Harper

ENGLISH

Harper's pov:

"Hey ummm, I'm here to give you a tour of the house," one of my brothers said. I think he was the youngest because he was not as muscular as the rest. 

I smiled sweetly at him and replied, "Excuseer me, kunt u alstublieft herhalen wat u zei" 

(Excuse me, could you please repeat what you said)

He stood there for a while looking at me, and I didn't understand why he was staring like that, but I didn't like it. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked, bending my head to the right.

"You talk," he said with shock written all over his face, as if I had just revealed some scandalous secret. It was as if I had just announced that he is my son and I slept with his dad. Now, for that, I would be shocked.

"What?" I said, confused until I realised that I spoke English. That's when my heart dropped.

"how could you slip you couldn't even last a day," I muttered to myself, feeling utterly defeated.

"I totally forgot about it," the other me retorted.

"How could you be so dumb?" I shot back, frustration bubbling up inside me.

"You know it's not my mother tongue, right?" the other me reasoned.

"Whatever," I huffed, crossing my arms in annoyance.

After this internal back-and-forth, I decided it was time to clear the air and maybe even come to an agreement with him. 

"Okay yeah I can speak and understand English," I said, feeling kinda sad for the poor guy. I mean, if I figured out my step-father was not my father after all, I would be devastated.

 "Why did you lie?" he said, looking kinda sad. 

"Idiot." I muttered under my breath.

"I'm sorry, please don't tell the rest," I said with the most innocent face I could find. I thought it would do the trick, but this bastard won't give in.

"I'm sorry, but I can't lie to my family," He said.

"It'll be our little secret," I said, winking. That seemed to do the trick because he smiled so wide I think his gum was about to pop out.

"What were you saying about a tour?" I said, walking closer to him so we could drop the topic.

"Mum said I should give you a tour of the house. By the way, I'm Hendrix; I'm the youngest of all our brothers," he said while showing his well-whitened teeth.

 "I'm Riley," I said as I left the room, closing the door behind me. I was about to say something else, but I saw him deep in thoughts, so I decided to let him have the moment.

"Are you ready?" He said, clearing his throat after our sudden silence. "Yes," I said as we walked down the corridor.

*

Our conversations were quite pleasant, as he shared details about his life, including his birthday and favourite colour. He had a great sense of humour and was genuinely interesting. I felt a connection forming, but I couldn't afford to let my guard down. After all, those who had left me didn't deserve to see me happy.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, interrupting my thoughts. "Sorry, what were you saying?" I nervously inquired. He chuckled, which I found endearing, but I wasn't about to admit that just yet.

"I was saying it's time for dinner," he said, once again interrupting my thoughts. What was it with him and disrupting my precious contemplation? "Um, okay, lead the way," I replied as we made our way to the dining hall, a place he had yet to show me.