'I'm going to pass out.'
That's my first thought when I read the hot mess of our shopping list.
"Who the hell made this?" I ask in shock
"All of us," Collin says proudly "We're nothing if not team players."
"Have you guys ever heard of the word 'budget'?" I unfold the eight inch long piece of paper
Nico pulls a card from his hoodie pocket.
"Sir, I have a credit card and a father I would very much like to piss off." He says
"Chill out dude," Collin tells me, dropping loads of baking supplies in the cart "Let the guy have his moment."
"We don't even have an oven!" I stop as I realize something's missing "Where's Reece?"
Nico shrugs "I think he went to get snacks."
"That little—" I take a deep, deep breath
Then I climb into the cart.
"We're only getting a single box of all of these." I tell Collin, then turn to Nico "And if you wanna piss your dad off, maybe stop using his money."
Collin gives me an outrageous look "But—
"I've been shopping for my whole family since I was in my sophomore year," I look down at him "And we don't have an oven."
He opens his mouth to say something, then processes my words.
"Ah crap," Collin drags a hand down his face, and then puts all the boxes back
On the other hand, Nico is looking so hard at the credit card, I'm surprised it hasn't caught frozen over yet.
"Any of you brought your wallet?" He asks us
"I have enough money." I nod
"Good," He says and then folds his card into half, before twisting it at an awkward angle
Maybe I shouldn't have said what I did.
"Well, given that we still have to ask the management to open the gas valve for our dorm," Nico starts, cool and composed as ever "What should we buy?"
"Firstly," I say, propping one foot at the edge of the cart "We have to find Reece."
"Oy, make room." Nico says and climbs into the cart as well, sitting down with his hood pulled up
"Hold on tight," Collin says, a grin stretching across his face, dimples indent both his cheeks
"Wait, let me—" I don't get to finish as the cart blasts forward
Employees shriek and customers step out of our way as we pass through the lanes, Collin laughing manically and Nico as expressionless as ever while I hold on for dear life.
"I see him," Nico says as we take yet another mad turn
I almost can't see Reece over the mountain of snacks he's carrying in his arms. He grins as he sees us and somehow manages to hold all of it in one arm only to hail us over like a cab.
"Perfect timing," Reece says "I'm having trouble deciding if ten bags of skittles is enough or if we should get more."
An awkward silence follows where all of us stare at him.
"I'm sensing a change is the atmosphere," Reece narrows his eyes suspiciously "Under normal circumstances, the answer should be 'more'."
"We have a budget now." Nico says, then points to me "Jay's the only one with money."
Reece drops all his would-be purchases.
"Did someone mug you guys in Walmart?" He gapes at us
"None of you shits told me we don't even have an oven," Collin mutters dispassionately "If it weren't for that stove, I'd have lost all will to live."
"And it just occurred to me that Isaac would be more pissed off if I cut my cords with him all together." Nico says "So I broke my card."
Reece stares at him, opens his mouth, then closes it again, stunned into silence.
Finally, he finds his voice.
"Who's gonna pay for the fridge you've ordered, you dumb fuck?"
It takes all of us a moment to realize the full extent of the problem.
"Shit, I forgot." Nico presses a hand to his mouth, then snaps his head towards Collin and I "Why didn't you two stop me from messing up the card?"
"How could I know you're about to break it?" My eyes widen in surprise "and don't you have to pay for those things beforehand?"
"Well, third rate shady dealers only accept cash on delivery!" Reece throws his hands up "We were supposed to get the money out later today!"
Collin's having a meltdown "Oh sweet Jesus, we won't even have a fridge."
"Ross was right, I am an idiot." Nico mutters, brows furrowed in deep concentration
People have started giving us concerned looks, and with the way Ryan is staring at us from behind a tall pyramid of canned tomato sauce, I can bet my very light wallet that he's about to call the cops on us.
"Alright, stop." I tell the others "We'll see what happens about the fridge. Right now we need to get the groceries and go back."
