Alex Curtis

Alex hardly payed attention to Penelope and Zach's conversation, instead focusing on his messy side of the cart. The room was a messy one, but that's what would be expected when two teen boys get a room of their own to take care of. Zach's side, however, was much cleaner. There was a few notebooks and pencils nearby, and a folded bed sheet. Not neat, but acceptable. Alex's side had the smaller bed of their clustered cart yet had open books laying on it and art utensils on the desk. Three half-finished clay models were also positioned on his desk as well as one of few finished paintings partly-nailed onto the wall. A small, broken guitar and old prank material laid under his bed as well.

"All right," Zach announced, bringing Alex back to reality. He wasn't surprised that Zach agreed to go to dinner as Penny could convince her brother to do nearly anything. Maybe it was just because she meant the world to him. Maybe it was because he felt like he owed his sister for coming with him. Probably a mix of both.

Alex quickly snuck a pack of cards in his pocket because if anything got awkward at the dinner table, he could distract everyone with a game of blackjack or poker. As they exited the cart they walked out to the crowded area with their coworkers offering each other hi-fives and toasting each other. That was the routine after every successful, and even unsuccessful circus.

"You know that other family, the newcomers? They don't really seem prepared for this sort of life. I guess none of us really were either though. Maybe they're just trying to get somewhere though, and don't plan on sticking along with us," Alex said to Penny, loudly saying the last part so Zach could add on if he wanted to. Maybe Zach also didn't know where, if anywhere, they were heading. Either way, Zach did not respond as he seemed consumed with his thoughts. As they entered the tent where food was served, Alex softly grabbed Penny's arm and asked her, "Wanna cut the line?" That's what Penny and Alex did most of the time anyways. He also noticed Clara and her eldest brother's face in the crowd and waved to her.

Alex had asked if she wanted to cut line, but by the time they had gotten there, it had already died down. "No point today," she shrugged. After standing in line with the boys she made a B-line for the Eddington family. Immediately she sat down next to Clara and offered her a wide smile. "Well, how did you like the circus?" As the girl answered, Penny glanced over to her brother, frowning. What was his problem? At his silence, she reached her leg under the picnic style table and kicked his shin. She glared for extra emphasis. 'Be nice,' she mouthed, jerking her eyes towards Clara and her family. "You know, no offense or nothing, but... you all don't look much like circus folk. Why are you here? Are you staying or just passing through?" Penny had so many questions, all swimming in and out of her thoughts. Biting her lower lip, she forced herself to wait for another response before spilling out any more.

It had been a long time since she'd seen another girl around her own age, and it was kind of nice to have another girl around. Not that she was going to start going all girly and cooking for anyone! To hell with that! But it was nice, to see a 'proper' young lady around. Penny would never admit it, but Clara kind of reminded her of Wendy, from the stories Zach used to read her. Wendy was just a kid herself, but she pretended to be the mother of all those Lost Boys. Penny felt her mood dropping a little at the thought. Lost boys. That's what Alex and Zach were. Penny glanced over to her dark haired friend, who always had a smile on his face. Did he have a family to go back to? After all this time, did they? Did their mother and father even remember them anymore? Were they missed? Penny's shoulders slowly began to fall with all the sad thoughts she was thinking.

Upon being noticed, she perked right back up and flashed one of her usual Penny King smiles. The only people allowed to be sad in the circus were the clowns; and they had real reasons to be sad! They get made fun of all day, so at least she didn't have to deal with that.

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Clara waved at the others who were in line, and pointed them out to her siblings. She continued to eat until the others had their food and sat down, Penny beside her, Alex beside Penny, and Zach directly in front of her. "Well, how did you like the circus?" Penny chirped, bright eyed and full of life. "I thought it was wonderful," Clara replied honestly, a smile lifting her lips. "What did you all think of it," she asked to her siblings, hoping that they enjoyed the show as much as she did. After she was answered, the black haired girl beside her spared no time. "You know, no offense or nothing, but... you all don't look much like circus folk. Why are you here? Are you staying or just passing through?" Clara laughed, unable to answer her right away. Penny was like a puppy; so excited, it was unsure what to do with itself. Clara regarded the girl, wondering if she would start vibrating from her restraint of more questions.

Ever patient, Clara calmed her laughing and nodded. "You're right, and I'm sorry to say we can not stay. We are heading to Easthaven, to live with our late aunt. The ringmaster was kind enough to give us a ride... Although it is lovely here and the people," she paused to offer the three of the circus group a smile, "are wonderful... We need to get to our aunts as soon as possible." Once she was sure that the two little ones were busy eating their food, and tuning her out, she added in a low tone, "I think that is where our mother went, and we are trying to find her." Clara felt a blush rise in her cheeks, and the reaction was unexpected. She was embarrassed. How does one 'lose' their mother? She felt like an idiot.

