The Last Alignment: Cry of the Scorpions (13 page)

He swiftly turned the
corner and unexpectedly bumped into someone who was shorter than
him. “Whoa,” Zander said as he stumbled backward, but upon
observing who he had run into, his expression changed and his mood
lightened. “My bad, lil’
man.”

Zander had bumped into a boy who had brown
hair and hazel eyes, only there was a ring of ice blue around his
pupils which Zander couldn’t stop staring at. “You have some really
cool eyes,” he said in a friendly manner. The boy made a fanning
gesture with his hand and Zander made the same gesture back, unsure
of what else to do. “Alright,” he said leaning against the wall.
“Is that some new strange hand thing that you kids do now-a-days,”
he asked. “I mean, I used to do dumb stuff like that when I was a
kid too, but that is just-”

“
It’s sign
language.”

Zander turned around to
find Awbrey staring at him.
Oh
…
great
, he thought. Nonetheless, he
still noticed how pretty she was and smirked in spite of himself.
Hudson, Natalye, and Androse were all on the stairs behind
her.

“
That’s my little brother.
His name is Andrew. He’s mute, but he can hear just fine,” Awbrey
said folding her arms. “The sign that he did means ‘thank
you.’”

“
Oh,” Zander said ignoring
her tone. Awbrey had a lot of attitude in her voice, but it was
more amusing than anything.
She really
doesn
’
t like
me
, he thought smiling.
Whatever
. “You’re
welcome, Andrew,” Zander continued, “or, can I call
you
Andy,” he joked.
Andrew made a face as if he had just sipped sour milk, and Zander
heard chuckles; everyone was laughing except Awbrey and
Androse.

“
I hope you don’t need me
to translate what that face means,” said Awbrey. “I’m pretty
positive that’s a universal indication of disgust. And by the way,
don’t ever call my little brother anything other than his name. Got
it?”

Or you could calm the fuck
down
, Zander thought angrily. He was
looking at Awbrey, but his eyes wandered up to Androse who stood
the farthest up the stairs. His face was straight and emotionless,
and realizing what he just said, Zander bit down on the insides of
his cheeks. He was just messing around with Andrew when he asked if
he could call him “Andy,” but now that Zander thought about it,
Androse probably took it as a personal attack or a sideways jab
which wasn’t the case. He didn’t mean to start off with Androse the
way that he did. Zander thought that he was solid with first
impressions and being able to tell what people were about just by
looking at them, but for some reason he wasn’t sure how to read or
where to place Androse in his mind. So, he acted accordingly only
he hadn’t meant to be so blatantly rude about it. “I guess,” Zander
spoke up on a whim still looking up the stairs, “‘Andy’ doesn’t
really work for a lot of people, does it?” Androse made a face as
if he smelled something unpleasant.
Just
do it
, Zander thought.
Apologize right here and now in front of everyone and get it
over with
. “Look bro, I’m s-”

“
Are you just figuring
that out,” Awbrey cut across him.
Do you
ever shut the hell up
, Zander
thought.
Do you always have to comment on
everything
? “Anyway,” Awbrey said moving
to stand behind her brother, “Andrew, this is Zander,” she said
lazily. “And the girl behind Hudson is named Natalye, and the guy
behind her is named Androse.” Andrew signed to Awbrey and her eyes
went wide as she quickly signed back, careful not to speak while
she did it. Hudson laughed a little while Natalye stepped around
them.

“
Nice to meet you,
Andrew,” she said extending her hand. Andrew took it, smiling. “You
are so handsome. I love your eyes.”

“
Come on, Natalye. He’s
twelve,” Hudson teased, though he was a little red in the cheeks.
Zander grinned as he raised his eyebrows. Like the rest of Arizona,
he saw all of the sparks that flew between Hudson and Natalye at
the table earlier when they were eating. Was Hudson really a little
jealous over a comment that Natalye made to a kid?

“
I’m not asking him out on
a date,” said Natalye. “I’m just giving him a compliment. But, if
he were our age,” she added, “then it might be a whole different
story.” Andrew smiled widely, signing something to which Hudson
snorted and Awbrey frowned, and Zander laughed out loud. He didn’t
know sign language, but Andrew seemed like he was a cool little
guy.
It
’
s a
shame
he has such a huge bitch for a sister
,
though
,
he thought.

“
I guess we should all get
into the living room for round two then, huh,” Natalye asked
standing up straight.

“
I agree,” said Awbrey.
“You guys go on in.”

Zander’s smile turned into
a scowl, and judging by the expression on Natalye’s face, she
appeared to be thinking the exact same thing that he was;
Awbrey, who kicked the bucket and made you the
leader
? Natalye looked like she wanted to
say something, but then she shook her head and walked into the
living room. Hudson followed her and then Androse followed him
leaving Zander in the hall with Awbrey and Andrew.

“
Well, then,” said Zander,
“I guess-”

“
Shut up,” Awbrey spat.
“The others and I were talking, and we-”

“
Yeah, I overheard you
guys ‘talking’ before I knocked on the door,” he said quickly,
refusing to allow her to think that she was going to start
dictating to him like she did everyone else. “I’m the ‘outsider,’
right? I’m the problem? You guys are going to give me the silent
treatment, make me feel bad about myself and my choices, and really
show me how horrible of a person I am, right?”

“
Only because you made it
that way,” said Awbrey. “No one forced you to come in and act the
way that you did, and you’re obviously used to treating people
whichever way you want to treat them. But you know what,” she said
taking a step closer. “I can’t stand people who have their ignorant
heads so far up their own asses that they don’t care about how they
treat others. I’m not sure why you think you’re so great because I
personally haven’t been impressed by anything that I’ve seen from
you thus far, but whatever it is that’s making you feel like you
can tear people down at will, you need to get over it. That shit
isn’t going to fly here.
Know
and
comprehend
that none of us are going to put up with
it.
I
won’t put
up with it.”