"Right," Reece scoops up a few bags of snacks and drops them in the cart "Let's hope they get the delivery address wrong."
I clear my throat "Reece, you can't have those."
"Why?" He gives me a quizzical look
"Because we have a budget."
"I know," He manages to plop down in the cart with Nico and I, legs hanging out "After that minor heart attack I just experienced, consider this medicine."
I cross my arms and frown at him "I'm not paying for that."
"You're all set for killing me, aren't you, pretty boy?" Reece dramatically puts a hand over his heart
If my bruise wasn't as yellowish and overall unsightly as it is, I wouldn't have been as offended.
"Fine, I'll pay for them." Reece rolls his eyes with a huff "You're no fun."
I consider telling him I'll make all of them pay their share of this stuff, but then decide to leave it for another time.
"In that case," Collin says, and swipes up a bunch of more snacks "We all need medicine."
Reece holds up a hand before Collin can drop all of it in the cart— or over us, really.
"I'm not paying for that." He says off-handedly "That's what you all get for being such a spectacular bunch of idiots— ow!"
Collin drops all the snacks on his head just as Nico punches him on the arm.
"I think I heard someone talking?" Collin looks around "Must've been an asshole."
"I have a sudden urge to wash my hand." Nico holds up the hand he punched Reece with
"All of you are ungrateful." Reece rubs his arm
"All set," I hold back a smirk at Reece's pouty face "Let's get cereal first."
…
The checkout guy hates us.
I can tell this just by the way he's looking at the three guys standing behind me as I pay. He's glaring daggers at them, but none of them seem to notice— or care.
"Reece," I turn back "You're turn."
Since we used every penny in my wallet on the groceries, Reece is going to have to pay for his snacks right now. Also, I doubt he'd pay me if I paid here.
The checkout guy narrows his eyes to slits.
"Hello, Clark," Reece smirks devilishly "I see you're as cheerful as always."
"Don't tempt me, Everett." Clark says, deadly calm
"Of course not." Reece laughs as he pulls his wallet from his pocket "Wouldn't dream of it."
He pulls a card out, extends his hand towards Clark. Just as Clark's fingers brush it, Reece puts it back in.
I look at Nico and Collin anxiously. Nico shakes his head in a way that says 'It's fine'. Collin, on the other hand, is obviously enjoying this exchange.
"Oh, almost forgot," Reece says "I have change."
Then pulls out the money.
In coins.
I almost groan out loud. Why, you idiot, why?
Clarks takes a deep, pacing breath "You tryin' to give me a seizure?"
Reece doesn't even look fazed "Is it working?"
"You're going to hell, Everett." Clark grudgingly scoops up the change
"Should've thought of that before messing with devils, Clark." Nico tells him nonchalantly "All stupid decisions cost you something."
The glare Clark sends our way makes my hair stand.
Somehow, we make it out of Walmart without making a scene.
"I'm never shopping with you guys again," I let out a tired breath
"You sure looked like you were having fun riding the cart." Collin points out
I open my mouth to deny but damn it, he's right. I've been shopping alone for so long, I'd forgotten what it was like to come with other people.
"What's with you guys and the staff anyways?" I ask as we get in the car
"Do you want the honest answer or the convenient one?" Reece raises his brow at me through the rear mirror
"The honest one." I say carefully
"You probably know we went to St. Peter's in highschool," Collin beings with a roll of his eyes "Well, shit happened and everyone thought we were a bunch of freaks. Specially people outside of school."
"Well phrased." Nico nods in approval
"As I always say, forgive your enemies, but never forget those bastards faces." Reece says
Before the car can be pulled out of the parking, I see Ryan paste something on the inner side of the glass door.
It's a picture of all four of us, in the middle of an argument, with a lot of snacks piled at our feet. On top of the print out, there are two words in bold writing.
'Entry banned'
I feel the three of them waiting for my reaction. I lean back in my seat.
