"Angelo! Angelo, wake up!"

Groggily, my eyes fluttered opened as I groaned at the thudding sound resonating from my door. "Mhm, wh-what?"

"What do you mean what? It's the first day of school, get up! For crying out loud, you sleep like the dead!"

A massive yawn ripped through my throat. "You're going to wish you were if you continue shouting like that!"

"What did you just say?"

Despite my weariness, my lips tugged upwards at her sharp tone. "Never mind, I'm getting up."

"Good! Breakfast is waiting for you."

"Ah, thank you, Nagini."

"What did you just call- you know what, never mind! Just...get ready!"

The sound of footsteps slowly faded out of my hearing range. A few minutes later, I stood up, dragging myself over to the mirror that sat on the table across my large room.

My coily dark hair was bushy, but it went well with the tawny-brown hue of my skin. A smile tugged at my lips as the thought of a lion crossed my mind-

My eyes widened as the events of my dream came rushing back. I quickly stuffed them away in my mind's chest, where I had kept other unwelcome memories of my past.

Closing my eyes, I took a few deep breaths. I'm 17 now, not 10. The past doesn't exist anymore.

About a minute later, after my heart rate had slowed down, I dragged myself to the bathroom so I could get ready for the day.

. . .

My house has a grand staircase that connects the ground floor to the first and second. I was descending it when I saw her standing at the bottom: Annie, my guardian.

She folded her arms as she fixed her brown eyes on me, their dark color made even darker by her glare. Her pecan-brown skin was a far cry from the gleaming beauty it became after her showers. My eyes landed on the shoulder-length dark curls which framed her face.

Imagine trying to look fierce with hair that looks like an angry bird's nest. At least freshen up before you try to intimidate me.

A small chuckle escaped my lips.

Her eyes narrowed at me. "What's so fun- you know what, never mind! So, I had to wake you up this morning."

"Yes, you did. Enjoy the feeling you got doing that because we both know you wouldn't get it again."

"You know, I wouldn't have had to wake you if you'd just used an alarm!"

I groaned. "See, this is why I called you Nagini."

"Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're female, like your namesake. You always do the first three letters of the name, unlike your namesake. Not to mention that you seem to have a talent for slithering into-"

"Forget I asked!" She put her fingers to her forehead, massaging it for a few seconds before fixing her glare on me once again. "Just...tell me why you wouldn't use an alarm."

"Why on earth would I do that? I wake up perfectly fine by myself every other morning."

"Yeah, but not today! What if you had something important to do?"

"Did I?"

"What? Of course not!" She groaned. "I'm just saying, what if you did?"

I continued my descent down the stairs, grinning when I reached her. "Well I'll have you to wake me up, wouldn't I?"

"What-"

As she stood there wide-eyed, I used the opportunity to walk to the dining room. 

Finally coming out of her paralyzed state, she began striding after me. "I won't be here forever you know!"

"I know that, just as long as I need you!" I pulled out a chair at the large table and sat down. " Now, where's Pierre? I thought you said breakfast was ready."

As if flipped by a switch, her frown turned upside-down. "Oh that's right, I have a surprise for you! Be back in a jiffy!" She rushed into the kitchen.

My blood ran cold. Dear Lord! Please, not that-

"Tada, I made you breakfast! Delicious pancake!"

Oh, shit!

She rushed back in, setting the enormous silver platter she held down in front of me. Upon it sat some dirt brown, thick, mysterious substance.

"Oh silly me, I forgot the plate!" She rushed back into the kitchen. I used that time to poke the concoction with the tip of my finger. It seems soft enough. Not quite like the infamous rock cakes she made two years ago.

Leaning in, I sniffed it. A weird odor emanated from it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

"And I'm back!" I quickly rose my head up as she sat a plate and fork down in front of me. "Oh, I can see that the smell is drawing you in already!"

I cleared my throat. "Well... you could say that."

