Janis Sarkisian and the absolutely, unbelievably perfect family

Damian

I wake up to a dark room, the sound of voices coming from downstairs and the strong smell of fresh baked bread floating up the stairs. My stomach growls aggressively and I sigh, knowing I can't just roll over and go back to sleep, I'm going to have to face the world eventually and it would be rude if I completely rejected every effort this family made. Even if I'm not going to be here for very long.

I pull myself off the bed and flick on the lights, using the mirror nailed to the wall by the door to check my appearance and deciding that my hair, although slightly ruffled from sleep, doesn't look as bad as it should considering I just woke up. I tug at the hem of my shirt and pull my skirt down slightly so it falls more naturally to the space a little above my knees. Mr Anderson had chosen my clothes for me and often times they had been pretty revealing, this shirt and skirt combo being a mixture of the only decent clothing I had time to slip on before I was handed over to Mrs Norbury.

I open my door, flinching when it creaks and the voices beneath me ceace for a moment before picking back up again. I pad down the stairs, thankful that I hadn't put my boots on before and am practically silent on my decent. If I have to run later going back to grab them will be impractical but I'll cross that bridge if it comes to it.

The lights in the kitchen are on so I follow their warm glow all the way into the warm room, the smell making my mouth water as soon as I enter and making my stomach growl loudly.

There are two people in the kitchen, one sat on one of the island stools, talking animatedly about something I can't quite hear. And the other, Mrs Hubbard, stood by the oven, preparing to pull a tray of lasagne out and nodding along to what was being said with a fond smile.

I stop by the entryway, hopeing that they won't spot me for a few more minutes just so I can get a measure of the kind of people they are. Unfortunately I've never been that lucky, Mrs Hubbard notices me with a startled kind of pleasure and places the tray she was holding down on the side, walking towards me with a happy smile.

"There you are Janis, I was just about to come get you for dinner. Did you settle in alright? All unpacked?" She ushers me in with an arm behind my back without actually touching me.

I feel blush rise into my cheeks at the questions and stare at the ground as we walk, shaking my head ashamedly, "I haven't unpacked yet." I mutter, "I fell asleep." Then out of caution I add, "Sorry." To the end. Still not entirely sure of how Mrs Hubbard will react to me disobeying her.

She smiles softly, "That's alright dear. There's always Tommorow. Besides a little sleep never hurt anyone." She leads me over to one of the island stools, making sure I am sat down with a glass of water before going back to her cooking.

Taking a sip of the water I turn to the boy sat next to me and send a nervous nod in his direction as a way to show him I'm not completely ignoring him. Mrs Hubbard seems to jump at this and presses a hand to her forehead with a humoured smile playing at her lips, "Goodness I almost forgot, Janis this is my son, Damian. Damian, this is Janis, the newest member of our family.

I peer up at Damian again, taking a longer look at his face. He's smiling happily, his blue eyes glittering Just like his mother's, his cheeks are even flushed the same red colour. The only difference is the colour of their hair. Damians is a dusty blond colour whereas Mrs Hubbard has dark hair which contrasts strikingly against her eyes. My head swims for a second as I take in just how attractive this entire family is, if I wasn't aggressively gay and not that type of girl, I would be all over Damian I'm sure.

I smile at him and put a hand out for him to shake, I've never really met a boy that I wasn't intimidated by or immediately hit on my so I'm not to sure of how to act, "Its nice to meet you." I say as loudly as my vocal cords will allow, which on reflection wasn't very loud at all.

Damian took my hand in his soft, warm ones, shaking it once and squeezing it gently as if he could sense my nerves, then he released me, turning back to his mother and finishing the conversation.

"Mr Jenkins said that if I'm going to play the lead in this year's show I might have to pair off with a girl and I'm just not sure how I feel about it. I mean he knows I'm gay, it's not like it's a secret. Why would he make me the lead if he knew that?" He asked, tapping on the side of the glass in front of him and frowning.

"People tend to try to change what they don't understand." I found myself blurting out before I'd even thought about whether I should inturupt the conversation, "Its human nature. Talk to your teacher again and he'll change it for you. You might not still be the lead though."

Both Damian and Mrs Hubbard stared at me for a moment before smiling at me in the exact same surprised way, "Thanks. That's actually pretty smart." Damian grinned, nodding his head as if to agree with me even more than he already had.

Mrs Hubbard set a plate down in front of each of us with a slice of lasagne on it, my stomach growled again and I felt my cheeks flush red as it did so, "Janis, Mrs Norbury said that she expects you to behave and that she'll see you for the check in in a month." Mrs Hubbard said as she sat down opposite Damian with her own plate of food and began eating.

I waited untill both Damian and Mrs Hubbard were eating before beginning, rolling my shoulder a little to get rid of the stiffness that had formed there from sleeping on it after injuring it. Mrs Hubbard frowned at me, "Are you hurt dear?" We asked, placing her fork down on her plate and leaning forward slightly.

I shook my head, my brain telling me to lie, "No, I uh just slept on it funny." I said, filling my mouth with food before she could ask me any more questions and looking down at my plate.

Once we finished dinner Mrs Hubbard sent me and Damian upstairs to get ready for bed which I thought was a bit weird seem as we were both 14 and neither of us really needed to be told what to do. She brushed off Damians objections stating that, "We are going to be up early Tommorow. I've got some shopping to do and we need to get some decorations for Janis's room."

I felt like objecting but was immediately shut down by the hopeful look of Mrs Hubbard's face, I'd see if I could object more tommorow, but I had only just arrived and it wasn't worth fighting with them now.

Closing my door behind me I sighed, resting my head against it's smooth wooden surface. It was turning out to be a lot harder than I thought to not like these people. 

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That's all folks!

We've got another character introduction in the next chapter (I'll give you three guesses as to who it is?), but for now I hope you enjoyed and I'll talk to you all...whenever I actually publish the next chapter...

We'll never know...