Chapter 2

The moment the plane touched down, Emery's stomach did a weird little flip.

Not a bad flip.

A good one.

An excited one.

The kind that made him want to bounce in his seat and look out the window every three seconds.

America.

He was actually in America.

The thought kept repeating in his head as passengers stood up around them, reaching for bags and talking over each other.

Emery pressed his forehead lightly against the window.

Everything looked different.

The airport looked bigger.

The planes looked bigger.

Even the sky looked different somehow.

"Stop smiling like that."

Emery jumped.

Rachel was staring at him from the seat beside him.

"What?"

"That."

She pointed directly at his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do."

"I don't."

Rachel snorted.

"You look like a child on Christmas morning."

Emery immediately tried to make his expression normal.

Rachel burst out laughing.

"See? You tried to stop smiling."

"I did not."

"You literally did."

Emery looked away.

The corner of his mouth betrayed him by twitching upward again.

Unfortunately, Rachel noticed.

"You're excited."

"No."

"Emery."

"A little."

"A little?" Rachel repeated.

"A medium amount."

That made her laugh harder.

Before Emery could defend himself, their mother's phone rang.

She answered quickly.

"Hello?"

A pause.

Then her face softened into a smile.

"Alright. Thank you."

When she hung up, Rachel looked at her immediately.

"Was that him?"

Their mother nodded.

"Dimitri said his driver is already waiting for us."

----------

By the time they reached the pickup area, Emery had already looked at everything twice.

The signs.

The people.

The shops.

The giant windows.

Everything felt bright and busy and unfamiliar.

Then the driver arrived.

Emery stared.

The car looked expensive.

Not just expensive.

Very expensive.

It gleamed under the afternoon sunlight like it had never known dirt a single day in its life.

Rachel stared too.

"Okay," she said. "That's ridiculous."

Emery nodded immediately.

"Very shiny."

The driver opened the door for them.

Emery climbed inside carefully.

The seats were softer than expected.

Everything smelled clean.

Rich.

He wasn't entirely sure rich had a smell.

But this definitely smelled rich.

...

As the car moved through Seattle, Emery practically glued himself to the window.

Every few seconds he noticed something new.

Emery's head kept turning every few seconds.

Everything felt different. The signs looked different. The accents sounded different.

Even the air smelled different.

There were so many people.

So many voices.

So many announcements.

It was a little overwhelming.

But in an exciting way.

Mostly.

Tall buildings.

Different shops.

Roads that seemed wider than the ones back home.

He wanted to look at everything at once.

Eventually, he remembered something important.

Jackie.

His smile faded slightly.

He pulled out his phone.

Call.

Nothing.

Again.

Nothing.

He frowned.

That was weird.

He sent another text.

Still nothing.

Emery chewed lightly on his lower lip.

Maybe her phone was dead.

Maybe she was busy.

Maybe she lost it.

Maybe—

No.

He didn't like the maybe thoughts.

They always multiplied.

"Rachel?"

"Hm?"

"Can I borrow your phone?"

Rachel looked up from hers.

"Why?"

"I want to call Jackie."

Rachel's expression softened immediately.

"Still not answering?"

Emery shook his head.

A few moments later she handed over her phone.

He dialed.

Waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing.

Straight to voicemail.

His stomach sank.

"Oh."

Rachel watched him carefully.

"She's probably busy."

"Maybe."

"Or sleeping."

"It's daytime."

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean."

Emery handed the phone back.

He nodded.

But he couldn't stop worrying.

Jackie was his bestest friend.

His favorite person.

She wouldn't just disappear.

Right?

...

Nearly an hour later, the car slowed.

Large black gates stood ahead.

Emery stared.

The gates slowly opened.

Then he saw the house.

And forgot how to blink.

"Oh."

Rachel's mouth dropped open.

"Oh."

The house was enormous.

Not a house.

A mansion.

A real mansion.

The kind people only saw in movies.

Emery held his bag tightly against his chest as the car rolled forward.

Everything suddenly felt very real.

They weren't visiting.

They lived here now.

Or at least they were supposed to.

The front door opened.

A tall man stepped outside.

Dark hair.

Sharp features.

Expensive-looking clothes.

And a smile that immediately made him seem approachable.

Their mother smiled before she even reached him.

The man leaned down and kissed her softly.

Something about that made Emery smile.

His mother looked happy.

Really happy.

That mattered.

"Kids," she said, turning toward them. "This is Dimitri Moretti."

"Mr. Moretti," Rachel greeted politely.

The man laughed.

"Oh no. Absolutely not."

Rachel blinked.

"Just Dimitri."

His attention shifted to Emery.

"So you're Emery."

Emery nodded.

"Yes."

" And you're Rachel right?"

Rachel nodded "yeah"

"I've heard a lot about the both of you."

Immediately, Emery felt his ears grow warm.

"Oh."

Dimitri smiled.

"All good things."

...

Later, after a tour and meeting several staff members, Emery found himself standing in his new bedroom.

It was huge.

Way bigger than the room he'd left behind in London.

The bed alone looked large enough to fit three people.

The butler brought in the last of his luggage.

Before leaving, Dimitri stopped by the doorway.