“
And, your opinion and
what you want is all that matters, right,” Zander asked, feeling
himself get mad. Who did this chick think she was?

“
What the hell are you
talking about,” Awbrey questioned. “Zander, you are such a
joke.”

“
I hate to break it to
you, but if you’re not careful, you could end up being the
‘outsider,’” Zander said glaring right back at her. “Not
me.”

“
Is that so,” Awbrey asked
putting a hand on her hip.

“
Yeah, it is. Based off of
what you just did and what I heard upstairs, you seem to be under
the impression that you’re the head honcho. Maybe you feel that way
because we’re in your grandmother’s house, or it could be that you
just genuinely enjoy being an overbearing twit.”
Or twat
, Zander thought.
“I really don’t know what the hell your problem is, but what I do
know is that not everyone is okay with it.”

“
Again, what are you
talking about,” Awbrey asked. “‘Head honcho?’ I never said that I
was the…the leader. Nor do I want to be!”

“
But you act like it,”
Zander retorted, relishing in the look on Awbrey’s face. “For
example, did they all ask you to come and speak to me on their
behalves, or are you taking it upon yourself to do what you’re
doing?” She moved her jaw, but didn’t answer. “Exactly. And you
know what they say. Actions speak louder.” Awbrey appeared to be at
a loss for words, so she stood there and glowered at him spitefully
and intently while Zander smiled, happy that he had stumped her. He
eyed Andrew who was standing in between them looking highly
uncomfortable and decided to take it a little bit further. “Hey,
Andrew,” Zander said, “could you maybe do me a favor?” Andrew
looked up at his older sister searching for permission, but Awbrey
was too engrossed in her scowling. Consequently, Andrew looked back
at Zander and nodded. “It seems like we are all going to have to
get pretty well acquainted with each other, and I’m sure that
you’ve figured out by now that your sister here doesn’t really like
me. So, I was wondering if you could give me a few crash courses in
sign language.” Andrew half-smiled and signed his response, but
when Zander looked up at Awbrey for a translation she looked away
and casually ran her fingers through her hair.
Of course you didn
’
t see that
,
you ass
,
Zander thought. “I’m sorry, bro. I don’t know what that means,” he
said attempting to copy the hand movements. Andrew grabbed Zander’s
fingers to stop him from further embarrassing himself and shook his
head. “Sweet! Good deal. Oh, and Awbrey? We should probably get in
there.”

Chapter
11

Natalye

Natalye was hoping that
Hudson would sit down next to her, but when he realized that Awbrey
wasn’t behind him he waited and let Androse sit first though he was
sure to give Natalye a small smile that she wasn’t quick to
return.
You do know that you
don
’
t have to be
with Awbrey all the damn time
,
right
, she thought. She
found it to be a bit of a turn-off to see Hudson so dependent on
someone. Aside from when they were eating earlier, she didn’t think
that she ever saw him without Awbrey and it made her wonder about
the two of them.

“
You alright,” Androse
whispered. “I saw that look you gave Awbrey.”

“
I don’t know what I am at
the moment,” said Natalye. “I’m annoyed with her, but I’ll get over
it eventually. I don’t like how she doesn’t seem to care what other
people think. In her mind, she’s right about everything all of the
time and on top of that, she’s stubborn. That’s a bad combination
of traits to have.”

“
She does seem to have
control
issues,” Androse said so softly
that Natalye barely heard him; one would have thought that he was
afraid of committing blasphemy. “But, I don’t think that she does
it on purpose. I’m not defending her, it’s just Awbrey seems like
she’s used to taking charge and making decisions. Probably has
something to do with her family. And Hudson,” he added. “She seems
like she’s the stronger one in that relationship.”
Relationship
, Natalye
thought. She knew that Androse liked Awbrey just from the way that
he smiled at her when she walked into that bedroom a little while
ago; Natalye thought it was one of the sweetest things that she had
ever seen mainly because she loved moments like that when people
showed genuine emotion. She wanted to ask Androse about his
feelings, or rather, she wanted to ask him
why
he had those feelings, but it
wasn’t the place or the time for that particular
conversation.

Everyone was now back in
the living room and while she was mentally readying herself,
Natalye felt Androse’s leg twitch and bump against hers. She looked
at him to see that his cheeks were flushed and that his eyes were
darting back and forth. It wasn’t until Natalye saw that Zander had
sat down next to him that she understood, but she didn’t care. The
thought did occur to her to offer to switch places with Androse,
but she decided against it; he needed to suck it up and learn to
deal with Zander however he could. Shrugging, Natalye turned her
attention to the row of chairs that were being occupied by their
grandparents and Sylvia fully expecting them to start things off
again, but instead, her father stood up.
Oh
,
no
, she thought.

“
If everyone could give
their attention to Patrick, Marcel, Regina, and Hallie, then we can
get started,” Oren called over the room.

“
Uh, thanks, Oren,”
Patrick said anxiously. “I know that you kids don’t have a clue as
to who I am, but I’m Patrick Roberts. I’m Natalye’s father. I never
got the pleasure to meet you all when you were little like most of
the people here, but I did get the chance to meet Zander once when
he was a baby. As a matter of fact, that’s when Zander and Natalye
first met,” Patrick said smiling back at Marcel. Natalye glanced at
Zander who peeked at her in turn and winked, swiftly making her
regret her decision to look his way. “But anyway,” Patrick
continued, “there’s something else that we need to tell you kids.
Now, I’m not one to walk crooked on a straight line, so I’ll just
say it. Natalye, Zander, and Androse…all of you will be moving here
to Arizona for a while.”