Hedgesville, West Virginia
Caspian Residence
Friday, August 30, 1996
5:03 PM

“Why am I lugging around everything?” Amanda called out as she dragged five large duffle bags behind her. She groaned aloud as she snapped her head to the side, glaring to Megs and Erin who were staring in awe at the Caspian house.

“You’re the mountain woman,” Megs announced, waving her hand back and forth. “You wrestle your brothers all the time, so we only figured you can carry everything.”

“I’m still a girl!” Amanda cried out.

“Did you call Jennie?” Erin asked, poking Megs in the shoulder while eying the redhead with curiosity. “Don’t need us just barging into the house unannounced.”

“I have my handy-dandy cell phone!” Megs shouted as she whipped out her hand, holding up a large phone with a large smile on her face. “And with one single press of a button, I can call Jennie.”

“We know,” Amanda said with a smirk.

“Eeeeh?!” Megs screamed, staring down at the phone. She then looked around the area then back down at the phone before turning to face Amanda and Erin.

Holding up the phone and frowning, she wailed, “No signal!”

“Well,” Erin mumbled, “the house is right there. We can knock on the door.”

“That’s obvious enough,” Megs declared, “but that defeats the purpose.”

“Let’s just go,” Amanda said, continuing to drag the knapsacks behind her.

“Need some help?”

The three girls stilled promptly and bit by bit turned to look behind them. All they could take in was the bronze skin and beaming smile while the eyes of the young man were hiding behind blond hair that tapered to a brown.

“Who are you?” Megs breathed out. Her voice seemed weak, almost lost.

“Just one of local troders, gidget.”

With a smile, the man reached down and grabbed the backpacks from Amanda. There was no problem as he lifted them off the ground. “You can go on inside. I’ll place these in the living room for ya, okay?”

Trotting off with the bags and leaving the girls behind, he disappeared into the front door of the house. The three simply stood quiet.

“Did he call her a gidget?” Amanda asked, looking to Erin who nodded. “Or was that gadget?”

“Oh my God!” Megs shouted, whipping around to face the other two, “he was the hottest piece of ass I’ve ever seen in my life. I call dibs on him.”

“I don’t want him,” Erin announced clearly, shaking her head and waving her hands back and forth, “I don’t go for beach bums.”

“I’ll pass, too,” Amanda remarked. “I…just, no thanks.”

“You two are just no fun, I swear,” Megs complained, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms over her chest.

“So are you guys going to be coming inside or just stand outside all night?!” From the doorway of the house, Jennie stood with her hands on her hips and a grin on her face. Behind her stood a bouncing Ashlee who was determined to catch a glance of the other females.

5:15 PM

“It’s great to have more girls in the house!” Rachael exclaimed as she stood at the side of the kitchen table, looking down at the table that was surrounded by females. “With all testosterone oozing around here, it’s hard to breath sometimes.”

“So,” Amanda whispered, looking up to Rachael, “will there be any cute guys tonight?”

“Uhh.” The older woman looked down at Amanda then glanced over to Jennie with uncertainty.

“Not sure if you’d call them cute,” Jennie said with a small laugh, “but there’s going to be guys. We’re going to hang out and all. Thanks to Megs.”

“Yep,” Megs purred as she smirked. “I have my ways. But will that blond cutie be joining us?”

“Blond cutie?” Jennie whispered. She blinked then her eyes lit up. “Oh, you mean Nahele.”

“He’ll be there,” Ashlee called out, “And Rem and Reiyl and Kasei and Mirage and my brother.”

“So there will be plenty of boys to play with,” Amanda cooed as she smiled and leaned forward on the table. “You live in a harem of men, Jenn.”

“I wouldn’t really call it that,” Jennie mumbled.

“Yeah, the guys she has to live with aren’t exactly that…”

“We aren’t that what?”

From the doorway of the kitchen stood a disgruntled looking Reiyl with Kasei and Riley standing behind him. The three were eyeing the group of girls with weary eyes.

“I can’t get used to all the strange hair,” Erin said, staring between the different persons in the room. “It’s really alarming. What was it again…”

“Pigment disorder!” Jennie shouted quickly.

“What’s a pigment disorder…isn’t it just because we’re…” Kasei began to question the cause when a hand was slapped over his mouth quickly by his older brother.

“It’s a form of melanism,” Reiyl replied calmly, “but instead of our hair and eyes going straight black…we get only one form of a color.”

“Ah,” Erin called out, “I think I get that. I think.”

“Are we going to get started?” Megs interjected, “I want to play some games. Do some dancing and singing. Get to know everyone.”

“Yeah,” Amanda replied, “I want to get to know Jennie’s new friends.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Riley replied from behind Reiyl and Kasei, “so how about you ladies head into the living room with the guys and I’ll round up the others.”

“Alright!” Megs exclaimed, throwing her hand into the air while the others stood from the table.

Stepping up to Reiyl after getting up from the table, Amanda eyed the cat demon face-to-face suspiciously. Reiyl drew back carefully while an expression of doubt crossed his face.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“What’s with the hat?” she asked, reaching up to grab for the baseball cap that was on top of his head. “You hiding something under there?”

“No,” Reiyl mumbled.

Kasei grabbed at his own hat then looked up at his brother with pleading eyes. When Reiyl shot his a glare, Kasei backed up and dropped his hands to the sides of his body.

“Then let’s see your hair,” Amanda called out with her hands on her hips.

Pulling off the hat, Reiyl stared at the skeptical girl who glared at him for a moment then gave off a hefty grunt. Quickly, her attention went to Kasei who could only stare back like a deer caught in headlights.

“What?” the younger brother asked.

“How about you?” Amanda questioned.

Looking away shyly, Kasei bit at the bottom of his lip. “What about me?” he asked.

“Hat,” Amanda said, pointing to her head.

“Yeah,” Kasei replied, “I’m wearing one.”

“Take it off,” Amanda declared loudly, reaching for Kasei swiftly. Before she could reach him, the boy dodged her and took off running down the hallway screaming.

“Amanda!” Jennie shouted, “quit terrorizing everyone.”

Amanda turned around and faced Jennie with a frown. “But,” she whispered with a hesitant look, “there’s something fishy going on around here. I can just taste it.”

Feigning ignorance, Jennie shook her head. “No there isn’t,” she replied, “You’re just imagining stuff.”

“How about we just have fun!” Megs screamed, slamming her hands on the kitchen table, “That’s what we’re here for anyway. So no arguing or trying to make trouble!”

“But…” Amanda started to say something when Megs threw her a harsh stare. “Fine, no trouble.”

“Then to the living room!” Megs declared, thrusting her fist into the air and barely missing Erin’s face in the process.