A.N.) This is a warm up before I go back to my incomplete stories. It feels good to write again. Did anyone miss me?
Disclaimer) I do not own the Night World Series. (This is more like a formality.)
Come and Play
Chapter 1: The Racing Wild Child
Alex laughed like a carefree child again as he sped down the street, evading the Jeep behind. "Catch me if ya can Coppers!" His roller blades were in high gear, turning and turning the wheels. "Come on! I'm going way faster than you! It's pretty embarrassing."
From the driver's window, Iliana popped her head out, looking most concerned. "Alex, get back here now! Please?"
"No can do, Madame Fussy-Pants!" he yelled back.
"Aren't you a little old to be doing this?"
"Why change a great thing?" He laughed some more. Iliana groaned; why could her little brother behave? Her parents moved to Miami and left her to handle a sophomore teenager—alone!
"Alex!" This was not fair at all!
The kid stopped being cruel to his opponent long enough to fully to see the perfect obstacle coming. His grin grew wide with anxiety and he loosened his knees for the extreme experience. Absolutely perfect…. Ili's gonna through a fit, he thought chuckling. "Here comes a steep hill, Ili; watch out! Woo!"
"ALEX!"
The horns off cars rang like alarms as the kid raced down the peak, dodging pedestrians and minivans; this wasn't that much of a busy street. Everything in the area was houses and… more houses. His golden blonde, slightly spiked hair flew back with wind. Everything with this monster was wild speed! It was absurd, he was leaning back laughing. He was enjoying every second of torturing his poor big sister… Who says there's nothing to do in South Carolina? Alex stood straight up knowing his fun here was almost over. Leaning to the left, his blades complied with direction. "Alex, please!"
She's not gonna give up… I can respect that… He didn't even bother to answer anymore. The ditzy feeling was gone. For once Alex appeared composed, serious, but also very annoyed. As he sped close to the sidewalk, his arm lifted straight out. I don't give up either, after all… In a split second, his hand met the pole of stop sign. He clenched tight as inertia turned him. He let go almost as soon as he grabbed, and happily went down the west road while his unsuspecting sister kept going north.
"Alex… what? 56 times this year? Iliana," he stuck out his tongue and did the famous fart sound. "None in the history of ever!" Victory laugh!
"AH~ another successful day!" Alex cheered before taking another chomp of his slice of pepperoni pizza. Chewing he glided his feet a little to note he was still proudly bearing his beloved roller blades. He place his food aside and reclined against the wooden park bench, staring up at the sky of hardly any visible stars. He sighed. Lame… oh well… He closed his eyes and tried to simulate the feeling of being somewhere far away. Someplace where he could breathe, have fun, with no one trying to control him. Maybe he could find a place as fast as him…
Clamp, by clamp by clamp, in a smooth rhythm. Heels… Fun's over… He could definitely identify the whirlwind of feeling stomping closer to him. Fury, disappointment, rage, and… worry. Dang it. What she think was going to happen if he spent another day on his own? The presence stood directly in front of the nonchalant teen.
He put on a sweet smile, very cocky about the negativity he could provoke. Opening his eyes, he was officially face-to-face with "Madame Fussy-Pants". She glared down at him (trying to scaring but that would never happen) and pulled out a flip phone.
"You look like you're surprised, Iliana, but are you really?"
"Do you even know what time it is, Kid?!"
"I don't gotta watch. And my phone was taken from me by who, Iliana?"
"You are so going to pay for this!"
"How exactly, Suit? Ya gonna ground me again? I thought I was already grounded," the boy teased while snickering. When he started grinning like a hyena, Iliana was practically seething with raw anger. The phone flicked with an aggressive snap.
"I'm gonna tell Keller on you!" she cried. Alex was surprised only for a moment, and then belted out laughing.
"What's she gonna do from across the country? Frighten me with her big, scary meow? I always was better with hamsters!"
Iliana had met her share of irritating people. Keller and Timmy and… Timmy, but Alex was the most horrible demon kid Iliana had the misfortune of handling. She was so fed up it was overwhelming. This built up need to cry was rising again, but she knew she couldn't. The first rule when handling monster: don't let them know you're afraid.
"Tch—AH! Just come on!"
She grabbed his sleeve and effortlessly pulled him to her car (not like he was fighting her though).
The door to Iliana's apartment flung open as the woman of the house marched in for the routine "Huff…" to then go collapse on her firm queen bed. However she settled for the couch instead.
