Sunday morning ushers itself in with a clear blue, cloudless sky and lazy winds that graze my skin. I've been looking forward to this day for two reasons. One, because Nathaniel is going to arrive at the house and two, because I get a break from running the five mile track.

Rolling out of bed, I skip towards the window and throw it open. I'm greeted by a salty breeze caressing my cheeks and the soft crooning of seagulls in the distance.

The house that we're staying in is modestly sized. It has three floors including the attic, each having a bedroom. I chose the bedroom in the attic because it had the best view of the sea and also provided easy access to the tiled roof.

Dad took the room on the ground floor, next to the pantry and left the master bedroom for Nathaniel. I scoffed when Dad told me that. A few days in the hot stuffy room downstairs would have been helpful in teaching the prince to adjust to plebeian life.

Nathaniel's file isn't very informative, at least not the one I've been given. It has a four year old picture of him, at the threshold of his teenage, in a three piece black and white suit taken with his family on one of their birthdays. I don't think much of his small frame and tight lipped and pinched face because honestly teenage boys tend to look odd when they first hit puberty.

The file says that he's trained in the basic skills of survival, is fluent in English, Latin, Mandarin, French and Arabic, and is a skilled pianist. Therefore his school extra curricula would include extra language learning and participation in the high school orchestra. He was to visit the school counsellor for an hour every week to hold up the ruse of PTSD because of loosing his father and seeing his mangled body post mortem.

I imagine him to be a well dressed know it all, with an air of confidence that would draw in people.

With a soft sigh, I push away all thoughts about Nathaniel and make my way to my closet to put together an outfit.

It's a Sunday, I have no training and I plan to head over to the beach to clear my head. I feel like that is a pretty solid incentive for me to dress up.

I'm painting my nails a light nude shade as I listen to a Simon Sinek podcast, when Dad stalks into my room. The old wooden floorboards creak under his weight as he crosses his arms in front of his chest and regards me with an icy glare.

"Oh, hi Dad," I smile impishly, "You didn't have to climb all the way up, you could have just asked me to come down."

Dad lets out a frustrated sigh, "I called your phone twice but you didn't pick up."

My face flushes slightly. I quickly put away my nail painting and hold my stretched fingers in front of me to dry as I stand up.

"What..." I start but Dad cuts me off midsentence.

"The boy arrived about half an hour ago. You'd know if you were more alert. I can't have you behaving so irresponsibly. Although you aren't a primary protector, you cannot afford to let your guard down while you're here." He says in a grave tone.

I nod calmly, "Well, I'm not on duty today and I figured that I shouldn't overwhelm him with my presence already. I'll see him before school tomorrow. "

"Being exempted from running, does not mean being exempted from duty so get your ass down there right now!" he huffs.

Blowing a wisp of air onto my painted nails, I make my way to my mirror and assess my appearance.

"Chill Dad." I say reassuringly, smoothing down my purple corduroy skirt and pushing my hair into place.

Plastering a bright smile on my face, I walk past my father and make my way to the second floor.

"Be nice, Ariya!" he calls after me, making my lips arch upwards into a more genuine smile as I call out, "I'll try my best."

Nathaniel's bedroom door is closed. I crane my neck forward to detect any sound that would tell me what he's up to but I hear nothing.

With a quiet exhale, I bring up my left hand and knock twice before a taking a step back.

The door creeks open after a few seconds, revealing a rather morose looking boy with his mouth pulled into a thin line as he studies me subtly like a piece of art in an art gallery.

He's dressed in dark shades- coal black formal pants and a dark grey shirt with silver collar links rolled up to his elbows. It suits his tanned olive skin perfectly. But although classy, his entire outfit clashed sorely with the bright cream and purple colours of mine.

The first button is unfastened, the dip between his sharp collar bones visible. I find myself staring at the beautiful angles and rhythmic to fro motion of his throat for a moment too long. Nathaniel swiftly fastens the top button, the action knocking me back to reality.

"Hi, I'm Ariya." I extend my hand forward with a sweet smile.

Nathaniel fingers wrap around my palm in a firm but gentle grip briefly as he shakes my hand.

