The Art of Stealing Hearts (On Hold)

3. The one like Home Alone

~|Chapter 3|~
•The one like Home Alone•

"Who are you and what have you done to Aaron?"

   I'd retreated to my new room after the confrontation with the guys. Since I had nothing to do, I figured unpacking might kill some time. But it turned out that Aaron's stuff was still in this room, so I gave up the unpacking idea. Instead, I opted for collecting my art supplies from my bag, which was turning out to be quite a difficult task as all the things were lying in the deepest, darkest corners of the bag.

I turned to see a kid with a stuffed rabbit standing at the door. He had curly hair and looked at me with wide eyes.

"I'm Johanna," I told him. "I'm going to stay in Aaron's room for sometime."

"I'm Milo," he said. "I don't really tell strangers my name, but if you're staying here then I guess we won't be strangers." He hugged his rabbit to himself.

"No, I don't think we'll be strangers for long." I beckoned Milo to join me, which he did. "I was just speaking to your brothers-"

"You've already met them?" Milo interrupted. "Do you like them?"

Ignoring his second question, I focused on the first. "I met Chase, Tyler, Aaron and the triplets. And you, of course. But I still haven't met the others." I helped Milo up on my bed.

"Meaning Jake, Drew and Dylan, Levi, Wes and Hunter," Milo sang. "Are you excited to meet them?"

"I don't know," I shrugged, "maybe. Tell me, do Drew and Dylan look exactly alike? It was hard to tell between Brandon, Brian and-"

What was with me forgetting all names? First with Mary and now with the triplet, seriously what's wrong with me?

"Brody," Milo helped me out. "But maybe you shouldn't call him that. He hates his name."

"And why is that?" I asked. Brody didn't sound bad to me. It wasn't hard to pronounce, nor was it weird. As compared to the guy back home, whose name was Decimal (and I'm talking about his first name), Brody was infinitely better.

"You'll find out soon enough." Milo smiled; he enjoyed keeping a secret, I realised. "Speaking of names, yours is so long. Don't you have a nickname?"

"Back at home, everyone calls me Anna," I told Milo.

He scrunched up his nose. "I can't call you Anna. She's a girl in my school and she's my enemy."

Who thought a four-year-old would already have an enemy?

"Can I call you Joey?" Milo asked.

Joey? Not so sure about that. I'd rather not have another nickname. As I opened my mouth to say no, Milo gave me his puppy dog eyes. I laughed, admitting defeat. "Okay."

Milo grinned. "I knew you couldn't resist me."

I had a feeling he picked up that line from one of his elder brothers. Tyler maybe?

"Mom said you were staying here," a voice called out as six boys piled into my new room.

I held my breath when I realised that they were no less gorgeous than Chase or Tyler or Aaron. The guy who had spoken looked about my age, a younger version of Tyler.