Beaming, she cut a slice out of the concoction, then placed it on my plate.

I nervously smiled. "You know, pancakes normally come in batches!"

Waving the knife around, she drawled, "Oh I know, but do you know how much stress it is to make it like that? This was way faster. Anyways, Bon Appetit!"

I picked at the slice with my fork.

She frowned. "What's wrong? Don't you want to try it?"

No!

I didn't particularly feel safe saying that though - the kitchen knife wasn't too far from her reach.

I forced my lips into a smile. "Oh, I'm just thinking about how much I'm going to enjoy this."

She beamed once again. "I know you will. Now, eat up!"

Gulping, I pushed my fork slowly into her creation, bringing out a piece and holding it up to my mouth. Here goes nothing.

Closing my eyes, I stuffed the fork into my mouth. Despite my best efforts, I spat it out barely a moment later.

This - this bitch!

I choked out, "Y- you put alcohol in this!"

"What? Angelo, don't be-"

"I can taste it!"

We both didn't say anything for a moment, then she looked away and mumbled, "It was only soaked in a little."

Good lord!

My eyes widened. "A little? Ann, your definition of 'a little' is about a whole bottle!"

"I thought you might need the confidence booster, since it's the first day of school!"

"What-" My eyes landed on something inside the pancake. Oh, dear Lord, this woman is trying to kill me!

I turned my horrified face to her, pointing a shaking finger at the pancake. "There are still eggshells in this!"

"There are?" Leaning forward, she peered in the direction I was pointing. "Oh dear, so there are! I thought I got them all out."

Dusting my hands, I stood. "Well, thank you very much for trying to poison me, but I need to get to school now!"

Her eyes widened. "You think my food is poison?"

I sighed, turning to pick up my bag. "No, Ann, I don't think your food is poison. Then again, I've never actually tasted anything you've made that is edible, so I can't-"

"Shut up!"

"Ow!" I whirled, rubbing at the back of my head as I glared at Annie. "Seriously; you threw my fork at me because I don't like that thing you made?"

"Oh stop your whining, at least I didn't use the knife!"

"Really? Wow, what a reassuring thing for my guardian to say!"

"Well-"

A groan broke through the air, interrupting us. "Why so loud this morning?"

Jabbing a finger at Annie, I looked at the man who had spoken. "Well Max, you can thank your twin for the noise, what with her trying to poison me!"

"Angelo, if you call it poison one more time-"

Max stopped rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, she cooked?"

"You too? Fine then!" Annie threw back her chair, shooting us both a dirty look as she stormed out of the room. "I'm never cooking for the both of you again!"

I shouted after her retreating form, "Oh no, how else would doctors be collecting checks from us?"

"Go to hell, Angelo!"

"Yeah well I'm going there, and it's called school nowadays!"

Max chuckled as he sat down on the table, wincing when he saw her food. "Damn! I bet she left eggshells in there, didn't she?"

I nodded. "As if the bottle of alcohol wasn't bad enough!"

"Bottle of alcohol-" Shaking his head, he sighed. "Anyway, want me to drop you off at school?"

I shrugged. "Yeah."

I racked my eyes over the white shirt and joggers that covered his muscular build. Facially, he resembled his twin a lot, only that his hair was shorter and his features more masculine. "Aren't you going to work today? Also, I thought Tony was going to take me?"

Max shook his head. "Nah, I'm taking a bit off. Though I can't afford to take more than today off." He chuckled. "Can't have your dad coming back from the dead to strangle me because I made the family lose the billionaire status, can I?"

Dad. My chest tightened.

Max cleared his throat. "Sorry, that was thoughtless of-"

I shook my head. "It's fine."

Max's eyes lingered on my face a bit longer than I thought was necessary, but he nodded. "Alright. Well, let me get presentable, then we'd be off."

"Off to-oh, right. School." I sighed. Right, off to another dull session

Oh, how wrong I turned out to be.