Gabriel strained his neck to look over the crowds of students bustling in the hallways. He was searching for a certain someone, the girl who had the glue to keep everyone together. Without her, everything fell apart. Three out of the four outcast table leaders left, one following another, the third leaving after another wrangle with a newcomer.
And they left only him.
Not that it was too much a position to handle alone. There just was not enough spice to bring back the old days. One had the knack for being awkward and making everyone laugh, her laughter alone bringing a smile to everyone’s faces. The second was a skinny noodle who was once a new addition but a mother to all, and the one who put immature over mature. The third one was a short little gal who seemed quiet, but she was the glue. It took awhile to find her, but soon enough, he did. “Hey sis,” he called out, waving.
She was leaning against the office window, watching as other students fooled around on the gym floors. Zandra glanced up at him, shooting an icy glare. “What do you want?” she asked. “And why are you calling me your sister?”
Gabriel frowned, sensing that something was clearly up. Zandra knew perfectly why he called her “sis”. In the family tree Tess had created, Gabriel had first been placed as her father, but was soon moved down to being her brother. It was once every while to hear Zandra snap at anyone, let alone him. Gabriel thought back to what she just said, shuddering. She wasn’t being sarcastic either. “Okay, okay.” He stepped forward. “Whatsa matter?”
Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head, laughing nervously. “Everything’s fine…just…”-she sighed, averting her stare-“Toby thought the contract was a hoax. So the whole mansion went into hysterics and of course, there was a war between Toby and Luca. Since Raven sided with Luca, it was hard.”
Gabriel gave her a befuddled look, and before long, she was shaking it away. “Forget it,” she said. “Forget what I said.”
“A contract, huh?” he questioned, grinning.
“Yeah..mhm….a contract…for um…” she thought for a moment, brewing up the biggest lie she knew Gabriel would swallow. “For Luca to become my guardian.”
“Oh, oh.” Gabriel nodded. “Makes sense. Why didn’t you just call for me? I could have broke up the fight.”
“No, you would have joined the fight. Trust me, it’s hard to back out when you get all riled up,” she corrected. “Plus, if you stay neutral, you’d probably get killed. You’re fighting against the mansion here.”
“Does it look like I care?” scoffed Gabriel, shaking his head.
The gym was being split in half, sliding walls slipping into place to divide the halves. Zandra spotted Ms. Mooney’s homeroom running for the other half and gestured to the scrambling crowd. “You better get going,” she pointed out, peering past his shoulder. “I’ll see you at lunch. I’ll just sit with you guys today.”
“Oh-okay…Wow that was easy-I mean-“
“Wait, what?”
Gabriel shook his head again, backpedaling towards the ajar door. “I meant to say, see you at lunch, “ he stuttered.
Zandra giggled a little, twisting the ends of her black hair. She spotted Stuey chatting to Ashley next to the exit doors and quickly bounded towards her. Grinning, she pounced on the wiry girl, hanging onto her neck. “Ack…Zar…k…”
