Gilbert glanced over his shoulder. The group of squabbling children was already receding into the park. The mother, laughing amiably, shoved a stack of tickets at the man in the booth. The albino grabbed Mathew's hand and toed him toward the gaggle of kids. They easily slipped through, not getting a second glance in the confusion. The rest of the children were waiting on the other side.
"Gilbert who's this?" asked a blond kid waggling his eyebrows from a few feet away.
"Birdy,, Gilbert shouted hurrying toward the group, "and he's not for you." Mathew didn't bother to correct Gilbert, he seemed set on the nickname.
"Aw that's no fair!" The blond boy sighed longingly.
"Alright everyone," Gilbert announced over the mournful lament, an arm over Mathew's shoulder "this is Birdy! Everyone say hi Birdy."
A tanned skinned boy chirped "Hi Birdy." and a red haired kid elbowed him in the ribs. A blond haired girl waved enthusiastically, and another blond cocked his head and made an expression that Mathew was distinctly uncomfortable with. The rest of the kids glanced over at Gilbert incredulously.
"So apparently Antonio and Emma are the only decent people here." Gilbert concluded. "Figures, Elizabeta wouldn't be one of them." He smiled mockingly over at a brown haired girl. The girl crossed her arms in annoyance and glared right back at the albino.
Gilbert turned to Mathew, "so the Spanish boy is Antonio." He pointed at the happy tanned skinned boy "and the Belgium girl is Emma," he pointed at the blonde haired girl who waved again, "their parents are friends. That," he motioned at the tall serious boy "is her brother Lars." He paused making a face "Emma's brother not Antonio's," He clarified. "Anyway, he grew up in the Netherlands, Lars not Antonio, with his aunt. They had to work a lot until their parents got a job over here, that's why they talk with weird accents."
Mathew tried to keep up with the rushed and confusing introductions.
"Can we go already potato bastard!" complained the red haired kid.
"Wait a second, would you!" cried an exasperated albino. Gilbert shook his head in disbelief "And that bundle of joy over there is Lovino. His brother got all the nice genes in the family. Just warning you, he's a tomato loving psychopath."
"Oh and the creepy one over there, I am sure you know who I am talking about." Mathew threw a sideways glance toward the blond boy who had spoken first. "That's Francis, and you probably don't want to know why he's looking at you like that. Trust me."
Mathew was having trouble remembering all of the names and explanations but Gilbert kept hurtling along. "That's Jose" he said pointing to one of the dark skinned boys, "he's Mexican, and Antonio's cousin. But that doesn't mean Antonio is Mexican because he is Spanish. Remember that! Trust me." He said again "Making that mistake is one of the only things that can get Antonio mad, along with the meaningless slaughter of tomatoes and stalking Lovino, because that's his job." He paused for a moment as if realizing something "My friends are weird." He nodded grimacing.
He shook it off "Oh and next to him that's Carlos, he really like ice cream and his dad owns, like, this really good ice cream shop in town you should try it sometime!" Matthew highly doubted he lived anywhere near Gilbert's town or Carlos's dad's ice cream shop, but he didn't say anything.
"And the crazy bitch is Elizabeta," Gilbert concluded, "got it?" Matthew nodded slowly when in truth he hadn't 'gotten' half of what the other boy had said.
"We are leaving without you!" The brown haired girl, Elizabeta, called in annoyance.
"As if you could get rid of me that easily!" Gilbert snorted at the receding group. He grabbed Matthews's bad arm and the quiet boy let of a yelp. The cut had scabbed over, but Mathew was afraid with rough treatment the wound would reopen. Gilbert started making weird noises that might have been laughter as he continued tugging Mathew along toward the children. They had congregated in front of what looked like a ride entrance.
"This one" Antonio pointed up at a menacing looking rollercoaster above with yellow tracks. Matthew held in a gasp. The thing looked like probable death. The drop was near vertical and he was sure that part of it flipped upside down, Mathew's stomach started imitating the ride to come. Up, down, and around, in an overall uncomfortable experience.
