Burning Slow

The rest of the gang

"It's ironic how the two of you have hair colors that exactly match your powers." Was the first thing that another newcomer- Kenneth Ashford- said after we introduced ourselves.

"Oh, this isn't natural. We did it by choice. And it's also quite annoying that people mess up our names." Jacob answered the skinny Kenneth. He was probably as tall as Nathan if he hadn't been slouching, he had shoulder-length blond hair that was slicked neatly to the back and had skin as white as snow, obviously given so much care and attention.

"Wouldn't it be cool if you were to trick people though?" Kenneth mused to himself, then shaking the thought out of his head.

"So what's your power?" Ember asked, surveying him from head to toe as she had also done with the others.

"Before I answer that, do you like pearls?" The new teenager in the room asked a different question, noticing Ember's pearl earrings.

"Well, my mom loved earrings." She shrugged, unconsciously rubbing her pearl earrings. Nathan noticed this and pulled her closer to his side of the couch, offering support as he had always done.

Kenneth smiled, raising his left hand with his palm up. A soft glow temporarily emanated from his hand and once the glow faded, resting on his hand was a pearl necklace. 

"I can conjure anything from nothing. As long as I know what the object does, what it looks like and how it works." He answered Ember's previous question as he handed her the pearl necklace.

"Cool. Thanks." Ember smiled at Kenneth, immediately wearing the necklace.

"So why exactly are we here?" James- who was lying on the other side of the same couch that Ember and Nathan sat on- asked the question that was in everyone's mind. 

The only difference was, "For the hundredth time, we'll explain when everyone is here." the other people in the room understood that answer.

Nathan glared at James as he answered his question again, exceedingly annoyed at the white haired twin. "How do you stand him?" He asked the other twin.

"I honestly have no idea." Nathan groaned as his response to Jacob.

"How many people are supposed to be here?" Alex asked as he squeezed his ass between James and Ember.

"Seven. Including me." Nick answered. "Eleven fif you would count everybody that is supposed to be in this house." As he said that, his phone chimed again.

He sighed, teleporting to a different location for the second time today.

Once he reappeared, he was with another guy. It didn't surprise them much that this one was also doubled over, holding his stomach and silently groaning.

The rest of the group only grimaced, remembering how awful it felt when they teleported with Nick.

Their teleporter noticed this and let out an amused chuckle. "You guys do know that we're going to be doing this more frequently, right?" The group shivered at the thought, feeling their stomach swirl.

"You must be Rocco Caiola." Nathan asked- half, stated- as he had gotten over the horrible thought of having to teleport with Nick.

The Rocco guy was just a tiniest bit shorter than Nathan, Kenneth and Nick seeing as they belong to the same tall height group, definitely taller than James, Jacob and, Alex. He had gorgeous piercing green eyes and brown locks- lighter than Nick's- in perfect curls, framing his face. He had a light dusting of freckles on his face, reminding Ember of future Nathan's look, and he had a small stubble of facial hair on his chin.

After a while, Rocco felt a bit better, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Yes, I am Rocco Caiola. How'd you know?" He asked as he placed his baggage beside the chair that he just sat on.

"Well, you're the last guy on the list." Nathan answered.

"Last guy?" Nick asked. "So there are gals that I'm going to get?" Nathan and Ember nodded.

"Yes!" Nick grinned like an i***t, fist-bumping the air.

All teenagers, plus Alex, turned their heads to the grinning i***t who still had his fist in the air.

"What?" He asked once he noticed all the eyes on him, lowering down his fist.

"You're sick, dude." James threw the ball at Nick which he barely caught.

"Oh, c'mon," He exclaimed, throwing the ball back to James, "don't act like you guys aren't exacted at seeing more girls. To be honest, I'm already getting sick of Ember's face. No offense."

"I'll just act like that's not offensive but I feel the same way you do, bud."

"You're sick of your face too?" 

