"Oh, and you have to finish those pancakes, cause one of your brothers said so, and two, I braved your scary ass brothers to make those for you, so please eat them."

She continued fixing up her hair and outfit before grabbing her phone, which was also on my nightstand.

"Also, like last thing before I leave, I stole your hoodie cause I forgot to bring a shirt. I'll give it back later." Diya glanced down at the watch on her wrist. "Oh crap, I've gotta go now. Bye. Eat those pancakes and take your meds."

She rushed out of the room, a fleeting "I'm bringing you your homework." floating in the air behind her.

***

Oh my god, I am so bored." I groaned out, tossing the miniature foam basketball up in the air while laying my feet on the wall.

I flipped back over and glanced at the clock on my nightstand, and groaned once again.

It was only 3:30, and school didn't end until 4:15, so I couldn't call Diya.

Am I being too clingy?

Probably.

Do I care?

Eh, kinda, but I'm sure Diya doesn't.

I shot up from my position on my bed, waving a little as I waited for the black dots in my vision to clear out.

This house was huge; I should go exploring!

Wow, I am full of good ideas.

Anyways, let's go adventuring.

I walked down the stairs, and instead of walking straight to the kitchen, I turned left, which took me to another passageway. There I took another left, then another, and then a right.

Whoah...what is this place?

It seemed like a hotel lobby, with its plush carpet and many doors.

However, instead of just having ugly wallpaper, it had beautiful art pieces adorning the walls.

I turned around in amazement, staring at all the paintings when one specifically caught my eye.

Wait, what was that?

I gravitated towards the painting that held my interest and reached out to touch it before drawing my hand back.

You weren't supposed to touch art; the oils in your hand broke down the paint or something.

I stared at the painting in disbelief.

It wasn't a good painting, not by a long shot.

It looked like something a two-year-old would paint.

I squinted at the painting for a few minutes more before realizing that this was my painting.

In the corner was a messily written "E" shaped blob, with the rest of my name written in neat calligraphy. Maybe one of my brothers had completed my name?

The more I stood there in silence, the more I realized how creepy this place was.

Okay, Emma, time to go.

I turned around and came face to face with someone's chest.

As my eyes trailed from his chest upwards, I did the only logical thing that a girl could do.

I screamed.

Meanwhile...

*Diya POV*

How boring could class be?

That was the only thought rattling through my head as I sat through my Spanish 3 class.

Don't get me wrong, Spanish is a beautiful language, but I swear it was so boring today.

It had already been an eventful day, to be fair, so I was kinda glad that this class was so boring today.

When Emma had basically passed out from exhaustion, I let her.

I just turned off the tv, cleaned up a bit, and grabbed a book from my bag that I had brought.

I knew I wasn't gonna sleep anytime soon because of all the sugar I had just eaten.

You see, I don't eat much sugar because I usually have to be on a strict diet for training.

Thankfully, my coaches give me one cheat day a month; otherwise, this would have been really boring.

I continued reading, not noticing when the sun started to rise. I was lost in the book, and my surroundings melted away as I got more and more engrossed in Percy Jackson and The Sea of Monsters.

That was until the clock hit 6:00 am.

My body seemed to realize that this is when I wake up, so it jolted me out of my reading haze as if to alert me.

Wait, I was still at Emma's. Did I happen to bring and workout clothes?

Haha, of course, I brought some; wow, I am so funny.

I quickly changed into a Nike sports bra and some Nike leggings before slipping out of Emma's bedroom to try and find the front door.

Gosh, I love how Nike clothing looks on me. It really makes my abs pop, and anything that does that is fantastic in my book.

Her house was huge.

I finally found the stairs after a few moments and mentally thanked the lords above.

I wonder if Emma has any siblings?

Enzo Ramirez did get her during lunch, but maybe that was for other reasons?

Ew Nah, I didn't think so.

Fingers crossed that I don't see any of her family.

I climbed down the stairs and paused, not knowing where to go.

I could see a kitchen right in front of me, and what I assumed was an open living room to the right, so the front door obviously had to be to the left?

Curse my memory and how bad it is.

"Can I help you?" I heard a deep, almost angry voice from behind me ask.

I turned around slowly and met the person's eyes.

I could feel the color start to drain from my face; well, figuratively, I'm Indian; I'm always gonna have color in my face as I realized who was behind me.

Why the hell was Luca fucking Ramirez in Emma's house.

Unless?

Nah.

But...

No.

"Who are you?" Luca asked.

I stood there frozen in shock. What the actual fuck.

"Hello?" he said, waving a hand in front of my face, "Okay, I'm just gonna get security then."

Hearing him mention security somehow made me talk again as I blurted out,

"No, wait!."

He turned around and cocked an eyebrow at me, "Yes?"

"I'm Emma's friend," I explained.

"Oh."

"Um, I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but you're Luca Ramirez, right?"

"Yes."

"Oh, okay, good, that's what I thought. Uh, can you show me where the front door is? I need to go for a run."

He looked impressed for a second, before saying "Sure, and thanks for coming over last night for Emma."