"Skyrush?" Jose read from the map.
"It's a five." muttered Emma, worriedly looking over the other boy's shoulder.
"Yeah, that means it's decent!" Gilbert dismissed. "Come on!" he urged. Mathew swallowed thickly.
"Looks like fun I'm sure," The creepy blond boy looked up at the ride doubtfully" But I think I'll be siting this one out."
"I'm with Francis." The happy blonde girl, who didn't look particularly happy at that moment, agreed.
"They're dating" Gilbert whisper-explained in Mathew's ear.
"Yeah," one of the dark skinned boys shrugged "I thought I saw some cotton candy a little farther down the way, want to get some Emma?"
"And Jose is in love with Emma." Gilbert snickered. "Everyone's in love with Emma. Except Antonio, but he's weird." Emma and Jose walked off in the direction of the cotton candy. The blond boy was busy teasing the red head and hadn't seemed to have noticed that his girlfriend had left with another guy.
Gilbert cleared his throat, addressing the rest of the kids. "Alright," he clapped his hands together and looked at the remaining group expectantly "So me and Birdy-"
"First of all, it's Birdy and I." Elizabeta drawled. "Second of all, I highly doubt that Birdy is his actually name, so you're an idiot." she continued. "Third it's a three person ride. So you have succeeded in being wrong in every single way. That deserves a reward." She finished smiling sarcastically at the albino.
Gilbert took a minute to just stare at the clouds ahead before purposely continuing without acknowledging the girl. "Me," he stressed "Birdy," he stressed again "and Lars," he turned to the brown haired girl and matched her sarcastic smile before turning back to the group. "Will go together because we don't want Lars accidentally unhooking Antonio's seat belt during the ride" Antonio gasped and Lars offered a sarcastic thank you, which Gilbert gracefully accepted. Off to the side he said to Mathew "Lars hates Antonio".
He returned to the group. "And then Antonio, Lovino, and Carlos."
He paused for a moment before nodding "Yeah, I think we're good." He turned away.
"Uh-"Antonio lifted a figure in confusion.
"Oh that's right!" Gilbert mock gasped, "Elizabeta, almost forgot about you!"
"Keep talking, see where it gets you." Elizabeta threatened.
"Yeah, you can just go with random people because Roderich is a girly-man-boy who is too much of a pussy to come out here. And besides that, you don't have any friends." Gilbert pouted at her.
"Roderich had a piano recital smartass." Elizabeta retorted.
Gilbert glanced over at Mathew showing his disgust, "Such an aristocrat!" he complained.
"Put the measuring sticks away." Francis patted the albino on the back
"Ha-ha, don't need one, everyone knows about my five meters." Mathew stared in horror, appalled at where this conversation was headed.
"You forget!" Elizabeta grinned triumphantly "I've seen you naked! Nowhere close!"
"Ohonhonhonhon, details?" Francis slid up to Elizabeta, who pushed him away in disgust.
"Alright, this conversation has ended." interrupted the dark skinned boy "Can we get on the ride now?"
"I-I don't think I'm tall enough" said the red haired boy, Lovino, who was admittedly was the shortest in the group.
"Wait weren't you a Hershey's?" asked the tanned skinned boy, Antonio, confused. Lovino elbowed him the ribs.
"Stand in front of that" Elizabeta gesturing to the measuring stick that stood in front of the ride.
Lovino slinked over to the pole, and with hunched shoulders, stood next to it. Sure enough, he was just below the Hershey's marker.
"Sorry Lovino", Elizabeta sighed, "looks like you are too short." The red haired boy seemed slightly relieved at this remark.
"Stop, no", Gilbert commanded looking slightly confused, "that can't be right, I have taken Feliciano on this ride tons of times, and you guys are twins. So-"
"You've done what to my fratello you potato eating bastard!" Lovino shrieked straightening up to his full height, glaring at the other boy. While this full height wasn't altogether too impressive, it was just above the Hershey's measure on the pole.
