~

I stare at my bed: it's arrangement of cute little plushies lining the headboard, all unbranded, but just as adorable. I hear a noise outside my door, and turn around in shock. I let out a sigh of relief when I realise nobody is coming in.

I look back at my bed. I really hoped nobody would call me childish or babyish for having stuffed animals. I mean, everyone had their own comfort item. Right?

I go to the vanity, and look in the mirror. I fix up my dark brown hair, my pink headband, until I'm certain I look okay.

I was never much into fashion, I just put on whatever looked good. I also wore lots of simple clothing, nothing too boastful.

I guess you could say I was the opposite of Lyra. And she definitely noticed.

I felt small in her presence. She was everything I was not. Where she was confident, I was shy; where she had a beautiful body, I was a little limp thing.

And yet she still smiled at me. I'm surprised she even dared to look at me. At my old school, nobody would've dared. They thought I was some 'shy, little nerd'. Not to mention all the other names they called me. 

I'd rather not repeat them.

A knock at my door wakes me out of my depressing thoughts. I walk over towards it, and open the door slowly.

"Fawn?" Someone says my name.

Fawn. It's literal translation: Young deer, gentle, sweet and doe-eyed. The perfect name for me.

"Fawn?" The person says again. It's a girls voice. I inch the door open a little bit more, and see blonde hair.

"Olivia?" I ask slowly, because for all I know, it could be her brother as well. With a girl voice.

"Yes!" She says excitedly. I open the door completely. "Do you want to come to the Homestead?"

"Homestead?" I ask again, wondering what that was.

"The living room, basically." Olivia shrugs. "Thomas told me that that's what him and Minho call that place."

"Oh." I say. "And what are we going to do there?" I fiddle with my pink bracelets on my wrists, a silver bear charm finding it's way in my fingers.

" 'Do something fun.' " Olivia makes quote marks with her fingers. "Thomas is so secretive."

"Mm." I hum.

"What's that on your bed?"

"What?" I snap back to attention, eyes flicking to the bed and then back to Olivia.

"Those." She points at the stuffed animals. "What are they?"

"N-nothing." I try to sound convinced, although my voice crack gives it away.

"I promise I won't judge." Olivia says softly. I look at her face. She's so believable. She's such a positive person, I can tell already, and she always tries to involve everyone in anything, from what I've seen so far.

But I let my past get to me.

"It's nothing." I gulp, closing the door behind me and joining Olivia in the hallway.

She stares at me for a few moments and then shrugs at me. "Alright. Let me go get Lyra and then we can leave." She turns around and walks down the hallway to Lyra's door. I watch as she knocks on the door, blonde hair swaying, as the door opens, and Lyra's head peaks out. They speak for a while, and then both walk down the hall towards me. I smile softly at them both, and they smile back.

Olivia heads to the door, and then opens it without saying anything. As I'm behind her, I hear her gasp softly. She moves out of the way, and I see what she's looking at.

The lights are off. There's only one lamp on in the corner. The kitchen is filled with snacks and drinks, many I've never seen before.

It really was a party.

I spot the 3 boys in the middle, talking between themselves happily.

Olivia walks over to them, and I glance at Lyra. She shrugs at me, and then heads the way Olivia went. I have no choice but to follow.

When I reach everyone, I catch a bit of the conversation among them.

"-you look confused."

"I'm always bloody confused, according to you."

"Minho, get the party streamers out."

"Thomas, get the party cannons."

So much conversation dispersed among them.

"Okay, everybody's here!" Olivia says loudly, but not shouting.

It goes quiet for a few moments, until someone shouts out. "Who's that!"

I look around, and notice a finger pointing at me. I follow the finger to the face, and notice Minho was the one who came out with his 'outburst'.

I watch Lyra's eyes widen. "Don't be so rude, Minho."

Minho snorts. "You're one to talk." He says sarcastically.

"And how's that?" Lyra spits out, hate lacing her every word. It makes me a bit scared of her.

"You're really asking that." Minho raises his eyebrows. "You have dark red hair."

Lyra begins to open her mouth, but Thomas steps in between the two. "I think that's enough." He coughs out. "You're Fawn, right?" Thomas faces me.