"Don't even mention it," I called out over my shoulder as I slipped my earbuds in and jogged out the door.

*An hour later* (how long does it take to run, I never do so...)

Wow. That was a pretty good run, if I do say so myself.

I probably hit a new record, but I would have to check later.

Wait, do I go back to Emma's now or my house?

I'm just gonna head to Emma's cause my go bag is still at her house.

As I jogged back up to the doors of Emma's mansion, I stopped for a moment.

Ringing someone's doorbell was literally so cringy, and if all the Ramirez brothers were at her house, I was literally just gonna drop dead right then and there.

Just as I was still mentally debating, Luca Ramirez opened the door.

I waved a small hi, before internally cringing.

I swear I wave so weird.

"I just saw you through the cameras, do you want to come back in?"

Still stunned for whatever godforsaken reason, I nodded my head and quietly slipped past him.

Oh my god, he was so hot.

I fall in love with boys in like 2 days, so that was probably it. Still, I would be stupid if I didn't say that Luca and all of the Ramierez brothers basically brought out a second heartbeat in me.

Anyways, I'm gonna shut up with those thoughts in case I'm near a mind reader.

How embarrassing would that be?

I glanced at the time, 7:15.

I guess I should make Emma breakfast? I mean, that's what a good guest does, right?

But I am in gross, sweaty workout clothes. On the other hand, making breakfast takes like 10 minutes tops.

I turned around, hoping that Luca was still there. Thankfully he was, which would have been creepy under other circumstances.

"Um, do you mind if I make Emma some breakfast or something? I can make y'all some too if you want."

"Sure," he flashed me a smile, "let me show you to the kitchen."

Now you see, I had a little hypothesis here.

I wasn't stupid, so I figured, Hey, maybe the Ramirez brothers live here.

But then I was like, with Emma?

And then I was like, What if she's like a wh0re that they pass around?

But then I knew Emma ain't like that.

And so, I have come to the conclusion that Emma is somehow related to these people, just with a different last name.

Wow, detective much?

Anyways, time to start cooking. If another Ramirez boy comes down, I will literally just cease to exist, but let's see what happens.

*She cooking now

I poured some pancake batter onto the skillet, then turned around to cut the freshly washed strawberries that I had laid out.

Only to find them gone.

"Sorry, werf zese jours?" FUCKING Enzo Ramirez said.

It took me a minute to process his question, as I was currently staring at his shirtless body.

Damn those abs.

Chiseled by the gods themselves, I tell you.

"Huh?" I snapped my eyes back up as I realized he was waiting for an answer, "I'm sorry, but I can't really understand you."

"Oh." He said, then chewed fast for a moment before swallowing, "I said. Sorry, were these yours?"

"Um, well, technically, they're yours, but I was gonna give them to Emma."

"Oh shit, these were for Emma," he said while running his veiny hand through his perfect bedhead. (hand kink go brrr)

"What was for Emma, you fucktard." Another voice said as they entered the kitchen.

Oh, my gods, I was gonna pass out right now.

Antonio Ramirez just walked into the kitchen.

I did a quick glance down and almost passed out once again.

HOMEBOY WAS SHIRTLESS.

Damn he got tattoos?

Ugh, love that.

Okay, breathe, Diya, I think they're saying something to you.

"Ay, you fucking new or something? Make me some pancakes." Antonio yelled at me while sitting down.

Enzo took a seat next to him, and I practically combusted, I tell y'all.

I cannot handle two fine-ass shirtless men in the kitchen, sitting no more than 6 feet away from me.

Yes, you can, Diya. You are a strong independent woman.

I turned around to flip the pancake that I was previously cooking while also keeping one ear tuned in to the conversation.

"What was for Emma?" Antonio questioned once again.

"The strawberries that she laid out," Enzo said while gesturing to me, or so I am assuming.

"Huh? Why would she put our strawberries for Emma? Who the hell is she?" Antonio said.

"She's Emma's friend; that's who the hell she is." Another voice joined the mix, and I practically sighed from relief.

It was Luca's voice, and I was very grateful to have one non-shirtless guy in this kitchen.

But just my luck, when I turned around, Luca was shirtless. See, at this point, it was lowkey uncomfortable, considering I was just wearing a sports bra and some leggings around the 3 hottest guys in the school.

"Hi?" I meekly waived when I realized all eyes were on me.

"You're Emma's friend?" Antonio asked in a tone.

Hmph, yes, I am mister, and I don't like that tone.

But obviously, I didn't say that, as I like my face bruise-free, so I just nodded.

Well, now that's over, I should be down now, right?

Wrong.

Yet ANOTHER guy comes around the corner, except not only is he shirtless, he's only wearing boxing shorts and some gloves, leaving his abs and tattoos on full display.

Oh, lords, have mercy on me; this is too much to deal with. But guess who has to anyways?

Me.

***

So...thoughts on Diya POV?

Ik majority was from her POV which is different, but I really felt like writing from hers and so I did.

Also this chapter is 2000 words which is kinda neat, and it only took me like 2 days to write it.

Anything you want to see in this book? Comment it right here.

wear your mask, drink your water, eat your food and stay safe!