Another Wish Gone Wrong

“He what?!” I hollered, taking a furious lunge at my youngest brother. Marco reeled backwards and crashed into a nearby firelamp.

“I just came to tell you!!” he whined, straightening the firelamp as fast as he could, blowing out the fire in case it caught fire to something nearby, “It’s not my fault!”

“It’s your fault for ruining my afternoon,” I scowled, jumping out of my chair and pushing past the toddler, “I am going to kill that son of a-”

“Witch,” Marco shouted over my final word as I thundered down the hallway.

“Kyshico Brown!” I screamed down the cottage, banging every single door, trying to locate my brother and the castaway.

“Like, is that him?” came a nasally, American voice. I froze in my tracks and shivered. I hated that type of voice, their owners were usually snooty and… blonde. Yeah, trust me to be judgmental. I stood in the archway for a minute, just shuddering at her voice.

“Yes, that’s Nio,” came my brother’s unbroken voice. Although it was the voice who ‘betrayed’ me, at least it was still British and relieved my ears from the American one. I was leaning, exasperated, against the wall when Kyshico came for me.

I slapped him.

Oh, I slapped him hard.

“Bastard!” I screamed as he scrambled backwards, his face contorted at the sudden confrontation. I raised my hand again for another slap, and that’s when I stopped and surveyed the scene properly.

Kyshico was shielding himself from the upcoming blow, and Marco was peering fearfully from the open door of my room. It seemed that my exclamation had aroused the other inhabitants of the cottage as mom, the late-riser that she is, seemed to have coughed herself out of bed at 9.in the morning and was leaning against the wall next to her bedroom, studying me.

Silence.

“Like, Oh my god!” the blonde exclaimed, knifing through the silence, “hi Mrs. Brown!”

I backed away from Kyshico as she zoomed in between us to greet mom. Kyshico’s eyes were aimed at the wall behind me, his face was calm, but I recognised the fury hidden behind his eyes.

“Ky..” I mumbled, taking a step towards him. He looked up at me, his brown eyes boring into my dark ones, and without a word, he shoved past me and into his room.

I exhaled, clearly disappointed in myself as the blonde approached me.

“So,” she cooed, “you’re.. Harunio?”

“Does it matter?” I snarled, edging away from her.

“I, like, love your surname,” she gushed, “it’s, like, so colourful.”

I stared at her, “it is a colour,” I stated.

She said something that sounded like, “omagawwddd,” before circling me, “Brown is so the colour of your tan.”

“My… Tan?” I asked cautiously, “what would you know about my Tangent Radius?”

“Your skin colour, sweetie,” mom whispered, before ushering Marco into the bathroom for another lesson on brushing his teeth, from behind the closed door, I could hear her coughing.

I looked down at the girl, and she looked right back at me, grinning.

“My name’s Alexandria Loretta Cochiti Isleta Mariposa Solana Pickering,” she smiled, her unnaturally whitened white teeth shining.

“So you’re the feminine defender of mankind who is pure but forgotten, also thought of as the ‘little island’, the ‘butterfly’ and the Sun,” I rattled.

“You really think of me that way?” she swooned, “as your pure butterfly, as your little private island?” I felt almost sorry for making her snap out of her reverie with what I said next.

“No… That’s just what your name means,” I said awkwardly, raising an eyebrow, “Alexandria means ‘feminine defender of mankind’, Loretta means ‘pure’, Cochiti means ‘forgotten’, Isleta means ‘little island’, Mariposa means ‘butterfly’, and Solana means ‘sun’.”

She looked at me, wide-eyed, “are you Spanish?”

“..no..” I said carefully, with a you’re-slightly-weird-for-my-liking look on my face, “you are.”

“I know,” she sang, “I have such a lovely Spanish name, it suits me so well. Alexandria Loretta Cochiti Isleta Mariposa Solana Pickering” – she looked at me- “but call me Xandi, all the guys do.”

I frowned, a shiver running down my spine, “well then.. Alexandria Loretta Cochiti Isleta Mariposa Solana Pickering,” –I took a breath- “what are you doing here?”

“Shico brought me here,” Alexandria Loretta Cochiti Isleta Mariposa Solana Pickering said, “you know, your little brother.”

“No one ever calls him that around here,” I scowled, leaning against the wall, “but that wasn’t my question. What’re you doing here? On Wichel Island?”

“It wasn’t my choice,” she shrugged, “not that I don’t want to be here. Like, why wouldn’t? Especially with you?”

I barely had time to answer when Kyshico voice erupted from his room, “Xandi!” he shouted, “guess what they finally put up on your favourite website!”

And she ran off.

Trying to block out the friendly exclamations that came from his room, I teetered back to mine. Only to find mom blocking the doorway, coughing.

“What’em I gonna do?” I sighed, striding up to her, “I slapped my own brother because he’s brought back a bimbo chick with some stupid Spanish name that I can decode.”

“You said you wanted to screw her,” mom chortled, “here’s your chance.”

“Eugh,” I exclaimed, walking past her into my room, “I just wish everything will go back to normal.”

“Is that your wish?” mom asked, rubbing her temples.

I looked up at her and sighed.

“No”