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Gray and I started to walk a separate way from Zach, going to check out the building too. There was a set of stairs ahead of us that looked as if they could lead up to some rooms on the second level. Gray looked at me with a little bit of suspicion as we walked towards them, but I didn't blame him- they did look a bit sketchy...this entire place probably hasn't been touched since the original park closed down. I took the first few steps onto the old metal stairs as Gray stayed behind. There was a bit of creaking, but otherwise, they seemed pretty sturdy. I waved him up and he walked onto the steps slowly, coming up next to me...still looking nervous. "So, tell me about your parents," I said, looking at him. "what do you guys do together? What are your Christmas's like? Anything, just tell me."
I knew that it could be a sensitive subject for Gray, especially since he realized that they were going to get a divorce, but I didn't want him to be focused on the fact a dinosaur could come through this building and kill us at any moment. "Well we always go out sledding whenever it snows, usually it's Zach and I racing against my mom and dad, but as we got older it really turned into Zach and I racing against each other. We have this huge hill in our backyard that goes into a forest type area and it's so cool!" He was smiling for the first time since before this entire ordeal and I was happy that he was distracted. "When we were younger, my mom would let Zach and I decorate the cookies any way we wanted to and one time we made star wars cookies! We also used to have this ginger bread house competition, me and our mom versus Zach and our dad. I remember one time, Zach bit into all of our gingerbread pieces so our house looked like it had a bunch of holes in it."
"He did that?" I laughed, looking down at the first level to see Zach still wandering around and looking at everything.
"Yeah, our parents were mad, but I said it was okay and that it looked really cool." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
"It sounds like you two are really close," I said, looking at him as we reached the top of the stairs.
"We were..." He said, biting the inside of his cheek. "but once he got into high school we just started to drift. Especially once he turned 16 last year. Part of me was really hoping that maybe this vacation with our Aunt would bring us a little closer like we used to be, but that's been proved otherwise."
"Why would you say that?"
"He's just been mean I guess, or a moody teenager. Ever since we've gotten onto this island, all he's done is stare at girls, pretend that he doesn't know me if they're looking back at him and ignore me."
I looked back down at Zach and frowned, I understand if being friends with an 11-year-old may seem like it could dampen your style, but the fact that it's his own sibling kind of upsets me. "I can't speak for Zach and why he acts like that towards you because I don't have any siblings so I don't understand what's going through his mind..." I nudged him and he looked up at me. "but I wish I had a cool sibling like you."
"Thanks, Hailey," he smiled looking back at Zach. "I think he's getting better. He hasn't been as mean to me since you left to go find your Uncle. So what are your parents like? What was your mom like?"