It was just then that she noticed a change in the younger female sitting beside her. "Penny, are you alright? Honestly, it's no problem at all, there's no need to be sad for us. I think the younger two are quite happy to be on such an adventure!" Clara felt relief when the other girl lifted her head and flashed a beautiful smile towards her. Clara smiled back, thankful to have lifted the girl's sadness. "What about you," she asked, turning her attention directly to Zach and then to Alex. "What brought you here, and why did you stay?" Don't you have families, she wanted to ask, but after glancing between the trio again, she decided against it.

As Penny began speaking to Clara, Zach kept quiet still. He'd not really thought anything different about his actions but apparently his sister didn't care for it. The younger girl kicked him quite hard in the shin and if that wasn't enough Penny made sure to mouth the words, "Be nice" to him. The younger girl even went so far as to glare at him. Zach had done a poor job at hiding his pain, though. He turned his blue eyes to his sister, returning her glare before rolling his eyes at her. He didn't understand why Penny wanted him to be social. She knew how much he hated speaking with those that he didn't know. He tried to push these thoughts from his mind and attempted to concentrate on what was going on around him. Penny was still talking with Clara. "You know, no offense or nothing, but... you all don't look much like circus folk. Why are you here? Are you staying or just passing through?" Zach noted quickly Penny's mood turning. He wondered what she was thinking. Hopefully it had nothing to do with him, though..he was afraid that perhaps it had to do with the both of them. Zach kept his eyes upon Penny, even as Clara answered the younger girl. "You're right, and I'm sorry to say we can not stay. We are heading to Easthaven, to live with our late aunt. The ringmaster was kind enough to give us a ride... Although it is lovely here and the people," she said smiling, "are wonderful... We need to get to our aunts as soon as possible." Clara spoke again before noticing the change in Penny. "Penny, are you alright? Honestly, it's no problem at all, there's no need to be sad for us. I think the younger two are quite happy to be on such an adventure!" the older girl said. Zach was quite happy when his sister seemed to perk back up and even smiled. Zach was frowning towards his sister. He would have to speak with her later about what was bothering her.

Zach was finally forced to take his eyes off of his sister when Clara directed a question towards the trio. "What about you? What brought you here, and why did you stay?" His blue eyes focused upon Clara. The boy's face was still quite blank even after Penny telling him to be nice. He just couldn't help it. He allowed Alex to answer first, listening to his friend. Zach knew that Penny was expecting him to answer Clara. Could he do it? He wasn't sure but he would try. After Alex had finished speaking, Zach stared at Clara. He wasn't sure why he was, but at last he finally tore his eyes from the girl in front of him, looking down at his plate. "My parents..they kicked me out of the house. Said that I was too much to handle..needed to straighten up." he said softly, still looking down. "I begged Penny to stay but..she insisted upon coming with me. We stayed because we have nowhere else to go." Finally he looked up again, holding Clara's gaze this time, for a moment before turning his gaze to Penny, trying to see if she was happy that he'd at least made an effort to speak with the girl.

Alex Curtis

Penny asked the question Alex had been wondering the whole time, "You know, no offense or nothing, but... you all don't look much like circus folk. Why are you here? Are you staying or just passing through?" The mood suddenly became tense at the wait for Clara's response, however it was all lost as Clara started laughing. Penny bit her lip, obviously restraining the multiple questions she wanted to blurt out.

Clara responded, "You're right, and I'm sorry to say we can not stay. We are heading to Easthaven, to live with our late aunt. The ringmaster was kind enough to give us a ride... Although it is lovely here and the people are wonderful... We need to get to our aunts as soon as possible." She then blushed a little as she bent closer to the trio and said in a hushed tone, "I think that is where our mother went, and we are trying to find her."

Alex didn't understand how a mother could get lost without the intent of abandoning her children but seeing Clara's blush made him refrain from asking and he did not want to make her sad. Penny's mood suddenly dropped and the whole atmosphere of the room nearly changed. Clara almost instantly said, "Penny, are you alright? Honestly, it's no problem at all, there's no need to be sad for us. I think the younger two are quite happy to be on such an adventure!" which brought Penny out of her zone and led to her giving one of her sparkling smiles. It was rare for Penny to be so sad which caught Alex a little off guard.

"What about you? What brought you here, and why did you stay?" Clara asked curiously. Alex suddenly became self-conscious of his scars, something he had learned to ignore, and while he couldn't cover the barely-visible scars on his eyes he made sure his sleeve was tucked down enough to cover the scars on his arm. Even Penny and Zach spoke to Alex little of his past. "You know, my family went through some tough times. My mother died when I was seven, which was tough on me but a lot tougher on my dad, who was very close to her. He started going out and drinking and eventually I couldn't take it much more and left on my eighth birthday. I didn't meet Zachariah or Penelope until I was twelve- or was it thirteen? I think they were frightened of me at first," Alex joked. He decided to leave out his habits of gambling and his fathers beatings.

Zach suddenly surprised Alex by sharing his story. He seemed to be doing it more to impress his sister rather than share his story, but nonetheless it was something unusual of Zach. The story always amazed Alex of how attached Penny was that she decided to go with her brother. However, the story always made Alex long for a companion who would always stick by his side. Clara's siblings had Clara and Zach had Penelope while Alex had no one.