Free First Light by Samantha Summers Page A

The smell of pizza wafted from the oven.
     
    The room was remarkably tidy, given that five boys lived there alone. Of that fact there was no traditional sign, bar all five of them being there.
     
    On stools by a marble worktop sat three of the four friends Kal had mentioned, and on a beanbag in the corner of the room what looked like a male model was stretched out with a book. He was the first one to look up and his smile was immediate and telling, forcing me to wonder if perhaps there had been bets on my coming to visit.
     
    ‘At long last!’ his deep voice boomed with an American accent I hadn’t been expecting. That’s when all remaining heads turned to face me.
     
    One belonged to a boy who was definitely younger than the others, with a mop of black hair against dark skin and even darker eyes. The second face I recognised from when I’d first met Kalen. He was fair, with long hair that he wore back in a ponytail and he was wearing a sports cap turned backwards. The last boy held my attention, his blond hair almost white and his eyes a cold frosty blue. Though he was lean like the others, his body looked tense – the muscles in his arms, veiny and hard. He glared at me. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled and I quickly let my gaze fall back to the other boys. They were all so different, yet the same; something about them was so similar but whatever it was, I couldn’t put my finger on it.
     
     ‘ Boys,’ Kalen stepped in front of me, ‘this is Ronnie Rose.’
     
    ‘Awesome, Ronnie!’ the little one declared, standing and bounding over with a bright smile. ‘So cool to meet you.’
     
    The second American , I noted with interest as he shook my hand and pulled me in for a hug. I liked him instantly.
     
    ‘Ronnie, this is Ace Jones.’ Kalen held the young boy back with an outstretched arm and Ace backed off.
     
    ‘That’s Nash Philips,’ he said, pointing to the one with the ponytail, who half got up from his stool and with a silent nod hello, reached a hand out for me to shake.
     
    ‘And this is Laith Williams.’
     
    Ah, the scary one. Laith looked at me when his name was mentioned, though he didn’t get up from his seat, and when he spoke his voice was thin and razor-sharp.
     
    ‘Ronnie?’ he announced with a degree of disgust. ‘That, is a boy’s name.’ His accent was British – completely normal for where we lived, though maybe a little more well-spoken than I was. He sounded just like Kal.
     
    ‘It’s short for Veronica,’ I defended meekly.
     
    ‘Dude?’ Kal shook his head at his friend and looked at me apologetically. I smiled at them all nervously in return, but the tension was quickly diffused when the big one got up from his low seat and bowled over. He was at least six-four and had the sort of chiseled features you only saw on a movie star. Brushing his brown hair out of his eyes, which were the brightest of blues, he took my hand and kissed it, with a sideways grin towards Kalen.
     
    ‘Good to finally have you hanging with us, gorgeous – I’m Denver. Ignore Laith. We all do.’
     
    Laith eyed Denver briefly before turning away and continuing to watch a television show they were all engrossed in. Four lionesses were mauling a dead Zebra carcass.
     
    ‘Let’s go to my room,’ Kal said into my hair.
     
    Kalen’s bedroom was similar to the rest of the house, only he’d removed the dust cover from his bed and replaced it with a small brown blanket. The rest of the room was sparsely furnished with a reading lamp and a small pile of books. I walked towards them, aiming for the only thing I could use as a talking point.
     
    He was leaning casually against the wall, with one foot over the other, his dark eyes fixed on me. My pulse picked up speed. Being so close to him again, and in his bedroom, I was caught in a strange limbo between excitement and confusion.
     
    ‘Do you like these books especially?’ I asked, hoping to keep my cool. Unfortunately the