Velvet Walls

Chap.10, An Unexpected Friend.

It's the next morning. I'm about to walk out of my room in my pajamas and go upstairs for breakfast, when I realize I'm still wearing Donivan's sweatshirt. I quickly backtrack and change into something else. 

It's just me and the girls today. The guys have a meeting for work, and Mir has a soccer game, which is a long drive. It's 8am on a Saturday, so of course Adrijana and Susa are still asleep. Delia, Lorah, Breanah and I sit at the round table upstairs for breakfast. 

"So, what do us girls wanna do today?" Delia asks.

We all think for a moment.

Lorah perks up with an idea, "Viola, have you ever played Tennis?"

"Not for a long time. I'm not sure I even remember how."

Lorah's face lights up with excitement. "We can teach you!" 

"Yeah, you need to learn. I need someone to practice with." Breanah chimes in.

Delia nods, "Tennis is a great idea! We can play at the country club. Hopefully the courts aren't too busy today." 

"You guys belong to a country club?"

Why does that not surprise me? 

"There's not much else to do around here, in case you haven't noticed already." Breanah points out. 

I laugh, "True." 

It's a bit of a drive to get to the country club, as expected. D'von drives us, Delia sits up front. I sit in the back with Lorah, Breanah between us. Lorah looks thoughtfully out the window, and Breanah is talking to me about something Tennis related. I'm only half listening because I can barely hear her over Susa and Adrijana singing along loudly to ABBA in the middle seats. 

We arrive at the club. The girls explain the rules of Tennis to me. It's pretty simple, and the memory of how to play comes back to me once we're actually in a game. 

"You did great!" Breanah tells me once we're done.

"You weren't half bad." Says Susa, which makes me smile sheepishly. With Breanah I could say she's just being nice, but Susa's pretty blunt.

"Thanks, you guys." 

"We should really do that again sometime." Says Delia, wiping sweat off her forehead.

Lorah nods in agreement.

We eat lunch at the food court, and head home. I decide to take a shower before the boys come home, because something about the thought of Donivan or Alistair seeing me sweaty and gross makes my stomach turn in an uncomfortable way. 

I definitely feel much better after showering. I'm coming upstairs when the guys come home from their meeting. Mr. Dervishi gives me a friendly smile.

"Hello, Viola." He half waves.

I smile back. "Hello."

Donivan gives me a grin as he walks in, "Look who it is." 

Alistair brushes past both of us, not even bothering to look at me, so much as greet me. I stare at the stairs that he disappeared up for a second, in shock of his rudeness. I sigh and turn back to Donivan, he's obviously still in a bad mood. Oh well, if wants to go pout in his room I'm not going to stop him. 

"God. Is it just me, or has he had a stick up his ass all week?" Donivan asks.

"I've definitely noticed. I don't think he likes me very much." 

"I can't think of any reason he wouldn't." Donivan gives me that look again. 

This cannot end well.