11:11 [ pewdiepie ]

XVI. kids

Felix decided to sit down at one of the steps of the stairs to catch his breath. When they saw this, they all followed suit. Dawn sat beside him, Jack on the other side and Mark beside Jack.

"That was fun!" Dawn exclaimed, being cheerful as ever. They all smiled at her gleefully.

"Why don't you go take a shower before you catch colds?" Felix suggested, nudging her with his shoulder.

"Okay," Dawn nodded and stood up. She started skipping.

"Oy, be careful. You might slip and crack your head," Felix jested. Dawn shouted another okay as an answer. Mark and Jack smiled.

Felix then stared at the roses, water dripping from his hair to his face. His smile vanished.

"Do you guys really think we can keep Dawn hidden from her father forever?" Felix asked, making his friends look at him, but he kept his eyes on the white petals. "Why do I have a feeling that we can't?"

"Why would you say that?" Mark asked, his brown eyes searching for answers.

"I mean, after the summer ends, doesn't she need to go back to school? Then if I enrolled her in any of the schools here, won't things get complicated?" Felix sighed.

Jack patted his back, "Let's not worry about that yet, shall we?"

Then all of a sudden, he looked like an idea popped out of his head and he slapped Felix's back, "What about we think of a way to get her father in prison. With that, it's easier to find a way to take Dawn in our custody. How about that?"

Felix and Mark stared at him, flabbergasted.

"What?" he asked, perplexed.

"Woah, Jack..." Mark uttered.

"Who would've thought that a person people call as a 'smol bean' could think of something so wicked," Felix said, air-quoting.

Seconds passed before Mark recovered from his utter speechlessness, "But you know what, Jack have a point. Let's not worry about that for now. There's still a long way to go before school starts. Let's just live in the moment for the meanwhile."

A sneeze interrupted their talk. They all looked at Jack who was rubbing his nose.

"Oh, this child needs to take a shower already," Felix said, making him and Mark chuckle.

•••

Mark walked out of the bathroom with a borrowed towel over his wet hair. He was about to open the bedroom door when he heard a phone vibrating on the top of the drawer. He looked at it and saw the caller.

He snatched the phone and quickly went to the living room to give it to Felix.

"Hey, Ken's calling," he said, giving the cellphone to its owner. Felix took it and swiped his thumb across the screen to answer the call.

He stood up, walking away a few steps, "Hello?... I'm good! How 'bout you?... News?... Put it on loudspeaker?... Wait, how did you know they're here?..."

Mark and Jack was eavesdropping when Felix turned to face them. Dawn was watching the movie happily.

Felix moved the phone away from his ear and pressed the loudspeaker button. "You're on," he said, walking back to the couch.