Conflict of Interest: A Naturals Fanfiction

Ice Cream

"It so...big," I deducted lamely, staring up at the Victorian house that I was going to be living in. I caught a face looking out of a window on the top floor, but before I could discern the gender, they ducked out of view.

"If you like that, you should see the back," Michael snorted. I opened my mouth to ask what, exactly, was in the back, but the door opening interrupted me and I turned to find a girl with red hair and a very Italian face walking down the sidewalk leading up to the front door. "Miss me?" He asked her.

She ignored him and walked toward me. "Hi, my name's Cassie," she smiled and held out her hand to shake.

Odd.

But finally someone who is forthright with their name.

"April," I smiled, grabbing her hand in mine. She gave me a solid handshake.

"You aren't going to grab her bags?" She asks Michael, her voice taking on a no-nonsense lilt as she smiled at him.

He grabbed my bag out of my hands. "And here I pegged you as the kind of girl who did her own heavy lifting." I glared at him. He only smirked and walked into the house.

"So, what is this place?" I asked, looking at Cassie.

A confused smile took over her face. "What do you mean? Briggs didn't tell you?"

"No. And who is Briggs anyway? You guys mentioned him in the car," I accused, pointing a finger at Lia. "I know virtually nothing about this family. I mean, who has so many kids the same age?!"

"You're in for a surprise," Lia murmured, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "Let's see if we can make you leave as quickly as the last one." She sauntered into the house, leaving me to think over her words.

"Classic Lia. Don't worry, she's only trying to intimidate you," Cassie informed me.

"So you mean that no one left?"

A distant look crossed her face. "No, she left. After she was shot, that is."

"Excuse me?"

She snapped out of her memory. "Nothing. Come on, you're gonna love it!" She dragged me into the house.

"Who's Sloane?"

"You really know nothing about this place, do you?"

"Nope." I popped the p.

"Okay...then why did you decide to come here?"

"It wasn't a choice."

"Oh." She was quiet for a moment, and as we walked upstairs I couldn't help but notice the pictures on the walls. Some smiling, some not. Something about it felt off.

I was saved from the awkward silence by a small, platinum-blond head leaning over the banister. "Hi! You must be April! I've been waiting weeks to meet you. Did you know that April is one of four months that has only thirty days? I mean, of course you do, but did you know that that's the equivalent of 720 hours? 43,200 minutes? 2,592,000 seconds? That's a lot of time. Hummingbirds flap their wings about seventy times per second, which would be-"

"181,440,000 times in April," I finished, finally getting her to stop. Her eyes widened. She looked hopefully at Cassie. "Another statistician?"

Cassie looked just as confused. "How'd you do that?" She finally asked.

I blinked. "It's basic math?" Cassie raised an eyebrow. "It's multiplication. Kids learn it at approximately eight years old. I'm not missing anything am I?" Neither of them said anything. I gasped. "Oh no. Don't tell me that this is a home that helps mentally unstable kids. Where's the parents? I need to talk to them. I think they got me mixed up. I sometimes don't act like it, but I am perfectly sane. Promise." I started to back down the stairs in search of someone else in the house, preferably an adult.