Alex Wars

Chapter Seven: The Gang's All Here

"Uhh," I said again, my mouth gaping.

"An intelligent comeback," Wes smirked. "What, alley cat got your tongue?" when I didn't respond, he rolled his eyes. "Get it? Alley cat and Ali cat? Or do you not know what a pun is?"

My mouth shut instantaneously. "I get it," I snapped. My eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"

Wes smirked again. "Movie night at Connor's," he said. Frowning he continued, "The better question is: what are you doing here?"

Suddenly, Connor barreled towards me and grabbed my arm. "Al, can I talk to you for a sec, thanks," he rushed, already pulling me out of the kitchen and up the stairs before I could reply.

"I can't believe you!" I heard Georgie screech as soon as Connor and I hit the second landing. "This is my house!"

"Yeah, and Uncle Sammy said I could bring people over!" Connor hissed. "Keep your voice down!"

"His little nerd friends are downstairs!" Georgie protested, turning to me for support. She turned her fury back onto Connor before I could even open my mouth. "What about that little deal you begged Ali and me to agree to? Where your friends and the rest of the school don't find out we're related?!"

I didn't know you guys were here!" Connor ranted. "You said this morning you were busy!"

"Newsflash, Connor, Al sleeps over every Friday night!" Georgie threw back. "She has been for the past twelve years! You know that!"

Connor ran a hand through his blonde hair, tugging at it furiously. "What do we do now?" Connor sighed.

"We tell them," I said quietly.

Blonde hair whipped as the two spun around to stare at me.

I met their panicked, blue-eyed gaze. "Come on, you guys are fighting like how you were when we were six!" I said exasperatedly. "Would it really kill anyone to know that you two are related?"

Both shifted uneasily as Connor stared at the floor.

"Your friends are nice, Connor," I said in a much gentler tone. "They'll understand." After an afterthought, I added, "Well, maybe not Wes, but he already knew."

Connor huffed a bit, his form of a tired scoff. "Okay," he sighed, and he led the way downstairs.

"Finally, you're back!" Stevie exclaimed. He was swiveling on a bar stool while Mia cleaned up some chips on the ground that Stevie must have knocked over. As for Wes, he was at the sink, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed like he owned the place. Connor and I entered first, then Georgie. Stevie stopped spinning and Mia stopped sweeping up the crumbs. "Woah, queen pop."

Georgie gave a halfhearted wave. "Hello," she called.

"Connor, I get that you would invite Ali to movie night," Stevie commented. "I mean, she's pretty geeky for a pop—"

"Hey!" I protested, more so over being called a pop than a geek.

"—but I didn't know she'd invite Georgette, let alone Georgette to actually come," Stevie finished in awe.

"Uhh, yeah, I didn't expect Georgette to show up with Al," Connor said, laughing uneasily.

"Connor," I said sternly. "That's not what happened."