Chapter 3
"A Host Club? They allow that kind of thing?" their father asked, his gaze switching between Alex, who was in the front seat, and then back to the road, only to look at Alex again before switching to the road.
"It's not what you're thinking dad. It's more like a big tea party, without the creepy dolls as the guests," Alex explained. That didn't seem to calm their father any and Alex laughed, "just relax dad."
"Besides, they're all nice," Jessie added.
Except for that creep, Kyoya. How the hell does he know all of that stuff anyway? Alex asked herself. "Anyway, it's pretty obvious that they're not doing anything bad because otherwise people would know that Haruhi was a girl."
"Y-you mean everyone thinks that she is a he?"
"It seems that dad's mind can't wrap around the concept," Alex joked to Jessie, looking at her twin in the backseat.
Her twin giggled, "then I guess we shouldn't begin explained what type each boy is."
Alex was generally the one who did the majority of the teasing between the two, but when Jessie felt like it she tended to be rather good at it too. Alex watched as her father's hands tightened around the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white and his voice raising an octave. "T-type? You know what, never mind. I don't think I can take much more of this."
The next morning, while they were eating, their father started talking, at first with food in his mouth before his daughters glared at him. Clearing his throat he flushed slightly, "sorry. Anyway, I have to stay late tonight to get paperwork done and I probably won't be home until after seven. Can you two get a ride a back?"
"The school's only two miles from home, I'm sure we could just walk," Alex suggested, looking over at Jessie. With her mouth full of cereal her twin could only nod in agreement. "Walking it is then."
"If you two are sure. I could probably get off long enough to take you home. Especially if I switched my lunch."
"Dad, we'll be okay. It doesn't even get dark until seven, so even if we hang out with the club we'll still make it before then." He nodded and they finished, leaving the house. Upon entering the classroom the sisters noticed all of the depressed faces and looked up at the board. In white chalk, two words stood out: POP QUIZ! Alex groaned as they took their seats. "Our second day and we already have a pop quiz. Are we lucky or what?"
"You're acting as though you aren't going to pass."
"That's not the point. The point is-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's a pointless test to see if we're paying attention and a complete waste of time and energy."
"I'm so glad you agree."
"Hello to you too," Hikaru said, poking his head between them.
"And how do you know we weren't ignoring you?" Alex asked with a raised brow.
"Fine, be that way."
He sat back with a pout and Alex was reminded of Tamaki. "So Haruhi, you should come hang out with us after school."
She looked mildly surprised at the suggestion, but she nodded. "Okay sure. It'll have to be after Host Club today though because the customers are coming today."
"Oh fun!" Jessie said excitedly, clapping her hands together softly.
"That's right, you wanted to see what it would be like," Alex said.
"Are you going to do it?"
"Uh no, because then I would have to wear the dress for even longer than normal. I'll hang out in the back and work on homework."
Jessie blinked, "you? Doing homework? Are you feeling okay?"
"It's not like I'll have anything else to do."
That was what she thought at the time anyway. However, it seemed that not only was Haruhi a Host, but she was also the one who made the tea and grabbed more snacks whenever they were starting to run low. Alex began helping her whenever the girl came back, and at one point she looked out and saw the giant bowl of strawberries. Not wanting to go out there, she waited until someone came back, and the first to do so were Hikaru and Kaoru. "So, one of you wants to go get me a small plate of strawberries right?"
"Aren't you allergic?" Kaoru asked.
Alex had slowly begun to be able to tell them apart, but it was easiest when they spoke since Kaoru's voice was slightly higher than his brother's. "Who cares? It's not as if anything bad happens."
"Okay," Hikaru said with a shrug, leaving before his brother could object. He came back and handed the plate to a very happy Alex. "What?" he asked Kaoru as he gave him a look, "if the girl wants strawberries then she'll find some way to get them."
Hunny came back, "hey you two, customers are wai- where did you get strawberries?"
Alex swallowed a bite, "I'm ninja and I went out there and grabbed them." She knew that if her sister found out that Hikaru had grabbed them for her then there would be hell to pay for both of them. Hikaru just smiled as he went out with the other two, leaving Alex to plop down on a couch, lounging out with a book in her lap.
"We'll have to walk to our house because dad has to work late, but he can give you a ride after he gets home," Jessie told Haruhi as the three girls grabbed their bags.
