Getting back home, I grabbed my drawing supplies from my backpack after sitting on the couch. On the way home, I had thought about what to draw, so I started drawing the outline. I chose to draw a forest scene at night. Leaning against a tree was a figure covered in shadows, and in front of him was a small campfire. On either side of him were Beasts. A Dragon was on the left and a Wolf Ayakashi was on the right.
The drawing represented the balance between my Beasts and Human sides. Both Beasts were asleep and curled around the figure, like they were protecting him. As I drew, Magnis and Nightmare talked to me.
"I know I give you a hard time, but I'd do anything to protect you. You are my human counterpart." Nightmare said, affection in his voice.
"That is something I can agree with." Magnis rumbled deeply.
"Thanks, guys. That means a lot to me." I said to both of them. Continuing to draw while feeling their approval, I had lost track of time until my brothers walked through the door.
"Hey, man. How was your day?" Adam asked, sitting on the couch beside me.
"I've been okay. Alex woke me up from a nightmare, but other than that? Just dreading this dinner." I said truthfully. The dream was still weighing on my mind and I really didn't want guests, but Mr. Deus was my dad's boss. Whether I want to or not, I still had to be civil tonight. Soon after my brothers got home, my mom had dinner ready. She made chicken and broccoli fettuccine alfredo, with cheesy garlic bread and a salad. After all sixteen places at the table were set, Mr. Deus and his family arrived with dad.
"Welcome Tobias, Veronica, and Michael. It's always a pleasure for you to join us." My mom said, smiling politely.
"Thank you, Lillian. You're as beautiful as always." Mr. Deus said, bowing his head slightly. He has been the Police Chief for the past 25 years, so he knew my mom while she was still a Princess. Getting up from the couch, I picked up my crutches and made my way to the table. As I sat down, Mr. Deus walked in.
"Oh, Andrew! What happened to your leg? I hope you didn't get into a fight again." He said as he sat down. Everyone else, including my guards, joined us.
"No, sir. I got shot during the school shooting a week ago." I said tensely.
"Really? I heard about it from the news, but I was sick that day. Didn't know anyone was injured." He said dismissively. I bit my tongue to keep from saying something that I'd end up regretting. As dinner progressed, Mr. Deus spoke up again. "So, Joshua Williamson called me today. Apparently his son, Bill, got arrested yesterday with assault charges for a fight that Andrew had started. I thought you said that you weren't in a fight?"
I spat out some of my water at this. Luckily, Viper came to my rescue. "That is a false accusation, sir. Bill Williamson did assault Andrew yesterday. It was caught on camera, and Andrew did not fight back."
"And who might you be? I don't remember ever seeing you before." Mr. Deus said, glaring at Viper.
"My name is Darek Martin, codename Viper. I'm a member of the Special Forces, and I am one of Andrew's bodyguards." Viper said, keeping his face neutral, even though his voice was steely.
"Hm. The only way I'd believe it is if I saw the video." Mr. Deus said stubbornly.
"Alright." Viper said, pulling out his phone. Pulling up a copy of the video, he showed Mr. Deus who became silent. "And if you still don't believe that, you can come to the school tomorrow. You could watch it again from the source." VIper said, putting his phone away. I quickly finished my dinner before asking to be excused. My dad said it was okay, but Mr. Deus wasn't done yet.
"Are you going to be rude to your guests? Is this how your parents raised you?" He said as I grabbed my crutches.
"No, sir. My parents taught me to respect those who show me respect. I haven't seen any guests like that tonight. Now, if you don't mind, I have homework that needs to be done." I said before slowly exiting the dining room. As I sat on the couch, I heard Mr. Deus tell my parents to discipline me more. Or they should put me into a boot camp to 'learn to respect my superiors.' My mom put her foot down and told him that my position was his superior since I was a Duke and a Dual King by birth.
Mr. Deus and his family didn't stay much longer after that, and I didn't bother to get up to see them off. I stayed up until about 10:30, working on my homework before finally going to bed. The next day was different.
Everyone was talking about the live interview tomorrow. Our names and band weren't released, so our peers were wondering who the band and its members were. No one seemed to remember that we had formed a band, so it would be a surprise to the entire school. My brothers and I were also excited, so we didn't really pay attention to our lessons. The teachers knew that we were part of the event tomorrow, so they were lenient towards us for the day.
At the end of school, we got a message from our manager to meet her at Sonic. As we parked and got out, she waved us over. Jennifer was also with her and she had 6 big bags beside her. Once we were seated, Hannah started talking.
"Jennifer, could you pass out the bags?" Hannah asked, facing the outfit coordinator. As Jennifer gave us the bags, Hannah turned back to us. "Your outfits are done. In each bag, you have a pair of skinny jeans and cargo pants, a long and short sleeve shirt, a pair of Converse, and a pair of combat boots. Everything is in your sizes and has the new band logo, band name, your name and band position on them."
As Hannah spoke, we looked at the items in the bag. Each item was made from quality materials and felt amazing against the skin. Hannah wanted us to wear these tomorrow during the interview and we agreed. It made us even more excited and we couldn't wait to see what would come out of this.
When we got home, we packed our bags for the weekend at Blackstone Pack. After that, we did our homework while mom cooked dinner. Tonight, she made barbeque chicken with cornbread, green beans, and a salad. When dinner was done, we finished our homework before going to bed early. We wanted to be well rested for whatever happens tomorrow.
The next day was a free study day, since it was a half day. Most of the students either slept or finished yesterday's assignments. My brothers, Jacob, Amber, and I talked about the plans for this weekend.
"So, what can you tell us about your Pack?" I asked the siblings, not wanting to do something disrespectful.
"Our Pack is pretty relaxed. Mom and dad still expect respect, but not much else." Jacob said while yawning.
"How does that work?" Josh asked, confused.
"Well, even though mom and dad expect respect from the Pack members, they don't lead with an iron fist. If there's an issue that the members can't solve on their own, or be solved peacefully, then our parents step in. The Pack has respect for our mom and dad because they let the Pack think for themselves." Amber said, trying to explain how their Pack worked.
It made sense. After that, we talked about random things until the bell rang. Instead of signifying the end of the class period, it was the cue to go to the auditorium for the interview.