Anarchy

Chapter 11: Surprise, Biotch

"Nicholas Delacruz? You have got to be kidding me," I mumbled to myself.

"The one and only." He smirked, obviously finding my reaction entertaining.

Well that explained the attitude; in front of me sat one of the most famous movie stars of my generation. I mean, this kid was in everything—action movies, romantic dramas, comedies, apocalyptic sci-fi films. You name it.
He was Hollywood's golden boy.

"So was I right?" I asked, getting over my initial shock. "Did you cheat at monopoly?" He certainly didn't steal cars or launder money. I mean why would a millionaire movie star do that?

He let out a laugh.

"You know how those games get," he retorted.

"Oh I know. And I'm not judging—playing with family is especially dangerous; they start teaming up on you."

He looked at me funny just then, like I said something personal, something that resonated with him. Maybe I had, but I was just thinking back to the times we would all band together to try to defeat Jamie; he was really good at monopoly.

Shaking his head, he stood up to go back inside.
"You were closer with stealing cars and laundering money."

"Hey wait," I called out. He stopped and turned around.
I was curious why he missed lineup if it was so 'important.' I mean what was he doing up here? Twiddling his thumbs?

"You skipped lineup. Why?" I asked, hoping to find out.

"Sometimes," he paused dramatically, "you just gotta stick it to the man."
Which to me sounded like code for 'it's personal, so I'm just going to recite an overused line because I'm not going to actually tell you.' Which is fine with me really—we all have secrets.
Or maybe he was trying to be funny who knows.

I frowned, my eyebrows cinching together.
"Gosh that was awful. And you call yourself an actor."

He smiled a knowing smile just then.
"I never called myself anything."

"Riiight. Well Mr. I'm-Not-An-Actor, don't let me keep you from your thumb-twiddling."

A look of confusion passed over his face but he nevertheless turned back around and slid through the open window, calling over his shoulder, "And it's Nick by the way."

"Ana," I called back.

And then I just sat there, asking myself if I had just made friends with a movie star.

********************************************

After Nick had left I called the third number, my dad's. We talked; it was short and I was still mad at him for sending me here, but we talked.

As I hung up, I realized I had found the perfect revenge for Daniel and Luca's shock trick. Sitting on a tree branch an arms length away from me were two giant caterpillars binging away on leaves and probably dreaming about becoming butterflies in their comatose state.

Reaching out, I picked them up, cradling them in my hand. These were big fellows, fat with semi-digested greens, and I almost felt bad for interrupting their feasting, but hey, isn't gluttony one of the seven deadly sins?

I stood up and made my way back towards the window, careful not to slip on the shingles; wouldn't want to squash my new friends.
After bending a couple limbs at odd angles, I was able to make it back through the window. Although, now the attic was pitch black and I had to feel my way back among the boxes. I had reached the stairs when the door to the attic suddenly opened and the light from the hallways illuminated the stairwell.