"Walking home?" Lucas questions as I pass him leaning on the side of the school.

"Yep," I reply, not even giving him the slightest of looks. I step down the stairs and set off, my hands deep in my pockets, towards the general direction of my house.

"If you wait a few seconds, Justin and I will walk with you," he continues.

Still not turning to face him I answer, "Thanks, but no, thanks."

"Oh, look! He's already here!" Lucas says. "Hey, man."

I pause and sigh as I hear the pounding of their handshake but refuse to face the pair.

If I run, I'll get a head start, but I absolutely stink at physicals.

But hey, doing something is better than doing nothing. So, I dig my shoe into the non-existent dirt, preparing resistance to push myself forward. Hands balled into fists and elbows bent at the ready, I'm about to sprint off, but a hand on my shoulder interrupts me.

"Eiffel!" Justin greets. "How was your first day?"

I purse my lips and straighten from my prepared position. "Splendid," I grit out. "Especially the moments you decided to bless me with your presence."

Justin walks around to face me, setting a hand on his chest. "Oh, thank goodness," he sighs out. "I thought you were avoiding me all day! Lucky for you, we're walking home with you, so we can all do homework at Lucas' house. He has a pool," he finishes with a grin.

"Oh, no, really? What an amazing reason to hang out with two dorks."

"Well, thankfully you can have the pool without the—" He stops suddenly. "Hold on..."

I push against his chest, and he stumbles out of my way, a disconnected look on his face.

Why does he make thinking look so painful!?

"Hang on, Paris," Lucas calls. He jogs in front of me and grabs my shoulders with both hands. But after one look, they retract like hotcakes. "Sorry," he mumbles, keeping his hands at his sides. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come over to my house to do homework. It's always funner to do it with frie—" He freezes. "—other people."

I sigh, glancing around with eyes narrowed into small slits. I see my mom driving up in her car and that's all the imagery I need to convince myself to grab the brainless brothers' arms and drag them to the back of the school.

Apparently, Justin is still thinking about my comment, because he's staring off into the distance while tripping over invisible roots.

"It's not that hard, Justin," I say once we come to a halt. "You guys are the two dorks."

He breaks his 'concentration' to whiplash his face towards mine. "Oh, I know," he replies. "I was thinking of whether mustard would be better with ice cream, or on a hotdog. It's a really hard decision because—"

I wrinkle my nose, not trying to hide my disgust. "No one puts mustard on ice cream," I answer. "Plus, it's absolutely disgusting. A disgrace to ice cream kind."

"Now that's where you're wrong," he replies, pointing and booping my nose.

"Don't do that." I glare.

"Okay," he returns quickly.

I set off in front of them, not lagging my pace to wait for the boys. I hear them stomping behind me, and I feel a sense of satisfaction. That is until I realized I have no idea where we're going.

Shoot.

———————

"That's your house?" I breathe, staring at the massive mansion looming before me.

Lucas shuffles his feet beside me, clearing his voice a few times before replying with a short, "Yeah."

I scoff. "I've seen bigger." I walk to the grand steps, stretching my neck back to see the large front doors. It feels like they're lightyears away.

My ringing phone takes my attention away from the monstrosity. Well, beautiful monstrosity.

Seeing 'Mom' flashing up on my phone, I reluctantly pick it up.

"Where are you!?" she exclaims into the receiver.

"Over at a...er...friend's house to do homework," I reply. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you." Then I click my phone off, my fingers brushing over to the side button so it won't ring again before slipping it into my pocket.

"Who was that?" Lucas questions from behind me.

I turn to face him, pulling the phone out again and waving it slightly. "Just an agency hiring kids our age. Looking for a dumb sixteen-year-old boy, about 5.8 with a nosey personality. Not sure what they were doing calling me. They should have—"

"Called me?" Lucas finishes.

"You got it," I reply, stepping up the stairs to the front doors.

I ignore my slightly heavy breaths as I touch down at the final step. "Key's under the mat?"

"Are you like psychic?" Justin questions, jumping the last step and landing beside me, completely unfazed by the long journey.

"Oh, yeah, and that's why I get straight As without studying or even going to school," I say with a slight swing of my eyes.

"You do?"

"No." I swipe the mat to the side, pick up the small key and then push the mat back in place.

Unlocking the door, I let myself in. Lucas follows behind and walks into the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, "You guys want anything to drink?"

"Nope, I'm good!" I reply, releasing my backpack from my shoulder and dropping it in the middle of the massive entryway.

"The usual!" Justin answers. He walks past me and the large rock arc on the other side of the room. I jog after him when a sudden obstruction of my path appears in front of me.

It's a—.

Cat?

Dog?

This should not be this confusing.

My eyes glance over its whiskers, delicate paws, and long, slow-moving tail.

Cat.

It's a cat.

Definitely a cat.

It leans forward, reaching its small pink nose towards me. I hear a soft rumble coming from the creature, and thinking it's going to purr, I reach my hand to pet it. The sudden growl and slight bare of teeth have me retreating my precious hand away and taking a step back.

"Don't worry about Cheddar, he's just a little grumpy," Lucas says from beside me, an odd-colored drink held in his hand. "He probably hasn't eaten in a few minutes. How about you take this to Justin, and I'll get Cheddar some food?"

Not wanting to be left with the monster again, I grab the slimy-looking drink and follow after where I saw Justin leave.

After coming to a dead-end, I decide to call out for him. "Justin! Where in this beautiful monstrosity are you?!"

"No need to yell, Eiffel. I'm right here," a voice says close by.

I whip around and see Justin sitting on a white couch lined in soft white fur in the next room. I breathe out and walk toward him. "How do you get around this place?"

"I can get you a map if you'd like," he replies.

"Haha, so funny." I hand him his drink, and he gives me a curious look.

"Why are you laughing? The maps are kept in the west wing."

I scoff. "Why aren't they by the front?"

"To prevent robberies."

"I think even with a map, someone could get lost here."

"Not if you've lived here your entire life," I hear Lucas say behind me in a flat tone. "Say, Justin, did I get it right?"

The redhead nods, taking a long sip of his drink. "Mmm," he mumbles with a smile. "You always make it best."

An odd smell made its way to my nose. "Goodness, is that garlic?"

"With a few other juices mixed in! Want some?" He holds out the drink for me, and I take a step back.

"Wow, who knew you could have everything that makes your breath beyond gag-worthy in one drink?" I wince as his breath hits me again. "You're disgusting."

A smile lit up his face. "Aw, thanks, Eiffel!"

I roll my eyes and sit as far from the boy as possible. "Let's just finish our homework as quickly as possible," I mumble.

Ｂｏｙ

𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝.

Ｂｏｙ

𝐯. 𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬

𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

A/N

THIS CHAPTER IS DETICATED TO Asralie AND HER DEFINITION OF A TAG

Ｔａｇ

𝐧.  𝐈𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐂

And I quote '#sarcasticdefinitionofahashtag' by the 'selfentitleddramaqueen'