One

Stargazing! That is what they claimed to be doing but April’s eyes were stuck on Uriel’s face, butterflies dancing in her belly. She gradually shifted closer to him, her face moving closer to his as well.

“April, do you think you will ever get over your Katsaridaphobia?” Uriel asked.

“What’s the meaning of that?” April asked absentmindedly, her thoughts still on him.

“Fear of cockroaches,” Uriel answered.

“Oh, didn’t know that is what it’s called,” she said, still staring at Uriel.

They were sitting on the roof of Uriel’s house. His face was tilted up as he happily watched the stars.

He finally seemed to notice April and he slowly turned his face towards hers, two pairs of eyes lost in each other.

“Kiss me,” April demanded.

“April,” Uriel breathed out in warning.

“I just want your lips on mine, please,” April pleaded.

He moved his face closer, closing the distance, and just when their lips were about to touch, Uriel withdrew.

“What if your brother sees us?” he whispered.

“Who, Iver?” April asked, desperately wanting to feel his lips against hers.

“No, your other brother,” Uriel replied.

“Orion?” she asked.

“Yes?” she heard the voice but it didn’t come from Uriel.

She shifted around curiously, trying to find the source of the voice and just then, she slipped and was falling from the roof in slow motion.

April’s eyes snapped open as she was jerked upright from her sleeping position on the bed. The culprit was Orion who had his palm around her arm, his usual cold gaze on his face.

“O- O- Orion?” April stuttered out.

“Yes, again?” Orion answered, referring to the first time she had called him in her dream.

April inhaled, loving his scent. He and Iver uses the same cologne but he always managed to smell a bit different. His own scent has a mix of a woody smell, perhaps because he helps Mr Caddel with his work most times.

She unconsciously checked out his dressing, the attire were nothing special but he always made them looked extraordinary.

His man-bun was messily packed but that didn’t decrease the level of his handsomeness. Assuming he was born with a rich background, he would have been a model, April thought.

Orion cleared his throat and that brought her out of her thoughts, and her mind was back on the situation at hand.

She suddenly felt nervous at the fact that he might have realized that she was checking him out.

Orion released her arm and shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, his eyes not straying from her face. April looked down at her state of dressing and quickly moved the covers from her waist up till it reaches her neck.

She was only in her bralette and panties, that is how she sleeps everyday. Her mother has opposed her about it many time but April never listened, she likes being comfortable and wearing clothes to sleep weren’t her thing.

“W-what are you doing here?” she gulped nervously, looking around the room to avoid his eyes.

She was embarrassed, knowing there was a possibility she had spoken in her sleep, it was a habit of hers. She was internally wishing she wasn’t audible, recalling the things she had uttered in her dream.

“Late,” Orion gave the one-worded answer and walked out of her room.

April watched him leave, wondering why he was the one to come to her room. That would be the first time Orion would be in her room. If he heard her say anything in her sleep, he didn’t show it.

April and her family were used to Orion’s one-worded answers.

He only really spoke long sentences when he was in the mood for it. He loves being left alone and the person he is most closest with is Iver, April’s older brother.

She scrambled up in a rush, making her covers get tangled with her legs, she landed on the ground, her butt making contact with the hard marble floor.

She was in an awkward position with one of her legs still hanging on the bed, while the other was on the floor and she was sitting up.

She clamped her lips shut, quietly humming at the pain she felt in her rear end. Iver walked by at that moment to get to his and Orion’s room, which was right beside hers.

He paused due to her open door and stood by the threshold of her room, surprised to see her on the floor.

“Don’t just stand there, come help me up," she whined.

He walked in and helped her up, bunching up the sheets and throwing them back on the bed. April planted both her palm on her butt, massaging them gently while groaning.

“So uncultured,” Iver murmured before leaving her room.

April chose not to make a retort since she woke up late already and might get late to school. She hurried to the bathroom.

They have no car and she often walks. As a matter of fact, the only valuable asset they have is their house. A three bedroom flat with a living area and a kitchen within a single floor.

The Caddel couple came from a very poor background and they were uneducated. Mrs Caddel is a baker while Mr Caddel is a wood carver.

Their business is not that successful but at least, enough to get them by. Perhaps, they would have been more successful if they were privileged to get an education.

They had gathered everything they had ten years ago to make sure they achieve the dream of living under the roof of their own house.

They had brought In Orion a year later and Iver happily agreed that they share a room. They weren’t at all well-to-do but they lived honestly and were kind to everyone.

“April!” Mrs Caddel’s voice rang out.

April jumped at the sudden call making her hand jerk while applying her red lip stick, it got smudged on the outside of her lips. She sighed wiping everything off and re-applying it again.

She quickly finished getting ready, took her bag and hurried out of her room to the dining area where the rest of the family were already sat, having their meal. She sat in her spot, which was opposite Iver.

Her father always sit at the head seat, then there were two chairs arranged on either side of the table. On the right side, usually sat Orion and Iver, Orion sitting on the chair closer to her father on the right side.

On the left side, April and her mother usually sat, her mother closest to her father, which means opposite Orion and she would sit next to her, opposite Iver.

She was glad that she didn’t have to be the one sitting opposite Orion every day, she would have been uncomfortable.

“You would have been late to school had I not send your brother up to your room to wake you. I told you to always remember to set the alarm. Look at Iver, he has been ready since,” Mrs Caddel scolded.

“Iver is in university, he doesn’t have to rush, he’s just being a goody-two-shoes,” April rolled her eyes.

“You have to do well so you can go to university too,” Mr Caddel said.

“I told you guys I’m not interested,” April reminded, taking a gulp of water to wash down the food she felt had gotten stuck in her chest, due to the overloaded spoonful she had shoved in her mouth.

“I told you, that’s impossible,” Mrs Caddel said firmly.

“Orion didn’t go and no one forced him, why are you forcing me?” she complained.

Orion stopped eating and slowly raised his head.