Taion

“When’s he coming back?” Marcy asked later at lunch.

I shrugged, tapping my fingers on the lunch table. “He hasn’t called in two days.” I flipped my hair from my face and stopped tapping my fingernails, examining them. They were getting long. I needed to trim them later. I placed my elbows on the table and sighed. “He doesn’t care.”

Marcy rolled her eyes. “Phoenix, he’s the Alex Gaskarth. He’s probably busy. Here,” She started digging in her purse. “If you want, no, scratch that, I demand you to take this phone into the bathroom and call him. I’m tired of seeing you mope around all day. You look like a kitten that’s just been thrown into a pool of water and barely rescued.”

I shrugged. When I didn’t make a move to take the phone, she grabbed my wrist and forced it into my palm. I dropped it and slid it across the table. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

She looked like she was about to choke someone. Adrian, her twin brother, started laughing. She hit him, causing Avery to laugh. I allowed a small smile slipped. Out of our whole group, Avery was my favorite. He was way too quiet from my liking, preferring to stay mute instead of joining in on a conversation. He was in eleventh grade, but looked like he should have been in sixth. He was a stunning 4’6” and because of it, was often bullied. His eyes were too big for his head and he often teased his hair in such a way that it covered them. Today, however, I saw a smile speck of green peeking out from behind his blonde fringe.

“Phoenix, you’re PMSing.” Avery laughed harder, eating a grape and almost choking on it.

I looked at Marcy stunned. “What?”

Adrian grinned. “Why are you complaining about him not calling, but yet you don’t want to talk to him?” Adrian always amazed me when talking. He had the deepest voice, yet he had all the feminine characteristics any scene band member would want.

I just sighed, not knowing exactly how to explain it two my newest friends. “It just feels like he’s abandoned me all over again. Not that he ever has or anything…a misunderstanding one time-“

Marcy cut me off. “When you got suicidal?”

I nodded. I’d known them for a week and yet they’d all captured my hearts in the first thirty minutes. Within the last week, I’d spilled (accidentally; Adrian and Marcy were really good at making people talk) just about every detail of my life. “Anyways, …I just feel left out. I mean, Mona went on tour with them, too, so it’s just me and Emma now.”

“You feel unaccomplished?” Adrian asked, smirking widely. I knew he was planning to throw a sexual comment in this conversation. He always managed to worm them into the most serious of conversations.

I sighed and nodded. He would say whatever he wanted anyway, weather I agreed with his previous statement or not.

“Whenever you feel unaccomplished or let down, just remember you were the first sperm!”

He grinned proudly, until it was replaced with a scowl; Marcy had hit him again.

“This isn’t the time or place, Aid!” He shielded himself with his arms, but laughing the whole time. They were more like best friends than brother and sister and I loathed their relationship they had. I wished I could have a relationship like that with someone my own age; some one to tell the stuff I wouldn’t be able to tell Emma, which would be a whole –freaking-lot. I loved Emma to death, but a lot of the time it seemed that I was merely taking care of her; that it was a guardian-child relationship we had. I wanted to protect her, and I used that to my advantage by playing with her and forgetting what was bothering me at that certain moment, but could I actually relay information to her and expect her to understand how I was feeling? No.

Maybe they were so close because their other third had been kidnapped. Adrian and Marcy are twins, were triplets. The youngest (by thirty minutes) went missing from Target when they’d all gone shopping around Christmas. Atticus, the youngest, wandered off to go look at the decorations for sell. They’d never saw him again after that and the case is still unsolved. He was only nine.

“It’s always the time and place, Marce!”

Avery’s eyes were wide and he spoke quietly. “…That sounded so perverted.”

Adrian smiled widely. “Yes! Look at that! Even Ave has a sense of humor!”

Marcy smacked him and growled, “You’ve converted innocent Avery into a pervert! Poor innocent Ave!” She grabbed her brother’s head and forcibly turned him to look at Avery who was giving off a slight blush and looking as if he was trying to hide under his thick messy hair.

I laughed. “So now there’s honest Abe and innocent Ave.”

Adrian gasped widely, taking in a deep breath. “That reminds me of that Gieco commercial!” He took an even deeper breath. “Have you seen it?! The one with the pig?!”

Marcy looked at her brother. “And how were you born first? You make no sense! You have no directional sense at all and I’m still trying to figure out how you even figured out where you were supposed to pop out of while being born when you obviously don’t even know how to get home from school! And how does that remind you of the pig commercial in anyway!?”

He laughed, patting her head. “Oh, little sibling, you have so much to learn.” She glared at him, obviously annoyed and smacked his hand away. He dodged her attacks and pushed up his rectangular black framed glasses farther up on his nose. “It reminds me of the Gieco pig commercial because they also have that one about Abe Lincoln, which made me think of the other commercials…which made me think of the pig one.” He grinned. “That one’s my favorite.”