"My son should be home later."

Emery looked up immediately.

"Oh."

"You'll be attending the same school."

Emery brightened.

"Really?"

Dimitri nodded.

"He's a senior."

Emery smiled.

"I hope we can be friends."

The words escaped before he could stop them.

Immediately afterward, he felt heat crawl into his face.

That sounded childish.

Dimitri only laughed.

"I hope so too."

...

Dinner was peaceful.

Until the front door opened.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway.

A tall figure appeared.

Dark hair.

A lip piercing.

He looked like the kind of person who belonged on magazine covers.

The caretaker smiled. "Welcome home."

The boy nodded.

"Evening."

Broad shoulders.

Handsome enough to look unreal.

Emery blinked.

Then blinked again.

The boy barely glanced toward the dining room.

Without another word, he headed for the pantry.

Like nobody else existed.

Dimitri sighed.

"Roman."

The boy paused.

Barely.

"Did you not notice we had guests?"

A beat of silence.

Then Roman finally looked over his shoulder.

"I noticed."

Dimitri raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

Roman shrugged.

"Tired."

Then he grabbed a snack and a bottle of water.

Turned around.

And walked upstairs.

Just like that.

Gone.

The room fell silent.

Emery stared after him.

That might have been the prettiest person he'd ever seen.

Which was unfortunate.

Because he was also incredibly rude.

Still...

Maybe he had a bad day.

Everybody had bad days.

Tomorrow, Emery would introduce himself properly.

Dinner continued after that, though Emery found himself glancing toward the doorway every now and then.

Not because he was waiting for Roman to come back.

He wasn't.

Probably.

Maybe a little.

Just out of curiosity.

That was all.

When everyone finished eating, Emery automatically reached for his plate.

Before he could stand, Dimitri stopped him.

"Oh, don't worry about that."

Emery blinked.

"My plate?"

"The staff will take care of it."

"Oh."

Emery looked down at the plate.

Then at Dimitri.

Then back at the plate.

"But it's my plate."

Dimitri laughed.

"It'll be alright."

Emery wasn't completely convinced.

Leaving dishes behind felt wrong.

Like abandoning them.

Still, he slowly put it back down.

The plate would survive.

Hopefully.

He figured it was rich people way leave plates for the staff.

After saying goodnight, he followed Rachel upstairs.

The hallway seemed even bigger at night.

The lights were dimmer now, softer.

Everything felt quieter.

His room was near the end of the hall.

The room opposite his stood slightly open.

Just slightly.

Emery slowed.

Not intentionally.

His feet simply...

Did.

The room was dark except for a warm lamp glowing somewhere inside.

He could see part of a desk.

A chair.

The edge of a bed.

That was all.

Curiosity tugged at him.

Just a little.

Okay.

Maybe more than a little.

That was Roman's room.

The rude boy.

The pretty rude boy.

The really, really pretty rude boy.

Emery took one tiny step closer.

Then another.

Not enough to peek.

Just enough to—

The door suddenly swung shut.

Click.

Emery jumped so hard he nearly dropped his phone.

His heart launched itself into another dimension.

"Oh!"

He stared at the closed door.

The closed door stared back.

Well.

That was embarrassing.

He quickly turned around and hurried into his own room before anybody could witness his humiliation.

The second the door shut behind him, he pressed his forehead against it.

"Oh my God."

What was he doing?

Standing outside people's bedrooms like some weird little hallway creep?

Absolutely not.

He was better than this.

Probably.

After a moment he pushed himself away from the door and headed toward his suitcase.

A few minutes later he changed into his favorite pajamas.

A matching XO Kitty set covered in little bows and hearts.

Comfort clothes.

Safe clothes.

The kind that made everything feel a little easier.

He gathered his curls into a tiny scrunchie.

His hair wasn't really long enough to need one.

That wasn't the point.

He simply liked it.

It felt cute.

And Emery liked feeling cute.

After finishing, he wandered over to the mirror.

The oversized shirt hung loosely on him.

The scrunchie sat proudly on top of his curls.

His freckles stood out against his pale skin.

For a moment, he smiled at his reflection.

A real smile.

Small.

Soft.

Tomorrow would be scary.

New school.

New people.

A new city.

A new life.

And somewhere in this giant house was a future stepbrother who seemed allergic to conversations.

But maybe things would work out.

Maybe America would be good.

Maybe Roman wasn't always rude.

Maybe Jackie would answer tomorrow.

Hopefully.

Climbing into bed, Emery immediately sank into the mattress.

His eyes widened.

"Oh."

The bed felt like a cloud.

An actual cloud.

If clouds charged rent and belonged to rich people.

He pulled the blanket up to his chin.

The room was unfamiliar.

The house was unfamiliar.

Everything was unfamiliar.

Yet somehow, as sleep slowly pulled at him, he felt a tiny spark of excitement.

Tomorrow was a new beginning.

And for the first time in a long time...

Emery was looking forward to it.

Within minutes, he was asleep.

Hi there👋🏻 what do you think of this chapter

Drop your thoughts in the comment section.

Ideas, criticisms(constructive), favorite character anything at all.🙃💋

Your gurll

Ivelisse❤️

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