Slamming the door shut, I trudged my way up the flight of stairs to my room.

" Gabriel Adriano Harris I need to talk to you!" My mom hollared from the kitchen and at that moment I knew she figured it out.

Closing my eyes, I sighed before making my way to her. " Yeah mom?" I sat casually by the counter high stools.

With her hands on her waist, she stood before me. " I got a call today from Mr Howard, your Art mentor, why is he suspending you for 3 days?!"

Biting my lower lip, I massaged my temple in thought. There was one thing I found especially challenging to do — explaining to my Mom what is going on in my non-existent brain.

" Well, he insulted my painting so I threw my artwork at his face, along with my art palette..." my voice grew soft as mom's eyes widen.

She gulped down a glass of water, steadying herself. I bet she needs something a bit stronger, maybe a shot. As if planned, someone from behind began clapping.

" Now that's what I call badass, how does it feel to be me?" Kai, my second eldest brother, patted my back encouragingly.

Mom glared at him, " Why are you encouraging him, Kai? This is absolutely disastrous! This art scholarship will decide Gabriel's future!" She blabbered while pacing back and forth.

"Gabriel is a brilliant kid, he'll handle it, right Gab?" Kai hooked his arm around my shoulder which brought a smile to my lips.

Walking over to my mom, I began massaging her shoulders. "How about you take a break mom? You look like you need to relax."

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. " I can't, not today at least. We are throwing a party tonight." She clasped her hands together in excitement.

" W-what?...Another one?...Why?" I whined like a five year old. I hated the weekly events my parents organised. With my dad being the mayor, our parties would have over 100 people.

" Didn't you know?" Kai spoke up this time with his eyebrows drawn together.

" Would I be asking if I knew?" I replied sarcastically.

Kai rolled his eyes, "Blake is coming back!" My eyes nearly bulged out upon hearing that my eldest brother is returning after 3 years.

" Alexander as well!!" My mom cheered. I raised an eyebrow, trying to recall who Alexander was. Was he one of our long lost grandparent? Or maybe dad's best friend?

Kai noticed my puzzled expression and shook his head with a small smile.

" Alexander is Blake's best friend since diapers. You were too young to remember him." I nodded in response.

"Well then, you boys get ready by 7.30pm alright? And...Gabriel?" Mom trailed.

" Yeah?" I turned back once more.

" Please try to socialise during the party." My lips drew into a thin line, giving my mom a curt nod.

As I walked up the stairs with Kai by my side, he bursted out laughing. Unlike myself, he was more easy going.

" So tell me lil'brother, what did Mr Howard say that insulted your painting?" His cheeks were red, as he tried to hold back his laughter.

" He said that my painting looked like his 4 year old daughter's painting." I snapped , recollecting his grim words. Kai stopped in his tracks and stared at me blankly.

" That's all he said that made you throw your artwork at his face?!" Kai threw his hands in the air, in disbelief.

" I was planning on throwing my chair as well to be honest." I said in a straight tone.

" Maybe his daughter's painting is...nice?" He tried to comfort me.

" She's 4 years old, Kai, 4 years old."

I deadpanned. Kai shrugged nonchantly, a smile still playing on his lips.

" Wasn't that your end of term art project? What did you draw?" Kai confirmed.

" We had to draw someone who inspires us or changed us so I drew Jesus." Kai broke out in a bubble of laughter once more.

" Drawing me would have been a better option." Kai boasted, with his nose in the air.

I gave him a are-you-kidding-me look,

" And how did you ever inspire me, King Kai?" He loved being call that. If no one stroked his ego, he would instruct them to do it for him or he'll do it himself.(that's Kai for you).

He tapped his chin in thought before his eyes lit up.

" I inspired you to be suspended from school and here you are! Afterall I did beat dad's record of suspensions in a year."

Sometimes I wondered whether my brother even had a brain in that thick skull.

"Sure, Kai. But let's not forget that that got your ass expelled from school." I rolled my eyes as he nodded with pride.

"Either way, don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll come up with an idea." He gave me a positive smile that stretched across his face.

For the sake of making him feel reassured, I agreed before heading into my room. I pushed the doors to my balcony wide open, taking in a whiff of the pine trees that swayed freely.

Maybe I could have escaped today's party if all my friends weren't on their Friday night dates.

