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I smiled at him. “Really?” I asked. “But I wanted to go as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer this Halloween. Drat.”

Cameron laughed and pulled me into a hug. He pressed his face into my hair and rubbed my back. I melted into his arms, loving his radiating heat and firmness. He continued hugging me like that until he broke away. “Are you alright?” he asked with a deep voice.

I nodded, loving how close his face was to mine. He tugged the water bottle away from my face and kissed my lips gently, removing all pain from my throbbing nose. I hated it when he pulled away and went back to work.

Armando, Hudson, and Monica strolled back into the room (when had they left?) with more instruments. “Cameron, dude,” Armando said, walking up to Cameron with conga drums. “I think I've found my calling.”

He perched himself behind the conga drums and began to play, slapping his palms onto the tight surfaces. The drum beat wiggled its way out from underneath his hands, filling the room with a steady rhythmic beat. Monica began dancing and clapping her hands.

“Nice job, Armando!” Cameron said, examining the drums. “You're a quick learner.”

“He's always had it in him,” Monica said as she clapped her hands. “Haven't you noticed how he drums on everything? And he's Galician. Of course he'll have rhythm.”

“You love your rhythm, Mom,” Hudson said, running her hands through Armando's hair.

“That's why I married a Galician,” she said with a smile. Hudson rolled her eyes.

“I've got a week. In that time, I can learn the
real
drums?” Armando asked, as he stopped his playing and leaned into his girlfriend.

Monica shrugged. “Practice day and night, my boy,” she advised. “And stop your foolin' around with my girl, got it?” She pressed a finger to his forehead and he swatted it away.

“No promises,” he said with a smile.

Monica rolled her big brown eyes and waltzed out of the room. Hudson plopped down onto Armando's lap and the two began talking quietly to each other.

Cameron took this time to check his watch. When I saw his face explode in surprise, I knew it had to be near seven. He was going to leave again.

“What's up, Cameron?” Armando asked, noticing Cameron's behavior at the same time I did.

Cameron grabbed his bag and pulled it over his shoulder. “I have to go home,” he said, sliding on his sneakers. “I have some things to do.”

Armando pulled himself out from underneath Hudson. “Cameron, we all know what happens after seven. It's not a problem. We can handle it.”

“Um, no, we can't,” Anjolie said all of a sudden, pulling her shoes on, too. “Cameron
does
have things to do.”

“Anjolie, Cameron's schizophrenic,” Armando pointed out. “We all know.”

Anjolie's mouth fell open. “No, he's—” her eyes fell on Armando, who was gazing at her with his pale amber eyes. He looked as if he were trying to communicate with her through his eyes.

“He's what?” I asked, not appreciating Armando's halting glance.

“He's schizophrenic,” Anjolie said with a smile.

Cameron groaned. “Okay, Armando, why don't you just let the
whole world
know, huh? Sound like a plan?” He sounded angry. And a little embarrassed.

“No, that's okay, I already knew,” Anjolie said nonchalantly.

Cameron focused his gaze onto her. “How?” he asked curiously.

“Because she was there when I told everyone,” Armando said, which was a blatant lie. Everyone knew Anjolie had freaked out, tried to drag away Cameron's unconscious body, and then fled the scene when he came to. Anjolie was nowhere near us.

“She wasn't there,” I said, standing up from the couch. “She ran away when he fainted.”

“Why did you run away, Anjolie?” Cameron asked.

Anjolie bit her lip and glanced at Armando. Armando just shrugged his shoulders slightly, not knowing what to say. “Because I'd never seen anyone faint before,” she said. “I get queasy with that kind of stuff.”

“Then why did you drag away his unconscious body if you're so queasy and all?” I asked, completely disbelieving her story.

“She thought the rest of us were gonna get queasy?” Armando said with a question on his voice. His eyes darted to Anjolie, who nodded fervently.

“That doesn't explain how you already knew about me,” Cameron said, staring intently at Anjolie with his piercing blue eyes. His hand had gone to his head and he rubbed it absently.