Marcy rolled her eyes. “I should have known. You of all people. Why was a cursed with you as a brother?!” She stood from her chair and fell to her knees, staring up at the sky, her hands held out, palms upward, and fingers curled slightly. Avery grinned and I just looked at her in amazement, but I shouldn’t have been surprised in the slightest. Marcy dreamed of being an actress. She was always being so dramatic and it was a given when she won the leading female role in this years drama and chorus performance.

“Oh, quite being the drama whore.” Adrian flitted his hand in her direction, refusing to look at her.

Marcy choked back a look of disbelief, the look that just screams, “Oh-I-Know-You-Did-Not-Just-Do-That-To-Me.” She scoffed, looking taken aback. “Excuse me?” She positioned her hand over of her heart, her finger tips barely gracing the fabric of her thermal Abercrombie shirt.

I rolled my eyes. It was typical of them. I held out my hand. “I’ll take the phone now.”

Marcy looked away from her older brother, confused. “Huh?”

“The phone. To call Alex.” I bit my lip and started playing with a lock of my hair.

She held out the phone and as I took it, noted, “You have three bad habit’s Envy: uno) you bit your lip a lot; dose)-” I cut her off.

“Dose) don’t speak in Spanish when you’re in America.” I took the phone and started walking towards the bathrooms.

“—Don’t diss Spanish, dude. I’ve got Mexican in my blood.” Adrian jerked his finger at his chest proudly.

She rolled her eyes and shot back at him, “You do not, you dork! Mom’s side is from England and Dad’s is from France!”

Adrian stuck out his tongue childishly. “You’re just jealous because you’re adopted!”

Marcy pouted her lips. “Am not! Explain how we look exactly alike then!”

“We’re not! You’ve got on a mass market T-shirt while I’ve got my own creation!” Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Adrian wanted to become a famous fashion designer. He was constantly buying blank t-shirts and converting them into wonderful masterpieces. It seems as if the creative arts ran through their whole family.

Marcy rolled her eyes and shifting her weight on one foot as I started walking away. We were already starting to gather a crowd of on-lookers and I wasn’t exactly one for attention. She turned her attention quickly to me as I started to leave the group. “Anyways, no, dose) you pull your hair; and tres)-“ She huffed, figuring out I was no longer listening to her. “Hey! Phoenix! Wait up!”

I stopped, looking back at her as she ran over to me. “What?”

“I wanna come with you!”

“Are you crazy!? The teachers will have a fit if they find out you went in the boys bathroom! This isn’t kindergarten any more! It’s not laughed at and considered an ‘accident.’ Its –“ She took me by surprise when she shoved me out of the cafeteria.

“Oops.” She giggled, giving an innocent look.

I glared. She frowned, pushing me slightly on the shoulder. “I’m just going to stand outside the bathroom and-“

“Look like a total stalker.”

She glared at me before continuing. “And wait for you to get out so I can then strangle you. That okay?” She gave me a sickly sweet smile.

Yeah, she’d make a good actress one day.

“Just stay here, alright?” I was reminded of how I told Emma the same thing this morning…only it seemed ages ago. Hanging out with the twins and Avery would do that to you.

She rolled her eyes, leaning up against the wall. “Oh, yes, because I so totally want to go in the bathroom and see a dork like you peeing into a urinal.” She gave me her infamous ‘You’re-Defiantly-An-Idiot’ look.

I ducked into the bathroom and immediately started dialing the numbers to Alex’s phone. It rang. Once. Twice. “Pick up. Pick up.” I murmured. Fifth time. Answering machine.

“Hey, this is Alex. If you get this, its clear I didn't pick up or didn't want to talk to you. Ex-girlfriends, take your pick. Lol. Anyways, do your thing at the beep. Talk to you later.”

I closed my eyes in defeat, closing Marcy’s phone slowly and pushing the hair from my face. I walked out of the bathroom silently and slipped Marcy’s phone back in her hand. She knew something was wrong, and without hesitation, threw her arm around my shoulder and pulling me into her side. We started walking back to the cafeteria. “It’ll get better,” She mumbled, kissing my cheek.

I shook my head. “No it won’t.” I replied quietly. She looked at me pitifully and I knew she wanted to help me, but just didn’t know how. She sighed, resting her head against mine in small comfort and lead us back to our table.

Adrian turned to us without missing a beat. “Our high school lives just got ten billion times better.” He looked as if he’d just won the lottery and was bouncing up and down in his seat.
“Not mine.” I mumbled, not thinking he could hear me, but he did.

“Uh-huh!” He argued back. I swear, Adrian was a five year old trapped in a eighteen- year old’s body. He’d get along good with Emma. I’d have to introduce them sometime. “One word.” He turned slowly at his sister.

“Sex?” I guessed. Marcy hit me. Hard. If you couldn’t already tell, she’s the abusive one in our group relationship. “Ow! What? It was an educated guess! It’s the only thing that ever on his mind besides style!” I rubbed my arm, looking hurt.

She shrugged. “Eh. True.”

Adrian looked back and forth at our exchange as Avery just took another bite of his sandwich he’d brought from home. Aid shook his head, as if trying to clear it. “No,” his eyes danced, holding a childish amusement. “Party.”