"Oh look Lovi! You grew!" squealed Antonio.
The Prussian glanced over at Mathew. "See, he was slouching" Gilbert declared triumphantly motioning in the general direction of Lovino and the pole. Lovino, who now realized his folly, was panicking trying to stay out of the Spaniard's grip.
"Alright enough!" Elizabeta shouted "if Lovino doesn't want to go on he doesn't have to!"
"Coward!" trumpeted Gilbert.
"Shut up potato fucker!" shrieked Lovino.
"Language!" admonished Antonio happily.
"I can call whoever, I want whatever I want!" Lovino shot back. "Especially if it's true!"
"True?" Antonio's face went a shade whiter, probably trying to imagine the other boy doing what Lovino suggested.
"Come on guys!" Gilbert wined.
"I know it's hard for you," Elizabeta muttered, "but try not to act like you're five." but the word didn't contain much of her earlier malice. They almost sounded rehearsed, like an actor who was really bored with her lines.
Mathew however didn't pick up on that. Usually, unlike his brother, Mathew was good at figure out what people meant behind their words. At the moment, though, he wasn't paying too much attention, too busy stating up in terror at the monstrosity above him.
People filled most of the allotted waiting area so the kids didn't have far to walk through before they got to the start of the line. Despite that, the wait time was short. But for Mathew, it seemed like forever.
The boy had been to amusement parks before, sure, but only one as big as this. The fair was an annual visit, but unless you had tickets you weren't getting on any rides. Mathew never had tickets. The only other big theme park he'd been to was Bush Gardens. Back then, he'd been a short seven year old as opposed to his tall twelve years making this his first real roller coaster.
He was a little more than a little nervous.
Gilbert was a welcome distraction. Mathew's struggle to keep up with his constant chatter kept the quiet boy from dwelling on the ride he was waiting in line for. Gilbert was the type who could talk for hours with little encouragement.
Mathew's fear, however, of the coaster started to yield to discomfort at the amount of attention he was receiving. Soon he started to almost wish the other boy would leave him alone with his thoughts.
Half way through the line, Mathew's body let him know that he had forgotten something. In all the commotion following the incident in the car his urge to relieve himself had slipped his mind. Now it had become uncomfortable and hard to ignore. Mathew reflected having to pee and going on a rolling coaster he was terrified of probably wasn't the best combination.
Gilbert's voice cutting off, replaced with laughter, signaled that they had entered onto the platform. The line separated into about a dozen or so different segments that each lead to one of the fifteen or so rows of seats waiting for the ride.
Gilbert grabbed Mathew's hand "We have to get the front!" He exclaimed. "The ride's fastest there! Plus we'll have the best view."
"That's not even right!" said a female voice behind them. "Everyone knows the back seat is the fastest!" Elizabeta turned up her nose and brushed passed them, walking to the last line on the platform.
Now, seeing the steel track, observing people all pressed up against each other in order to save their places in line brought Mathew back to reality. He started to hyperventilate as the red head, Lovino, and his Spanish friend pushed passed him. Lovino looked as terrified as Mathew felt. The tall blond haired boy brushed forward and filled into the shortest line, apparently expecting the two behind him to follow. The line he'd gotten into, however, wasn't the front like Gilbert wanted.
"Come on Birdy!" Gilbert urged pulling at his arm.
"I-I-I", Mathew stumbled, "bathroom!" He choked out.
"Huh?" Gilbert asked confused.
"He needs to go to the bathroom." supplied someone behind them.
"He can talk for himself!" Gilbert said angrily. Then he turned to Mathew "if you just realized that, it can wait right?"
Mathew's voice was stuck in his throat he tried to choke out something. He didn't like the expectant expression on Gilbert's face. It made him uncomfortable.
"He doesn't seem like the type to mention something if it wasn't important." The boy sighed exasperatedly.
"Are you deaf?" Gilbert snapped.
"Are you blind?" the boy shot back. Mathew jerked his head back and recognized the other boy as Carlos. "He's scared shitless!" Carlos grabbed Mathew's arm "I'll show you to the restroom." He said, not unkindly. The glare he leveled back at Gilbert, however, could be described as unkind.
