It had been a few hours and Olli could now smell a savory scent floating throughout the house. It reminded him of when he was little, his mom would make delicious meals before she got sick. He didn’t get very good food at Bea and Georgi’s house though, usually they would go out, leaving him behind to find something else to eat.

He decided to head downstairs and help make dinner, something he hadn’t done since he was little. Closing his book and propping it on the nightstand, Olli padded through the hall, and down the stairs to the kitchen. The scent of food got stronger as he got closer, making his mouth water.

“Oh, hey Olli! We just started making dinner, we’re having roasted eeklar.” He leaned down and peered into the oven as Sanel greeted him, pushing his hair out of the way as it fell in his face.

“Is there anything I can help with?” Olli liked cooking and wanted to help out in any way that he could.

“Well, you could help us peel the potatoes and cut them, but we’ve done everything else so far.” Haron walked over to the counter, setting down two peelers and a sharp knife.

“Would you like to peel the potatoes or cut the ones we peel?”

“Umm… I’ll cut them, please.”

“Ok! Here, be very careful with that knife, ok?” Sanel handed him the knife and one of the already half cut potatoes.

The eeklar would take about an hour, and they would put the potatoes in about 30 minutes before it would finish. Olli had just gotten into the flow of cutting the potatoes, then laying them out on the pan and covering them in a layer of salt and other herbs when he heard the doorbell ring.

“Oh! That must be Jess and Dryn!” Sanel excitedly put down their peeler and wiped their hands, rushing to the front door.

Who? Is it the neighbors?

Olli curiously followed after them, stopping by the doorway and watching as Sanel opened the front door and greeted someone. He had come out of the kitchen instead of the dining room, so the opened front door blocked his view from seeing whoever was out there.

Sanel stepped back then, and Olli froze, too nervous to keep moving forward and instead just waited for them to come in.

The first person he saw was a tall, thin lady with beautiful features and long, straight hair. The glossy dark blue locks fell down her back like a curtain, resting just below her waist. As she stepped through, he could see another lady holding her hand. The second, shorter woman had thick, curly hair that fell down to her shoulders. The wavy green locks were tied up in a half updo, bouncing slightly with each step she took.

They walked in and stopped to talk to Sanel in the entrance, and two boys came through the door next, arguing quietly. As Sanel closed the door, Olli heard Haron come up behind him.

“Come greet the Kingsleys, Olli. They’re our neighbors, and Vynsan is your age, so it will be nice to meet them now.” Haron put a hand on his back and led him forwards, towards the group in the entrance.

His heart was beating loudly and there were butterflies in his stomach.

They won’t like me. They’ll make fun of me. Will they laugh or glare?

The green haired lady noticed them first, turning and smiling before greeting Olli and Haron. Her pale green eyes glistened as she stuck out her hand for Olli to shake, “Hello, I’m Drynden! It’s nice to meet you, Olifar right?”

He nodded and shook her hand, “Yes, it’s n-nice to meet you too.”

The taller lady peered down at him with warm brown eyes, and he couldn’t help but notice that their height difference was quite large. She towered over him, at least, that’s what it felt like. Olli had always been quite short compared to everyone else, so he wasn’t too surprised that he had to look up slightly to see her face.

“Hello Olifar, I’m Jessalyn.” She smiled, holding out her hand.

“H-hi.” Olli squeaked out, quickly shaking her hand and looking down at his feet. He felt like if he said anything, he might embarrass himself, so he just stayed quiet.

“Ok boys, you can all go upstairs and hang out, dinner won’t be ready for another half hour or so.” Sanel addressed him and the two brothers, who seemed to have stopped arguing and were just waiting by the stairs, shoes already set by the front door.

“Y-you don’t need any more help with dinner?” Olli half whispered, not wanting to be alone with the two other boys.

“Oh, no, you can go with the others. We’ll call you down when dinner’s ready!” Sanel smiled and started walking with the other adults towards the kitchen.

Olli shuffled towards the boys. One of them was only slightly taller than him, but the other was even taller than the dark haired lady, Jessalyn, from before.

How can someone even be this tall… is he supposed to be my age?!

“Hi, I’m Vynsan and this is my brother Arthir.” Vynsan had long navy blue hair and brown eyes, similar to Jessalyn.

“Hey! I can introduce myself just fine… Hey, I’m Arthir!” The shorter brother, Arthir, snapped at Vynsan before turning to enthusiastically greet Olli. He looked younger than Olli, even though he was still a bit taller.

“H-hello…” They both stared at him and Olli realized he hadn’t said his name yet.

“O-oh! I’m Olifar, s-sorry…”

“It’s fine, should we go upstairs? We can watch t.v. or play some games if you want?” Vynsan brushed off Olli’s mistake and directed both questions at Olli, who was surprised to even be included, especially after messing up. He nodded and they smiled, turning around to go up the stairs.

They aren’t going to ignore me? Or make fun of me? They aren’t even… glaring?

Olli wasn’t sure how to react, so he just kept his expression neutral(hopefully) as he followed them up the stairs and through a door on the left, which led to the game room. He had peeked his head inside just hours before, during the tour, but was still shocked at how big the t.v. was, how many games they had stocked in many clear cabinets around the room, and the outdoor hot pool they had on the balcony. Olli had seen houses like this when coming home from school, but he never expected to even be invited into one, much less be able to live in one.

“How about we watch something on t.v. and play a game?!” Arthir exclaimed as if he had just thought of the greatest idea ever. Vynsan didn’t seem to like the idea, although Olli wasn’t sure why.

“Arthir, you’ll end up being distracted if we have the t.v. on during a game. Every time you end up getting mad that you lost even though it was your fault for not paying attention. Pick one. A game or t.v.”

He started pouting and looked down at the ground, “You’re so mean, Vynsan! sniff~ Fine! I’ll do whatever Olifar picks.”

Olli winced internally as they brought him into their argument.

“M-maybe… we could watch t.v. f-for now and play a game after d-dinner? I-if that’s fine with you…” He tried not to pick a side and just chose to do both, although not at the same time as Arthir had suggested before.

“Okay, what show should we watch? Vynsan you can pick, and I’ll choose a game.” Arthir flopped down on the couch, getting comfortable. Olli assumed they had been here before because Vynsan went straight to the drawer the remote was in without needing to look around for it.

Olli sighed now that they were done arguing and sat down on the edge of the couch, next to Arthir who was basically draped across the middle. Vynsan sat on the other side of the couch and turned on the t.v., scrolling through the selections until one caught his attention and playing it.

He couldn’t lie, it was pretty interesting. Olli hadn’t seen most of what was on while Vynsan was scrolling through the shows because he hadn’t watched t.v. in so long. Bea and Georgi usually ended up using the t.v. when he was home, so he could only watch t.v. if he wasn’t working or doing homework, and only while they went out to eat.

Basically, he didn’t have very many chances.

Olli relaxed into the couch as he focused on the show, eventually snickering along with Arthir as he commented on everything that happened.