I nod slowly.

"So that means we have Fawn," Thomas points at me. "Lyra," he points at her. "And our lovely Livvy." Thomas smirks at Olivia.

"Don't even." Olivia rolls her eyes, although I see no hatred in them.

"I will, thank you very much." Thomas mimics a British accent. "Now everybody stop arguing and enjoy yourselves." Thomas walks away dramatically, with Minho following him, but not before he stares at Lyra. I watch her death-stare him back. A bit harsh, I'd say, but what did I know about dirty looks apart from receiving them?

"Oh, Fawn!" Olivia says, and I turn around to face her. "This is my brother, Newt. I don't think I've introduced you to him."

I look at Newt. His blonde hair flops over his forehead, his grey eyes peeking out from underneath.

Wow. He looked like an exact copy of Olivia.

And I loved Olivia already.

"Hi." He says, smiling at me.

"Hi." I reply back, giving him a small smile back.

I stare at his face. Gosh, he had a good jawline! And his features were so soft!

And his eyes. His eyes were dreamy, so beautiful I could get lost in them.

I hear a cough. I escape my thoughts and see Newt slightly blushing.

"Sorry." I mumble quietly, as I feel a pink tint come to my cheeks. That was embarrassing. It's not even as if I had the chance to get with him. It would never happen.

"It's alright." Newt coughs nervously, running a hand through his hair. "Oh, I think the boys need-" The rest of the sentence trails to a stop as he awkwardly escapes the tense situation.

I am deeply embarrassed. What was the point of admiring his very beautiful features if I knew nothing would come of it? I had to focus more.

"Right." Olivia coughs awkwardly, smirking at Newt's back.

"So what are we doing?" Lyra taps her dark red nails against a chair that I have no clue how it got there.

"What do you want to do?" Olivia shrugs.

"I've seen better parties." Lyra makes a face.

"I can imagine." I add myself into the conversation. Lyra gives me a smile.

"This is so boring." She yawns. "I'm going to get a drink."

"I'll come with you." Olivia jumps up excitedly, and looks at me expectantly.

"I'm staying." Olivia nods at me and waves, and then walks off with Lyra.

Now I'm by myself. I stare around at the room. All 3 of the boys have disappeared somewhere, and I knew where the girls were. I debate going to my room, but decide against it. I head over to the sofa, and sit down on one side. I look in the reflection of the TV, and pat my dark brown hair down. I then look down at my brackets, a colours of pink, white and silver. I fiddle with the silver bear charm again, finding comfort in the metal pressing against my fingers.

"You alright?"

I jump up suddenly, turning my head around so quickly that I feel my neck crack. I see Newt standing behind me, those eyes of his twinkling.

Not the right time, Fawn.

"Y-yes." I stammer, as I realise I'm still quiet.

Newt chuckles to himself. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"It's fine." I say simply, as I realise there's no point denying it.

"May I sit down next to you?"

He.
Was.
A.
Gentleman.

And a British one as well.

"If you want." I let out a small smile at him, and he smiles back at me, walking round the semi-circle sofa to sit next to me. I want to curl up my legs and face him but I don't think that would be polite.

And he definitely knew about manners.

"What's in your hand?" He asks, staring at my right hand.

I glance down as well, and notice a bear head in my hand. The silver charm. It must've broken off when Newt came behind me. I look at it's designated bracelet, and see where it got pulled off.

"Is that your charm?" I nod in answer, as I'm still too shocked to believe it. It was one of my favourites. "It's cute."

I look at Newt, and he's smiling at me softly. He was something else. "Thank you." I smile back at him.

"Did I make you break it?"

Pink flushes to my cheeks again. The answer was pretty obvious, but I didn't want to blatantly tell him it was his fault, when it was also mine for holding onto the charm.

"I understand, Fawn." The first time he's said my name. Wow.

"I'll make it up to you."

I look at him quickly. "No, it's fine." I shake my head violently.

Newt looks back at me. "It's not fine, because I bloody scared the heck out of you and made you break your bracelet. Which I can tell you like very much. So I'm going to do something about that."

Tears nearly come to my eyes. I never knew someone would ever bother study me like that, or take the time to read me. That was the best gift I could have.

