Rheostat

3.Strawberry or Coconut?

"She's ugly."

"You can't say that!"

"But she's ugly!"

I could hear the hushed argument between my two siblings who were sitting beside me.

Noah and Eveline.

The youngest among my other siblings.

It was rather comical to see them argue about the fact if I was ugly or not considering Eveline was my identical twin.

I was sitting in the huge dining hall where I was called upon by Ezra to join them for dinner.

I wanted to decline but after the tiresome day I didn't have the heart to reject dinner. Ezra had lead me to seat beside Eveline in hopes I would feel more at ease sitting beside my supposed other half.

He was clearly wrong.

I didn't get Ezra.

Ever since I had arrived, he had been so attentive towards me.

He had given me a tour of the mansion. It had four floors and an attic. The first floor had the dining hall, kitchen, living room and the guestroom. The second floor consisted of all the bedrooms.

I was too tired by the time we finished touring the two floors and thus decided to explore the rest of the mansion later.

I had noticed there were no servants. Upon asking, Ezra had said a cleaning crew came every weekend and other than that they kept the place clean themselves.

"Aunt Gracie comes in and cooks breakfast and lunch. She occasionally prepares dinner but we eat takeout most days. You should try her cooking, I swear you will fall in love," He exaggerated in a cheerful tone.

I stayed silent the whole time. Not disappointed at my lack of response he started talking about the back garden and swimming pool.

"Do you know how to swim?" he had asked.

"Yes," At my short and curt reply he stopped trying to engage me in conversations.

The rest of the tour was spent in silence for which I was more than glad.

... ... ...

We were waiting for Stephenzo to come so we could start the dinner.

Noah and Eveline's argument had taken a turn to whether I used strawberry scented or coconut scented soap.

I used neither of them.

Tired of hearing their banter, I turned to Ezra to find he had all his attention focused on a file in his hand. The spectacles he wore gave him an almost scholarly look.

Just then the door to the dining hall was pushed open roughly and in strode a muscular guy. He had only a calvin Klein shorts on. His upper body was completely bare which enabled me to see the detailed tattoo of a Lily and a pair of wings on his left forearm.

"It's not healthy to smoke before dinner, Kai." Ezra commented, staring disapprovingly at the cigarette which Kai was holding.

"Ahem, ahem, I can't breathe," Eveline pretended to choke on the now nicotine filled air.

Kai simply opened the dustbin and threw it in response to them. He took a seat in the empty chair next to Ezra.

"You are the reason we will die of cancer," Noah grumbled.

"Yeah, why do you even smoke that death stick?" Eveline followed.

Kai ignored them.

His eyes scanned the room and froze when it landed on me. Something akin to adoration flickered in his eyes but it was soon replaced with a heated glare.

I looked down at my plate. Not even an hour since I'm here and they already detest me?

All of a sudden, the whole dining hall went silent. Ezra closed his documents and kept it in the side.

I looked at the direction of the door to see a man striding in with elegant steps and take a seat on the chair placed for the head of the house. The man didn't seem that old, probably in his late twenties but still oozed of authority. I instantly knew it was my eldest brother, Stephenzo Black.

Everyone seemed scared of him, no, they respected him.

As for me, I was legit scared of this man who was my legal guardian.

He resembled my father, whom I loathed with all my heart. Moreover, he had legal authority over life, meaning he could decide if he didn't want me here anymore.

And if I didn't want that to happen, I needed to get in his good books.

And that's how I ended up saying my first words since I arrived in the dining hall.

"Thank you for taking me in, Mr.Black."

The dining hall had gone back to its original chatty atmosphere. But just as I uttered the words, it went silent like before.

Why? Did I make a mistake again? Did they not appreciate me opening my mouth?

I looked down at my plate with remorse.

There goes my hopes of getting in his good books.

I prayed to God that my voice was too low to reach Stephenzo.

But when did God ever favor me?

The silence was soon broken by the simultaneous laughter of Noah and Eveline.

"She can talk?" Noah exclaimed dramatically.

"Mr.Black?" Eveline broke down in laughter.

I felt tears building up at their jokes. Even though it might have been funny for them, it wasn't for me.

"Shut up, you two." Ezra reprimanded them sensing my uneasiness.

Stephenzo was looking at me with a glare. Did I make him angry?

Why the fuck do I have to ruin something as simple as thanking him?!