Vince’s ten-year-old heart chipped in excitement as he jumped out of the bed and happily jumped around.

The day he waited for so long has finally arrived!

With a stupid grin on his face, he half-assedly tidied his bed sheets, rushed to the bathroom, and was done with his morning routine.

His besties would arrive in two hours!

Grabbing the handle, Vince tried to open the bathroom door, but it didn’t open after a couple of times. Then he noticed the water sound.

Nooo! Vince felt the crippling despair as he understood his sister was taking a bath. He especially woke up half an hour before to first do his dailies before she woke up.

Now, the bathroom will be sealed off for an hour!

But he didn’t have that much of a time!

“El! When are you going to come out?” Vince beat the door as he yelled.

The answer didn’t come as water continued to pour.

“Hey, El! The boys are gonna drop soon! I want to quickly get ready and go,” Vic continued beating the door, but there was no hope.

Then he put his ear to the door and listened to the sounds. After a couple of seconds, he heard the sound of music coming.

Oh no! She must be singing to herself while bathing.

This means two hours of bathroom lockdown!

What should I do?

Biting his nails, Vince stormed his brain to find a solution. There must be some way out.

Should he just skip brushing his teeth and hairmaking? No, that couldn’t happen. He needed to be perfect for the event. Liz and the girls were gonna drop by. He couldn’t be there with a smelly mouth and messy hair.

After very long seconds of thinking, Vince decided to play the oldest trick in the book.

“Mom!” He ran to the stairs and yelled to his mom.

“No yelling in the house, Vincent! Come next to me if you want to say something.” His mom raised her voice and called Vince downstairs.

Vince grudgingly went to the kitchen where he knew she was. A delightful smell of breakfast filled his nostrils when he entered the kitchen. Beacons, sausages, fried eggs, fresh toast, and much more were the chief behind all of this cooking the last set of pancakes for breakfast.

“What do you need, my little man?” Her mom, Amanda, took the plate and turned to the little Vince with her sharp crystal blue eyes.

Amanda was a middle-aged woman with still raven black hair and above-average height. She was a chef working in a local restaurant and had a certain aura that said she knew what she was doing. If someone asked little Vincent, who had no idea about women, he would call her mother beautiful, especially with her olive skin that blended every aspect of her together.

She already knew what Vince would ask but played along either way.

Agitated, Vince explained, “Mom! Chris and Mike are going to drop soon. We will hang around a little and then play at Chris’s house. And some friends from school are going to drop by. I told you this other day. Need to get my teeth washed and be perfect! But Elise—”

“In the bathroom. I know. She is going on a picnic with her friends. Wait your turn until then,” Amanda finished Vince’s sentence as she placed the last pieces and put five cups on the table.

“But she won’t come out for hours!” Vince clenched his hands as he was just on the brink of throwing a tartar.

This was so unjust!

“Good morning, honey,” His father, Adam, entered the kitchen in his classic black tracksuit with his fresh hair and kissed Amanda on the head. Then, he turned to Vince, “Champ, early in the weekend, I see. Have an appointment?”

Sitting on the table, Adam looked at Vince with his usual soft, peaceful smile. His voice was soothing, and his movements calm and fluid. Unlike his mom, Amanda, his father was more ordinary in appearance, with his black hair, brown eyes, and average looks.

The only thing Vince could point out about his father was he was working in some ar-ge thing and had a really shaped body thanks to constant judo training.

Seeing he got no support from his mom, Vince changed target, “Dad! I am going with friends from school, but I can’t get ready thanks to Elise!”

Adam lifted an eyebrow, “Why?”

“She is using the bathroom. You know, she never leaves before time to go.”

“Why don’t you use ours? Neither me nor your mom are using it.”

And that was an excellent question. Why didn’t he think about that?

Stunned, Vince looked at his dad for a while then he found something he could argue with.

“But I need to brush my teeth. My toothbrush is in the bathroom.”

“Just go with some gums. They will do the trick for the day. And, If you are worried about your breath, there must be some mints on my jacket. Take it. Also, you are allowed to use my perfume, just for today. Blue bottle before the mirror.”

Vince looked at his dad with lost eyes. The combo hit hard.

Adam stared back with his signature smile.

He didn’t know what to say, but Vince was sure irritated by that easy-going smile.

“Go. Get ready before our guest arrives,” Amanda shooed away Vince as she made the final touches.

“Who is coming?” Vince curiously asked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Someone you know. Now, go.”

Vince shuddered as he would see the guest in an hour, so he dropped the topic. Instead, he returned to his cheerful self as he rushed to his room before quickly changing his sleeping outfit. He wore a really cool red shirt with ‘For The Horde’ written on it and plain black pants. They were comfy, easy to move around, and cool.

Mostly cool.

What else could he ask for?

Righting his socks, Vince went to his parent’s bathroom and stood before the mirror as he inspected himself. First thing first was his black hair. It was a total mess that needed to be solved immediately. He opened random drawers and found his mother’s combs. He grabbed one as he tried to tame his hair.

After a couple of minutes, he was done.

He grabbed the perfume bottle and ensured it reached every part of him. There were some stains left behind, but Vince didn’t mind it as long as long as he was smelling good.

Feeling good and ready to go, Vince pocketed mints from Adam’s jacket and went to the kitchen.

It was time to fill his growling stomach.

Adam frowned as heavy perfume suppressed the food fragrance. He looked at his son and asked.

“How many times have you sprayed?”

Vince, numb to perfume, sat and shuddered, “Twenty?”

Amanda laughed, “I told you to caution him.”