"That's fine, it's really nice out."
"Wait, what's going on?" Tamaki asked, sliding over to them.
"She's going to our house, and no, you can't come along too," Alex answered, reading the question from the look on his face. "Now let's go, I want to get home in time to actually do something."
Jessie laughed and linked arms with Haruhi as they followed Alex out. "I'm glad and everything, but why did you ask me to come over after only knowing me for a day?"
"Alex and I talked it over and we assumed that you probably needed a break from all the other Host Club members. Besides, aren't you alone at your house when you get home?" Jessie asked.
"That's true. Normally I do my homework and make dinner, but I think my dad can live off of leftovers for one night," she answered with a smile.
"How can anyone mistake you for a boy with such a cute smile?" Alex asked, "even with that haircut."
Haruhi shrugged, "I guess it's because of the uniform. I don't really think that anyone would expect a girl to be dressed as such, so it probably doesn't register." She looked down at herself, "it doesn't help that I'm rather flat-chested too."
"That's true," the sisters said together.
"Look, there's our house," Jessie pointed out.
Haruhi looked to where she was pointing and couldn't help but be surprised. Most of the students at Ouran Academy lived in huge mansions, but it seemed that their house was simply a two-story house, though it did look rather huge. "It's probably nothing compared to everyone elses house, but our dad didn't see the point of buying something that takes a half-hour to walk through," Alex explained, pulling a key from her pocket. There was an iron fence in front of the driveway with two different openings. One was large enough for a vehicle to drive through and was opened with a keypad. The other was a smaller opening for people and could be opened with the key that Alex was holding. "When we get inside try not to move too much until I can disable the alarm."
"You certainly have a lot protection."
"I know, and it's annoying as all hell, but dad had the alarm installed because there were a lot of nights where dad wouldn't be home until after we were in bed."
They entered the house and Haruhi let out a whistle, "holy crap." The main hallway stretched back nearly fifteen feet, stopping at a set of stairs that wound up. Immediately to their left was a sitting room and about halfway down were two other openings; the left led to the living room and the right into the kitchen and dining room. "This place is so nice and…homey."
"We try. Dad's not very into decorating and all that, so Alex and I did most of it," Jessie explained as they went into the kitchen. "Do you want anything? Alex made cookies last night and we have tea."
"My cookies are better than those ones that were at your little tea party today."
Haruhi took one bite into a cookie with a smile, "you should bring some in for Hunny-senpai. He'd probably love you forever."
Alex laughed, "I'll have to make a new batch if I'm taking them in."
Jessie, who had been whistling, stopped and looked at her sister, "have you looked into the Kendo Club yet?"
"Kendo Club? Mori-senpai could help you, he's the captain." Alex turned her head away, but Haruhi giggled, "you're blushing. Do you like him?"
"She thinks he's cute," Jessie answered with a teasing smile.
Haruhi laughed as the blush on Alex's cheeks deepened, and she realized that while hanging out with those two, she didn't mind being a little girly. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you two. While you laugh, let's go upstairs and watch a movie." She grabbed the plate of cookies and they went upstairs. The three of them could easily fit onto one of the two king sized beds that were in the room they shared and Haruhi looked around. There seemed to be a perfect balance between Jessie's girlyness and Alex's tomboyness.
"Your bedroom is like…three times bigger than mine."
"Which is why we share a room," Jessie said. "We decided that this was way too big for one person." Haruhi nodded and looked around some more, finally settling her gaze on the television as the movie started.
They made it through two and half movies before there was a knock on the door and their father poked his head in. "What are you three up too?"
"Watching movies."
"I can have dinner done in a half-hour, or do I need to take you home first?" he asked, looking at Haruhi.
She bit her bottom lip and Alex looked at her dad, "can she stay the night? I mean…if you want to anyway."
"Sure!"
"It's fine by me, as long as your dad doesn't mind," their dad said, closing the door.
Haruhi took the phone Alex offered and left a quick message on her dad's phone. "We even have pajamas you can wear, though they're going to be a little long." She dug around her dresser for a couple moments and then through a pair at Haruhi, who took them into their bathroom, changing quickly and coming back out. After dinner the three of them ended up staying up late, finally passing out on one of the beds.
