Hex

Chapter 2

The tall, brick apartment building loomed in front of me, staring me down like I was just a small, trouble-making child. I was intimidated, and I kind of just wanted to scurry away with my tail between my legs and beg my parents for forgiveness.

Instead, I took a deep breath, adjusted my backpack strap, then pushed the door open. I lugged my bags up the two flights of stairs to the third floor, struggling the entire time. By the time I knocked on the door of apartment 321, I was out of breath, disheveled, and a little sweaty.

The door swung open, revealing a tall, attractive brunette. He appeared amused, as he watched me catch my breath and attempt to fix myself. He had an adorable smirk on his handsome face, his brown eyes staring down at me, as if I was a source of entertainment for him.

"Hey, Vienna?"

"Uh, yeah. Hi, nice to, uh, meet you," I breathed out, trying my best to appear as normal as possible. The strap of my backpack slid down my arm, and I sheepishly fixed it, before shooting him a smile and reaching out my hand to shake his.

"Yeah, you too. So, why are you so out of breath?" He leaned against the door frame and tilted his head at me, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Lots of stairs. Lots of things to carry. Not athletic at all."

"There's an elevator, you know," he laughed.

"Yeah, I know, I just like exercise," I said, rolling my eyes. He lifted an eyebrow, obviously not believing me. I sighed. "Alright fine, but I know now. Can I just come in already?"

"Oh yeah, right. I'm Bishop, by the way. We talked on the phone." He opened the door, and I followed him inside. The room was relatively large, with a long couch on top of a gray carpet pointed towards a TV showing a football game. Against the far wall in the living room was a small piano, which made me happy, though I didn't know how to play. Just the prospect of one of them may be musical was exciting.

Connected to the living room was a small kitchen, with a peninsula and bar stools. There was one brick wall, with the TV mounted on to it, and the other three were a shade of light blue. Between the kitchen and living room was the doorway to a hall, with several doors on each side of it.

Three boys sat on the couch, their bodies tense and their focus zeroed in on the screen. "Guys! Hey, guys!" Bishop called, trying to get their attention. "She's here."

All of their eyes snapped towards me. "Hi!" I said, a little too loud and eagerly. I cleared my throat. "Uh, I'm Vienna." A little calmer this time. I gave a little awkward wave.

"Told you she was gonna be hot," the boy in the middle said, elbowing the boy to his left. "Hey baby." He winked at me. He was shirtless for some reason, wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants. He had blue eyes and messy brown hair, with a smile that made it seem like he was in on a joke and you weren't.

"Keep it in your pants, dude," Bishop chuckled. He picked up a pillow and chucked it at his roommate. "So, that's Zane Leonard, he, uh, he's just like that, sorry." He pointed to the boy in the middle that had just spoken. "On the left is Finn Jett, and on the right is my brother, Danny. He's still in high school and doesn't actually live here, but for some reason, he's always around."

Finn had curly brown hair that hung just above his shoulders. He was dressed in all black and looked at me judgingly, as if I just wasn't up to his standard.

"Shut up, you know you love me," Danny said, turning back to the television. He had a bed head of light brown hair and charming boyish features. "It's good to meet you, Vienna. Why are you named after the capital of Austria?"