"Thank you." I put my head down, and pinch my eyes so the tears don't come out. I couldn't be crying about something like this.

I feel my face being lifted up. I look at Newt, who's finger is underneath my chin, and I'm forced to look straight into his eyes. Oh. My. Gosh.

"Look at me." He says when I try to avoid eye contact, but it's not controlling, it's soft, sweet, gentle. "It's alright. I really don't mind." He removes his finger, and then we're just staring at each other.

"Thank you." I say again, looking at him. He smiles at me, and I do so back. "I think I'm going to go to Olivia and Lyra." I add, to make my exit less awkward.

"Alright." Newt chuckles. "Tell Olivia she's not allowed sweets otherwise I'm in trouble."

"Okay." I let out a little laugh. "See you."

"See you later."

Later. He was implying we'd talk later. I knew it. (NOT IN A DIRTY WAY READERS MAKING THAT CLEAR!)

I give out a last smile, and then turn around, leaving the cove of the couch. I spot Lyra And Olivia still in the kitchen area, probably just talking. I walk over towards them, and then they both stop their conversation and look at me, like they're waiting for something.

"Newt says don't eat the sweets, or he's in trouble, Olivia." I blurt out, since I don't know what to say.

Olivia bursts out laughing. "I don't need your concern, brother!" She shouts at Newt, who's still sat on the sofa.

"Yes you bloody do, sister!" I hear him shout back. 

He was so caring.

"Now, tell me everything." Lyra leans against the kitchen counter, tapping her nails again.

"Yes! I beg you, I can't wait!" Olivia claps, looking at me.

I look between them, confused at what they meant.

"I don't think I understand." I say slowly, careful not to embarrass myself.

"Maybe we should have this conversation somewhere else." Olivia raises her eyebrows at Newt, who's staring at us. Newt does the same back, only to get a stuck-out tongue back. She grabs mine and Lyra's hands, and drags us to the hallway of the girls' dorm, and then into her room. She signals for us to sit down on her bed, while she locks the door, grabs the vanity chair, drags it in front of the bed, and practically throws herself on it.

"Now." She clicks her tongue. "Speak."

I curl my legs up on Olivia's bed, after kicking my shoes off. "About what."

Olivia groans inwardly, as Lyra rolls her eyes in a not unkind way.

"About Newt!" Lyra shouts, raising her arms in despair.

"What about him?" I ask innocently. I genuinely didn't know what they wanted from me.

"Do you feel a connection to him? Are you attracted to him? What you feeling?" Olivia fires questions at me.

"Oh, no, I don't-"

"Fawn, you're face is the same colour as a juicy guava, I think it's obvious what you think." Lyra bursts out, unable to contain herself. And she's right, I can feel the heat radiating off my face.

"Well if it makes you feel any better he obviously likes you." Olivia teases, hugging her knees.

"No he doesn't." I snap my head up.

Olivia snorts. "I've lived with him all my life, I know when he likes someone."

I don't say anything in return just stare at anything in Olivia's room apart from herself and Lyra.

And then I come to a conclusion.

"I mean, I might-"

"YES!" Olivia jumps up from her chair. "I don't need to hear anymore I've heard enough!"

"I didn't even finish." I laugh. A good, proper laugh as well.

Olivia waves the comment away. "Doesn't matter. It's obvious you like my brother and that's all I care about."

"You don't mind? That's it's your brother?" I ask nervously.

"Why would I? He's a bit lonely anyways, he needs someone." Olivia shrugs, and Lyra snorts.

"I can see you two together." Lyra says.

"Me too."

"Mm." I trill. Gosh, a lot had a happened in just a short space of time.

"Maybe we should go back outside? The boys will wonder where we are." Olivia suggests.

Lyra wrinkles her nose, but then agrees. I don't think she liked Minho very much.

I agree as well, and then we head to make out of the room.

What a great first day.

~

A/N

Readers, do you think this is too fast? Or is that alright, because I have no clue 😭 I just didn't want it to be too slow yk 😭

If it's alright, hope you enjoy the story! My updating schedule is a bit messed up, but the next one might be of my other book, Never Saw It Coming.

Thanks for reading! Love you all 🤎