Gilbert was fuming "Come on Birdy!" Gilbert whined, pulling at his other arm, his bad arm. "Don't you want to go on the awesome ride with me?" He pleaded.
Mathew looked at the other boy, then over at the ride pulling into the platform. He shook his head in fear.
A look of hurt flashed on the other boys face, but the relief that washed over Mathew trumped any guilt he might have felt.
Carlos sighed and motioned with his head toward the exit. He started walking and with one last glance at Gilbert, Mathew followed him.
Mathew started breathing easier as he put distance between himself and the platform. He set his eyes on the boy in front of him. He was heavier set, but not grotesquely so. Dreadlocks that hung to his neck were pulled back in a head band. He wore a green jacket and khaki pants.
Mathew took a deep breath as they emerged out of the waiting area. Carlos gestured to the left. "This way" he said. Mathew followed.
They had only walked a few steps when the other boy turned, a confused look on his face.
"I swear I know you from somewhere." Carlos said, crossing his arms, puzzled.
Mathew knew what was coming. It was the same story every time. "Who?" they would ask, "Mathew" he would reply, but they never listened. Either they'd forget his name, or worse call him by his brother's. Alfred had always been the more memorable one.
Realization dawned on the other boy and his expression turned hard. Mathew was taken aback. This wasn't usually the reaction he usually got when he was mistaken for his brother.
"Alfred Jones" Carlos's voice had turned cold, his eyes steely. He laughed mirthless "I doubt you remember me, but I know you" he accused.
Mathew bit down hard on his lip, avoiding Carlos's gaze. "I'm not Alfred" he wanted to say, but he couldn't. His words had never matter before, why should they start now. Doesn't matter that Carlos had seen that he was upset, or that he stood up to someone to when Mathew couldn't for himself. For all he knew, it was just a plot to get Mathew alone so he could chew him out for being Alfred.
"Alfred, number 50, star running back on George Washington youth football team." he recited on mock reverence.
"No" Mathew found himself whispering.
If Carlos heard Mathew's protest, he gave no sign. "Remember last year," he continued "when I tackled you before the winning touchdown. How you got up and fucking attacked me?"
"No."
"Broke my fucking collarbone! I was in the hospital for weeks. How old were you? Eleven twelve? A sixth grader? Seriously? And you got up messed up my face real good, bruised some of my ribs-"
"SHUT UP!" Mathew screamed. Suddenly, as if a dam had cracked, words came flooding out. "I am NOT Alfred okay! I have never been and I never will be! And blaming me for things he did isn't goanna change anything! I don't know what Alfred did to you! Or why! But, like, I am not him so it's pointless to blame me for something he did! It's like-not-" he choked out. His face was wet from tears "fair!" he spat out.
Carlos took a step back, confusion flitting on his face. "But-" he was unwilling to apologize just yet, unsure how he could have made mistake. "Your jacket." His voice gained strength "that is Alfred F Jones's jacket. And you look just like him!"
"My hair is lighter and slightly curly." Mathew corrected voice shaking. "I'm taller and thinner. My eyes have a slightly purplish tinge, and I am whiter than him. My glasses are oval and his are square" technically Mathew's glasses were Alfred's old ones, but that wasn't the point. "I might look like him!" Mathew shot out "but I am Mathew! Mathew," suddenly the bad mouthed kid, Lovino, gave him inspiration "asshole" he finished.
Matthew froze. What on earth had he just said? For the life of him he couldn't remember. He was pretty sure he had just told the other boy off but the particulars were fuzzy. Everything had just come rushing out so fast.
Carlos stood blinking, clearly not expecting Mathew's outburst. He opened his mouth and closed it again, trying to recover.
Mathew remembered the last part clearly. had he really called the guy an asshole? "Uh, the, um," he paused "language, I guess, wasn't exactly, uh, fair of me." He admitted, face flushing "I suppose" he added quickly.
