Lonely

Chapter 46, Sadie

Two more days, I kept telling myself. Seven kids was a lot to watch. Sully and Ryder were fighting. Ariadne, Libby, and Roxi were talking loudly and nonstop, and even my quiet and calm Jett was arguing with Sophia over whose gift was better. I rubbed my temples with my fingers as we walked. Their voices all bubbled together, giving me a massive head ache.

“Okay! All of you, shut up! You’re giving me a head ache. Sully, Ryder, if you can’t work it out, then I’m gonna hold your hands for the rest of the trip. Libby, talk all you want. Quieter, and one at a time if possible. Jett, Sophia, you both have amazing powers, but it’s plain and simple that I have the best.” I felt bad for yelling at them, but honestly, how much could they possibly argue. The weather over head turned over cast, and I glared at Ariadne. “You wanna be stuck back here with the boys?” almost immediately the sun came out. Ryder stomped angrily away from me and Sully, making the leaves and plants wilt and some died. Sophia turned bright red, and Roxi continued flipping through the signals invisible to the rest of us.

It didn’t take long for them to forget what I said and go right back to what they were doing. Suddenly, Roxi flinched. “Ugh. We’re coming up to a city. With lots of cell phones and computers and t.v.’s. And video cameras.” I nodded. Libby squealed with delight. “Can we go shopping now?” I thought back to what felt like months ago. I had promised her that we would go shopping soon. I looked at all of their faces. They all looked excited by the idea of new stuff, even the boys. I sighed. “Alright, but we can’t stay too long, okay?” Libby smiled and threw her arms around my waist. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, then went back with the girls, including Sophia, and they talked about what they wanted. The boys hung back with me.

“Can we go get pizza? Oh, and go see a motorcycle store, if they have one?” Ryder begged. I ruffled his hair and smiled. “Sure.” He smiled I felt Jett tug on my hand. I looked down at him. “Can we go to the antique place if we can find one?” The antique place? What kind of six year old wants to go see antiques? He looked at me with his gray eyes, and even though the other kids wouldn’t really enjoy it, he would, and I couldn’t say no to his adorable face. I smiled. “Of course.” I said. He gave me the barest hint of a dusty smile and hooked a finger through my belt loop. I hoped I wouldn’t regret my decision.

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We came to a very large mall, and the girls clapped their hands. “I’ve never been in a real mall before.” Ariadne said. Libby’s eyes widened. “Really? I have, but only a couple times.” Sophia started to blend in with the buildings, turning a pebbly color of red, and I realized she was mimicking the brick patter. She did it very well too. “Okay, guys. Blend in. Sophia, I do not mean literally.” She smiled and turned back to her normal color. Roxi twitched her hand. “Lots of cameras. Mostly aimed at the doors and random halls.” “Can we go to the car places first?” Sully asked. I thought about it. “We’re going to a store for the girls first, then the boys. Stay together, and don’t do anything weird.” I said. They all nodded and gave me that oh so familiar innocent look I learned never to believe.

I had to hold tight to Sophia and Jett, because they both pulled in separate directions in side. Sully kept an eye on Ryder, and the girls all watched each other. I glanced around nervously and gave Roxi a look when her hand started twitching in the air again. They all pointed excitedly when we came to a place where there was a pink polka dotted sign, and they rushed in. the boys stood awkwardly in the door, and eventually followed me in. The clothes were mostly for younger girls, so I followed them around, the boys behind me and occasionally offered a piece of advice, or told them something looked good when they picked it out.

Finally, we left the store, each girl with a small article of clothing. They had wanted much more, but we couldn’t carry all of that. The boys sighed with relief as we walked to the indoor car store. Surprising, all of them enjoyed it, even the girls. They all trotted off to look at small cars of various colors, and sometimes with the boys who were going more for the big, expensive ones. After I assured Jett that we would be going to an antique shop, he followed them. I sat on a bench. A good thing about this place was that it was pretty open and I could see them. Glad to have some alone time, I leaned back.

For just a second I let my gaze wander. Or I thought it was a question. Suddenly, Jett came scurrying towards me and his behind my legs as I stood up. I looked up to see a mall cop followed by the store manager and the other kids behind them. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. Nothing serious then.The chubby mall cop came up and hooked his thumbs through the top of his black pants. “These your kids?” he asked. Surely I looked too young to be a mother of seven. At least, I prayed to god I did. A sister? I looked at the blond hair of Ariadne, Sophia and Roxi, the blonde hair of Sully, Jett’s brown hair, Libby’s black, and Ryder’s brown. We looked nothing alike. Hair wasn’t everything, I thought desperately. I took in Libby’s brown skin. Not a chance.

“No, there baby sitter.” I said, glaring at them. They all looked away, and Jett peeked out from behind me. “Well, I suggest you keep them under control, or I’ll have to ask you to leave.” I gave him an apologetic smile. Being my paranoid self, I decided it wasn’t necessary for them to remember our faces. “I’m sorry. None of us caused any trouble. In fact, you never even saw us here. Either of you.” They gave me that glassy eyed look and nodded, then looked puzzled and walked away. I gathered all of them as we headed out of the store. “What part of blend don’t you get?” I hissed. Sophia’s bottom lip quivered. “We’re sorry, Sadie.” She said. I let my face soften. Sully hung his head, and so did Ryder. A warm breeze wrapped around me, and I looked at Ryder. He gave me a week smile. Jett tugged on me again. “Do we still get to go to the antique store?” I took a deep breath. ‘Yeah, but I swear to god, next time a mall cop comes over to me, we’re leaving.

I wondered how much of a pain in the butt I was to my parents when I had been so bad, and they had barely done anything and I was annoyed. As soon as we entered the antique shop, Jett took off. I nodded at Sully to follow him, and the others kids slowly spread out, murmuring at certain things, but not getting overly excited. Jett  was vividly interested and talked more than I had ever seen, telling Sully all about the stuff he saw. I was glad to see sully was being smart when Jett offered to show him how he could fit right inside an ancient chest, but Sully shook his head and Jett wandered on, crestfallen. I smiled as I watched him, and then looked at the others. Ryder was gazing at a small toy car fifty years old, and the girls were all gathered around a green dress with a poofy skirt. I sighed and hoped that they would always be this happy.