The Last Alignment: Cry of the Scorpions (7 page)

“
But, I would prefer it if
you didn’t call me that,” said Androse, oddly sliding his hands
into his pockets.

But I really
don
’
t care what
you prefer
, Zander thought. “You’ll get
used to it.”

WAAAAAAAAAP!

“
OUCH
!!!” Zander grabbed the back of his head; his mother and
father had both hit him at the exact same time. “What was that
for?!”

“
For being
disrespectful,
cretino
! You know better than that,” said Marcel.

“
Apologize,” Sylvia said
venomously. “Right now.”

Are you
serious
, Zander thought. “Mom, I was just
joking!”

“
No, you were not! You
don’t think I can tell when you’re kidding around?!”

“
Okay! Calm down,” Zander
said backing up a little. “My bad, Androse,” he said
insincerely.

“
Yeah, you’re bad at
apologizing. ‘My bad’ and ‘I’m sorry’ are two different things,”
his father said crossing his arms.

“
Androse, I. AM. SORRY,”
Zander shouted. “How was that?”

“
I see he has inherited
someone’s attitude,” said an older blonde woman who now stood in
front of Androse.

“
Kate! I haven’t seen you
in forever! You look so good,” Sylvia exclaimed before hugging her,
instantly forgetting that she was just furious. Zander saw Awbrey
whisper something to Hudson and then they turned on the spot and
walked away taking Androse with them. Before turning, though,
Zander saw Androse give him a look that read of nothing but the
highest dislike and Zander didn’t care one bit. If Androse had a
problem, then he could do something about it.

“
Come
here,” his father said through gritted teeth, grabbing Zander
by the arm.
Here we go
, he thought. Marcel took him off of the porch and a little
ways down the walkway so that Sylvia couldn’t hear them. “I’m going
to get to you before she does because at this point, she’ll kill
you!”

“
Over what?!” Zander was
starting to get angry.

“
Your mother and Androse’s
father were very close. They were best friends,” Marcel said
placing his hands firmly on both of Zander’s shoulders. His father
only did this when he needed him to really understand something, so
Zander made sure to try and keep his mouth shut. “Look, Androse’s
father passed when he was two and your mother was there to see her
best friend die. She is probably going to be really tender toward
Androse. Especially since…well…Androse is our god-son, which means
that he is your god-brother.”

Zander looked at his father as if he was
joking, but when Marcel’s expression didn’t change he knew that he
wasn’t. “You know…so what! He’s freakin’ weird, Dad,” Zander said
carefully. He was always able to be more honest and expressive with
his father, but with Sylvia he never would’ve said such a
thing.

“
You don’t even know him,
Zander! You have to respect him and until you can, you had better
fake it til’ you make it because there is no room for you to act
stupid! You two are going to have to depend on each other.
Understood?”

Zander sighed long and slow as he shook his
head. “Yes, sir.”

“
Good. And you’re lucky
your mother is distracted,” Marcel said as they both started making
their way back to the now empty porch. “She probably would’ve
smacked the lips off of your face.”
Whatever
, Zander thought, though he
knew that his dad was probably right about Sylvia. He hadn’t been
there for thirty minutes and they were already pissed off at
him.
Wait
…
depend on each
other
? It only just registered to him what
Marcel had said and Zander grunted. He didn’t know what was going
on or why they were there, but he certainly couldn’t think of a
situation that would occur to where he would need to depend on a
faggot like Androse.

Chapter
6

Natalye

“
Do you think that they’ve
started without us,” he asked.

“
They wouldn’t do that,”
she said knocking again, “but we are very late.”

“
Late for what, Grandma,”
Natalye questioned as she stood her suitcase upright on the porch.
It was such a beautiful day that there was nothing more that she
wanted to do than be out climbing or hiking somewhere. “Is your
friend having a party?”

“
Of sorts,” her
grandmother said knocking once more.

Natalye’s father put an arm around her
shoulder and then pulled her close to him to which she smiled and
put her arms around his waist. She loved her father dearly and he
had been so affectionate and caring over the past few days that if
it were possible, she had grown to love him even more. The front
door finally opened and a woman with long brown hair who looked
like she was barely holding herself together smiled.

“
Oh, Hallie,” her father
said concernedly, letting go of Natalye and stepping forward to hug
the woman. She jumped into his arms and buried her face into his
neck while Natalye’s grandmother patted the woman on the
back.

“
It’s so hard, Patrick,”
Hallie whispered.

“
I know, Hal. I know,” he
said setting her feet back on the ground.

“
Are you alright, ma’am,”
Natalye asked bringing a hand up to her chest.
I wonder if someone died
, she
thought, but surely her father and grandmother would tell her if
they were going to travel the long way that they did for someone’s
funeral?

“
Natalye,” Hallie said
after releasing her father, “you’ve grown up so much. They all
have, Emma,” she said to her grandmother.

“
I’m sorry, but have we
met,” Natalye asked as she tried to remember ever having any
contact this woman.

“
Let’s all go inside,
shall we?” Emma extended her hand and Hallie took it, then they
both walked into the house together.

Patrick sighed, and once they were out of
earshot he said, “I knew she was going to be like that, and I knew
I might start once I saw her.”

“
Dad,” Natalye said
stopping him from stepping over the threshold. “Did someone pass
away? Like, are we here for a funeral or something?” She kept her
voice low, not wanting to offend anyone that may have been in the
living room.

“
No, sweetheart. Get your
bag and come on in.”

Natalye obeyed and picked up her suitcase,
following her father inside and closing the front door behind her.
“This place is beautiful,” she whispered to him, but Patrick only
smiled at her and kept walking. She found herself being lead into a
kitchen full of people who all seemed to stare at her when she
entered. Suddenly very aware of herself, Natalye set her bag down
and smiled sheepishly.

