The Dark One

V

I Don't Know Why - Imagine Dragons

The cake was delicious needless to say.

It was a nice raspberry chocolate flavored cake, which was my all time favorite. I don't know how or if she knew that, but I wasn't complaining; it was amazing. I couldn't remember the last time, or any time, that I had a birthday party. If only there was alcohol... Ana and Mr. Stathakis both enjoyed the cake as well, but I had most of it. I didn't care, it was my birthday cake. I suddenly heard someone come through the front door and heard a shout.

"What's going on around here?" a man yelled.

"It's the birthday party, remember?" a woman responded in tow.

"Oh, right," the man said as both appeared in the kitchen. A tall man with a beard and short blondish hair came in with a woman shorter than me following. He appeared to be about Mr. Stathakis' height and had bright green eyes. The woman had short platinum blond hair in a bob-like cut with ocean blue eyes. She also looked very pale to her tan counterpart next to her. The man appeared to be Mr. Stathakis' age, while the woman looked to be about mine and Ana's.

"Is this the birthday girl?" the man asked. He suddenly wrapped his arm around me and gave me a side hug. "Happy birthday, filos mou!"

"Nikolaos Nikitas!" Ana shouted angrily. He instantly cringed as she hit him in the arm. I laughed awkwardly as he let go. I instinctively went over to Mr. Stathakis for safety. New people were scary, which meant these were the roommates that Ana mentioned. I felt a hand wrap around my waist to pull me towards them and knew it was him. Shivers went down my spine as he did that, but I didn't budge. I didn't know these people and I needed trust. The man put his hands up in defense.

"I just wanted to say happy birthday!" he exclaimed. Ana hit him in the arm again.

"Introduce yourself first, kólos," she said angrily.

"I am Nik," he stated while holding his hand out, "I am one of the roommates that Ana had mentioned."

"I figured," I stated while taking his hand nervously, noticing the grip tighten from Mr. Stathakis. The woman leaned forward after he let go.

"I am Desdemona," she stated with a smile. I took her hand as well.

"Margaret," I replied with a small smile. She let go and I could still feel Mr. Stathakis' grip on me. I placed my hand on his and he instantly let go. Desdemona and Nik both grabbed a piece of cake as well as they all began to chatter amongst themselves. It was interesting to see Ana be so flustered by Nik; she was normally the one teasing. It felt nostalgic being here with these people. It reminded me of that dream. I wondered if perhaps we had done this before. Something inside me felt safe within this group. Suddenly, the sound of the door opening in the foyer came again.

"Ah, that must be Kali!" Nik stated with a smile. I heard clacking of heels as the person approached us in the kitchen area. A tall woman with long flowing brown hair appeared before us. She also had brown eyes with a nice dress on. Her makeup looked gorgeous as she stood there with a smile as her eyes landed on me.

"Hello, filos mou," she began, "I am Kali, the last of the roommates."

She reached her hand out as I took it, "Margaret."

"I heard our Anastasia was bringing a new friend over and was hoping to meet you," she said, her eyes swirling with chocolate brown and caramel. I'd only seen Mr. Stathakis' eyes do that, so I was intrigued by her already. Suddenly her grip tightened and she clasped her other hand over mine, "I am very glad you decided to come."

"She gave me no choice," I responded deadpanned, "My mother usually doesn't let me out and about, but she actually said yes this time."

"Of course," she said as she let go. We continued our chatter as I learned more about the roommates. Nik and Desdemona both were college students and Kali worked in some sort of office. She seemed to be more mature than the rest of them, besides Mr. Stathakis of course. I found out his name is Ian from them. I still saw him as my teacher however, so I wasn't sure if I should call him that. It seemed like a weird bunch, but they worked together well.