Lonely

Chapter 64, Sadie

Once inside, I turned around and looked out the window. Libby and Sully were sitting side by side, talking. I assumed Jett had probably been hiding nearby and over heard the argument, then told Sully about it. I went into the kitchen where Boomer, Liam, Nicco, Levy, and Max were. Nicco was ‘cooking’ something, flame shooting out of his hand as he toasted something.

Boomer scratched his stomach and crumbled a piece of rock in his hand. Levy picked his head up off the table to see me, and then put it back down. Liam was holding a fork and taking it and out of a light socket, his hair standing even more on end than usual. I leaned around boomer to look through a door at one end of the kitchen, and then turned to look through the door on the other end. Why the kitchen needed two doors, I do not know.

“What’re you looking for?” Boomer grumbled. I shook my head and sat down, waving smoke away.

I ran a hand through my hair and tried to fluff it up so it would dry faster, then opened the door to our room and walked down the hall. I could smell smoke, and was momentarily worried that the twins had gotten into a worse fight, but there was no one in the living room. I heard some noise coming from the kitchen and decided I might as well see if Hanger was with the boys. Libby was out back with Sully, putting the shed back together. I stopped at Ryder’s room. His door was open, and the inside looked like a jungle. Vines crawled up the walls and hung from the ceiling, and exotic looking flowers were growing all over the place and sprouting from cracks in the ceiling. I shook my head.

When I had looked in Jett’s room the day before, everything was completely untouched. Either he was the neatest six year old ever, or he had never slept in the bed, only under it. Roxi’s room was covered with clippings from a technology magazine, Ariadne’s room was covered with different pictures of the sky, Sophia’s was pretty normal, actually. It was a wreck, and stuffed animals and blankets covered the floor and bed. Sully’s looked like a boys room would, smelly and messy, and Libby’s was covered in blue prints and nails and random pieces of wood.

I walked into the kitchen at the same time as Dodger.

“Holy, crap! Put some pants on, man!” I cried, shielding my eyes. Dodger was wearing nothing but boxers, and it was terrifying. He grumbled something and I heard his footsteps go back down the hall. I sat down in a chair next to Hanger with a huff. He grinned at me with that crooked smile that made me feel way less violated.

“Well, good morning to you too.” Levy said. Max stretched his arms.

“It’s a bit shocking at first, I imagine, but he gets dressed sooner or later.” He said. Nicco set a plate of burnt toast in front of me.

“Did you make this?” I asked, picking at the blackened piece of bread. He grinned, and Liam rolled his eyes.

“I wouldn’t eat it if I were you. He can’t cook to save my life.” Liam said, shaking his head.  Nicco looked at his twin and pushed red hair out of his eyes.

“Don’t you mean my life?” Nicco asked, raising an eyebrow. Liam frowned.

 “That’s what I said.”

Nicco shook his head and waved his hand.

“You know, she has a toaster.” I said, jerking my thumb towards one in the corner. Nicco shrugged and went back to making charcoal out of bread. Dodger came back into the room, at least wearing pants, but still shirtless. Boys are so gross.

“Going without the head phones today?” Boomer asked. Dodger shrugged and sat down in a chair. He stared at the wall, then leaned closer to me.

“The little girl’s right there.” He said. I followed his gaze and for a moment, saw nothing. Then it quivered. I jumped up and grabbed Sophia around the waist, swinging her up. She laughed and turned from the red color of the kitchen to her normal color.