I check myself out in the mirror, making sure I look good in my outfit for the party. I’ve got on nice short-shorts, a baggy white sweater, and some kinda floppy white hat, alongside nice but basic white shoes. I’m sure the boys will like to get to look at my legs, but anything else has gotta be earned.

Before I can look closer at myself, there is a knock at the door, followed by Mom’s voice.

"Lydia, come say goodbye!"

"One sec, mom!" I reply back, grabbing my phone off my bed and pocketing it.

I waltz on over to the door and open it, seeing my mom, Hazel, and our bodyguard that Mom hired a while back, Ashaka, getting ready to head out.

Mom brushes some of the long red hair I got from her out of her face, flashing me a caring smile. Her blue eyes glinted in the light that poured from the large windows of our penthouse. She moves up to hug me tightly against her thin body.

"Just be careful with your party. If anything gets weird, make sure to text Ashaka and she’ll be over to deal with whoever is causing issues."

"I know mom, she’s thrown out more than one boyfriend you didn’t like, literally."

Ashaka gave a deep chuckle as she moved closer to give a firm pat on my shoulder. Her dark skin contrasted with the white of my sweater as her curly hair bounced slightly with her laughs. She showed off a bit of her athletic physique with her tank top and loose jacket over it, alongside the knife and pistol she always carries to protect us.

"I just do my job well, little Dennison. If boyfriend is bad, he gets tossed on his ass." Ashaka says with a smirk, patting my shoulder again before going to stand by Hazel, who was staring into space as usual. Freak.

"Ashaka and I need to speak outside, girls. You two go have girly talk while we’re busy." Mom says, leading our guard out into the hall and leaving me with the weirdo I’m forced to live with.

Hazel awkwardly stares at me, brushing some of her hair to cover her face in an attempt to not look at me. She always covers that scar of hers, alongside all the others she has across her entire body that I've managed to catch when she has her door open, though I have no idea how she got them. She already had them before she came to live with Mom and I.

"So uh... how big is your party gonna be?" She asks, which is surprising as she rarely initiates a conversation.

"Dunno, but like everyone from school is invited, so probably at least a couple hundred people."

"Oh, sorry I can’t come. Got stuff with the foster care people, you know."

"I bet, please try to not get taken from us." My words full of sarcasm as I began walking past her to get to the fridge so I could grab a soda.

"I’m sure I won’t." She says with a nervous laugh.

A moment later, I hear the main door open, followed by Ashaka’s voice.

"Let’s go, Hazel!"

The weirdo quickly jogged off to the door, leaving with the others and leaving me with the penthouse all to myself for the next couple hours until the party begins. I better make sure everything is set up properly before guests start arriving.

🜂🜂🜂

After checking through all the snacks and drinks I had prepared, I flopped myself onto the couch, feeling exhausted and ready for the party to begin. That is before I spot Hazel’s door upstairs and get a good idea for some early fun. She hates it when I try to go into her room.

I force myself up from the cushions and make my way up to her door, pulling out a bobby pin. Luckily, Ashaka taught me how to pick a lock in case I ever got kidnapped.

After only a half a minute or so, I get the lock open and stroll into her room, where the first thing I notice is how dark it is. Like the lights are off, which is normal when you’re gone, but the total blackout curtains aren’t. Alongside how the walls are painted black, which is pretty damn weird, but it fits her.

She has no decorations on the walls either, leaving them barren, not even a TV. What the hell does she do in here for all those hours she spends cooped up?

All this feels too weird, so I decide to snoop more. No one can live in these conditions and not have some crazy ass secrets. I check through her closet, drawers, and under her bed. I’m about to give up the search when I look up and barely make out the outline of a hatch. When the hell did we get an attic?

I grab a chair from the dining room and hastily bring it back before stepping onto it and reaching the hatch, pushing it open and shining my phone flashlight into it. It doesn’t seem to be an attic, more of a crawlspace between the roof of our penthouse and the actual roof of the apartment building.

Upon doing a 360 look around, I spotted a duffle bag about an arm's length away. Jackpot! I reached over and grabbed it before dragging it closer and unzipping it, and inside was... just a bow, like an archer’s bow. I thought she didn’t join any clubs, and even if she did, why the hell would she have it stashed in a creepy ass crawlspace? Whatever, it fits her total vibe.

I closed up the bag and shoved it back to about where it was before making my way out of her room and locking it back up so she wouldn’t have a meltdown about it. While making my way back downstairs, I noticed I got my sleeves all dirty from the dust. Wiping it off in frustration, I sat back down on the couch, pissed that I went through all that for nothing.

At least the guests for my party should be arriving soon.