Morituro

Going the distance

I sit at breakfast slurping the last of the fresh pressed orange juice and chewing on my avocado on toast. The sun shines through the windows, lighting up the whole house. As I'm about to get up Angelo enters.

"The devil's in my kitchen, how grand. I thought the devil at least wore Prada."He snaps at me, probably still sour from last night.

"You're just a ray of sunshine in the morning ,aren't you?" I smile sweetly at him, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Someone laughs behind me. I turn around in my chair almost immediately, surprise over takes me when two girls stare back.

The one is blonde , tall and beautiful. A model for sure. The other has dark hair with a kind of mysterious beauty. Her features are delicate and soft ,but her unreadable expression shows me you can't just make assumptions.

The one that laughed was the blonde. She walks forward towards me with confidence. She's the kind of girl you envy. The girl you dream of being or the girl you're "supposed" to dream of being. The closer she comes the more I take her features into consideration. She's got a button nose and bright eyes. She had that kind of plastic surgery, Barbie perfection. Not that I'm saying she had any plastic surgery although,  she is rich.

"I'm Valentine Montgomery, but everyone calls me Val. Except for Little Mr. Sunshine over there." She laughs wickedly. Winking at Angelo as he rolls his eyes.

"I'm sorry he can really be groan sometimes. The longer you know him the better he becomes. I promise." Her full lips quirk into a genuine smile.

"Oh, please. I'm the nicest person you've ever met ,Valentine!" Angelo laughs along. For once he actually seems tolerable.

"My name is Kei Wilder. I'm Angelos... half sister, I guess." My smile is friendly but guarded.

"Oh we know all about the infamous Kei Wilder." Says Val. I begin to grow defensive. " After the chandelier fiasco last night. Lou, over there has a real grudge on you." She giggles uncontrollably. I begin to loosen up again, seeing as she is just joking around.

"Please could you not tell this stranger all about me! She could be a psychopath for all we know!" Angelo shakes his head and throws his hands up dramatically in the air.

"Oh please, me being a psychopath is the least of your worries. Do you realize how much you remind me of a albino rat?!" I growl.

There's an outbreak of laughter as the whole room including Angelo laugh hysterically at my comment.

"That was priceless!" Val says wiping tears from her eyes.

I laugh uncertainly along with the others, until I realize I don't know one of the girls names. She looks Korean but I can't assume.

Angelo introduces us, " Kei this is Ji hee Kim. We call her Jiji. She doesn't talk much at all. Although she's a great listener. I mean you can tell her any of your deepest, darkest secrets. She's like a walking diary but she keeps secrets even better than a diary would."

I greet her kindly but internally I'm intrigued by the description. Why doesn't she talk? Is she an introvert or can she physically not speak? The questions zoom through my head like a jet ski, that I don't even take notice when Angelo speaks.

"Ugh, today we have to go shopping with Kei to get her some new clothes. Kei ! Kei! Are you in there?" I get pulled from my reverie as He screams right into my ear. I refrain from leaving a bright red mark on his fair skin.

"My favourite pastime.Where shall we go?" Asks Val excitedly, walking towards Angelo and draping a long arm on his shoulder casually ,but my observantions find that it's anything but.