Melting The Ice

Ari looked like a fish. His mouth was open wide as he tried to speak but no words came out. After a minute, I gave up on him and took the lead.

"Hi, my name is Asher Kampton," I introduced myself and held out my hand. The boy with the back hair and wing tattoos peaking from under the sleeve of his t-shirt took my hand and shook it. He had a firm handshake. "This is my brother, Arian."

"Lucian Reed," the boy said, "but I prefer Luke. Your brother and I have already met.

Arian snapped out of his hypnosis. "Reed?! Luke Reed? You're the owner's son! Dude, you do not know how much I love you parent's music!"

Music...? What is he....? OH! OH! OH! That Reed! The ones who sung the theme song for Ari's second favorite movie, Wild Blood. I hope he won't try to get Luke to bite him. It may be a vampire show but I doubted that Luke was a vampire.

I kind of expected him to bathe in the glory and praise. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and said "thanks."

I changed the subject. "How did you and Ari meet," I asked with bright smile on my face. This was interesting. I've never heard of him. I didn't think that Ari himself knew who this boy if. If he did, I would have never heard the end of it.

"He's the guy that yelled at me," Ari said nonchalantly.

I laughed a little on the inside. Ari was such a liar. He was totally freaking out. I bet he'd be hanging on to Luke's every word. This is going to be a bumpy ride.

"Is it only you," I asked. I think I remember Ari saying that there were two Reed brothers. Well, I'm not completely sure. He could have meant two older Reeds, not two Reed sons.

Luke pointed to the ceiling. "Nope. My brother, Logan, is up there. He is most likely sleeping. Don't expect him to get up anytime soon. That boy can sleep for hours without getting up even for a minute. Last Sunday he didn't even leave the bed."

I think I'm going to like this Logan boy. We could talk about sleep. Sleep is so amazing. I could stay in bed for a whole week if we didn't have school. Dad says that I was tied to the bed. No matter what I'd always come back.

“So…,” Luke said after a long silence. “There are four bedrooms upstairs and one bathroom. Another bathroom on this floor. The living room is in the back and the front. The dining room table is to the right. The kitchen to the left. First bedroom upstairs is already taken by Logan.”

“Then we’ll go pick our bedrooms,” I told Luke and picked up my luggage. “What time is it now?”

Luke glanced at his watch. “Seven O’clock,” he told me. “I was watching Nosferatu in the living room. You two can join me after if you like. I can make a mean pot of Kimchi. “

I snuck a quick peek at Ari. He looked as if he was about to explode. If I didn’t except his offer, he would hate me forever.

“We’d love to,” I said and dragged Ari by the hand out of the back living room.

We eventually found the stairs and the bedrooms. Instead of looking into each room and deciding, Ari and I picked a random number. Ari chose four and I chose two. We said our temporary goodbyes and walked into our rooms.

I didn’t know what I was expecting. Certainly not the triangle floor to wall ceiling, burned rug, or medium sized bed that was pushed near the window that was near the floor. I really loved the dome feeling of it all. It was as if I stepped into a small universe that I was the center of. There was a TV to the right of the bed and a bedside closet to the left. It was starting to get dark outside.

I left my luggage into a corner of the window and sat down on the bed. I pulled my Mp3 player (who still has one of those?) out of my pocket and turned on Jane Doe by NeverShoutNever. I only got through half of the song before someone knocked on my door.

I ripped the earphones from my ears. “Come in,” I called.

Ari stepped inside and closed the door. He was wearing a new change of clothes: slim black jeans, The Devil Wears Prada t-shirt, and skull vans. It made me raise an eyebrow. Some one wanted to make an impression.

“Ready to go down,” Ari asked, combing a hand through his hair.

I smiled at his awkwardness. “YES! PARTY TIME?!”