“Well, my parents just aren`t good at arranging things like that, I guess you could say it just took longer than anyone else would have. They were getting around to it but I just took care of all the details of the move myself to speed things up a bit, I’m sure my parents would have finished the whole move by November at least,” Alyss was still lost in her thoughts but easily gave the lie in reply without much thought after all the practice she’d done on it. She was well aware of the truth that rather than her parents lacking the skills necessary to have set up the move in a timely way, though, they simply didn`t seem to care. They never asked how her day was, or checked her report cards, or even remembered her doctor appointments half the time. This even though they were always on time and ready for their own dates and schedules. Rather than being terribly forgetful or selfish, they really just seemed to not notice that their daughter even existed.
“What, so you moved your family practically by yourself?” Jacqueline asked, obviously shocked.
“Well, in a word, yes. I mean, Darien would have if I`d asked him, but he works so hard to stay near the top of his grade, so I figured he should be free during his free time. Besides, my family matters don`t really concern him,”Alyss tried to brush off her friend`s concerns.
“What do you mean?” Jackie seemed eager for a potentially juicy bit of gossip. “Is he your live in boyfriend, instead of your brother?”?
The other girl blushed furiously. “It`s not like that,” she said earnestly. “He really is a brother to me. We just adopted him into the family a year or two ago, is all.” Jackie let it drop, clearly disappointed.
In fact, she was the one who brought Darien into the family. With the way her parents were, she`d never really felt she had a family until she met him. All she`d seen was his shivering form in an alley near her house, as he clutched an equally cold cat with battle scars and a missing eye. She`d felt so lonely that day, aimlessly walking through the streets. But seeing him with the furball when it was clear he had nothing of his own and couldn’t really afford to care for another was touching. To do something so small, but so kind, she knew she had to take him home then. Her parents hadn`t complained or even mentioned the change, though the table gained an extra place setting at dinner that night. The boy and that cat had become her true family since then, and she had never regretted their addition.
“Well, there you go. You have them to support you, so now you are ready to get to the party!” Alyss blinked, realizing that amidst all her memories she hadn`t noticed they`d finished shopping and makeovers, they were now in the car, zooming along again.
“Wait! I have to go back to my house to get my purse,” she objected. Her friend grumbled, but they swung around into the other direction of traffic. “You really are a terrifying driver,” Alyss murmered.
Alyss was jogging up to her front door when she almost ran headfirst into Darien. He claimed the right to drive them all to the party, citing his need to show up with some pretty girls. They giggled, and the group moved outside to the driveway. He begged to use Ruby, but Jackie refused point blank to let another soul even touch her baby`s steering wheel, so they were forced to use the beat up Volkswagen van. Both girls complained and laughed, and Alyss suggested they don flower child outfits and dreadlocks to match their vehicle, but Darien stayed good natured even while his baby was being blasted.
Jackie leaned over to whisper to Darien, “What trouble are you getting into little bird?”He knows what you are up to. Even Richard is starting to get angry.”
He scowled at her. “Little bird,” he snarled. “We may not live as long as you monsters, but that doesn’t make my position any less important than yours, little miss courier. I’ve heard about your promotion. You’ve become their gofer, haven’t you? Are you happy being a mere servant? Were you happy to serve the monarch most likely to be deposed?”
“Bah,” she rejected the idea. “I have my own greatness, and my job has little connection to it. I?m playing in the top ranks, whether you know it or not.” He rolled his eyes. “Either way, your opinions have no bearing on me. I’m more interested in you, and so are my employers. They suspect you, and you have no squeaky clean past to back you up. I’d be more likely to cover my fur and dull my feathers if I were you.”
He leaned forward, whispering quickly., “What they think isn`t my problem. I`m not under their control!”
Alyss tapped them both on the shoulder. “What’s the problem,” she said, leaned forward, teasing them for the tense atmosphere. “Has it become cloudy in the middle of the lover`s paradise?” she was grinning ear to ear, somehow supposing their stress to be some lover`s quarrel.
“Eck, him?” Jackie joked.
He just laughed. “We have known each other for one week, and we are already supposed to be dating?” All three of them laughed at the idea as they spilled onto the party house’s drive.
A bustling herd of giggling girls came by them, calling on Darien to join them. He gave a deep laugh of his own,