“I already knew because… because…” Anjolie couldn't find words to perfect her lie. She was stalling and I knew she was trying to come up with something.

“Oh, child,” Monica said, shaking her head as she walked back into the room. She was carrying a fresh basket of fruits, bread, and juice. “Stop hurting yourself with the lies and just tell your friends how it is. There's no harm in that.”

“Mom!” Hudson cried out, shooting her a warning look.

But Monica just waved off her daughter's protest and sat on the floor. She motioned for us to sit around her.

“I can't,” Anjolie said. “I should be going.” She reached for her stuff.

“Now you hush, girly,” Monica said. “No running from this confrontation. You sit and you listen like the rest of them.”

Anjolie reluctantly joined the rest of us, avoiding Monica's eyes.

Monica passed around the fruit basket and juice. “It's better out than in,” she said, passing out the bread. “Trust me, I learned about the Gray Eyes the hard way.”

“The Gray Eyes?” Cameron asked, looking puzzled. “What's that?”

“The Gray Eyes are a type of people that live throughout the world,” Monica explained. “They come from anywhere and everywhere and they look all sorts of different ways. The only thing they have in common is their gray eyes — hence the name.” She took a sip from her drink and placed her hands in her lap. “They also have a tendency to look like angels when it's time for them to do missions. It helps them — their angelic looks and all. It keeps people from suspecting their dangerous behaviors.

“Anyway, the Gray Eyes serve a king, El Rey Rodrigo. Rodrigo expects an offering from them every day. He has them all doing bad things like steal and torture and betray — all to receive cars, jewelry, money, servitude, and other pleasures of his. The Gray Eyes are expected to get him these offerings in a timely manner as well as never,
ever
get caught. If they manage to get busted, their boss has to bust them out, send them to El Rey, and have them formally punished for their clumsiness.”

“How are the Gray Eyes supposed to get the offerings? Aren't they regular people?” Cameron asked.

“They are certainly not regular people," Monica laughed, taking a bite of her sliced mango. “The Gray Eyes are all equipped with telekinesis. This power helps them out of certain situations but it can be limiting. Most of the Gray Eyes opt to use physical strength and stealth alone, and then they utilize their telekinesis if the situation is dire. Only the boss has other special abilities.”

“What special abilities does this boss have?” Cameron asked curiously. I glanced over at him. How could he believe all of this? He couldn't possibly think any of this is true. I mean, come on. Telekinesis? Please.

“You'd have to ask the boss that,” Monica said with a slight gleam in her eye. She sighed and continued. “You're probably wondering how all of this involves you, my dear,” she said, placing a hand on his lap. “Well, honey, you were born from a human father and a mother who was one of the Gray Eyes. This is
strictly forbidden
. Both of your parents didn't realize this when they conceived you. They ended up having to face El Rey himself. Their punishment was your ultimate death; no way was a half-human, half-Gray Eyes going to walk this earth. But they pleaded your case, Cameron.” A smile touched her lips. “They gave their life for you, Cameron. They traded their souls for yours so you could live a wonderful life. But, in addition to their death, you had to commit completely to Rodrigo and the only way for him to make sure of that was to split your life in two.

“By day you were to live a regular life as Cameron Sloane. But by night, you were expected to fulfill your duties as one of the Gray Eyes. I believe your other half is named Cam, right?”

“Yes!” I blurted, my eyes widening. Her story was so true!

Monica nodded. “You know about this, Olive?” she asked curiously.

Everything seemed to make a whole lot of sense now. “Cam had told me time and time again that he had a ‘mission' to take care of,” I told her. “He'd always race away and do it during the night and sneak back in before dawn. There was one time when I went with him to one of his missions—”

“You didn't!” Monica, Armando, and Hudson cried out.

I nodded. “I went and he had to steal some money from this guy named Pedro. He stole the money but that was after Pedro tried to kill him.” Suddenly I realized how he'd gotten away so easily. It hit me like a ton of bricks. “I saw Cam use his telekinesis on them! They all flew off of him and he got away!”

