Tears of Wings
Chapter 3:
I was immobile. I didn't know what to say. I stood there looking at the strange boy, trying to think of an answer. I figured he was one of Romeo's siblings. The boy that brought me here, his name was Romeo right? I think. That's what he told me. He said that if I ran into anyone, I should give them his name, Romeo.
"Uh, Romeo-" I started, but he yelled before I got a chance to finish.
"Philippe!" He yelled, and grabbed me from behind and pushed me to the kitchen. He had rough hands that seemed like they had never been used for anything gentle. They felt hot against my shoulders. The boy who had told me to give the name Romeo popped his head in from around the corner. Philippe saw me and sighed. "How did you know it was me?" He asked, looking above me at the mean boy who pushed me here.
"Who is she? And what is she doing here?" He asked. His voice sounded forcefully controlled, like he was trying not to yell.
"As to whom she is, I do not know her name. As for what she is doing here, she is going to become our new maid!" Philippe said gleefully. Why did I come to this strange house, with that strange boy?
"What the-? We don't need a maid!" He yelled as if it were obvious. Philippe gave him a look, and stared purposely at the trash around us.
"Whatever, it's not that much, we can do it ourselves!" said the mean boy.
"I highly doubt that. Who's going to clean? You?" Philippe asked, raising one eyebrow. I noticed he was really dramatic. He also didn't speak like normal teenagers did these days. It wasn't bad or anything, just different. I guess you could call it unique.
The guy who was yelling didn't seem to be able to say anything. Philippe started curiously at him, his head cocked to the side like a puppy's. He had a triumphant grin on his face.
"Besides, what's the big deal? It's not like we don't have the money." Said Philippe. I had to agree with that, by the size of the house it looks like they have more than enough money. Although I think it's a big deal, well to me it was. Just an hour ago I was roaming the streets, trying to find a clothing store I could rob. Now, I was in this house, or more appropriately called a mansion. "It is a big deal! What if mom and dad found out?" exclaimed the other boy. "Hmm, mom and dad finding out something they don't like? Would that be so terrible?" asked Philippe. The guy behind me didn't speak. I don't know if he couldn't find anything to say, or if he didn't want to get Philippe started on another rant. I didn't mind it, it was interesting. "This is too far away, and it's too out of the way. She'd have to be a live-in maid. I'm sure her parents would be worried about her." Said the boy.
A memory came back to me. I was nine, almost ten. I had just gotten back from school and I wasn't even out of my uniform yet. One of my pigtails was pulled out, because a bully at school said only babies wore pigtails. I was on the front steps of my old house, looking at it. It was big, but all I could seem to notice were how cracked the blue stairs were. The blue stairs that led up to the screen door, where I would go inside and find an aroma of cookies. Grandma liked to bake, but then grandma died. That was when I was five. I was nine now, things were different. Now, when I walked into the house there wasn't any smell to it. It was just a furnished house with four completely different people living in it. There were a lot of cracks.
One day, they told me to leave. "Go. We don't care where you go. Just leave. We can't handle this anymore. We can't keep pretending." They said. I was standing on the blue stairs. They walked back into the house, without glancing back at me. The screen door hit the frame, bouncing off of it two more times. The screen vibrated for a moment, but then, it was completely still.
"Good, then let's have a vote!" said Philippe while clapping his hands together. It was going to be hard to explain where I came from.
"Romeo! Angel! Come to the kitchen!" he proclaimed.
"Bite me." Someone yelled back.
"Wait, Philippe. There's a lot of stuff we'd have to work out. For example, what would her parents say?" asked the mean boy.
"My parents won't be a problem." I whispered, almost silently. I didn't like talking loud; it drew too much attention to me. One wrong thing, one mistake, and people could hate me forever. They could make me leave.
I could feel both their eyes on me, but I continued to stare at the ground, suddenly interesting in just how much filth there was on the floor, and trying to figure out exactly what colour it was.
The mean boy sighed and said, "I'll get Romeo." He went up the stairs and I heard a door slam open. I heard a lot of banging and slamming, and a lot of cussing coming from one of the unknown Romeo. I heard someone fall down the stairs and I turned to see someone bounce off the last step into the wall. He was followed by the mean boy.
"Are you okay?" I asked, rushing forward to help the first boy. He started to let me help him up, but when he saw me he froze. His eyes met mine, and it was like I was frozen too. He had dark, brown hair with bronze missed in. He had green eyes that could easily be mistaken for jewels. It lasted for only a second until he quickly jerked his hand away and said, "I don't need any freaking help, who the hell are you?"
