I couldn't remember much of what happened with Ain and Duke. The only fuzzy picture I had was a spider. I couldn't remember if it did anything or not. I was glad about that.

Noah called me yesterday. He said he wanted to hang out with me. I wasn't too sure, though. I didn't feel good because of whatever happened with the spider.

But Ain said I should hang out with Noah if that was something I wanted to do. It was good to do fun things with other people.

Ain went with me to their house, so I wouldn't get lost. Once I got inside, Ain told me to call him if I needed anything.

When I looked back, Ain was gone.

"Huh..." I tilted my head. "I would've thought he wanted to talk to your brother."

"So would I." Noah shrugged. "They can be pretty good at disappearing. I'd be shocked if they don't stop to talk to each other at least once before the end of the day."

I nodded. Ain seemed to like Noah's brother. He didn't seem to like talking to most people. He always seemed like he'd get a little extra hot when he had to talk to other people.

"I should've asked this sooner." Noah turned his head. "Feel better? You sounded tired when I called."

I nodded.

"Did something happen? That's the sense I got."

I couldn't say anything. My mouth wouldn't open. My cheeks got hot.

"It's alright if you don't wanna talk about it. Some things are better left forgotten." Noah took a breath. "What to do you think we should do?"

There was a crash.

Noah put his hand over his face. "I better go see what trouble those monkeys got themselves into..."

I decided to follow him cuz I didn't know what else to do.

These two boys who looked the same were all red. They were both hot, but the one closer to the table was cooler.

"Logan. Lucas. What do you two monkeys break?" With how he was going between hotter and colder fast, Noah was trying hard to keep calm.

They pointed at lots of tiny pieces on the carpet. "That."

Noah put his hand over his face again. "Len and Ivy are gonna let you boys have it when they find out you broke their vase."

"We'll clean it up..."

"No. I don't trust you with glass. Go get En."

The boys then left.

"You can stay here if you want." Noah took a breath. "I need to find one of my brothers."

I shook my head. "I'll come, too."

We went into the kitchen. The boy with the dog who came to our house was laying his head on the table. The dog was curled up at his feet.

"Hey, Star? Have you seen Del?"

"Have you checked our room?" his brother asked.

"No, not yet." Noah furrowed his eyebrows. "If you're here, he's probably not in your room anyway."

The guy looked at Noah. "What for, anyway?"

"The monkeys need to get out of the house. I'm gonna take them to play some soccer."

"I could..."

"Del is the only one who can keep up with them." Noah crossed his arms. "Besides, you don't even like soccer."

His brother perked up. "Just cuz I said I was bad at it, doesn't mean I said I never liked it!" He put his head on the table again.

"Alistair." Noah brushed his hand through his brother's hair. "If you feel this bad, you need to go lie down. Did you not sleep much last night? That's what it looks like."

"I'm not that tired! I'm fine!"

Someone else came into the room. They had brown eyes like Ain's friends did.

Something about this person reminded me of Ain, but I couldn't put my finger on what.

They whispered in Noah's brother's ear.

His brother got up and left. It almost seemed like his legs turned into blocks.

"Did you need something?"

"I dunno, Del." Noah sighed. "I was gonna ask you to help me take the two monkeys to play soccer since we were gonna go play anyway but dunno..."

The boy with brown eyes smiled. "It'll be fine. We just need to give En a heads up, so he knows what he's getting into."

That was when another person came in.

"I saw that. Go have your fun. It's better the monkeys aren't home when Len and Ivy get back." The person opened some kind of closet. "Have either of you seen the broom?"

Noah said sorry.

The brown-eyed boy said, "Ask Hannah."

"Anyway..." The boy sighed. "I can take care of Star and the house. Go have your fun."

Noah's brother said, "Good luck."

The one looking for the broom left.

Noah's brother got down on my level. He didn't look tall when he did that. "I'm Del. What's your name, bud?"

I wished I could write... My mouth didn't wanna open...

"Take a deep breath," Noah whispered in my ear. "It's alright."

"Ph-Ph-Phoenix."

Del smiled. "That's a pretty cool name. The phoenix is probably my favorite bird ever."

"The Phoenix is immortal. It always rises from the ashes. It always gets back up."

Del gave me a pat on the back. "That's right!"

We all left the kitchen. The two boys who looked the same were in the hallway.

"Logan! Lucas!" Noah looked in their direction. "Get your shoes on!"

They went to the front door and did as they were told. Except for a different colored stripe, their shoes looked the same.

Noah and I took our time getting to where we'd play soccer. Del and the boys that looked the same seemed to be in a bigger rush.

"Hey, Noah?" I looked at him. "How old are those two?"

"They're twelve." Noah smiled. "Logan is older than Lucas by five minutes if I remember right."

My mouth dropped. "Five minutes?"

"Yep. Those two monkeys are identical twins."

"Twins?"

"Twins mean they were born super close together and they have the same mom."

I'd never heard of twins before. Were T and Ain twins? Wait. I didn't think they were. Ain's mommy wasn't T's and my mommy. Our mommy had to go away a really long time ago. T told me my birthday was closer to Ain's than hers even though they were born on the same day. I didn't really get it, but I believed her. T wouldn't lie to me about that.

"What does identical mean?"

"Logan and Lucas look the same. That's why they're called identical twins."

Identical was the same. I liked the sound of that. I hoped I'd remember that later.

***

We got to a place with lots of grass and trees that made a box. There were two white things on the edges of the box. I wasn't sure what the white things were for.

"I hope you monkeys are ready!" Del got inside one of the white things. I didn't notice before, but Del was wearing gloves. I didn't get why. It wasn't that cold out yet.

"Want me to start us off?" Noah asked.

Del looked at the twins.

"Noah can go first," they said.

Noah kicked the ball into the white thing, but Del grabbed it before it could get in.

"Logan gets the first shot," Del said.

Logan was the cooler of the two and it showed. He took a little time before he kicked the ball and looked at Del. Del caught his ball, too, but it looked like it hurt. Did Logan really kick the ball that hard?

Lucas smiled when it was his turn. He didn't bother to wait or anything. Del didn't bother to try and stop his ball. It just went into the white thing.

"Luc!" His twin glared at him. "If you keep that up, you're gonna ruin the net!"

Noah put his hand over his face. "Del."

"You'd have to ask Hannah or En."

"Maybe, I will..."

Anyway, we took turns trying to get the ball into the white thing. Del didn't bother with Lucas' shots. Other than that, Logan got the most past Del and Noah got five. I only got three.

It was fun and all. I just wished I could've gotten the ball in the white thing more.

Del smiled at me. "This was your first time playing soccer, wasn't it?"

I nodded.

Noah put his arm around me. "You did great, bud. Del doesn't mess around. He only lightens up for the kids when they first come home."

It felt like Noah meant to say more, but I couldn't tell what. Either way, I was happy he liked how I played. I wasn't sure if I'd be only good cuz I never played before.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

"A text?" Noah whispered in my ear. "Want a hand or you just gonna let your phone talk?"

I handed Noah my phone.

"This would be a good time to head back." He smiled. "Marshall said they're gonna eat soon. They got a cake for Duke's birthday." He looked it over. "I'm not sure if they told him about it or not, though."

"I'll be fine with the monkeys," Del said. "You can go too if you want."

Noah asked if I wanted him to walk me home. I said yes cuz I was nervous and didn't wanna get lost.

***

Thoughts on Eni and how he interacts with Noah and the others? Theories? Predictions?

~Shino out!