The 12 Elementals

Chapter 5

   "Melody!" A young male called.

   "Jordan." I exclaimed, throwing my arms open to accept my little cousin. He happily jumped, I caught him and squeezed. "What are you doing here?"

   "Got sick of Japan. I called Mark and asked if I could stay with him for the summer and he said yes." Jordan explained.

   Jordan is only eight years old but he's intelligent for such a young boy. Jupiter, his father, is always on business trips and rarely sees him. Jordan has lived with his kind hearted mother Ruby in Japan. Our fathers are brothers, which is how I'm related to Jordan. Aliyah and Dmitri's mother is our fathers' sister, though Brooke lives in New York and hardly visits, I still like her more than Aliyah and Dmitri's step-mom Zoey. I've always thought it's strange how the parents who connect us are absent.

   "How could I say no?" Mark, Aliyah and Dmitri's father asks.

   "Ester told me what happened, you okay?" Aliyah whispered in my ear. I nodded. "And Zane. Is he really back?" I gave a curt nod.

   "Hey baby." Dmitri slid his arm around Esters waist and went in for a kiss.

   "Not now." Ester pulled away.

   "Rejected by your own girl. How does it feel?" Declan cockily asked.

   "Feels like I wanna punch you." Dmitri shot back.

   "Shut up. Jordan, tell us about Japan." Aliyah half smiled.

   "Yes darling, I'm dying to hear..." Zoey began talking in her fake 'nice' voice. That woman lives for staring down her nose at you with disappointment. Team Brooke all the way.

   In my living room we had two couches that both fit four. Jade, my mom, Mark, and Zoey occupied one. Leah, Dmitri and Jordan had the other one. We also had blue love seats that I adore. I sunk down easily and Ester was about to sit on the other when Dmitri pulled her elbow and she landed on his lap. Declan came to the foot of my chair and pillowed his head on my knee.

   He couldn't sit on the other seat because...? Zayden asked.

   Then Jordan told us how amazing Japan is and how he loves it there and how easy school is.

   I let my eyes drift to my two cousins, Ali and Dmitri. Though Dmitri is older than Leah by a year they have several facial similarities. For instance both have the same shade of brown in their eyes. They both have highlights, but Aliyah's are blonde and Dmitri's are a light brown. Aliyah has dark brown hair that goes past her butt (yip, it's that long) and her highlights add color. Dmitri's look as if he were born with them, his medium brown hair with lighter highlight brings out the rest of him.

   Dmitri is masculine; his jaw and cheek bones are both set and strong. He's wearing a plain white shirt that fits him snugly, bringing your eyes to his broad chest and muscular arms. He's smaller than Kyle but still impressive and can hold his own. Both Dmitri and Aliyah have that glowey tan white girls try to get but can't, I've always envied their skin tone.

   Like me Ali has a swimmers body; tiny, curved, smooth and beautiful. She's wearing a light blue v-neck and skinny jeans. Aliyah is a simple girl, that's why I like her, she doesn't demand much. She has delicate features, like a baby, now looking so closely at Aliyah and Dmitri I realized they had the same lips, the upper lip slightly bigger than the lower one. Neither had on any lip gloss, their lips were a soft peachy color. They look so much like twins it's stunning. In the end, they're both gorgeous.

   Dmitri lifted his hand and ran it through his hair. He looked up, caught me staring, winked, and mouthed "Taken." Then pulled Ester closer to him.

   I rolled my eyes in response; clearly he was taking flattery to my observing.

   Declan turned his face to me, obviously noticing mine and Dmitri's exchange. I smiled and he turned back around to place his head on my knee.

   Still don't see why he can't do on the other seat. Zayden grumbled.

   Declan has had a massive crush on me since we first met. To me he's family, that makes it weird. Whenever I hang out with him and Dmitri it was easy to forget the crush, but he was always quick to remind me.

   I glanced down at Declan. He has diamond blue eyes, light and clear. Light brown hair that's a little longer than Dmitri's. Like Dmitri, Declan is muscular, but not overly so. He is fair olive-skinned and his facial features have a boyish touch to them but still strong and appealing. His lips are hard and pale pink and he always smells like pine trees. Similar to Aliyah and Dmitri, Declan is gorgeous.

   My eyes traveled to Ester, with her golden blonde hair, light skin and morning sky blue eyes. With a shock I realized she's gorgeous too.

   I look at my sister Jade, who has Puerto Rican stamped on her with her leopard black hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes. Her and Peter look like our mother where as I resemble our father.

   Mark is a balding man with gray hairs; my cousins get their stunning looks from Brooke. Mark has also has a pot belly in the making with a face that reminds me of a rock after years of erosion. Zoey is in her late thirties and has the air of someone who used to be pretty and is waiting for it to come back. Dyed blonde and falsely tanned.

   My mom is one-hundred percent Puerto Rican, and its obvious Jade is her daughter, but it looks like she stole me from a hospital.

   I look to the mirror over my mother's head, and saw my reflection staring back at me. I can see my violet eyes (yes violet) which I inherited from my good for nothing father. My fiery red hair I dyed at fourteen because I didn't like my ordinary brown hair, that and it reminded me of my dad. I'm very light skinned but there's a subtle tan that keeps me from partying with Casper. Just like Ali, I have delicate features; she's like a baby whereas I'm more like a toddler.

   People tend to underestimate me, but I like it, especially in swimming. Everyone thinks a girl with a face as "innocent" as mine can't be too much of a threat. I live for seeing their shocked expressions when I win.

   Jordan is still talking about Japan; I have no idea how much time had passed. I wanted to go to bed, to escape reality for a few hours. I faked a long yawn that had several others yawning along.

   "I'm beat. I'll see you all in the morning. Come on Ester." I rose and made my way to my room.

   I threw my door open and quickly changed into my Harry Potter pajamas, and then tossed my body onto my bed. I heard the door close and I could feel the bed shift when Ester sat.

   "Jordan is so adorable. I'm sure his SAT scores are higher than mine."  Ester said. I sat up and faced her.

   "Tomorrow. My head hurts. I want sleep."

   "Okay. If anyone knocks I'll shoot them."

   I grinned, thankful I had her here. A light tapping sound made our heads turn to the door. "Quick, where's a gun?" Ester whispered.

    "Come in." I shouted, wanting to send whoever it was away.

   Ali came in and gently closed the door. "Hey. I'm spending the night." She smiled.

   "Aren't you grounded?" I asked.

   "I was."

   It's a good thing I have a queen sized bed. "I'm gonna crash. Night."

   "Night." They replied.

   With that I rolled over to the other end of the bed, pulled the covers up and closed my eyes.

   Sleep little wave.

   I fell into a sleep so deep the house could burn down and I wouldn't stir.