Freedom, Flowers, Books, and the Moon

Chapter 12

A few hours later, the popcorn was gone, and Aurie was back in the same position as before: head in King's lap, legs in Cielo's, and fast asleep. The oldest man had his elbow planted on the arm of the couch, and he rested his head in his hand, incredibly bored, while his other hand once again was on Aurelia's head, his fingers slowly making their way through her hair. Cielo was on the other side of the spectrum from his friend, completely enamored by the show and reacting to every little thing. King shot the man deadly looks every time he moved too much, not wanting his actions to wake the girl spread out between them.

The clock had just struck 6 when Aurie's phone started vibrating on the coffee table. The men looked at each other, aware of who was on the other side of the line. King looked down carefully at Aurelia, slightly relieved when he saw the girl still sound asleep. They all sat there silently and let the phone ring until it finally stopped. Beau let out a quiet sigh of relief a moment too soon; as soon as he deflated, the phone started once more. King quickly cut his eyes at the southerner, glancing back to Cielo when the Italian began whispering.

"We should wake her up so she can answer it; she'll be pissed later when she sees like seven missed calls from this guy."

King bit his lip, seeing the logic but not exactly happy about the girl answering the call. He gave in a few seconds later, gently whispering the girl's name to her and reaching to rub her arm. The girl shot awake a moment later, calming when she realized nothing was wrong.

"What's-" she started before the phone rang again. "Oh," she reached out for the phone.

When she saw 'Bash' flash onto the screen, she picked it up immediately, pausing the TV and putting the call on speaker as she laid back down across King's lap. "Hey, what's up?"

"I realized that I never texted you."

"What do you mean?" Aurie's face scrunched in confusion.

"Did you already forget?" Bash asked, sounding a bit incredulous, "I swear you have the memory of a goldfish. I will never understand how everyone thinks you're so smart. You're an idiot; you and I both know it."

The men all look at the phone, the murderous intent clear on their faces if Aurie had been paying attention to see it. Instead, she was giggling up a storm, both hands thrown over her face.

"I never claimed to be smart." The girl said through her giggles.

"Uh huh, sure. Ok, let me run it back for you." The man on the other side of the line sighed, "We were gonna go out to dinner tonight."

"Oh right! 'Cause you got the interview. I'm so sorry, Bash, I totally forgot." Aurie looked bashful as she looked at her phone.

"It's ok, I'll just come get you. What dorm are you in?" Sebastian asked.

Aurie blushed, "I'm not in my dorm right now. I'm- I'm working."

"Working? How'd you manage to get a job already? Hold on, it's Saturday night. Let me guess, you finally decided to strip." The brother picked at his younger sibling.

The rest of the men, however, were not amused. The rage that flared through the professors was palpable.

King reached forward and grabbed the phone from the table. "Sebastian, was it?"

"Who is this?" Bash's voice immediately hardened upon hearing the man with his sister.

"I'm Professor Angevin; I'm one of Aurelia's professors. She's become mine and a few of my colleagues' assistant. Is there something you need? Or can her attention be placed on the tasks at hand?" King's words started professional but quickly changed, becoming more and more irritated by the boy as the moments passed.