That seemed to snap the other boy back into reality. "So," he said in the way you did when you were awkwardly trying to recover a conversation. the silence had become so heavy it was suffocating. Carlos laughed awkwardly and flashed a self-depreciating smile "You're not Alfred." He concluded.
Mathew didn't even bother to respond.
"So," he said in the same way as before, he laughed again "Yeah, Mathew was it?"
He nodded shortly.
Carlos scratched his head. The weight of the quiet still had a noticeable pressure.
"Well", he nodded grimacing, "I feel like a douche bag"
They were quiet again for a moment as they regarded each other. Somehow the silence had gotten even more awkward
Carlos sighed again "Look man," He might have been about to make the first decent attempt at an apology in the exchange so far. "I'm sorry. I've got a grudge for your brother. I didn't mean to call you out like that." He cut off again. "Look is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
Mathew was a little bit surprised. He kind of expected the guy to start running at the second 'So'.
"I-I-i suppose" Mathew stuttered, unsure of what he was agreeing to.
Carlos grinned big "Alright that's good!" He motioned forward "Come on, ice cream makes everything better and I think I saw some Dippin' Dots father up the way."
Going from one of the most awkward conversations in Mathew's life, he didn't expect to feel almost comfortable walking with the other boy. But now that the boy was hastily trying to pick up the pieces, Mathew could relax.
"So Alfred's brother?" Carlos began, trying to start up a conversation.
"Mathew" he corrected him.
"Mathew" Carlos corrected himself "Mathew," using the name like it was a novelty. "So Mathew, why does Gilbert call you Birdy?"
Mathew shrugged and Carlos waved his hand. "Never mind, but that's Alfred's jacket right?" The conversation was strained, but not altogether unpleasant.
The two had come to the Dippin' Dots stand. Mathew realized he didn't have any money, but Carlos pulled out a wad of bills.
"Don't worry, my treat." Carlos grinned. Mathew saw a flash of guilt behind the boy's smile.
"So why are you wearing it?" Carlos asked.
"What?" asked Mathew confused.
"The jacket, Alfred's jacket."
"Oh" Mathew pulled the jacket around himself tighter more aware of the gash in his arm "I sun burn easily." Carlos laughed at that. Stringing sentences together for Carlos wasn't hard anymore after blowing up at him.
They sat on a bench and spooned Dippin' Dots into their mouths. Mathew had picked vanilla, and Carlos rainbow.
The two boys talked. Mathew was surprised how much the other boy was able to coax out of him. It was pleasant, and he felt the urge to entertain Carlos, something he had never experienced before. He wanted to seem interesting though he suspected that neither of them were terribly clever.
Minutes passed and soon their bowls were empty. After they had thrown them away and finally taken a trip to the bathroom they returned to the bench and talked. From leaving the line to that moment couldn't have been more than twenty minutes, but it felt like much longer.
"Birdy!" An unmistakable voice shouted.
Mathew cut off in the middle of a sentence and glanced off to the side. Gilbert was waving vigorously from a distance, joined by the rest of the kids, even the ones who had skipped the ride.
Mathew realized for the first time that the woman who had brought the group of children into the theme park were nowhere to be seen. In fact, he hadn't seen her since they had entered the park. Maybe she'd taken off to another part or maybe she never came in at all. While, yes, Mathew's own parents didn't exactly look after him, he had never considered abandoning children in an amusement park as normal, especially if some weren't even your kids.
Carlos sighed loudly and the two got up to join the group.
"It actually pretty good you guys, you kind of missed out." Elizabeta lamented. Carlos shrugged, not seeming to care either way.
Gilbert shook his head giving Matthew a conspiratorial look "It actually was kind of boring. Nothing you haven't seen before I'm sure, not missing much at all."
