When I woke up next I was in a bed and the room was still dark with just the light from the moon shining through the sheer curtains. I stretched and took a deep breath in. This smell was all Kota. That warm cinnamon smell just lulling me deeper into the cloudlike cushion of the mattress. I was so comfortable, I didn’t want to leave, but curiosity got the better of me.
I slowly sat up and looked around, curious at how he lived when no one was looking. I am laying in the middle of a king sized bed with the softest light blue comforter I have ever felt. The room itself has minimal furnishings. He either doesn’t spend a lot of time here or just doesn’t like excess stuff. I find that interesting for the more happy-go-lucky twin.
The walls are a dark gray. There are double doors on either side of the bed probably leading to a closet and bathroom. The wall to the right of the bed is almost all windows. The cream curtains are sheer to let in light but keep privacy. It looks out over the front drive of the house. The wall opposite of the bed had a long deep cabinet with a marble top and three floating glass shelves above it. The wall to the left of the bed had a few framed photos of the twins together and them with the rest of the guys.
I slowly climbed out of the bed wanting to get a closer look at what he thought of as things important enough to remember and display. There were no pictures smaller than an 8×10. The largest in the center was a copy of the same family picture that was down in the main hallway. One of him and Cam in sharp black suits posing together in an unfamiliar garden.
Probably the second biggest was a picture of the five boys together, maybe a year or so ago, all shirtless in swim trunks sitting on a log in front of a lake. They look sunkissed, soaked and happy, like they are having the time of their lives. I wonder if this was their first summer away. The rest are other pictures of him and the guys, but as I turn to walk towards the door to see where everyone else is at, I notice a picture on the bedside table and my heart rate sped up.
It was like my body had a mind of its own and moved me towards the photo. I picked it up and just stared. I don’t remember anyone taking pictures the night of my party, but it is one of all five boys, Sierra and I laughing at the table by the pool.
We all had cake so it was after my embarrassing crying episode, but you wouldn’t be able to tell I had cried at all from this photo. There is a light in my eyes and I truly look relaxed with them, like sitting there and having fun was something we do all the time.
I set the photo down before I could dwell on why this one was by his bed and how fast that was printed and framed and headed toward the door. I stepped out into the hallway, I have no idea what time it is. With all the minimal stuff in Kota’s room there was no clock either.
I’m sure he just uses his phone. The doors to Cam’s room and the office are closed. So I head to the media room to find Mateo and Oliver sprawled on the couch. Sam and Sierra must be on the guest bed, but where did Kota sleep?
I walked over to the ottoman where my phone is laying and saw that it’s just after 4am. My body is just hardwired for this time of the morning. I am actually a little sore from the very long training from yesterday, but I can’t skip today, nor can I skip school.
I’m sure my dad was pissed about yesterday, which is why he said nothing to me last night and I have a suspicion that’s why I am here at the packhouse rather than at home, but that won’t fly today.
At least Luna Ava gave me leggings and a sports bra. I can get my morning training in without going home, then I can go home to change with Mateo. Being with him may lessen the fallout of missing school and not going home at all last night.
