We stand at the entrance of the living room, observing the unfolding argument before us. A boy, his blonde hair reaching his shoulders, is in a heated debate with a girl who shares the same blonde locks.

“Maturity has to do with putting your clothes in a proper place, eating your chips on something, not messing the entire room with crumbs, and ultimately dressing properly!” The boy, arms crossed, confronts the girl casually seated on the couch.

She doesn’t seem to mind his nagging, but her frown suggests that at one point, she might snap. And I understand why. He is obstructing the view, the girl tilting her head to catch a glimpse of the cartoons playing on the TV suspended on the wall.

Indeed, crumbs decorate her crop top and the space around her, while a bra hangs on the chair near the couch. Also, many clothes are tossed in various places in what was supposed to be a big living room, now looking like a barn.

“Just leave me alone. Get the hell out of here till I don’t hit you.” The girl glares at him and waves her hand, hoping that the guy catches the hint to move.

“I don’t plan to live here with a pig. Now, rise and clean the living room; we will have guests.” He spits his words and doesn’t show any signs of movement.

“If that was the reason, then you should leave it be. The guests are here already. Now, move!” The girl looks at me and Terzo absently, shifting her gaze back to her cartoons.

The blondie turns towards us and with a swear, leaves the room.

With a sigh, Nicolas turns towards me. “Make yourself at home. Tomorrow I will assign you some tasks.” He puts his hands on the handle, and I cling to his shirt. “Where are you going?”

“In my apartment. You hadn’t thought I would be living with you guys… it’s a hell.” I let him go, and he leaves as the door closes.

Did we deserve to live here then? I feel like laughing, but it’s no laughing matter. If we survived until now, we will survive with these guys too. First, it’s important to meet on a good note.

I take a breath and stride towards the girl who ignores me completely. “Hi, I am Amara de Rossi. Nice to meet you. What’s your name?” I want to sit on the couch when she turns and scans me briefly.

“I’m Bianca. No need for my full name, and don’t ever distract me while I watch my cartoons.” She turns back to her cartoons. I turn towards Terzo and shrug.

Now I am not sure if the first meeting was on a good note. She is temperamental and childish. I better avoid her in the future. Terzo is amused a little, and I let myself explore the apartment.

I pass the kitchen that is in the open space with the living room. Not even in the corridor, I hear him saying his name, and the girl screaming at him, “You deaf bastard!” I giggle at the yell. She did say not to be bothered. Terzo had to introduce him either way. Politeness is his middle name.

The corridor has two rooms on each side. I open the first room on the left side. What I see is better than a basement. Two double bunk beds, metal frames, each on one side of the room, and in front, under the window, one mattress on the ground. Here sleep four people, and I guess the mattress is for me or Terzo; the price tag is still hanging.

I smile. It reminds me of the orphanage, where many kids slept in one room in the same metal frame double bunk beds. Memories… The thought makes me feel somewhat emotional. Maybe we will be fine.

I close the room and open the second room on the left side. Here the arrangement is the same. The room is slightly messier, and I can guess that Bianca lives in this room. The blondie sits on the top bed and looks at me absently.

“Excuse me…” I feel like intruding on his privacy, so I am prepared to close the door when his voice stops me.

“Come in. It’s not like this is my room. My name is Emilio. I feel ashamed by what you saw. Bianca is always messy… I failed to make her clean with the excuse of having guests. I guess I will have to come up with something else.” He smiles.

I can say he has a beautiful smile, and his face has feminine features. How can he be so pretty? Maybe that medium hair, bright smile, and his slender body are the reasons.

“You think I am girly?” He grimaces.

I realize I have been staring, so no use to lie, “Was I too obvious? Either way, I think you look great. Nice to meet you. I’m Amara.” I stride and hold my hand as he smirks amused.

“Thanks for the compliment. Nice to meet you too. So, you chose your room?”

Emilio raises his eyebrows curiously.

“So, these are the sleeping rooms. Well, even if I know Bianca sleeps here, I guess I am choosing this room.” I giggle as I toss the backpack near the mattress. I lay low on the mattress and breathe as I close my eyes.

For now, these two seem not hard to deal with. I should probably tell Terzo that I choose this room. Emilio will keep me company, and I don’t want to let Terzo deal with Bianca. They seem to have a worse meeting than me and her.