“Cam does this every night?” Cameron asked, his face a frightening white. He looked as if he'd just seen a ghost.

“He has to,” Hudson said, her eyes softening. “He doesn't have a choice.”

We sat there in silence for a few moments as everything settled in. Apparently Armando and Hudson knew everything and Anjolie over there wouldn't say a word. I wondered how much she knew. But then again, how did any of them know?

“How do you guys all know this?” I asked.

“Well, my daughter and Armando,” Monica said, nodding towards the two of them, “They know because I told them. Armando
had
to know because he's protecting my daughter and Hudson wanted to know because she's just too nosy.” She laughed and squeezed her daughter's hand. “
I
know because El Rey Rodrigo is my husband.”

“He's your
husband
?” Cameron and I blurted out in shock.

Monica nodded. “I married him before he became El Rey. We'd had Hudson and had a nice life together until two years later his father gave up the throne and dumped it on reluctant Rodrigo. I see him from time to time but he's not the same ever since he took the throne. It's something about ‘forgetting the past to focus on the present' that the guards used on him to brainwash him into forgetting about his old life. All he knows about me is that I'm the mother of his daughter. Only when he gives up the throne will he remember our love.”

“So his life kinda sucks now,” I said, frowning. Imagine having to get handed the throne without your consent and getting brainwashed to forget your past life. Imagine how I must feel.

“One of these days he'll be back. I'll just have to wait and see, honey.” She smiled sadly at me.

Another pensive silence dropped over us as we finished our fruit. Cameron began rubbing his head again. His eyes became dazed and I knew he was about to pass out. But he still had one more question.

“Anjolie, how do
you
know all of this?” he asked, his eyes getting droopy.

Anjolie let out a huge breath as if she'd been holding it the whole time. “Because I'm the boss, okay?” she blurted, pointing to her gray eyes.

Cameron's eyes widened at the news before he passed out.

Cam

How come every time I open my eyes, I come face to face with that Olive girl? It's almost like she never leaves!
She's always there
!

Not that I mind or anything…

“Whoa,” I said, flinching away from her piercing gaze, “you again.” I quickly stood up, embarrassed at how I'm always lying helplessly on the floor when she's around. But hey, at least I didn't punch her this time.

She quickly scrambled to her feet as well, standing close to me as she continued to peer into my eyes. Before I could respond to her pondering gaze, she commented, “You're right, Monica. He
does
have gray eyes!” She smiled and clapped her hands together as if she had just won the lottery.

It was then that I knew we were not alone. Looking around the room, I met eyes with that Spanish Armando guy; his crazy hot girlfriend, Hudson;
Anjolie
; and the queen herself, Miss Monica. “Whoa” again was all I could say.

“Cam!” Armando said, coming to clap me on the back. “What's up, my man?” Unlike everyone else in the room, his amber eyes reflected only happiness and sincerity. His easy-going personality immediately brightened my mood.

“Hey, buddy,” I replied back, returning his gesture. “Is there a party going on or something?” I asked, my chuckle giving away only the slightest bit of nervousness. Why was everyone looking at me like that? They were acting as if I had a gun to my head, about to commit suicide, and the only way to help me was to talk to me like I was some child. It was really getting on my nerves.

“Oh, we were just hanging out here,” Olive replied, still smiling that million-dollar smile, “playing instruments and whatnot.” She turned towards the piano, eyeing it for a moment. “You were just playing the piano—”

“
Cameron
was just playing the piano,” Miss Monica interrupted, standing up and walking up to me. I instantly got weak in the knees as she veered closer to me. Even though she wasn't really the
queen
queen, she still exuded queen-like behavior, and technically, she was mother to the next heir
and
wife to the king himself. If that didn't make her queen, I didn't know what did. “He was invited here along with a few of his friends,” she continued, crossing her arms elegantly across her chest. “You're welcome to join us.” Her inviting smile portrayed the legitimacy to her offer. “Don't worry, they know all about the whole Gray Eyes thing.”