Lonely

Chapter 51. Hanger

When I woke up in the morning, I could hear people moving around outside the door. Sadie was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.  I smiled at her and I crawled out of bed and pulled a clean black shirt over my head. “Sounds like everyone is up.” She said. Sure enough, there was a loud ruckus outside the door. I took her hand and pulled her up, kissing her. I was so happy to have her back. I opened the door, and immediately, a maid was there. “Ms. Sadie, I hate to bother you, but the kids are asking for you, and we’re a bit busy right now.” She said a pleading look in her eye. She looked surprised to see me, but didn’t say anything. Sadie sighed. “Alright. I’ll be right back.” She said, standing on her tip toes to kiss my cheek. She followed the maid hurriedly down the hall and out of my sight. I went towards the noise only the guys could make.

“Hey, laddie! We’ve been looking for ya!” Nicco shouted over the noise. They all turned to look at me. “Dude, not to say you’re cooking was bad, but Arianna’s got you beat.”  Max said, shoving a donut in his mouth. Arianna smiled indulgently at them, then gestured to the assorted breakfast foods. “Dig in.” she said. I grabbed a donut and leaned against the wall. A maid called Nicco into the kitchen because Nicco had said he could make amazing bacon, and Arianna had taken him up on the offer. Dodger had a pained look on his face as he, for the millionth time, adjusted the head phones. I assumed it must be awful loud for him. Liam and Boomer were passed out on the couch again, an empty plate in both of their laps.

WE were in a wide open room with a soaring ceiling. I hadn’t been in here yet, and I realized it was rather plane compared to the other rooms. The tables and chairs had all been set up, I assumed because Arianna didn’t want them o trash her nice dining room. The walls were white, with a white carpet. A few chairs and a couch were huddled around the edges, and there was more than one door. It looked to me like it was more of a meeting room than an actual room, but for now was just being used for guest services.

The door on the other end of the room swung open, and in tumbled seven kids, Sadie right behind them. A small African American girl and a blonde boy were trying to help her, but were actually making it worse with their screaming. A younger boy was standing in front of the blonde kid, and he looked upset. Yet another girl was fighting with a girl with blue and black hair, and a little girl was, and

I kid you not, turning completely blue as she tried to get someone to do her hair. I recognized Jett clinging to Sadie’s leg. The poor kid was probably terrified. Two maids came into the room, and Sadie knelt down. They all quieted and surrounded her. Jett and another small girl hooked their fingers through her belt loop. Whatever she said worked, because they nodded.

I hadn’t noticed the guys come up and to stand around me as I watched Sadie with all of the kids. The twins gave a low whistle in unison. “That your girl?” Boomer asked, jerking his thumb toward Sadie. I nodded. Dodger shook his head. “Dude, no offense, but how did some like you get her?” He lowered his sunglasses for a better look. Max smiled. “I knew there was something about you.” He said. Levy pouted. “It’s no fair. You don’t even try and get her, and you do. The ladies don’t seem to see the awesomeness of me.” He said. Nicco snorted. “Probably because it’s not there.” AS we watched, the maids ushered the kids out of the room, and Sadie ran a hand through her brown hair. “She’s totally hot.” Boomer added. Just then, Sadie caught sight of me and came over to stand next to me. She looked at all the guys, who watched her with wide eyes, then turned to me. “Kids are savages.” She said. I smiled and took her hand.

“You should try them.” I said, jerking my head towards the guys. The twins bowed. “My lady. You are as sexy as you are witty.” They said and then cracked up. Sadie raised an eye brow at them. “Uh, nice to meet you too.” Boomer nudged his way to the front. “Ignore them. They’re Irish and can’t help it.” He said. I rolled me eyes. Dodger shoved through. “Excuse our bad manners, our fearless leaders girlfriend,” at this, Sadie glanced up at me and I shrugged. “I’m Dodger. The red head is Nicco, and the twin is Liam, sleepy over there is Max, that’s Levy, and this is Boomer.” He finished by clapping boomer on the back. Sadie smiled at them. “I’m Sadie.” She said. “Oh, we’ve heard all about you.” Max said and they all started laughing. Sadie brushed her brown hair off her shoulder and squeezed my hand. “C’mon. Now that I’ve met your, er, posse, its time you meant mine.” She said.

The guys all pouted and s we walked away, I smiled at them smugly over my shoulder, because I had he and they didn’t. She led me into another room, which fell silent as we entered. Then there was a rush of commotion and the kids all swarmed Sadie, babbling at the same time. She smiled and somehow managed to answer everything each one said to her. She said something to them and gestured to me. She picked up a small girl with blonde hair and rested her on her hip. They all stood behind Sadie as she introduced me. “This is Hanger. You’ll be seeing a lot of him from now on.” She said, winking at me. “This is Libby, Sophia, Ariadne, Roxi, Sully, Ryder, and you’ve already met Jett.” She said, pointing to them as she listed their names. The one named Roxi didn’t pay attention and flicked the air in a strange way. The little girl Sadie was holding suddenly changed to look exactly like a beach setting, like a screen was spread across her. It was pretty cool. “C’mon ,girls. We can go do something for a while.” She said, nudging the boys towards me with a sardonic smile. The four girls followed her out of the room, leaving me with a dusty little boy, one who fidgeted with a button, and one who stared at me as if trying to figure something out.

“Come with me. Have some guy time, because you can’t tell me you enjoyed two weeks with girls.” I said. The tallest one, I remembered his name was Sully smiled, but the other two glared. “They’re real bossy.” Said the one named Ryder. I found they were not as scary as they looked. I led them out of the room. The guys immediately looked up.

“Hey, where’s your se-” Levy stopped himself as he saw the three boys come up beside me. “Sadie left them with me. They’ve been stuck with the girls for weeks.” I said trying to get them to play along. Vines began creeping up the walls, oddly enough, and I assumed it must be one of the boys, but they quickly shriveled and fell to the floor. “Well, that’s enough to drive a man crazy, spending so much time with women folk.” Liam said. The three boys smiled and slowly went towards the guys as if in a dream like state, talking about the trip, except Jett, who stayed by my side until he found a place to hide. I knew the hard part came next.