Feeling sorry for his wasted perfume, Adam agreed with a sigh, “Yeah. Maybe I should have done that.”

“Good morning~~” A singsong voice echoed in the house as Elise made her way to the kitchen with a charming smile.

“How am I looking?” She gave a drastic pose before the door as she showed off the new sun dress she bought.

“Perfect, sunshine,” Adam grinned.

“Oww~~ I wish your grandmother could see you right now,” Amanda smiled wistfully.

“Nice,” Vince plainly answered.

As much as how Vince took after Adam, Elise took after Amanda. She had the same blue eyes, perfectly toned olive skin, and raven-like black hair. Their grandma used to say Elise was how Amanda was in her childhood but more beautiful.

“Did he arri— Eww, what is this smell?” Elise winced as she held her nose.

She glanced at Vince and said with disgust before pulling her chair near Amanda, “You are worse than a skunk.”

Frowning, Vince sniffed his shirt.

Was it that bad?

“Food is getting cold. Did you call him?” Adam asked his wife as all four members of the family sat at the table.

Amanda implemented an iron rule to house that nobody eats a thing before everyone sits on the table. Family tradition, she explained.

“He needed to arrive by now. Did something happen, you think?” Amanda worriedly asked.

Adam wore a serious expression as he looked at the window, “Maybe.”

Adam rose from the table and went to pick up the house phone when the door rang. Glancing at Amanda momentarily, Adam went to the door and greeted the expected guest.

“Welcome, Derek. Come inside. The food is getting cold.”

“Uhh. Thank you for the invitation, Mr. D’raan.” Vince heard the voice and felt like the world collapsing to his head.

Did his family invite the bully that beat the shit out of him last week?

“Mom! What the heck?!” Vince yelled in anger.

“Language, little man. And do not cause trouble for the guests. Things aren’t how it seemed,” Amanda hissed as she glanced at the hallway. Adam was chatting with Derek.

“Do not act in a rush, slowpoke. You know nothing.” Elise, crestfallen, supported her mother.

“How do I know nothing? He just kicked and punched me for no reason last week. And after seeing my bruises, you said you spoke up with him and his parents. This is how you speak up?”

Vince rose from the table while shaking in anger. His parents were supporting Derek instead of him. Was this his family or Derek’s?

He was about to storm to his room, but Amanda’s voice pinned him to the spot.

“Sit back.”

Vince looked at his mother and shaked more. It wasn’t known if it was from fear or indignity. He took a deep breath and sat back. He only looked at the plates before him.

“I plan to take you guys to a zoo before the picnic. Buuut, before all of that, let's get a hearty breakfast,” Adam led Derek to the kitchen and pointed at the chair between him and Amanda.

“Hello, Derek!” Elise greeted cheerfully like the atmosphere hadn’t been tense just a moment before.

Amanda smiled warmly as she pulled the chair, “Come, sit.”

Derek nodded in greeting and silently sat on the chair.

Adam put some meat on Derek’s plate as he stated, “Eat to your fill. Not exaggerating. This is the most delicious breakfast you could find in town. Cherish the moment.”

Elise pointed at the sausage, “Try some sausage. My mother made them herself, a secret family formula.”

The breakfast continued as the D’raan family, except Vince, tried to interact with Derek, but the man of the focus only replied with minor voices and nods. All that time, Vince stood there holding only a knife and fork, not eating anything, as his own family felt stranger to him.

Feeling the world getting stranger and stranger, Vince wanted to glance at Derek’s face to see what kind of face he made, but he noticed it was buried inside a hood as he timidly ate the food.

The door rang again, and Vince stood up to look as if he was the only person who didn’t do anything. When Vince opened the door, a chubby teenager with a Star Wars shirt and a redhead skinny geek with round glasses greeted Vince.

His buddies, Mike and Chris, have arrived.

Chirs, the redhead skinny geek, fixed his glasses and exclaimed in excitement, “Hey, Vince! Ready for the new raid? We need to try it before the girls show up.”

Mike, the chubby one, glanced inside the house and asked, “Where is Elise? You said you will trick her into opening the door to me.” Then he saw Vince's gloomy expression and asked worriedly, “Did something happen?”

Vince wore his shoes with shaking hands as he answered, “Actually, nothing. I just realized who I am to my family.”

After several tries, his hand shook too much as he couldn’t make a shoelace. Frustrated by his own incapacity, Vince stopped bothering and put them inside the shoe, then forgot about it.

Then he stood up and started to walk. Duo looked at each other in worry as Chris asked, “Not gonna tell your mother you are leaving?”

Vince waved his hand without looking back, “I don’t think they care.”

Chris and Mike looked at each other, then the chubby one closed the door, and the redhead ran next to Vince.

“What happened, dude?”

Vince didn’t answer as he continued to walk. Mike caught up and walked on the other side of Vince. They didn’t say anything as they knew Vince’s nature too well.

They just needed to wait.

The duo didn’t wait long as Vince suddenly stopped and started to cry.

He tried to wipe away his tears, but more and more poured.

“I no longer know if my family takes me for something.”

Chris and Mike stopped and hugged Vince strongly as they listened.

“They always do something but never put me inside. I don’t think they want me, guys.”

“Am I really Surplus the people ridiculed? Was only Elise needed to be born?”

Chris cursed, “Fuck the people and Elise, man. You are Vincent, our sworn brother. We will never trade you for anything.”

Mike hushed as he hugged more tightly, “Don’t say something like that, V. You are one and only our brother. No matter what others think, Vimich to the end.”

Chris echoed, “Vimich to the end.”

Vince wiped his tears one last time and hugged his lifetime friends.

“Vimich to the end.”