At this, Ember grabbed the ball from James and threw it at his stomach. It was so quick that Nick wasn't able to catch it.  

"i***t, I'm getting sick of yours." The only girl in the room- at the moment- rolled her eyes at the previously grinning i***t- that everyone was currently laughing at- who was now on the ground, coughing and groaning, supporting himself with the basketball that hit him.

"Going back," Kenneth stopped from laughing, "we are excited, but we don't say it out loud." The teleporter earned another eyeroll from his current squad.

"So can someone explain why we're here and who are you all?" The newcomer asked, changing the subject.

All of them introduced themselves again, and this time, it was James who informed Rocco that everything will be explained when everybody gets here, making Nathan sigh in relief.

"So now it's just the girls that are missing." Greyson looked at each face in his crowded living room as he walked down the stairs.

"Rocco the necromancer." The only parent in the house made a B-line to the newcomer, his eyes gleaming as he shook hands with the teen.

"Necromancer?" Alex piped up.

Greyson laughed a Santa-like laugh, patting Alex's shoulder. "Yes, my boy, a necromancer. Just imagine all the experiments we can do with the dead." Rocco awkwardly chuckled at the two while Ember rolled her eyes at her dad and other best friend.

*****

"What's taking the girls so long?" Nick complained.

It was already one in the afternoon. Greyson, Jacob and Kenneth are inside the kitchen, preparing a late lunch as they also had a late breakfast.

"Well, they are girls." Alex gave a stereo-typical answer.

"I'm with Nick on this one." Ember tsked. "How hard is it to send their address?" Nick leaned over the coffee tablr, high-fiving Ember.

"Maybe they're still packing their s**t?" James suggested.

"With the same thought as I've stated earlier," Ember grumbled, "how hard is it to pack necessities?"

At this James shrugged, sitting properly on the couch, setting his basketball on the floor. "I'm not a girl. How would I know?"

"I'm so f*****g bored, you guys. We've been waiting fro hours."

"How come you are bored?" Nathan narrowed his eyes at Rocco. "You were the last to arrive as of now."

"As you've probably noticed, I'm a very impatient person. I swear, when those girls get here, I'm going to f*****g kill them. They take too long." He growled.

"What?" Both James and Nick exclaimed.

"Don't kill them!"

"Well, unless they're ugly." Nick mused but everyone heard him, earning himself another round of groaning, but this time, the ball hit exactly where the sun never shines.

"Idiot." Nathan muttered under his breath.

"Can somebody set the table?" Kenneth called from the kitchen.

Ember sighed, standing up. "I need a break from all this testosterone." She commented, walking to the kitchen.

"Food's ready, guys!" Ember announced from the dining room after a couple minutes.

Upon entering the dining room, all of them instantly drooled at the heavenly sight making Greyson, Kenneth and Jacob smile in victory.

What are the odds that all the guys that they'd gotten would have huge appetites?

"You do know that rice isn't going to kill you?" Rocco asked Ember as he noticed that she was piling up her plate with only viands and she practically turned a blind eye with the rice.

All the boys, except Nathan, turned their heads to Ember.

She scooped another spoonful of a different dish before answering. "For some reason, my body doesn't get along well with rice. I have a really hard time losing excess fat when I eat rice so I usually just fill myself up with anything other than rice.

"Sucks for you." Nick remarked, before trying to take a bite foo his food.

Keyword: trying.

Before he was even able to lift the spoon from his plate, his phone chimed.

"f**k!" he exclaimed, letting go of his spoon then grabbing his phone from his pocket as he felt his stomach rumble.

He read the message he received as the rest of the people continued enjoying the feast.

"Rocco, you said that you're going to kill the girls when they get here, right?" Rocco only nodded, unable to answer with his mouth full of food.

Kenneth laughed. "Woah, dude, I thought you were excited to meet the girls."

"Yeah! But not when they're food blocking me." He grunted before disappearing.

The group burst out in laughter, somehow thankful that they can't teleport.