silence

four

Athena

As directed, I take a seat on the chair across from the impressive dark wooden desk in Atticus' office, him sitting behind it with a blank look on his face.

"We have some house rules here and now that you're back, I, and the rest of the boys, expect you follow them and will be enforcing them if needed," he begins. My hands start to shake a little; what kind of enforcement? I nod my head quickly as he continues to the rules.

"Firstly, I expect verbal responses. Our family is big on respect for each other and for your elders, verbal responses, eye contact, and active listening are necessary. In return we will respect you as well.
Secondly, you'll be attending Alderidge Cathedral Academy as I know you've been told by your advisor has previously mentioned. You've been swiftly transferred there but will be living in this house as your brothers, Phoenix and Khai also attend there. They'll drive you to school every morning. You'll pick your uniform up when you go shopping with them tomorrow."

I am surprised by the first one, back in England, the Dalton Cathedral staff was more of the "only speak when spoken to, and in as less words as possible" type, but I guess I'd rather comply than face the possibility of being marked up again. I was also not used to holding eye contact with authoritative men. I was often disciplined for that at Dalton and overall didn't really like it due to my mismatched eyes.

I was expecting to be given a uniform soon and my social advisor has filled me in on Alderidge when I was in the midst of transferring, just as Atticus said.

"In addition to these two rules, no alcohol until you are of age, no drugs or sex under any circumstances, no boys, and no swearing. Your bedtime is 9:00 on weekdays and 12:00 on weekends. You will also need to tell any one of your brothers, including me, if you wish to leave the house and you are to inform any of us if you have any problems, needs, or wants and we will be there to help you," he continues, "Soren is your personal guard and to an extent, assistant as well. He will be your driver in the event of your brothers not being able to, and is there as another person to turn to when help is needed, he will try his best to be of assistance and can notify your brothers and I if need be."

Atticus looks at me for clarification that I understand all the new information. I nod before quickly changing my response at the last second to a fast "yes" after a hard glance from the familiar blue eyes in front of me. He dismissed me after, staying in his office as I leave.

I'm pretty okay with the rules. A few are similar to the ones enforced at my old boarding school so I can pretty easily follow them. Others though, like the no boys one, are a bit vague. I don't have the confidence to ask questions or try to contest them though so I'll have to see how it plays out at school I guess. I'm also unsure as to why I need to tell one of them when I want to go somewhere, some of my friends can drive me places and like to pick me up, do I need to have Soren with me then? I hope not.

I make my way back to my room to get ready for bed, apparently I have a big day tomorrow - shopping with my brothers will be interesting. I brush my teeth and change into my pyjamas which consist of my guy friends' old t-shirts from when they would sneak into the girls dorm and have a sleepover with us. I miss them right now, it's strange going from seeing them every minute of every day, to having even a short break away from them. I hop into bed and turn off the lights, my phone is put on charge and with some twisting and turning, I nod off.

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Here's another one!!
- Keyara