"She's - "Philippe started to but the mean boy stopped him and said, "Wait for Angel."
Romeo smashed his fist on the table. He seemed like an angry guy.
The mean boy glared at Romeo and said, "He'll actually come." Wait, He? How many guys was that? Four? Philippe said he had three other siblings, but he failed to mention they were all guys! Sure enough, another blonde head came from around the corner. When he saw me, he froze.
"Do you think she should live here? Asked Philippe. He looked so excited, like his plan was the most brilliant idea in the world. Angel looked at me again and blushed. When he did that, I swear it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. He had such a little boy face, and he looked so sweet and innocent. Just like an Angel.
"That's a yes!" exclaimed Philippe.
"What the hell? Why would she stay with us?" Romeo asked, fuming. He was standing straight, with his arms apart, ready to fight. I started to tense up, but he wasn't moving so I relaxed a little.
"She's going to be our new maid!" said Philippe.
He sounded so proud, and I just hated to ruin his excitement. I decided to start talking.
"Excuse me?" I asked, so quietly that I'm not sure any of them heard me. They did, they all turned their heads in my direction.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think this is a good idea. I didn't want to come here in the first place, and I was kind of forced here. When you said you had three other siblings, you failed to mention that they were all boys." I said.
"You dragged her here against her will?" asked Romeo.
"You didn't tell her we were all guys?" asked the mean boy.
"Well that part might have slipped my mind." Said Philippe while staring off into space.
"Look, I'm really sorry he dragged you out here and everything. He can be kind of.." The mean boy trailed off while watching Philippe exit the room and come back holding a bug.
"Strange." Finished the mean boy. "Thanks." I said lamely. I didn't know what to say in a situation like this. Philippe looked at me and I knew what he was going to say before he said it.
"Well then, if you're not going to stay here, I guess we can call chi-" Philippe started, giving me a knowing look. I hung my head in defeat, I had to do this.
"Okay." I said loud enough for everyone to hear, I didn't want him finishing his sentence. Everyone looked at me and Philippe clapped his hands. The others could tell that something was up, hopefully they wouldn't go finding out what that was.
"Excellent! I'm Philippe, the angry, mean one over there is Romeo, the one who pushed Romeo down the stairs is Blair, and the shy one is Angelo, but we call him Angel." Said Philippe. He pointed to him first, then Romeo, then the mean boy, then the cute boy.
"What the hell? I'm not mean!" Romeo yelled. He didn't seem to be able to talk at a normal volume. I don't mean that in a bad way, it's just an observation.
"Enough introductions for now. Oh, wait. What's your name?" asked Philippe.
He seemed to be able to turn any conversation into his favor. I looked around and notice Angel had disappeared quietly. Well, I definitely couldn't tell them my real name, I didn't trust them enough yet. I loved my name; it fitted me perfectly, with my looks and personality.
"Zoey." I lied. "Zoey?" asked Romeo and Blair at the same time.
"Let's rename you!" Philippe said joyfully.
"What the heck, she's not a dog." Romeo said.
"Philippe, you can't just rename people when you feel like it." Explained Blair.
Philippe studied me and said, "Claire, you're name will be Claire!"
Romeo and Blair also studied me after, obviously seeing if the name fit me.
They both agreed on Claire. I started blushing and Philippe started laughing and walked out of the room, acting as if the whole thing had been nothing. They'd probably end up finding out my real name, but that's when I will trust them.
Romeo walked out of the room muttering random things under his breath. Blair called me over and said, "Listen, I don't really care what you do here, just don't get in my way. I have enough to do here without being someone's babysitter. Just do your job, and nothing else." He said and walked out of the room, leaving me alone in the kitchen. He was obviously the oldest.
I didn't really know what to do, so I started cleaning up the mess. I couldn't find the garbage can or bags anywhere in the room. I wandered through the halls getting myself thoroughly lost. I was about to turn around and try to find my way back, when I heard music flowing from a hall to my right. I followed it until I reached a slightly ajar door. I pushed it open a little and saw Angel sitting at a piano with his eyes closed, his fingers gliding across the keys. His blonde hair had come down into his eyes and he shook his head to get them out of the way. I leaned a little more and when I did the door flew all the way open. I caught myself on the wall and the music stopped. He opened his eyes, and I saw that they were very pale and icy blue.
"Sorry, I was…" I started but then stopped. I was extremely shy around people, especially when I'd done something wrong. I hated causing problems.
"Get out, and don't tell anyone." He said.
He started playing again and I shut the door, surprised at how cold his eyes were.