Alex Wars

Chapter Four: Encounters of the Alex Kind

"What are you doing here?" I blurted out.

Wes raised an eyebrow. "Nice to see you too," he said, and I automatically thought of the events earlier this evening. I shuddered.

"Doth our sister possess a suitor?" Jimmy said mockingly, his eyebrows raised. Jackson took on a similar façade.

I rolled my eyes. "Jim, Jack, get out."

"Make us," Jackson challenged. Oh, that rebellious preteen phase.

I sighed. "Phil's making hot chocolate," I said, and the two glanced at each other before running.

Leaving me alone with Wes.

"Nice kids," Wes said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Didn't know you had brothers."

"I have four," I answered sharply and his eyebrows shot up.

"Didn't know you had brothers," he repeated.

"What are you doing here?" I asked warily.

He coughed. "I, uh, wanted to drop this off," he muttered. Wes pulled out an envelope from his pocket before running a hand through his brown mess of hair.

"How did you even know where I lived?" I asked, taking the folded paper from his hand. When he didn't answer, I looked inside. My eyes widened before narrowing.

"No," I stated firmly, shoving the envelope back.

Wes' forehead creased in confusion. "What?"

"I don't need any handouts," I said, more forceful than what Wes understood.

"It's just the tip that you didn't get earlier," Wes replied, his mouth pushed to one side in deep thought.

"Tip for what?" I asked with a short bark of laughter. "For dousing your grandmother in meat and fungi?"

Wes cringed. "Okay, but part of that was my fault."

I rolled my eyes. "Doesn't matter, you weren't the one who got fired."

"You got fired?" Wes asked sharply.

I gave him a look that clearly meant 'duh'. "Oh no, I got a raise," I shot back sarcastically.

Wes' mouth pressed itself into a thin line. "Did you really need that job?"

I look at him, startled. I couldn't fathom how he knew or why he was looking at me so intensely. Frowning, I turned my gaze to the floor. "Sure," I muttered.

We stood in silence, not knowing what to say.

"Nice house," Wes coughed out, looking around.

"Not what you were expecting?" I said with a bitter laugh.

Living with four boys might conjure up an image similar to that of a pigsty, but, no. As backwards as it might be, my brothers hate mess. I imagined they inherited it from my dad, whose library was so clean, it looked unused. No, our house was as next to godliness as it can be.

But it was tiny. We only had three bedrooms and the only reason why we weren't all cramped was because we used as minimal furniture as possible, the twins shared a room, and the attic was designated solely for me. I assumed that Wes, as well as the rest of our school's population, expected me to live in some sort of mansion like Georgie, who has so many bathrooms, she was convinced that at least one of them had to lead to the Ministry of Magic.

Wes looked at me curiously. "No," he agreed. "But that's a good thing."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. I opened my mouth to question him what that meant, but I was cut off by a yell that sliced my insides.