Finding My Family

Chicken!

Sean POV

"Mr. Taylor?" Owen blinked at him. A flash in his silver eyes made me realize that he was surprised, and Owen is not surprised often.

"What's up?" The blonde boy clicked his tongue, making me smirk. He reminded me a lot of... well, me whenever I was younger.

Owen leaned forward, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Chicken."

I blinked at him. Why did he just say a random word? And why chicken?

Oh!!! If Luke was working for Uncle who was an Academy member, doesn't that mean Luke was Academy, too? Damn, look at me being smart and all. I mentally patted myself on my back.

The fact that it took him about five minutes to realize this completely flew over his head. Sigh. What I am I supposed to do with you, Sean?

Luke smiled. "Oh. You want the chicken panini?"

He started to scribble it down, not seeing the deadpan look on Owen's face.

Owen shook his head, leaning back disappointed. "Uh, no." He tried to fix that awkward moment.

Luke looked up from his notepad, almost pouting. "Aw, North really wanted to try out that new panini press." He perked back into his jovial self. "So what were you asking about chicken?"

Owen sighed. "What chicken dishes do you have?"

Luke rattled off some chicken dishes while Owen acted as if he was listening to him. When the blonde stopped, Owen ordered a hamburger with fries. I wanted to laugh. He should have ordered something chicken.

"And what about you, Mad Doc?" Luke twirled the pencil in his fingers expertly.

I snapped my menu closed. "I'll take the chicken panini with a side salad."

Luke smiled before taking our drink orders. He left quickly before bringing back our drinks. There wasn't enough time for me to talk to Owen about his weird behavior before he returned. Before he could leave, I spoke up. "So how long have you been working here?"

Luke shoved a piece of hair back, making me notice his hair was pinned into a bun with two pencils. What's up with that? "For a few months. Uncle needed some help, and we needed some extra money."

"Uncle?" Owen raised his eyebrows. "You mean, the owner of the diner?"

Luke smiled. "Yeah, funny that everyone calls him uncle. Anyways, he's mine and North's actual uncle."

"Really? I didn't know that Uncle had nephews," I was shook. Why didn't I know he had family? I'm one of his doctors!

"Yep," he smiled cheerfully.

A familiar blonde walked out from the direction of the bathroom. Her green eyes narrowed at the sight of Owen and me. her lips were in a straight line and she looked at us suspiciously. She came up to Luke. "Mr. Blackbourne. Dr. Green."

"Pookie!" I smiled at her while Owen shot me a glare. I could almost here the nagging I would get about professional behavior later. "What are you doing here?"

She gave a tense smile, shooting wary looks at Owen. She clearly does not trust us. Well, time to change that! "I came to drop them off. Tell North that I'm taking Sprinkles back home. One of the others will pick you guys up later. Don't be late."

I watched as Luke reached into his pocket to fish out some keys. He tossed them to Sang who wasn't looking but caught them with one hand. She tiredly looked at Luke who beamed at her. "Don't forget what North said."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't wreck his Jeep again. I wasn't even the one who wrecked it. It was Kota."

Luke nodded, as if he didn't believe her. "That's what you always say. It was always Kota's fault. It wasn't as if you painted his window shield in edible pink paint or scratched the driver's door when you last had it. It's Kota's fault every time something happens to his Jeep."

Sang didn't even look like she was listening before she straightened. She turned towards Luke. "You did take Sprinkles out to potty before you put him in North's Jeep, right?"

Luke looked at her, blinking. "Weren't you supposed to do that?"

"No!" She whispered-yelled before running towards the door. "You were supposed to do that. If he takes a number one, it's your fault."

"Tell him it was Kota's fault!" Luke yelled as Sang disappeared out the door that rang harshly.

I wonder what it would take to get her to trust us. She clearly has some issues with the school and Mr. Hendricks. Was she the middle of the group because she was the leader or because they were protecting her? She drew me in with her green eyes that seemed so closed off but something about her screamed for someone to help her. It was well hidden but Owen and I were both in the same situation once. We knew what it was like to hide behind a mask, and we both knew that we would do everything to help her and her group.

"So who is Sprinkles?" I poured some half-and-half into my coffee.

Luke smiled. "He's our pet skunk. We saved him from some men from a pet store who wanted to buy him just to shoot him."

I grew angry at the thought of people who would do such evil things. "I'm glad that you saved him. That skunk must be the one we saw in the Jeep next to ours. He's so cute."

"He is! He's sweet like his name, too. Sang and I named him," he beamed at the memory.

"You guys seem close," Owen remarked.

Luke grew solemn as something soft passed through his eyes. "We are. She saved me."

"How?" I took a sip of my coffee.

Something strange went through his eyes. The soft expression hardened and something scary was staring at me. I blinked, but he was back to his cheerful self, making me wonder if what I saw actually happened. He laughed. "She just did. I'll be back with your food."

He left, and Owen and I stared at each other. I pursed my lips. "Did you see that?"

He nodded. His elbows rested against the table, breaking the table manners that he tried to drill inside my head. His hands covered his mouth in case anyone could read lips. "It's weird. How can we not know about Uncle having family? Sang is an enigma that confounds me. Something is backing her, and something is telling me that they are dangerous. And Luke looks like cheerful guy but I think that's a façade. I don't know if I told you, but I saw him after the conversation with Mr. McCoy when I followed Victor. His eyes were cold and dangerous like what he just did. He can easily switch from a cold persona to someone happy. They are not ordinary people, Sean."

I frowned. "I know. That's what scares me."

"About what, Sean?" Owen whispered.

"It scares me that we might not be able to save them."