Sixteen

I left my room, peeking around to check if anyone was there. All clear. I made my way to the staircase, rushing down the steps. I opened the living room door, working my way inside. When I was fully in the room, /I saw six pairs of eyes on me.

"Ah… hey guys." I waved, seeing Tim, Brian, Keith, Liu, Toby, and Nina staring at me. "Where's the washing machine?" I asked, none answering.

"Wow, Mel!" Nina exclaimed, "Great outfit. Where'd you get it?" She asked, and my eyes flickered over to Tim, who looked at me warily.

"I don't know who got me them." I admitted, lying, "There were two bags on my bed with no note."

"Oh okay." Nina said, frowning.

"Anyway, you look great Mellie." Keith smiled, giving me a knowing look.

"Thanks, Keith. Whoever bought these have quite the style." I grinned, my eyes locking with Tim's, whose face flushed slightly.

"I'll take your washing, Melanie." Brian smiled, taking the clothes from my hands, leaving me with my book.

I took Brian's seat, sitting between Tim and Keith. I opened the book, making Tim peek over my shoulder. "A spell book?" Tim wondered, making me look up at him.

"Yeah, I found an English translation of one of the books." I replied, beginning to read the book.

"Wait. Spells?" Liu asked, leaning over Keith to examine the book.

"Yes, Liu. Spells for magic we found in the office." I grinned, still reading the book.

I zoned out of everyone talking, reading my book without end. I continued to read it until I finally looked up, seeing that it was dark. "What time is it?" I asked, but gasped when I saw only I was left in the room. "Might be in the kitchen." I said to myself, marking my page and going to the kitchen.

I went into the kitchen, seeing everyone there eating their tea. "Oh, hey guys." I grinned sheepishly to everyone. "Mellie, there's some food in the fridge for you." Jeff stated, nodding over at the fridge.

"Thanks, Jeff." I said coldly, going over to the fridge and getting a bowl of chilled pasta. "I'll be in my room." I stated, going to my room.

Once in my room, I ate my pasta before leaving the bowl on my desk. I took my shoes off, laying them next to the door. I stripped out of my top and skirt, getting into my bed, and slipping into unconsciousness.

For the next week, I spent my time mostly in the library, deciphering all of the ancient Greek books. Other than that, I was avoiding Jeff, and spending time with Tim, Brian, and my brothers.

"Melanie?" There were three knocks at my bedroom door, snapping me out from reading my book.

"Ah, yeah? Who is it?" I wondered, making the person open the door and pop their head in.

"It is I, Nina!" She jokingly exclaimed, making her way to my bed, sitting beside me.

"What's up?" I asked her, putting my book down.

"I don't think you should ignore Jeff any longer." She admitted making me frown at her.

"Why?" I asked her, as she only sighed.

"I chose this life, so don't blame Jeff for it, okay?" Was all she said, leaving the room and letting me think.

It was Nina's choice- Jeff had nothing but an influence. "Okay. That's it! Time to go to Jeff." I said to myself, moving into the passage. I went to his door, knowing that he was in there. I pounded on his door until he opened it, gasping when he saw me.

"Mellie? What do you want?" He asked, making me frown and promptly burst into tears.

"Oh Jeff," I sobbed, throwing myself into his arms, "I'm so sorry!" He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest whilst he simultaneously brought me into his room.

"It's okay, Mellie. I forgave you days ago." He laughed, making me pull away and wipe away my tears. I looked at my brother in surprise, laughing a little.

"Really?" I asked him, looking him in the eye.

"Yeah." He simply replied, going over to lounge on his bed. I sat beside him as he held up a controller. "Wanna play a game?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Yes please. Should I get Liu and Keith?" I asked him, seeing him nod. I took a deep breath, smiling at Jeff, who returned the gesture.

"LIU! KEITH! GET YOUR SORRY SELVES UP HERE THIS INSTANT! WE'RE PLAYING GAMES!" I yelled, knowing that they heard.

