When I got in the house I noticed that it was over furnished. It wasn’t crowded, but there were the classic couches surrounding the television. The only odd thing in the room was this really tall lamp that was almost intimidating, it resembled a tree with branches sticking out. I settled on sitting on the couch, the walls were a deep red and I could only assume that Alpha was in his room. I got so bored sitting there that I decided to rest my eyes, and fell asleep.
A few hours later I was snapped awake with the noise of the front door slamming which meant Sabrina came home. Well, I was totally guessing. It turns out I was right when I get up off the couch and see her red almost pink hair, pale face and pretty eyes. Dad had always kept a picture of Alpha in the living room, Sabrina made the shot and she told him it was the only good picture she had of him. She looked tired and worn out, and she was wearing a name tag with Subway written on it over her black polo.
“Hi, you must be Zurie.” Sabrina didn’t give me her hand to shake or anything, just stood there looking at me. As if I could be lying just to mooch off of her.
“Yeah, thanks for letting me come stay with you . . .” I tell her, I put my hands in my dress pockets so they won’t fidget. Alpha snickers as he walks to the kitchen to grab something out of the fridge.
“I had no choice, just don’t get in my way and it’ll be fine.” Sabrina walks off before I can get over my surprise, and I honestly don’t think she expected one. I rolled my eyes and sat back down on the couch.
Alpha thumped down on the couch, right next to me, in my personal space too. “Don’t roll your eyes. At least you don’t have to get a job. I got one because I wanted to start paying for my own car and she started demanding half of my paycheck.”
It confused me that Alpha was actually trying to comfort me, but I went with it, because who knew when he’d go back to being an ass? “That’s true. “ I didn’t feel like applying for a job, even though it would get me some spending money. So I left it at that and hoped he would drop the subject.
“You can work with me! I work at Taco Bell. At lunch break, they let you eat some stuff. The boss is barely around and it’s easy to learn how to make things on the menu, it’s a great job. I’ll put in a good word for you.” He knocks shoulders with me before he gets up, and shoves the rest of his sloppy made sandwich in his mouth.
“Sounds great . . .” I mutter under my breath. What am I supposed to do here? I don’t know anybody, Vey said he would call but I didn’t want to wait around for him to remember that he’d call me. I heard a door shut and heels click and I turned my head, secretly hoping that Alpha was coming out dressed like a transvestite. I had to say I was honestly disappointed when it was Sabrina.
“What? Can’t I look sexy? I’m not that old you know. Only thirty-six.” She smirked at me as she took out lip gloss and put it on in the mirror that was hanging on the wall. “Alpha already knows his bed time. Just ask him where everything is, and don’t wait up for me. Because when you finally get a life, I won’t wait up for you.”
Was I supposed to be offended? Because honestly, I wasn’t. I’ve seen way worse parenting then Sabrina’s. She actually acted like a saint compared to the others. I understood completely, and was glad she wasn’t going to wait around for me like an anxious owner waiting for their puppy to pay attention to them.
“I get it.” I shrugged. “Have fun being thirty six.” Sabrina nodded and walked out of the door. I heard another door open right after that, it was Alpha. He looked surprised to see me still sitting in the living room like I was.
“What are you still doing here? Don’t you have some boyfriend to go mack on?” Alpha questions jokingly as he walks closer, he’s shirtless and I have to admit I admired it. For about three seconds, his question bugged me a little.
“Why? Do you have some hooker coming? I’d be gladly to leave but I don’t feel like going back to that shithole.” I probably said more than I should have to him, I didn’t want him to have another thing he could make fun of me for. But it was already out there, and he could use it against me in further arguments.
“In fact, my girlfriend is coming over. And she doesn’t like strange girls over.” He looked proud of himself, probably for keeping a girlfriend for more than a one night screw. It sounded like he was total whipped though.
I stood up, and crossed my arms over my chest. “Hey, I’m not a stranger. You know me, we’re related. What’s strange about that? We used to even live together!” It was true, back when I was in fifth grade and he was in eighth. Sabrina came over to our house, drunk as could be. That’s not how I remembered it of course, I was in fifth grade and didn’t even know what tipsy meant. But when my mother talked bitterly about her when she was in jail, with a lit cigarette in her hand; I learned the story. She complained to mom and dad that she always had to do the work with Alpha, and she just wanted a few weeks, a month at most, to herself. Now these are mom’s exact words, but she said she was feeling like she was a pretty badass parent so she agreed quickly. Dad was surprised, because mom could care less for Sabrina. I guess when you got remarried you couldn’t exactly shake off the ex. It was a horrible few weeks, Alpha would bring his friends over and come in and break some of my things. I didn’t say anything though, because I wanted things to work out with Alpha for dad. But when Alpha started pocketing change, mom and dad had had it. He never came to live with us again.