Mathew nodded and smiled slightly. He surveyed the group. The weird blond guy and the other blonde girl were standing really close together, whispering and laughing. If Gilbert hadn't already told him that they were dating, he probably would have been able to guess from the exchange. The other dark skinned boy looked annoyed. The happy one was flitting nervously around Lovino, who looked as if he was about to throw up. The tall blond guy was standing off to the side counting a few dollar bills looking over at the Dippin' Dots stand, maybe trying to decide if he wanted a cup.
Gilbert grinned big at Mathew, and for some reason Mathew didn't feel uncomfortable as he had before. The attention felt nice.
"What's next, Antonio?" Elizabeta asked, turning to the happy boy. Antonio wasn't listening. He was too busy apologizing to Lovino who still looked a little green. Elizabeta rolled her eyes.
"Since you didn't go on the last ride you should chose the next one!" Gilbert exclaimed to Mathew.
"By that logic Francis could pick, or Emma, or Carlos, or Jose." Elizabeta said dryly. "Like someone who is actually a part of the group."
Mathew shrank back, blushing, but before he was able to read anything into the statement, Gilbert turned to the girl and snapped. "As if you're here because Antonio actually likes you! Lovino and I suggested it. Now I am saying Birdy will pick the next ride so shut up and deal with it."
The blond boy whistled and his girlfriend giggled. Apparently everyone had been listening to the exchange with the exception of Lovino and Antonio.
"Alright, whatever." Elizabeta threw up her hands angrily. "'Birdy.'" she stressed sarcastically glaring at Mathew.
"Mathew." Carlos corrected.
"Thank god, someone bothered to learn the boy's name! It's a miracle!" Elizabeta laughed, but it sounded extraordinarily forced.
"Well maybe you should have asked." Mathew said pointedly.
There was an audible pause from Gilbert and Elizabeta who turned slightly toward him. Clearly they had not expected him to speak. Mathew was surprised at himself. But when Gilbert grinned, holding up a hand to high five, which Mathew hesitantly did, and Elizabeta conceded with a grudging "yeah well," Mathew felt extremely powerful. His words did mean something!
"So what do you want to do?" Gilbert asked him.
Mathew felt himself grinning wildly like he imagined his brother had when his parents had asked where he wanted for his birthday.
Mathew surveyed the area, wanting to make the best choice possible. Something caught his eye. He'd seen it before at the fair every year and he had always wanted go on but he'd never had the tickets required to go on the ride.
He pointed to the ride entrance in front of them. "The swings" he said excitedly.
Gilbert laughed. "Birdy wants to fly!" He chanted. "Birdy's gonna fly."
They probably went on the swings twelve times.
After the first time Antonio decided he loved the ride and Lovino said he didn't hate it. They jumped off and got immediately back in line until Lovino insisted that he would jump off while it was still in the air if they went on it again. That caused Antonio to almost start crying and abandon the ride.
After that, Gilbert and Elizabeta meticulously planned how to hit every thrill ride, with tons of disagreement on how exactly to go about it. Mathew even got on a few of the bigger ones. While he wasn't brave enough to jump in the front with Gilbert, he and Carlos would sit in the middle. The first time, Mathew had death gripped the other boy's arm all the way up the first ascent, but was laughing by the end.
"Okay! What is it, two hours till closing?" Gilbert asked.
Elizabeta pulled her iPhone out. "Yeah." She affirmed nodding curtly.
"Oh!" Francis cooed. "She's agreeing with you!" He waggled his eyebrows at Gilbert. Mathew was getting better at names. Francis was the boyfriend of Emma, He was also Gilbert and Antonio's best friend. Apparently they formed something called the Bad Friends Trio. Francis loved to tease Gilbert and Elizabeta, along with Antonio and Lovino.
"Shut the hell up!" Elizabeta snapped at the blond boy. Neither Gilbert nor Elizabeta ever took the teasing well, but it was nothing compared to the rage Lovino would get into. Antonio on the other hand, would just smile.
"So what have we missed?" Gilbert asked pointedly ignoring his friend. Elizabeta also adopted the same strategy, returning to the map with a haughty expression, not deigning to acknowledge Francis's existence.