"Screw it, they didn't even have my favorite cereal."
...
When we reach the university premises, I find that it is indeed against the rules to drive inside the campus.
"I paid," I put my hands in my jacket pockets "I'm not carrying any of that."
"Sure," Reece says as he scoops two bags in his hands "You can go and ask the dorm warden to turn on our gas valve."
For a moment, I'm not sure I want to.
I have only been to the main dorms once before and that too, with Nico doing most of the talking.
But instead of denying, I simply turn around and start towards the taller, livelier building.
Yeah, no way in hell I'm backing out of something so tiny.
I see a few students lingering around here and there, and manage to find the warden's room without making a total fool of myself.
"You guys sure are stubborn." She says after I tell her the reason for my visit "Is that place even habitable?"
"It's okay," I shrug a shoulder "I honestly expected much worse."
"Guess the rumors are just stories then," She picks up the phone and tells someone to accompany me and turn the valve on
"Rumors?" I ask just as she puts the phone down
"The usual, people going missing and whatnot," She waves a nonchalant hand "It's probably just seniors scaring juniors. All four of you are still intact, aren't you?"
By the time the valve is up and I'm walking up to the fourth floor, my mind is thoroughly made up.
I'm not sleeping in that room.
But those thoughts are shifted aside once I enter the apartment.
Collin is dressed in a flowery apron and cutting vegetables with the speed of light.
"The gas back?" He spares me a momentary glance
"Yeah," I say, a little surprised "You can really cook?"
"No, don't ask him that," Reece says, looking up from his laptop
Too late for that. Collin's face lights up, a big grin stretched across it.
"I've been cooking since I learned how to hold a spoon," He tells me proudly "Though that was just trashing the kitchen I guess."
"Really?" I stop in my tracks "But you look—"
I stop. Well, it's not exactly nice to tell him he looks like a bouncer in front of a casino. Also, that sounds highly judgmental.
"Like a bouncer for a club," Reece says casually, typing rapidly "That's what we thought too."
"I'm just a man of many virtues," Collin flexes an arm, muscles stretching against his shirt
For the next half an hour, I watch Collin work and give me cooking tips along the way. I have to say I haven't seen many people cook. It's oddly relaxing.
"So you're a junior boxing champion," I gape at Collin "And you used it to get a scholarship for culinary school?!"
"You gotta do what you gotta do until you can do what you wanna do," Collin says, with the look of a profound scholar "I just gotta compete in all the events that come up, and I'm all set to do whatever I want in the meanwhile."
"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen someone do," I shake my head, amazed
"I know," Collin puffs his chest "You got an academic scholarship, didn't you? That's pretty cool."
I'm instantly slammed back into reality.
The smart twin is currently in California— on an even better scholarship. And here I am, the one who didn't even finish highschool.
"Oy, You never told us what field you're in," Nico says, having come out of his room a while ago
I hold back a sigh "Law."
"You really are going to follow us everywhere," Reece says. He closes his laptop and looks back at us from the couch "Both Nico and I are in Law too."
The impish look on his face makes me narrow my eyes. I really am not going to get rid of this guy, am I?
"Looking forward to it." I say flatly
Reece tsks as he walks over to the kitchen island "That attitude is why you had no friends, pretty boy."
I know he has no idea how my highschool went, but it successfully pisses me off.
"You're giving my attitude too much credit," I mutter coldly "After all, it failed to spare me your troublesome ass."
Nico snorts, but before Reece can retort with a response, dinner is finally ready.
"Eat and weep, non-cooking peasants." Collin says
And the moment I take the first bite, I know for sure this guy definitely belongs in a culinary school. I would sell my soul for food like this.
"We need to get an oven." I say, with a mouthful of food
And that's one thing all of us can agree on.
It's only when all of us have finished eating that my bliss comes to a halt.
"Reece," I stop him before he can walk into his room "You never told me how you slept last night."
