Fly Away Girl

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Tyler

***

My initial reaction upon seeing the Ramirez family was, Dad was right; Alex is gorgeous. After this, I have an increasingly hard time controlling my impending urge to hurl myself out the nearest window.

I still am, as we drive back to our house.
Sammy, Lucas, and Martin sit in the far backseat, and I share the middle row with two of my four new sisters: Rosa and Maria.
Rosa has fallen asleep. Maria, on the other hand, stares up at me with an intimidating silence.

"What's your favorite candy?" the four year old asks after a while.

For a moment I stare at her, surprised. "I don't eat a lot of candy," I say.

She nods thoughtfully. "I like gumdrops."

"Cool," I mumble, not really meaning it.

Dad sends me an approving thumbs up in the rear view mirrors. I turn away.

"Do you like cats?"

"No," I mutter.

"Oh. Do you like dogs?"

Exasperated, I tun back to her. "I guess. We have one."

Maria's face lights up and I can't help but grin.
"What's his name?"

"Her," I correct. "And her name's Gabbana."

The four year old scrunches up her nose.

"Why?"

"Ask Harper."

I turn away again. The car is silent for the rest of the ride.

"Here we are," Dad says after a while.

Lucas nudges Sammy hard and they both stare up at the house, eyes glazed. I sigh audibly.

Alex gets Rosa and we all head in together. I try to slip away, but Dad grabs me by my sleeve. I'm stuck.

The awe-inspired oohs and ahs from the Ramirez kids becomes old sooner than I hoped it would, and I find myself wishing that Emmy would hurry up and get here.

We're in the theater room when thy finally do arrive. Heidi shows them in. Sofia sticks to Emmy's side, staying clear of Harper. As she walks in, the rest of the kids break away from Alex and hurry to their oldest sister.

Emmy whispers something harshly to them and they unwillingly sit down.

"Go get a movie," Harper orders me.

"No," I scoff. "You get it."

Harpers eyes widen and she crosses her arms and tilts her head ever so slightly towards our future brothers and sisters, the universal sign for you're making a bad impression and you'd better dump the attitude before I tell Dad. I roll my eyes and stomp downstairs.

Alex and Dad are cuddled in front of the television in the living room.

"Everything alright?" Dad asks.

"Fine," I reply in a clipped tone, snatching The Lion King from a stack of DVDs in the corner.
I race back upstairs. No one has moved an inch.

I thrust the DVD at Harper just as Heidi walks into the room. She holds two large popcorn bowls, one in each hand.

"Don't stay up too late," she chirps before disappearing into the dark hallway.

"Where's the bathroom?" Emmy asks.

"Across the hall," says Harper.

Emmy pushes herself to her feet and strides out of the room without another word. The twins trail after her.

"So," Sofia says, running her fingers over the carpet.

"So what school do you all go to?" Harper asks.

"Stanley," Sammy says from the corner.

"Oh."

"I think it'll be fun to live here," says Lucas. "We'll have a really big family."

Harper stares at him with a thoughtful look.

"So I guess you're going to be my big brother," Lucas says, this time to me. I feel Sammy's glare.

"Uh huh."

Emmy returns from the bathroom, Maria and Marvin in tow.

"Movie!" Maria screeches before jumping into Lucas's lap. She peeks at me from behind her brother. I give a slight wave and she smiles.

The nine of us sit and watch the movie. Maria and Marvin are asleep before the first half hour.

"Do you wanna sleep in my room?" Harper whispers to Sofia.

Sofia glances at Emmy. She shrugs, and Harper and Sofia tiptoe across the room.

"What about you?" I say to Emmy. "Sleepover?"

She whips around and glares at me. "No. Thanks."

I shrug.

"You can take the boys with you, though." She nods towards Sammy and Lucas.

"Fine," I scoff. I gesture to the two boys and they follow me into the hallway.

"Are we going to get our own room?" Lucas asks me. "When we move in, I mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"That would be really cool. Because right now, me and Sammy and Marvin share a room. And Emmy shares with Sofia and Maria and sometimes Rosa."

Sammy nudges his brother and Lucas stops talking. I hold the door open for them and follow them into my room.

"This is your room?" Surprisingly, that comes from Sammy.

"Yeah," I say, bored.

"It's bigger than our whole house," Lucas breathes.

I plop down on my bed. Sammy sits at the chair beside my desk. Lucas stands.

"You have a TV in here, too," he observes. "We only have one. In the living room. And it only works half the time."

I smile. "So what do you guys like to do?"

Lucas shrugs, focused on the Wii in the corner. Sammy just looks at me.

"Play any sports," I ask him.

"Baseball," he tells me. "But I probably won't be able to this year."

"Hey, I play too! Why are you quitting?"

"Gear is too expensive. Emmy can't afford it."

Realization dawns on me and I fall silent.

"She really tries. But I'm not going to ask her to pay for my gear, too. She works too hard."

"Well maybe you can play after all. With my dad and everything."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sammy snaps. "We don't need your money."

I look at him for a moment longer. Then I nod. "I know." I point to the chest in the corner. "There are extra blankets in there."

Without another word, I crawl under the covers and wait for my head to stop pounding.

A little shorter than usual! Sorry for the wait, too!

Next chapter soon.

Belle