"Nathaniel Mirsalehi," he nods tersely, "I mean Nathaniel Ross now..."

I nod, laughing lightly, "So you aren't doing anything important right?"

"Not at the moment." Nathaniel answers, knitting his eyebrows slightly.

"Great, we can bond then," I squeeze my way into his room and make myself comfortable on the window ledge, "I'd hate to interrupt if you were doing some work."

There is a tablet and a few documents strewn on his study table. An uncapped pen lies on the dip of the middle partition of a notebook with neatly written notes.

Clearly he was busy with something but was too polite to kick me out.

'Ah well!' I shrug.

Nathaniel frowns to himself before drawing a chair and sitting a couple of meters away from me, one leg crossed over the other and fingers clasped in his lap.

"I'm afraid I'm rather clueless here," he says, "Is there a specific agenda for this impromptu meeting?"

"Meeting?" I snort, "I just came here to get to know you. Like a bonding session, you know?"

Nathaniel nods listlessly, the corners of his mouth twitching up ever so lightly before turning his attention to a silver ring on his right index finger, "And what per se does one do in these sessions?"

Rolling my eyes, I ask, "Are you always this patronizing?"

"I deeply apologize if that's the impression you got, Miss Davis. It wasn't my intention at all." Nathaniel says quickly, his smile dropping, "I was simply clarifying since I've never really had friends before."

"Great!" I announce exasperatedly, jumping off the window ledge, and walk up to him until our knees almost touch, "Why don't we start with what friends don't do?"

I place my hands on both the armrests the chair and lean down slightly as I hold Nathaniel's gaze. He scrambles to sit up straighter, I hear his breath getting laboured. Pfft, male biology...

"Firstly, no bitching about each other. And secondly, no ditching." I say holding up my index and middle fingers one after the other to demonstrate the count, "Those are the basic ground rules, got it?"

Nathaniel gives a sharp nod, "Two rules. I'll keep them in mind..."

"I'm not done." I cut him off, tilting my head to one side poignantly.

"Of course."

Flustered by my proximity, a deep flush coats Nathaniel's cheeks. Shaking my head I push my hands of the armrests of the rotating chair and take a couple of steps back.

"Now that we've established the ground rules, the rest are fairly simple to understand." I state, "Friends consult each other before any big decision, give and take advice, are cheerleaders for each others achievements and most importantly never let the other do anything, albeit extremely stupid, alone."

"I'm sure I'll remember that, Miss Davis." Nathaniel replies before muttering incoherently under his breath, "Now if you'll please excuse me, I have some important work to do."

My eyes follow his to the sheets full of notes on his desk.

"You're trying to figure out who murdered your father, aren't you?" My words float in the air, cutting through the tense quietude.

Nathaniel clenches his fists tightly by his sides, his palms turning a deathly white as he steals his jaw and averts his gaze.

"Yes, and I'd prefer if you didn't meddle in my business. Please do not tell your father of this, he's forbidden me from taking matters into my own hands." He replies curtly.

"Tsk tsk, you're forgetting the rules of friendship." I shake my head, sitting back onto the ledge, "Friends always have each other's backs. Now tell me, what kind of clues are we looking for?"

Nathaniel's eyes soften a bit, the corners of his lips struggling not to twitch up as he wipes his palms over his black pants out of nervous habit.

"Thank you, Miss Davis..." he starts.

"Ariya," I interrupt, "Call me Ariya."

"Of course." He nods, "Thank you Ariya. But I would really like to be left alone right now, if that's not too much to ask."

His tired expression looks sincere, and I decide that I've pushed him enough for the day.

"Sure." I smile, making my way to the door.

Nathaniel leads me towards the bedroom door wordlessly. As soon as I step out, I turn round quickly.

"Tomorrow's our first day at the new school. Be ready at eight." I state.

Without thinking my hands go to his collar and straighten it before unfastening the first button just like it was before.

Nathaniel coughs abruptly, a deep crimson settling on his cheeks and ears.

"Oh come on, it looks better this way." I snort at his response before turning around.

The door closes behind me immediately and I shake my head, a little smile tugging at my lips. It's funny to see Nathaniel get all hot and flustered. I suppose I've found myself a new hobby.

•><•

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