“
Patrick
,” a few voices sang in
unison.

“
Hello, everyone,” he said
beaming. He walked up to a plainly dressed older man that had dark
brown hair and blue eyes. “Charles, it’s good to see you again. And
Kate…and Sylvia…and of course you, Oren,” her father said making
his rounds. Natalye noticed that there were three guys who all
looked to be about her age that were seated at a huge table eating.
Two of them sat a little farther down from the third, and the two
who sat closest together both looked up and smiled at
her.

“
Is that
Patrick Roberts
?”

“
Marcel!”

Natalye stepped to the side so that her
father could hug a squat man that had his short dark hair slicked
back. He wasn’t exactly good-looking, but he had the prettiest gray
eyes that Natalye had ever seen.

“
How is my favorite black
man doing,” Marcel asked. “I haven’t seen you in years!”

“
I know,” Patrick
exclaimed.

“
Patrick is here?” Yet
another person entered the kitchen, but this time it was a woman
who had long, stick-straight blonde hair and green eyes. She looked
to have a stiff personality to Natalye, but she seemed nice
enough.

“
Regina,” Patrick
breathed, giving her a huge hug. “I would ask if you were alright,
but that would be a pretty stupid question.”

Natalye grinned at the fact that her father
was reuniting with a bunch of his old friends before turning her
attention back to the guys at the table. The one on the end had
short blonde hair and blue eyes and was incredibly handsome. He
reminded her of a typical, all-American, boy-next-door type of dude
and she smiled at him though he didn’t see it. The guy sitting next
to him had bright green eyes from what she could tell, and he also
had blonde hair like his buddy’s only his was much longer and in a
ponytail. Some of his hair was dyed black which she found
interesting and cool; she thought the style suited him. He was also
as attractive as his pal, and while she thought the first guy was
definitely “handsome-handsome,” she thought the second was more
“pretty-handsome,” but he was still just as nice to look at. The
third guy that sat a few seats down wasn’t nearly as attractive as
the other two. He had nice tan skin, shaggy black hair, and from
the color of his eyes she guessed that the man named Marcel was his
father. He wasn’t ugly, but at the same time she didn’t think that
he was cute. To her surprise, he looked up and caught her staring.
Natalye’s eyes widened a little and if she saw what she thought she
saw, the guy had winked at her to which she quickly turned her
attention back to her father feeling embarrassed.

“
Would you like something
to eat, Natalye?”

“
Huh?” An older woman with
long black hair and brown skin was smiling at her. Natalye couldn’t
tell what it was, but she soon found herself smiling back and at
ease with what just happened. There was a peace and happiness about
this woman that made Natalye feel good.

“
Would you like some
food,” the woman asked again welcomingly.

“
Oh, yes, please,” Natalye
nodded.

“
Have a seat at the table,
then. I’m Oren, by the way,” she said holding out her
hand.

“
Nice to meet you,”
Natalye said as she shook it. Oren seemed to be studying her, or so
Natalye thought, but she dismissed it thinking nothing of
it.

“
I’ll go and get you a
plate, dear.”

“
Thanks,” Natalye said
before making her way through a small crowd of people, but before
she could get to where she was headed she was stopped.

“
Natalye Roberts,” a woman
said affectionately. She had olive skin, brown eyes, and based on
the color of her roots, she was not a natural blonde. However,
Natalye thought that she was quite pretty. “I’m Sylvia. It’s been a
very long time.”

“
Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Natalye didn’t want to seem rude, but she continued on her path;
her stomach was starting to make all kinds of bizarre noises and
when she reached the table and sat down, she was grateful that she
didn’t get the chance to eat breakfast or lunch. Spread out were
dishes full of scrambled eggs, ham, waffles, sausage, potatoes,
biscuits, and trays of fresh fruit. There were also three large
pitchers full of lemonade, orange juice, and milk.
Thank the Lord
, she
thought.

“
Here you are, dear,” said
Oren, setting a beautiful china plate down in front of Natalye.
“Eat all you like.”

“
Thank you so much,” she
said again as Oren turned away and went back to the
counter.

“
Natalye, is it?” The boy
with the short blonde hair looked at her politely.

“
Yeah. What are your
names,” she asked extending her hand.

“
I’m Hudson,” he said
shaking it softly. Natalye had to slightly purse her lips to keep
from smiling.

“
I’m Androse,” said the
guy with the long ponytail whose handshake was a lot
firmer.

“
Androse? That’s a cool
name. I love your hair, by the way. Looks good on you,” Natalye
said helping herself to a waffle.

“
Thanks.”

Natalye guessed it was the way that he said
it, but after Androse thanked her, she stopped scooping potatoes
onto her plate and looked at him. She could see it in his eyes that
he was really appreciative of the compliment, and though it was
kind of awkward, she still thought it endearing. “You’re welcome,”
she responded.

“
I’m Zander.” Hudson and
Androse both returned to their meals after the other boy spoke.
Making a mental note of this, Natalye reached over and shook his
hand as well.

“
Nice to meet you,” she
said cordially.

“
Are you a gymnast,”
Zander asked.

“
Excuse me?” She was just
about to take a bite of her food.

“
You have the body type of
a gymnast,” Zander said leaning on his forearms. Natalye didn’t
know how she felt about the fact that he had been checking her out,
but she was so hungry that she doubted that she really
cared.

“
I did gymnastics for
about a year when I was seven and I’ve done ballet since I was
four. I’m a rock climber, though,” Natalye said finally taking that
first sweet bite of food; the potatoes were delicious.