The Butterfly Effect

In With The New

After Arionna left I sat in the kitchen staring at my Beauty and the Beast mug waiting for Anthony to come. I was easily fascinated watching the water change colors. The swirl of watching the milk and honey put me in a trance until I heard the front door open. The sound of the heels against the hardwood floor let me know that it was my Aunt. Probably coming home from work, she was always working so late. But she loved her job, so I couldn't blame her. 

"Working late again?" I asked as she approached the kitchen.

"Staring at the wonders of tea again?" She laughed. "Um actually no. I was on a date."

"Oo la la." I perked up. "Where did you go?" 

"Urasawa." She smiled.

"Wow. That fancy sushi place. So when do I get to meet Monsieur Olsen?" I laughed I was so happy that at least one of us had an amazing love life. She had been dating detective Olsen for a couple of months now and  it was probably time she brought him home to meet Sirissac and I.

"How about next weekend? I was thinking maybe you could cook for us and Sirissac." She said hopefully. I loved to cook, and there was no way I would miss an opportunity to cook for her new beau. 

"Oui! Claro que si. I know just what I'll make too." 

"One language at a time love." She laughed. "What are you doing down here by the way?"

"I'm waiting for Anthony. I'm going to let him know that Ari is going to try to ask him out first, so he needs to get a move on." I laughed. I could've taken my own advice but hey friends first. 

"So sweet, I see." There was a knock on the door. "That must be Anthony, let him know that the best way through that girls heart is probably her stomach." She chuckled as she headed toward her room. 

Arionna loved to eat, I'm a chef in training and I loved to eat but that girl, she could demolish a tub of cookies in like two minutes. A tub of cookies. That gave me an idea. I ran to get the door and saw Anthony standing outside with Damien. "Didn't see that coming." I whispered. "You do know Arionna's not here right now."

"Yes...?" He said sounding confused.

"Come in guys." I laughed. Knowing Anthony he probably misinterpreted my messages. "You want some cookies?" I asked gesturing them toward the kitchen. 

"Only if you made them." Anthony joked while looking around. 

"No Melissa did, but I promise they're really good this time." I went to the fridge and poured them both a glass of milk. 

"So what's the plan Sri?" Damien asked looking at me a little bit too suspiciously. 

 "We all know how much Ari likes food right? So I was thinking that you could make her like a three course meal. But we all know you  can't cook and if I cooked for you Ari would know. So then I thought maybe if you bounced some of your ideas off me, it would help inspire me." I said all too quickly not realizing I kind of sounded like a control freak.

"Sri look at me." He smirked while gesturing to himself. "After you told me she was already making a plan, I came up with one on the spot."

"Oh really? What is it?" I perked up.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He laughed.

"C'mon you have to tell me. I helped you!" I protested

"You'll hear all about it, just not from me." I assumed he meant Arionna would tell me everything. 

"Ugh so what did you come over for?" I asked angrily taking a sip of my tea.

"For the free cookies of course." Anthony laughed while taking another bite. "Now c'mon it's horror movie time, I'll go start the popcorn machine. Is E home yet? I haven't seen that little man in a couple of days." He said while walking toward the stairs. 

I forgot it was horror movie night. My short term memory had been terrible lately. "Uh yeah, he's already asleep. I think his day at the carnival really tired him out." I laughed "Oh to be young again."

"You do realize there's only a three year age difference right?" Damien said while raising an eyebrow at me.

"Ha. Ha. Ha...Hey Damien so I was actually wondering. You know how we're all from Paris right?"

"Um-"He hesitated "Yes?"

"Do you ever think that maybe, it's a coin-"

"Siryah?" I was interrupted by my little brother who had apparently woken up. He was walking toward the kitchen. 

"Yeah E?" 

"Is Anthony here? I thought I heard his voice." He asked with an excited look on his face.

"Yeah he's in the theater, setting up." 

"I can't believe I almost missed horror movie night." He said while running downstairs.

"What were you going to say?" Damien asked.

"Oh, I don't remember." I laughed.

"Does it ever make you jealous?" Damien asked

"Does what?" I asked a little confused.

"How much Sirissac admires Anthony. I always wanted a sibling." When I turned to look at Damien he actually looked a little sad.

"I'm sure E considers you as an older brother too." I said hoping Damien wouldn't realize that I was lying.

"You think so?"

"Yeah...totally.

"You know you never were a good liar." Damien laughed

"I am a fantastic liar!" I shouted while laughing. "You're just really good at reading my facial expressions." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"That's what happens when you grow up next to someone who's terrible at hiding their facials. How did you not know where I lived by the way?" He laughed "As much as we all hang out-"

"But only at my house!" I shot back "It's like my place is the permanent set of some family TV show, like That 70s Show." I did feel a little dumb. Arionna even knew where Damien lived. How was I so clueless? 

"So does that mean you all wanna have scary movie night at my place?" He asked curiously.

"Considering we'd all be outside...Maybe when watching a movie out there won't feel like we're in the inside of a refrigerator." He had a outdoor theater at his place, which was kind of like going to the drive in. I laughed teasingly.  Which is something I naturally always felt comfortable doing with Damien. "Let's go before they start the movie without us, because you know they will."

As I started to walk away I heard my phone chime and I realized I left it on the island. "Hey can you grab my phone? It's probably Ari." I looked at my watch and saw that the notification wasn't from Arionna. I turned to look at Damien who stood holding my phone out toward me. 

I had just got a text from my new friend Derrick. I guess he finally made a decision because he sent a text saying 'I'm in.'