“If you want to bathe, the first room on the right side. If you want to dress, then the room opposite to ours. You’re welcomed… in advance.” The boy jumps down, and before he leaves, he mumbles that he has to go tell Bianca to be good to me. He is as sweet as I thought.

“Sigh…” I really feel relieved so far. I thought that I would find people dressed in black leather and glaring at us, maybe some guns and knives everywhere. Though I shouldn’t let my guard down too much. These guys are here because they kill and are dangerous.

As the night sets, I meet another girl, with pink hair, named Niko, and I couldn’t really get a hang of what her personality was. All I can conclude was that she drinks a lot and is somewhat crazy, given how she pinned down a blondie, lion-mane-like hair, to the ground. I asked Emilio what his name was, and he said his nickname was Leo, fitting his appearance so far.

“Hey guys! Where are the new recruits? Any new girls? The ones we already have are not girls… no offense.” The front door opens, and a black-haired, lean-built guy strides inside. His hair was wet, and his leather jacket was open, hanging hotly on his wide shoulders. He smirks at Bianca, who shows him the middle finger, “Fuck off, Terry!”

I sit next to Emilio on the couch, and Terzo is on my other side. Bianca has her legs on our laps, and we watch TV. After she ate, she seemed more reasonable, also her cartoons finished with a happy ending. I wonder if the cartoons were ending on a bad note… Nope… I don’t want to think of that.

Niko went to sleep after Leo helped her to vomit in the bath. The boy seems not to be into hanging out with us, and he went to his room too.

Terzo stiffens as he watches the leather jacket guy stride towards us. Another guy follows him. Brownish hair swiped back, his leather jacket, unlike Terry’s, is zipped till his neck, and his demeanor is serious. He glances over us, and his gaze stops on me.

“Cut it down, Terry. Amara is staying in my room, and she’s all mine.” Emilio smiles and hugs me in a motherly hug. I giggle at his over protectiveness. The boy rolls his eyes and smiles at me.

“I’m Terry. Find me if Emilio is suffocating you with his love. I will take you on a ride with my motorcycle. It’s super fun. Wanna see it?” He takes his phone and shows me the opening screen. A dark motorcycle with red lights is making my eyes widen.

“It’s a beast…” The words leave my mouth, and I nod approvingly.

Terzo nudges me with his elbow slightly.

I glance at him, and I know he doesn’t like Terry… or Emilio, who has his hand over my shoulder, or the guy who keeps looking at me.

“Finally, a girl that sees the nature of motorcycles… unlike someone I know.” He glances at Bianca. Then he giggles at me.

“Amara, nice to meet you… and the motorcycle.” I smile, and we shake hands.

He leaves to go to the kitchen, and the other boy keeps his silence, now looking at Terzo. Both seem caught in a staring contest.

“Who is he?” In a whisper, I couldn’t contain my curiosity, so Emilio turns his ear to me.

“Damn Antonio! Introduce! I am tired of dealing with incompetents!” Emilio yells and frowns at the boy who breaks eye contact with Terzo, now looking a little ashamed at Emilio.

“Antonio…” With a murmur, he looks at me and vanishes into his room.

“Did you have to be so brutal?” I sigh and glance at Emilio.

“Boys… Incompetents and arrogants, full of bullshit. Someone has to discipline them.” He frowns as he giggles at the funny scene in the movie.

“You know you’re a boy too…” I mumble on impulse, and he turns to me.

“Smart pants… That excludes me… and Terzo, I guess.” He ruffles my hair and turns to watch the movie.

As the movie already finished, everyone is in their rooms, except for Bianca. At this point, I think she is into the TV more than she will ever be into a guy. Not a bad thing…

I am in the bath after the boys went first. The towel is covering my body, and I almost slip on the floor tiles. Keeping my balance, I open the door, and no one is in the corridor. Bianca swears, and I know nothing can be worse than that as the boys are already in their beds.

With small steps, I cross the corridor and open the dressing room. I have no intention to go into our room and make Emilio see me like this. Silly me, I forgot the backpack there. So, I will choose something from the dressing room.

I open the door, and I go straight to the drawer where I saw some large pants and a shirt. Today, I inspected the room well. I don’t even need to open the lights. However, I will open the light; I don’t want to make them suspicious of me.

I open the door, and I bump into a solid body. My body is rotated by him with precise movements, my back hitting his chest. I hold my towel, unable to use my moves on him. The person covers my mouth and puts a knife at my throat. He kicks the door closed.

…EH?