That gets everyone's attention. Reece clears his throat, leaning against the doorframe.
"I was working till late," He says casually "so I fell asleep on the couch."
I cross my arms "Just admit it, you couldn't sleep in that room, could you?"
"Please, you're the only scaredy cat here."
"At least I'm not lying to save face."
"Anyone wanna tell me what's this about?" Collin asks
I point at my room's door "There's something wrong with that room."
Nico raises a brow "Is there another pigeon there?"
"There's nothing wrong with it." Reece says "Jay is just a big baby."
"Then why couldn't you sleep in there?" I narrow my eyes at him "I told you if you could sleep there in my place, I would take it back."
"I don't get it," Collin says "What's the big deal about sleeping there?"
"You're welcomed to try and find out." I say "Because I am not sleeping in that place."
"You're being difficult for no reason." Reece rolls his eyes
I open my mouth to say something but Nico beats me to it.
"I have an idea."
And that's how all of us end up sleeping in my room. All three of them arranged their mattress on the floor, and I'm on the bed, wearing the pajama set that covers me fully.
"Reece, stop that."
"Stop what?"
I'm tempted to throw something at him. I sit up, glaring at him in the dark.
"You're typing is driving me mad," I say "What are you doing anyway? Writing a book?"
"It's called a hustle, pretty boy." Reece says, without sparing me a glance, eyes fixed on the illuminated screen of his laptop
The worst part is that his mattress is right besides mine.
"Don't be an asshole, you finished your work earlier." Nico mumbles, burrowing his face deeper in his pillows. Collin is already fast asleep.
Reece grins then "Stop ruining my fun, Aldrich."
"I'm going to kill you, Reece." I hiss "We have classes tomorrow, don't you have to sleep?"
"Fine, fine," He sighs exaggeratedly "So you do admit we can sleep here."
'No, Jade. Don't reply. He's only trying to mess with you.'
True enough, the laptop's illuminated screen turns off. I hear the sheets shuffling as the devil finally decides to sleep.
And maybe it's because Reece has exhausted me by the sheer power of his annoying nature, or because there are three other people in this room with me, but I fall asleep in a matter of minutes.
…
Clink, clink.
I bury my face deeper in the pillows, ignoring the annoying sound.
Clink, clink, clink.
What is that anyways? It sounds like… a chain?
Suddenly, I'm wide awake. The room is dark and cold. Dread settles in the pit of my stomach.
I turn around, and I never thought there'd be a time when I'm glad to see Reece's face.
"Reece," I say quietly "Hey, wake up."
I poke his shoulder, and he startles awake.
"What the hell?" He mutters sleepily
"Don't you hear that?" I whisper
As if on cue, the sound of chains dragging on the floor echoes quietly. I see Reece's silhouette go very, very still.
"Hell, I wasn't imagining it." He whispers more to himself than to me
I slowly climb down from my bed to his mattress "What?"
"It was the same thing yesterday." He says, and then proceeds to pull a metal bat from under the corner of his matters
If I wasn't scared shitless, I'd call him out for being the actual scaredy cat.
"Guys,"
Both of us jump, but a moment later, I realize it's Nico's voice.
"Who the hell is breathing down my ear?"
I swallow thickly "We're on the other side of the room."
Silence. Reece slowly gets up, bat ready at hand.
"I'm gonna turn on the lights." He says
Slowly, cautiously, he walks over to the light switch and flips is on.
For a moment, all of us hold our breaths.
There's nothing unusual around.
Nico's also sitting up on his mattress, looking around suspiciously.
"Huh," Reece makes a confused face "I see, all of us are just going mad."
I almost collapse on his mattress from sheer relief.
"Well, if it was nothing then—
A man wades out from the wall, heavy chains cuffed around both wrists and a gaping hole in the middle of his chest.
"I was hoping all of you would wake up, but wow," He stands over a sleeping Collin "That guy sleeps like the dead."