He didn’t look nervous, he just smiled easily. “She doesn’t know you. Hell, I barely know you. Can you leave? Please? You can take my truck if you want.” He begged, and I smirked, look how the roles reversed.
“Hm, I don’t know . . . can I meet her first?” I actually wanted to see the chick that had her talons dug in him so deep, that girl had to be a goddess.
He runs his hands through his longer than other guys’ hair; you can tell he keeps up a good appearance. “Sure, just don’t be an asshole. I have to go shower.”
“Me? An asshole? No . . .” I trail off; I can make a good impression first. Then, well I guess it just depends on how nice she is.
Alpha comes out twenty minutes later, he smells like some cologne I recognize of but don’t know the name. His hair is styled messy, his shirt is unbuttoned just enough to show a little of his chest. He has a nice summer tan, probably from hanging around outside. All in all, right then I wished pretty damn hard that he wasn’t my half brother. Which sounds disgusting, but honestly, I could care less. I found my eyes flipping through his outfit over and over again, lingering on his smooth face and muscular chest you could tell was there from his fitted plaid shirt.
Alpha noticed me noticing him, which was beyond embarrassing. “God Zurie, stare a little harder. I know I look good but,” he pauses, obviously finding a weird pleasure in watching me squirm, “I have a girlfriend.”
At his sudden sentence, three quick knocks ramble on the door. I jumped, not expecting it, it’s like he summoned her just from his previous statement. I mutter under my breath, not catching what I was saying myself. I was stressed, trying to snap myself out of it. I can’t think he’s hot, or anything, but I could always leave to see Vey. Just to get it out of my system, Vey would probably enjoy that.
I hear Alpha greet the guaranteed slut at the door, and I heard a big smooching noise which made me flinch. “Who’s this?” she sounds more worried than pissed, which I guess is a good sign that Alpha probably told her about me already.
I stand up and put a smile on my face, figuring I should play nice until I figure out what her game is. “Hey, I’m Alpha’s half-sister Zurie. You’re his girlfriend, right?” I figure I’ll get bonus points for what I throw in next. “You guys look so cute together! More perfect then Ken and Barbie!”
The girl was obviously happy from my statement. Too bad it isn’t true, the girl is at least five inches shorter than Alpha. Which isn’t why they don’t look very good together, she’s stick thin. She has tousled brown hair that is parted to where the right side has more than the left. She wore her eye makeup dark, but not too dark; and you could see her cheekbone clearly. She looked like you could push her over and she’d break.
“Well thanks.” She smiled, as if this was the first time she heard it. “I’m LuxZandra, but you can call me Lux.”
My first thought was, god what a handful. Second, she actually seemed nice. She was wearing a black strapless shirt that looked good on her, and she paired it with snug fit jeans and white sandals. Maybe if I was to become her friend, she’d let me raid her closet.
“Well, it was nice meeting you! Now I have to go, Alpha offered up his truck for the evening so I’ll take advantage of that.” I informed her, wondering if I should look at myself before I leave, I didn’t want to be around Vey looking bad.
“Okay, nice meeting you too!” She cooed, and it was almost too much. Except she acted younger than me, which I found a bit strange. So it was easier to accept her excitement without thinking too much about it. Alpha silently handed me his keys and I smiled brightly, happy at the freedom he was giving me.
“Don’t drive recklessly!” He warned as I slammed the door closed, not out of anger though. No, I was eager to get out of there obviously. I needed to get this out of my system, now.
I rang the doorbell once I got there, finding it only a little weird that I wasn’t just walking in like I used to. But no, I had a new home, I reminded myself. Honestly, I was happy. Even though it was a bit awkward with my dad’s ex wife and his son, it was better than some of the houses I got stuck in. I shuddered at the thought.
Somebody opened the door, and I put a smile on my face when I realized who it was. “Hey, I thought I was going to go over there?”
“I got kicked out.” I mock pouted. “But it’s okay, because I didn’t want to be around them anyways.”
He smiles warmly at me and opens the door past his slim figure, giving me a chance to squeeze through. “Everybody is out, lucky timing I suppose. Let’s go to my room.” he grabs my hand as I glow with happiness, I wasn’t in love with him but he was great company.
His bedroom was better than mine was since he lived here way longer, I’m pretty sure Vey was the first child Rat adopted. He had a mattress sitting on the floor with a dark brown sheet over it, and his black blankets were spread out over the bed. He had a little cart with three drawers, and he had three pairs of shoes.
“Wow, I forgot how fancy you’re room is.” I sarcastically say to him, plopping down on his bed and getting comfy. He comes and sits down right next to me, and I can tell he doesn’t want to talk at all.
He dives in and starts kissing my neck, and I smile because at first I’m really into it. But then I hear my conversation with Alpha earlier playing in my head and suddenly, I’m not in the mood anymore.
“What’s wrong? That’s why you came here, right?” he was still kissing my neck but when I didn’t answer at first, he pulled his head back and stared at me.
