Playing For Keeps

Part Seven

He went inside his house and we got back into unpacking everything. Samuelu bumped into me again. He looked really sorry at his clumsiness and him touching my arm sent goose bumps down my spine. There was something about him that made me feel funny.

"My bad, we've bought everything in now and your furniture is all set up. Just gotta unpack all the small boxes."

"Thank youse heaps. It would've taken us days to get everything set up."

They both smiled and got caught in my mums hugs. My dad tried giving them money for helping but they refused. After they left my parents were saying how happy they were with the new place and meeting new friends. Hours later me and my mum were still unpacking the kitchen stuff when the front door bell chimed. A pretty girl stood on the other end with a gentle smile carrying a big tray.

"Hi, I live next door. My mum sent me over to invite youse for dinner. She figured youse might be still unpacking and haven't eaten."

My dad came to the door and tried to refuse the offer because we all looked a mess and in need of a shower but our neighbor wouldn't take no for an answer. My mum caved in admitting we lost track of time and we hadn't eaten since this morning. We made our way next door to the backyard where Samuel and Kenai were cooking the bbq with their Spawnbreezie playing. The mum was setting the outdoor table up under the pergola when we went in. She whisked my mother straight inside to have some tea. Their dad called my dad over where he sat supervising the food with his beer. Handing my dad one. My parents looked happy. My dad especially looked pleased to see my mother found a good friend. Their sister took me inside to help her bring more food out. She was very nice and easy to get along with. I couldn't understand how she was so tiny and petite when her brothers were all giants. Within 20 minutes we were laughing so hard like we've been close friends for years. Breaking the ice when I freshed out asking if I should take the jug of 'Gordial' instead of cordial outside. Once everything was ready, we all sat down ready to eat. Their dad said grace and everyone dug in. Their sister asked her mum where Tavita was..

"Kalofae, ua lelava si o'u Kama."(My poor son is tired.)

Their sister didn't like hearing that. She stood up and made a plate for him and took it inside. I found the gesture sweet. This is what it's like to have brothers and sisters. The brothers were polite offering me different dishes and refilling my drink. The family was so nice to me and my parents and we'd only just moved in. While everyone ate, the sister came back out followed by a sleepy looking Tavita. His mum was so cute the way she coddled him.

"Aw son sau e ai."(come eat).

Tavita nodded but instead of sitting down to eat he walked up to shake my dads hand and then went to my mum an kissed her on the cheek to welcome them. Again all I got was a 'hey'. He sat next to his sister and under my lashes I watched as all 3 brothers always made sure their sister was ok. Without even asking I saw her look at the jug of drink. Samuel was saying something to his brothers, his back turned from his sister and without stopping what he was saying grabbed her glass to fill her drink up. How did he know she was thirsty when his back was turned? That was how it was with all of them. They stayed attentive and alert. His sister turned to me and asked if I ever go out.

"Um no not really. I went clubbing once with my cousins but that was a long time ago" I looked down so she couldn't see the hurt in my eyes. The night I met Mika..

"Well, my best friend is coming down from the Gold Coast this weekend. She's Kenai's Keige but we're planning on hitting Parra one night. You're welcome to join us if you want."

"I would be like a 3rd wheel"

"No you won't. Trust me it'll be fun. I haven't been out in ages. Oh and we're gonna say we're going movies. So my brothers don't tag along" tappin the side of her nose, I smiled and nodded in agreement.

We settled into our new house with ease. It was a bit of a trip to get to work but worth it.my parents were hardly ever home.they were either next door so my dad could play a game of pool with their dad or the neighbors were over ours. I got along famously with everyone except for Tavita. Kama seemed a little anal keeping to himself. Samuel always had a ready smile for me and it seemed to make my day. I know, cheesy!. Kenai's Keige arrived on Thursday and as soon as his sister could steal her away from him she brought her over to my house carrying pizza. We ate in the kitchen and I found Kenai's gf funny as hell. They begun talking about plans to go clubbing the next night. Jesse, Kenai's gf looked thoughtful.

"I heard there's a club named Levelz that is pretty popular. I always see it advertised in my newsfeed on fb. Lets go check it out." Tala (sister) was all for it so I agreed as well. They started going through a plausible excuse to give the boys. I couldn't help but ask

"Are youse not allowed to go clubbing? Are your brothers mean?" I started to think they were like Mika.

"Lmao it's not that. We can go wherever we want; But I know my brothers will find an excuse to show up. It's not that they don't trust me going out. They're over protective and it's not really fun clubbing when your brothers are breathing down your neck" Ah I see.

I'm glad they were nothing like Mika, especially Samuel. Once we had the plans sussed out the girls left to begin their plan. Friday night came and we all walked out of the house looking casual but still dressed up. The girls already letting the boys know we were going to a posh restaurant for dinner as a cover for why we were dressed up before hitting the movies. They seemed to have fallen for it. Our taxi pulled up and we went to get in. Samuel stopped me when he said

"You look beautiful Kaylana" I blushed and was grateful the sun was already going down.

"Thank you" got in the taxi and off we went. We headed to an Italian restaurant for dinner, where we ordered pre drinks before our food arrived. We laughed at how clever we were. When it hit 11:30, we started making our way to the club. Once inside the place was packed out. Dj Tickelz was Dj'n and we were on a happy buzz. We went to the bar, ordering more drinks before we headed to the dance floor. I was having the time of my life. The girls were the bomb to hang out with. Rejecting all the guys that approached us on the dance floor. One guy was insistent towards my neighbor and she was too busy laughing at his moves she couldn't push him away. Jesse and I had our own to get rid of. The guy who tried rubbing up on Tala suddenly stopped, putting his hands up to say he didn't want any trouble. He moved away. We turned behind us to see what scared him away and we nearly screamed in fear...

Standing there was Samuel, Kenai and Tavita along with a bunch of other guys. Not one of 'em were smiling and that's what scared us hahaha. We were SPRUNG BIG TIME!!