Jeremy was bringing Skylar to their favourite spot up the hills, Zach was most probably at the bar with a dozen of girls swimming around him, Sierra is most likely at the dance studio with Brad, Tristen is definitely with Willow playing pranks on passer-bys.

While I'm here with my paintbrush.

It's funny how I'm the last single person amongst my friends when I was actually the one who helped all of them get into a relationship.

I dug through the piles of suites, in my closet, to finally find the most comfortable one. It didn't matter either way, since I'll most probably end up at the bar drinking a beer.

As usual, I lost track of time being too engrossed in my thoughts. There was a knock from my door which snapped me out of my train of deep thoughts. Glancing at my clock, it was already 7.30p.m.

"Shit!" I cursed under my breath, throwing myself out of the bed. As I neared my door, I could hear the distant chatters and laughter, along with the clinking of wine glasses.

Straightening out my suit, I opened my door and walked right into a person causing me to stumble backwards.

I scowled at how the so called 'brick wall' gave me an amused smile as he threaded his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.

" Who the hell stands right before the door?" I bite out.

He let out a throaty laugh, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

" Well, you're quite weak for a boy."

I clenched my jaw, biting my tongue. This guy had no clue who he was messing with.

" If you knew what I did to my art teacher today, you would be pissing in your pants by now." I took a threatening step towards him, I definitely didn't miss how he folded his arms causing his muscles to flex.

"You should watch your back." I gave him my best death glare. Don't get me wrong, I would normally just give in and apologise, but today wasn't my best day and his cheeky smirk didn't help the situation the slightest bit.

The corners of his mouth quirked up,

" Are you threatening me now, Gabriel?" The way my name rolled off his tongue gave me shivers down my spine.

" H-how do you know my nam-- you know what? Never mind, you must just be some loner, or even better, some pedophile. So if you're looking for some people to harass then head back down to your right cause I'm out of here!" I shoved past him with my hands in the air.

After leaving him, I only began realising how defined his features were. He was washed up hansom with tan skin, dark brown eyes --- any girl would melt upon seeing him and yet...I called him a pedophile. I mentally rolled my eyes, how immature could I possibly get.

Unlike today morning, our function room was filled with dozens of guests in the finest of clothing. My eyes lazily scanned the crowd for the food section. I grabbed a red wine that the waiter was serving, taking a slow sip.

" Is it just me or do you look familiar?" My head whipped to the left upon hearing a voice I didn't hear in years.

There he was, beaming at me with his well known dimples showing.

" Blake!" I pulled him in a tight hug, ensuring I didn't spill my drink all over him.

"Hey little bro!" He ruffled my hair, tightening the hug.

" It's been so long, Blake, jesus christ! Look at you, you look amazing!" I said genuinely, there was definitely a big transformation from that scrawny frame he had.

" I have to say the same, you are so tall for your age! What the hell happened? Did mum feed you long beans everyday?!" He exclaimed, covering his mouth in surprise.

" Nah, if she actually did that, you would have been taller than me, afterall mum did feed you long beans often...but I guess it didn't work out.." I countered with a playful grin.

" I guess that spitfire mouth of yours didn't change though." He gave my arm a light punch.

"And so the three muskerteers unite as one!!" Kai came parading into our conversation, putting his arms around us.

" Actually four!" Another voice popped in, and the sight of him made me choke on my wine.

There he was-- the pedophile, or so I would call him. I wanted to cough out 'extra' so badly.

Blake chuckled when he noticed him, I on the other hand was looking for a pepper spray to prepare myself in case of an unexpected turn of events.

" Gabriel, Kai, I would like you to meet Alexander, my best friend!" Blake announced with a wide smile. My mouth was slightly ajar while Kai gave Alexander a warm hug.

" You okay, Gabriel? You look kinda pale..." Blake nudged me, I responded with a tight smile.

Alexander's hazel orbs landed on me with a sly grin, he took a step closer to me and did one of his boyish handshakes (that I definitely couldn't keep up with) before embracing me in a hug.

I tensed up upon his touch, my breath hitched.

" You shouldn't have threatened me, Gabriel Harris, cause now you'll be playing a dangerous game with me." He whispered into my ear, a deadly tone in his voice.

Only then did I realise I might not end up alone at the bar tonight...