Mathew thought the two were pretty funny. Straight backs, noses turned up. They looked like a pair of aristocrats snubbing a lower noble they considered inferior. Though, considering the venom Gilbert used when he spoke the word aristocrat in reference to a boy called Roderich, Mathew doubted he'd appreciate his input.
Instead he turned to Carlos grinning, about to voice his thoughts. Mathew loved that Carlos would listen and smile when Mathew would blurt out random things, even if they were not particularly funny or relevant.
But Carlos appeared distracted. He was looking off somewhere. Mathew didn't want to take him from whatever he was preoccupied with, but he was still curious. He glanced around his friend.
Suddenly he had a thought. Was it too soon to call Carlos a friend?
"I don't want to make the same mistake again," Carlos commented, "but isn't that-" he pointed. Mathew turned his head to get a good look.
"Yeah." Mathew answered quietly.
About thirty feet away, two parents and an energetic thirteen year old were sitting at a picnic table eating what looked like burgers.
Alfred and his parents.
"But if that's your brother and your parents, I guess, why-" Carlos began.
"Don't." Mathew warned.
Carlos's brow creased with a silent question, but backed off "Okay." he surrendered.
"Hey Birdy!" said a voice. Gilbert scampered up. "What you guys looking at?"
Mathew cringed as Gilbert caught sight of the rest of his family. "Hey-", he trailed off, "that guy looks like you." Gilbert announced, but then paused. "Only, like less Birdy like." He nodded as if that made any sense.
Then he grinned. "Hi Birdy's parents!" He yelled, running up to the unsuspecting family. Mathew choked in fear, unsure of what to do. He wanted to grab Gilbert and drag him to the farthest corner of the park, but he wasn't sure how to do that without being seen by his family.
"Don't worry I'll handle him." Carlos assured Mathew and he ran to follow the albino.
Mathew was more than happy to let Carlos figure it out and he retreated behind the rest of the kids, trying to be invisible.
He peaked out and watched. There was too much background noise for Mathew to make out what any of them were saying but he could see just fine. Gilbert was grinning at his parents and waving exuberantly. His parents looked at him blankly, obviously not recognizing the name Birdy.
Carlos tried to intercede but the albino was not to be deterred. Any attempts to grab his arm or toe him away were for naught. Gilbert grew more and more frustrated as he tried to explain himself to the family. Finally giving up, Carlos shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Alfred was moving in his seat much the same way.
Only then did Mathew remember what Carlos had said. Alfred and Carlos had issues. And he'd just sent the one to confront the other. He felt a flash of guilt as he realized the position he'd put Carlos in.
Alfred froze up. He looked at Carlos straight in the face for the first time. Then he looked back toward the group and the two brothers eyes met for a moment. Alfred hastily looked away.
Mathew felt a chill pass down in spine. Anger massed in him. He remembered how Gilbert had made sure to ask Mathew's opinion. How Carlos had stood up to Gilbert when the albino had been too oblivious to realize he was making Mathew do something he didn't want to. How the rest of the group had always acknowledge him. Alfred was supposed to be his brother. Yet he never did any of the things these strangers took for granted.
Alfred did what their parents wanted first and foremost.
Mathew decided in that moment that Alfred was not a good brother.
Mathew looked back at his friends. Carlos seemed utterly baffled but Gilbert's face had gone blank. Mathew found it unnerving. All day, Gilbert always wore some sort of over exuberant expression. His face didn't look right with no expression.
Gilbert backed away and started walking toward them. Carlos followed, giving Mathew's parent's one last puzzled look.
Elizabeta shifted as Gilbert rejoined the group. "What's the issue?" She crossed her arms looking at Gilbert, then at Mathew's parents, then back. She sensed the tension as well as Mathew.
"Nothing." Gilbert replied stonily. Mathew glanced at Gilbert and moved toward Carlos.
"What did they say?" Mathew asked.
"That Alfred was their only child." Carlos explained. He turned to Mathew, shaking his head in bewilderment. "Mathew what's all this about?"
"Nothing." Mathew said.