at times but it seems that it didn't matter to her. I guess I've become accustomed in a way to her overwhelmingly loud personality, but that didn't mean I liked being around it.
Seeing that even if I didn't greet her she would continue on as if I did, I just turned my attention back to the sparkly snow, hoping she would get the message that I didn't want to talk to her.
The rest of the school day went by relatively slow and by the time school was out, I was more than ready to head out but just as I was turning to leave my desk, I had bumped into someone and the things in their hands went flying.
"I'm sorry..." I muttered as I bent down to help them pick up their stuff. I had bumped into a boy with black hair and I couldn't see the color of his eyes since they were looking downward as he tried to pick up his things.
"No it's alright. I wasn't looking...." His eyes trailed up to mine and the blue orbs widened a little. I handed him his books that I had picked up but for some reason he made no move to take them.
"Uh..." I didn't really know what to say so that was all I could do and thankfully the boy realized that he was just staring and he apologized before grabbing the books I was holding out for him.
"Thank you" he said and I nodded before adjusting my bags on my shoulders and heading out of the classroom to where Max was waiting for me.
Roman had come to pick us up and the ride home was silent aside from the soft snores of Max who had fallen asleep as soon as we had gotten in the car.
"Ceres, can we talk?" Roman asked as we were heading inside the house. I was confused as to what he wanted to talk about but I just nodded.
Roman walked us to his room and asked me to sit on the chair near his desk while he stood. The look on his face was that of seriousness and I found myself feeling a bit nervous. What could he possibly want to talk about?
"I got a call from the school. They said they tried to reach us last week but we had missed the call. They told me you weren't in your math class. Why is that?" Roman asked and his blue eyes stared right into mine, unwavering as if telling me to not look away.
I played with the hem of my shirt, a feeling of guilt now burying itself within me. He would surely get angry if I told him my lame excuse of someone sitting in my seat. But what else am I supposed to tell him? I was never a good liar and even if I tried to lie, no lies were coming into my head.
"Ceres" Roman pushed and I sighed before just deciding to get over with it.
"My seat wasn't open..." I muttered and Roman rose an eyebrow at me. When he saw that I wasn't joking (when did I ever joke?) he frowned.
"Ceres that is hardly an excuse to skip class. Why didn't you just ask them to move? Or better yet tell your teacher?" He asked and I gave him a look that I hoped would just explain all my feelings.
"We seriously need to work on these social skills of yours" Roman said with a sigh at the end. I made a frown to match Roman's and broke my gaze from his, no longer feeling compelled to hold it.
"Now, you're very lucky that it was me who got the call and not Lance or Dad. Next time you may not get that lucky, so I want you to promise me that if something like that happens again that you will at least make an effort to try and talk it out okay?" Roman said and I nodded.
"Can you look at me and tell me that you promise? I'd feel much better and it tells me that you actually mean it" Roman said and I turned back to him before nodding once again.
"Words, please" he said and I sighed.
"Yes, I promise" I said and Roman smiled.
"Thank you. Now, I'm pretty sure you have homework to do. Better get to it" he said as he patted my head.
We walked out of Roman's room and I headed off to my own room so that I could get started on my homework. I stopped trying to get rid of it after the harsh scolding I got from Lance.
I pulled out my first homework which was from English class. I could already feel the headache coming on just from looking at the first question.
Here goes nothing I guess.
THIRD P.O.V
Roman sighed as he walked downstairs. He was trying to figure out how he could help Ceres become more comfortable and open with other people. It also made him wonder what made her like that in the first place. He understood that she didn't have a great life back when their mother was still alive, but how bad was it that it's forced the girl to become socially inept?
"Roman? Why the long face? It doesn't suit you" Kade asked as Roman walked into the living room. The rest of his brothers were also down there, either just to hang out or bug the others (in this case Ares and Kade were the ones who liked bugging others).
At Kade's question, something had dawned on Roman.
None of them really knew Ceres.
Sure they've become used to her little quirks and habits, but none of them really knew what kind of things she liked to do, what her hobbies were, what her favorite things are, what her idea of fun was.
But that also meant that Ceres knew nothing about them either. Roman wanted that to change.
"I think we all need to take some time to actually try and get to know Ceres. It's clear that even though she makes it seem like she's fine with everything, she can't actually be fine" Roman said.
"Woah, where's this coming from?" Ares asked while turning in his seat.
Max could already guess that it probably had something to do with Roman wanting to speak to Ceres.
"It's just...I'm worried" Roman said not wanting to spill the contents of the private conversation he had with Ceres.
Seeing Roman's troubled expression, Lance stood up from his seat which had all his brothers looking at him.
"Then how about this. Each day after school, in order to get to know each other, one of us will get to spend the rest of the day with Ceres. We will use numbers to determine who and when they get to go" He said.
Roman nodded.
"That's a good idea" He said with a relieved smile.
"Ooohh, please let me go first!" Kade said and Lance frowned.
"Didn't you hear what I said?" He asked and Kade groaned.
"I can't leave my chances at going first up to you! I might end up going last" he grumbled and Lance just shook his head.
"Alright, I'm thinking of a number 1-10. Go" Lance said and they all started to call out numbers.
"Hey! I said 4 first!" Max said while glaring at Ares who just shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm older, pick a different one" he said nonchalantly. Max grumbled under his breath before reluctantly picking the number 9.
"Alright then. Max, you'll be first" Lance said and Ares' eyes bulged out of his head while Max just smirked.
"That's what you get" he said while sticking his tongue out.
"Noooo...." Kade cried in defeat.
"The rest of the order is as follows. Lucas, Roman, Kade, and lastly Ares" Lance said.
"God dammit" Ares muttered but he yelped when he was slapped over the head by Lance.
"Watch your mouth" Lance said with a stern look and Ares just grumbled incoherent things under his breath.
"But what about you...?" Lucas asked looking up at Lance who in turned patted his head with a smirk resting on his face.
"Naturally, as the oldest, I'll be going first" he said and Max was quick to protest.
"But I thought I was going first!" He exclaimed.
"Yes, first after me" He said and Max groaned.
"Played like a fuc-...fiddle" Max said and Lance nodded in approval when Max didn't curse after seeing what happened to Ares.
"I'm gonna go eat ice cream..." Kade sulked as he went into the kitchen.
"I should be the one sulking" Ares grumbled and Max snickered.
"Sore loser" Max said with a smirk. Ares turned to Max with an irritated grin on his face.
"Wanna say that again?" He said and Max paled before running to his room.
"That's what I thought" Ares said before going back to what he was doing, watching a movie.
[A/N: so sorry for the short chapter but as compensation, here's a really short April Fools special!]
Ceres: Kade, you're my favorite brother
*Kade gasps as he is on the verge of tears*
Kade: R-Really? I'm so-
Ceres: April Fools
*Ceres runs away*
*Kade collapses to the floor and dies*