Hybrid

FIVE

⫷ ARIA ⫸

This meat pie is delicious. I'm quite certain there's sauce spread around my mouth, but hunger doesn't care about much except inhaling food. In fact, I'm so distracted that I hardly pay notice to the short, with a black bob cut slipping in beside me.

From my peripheral, I see pouty lips stretch into a smile across pink tinged beige skin. To not be rude, I turn to face her, immediately drawn to her round, copper eyes.

"Hi there, Luna," she greets.

I'm momentarily concerned with her white blouse and light blue jeans that she's wearing; won't she stain them with the very messy meal? "Luna?" I realize what she's said to me. "What is this, a circus?"

Giggling, the girl twirls a white ribbon that pins back one side of her middle parted hair. "A circus? No, not quite a circus." Her eyes scan my body. "You're the new girl, huh?"

I swallow another piece of glorious, glorious meat pie. "Something like that. What kind of place is this, anyway? Orphanage?"

The girl bursts out in loud, booming laughter. Thankfully, I'm already mouth full with another bite, otherwise I would have flinched. "You're funny. Nope. We're... hm, well yeah, we're like a pack."

"Huh?"

Her round eyes widen larger than I thought possible, but she covers it with another one of her smiles. "Yeah! A pack! A family! Minus parents telling you what to do. You know the drill. It's tons of fun. We can basically do whatever we want. The other day, I saw Finn hanging off of the ceiling!"

'Whos Finn?' I try to ask, but her rambling is at a speed that my words can't catch.

"It was hilarious! I can show you around to all the fun stuff we have. We have a pool and a trampoline. Ou, and lots of sports. Are you into sports?"

"I guess so."

"Any sport, you name it. The owner is loaded, and I'm not exaggerating. It's literally impossible to get bored here. Trust me." I'm not sure she's taken one bite yet. "Do you like your meat pie? It's homemade and relatively healthy. I mean, I will always argue that wheat has become so genetically modified that its no longer considered good for you, but nobody will agree with me and make this house gluten free."

Another swallow, though this one may be more from fear than the food going down my throat. "You talk a lot."

The girl curls her finger around the ribbon again as a darker shade of pink covers her cheeks. "I know. I'm sorry. I've tried everything to calm down, but nothing works. Did you know that basically all medications burn right through all of us werew..." She trails off as her eyes widen to saucers. "I mean... Oh, gosh! I didn't even introduce myself." A slender hand with perfect white tipped nails levels in front of me. "I'm Gem."

I take it, feeling her incredibly warm and small hand wrap around mine. "Aria."

Gem tilts her head forward. "I know. Everyone knows. James told us about you."

I cock an eyebrow at her statement. "Did he mention that he broke into my house, while I was taking a shower, and knocked me out so he could bring me to this circus, I mean family pack thing?"

Her loud laugh causes my spine to straighten. "Yeah, he might have mentioned that. James grew up with a barbarian as a father. His mother wasn't any better." She presses her lips in a thin line. "Shoot. That's personal info. James is... ugh, never mind. I'm told I need to stop my gossiping."

"Don't you think calling him by his name is a little daring, Shortie?" A man with ivory skin seats himself across from us at the table, glowers a mischievous smile at Gem. "You know," he adds with a thin smile. "Respect, and all that."