"What's wrong?" Chris asked, sitting down next to me. I shrugged. "Alex . . ." His tone was a warning tone this time. "C'mon, you know you can tell me anything. You're my sister." Sighing, I wiped my face and looked up at him.
"What did I do to deserve this?" I asked. Before he could answer, I continued. "I asked JC the same question today and he said I didn't do anything.
"He's-"
"Then Brian said the same thing," I interrupted him. Then, I began to ramble. "So did Kevin. Then, when at Ben & Jerry's, Kevin got pissed at me for something and I don't even know what it was. I mean, I know why he was pissed, but he didn't have to act like a two year old. How was I supposed to know he get mad if I spent a little 'quality time' with Brian? It's not like he's my mother of anything. At least, I hope not because he would make a very ugly mother, nonetheless, a hideous female in general, but that's not what-"
"Alex!" Chris grabbed my shoulders and shook my slightly. I shut up. "Listen to me. You did nothing, you got that? Nothing. Life throws curveballs out to everyone. You just have to know how to hit him. Remember my stepfather?" I nodded. "Remember how he killed himself years ago?" I nodded again.
He must be serious, I thought. He never talks about his stepfather.
"Remember how I handled that? How I went off the wall at everything? I went insane and no one could stop me. Not even you or Josh." He looked into my eyes to make sure I was paying attention. "You can't do that. You have to be strong. Be the adult, the one to make the first move. Don't act like a stubborn child."
"But-"
"Now, I know you guys had a little fight today and you need your time to cool off, but remember one thing."
"And what's that?"
"We will always be here for you. Always. But, Brian and them? If you don't grasp onto this opportunity that's been laid out in front of you . . . you might not get another chance at it."
"I can't believe I'm walking all the way out here, in the cold, to find a Backstreet Boy," I muttered to myself. "Alex'd better appreciate this." Wrapping my jacket tighter around myself, I walked up to the Marin Office. Once inside, I went over to the front desk. Since no one was there, I rang the bell. After a few seconds, I rang it again . . . and again . . . and again . . . and again . . . This thing is addicting, I thought. Just then, someone snatched it away from me. I looked up to see a middle aged man, dressed in dock-hand attire.
"Can I help you?" he asked. I raised an eyebrow at him before answering.
Don't you take the tone with me you balding old fag, I thought. "Yes, I'd like to know the slip number of . . ." Oh, shoot! What was the name of his boat. Damn it, damn it, damn it!!! Wait, got it! " . . . Chaos Reigns." The guys smiled tightly and looked it up in the book.
"Dock 'B,' slip '45'." I smiled shortly and left the building, searching for the sign that said 'Dock B.' Once I'd found it, I searched for slip 45. When I found the boat, instead of stepping onto it, I decided to stand on the dock and rock it. Once I was satisfied with my job of creating the most nauseating "roller coaster" ride in America, I smiled to myself and waited for someone to come outside.
"What the-" Nick came out first, followed by Brian and some other guys I didn't know. "Who are you?" Nick asked, angrily, yet sleepily.
"Elis," Brian said, surprised to see me, "what are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for that freakin' cousin of yours," I said, brusquely. "Where is he?"
"H-he's still sleeping," Brian said, pointing inside the boat. Without even asking, I climbed onto the boat and pushed past all of them and walked down the boat steps.
"What do you think you're doing?" I heard Nick asked as I checked the cabins for any signs of life. I found Kevin sleeping peacefully in the aft cabin. Rudely, I snatched the comforter off him, relieved to see that he was actually wearing boxers.
"Wha? Huh?" Sleepily, he rolled over and sat up, wiping his eyes. He looked at me, blinking a few times. "Who are you?"
"You're fairy godmother," I said, sarcastically. "Now, get up. We're going for a walk."
"What the hell are you talking about?" he said, standing up to his full height of 6'1 . . . and smacking his head on the ceiling, which was only about 5'8. He sat down again, rubbing the back of his head.
"Do you want to talk to Alex or not?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips. He sat up straight at the mention of his half-sister's name. All of the sudden, a thought hit me. "Wait a minute, didn't you guys say you were staying at a hotel?"
"The ladies are," Brian said, coming up behind me. "We came with Nick and Matt." I nodded and turned my attention back at Kevin.
"You have five minutes to get dressed, or I'm dragging you to our hotel by your hair." He nodded almost drunkenly and stood up, carefully this time, and trudged to the head (AKA bathroom). I sighed impatiently and went outside, sitting on the couch on the back of the boat. A few minutes later, Kevin walked out, fully dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, yet still half asleep. I nodded and stood up. We were climbing off the boat when Brian walked out, also fully dressed. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm coming with," he said, determined. I was going to argue, but his eyes were pleading with me. I sighed and nodded, motioning for him to follow. We were silent most of the way towards the hotel. Then, Kevin asked a question.
"Why does Alex want to talk to us now when she didn't want to talk later?" I froze in place, unsure of what to say.
"Probably a change of heart," Brian assured his cousin. Kevin nodded and the three of us continued walking again. As Kevin began to lag behind a little, Brian came up next to me and whispered in my ear, "She doesn't know we're coming does she?" I shook my head slowly. "Oh, lord."