The Last Alignment: Cry of the Scorpions by Nathaniel Stewart Page B

haven’t seen you in years!”
    “ I know,” Patrick
exclaimed.
    “ Patrick is here?” Yet
another person entered the kitchen, but this time it was a woman
who had long, stick-straight blonde hair and green eyes. She looked
to have a stiff personality to Natalye, but she seemed nice
enough.
    “ Regina,” Patrick
breathed, giving her a huge hug. “I would ask if you were alright,
but that would be a pretty stupid question.”
    Natalye grinned at the fact that her father
was reuniting with a bunch of his old friends before turning her
attention back to the guys at the table. The one on the end had
short blonde hair and blue eyes and was incredibly handsome. He
reminded her of a typical, all-American, boy-next-door type of dude
and she smiled at him though he didn’t see it. The guy sitting next
to him had bright green eyes from what she could tell, and he also
had blonde hair like his buddy’s only his was much longer and in a
ponytail. Some of his hair was dyed black which she found
interesting and cool; she thought the style suited him. He was also
as attractive as his pal, and while she thought the first guy was
definitely “handsome-handsome,” she thought the second was more
“pretty-handsome,” but he was still just as nice to look at. The
third guy that sat a few seats down wasn’t nearly as attractive as
the other two. He had nice tan skin, shaggy black hair, and from
the color of his eyes she guessed that the man named Marcel was his
father. He wasn’t ugly, but at the same time she didn’t think that
he was cute. To her surprise, he looked up and caught her staring.
Natalye’s eyes widened a little and if she saw what she thought she
saw, the guy had winked at her to which she quickly turned her
attention back to her father feeling embarrassed.
    “ Would you like something
to eat, Natalye?”
    “ Huh?” An older woman with
long black hair and brown skin was smiling at her. Natalye couldn’t
tell what it was, but she soon found herself smiling back and at
ease with what just happened. There was a peace and happiness about
this woman that made Natalye feel good.
    “ Would you like some
food,” the woman asked again welcomingly.
    “ Oh, yes, please,” Natalye
nodded.
    “ Have a seat at the table,
then. I’m Oren, by the way,” she said holding out her
hand.
    “ Nice to meet you,”
Natalye said as she shook it. Oren seemed to be studying her, or so
Natalye thought, but she dismissed it thinking nothing of
it.
    “ I’ll go and get you a
plate, dear.”
    “ Thanks,” Natalye said
before making her way through a small crowd of people, but before
she could get to where she was headed she was stopped.
    “ Natalye Roberts,” a woman
said affectionately. She had olive skin, brown eyes, and based on
the color of her roots, she was not a natural blonde. However,
Natalye thought that she was quite pretty. “I’m Sylvia. It’s been a
very long time.”
    “ Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Natalye didn’t want to seem rude, but she continued on her path;
her stomach was starting to make all kinds of bizarre noises and
when she reached the table and sat down, she was grateful that she
didn’t get the chance to eat breakfast or lunch. Spread out were
dishes full of scrambled eggs, ham, waffles, sausage, potatoes,
biscuits, and trays of fresh fruit. There were also three large
pitchers full of lemonade, orange juice, and milk. Thank the Lord , she
thought.
    “ Here you are, dear,” said
Oren, setting a beautiful china plate down in front of Natalye.
“Eat all you like.”
    “ Thank you so much,” she
said again as Oren turned away and went back to the
counter.
    “ Natalye, is it?” The boy
with the short blonde hair looked at her politely.
    “ Yeah. What are your
names,” she asked extending her hand.
    “ I’m Hudson,” he said
shaking it softly. Natalye had to slightly purse her lips to keep
from smiling.
    “ I’m Androse,” said the
guy with the long ponytail whose handshake was a