The Prince and His Pauper

Chapter 19: The Prince Not Himself

What the bloody hell is Cassiel doing here at my house?! Out of all the guests my mother invited, she had to invite Mrs. Fairbairn and her family! I thought by staying far from him, we wouldn't see each other. Now all of my work in keeping my distance from him was all for nothing. And Father was there! He has seen Cassiel and he knows that I already met him!

"A-Antonio?" Cassiel's soft voice interrupts my thoughts. How I managed to hear him from the loud music? I'm not sure. But it was definitely heavenly to hear his voice again after a month of not speaking to each other.

"Something on your mind?" I ask as I led him up the stairs toward the game room where I had my so called friends in.

"Um, yeah...... Listen, I-I know you're stuck with me b-but you don't have to babysit me..... I can go outside so you don't have watch me....." Cassiel suggests.

"No, it's fine. You're a guest here and in all honesty, Leo will snatch you away and to take you to another room. So until then, you're staying with me." I assure him, walking up to the door to the game room. Upon opening the door, Thomas shouts my name.

"Antonio! Where have you been?! You just missed out on my victory in beer pong!" Thomas yells with the rest of his goons chuckling. "Hey, who's that behind you?"

Looking over, I see Cassiel seeking shelter behind me. As though, he was attempting to hide himself from Thomas' gaze. But why? He has nothing to fear anymore. I'm here and I know for a fact Thomas won't lay a hand on him. "Another guest." I reply and took a side step to reveal Cassiel.

"Cassie?! You're here too?!" Thomas exclaims, heading towards us.

"His name is Cassiel, Thomas." I correct, restraining myself from snapping at him.

"Lighten up, Antonio. It's just a nickname." Angelica states while she follows after Thomas. "Who invited you, Cassie?" She practically snorts and I think see disdain in her eyes.

"And what in the world are you supposed to be? The king of all nerds?" Thomas chimes in as he circles him.

"I'm here with my parents......." Cassiel responds meekly. "As for my costume, I'm a character from a show that you won't know....."

That could explain why I never knew what he dressed up as when I first saw him. For a second, I thought he was wearing his regular clothes of a white crisps button shirt, black slacks, sleek black shiny shoes, a dark blue tie that is loosely made, a black blazer and a khaki trench coat over his clothes. I wonder what character is dressed as so?

"Aw, did Mommy brought you here on a play date?" Thomas teases in a baby like tone and went as far as pinching his cheek.

"Oh my god! Antonio, are you babysitting him?" Angelica questions in her annoying voice.

"It's not like that. Thomas, leave him alone already. He's my guest and if you're going to mistreat him like that then I'll have all the alcohol taken back to the kitchen." I threaten after seeing no sign of Thomas putting an end to his antics.

"I'm only joking around and Cassie doesn't mind, do you?" Thomas defends while turning to Cassiel's direction. He didn't respond in which I took that he didn't.

"Quit bothering him and go back to playing beer games." I command, having grown tired of being the mediator.

Thomas nods his head and returns back to his other teammates. Meanwhile, I felt a slight vibration in my pants pocket. I took out my phone and see that I received a text message from Natalia, who I have frequently been maintaining contact since my father's birthday ball. But I didn't the chance to read it because Angelica called for my attention.