Chapter 2: Initiation

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"Alright Annabelle, you want to live here, right?" Ash asked.

"Um, well, I don't really have a choice-"

"You want to live here, right?" he repeated.

"Y-yes," I said confused.

"Then you'll have to do the acceptance ritual to prove that you belong here, to prove that you can be one of us," he said. Um! What?! It's either this or being homeless, plus I honestly loved being here.

I was obviously confused. "Do you Annabelle think that you can be one of us?" he asked.

"Uh," I was scared that I was getting myself into something bad, but then I realized, if I'm going to live here, I do want to be one of them. I want to be one of the guys. I need to do whatever it takes to prove that I am one of them. "Yes," I finally said. They began to get up from the table.

"Great, get in your swimsuit," Ash said. I looked at him blankly with a "seriously?" look. "Or stay in all your clothes, I don't care. It'll be uncomfortable though." Oh.

Max and Josh cleared the dishes while the other boys went to their room to change into their swimsuits. I went up the stairs then turned left. I was about to take another left, looking for my room when suddenly Ash was standing right in front of me. He was only like a foot and a half away from me, so he seemed super tall and strong compared to normal, it almost scared me.

"Your room, not mine," he said pointing behind me. Oh, I was about to accidentally find my way to his room again.

"Oh, sorry," I said quickly turning around then trotting down the hall. That was embarrassing. But that was kinda...epic. He smelled good, and even though it was scary at first, I liked being that close to him...

I ran into my closet and got changed into my swimsuit as quickly as I could. It was a blue tie-die bikini that I loved. I gasped. The boys- all of them- are going to see me wear this! And I'm the only girl... I... don't know how to feel about this. Flattered, scandalous, or violated? I mean it's not extremely revealing or anything, but it is a bikini.

I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me as I exited my room. I was about to find my way downstairs again careful not to go in anyone's room this time when suddenly Jordan jumped out of no where and grabbed my shoulders. I gasped.

"Nope, you're going this way," he said.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"You're going to do the ritual of acceptance," he said. Uh! I do not feel safe.

He led me to a balcony door. We walked onto the balcony where Ash and Tyler were. I looked down to see a pool surrounded by the other guys.

"You'll have to lose the towel if you don't want it to get wet," Jordan said. I slowly took it off, revealing myself. I handed my towel to Ash since I didn't trust it with Jordan. For a moment I felt all the guys look at me. I think I even heard someone down by the pool whisper. "Dang." At that point I didn't want to do whatever this was.

"Ok what is going on here? Why am I standing on a balcony in my bikini like the Christ the Redeemer statue?" I turned asking Jordan, Tyler, and Ash.

"Chill, that's not the point of this. You'd have to do this even if you were a guy," Tyler whispered to me. Suddenly I heard a drum from one of the boys below us near the pool. Jordan was down there now too.

"Now we begin the ritual of acceptance for Annabelle- what's your full name?" Tyler announced then whispered to me.

"Annabelle Sierra-Rose Lancaster," I whispered back.

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