Palace in the Woods

7

It has been 3 days since I got here. Pia stays with me most of the time. And the occasional checking and, according to Pia, "nagging" of Papa was there. And Aaron still gives me his death glares.

The house is quiet today. Pia did not wake me up at 6AM to watch Umagang Kayganda which kinda freaked me out a bit and caused me to sleep until 12PM.

After eating lunch, I drank a glass of milk from the fridge. I  was gulping the content when I noticed the pink note with glitters stuck on the fridge:

Mia,

Dad and I are going to the mall for supplies. Please take care of Aaron for us. You can start your tutoring class today but Daddy said you can start it next week.

P.S. Aaron loves games. Don' t let that dweeb boss you around! Good luck! xoxo
P.S. No. 2. Dad insists to include his greetings so: Dad says hi. :D

Love,
P

Aaron loves games.

My forehead crinkled. What could she mean by that?

I ignored that part and decided to contemplate whether to give Aaron his week- long summer or not.

Half an Hour later I found myself standing outside his room which is decorated with a neat red sidewalk sign "Keep Off". Mind you, it really took time finding this door. It was on the other side of the hall from mine, I had to walk about 5 km to get there. I passed about 30 doors before reaching it and I' m not even exaggerating. I even think there were more if I had just focused in counting.

Tss, rich kids and their overspending.

Anyway, I decided to get to know Aaron more today. I wouldn' t want to spoil his summer. Besides, tutoring does not officially start until next week. And just because my summer sucks, does not mean I should drag him along the suckiness.

I knocked plenty of times. When I was sure he was not going to answer, I opened the door and permitted myself to enter. I saw his back on me, ducking.

"Hey. I know this sucks for you but can we get along? I'll be living under your roof for 4 months. Don' t you think it' ll be awkward if we don' t consider ourselves friends? So I was thinking. What do you say about having this day as somewhat a get- to- know- you day? "

No reaction

"Eyy? Are we good with that? " I asked hopefully but still no answer. I got closer while I spoke convincing statements until I' ve had enough.

I grabbed his shoulder, causing him to face me.

He seemed startled at first but recovered quickly. His face quickly turned into annoyance.

"What?" and he got his earplugs off of his ears.

Great. I was actually talking to myself the whole duration I was here. I am so not going to ever repeat those words. EVER.

So instead, I said, " Aaron, let' s be acquaintances. Please."

He looked at me for a very long time.

"In one condition. You have play with me first." he said with a smirk. I get the feeling that I will not like where this is going.

But I have no choice. I read somewhere that to have a fruitful coexistence with others they must be harmonious at work so as to avoid conflicts.

With that, and after I puffed out a very heavy breath, I nodded yes.

His smile got wider. Let me rephrase that, his EVIL SMILE GOT MORE MORE DEVILISH.  I gulped. Somehow I feel that I am so gonna regret this decision later on.

He quickly led me to the back of the palace where it was even more creepy than the front.

I should have expected what would have happened next by now but I still felt my eyes slightly bulge and all my hairs stood up in his next words.

"We are gonna play Hide and Seek."

I gulped a lump of nervousness.