A Not So Long Walk Home

                                    

                                          
My plan to get out of the trashed house was pretty easy. Don’t make eye contact for those who might start to shake themselves awake, move fast, and don’t linger. It was overall pretty simple, especially since if Alpha lived up to everybody’s expectations then he would be long gone by now. 
                          
I got out the door and into the sunny outside, it looked normal. No cups all over the place, nobody passed out in the yard.  No cop would wander over here, and that’s probably exactly what they wanted. I couldn’t remember which way I came home; I was looking over from side to side to see if anything looked familiar when I felt a tap on my shoulder. 
                          
“What do you want?” I turn and see Isaac; I snuck out of the house when he went to the bathroom. 
                          
“Were you really going to leave without me? I know how to get to your house from here.” He looked kind of smug as he went to the right; he stopped for a second to see if I was following.
                          
“How do you know where I live?” I was trying not to find it creepy.
                          
“Didn’t I tell you I had a past with your lovely half-brother?” Isaac sounded bitter, but at least he was talking to me instead of going off on his own. 
                          
I didn’t know what to say to that so I just kept walking alongside him. He didn’t seem too hurt that I couldn’t keep up the conversation. It was silent for a few moments as we walked next to each other. Two teens, probably both of us hung over, and squinting in the sun.  
                          
“Sometimes I think me and Alpha aren’t related at all. We’re so different, I mean yeah even half siblings have to have something in common. Right?” I don’t know why I was opening up to him about this. Alpha was the exact opposite of me in every way.
                          
He seemed conflicted before he answered. “Alpha likes to play people, if you haven’t noticed. I wouldn’t believe everything you see around here. I’m not saying that to make you paranoid, but there are secrets here. They could make everything better or break you.”
                          
He didn’t answer my question at all, I noticed. Instead he just said some confusing things, what was I supposed to make of that? “I don’t know what to say. Are you ever going to give me a straight answer?”
                          
I glance at him while he looks across the street, then he smirks and meets my eyes. “Probably not.” 
                          
I bumped my arm with his. “You have no idea how frustrating that is!” 
                          
“Yeah I do, Alpha used to do it to me all the time. Until I figured it out.” 
                          
“You know, for somebody who doesn’t want to talk about Alpha, you talk about him a lot.” I stop and cross my arms, we are a couple of houses down from the one I’m staying at. It feels weird to call it home, so I don’t. 
                          
“I’m just trying to warn you without telling you anything. It’s harder than I realized. Just be careful, okay? I’ll talk to you soon.” He smiled at me and crossed the street. He exited between two houses and started jogging. I walked the few houses down and opened the door, it was unlocked of course.
                          
It was quiet and all the lights were off, which was fine since the curtains were open and the sun was bright outside.  I didn’t know if I should look for Alpha or just stay out of his way. If he needed to talk to me, I figured, he could find me. 
                          
“Tell me the story of how you guys met, please!” I begged my parents. They both shared a look, my mom shook her head. Her dark hair was clipped up. 
                          
“Again? Don’t you get tired of it?” she looks at me, and then looks back to my dad. It was one of the very few weekends dad had off of work lately, so we spent it together. I shake my head and they start off the story I’ve heard plenty of times. It wasn’t what they said; it was how they said it. It didn’t start out as a love story, and they weren’t expecting anything out of it. That was the best part of it.