The City's Allure

Chapter two

We weren't the first ones to arrive at the restaurant. It was a Thai place, It was actually one of the lesser evils when the choices of restaurants came into play. Some of the places Aurora would pick had good food, but oh my lord it would last so long. There were at least four full courses and the time would stretch on and on until the worlds seemed to end. But this place was nice, it went by quickly. The inside was all mahogany, there were smooth square tables, easily fitting 18 people. Normally they would be shared with different customers, but our group would surely take up a whole table. The room was deep and dimly lit, it was so packed that you could barely hear the music playing in the background.

We walked over to the table, my uncle Elijah had stayed outside talking to Riah, he was always giving him pep talks, it was strange. Aurora smiled and waved over at the two families already sat down. Julia was the August boys mother. She was a beautiful woman and she was one of the only reasons I tolerated these dinners. She was one of the few ones that was nice to me, or that payed me any attention. Although it was Aurora that was meant to be my surrogate mother, it was more likely to be Julia. She'd given me advice about life and everything else. She smiled at me and gestured the place on the bench next to her. I hurried over and took my seat. I refused to look over at Rome. Although I could feel his gaze warming my face ever since I stepped into the restaurant, I wouldn't give in to his games. I wasn't going to lie to myself, I found him very attractive. I mean who wouldn't, he was tall and handsome. Dark hair full of waves and the had bluest eyes I'd ever seen. I'd never really allowed myself to look at him because of this, he was a player. Even though I knew he wouldn't waste time on me I still felt like I needed to protect myself. Riah took his seat in the middle of him and Joe. As soon and I sat down I felt a rush of warm air brush my neck. I kept my head down and turned it towards Julia. She smiled at me unknowingly and we began talking.

"Ciao Bella, how was your week?" she sounded out calmly.

"I guess you could say good, I mean I mostly just studied"

"Hmmmm" she hummed, " you will do well in life, seriousness will bring you many advantages" Taking my hand in hers she continued smiling. She was wearing a white turtle neck and thin golden earrings. Her eyes were a dark green, searching my own.

"But be careful amore, you need to remember to have fun" she winked.

I smiled at the comfort she brought me, always knowing the right thing to say.

Eventually we got to ordering and more conversations broke out across the table. Julia was telling me about a book she had started reading, it seemed interesting but my mind kept on drifting to the conversation to my right.

"So where is it?" Riah asked

" A couple streets down from our house, I'll text you the address" Joe answered him.

"If you come, don't do anything stupid" Rome added

" What? You know me, I would never embarrass you" Riah chuckled.

I heard Rome sigh, he took of one of his rings and began playing with it. I'd noticed it was something he did when someone exhausted him.

They were most definitely talking about a party that was taking place later tonight. I wasn't interested in going, not that I was invited either way.

"Oo we'd love to come" I heard an obnoxious voice ask,

I looked over to see Leah, one of the positively evil Kane sisters practically gawking over Rome, or maybe it was Joe. I wasn't sure, but I knew she was down to get with both of them. She was pretty, even though I thought she wore too much makeup around her eyes, she had that troublemaker look going for her. Tonight she was wearing a black mini skirt with a red corset. Sometimes I wondered if perhaps Aurora and Leah were secretly related, they had the same sense of style and similar ways of being. Her hair was messy but pulled up into a high pony tail, She could pull alright.

Joe looked over to Rome.

"Rome?" He breathed out

"I honestly don't care" He said coldly.

The Right side of the table fell dead silent. I was glad I had Julia to talk to me and I quietly slipped out of their conversation.

Rome's POV:

I hate this. I don't see a point in it. I love and respect my mother but I will never understand why she makes us see these people every Saturday night. That Aurora woman is a constant pain and those two Kane girls couldn't be more obvious. That guy Azariah is okay, he talks to Joe most of the time so all I do is just sit there. The adults would talk for ages too, as if seeing each other once a week wasn't enough to tell each other absolutely everything about their lives. The Kane parents were just as plastic and superficial as the Adessi mother and our fathers were always talking about politics and other common complaints. I hated these people with all my power, none of them gave a shit about your feelings. All they cared about what their image, their social standing. The only people here I could stand were my mother, my little sister Athena and Emilia-June. I dont hate her for some reason even though I know I probably should. She seems quiet, observant. I kind of wish I could know what she thought of things, her outlook on life; I bet it would be interesting. She seemed above all this bullshit. I'd never really talked to her, but I liked that she got along well with my mom. I think she hated me though, or at least she was forcing herself to hate me. She always kept her head down, not out of neglect or ignorance, but I could feel shyness. Every time she walked into the room for some reason, I couldn't stop looking at her. She was pretty. Beautiful even. There I said it, but I dont even know her. It's all just physical attraction, and if she was some girl at a party I would hook up with her and never remember it. Done.

I slipped my ring back onto my index finger and sighed. I glanced down at her next to me, she was playing with Athena.

I stood up and tilted my head to the entrance, giving a knowing look to Joe and Riah. They both stood up and followed me out.

The cool air hit me and soon enough I found myself pulling out a pack of cigarettes. I handed over the packet to the other two boys and we both stood there, smoking. I was never proud of my smoking habits but I couldn't help it, it took me off the edge. Joe and Riah were busy talking about some girl they'd both noticed last week.

I looked up into the sky, only one or two stars looked down on me, the rest was just a deep blue, for a late night in April the weather wasn't bad.

"Rome... Rome?"

I was pulled out of my thoughts by my brothers voice. I looked down at him questioningly.

" We're gonna go back inside, we'll go to the party after dinner alright?"

I nodded.

I didn't care about the stupid party, I had better things to do with my life, but Joe was all for them. He hadn't exactly had it easy all his life, in fact neither had I but I was past the point of repair, Joe actually had a chance, so I kept my mouth shut about all the parties and all the things he did; in an attempt at having the most normal youth he could get. My parents let us go out, they said I was a good chaperone and Joe wouldn't get into too much trouble when I was there. Azariah snuck out every time, but we covered for him if he got caught. Those two Kane girls, Leah and Louise I think they were called, they followed us every time, but I didn't like them. All they wanted to do was get high and fuck around; in fact, from the moment I met them, I had them pegged as shit stirrers. My train of thought wandered to June.