Alex trailed behind with his arms crossed behind his head, laughing some more. He quickly saw how Iliana's 15th floor home was sleek and clean once more. Everything was in its place. The carpet was no longer stained with the pink goo he made from bubblegum, salt, hot sauce, and other assorted ingredients from the fridge (those are his secret ingredients!). He expected that, but what appalled him was that the big wall window was wiped clean. He leaned a little, gaping at how he could clearly look out through the glass and see the miserable banker-people (Whatever they are, he thought bitterly) in the skyscraper next-door. "Aw~! Ili, you destroyed my art! How evil a big sissy I have!"
Shocked, the woman rose in the sitting position, leering at the boy. "You vandalized the window with shaving cream!"
Alex smiled, sticking his tongue out at Iliana. "So? Complain to ma Mommy and Daddy! Say, 'Brilliant parenting! Leaving the spineless, My Little Pony lover as guardian over the Awesome Younger Brother!' ".
Iliana tried to sympathize with her brother, having to go through such a delicate period of life without their parents, but she knew Alex too well. Alex was just teasing her; he could care less about who was guardian. In fact, it was his idea for them to retire early. He knew! He knew it would be much easier fighting with a sister than a mother. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't notice the boy move to kitchen until he shouted, "You want me to make you drink, Ili? I think I'll have a swig of your vodka myself."
She gasped. "Don't you dare take a sip, fifteen year-old!"
"Well, I'd be sixteen if I was a year older!"
…
"What?! What the he—!"
"Chill, Ili! I just thought I'd note how weird it is that I'm a year younger than every other tenth grader." Alex made the usual swift entrance, planted himself on loveseat opposite to sister, and tossed a Pepsi while sipping his own.
Iliana clenched the can, huffing with anger. "Well are you trying to get held back or something? We were supposed to find another school for you today, remember? That was the plan before you bolted off on me again!"
"So?"
"SO?! Do you understand how serious it is to be expelled again?"
"Apparently not," he shrugged. "Besides, unlike you, Miss Stuck-in-the-Stone-Age Chick, I used a fun tool called Google Places and found that I've been thrown out of every high school in a 10 mile radius. Yay!" He stuck his arms in the air like he was actually celebrating this, like this was an accomplishment. And maybe it was; maybe he was that one kid in the world who have a knack of going through all the high schools in the area under two years.
Iliana laughed with him. "No, no, no. that can't be right, Alex. There's still Kings Ridge down the street—"
"That was the second school I went to, remember? They expelled me for driving the history teacher insane—but that was just bad luck on my part. If the principal wasn't a witch too, she never would have known I messed with his head a little."
This can't be… "What about Fairfax?"
"I locked the football team in their locker room and they missed their homecoming game! It was fun evading the coaches all day!" He snickered at the fond memories of getting into "mischief"; it was more like anarchy.
"Sierra Linda High?" she muffed out weak.
"That one was funny. I got in a fight with this guy from the basketball team, but it was deemed I deserved more blame because he was bleeding and I was clean." The kid was laughing like the Joker at this point.
"….What about online school?"
"That's sweet, Ili! Are you really ready to trust me to do work when my disciplinary is you?"
"Grr…"
"Are you getting angry my Wild Power sister?"
"I should blast you right now, you know that?!"
"With your healing blue fire, She-He-Man?" he retorted amused.
Though it seemed there was no more options for Alex, Iliana knew there was still one more. She was till it was 5 am (a time she was confident Alex would never be awake at) before locking the door to her room than going to her bathroom to lock the door there. She closed the vent and checked the walls for holes. When everything checked out, Iliana sat on the toilet lid and pulled out her phone. Speed dial #1 and let it ring. First time there was no answer, but the second took only one ring before the other line replied with a "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
Iliana grimaced. "Good morning, Keller" she greeting, sweat-dropped.
"Go to sleep, Galen. It's just Iliana. As for you, you are wrong. My morning doesn't start for another ten hours—Bye!"
"Wait, Keller! I could only call you now because Alex is asleep—"
"And he's got the right idea!"
"Keller, please. I really need your help."
… She could hear Keller sigh in defeat. "What do you need?"
"Alex got expelled again."
"Again?"
"Yes, again. And it turns out he's been expelled from every other school in the area."
"Send him to military school."
"I don't want to do that but…"
Silence. "You want to send him here?"
"Please!"
"Why?!"
"Because he loves you! He respects you much more than me. You can help him! In fact, he reminds me of you and Timmy a lot."
Another defeated sigh could be heard. "How about this, if I say yes, can I go back to sleep?"
"Sure!"
"Fine. Okay. Send him over. I'll handle everything here—NOW BYE!"
Keller might have stabbed Iliana's sensitive heart when she hung up, but the Wild Power was giddy with excitement! I'll be freed of the Devil!
A.N.) Reviews?
