Invited

Chapter 31: First Day

Kite had just fallen asleep when he was abruptly woken up by the ringtone of his phone receiving an incoming call. His eyes shot open and followed the sound to his phone on the nightstand next to him. He looked to the other side of the bed to see the sun brightly lighting his room through the balcony. He turned back to the phone still ringing, waiting for it to stop. Once it did stop, he closed his eyes again and returned to his sleep. He was able to get a moment of peace, but whoever was calling him insisted that he answer. The phone rang again, this time with a seemingly louder tone.

Groaning at the noise, Kite felt around for his phone without opening his eyes once. He managed to find his phone and bring it forward to him. He peeked with one eye to see the caller, and to his annoyance, it read "Xander". He decided to answer the phone, leaving Xander to talk first.

"A very good morning to you! Are you ready for today?!" Xander enthusiastically screamed into the phone.

Kite put his phone on speaker, placing it next to him on the bed. He turned himself onto his stomach and buried his face into his pillow once more.

"Hello? You there? I can hear you move." Xander continued to scream into the phone, this time louder than before. "I know you're in there."

Ignoring Xander, Kite begrudgingly got up from the bed, taking the phone with him. He put it on his desk next to the book he got the night before.

"I'm up. What do you want?"

"To wake you up. I want to be there early."

Kite started to undress himself, first taking off his shirt. He shivered from the cold air that hit his back. "I'll be ready in 20 minutes. Go make yourself busy."

"No! I'll wait outside your room!" Xander yelled, his scrambling footsteps could be heard through the call and the wall connecting their rooms.

The call clicked to an end at the opening of Xander's door, with Kite still getting undressed. He went to the connecting bathroom for a quick shower. As he exited the bathroom, hair dripping wet, he heard Xander hopping around outside his door as he dried himself off. He slipped on clothes and shoes as quickly as he could. After getting his shoes tied, he swiped his phone off the desk and placed it into his pocket. He then grabbed the book and folder from last night, and headed out to the hallway.

He was met with Xander swinging his arms in a running position, and watched as he took off down the hall, nearly running into Saber. Saber expertly dodged out of the way, jumping flawlessly to the side and avoided Xander.

Unfortunately for Xander, this dodge caused him to head straight into the wall. He stopped himself from colliding into the hard surface, his hand reaching out to hold him far from disaster.

"Again?" A voice asked from behind.

Xander turned to see Basilisk holding onto a book and standing by Minerva's open door. Minerva had peeked her head out into the hallway, folder in hand, which she handed to Basilisk.

Xander laughed nervously, "What do you mean again?"

Basilisk left the question unanswered, and stared straight at the wall. Minerva also looked at Xander standing awkwardly at an angle outside her room, his hand still on the wall.

Xander pulled his hand off the wall, and looked back at Kite. Kite shook his head and walked past Xander. He was the first on the stairs, but paused halfway down his descent.

"Where?" Kite asked, still standing on the stairs.

Saber briskly walked around the group by Minerva's room and went in front of Kite. He motioned for Kite to follow, "This way."

Minerva also followed, with Basilisk trailing not far behind her. Basilisk took one quick look at Xander, still standing there dumbfounded.

"You coming?" Basilisk asked Xander.

Xander snapped out of his trance and quickly ran down the stairs, dashing past Basilisk. "Absolutely!"

He reached Kite and Saber, who were waiting by the guest house door, and slammed himself onto Kite's shoulders, bringing the taller male down to his height. Kite barely struggled against Xander's sudden attack, but still fought against being pulled down.

"What are you doing by the door? Let's go!" Xander continued to swing on Kite's shoulders, holding on firmly to avoid falling face first again.

"Energetic one, isn't he?" Basilisk asked behind the group, finally arriving himself to the door.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go..." Xander wailed to the group, still continuing to hold onto Kite.

The group exited the guest house, and made their way through the courtyard to the main estate. Saber guided them into a large hallway in the middle of the estate, which at one end had large wooden double doors. One door was open for those around to see the inside. The walls in that room were decorated with massive paintings, with windows reaching the ceiling, and elegant golden drapes covered every inch of those large windows. In the middle of the room, a dining table fitted to seat at least two dozen people was filled with food piled high on each plate.

Xander happily rushed inside, circling the table to inspect every corner. Everyone else followed, except for Kite, into the room and sat themselves down at the table. Kite stalled, waiting outside for a moment.

Xander called out to him, inviting Kite into the room with frantic waving.

Kite moved slightly forward towards the room, before two figures down the hall caught his eye.

One of them being Layla, as she had just descended down the stairs with an older woman that Kite couldn't recognize. He watched as the two of them walked out of his small view, and disappeared from his sight.

He shook his head to escape the thoughts coming through. None of my business what she does.