The Creature Family

Chapter 1 - Trouble

"Run, James! Run! We are in so much trouble!"

Aleks and James ran down the hallways as fast as they could, trying to avoid the passing students and their teacher, Mr. Spencer. The young boys had completely trashed the boys' bathroom and had gotten caught by their math teacher.

"Aleksandr and James! You two get back here right now!" Mr. Spencer's voice shouted down the hallway.

The two boys were too busy laughing to themselves that they hadn't noticed that their English teacher, Mrs. Bek was standing at the end of the hallway until it was too late. Her screech was even louder than Mr. Spencer's loud voice. They had crashed right into her knocking her cup of coffee into her chest. Mrs. Bek's coffee completely soaked her new white blouse. Aleks and James' eyes widened with the realization of what just happened.

"Oh.." James started.

"Crap." Aleks finished for him.

The next thing they knew, they were in the principal's office trying to explain themselves. They had really done it this time.

"How old are you boys?" Their gray haired male principal asked.

"Twelve..." James mumbled.

"What about you, boy?" The man stared down at the terrified brunette.

This wasn't the first time in the principal's office for Aleks, but each time he went it seemed to terrify him just as much as the first.

"I'm 11, sir." Aleks tried to seem confident but failed miserably.

"I hope you know, you boys have caused a lot of damages... I've had it up to here," The old man used a ton of hand gestures, "I'm going to need you to call home so I may have a talk with your parents. You need to call them so your parents can hear it from you."

Aleks and James' hearts sunk at the words of their principal. Yeah, they knew they deserved what was going to happen to them but calling home too? Their dad, Kootra is going to be so mad and Dan is going to be really disappointed in them.

"You call Dan because we're not telling Kootra," James stated as he handed the phone to Aleks. Aleks' eyes widened. Why did he have to call?

"Why do I have to do it?" Aleks half yelled, handing the phone back to James.

"You're doing it and that's final!" James yelled back at his "brother" throwing the phone at the side of his head.

"Ow! What the hell?" Aleks yelled, tears forming in his eyes.

Knowing Aleks had no choice on the matter, he called their father. He picked up the receiver and dialed the cell number of their father.

"Hello?" Their father's voice filled Aleks' ear.

"D-Dan?" Aleks asked trying to make sure he hadn't called the wrong number.

Without realizing, his voice sounded like he had been crying because of the bruise forming on the side of his head thanks to his brother, James.

"Oh my God! My poor baby! Are you alright?" Dan screeched his voice filled with worry.

"Y-yeah Dan. I'm okay, James and I just did something bad. We're in trouble and we need you to pick us up." Aleks stuttered but regained his voice with his slight Russian accent.

Dan relaxed on the other end of the call. He was not surprised that he had to pick them up at school again. James and Aleks were always getting into trouble together ever since the two were first adopted.

Aleks had spent most of his life in the adoption center after both of his parents had died when Aleks was very young. His parents each died of cancer over the years. He was first put in the adoption center when he was 7 years old. Aleks only knew how to speak Russian and never really had any friends since he didn't speak the same language as all the other children in the center until one young boy decided to teach him how to speak English.

The young boy that decided to help Aleks was named James. James' mom had a teen pregnancy so she had to give him up because she couldn't take care of him, but he was still a very bright child. James liked to cover his sweet side with a tough kid act.

It took a long time for the Russian to be able to speak English but when he did, Aleks and James became the closest of friends. Aleks still had his Russian accent so when they were adopted by their new parents, Kootra and Dan, Aleks was bullied a lot in school. James always protected Aleks, doing whatever he could to protect his brother. The two boys became troublemakers in school and they always loved to prank other people. They are inseparable.

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Dan dusted off all the dirt from his pants after tending to some of the tomato plants that were ordered by one of his clients. Dan owned his own little gardening shop nearby the school so it wasn't a long drive to get there. As Dan pulled up into the parking lot of his boys' school, he couldn't help but sigh at their immaturity. He arrived into the principal's office to see Aleks clutching the side of his head and James staring off into space.

"Ah, Mr. Gidlow, it's nice to see you again!" The old principal got up to firmly shake Dan's hand.

"I see my boys are in trouble again." Dan laughed, but when he turned to look at his boys, he gave them a 'you are in so much trouble when we get home' look.

The two men continued their conversation about the two troublemakers until Aleks and James had gotten into another argument about who gets to sit in the front seat of the car.

Dan simply sighed, "I guess we will be taking our leave now. Thank you, sir." With that, Dan and his troublemakers left for home. Aleks and James could only think about what their punishment was going to be when they got home.