"Best way to do it, hm?" Jeff grinned as we waited for my brothers to arrive. After a few minutes of waiting, the door was swung open, revealing Keith and Liu. In their hands were two large bowls of popcorn.

"Hey, here's some popcorn for you two." Keith said, handing me his bowl of popcorn. I put it in between Jeff and I since it was for us to share. He immediately shoved his hand in the bowl, shovelling popcorn into his mouth.

"So, uh, what game are we playing?" Liu asked, raising an eyebrow. Jeff went over to his TV, getting four controllers for the PlayStation 4. He handed on to each of us, keeping one for himself.

"We're playing Minecraft. But like, those Minigame things against each other." Jeff explained, making us nod as we know what he meant. Jeff loaded up his PlayStation, going on to Minecraft. Once Minecraft was loaded, he began to set up the minigame.

"We're gonna win!" The mixed voices of Liu and Sully cheered, making me shake my head.

"Nah," I shook my head, grinning, "I'm going to be the winner."

"Okay, okay. It's loaded, so we'll see who wins." Jeff said, notifying us that it was ready.

We played multiple rounds on the Minigames, with Keith winning every time. Jeff was in second place; I was third and Liu was last. Now, we were playing a round of glide- my favourite. Out of the four of us, I was also the best at it, so as it loaded, I gave the boys a cheeky grin.

"Get ready to lose!" I cheered as the screen told us to go. In the end, I did win, making me give my brothers a cocky grin. We played games for a while longer before there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Jeff exclaimed, not taking his eyes off of the screen.

���It's…. it's me…uh… Toby." Toby stuttered, making Jeff signal for Liu to open the door. He paused his game, going over to Jeff's door and opening it.

"Hey Toby, what's up?" Liu asked, letting Toby come into the room. Toby gave us all a small smile before putting his hands on his hips.

"We…. Well…. Tim, Brian, Natalie…...uh…... you four… if you wanna…. Oh, and me too… we're going shopping!" Toby stuttered, and one he was finished, I stood and smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'll come." I accepted the offer, "Will I need to bring anything?" I asked Toby. He shook his head no, making me look back to my brothers.

"So, what about you three?" I wondered, making my brothers look between each other. They all nodded, making me pull them up onto their feet. I turned back to toby, giving him a grin.

"We're ready to go!" I exclaimed, signalling for toby to take the lead. We followed him from Jeff's room to the living room, where Tim, Brian, and Natalie were sat waiting for us. As we walked into the room, the three looked at us in surprise.

"Wow, I didn't think you four would actually come." Natalie smirked, looking at my outfit. "Is it not a bit cold for that Mel?" She asked, making me look at her in confusion. I was wearing the blue flannel and skater skirt Tim had got me with a pair of tights and my sneakers.

"it's winter back in the Original." Tim explained, making me gape at him.

"You're joking? It's only been a week!" I exclaimed, making Tim shake his head.

"I told you time was different here." I sighed but nodded.

"Anyway, who's up for a massive Christmas shopping spree?" Brian asked, making all of us cheer and make our way to the door. We reached the door, but I halted in place, making Natalie stop beside me with a grin.

"Why'd ya stop?" She asked. I shook my head, letting a quiet laugh escape from my lips.

"It's stupid, but if we're shopping shouldn't everyone come? Or are we going in two different groups?" I asked, which made Natalie laugh.

"You're right. The others are in a different group going shopping in a different place." She said. I nodded in understanding but stopped again.

"What about your appearances?" I asked, making Natalie let out a booming laugh this time.

"We have a little pill that lets us look human for a total of five hours." She explained, pulling a pill out from her jacket pocket.

"Okay. That's the ned of the questions. We can go now." I said, making Tim go up to the portal, making it appear. It was bright- so bright that I had to cover my eyes. One by one, everyone who needed to take the pill did so, before entering the portal. Now, it was just Keith and I in front of the portal, once again.

"Together?" I asked, extending a hand.

"Together." He nodded, taking my hand as we ran through the portal.