Night of the Alphas

Chapter 28

Joshua collapsed on the mattress closest to the door, his bottom lip quivering. "Please let this be a dream. I can't do this." He buried his face in his hands. "Not again."

"Yes, you can," I said, sitting down next to him. "You're strong. You can get through this."

"No, I can't!" He threw down his bag in frustration. "This is the room my dad and I stayed in for two awful years." He ripped off his eyepatch, revealing his stitched-closed eyelids. "The room where they did this to me!"

"Oh my God," Summer said, rushing to his side. "They..."

"Yes, they did. They maimed me. Just say it. And take a good look at my scar while you're at it." He crossed his arms as a single tear leaked out of his good eye.

"Oh, gosh," Alex said, adjusting his glasses on his face. "Don't cry." He threw down his duffel bag, outstretching his arm to embrace his cousin. We would have kept our attention on Joshua if it hadn't been for the small "Ouch," that escaped Alex's bag.

We all abruptly stopped what we were doing and looked at the gray duffel bag laying on its side. "What was that?" Abel mumbled.

"It was me, dummy!" The voice said. The bag was now thrashing around violently. "Let me out! I've been in here long enough!"

I recognized the voice as soon as it started shouting. I felt my ears lay back as I marched over to unzip the bag. As soon as I pulled the zipper back, he came tumbling out along with some books and crumpled clothes. "What are you doing here?" I fumed, my face heating up. "I told you to stay at camp!"

Jay stood up and brushed off his rumpled shirt. He picked a romance novel up off the ground and wrinkled his nose at it, completely ignoring me. "Blegh, who reads this crap? Let me tell you, whoever owns that bag is an absolute dweeb."

"Hey!" Alex lunged forward and grabbed the book, his face flushed pink. "Miranda gave that to me."

Jay smirked. "Ah, looks like I've found him."

Joshua laughed, wiping the tear off his cheek. "You read that stuff? Geez, I'm friends with a bunch of losers."

Alex swallowed and shoved the book back in his bag. "You weren't supposed to find that," He said, his face turning several shades of red.

Abel turned to me, looking very ticked off. "I had no idea we were turning this into a party," He said to the group. He walked over to me and leaned in close to whisper something. "Who the hell is that little trash gremlin?" He asked sternly.

"Oh, I'm not just a little trash gremlin," Jay beamed, looking at us. "I'm a trash gremlin with a purpose. Ladies and gentlemen, Alphas and humans, feral brats and soy-boys, I present to you..." He did a complete 360 and faced Abel and I once again, finishing up his act with a small bow. "Jay Aguero!"

He gave us a large, toothy grin and held his tail up high. A few seconds passed, an awkward tension gripping the room. Zaria coughed. I crossed my arms. Jay opened his eyes and looked around, his smile fading. "Really? No applause? I spent all morning on that line." He paused. "What, would you rather me sound like Zane?" He brushed a bunch of hair in his face, creating a mock version of my hair. "Hi, I'm J-Jay..." He tapped his pointer fingers together. "And I'm r-really nervous to meet you all. And- Ugh! I'm so sorry." He giggled. "I can't help being this quirky and weird and mature!"

Joshua looked like he was trying to hold in a laugh. "Can we keep him? He's pretty funny."

Zaria and Alex looked at each other and chuckled. "Yeah, he kinda is," Zaria said quietly.