“I just, I don’t know why I came, and I thought you’d be nice to talk to.” Lie, he always called me on them but this time he just leaned back. “I’ll let myself out, thanks, bye.” I kiss his cheek and get up, probably leaving him pissed. I can’t help but get pissed at myself. I was like a tease! I was so confusing, I couldn’t even understand myself. It was bad enough confusing myself, but I also led Vey on. I should go in and apologize but I thought that’d be awkward.
I stormed through the door once I got there; I figured that Lux would be gone. I had tears in my eyes, noticing my screw up and wondering how I could fix things with Vey. And did I even want to? But of course, I walked in to them having a mad make out session on the couch. And jesus, I’m lucky I’ve seen worse. Way worse.
“Hey, lovers. I hope you don’t get anything on the couch.” Instead of my voice sounding whiney like it usually did when I was close to crying, my voice sounded fairly normal. They jumped up and seemed to calm down a little when they saw it was just me.
“God, Zurie, I thought it was my mom. Why don’t you go to your room?” He suggests, he has his shirt off and he’s speaking to me like I’m mentally retarded.
“Uh, because I don’t know where it is? I guess I’ll have to sleep in your bedroom while you take the couch, night!” I wave and smirk at them, noting how Alpha looks a little pissed. I honestly didn’t care, Sabrina didn’t show me the room I’m staying in or anything before she left; she had left that all to Alpha and he looked a little busy at the moment. I walked down the hall to the room; it was a one story house and had tan carpet. The door was bright white, which was a little surprising since I thought that they had lived here for a while.
I’m sure Alpha tried to stop me and say I could sleep on the floor or something, but I didn’t listen. I was upset at the whole male population, they were so confusing. You like one, and they’re into you, but you’re not sure why. Then you find out, and you have to be upset, shouldn’t girls be used to it? I figured out the answer is no, no matter how many times girls get screwed over they never learn. But then again, girls can be just as confusing to guys. I laid there for maybe an hour before Alpha came banging in the door, loudly enough to let me know that Sabrina most likely wasn’t home yet. He looked pissed, and I wished silently that I could just disappear. I wasn’t in the mood for whatever he had to say.
“You. Get out of my room, now.” Alpha stormed at me; maybe Lux didn’t let him touch as much as he wanted. But I wasn’t going to listen to him, god no. if anything; he only fueled to the rage. I was upset, and not angry upset, but he just gave me a reason to be.
“No, I’m a guest. I’m sleeping here.” I crossed my arms and snuggled in the bed a little more comfy, showing I wasn’t going without a fight. “You can sleep next to me as long as you keep your hands to yourself or on the couch. Your choice.”
He still looked mad but I think he understood that I wasn’t giving the bed up anytime soon. “Fine, see you in the morning.”
I didn’t have anything to say to him. “Goodnight! Make sure to get your beauty rest!” it was a messed up thing to do, but he shouldn’t have demanded me to do anything while I was upset. Plus, I wasn’t really feeling bad about kicking him out of his room.
I heard him mutter something under his breath as he stormed out of the room, he didn’t bother shutting the door and I didn’t care enough to ask him to. I laid there for a while, just thinking about old life. I fell asleep to the memory of when I first told mom I liked a boy.
I was sitting at the counter in the kitchen, doing homework. I kept sighing over and over, frustrated because I was attempting math homework. Mom came in the kitchen, singing some song we heard on the radio last week. She was filling up her mug with coffee even though it was almost dinner time.
“Hey sweetie, how’s the homework coming?” she pours the coffee, mixing in milk and a little bit of creamer until it turns a light brown color. She glances over at me and walks by me to look at my homework. “Ew, its math homework. You should wait until your dad gets home; he’s the best at math.”
I sigh yet again and almost want to slap myself. There was this boy in my class, Sam Roberts. He was always smiling at me and would go out of his way to talk to me. I wanted to tell my mom but I didn’t know how to. “Mom, I like this guy . . . “
Her expression is the one you’d give to a cute kitten. “Aw, sweetie that’s so cute. What’s his name? Does he like you too?” suddenly math isn’t so important anymore; I close the notebook and smile widely at my mom.
“His name is Sam, I don’t know if he likes me.” I wish there was more for me to tell her, like he kissed me on the cheek or something. But the answer doesn’t even faze her.
“That’s so cute.” The door slams shut and the lock immediately goes back.
“Girls?” I hear my dad’s voice call out. I give mom a warning glance, she overreacted with stuff like this and would surely tell dad.
“Honey! Guess what? Zurie has a little crush on a boy at school!” mom shouts, I glare at her as I turn pink and she shrugs her shoulders. I hear dad’s work boots on the tile as he comes into the kitchen, I can’t read the expression on his face.
“Well, I’m glad I legally own a gun.” He smirks at my mother and she shoves him a little.
The playful memory of my parents gets my water works up again and I have a good cry before I fall asleep, hoping not to be woken up early.