“I don’t like this.”
Steve Parker stood out his house, arms crossed over his chest. Below, he watched his two boys bring their bags into their cars. He received a call from Ethan Greenwood right after breakfast.
The flood of events came rushing in. For a minute, he thought he was done for—based on what he had witnessed. Instead, the business tycoon called because somehow his other son found out Alex’s identity.
Now, everyone in his family knew about her.
If that wasn’t enough of a shock, Ethan told him they’d be spending the weekend at the Red Panda Hotel. When he tried to protest, Ethan’s wife came on the line to speak with him.
Needless to say, he reluctantly agreed.
That woman had witch powers in her voice. He was almost certain about it.
“It’s not that bad, dad,” Logan said, closing the trunk of his car. He brushed his hands together, “They’re good people.”
“I don’t think ill of them” Steve defended, “It’s the people around them I’m wary about. That party would probably have representatives from every elite family.”
“Then, aren’t you glad Logan and I will be representing ours?” Jae joked. When his father glared at him, it only made him smile wider.
Tim came out to join the ruckus. She placed a hand on each of her fiance’s shoulders, resting her chin on the left one, “Oh, don’t be such a worry rat. Your boys are young adults. They can handle this.”
Steve sighed. They weren’t in college yet and he already sounded like a nagging mother hen. How would things turn out when they need to move away from home?
“Be back here Sunday evening” he reminded them, “If there’s any change of plan, you contact me right away. You have until 11:59pm to get back. Any later than that, you’re grounded for a week.”
“What are we, Cinderella?” Logan replied. He jogged up their front steps and gave his father a hug. Then, he kissed Tim’s cheek.
“We’ll be careful” Jae told them, taking his turn saying goodbye, “Besides, we’ll probably stick by the buffet too much to talk to anyone.”
Tim laughed, “Please save some food for the rest of the guests.”
“No promises.”
She waved while the two cars drove out of the estate. Her fiance kept a firm stare until he lost sight of the vehicles. Even then, his muscles remained tense.
Tim lightly massaged his shoulders, “Don’t think too much. Aren’t you glad at all that Logan knows Alex is a girl?”
“He knew about it since the beginning of the school year. All this time I worried about nothing” Steve huffed.
“This is why you shouldn’t worry. It only takes up your energy and then you find out there wasn’t anything to worry about at all” Tim chuckled in his ear.
“I hope that’s the case.”
===
Logan and Jae parked on either side of Lilly’s driveway. Their presence had caught a few stares from the neighbors. They knew the female lawyer had home visits sometimes but two convertibles just captured people’s attention.
Lilly walked out of the house with two bags in tow. Her mother liked to criticize her taste in clothes so she brought backup in case the birthday girl didn’t approve.
She spotted the twins outside of the gate and smiled. They immediately jogged up to her, helping her carry her things.
“Thanks, boys” Lilly couldn’t help but say. Maybe having a male companion around wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
Emily walked out with two bags of her own. She didn’t know the itinerary for the weekend. Aunt Lilly mentioned volleyball. Did she need clothes for exercise? What about swimming? And who knew what else.
She had her head bowed since she couldn’t see the ground clearly because of the bags.
Then, one of the bags was taken away from her.
“What is in here? Bricks?” Jae asked. He slung the bag over his shoulder, carrying to his car.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” She screamed behind him. The other bag wasn’t any lighter so her running pace was slower than normal, “Who said you could take my bags?”
“If you have this much stuff, I don’t think it will all fit in your aunt’s car” Jae reasoned.
“Yeah, well. I brought my nunchakus. Never know if I would need them.”
Emily swung the other bag into Jae’s car, narrowly missing the owner’s torso. The convertible bounced a bit from the sudden weight and force. Emily flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked back to the rest of the group.
Jae frowned at her back. It would only take a two-inch cut for her red skater skirt to be a mini one. She also had knee-high black heeled boots and a white long-sleeved wool sweater.
He shook his head. Why couldn’t the cloth on her sleeves be moved to her thighs?
Emily dusted off a beret and placed it on top of her head. She posed with one hand on her hip and the other framing the side of her face, “N’ai-je pas l’air magnifique?”
“I think I look more magnificent. Thank you very much” Jae replied. He snuck up behind Emily, running a hand through his hair. Because of the event, he ditched his usual style and switched to a dark blue turtleneck with a black blazer, denim pants and brown high-rise shoes.
Emily tilted her head up to glare at him, “Ne vole pas la vedette d’une femme.”
“I don’t know what you just said but I, at least, look better than Logan.”
At this, she did glance over at Logan. He had straight cut denim pants with white rubber shoes. His upper half had been covered with a white button-down shirt. He rolled up the sleeves up to his elbows and left the hem untucked. He also left the first two buttons unbuttoned.
Emily pressed her lips together. All he needed was a dog tag chain necklace and he’d be good to go.
Logan turned towards them at the sound of his name, “Well, I didn’t come here for a Burberry photoshoot. Last time I checked, the hotel had a resort.”
He pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his back pocket and slipped them on. He gave the two a lopsided smile.
“Em! Just how small are these clothes?!” A voice shouted from inside the house.
Emily looked at the open doorway and yelled back, “If I had known that you didn’t have any clothes earlier on, we would have dropped by the mall!”
Alex appeared on the doorway. She wore a pair of black fitted trousers that reached above her ankle. The blouse Emily lent her was an orange ruffled top. It had no sleeves and a sweetheart neckline cut. The ruffles would have covered Alex’s torso completely if it were in her size. Every time she took a step, the ruffles would flow up and reveal a bit of her lower abdomen.
For comfort, she wore her own shoes of choice—a pair of black sneakers.
Emily whistled, “You sure you don’t miss being a girl?”
“If this is what they wear everyday, I am 110% positive that I don’t miss it” Alex answered.
“Well, at least, you’re not wearing the macaroni bra” Emily mumbled.
“Then, why are you wearing those?” Logan questioned at the same time. He had taken off his sunglasses and hung them on his shirt. He thought he had been hallucinating. He never knew Alex had shoulders like a ballerina.
Alex groaned. She took her bag from behind the front door and walked down the patio, “Because grandma doesn’t want me to look like a male. I even had these extensions done just for her.”
“Well, I think it’s nice that I get to remember how much of a pretty girl my cousin actually is” Emily chimed in with a teasing smile.
“Ha. Ha.”
Logan quickly reached out to take her bag. Alex blocked his hand and glared, “What are you doing?”
“Is your bag also untouchable like your skateboard?”
“After you stole my phone? Hell yeah, it is.”
She tossed her bag into the backseat of Aunt Lilly’s car. Logan could only huff.
Lilly locked up the doors. Then, she addressed the group, “Alright. Let’s head out to the hotel. Who is riding with who?”
“With you” Alex and Emily said in unison. They moved to their places right away. Their aunt chuckled at their behavior. Emily took the passenger seat while Alex sat next to her bag.
When Lilly passed by the boys, she patted each of their shoulders, “Best of luck, boys.”
Emily rolled down the window and pointed a finger at Jae, “If you lose any of my things, I will murder you.”
