December, Year 1

It was about a week before Gwen's birthday when her father knocked on her bedroom door. Gwen invited him in.

"Hello, Gwen. Everything going alright?" her father asked in his friendly, mild-mannered tone.

"Yes, Daddy. I was just studying," Gwen responded.

"That's good to hear," Frank said. "I was just talking to your Aunt Sandra earlier today. She was wondering if you and Ben would like to celebrate your birthday with the family again this year. I told her you'd probably prefer to spend it with your friends if given the choice, but I figured I'd ask anyway."

Gwen froze.

Ben.

In the past, they'd usually celebrated their shared birthday together, even though they both hated having to share anything with each other, let alone something as big as a birthday party. Now she was being given the option to celebrate with her friends. That would've be great, but...she didn't really have any friends. She had Emily, sort of, but they definitely weren't close enough for a two-person birthday party. That would just be crazy awkward. Plus, she'd hate to have to admit to her parents that she didn't have any friends. Gwen considered all of that. If given the same option last year, she would've been depressed about her circumstances, and begrudgingly chosen to share her party with Ben. But for whatever reason, the thought didn't even bother her. It genuinely felt like a better option, rather than the lesser of two evils.

"No, it's alright. We can celebrate my birthday as a family. I don't wanna make a big deal out of it or anything," Gwen told her father. She still couldn't bring herself to admit the idea appealed to her in the slightest, so she tried to play it off as no big deal.

"Family it is, then. Splendid! I was hoping to be there when my big girl turned 11," Gwen's father said.

"Daaad!" Gwen moaned, mortified despite no one else being around.

Frank chuckled and ruffled his daughter's hair. "Don't worry. I won't embarrass you in front of your cousin. Much. Well, I'll let Aunt Sandra know your decision. Goodnight, sweetheart. Try not to stress too much over studying," he said, leaving the room.

Gwen said goodnight to her father and put her head face down on her desk. She lay there and thought about her birthday.

Our birthday.


"That's fantastic news! I knew she'd come around!" Ben could hear his mother talking on the phone downstairs.

Uh-oh.

Next he heard footsteps as his mom made her way upstairs. She opened his door without bothering to knock. "Good news, Ben! We're celebrating you and Gwen's birthday together again this year!" she happily exclaimed.

"Oh, come on!" was Ben's only response, having suspected that's what this was about.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll both have a great time! I'm gonna go call your grandpa and invite him too. Goodnight, sweetie!" And then she left.

Ben lied down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He started thinking about Gwen.

Three months. It's been three months.

It was strange. He'd spent three months seeing her every day, and just like that, he'd gone three months without seeing her at all. He had, however, certainly thought a lot about her, which he refused to admit, even to himself. And, to his surprise, he started to feel guilty.

She's gonna be mad at me. Three months and no phone calls, no texts, no nothing. But hey, she hasn't tried to talk to me either! Why's it gotta be my fault?!

He crossed his arms and scowled. His expression calmed once he realized he was having an imaginary argument again.

I really need to stop doing that.

He rolled over and sat up, taking out his cellphone. He flipped through his contacts until he got to Gwen. He stared at his phone for a second, trying to decide what to do. He closed it and put it back in his pocket, lying back onto his bed.

What am I supposed to do?


On December 10th, the day of Ben and Gwen's birthday, the Tennyson family gathered at Ben's house. Ben, Gwen, Carl, Sandra, Frank, Natalie, and Max were all there. Natalie Tennyson usually avoided doing anything with her husband's side of the family, but she was willing to put up with them to be there for her daughter's birthday.

The night began with dinner, despite Ben's protests. He was eager to get to the presents and cake. Dinner was mostly boring conversation. The adults asked Ben and Gwen lots of questions about what they'd been up to since school started, which led to a lot of question dodging on their parts. Having their grandfather there was a relief though. Ben and Gwen had both been missing him immensely, and they enjoyed sharing knowing looks with him whenever they were asked about one of the places they'd visited over the summer.

Ben and Gwen hadn't said a word to each other all night. Ben still hadn't figured out what to say to her after practically ignoring her for three months. He had some good ideas, like 'Hey,' and 'What's up?' But all of that went out the window as soon as she walked in his front door. He couldn't tell if it was guilt or annoyance, but he just couldn't talk to her.

Gwen had been expecting at least a 'Hello,' but her cousin had only greeted her parents and then quickly walked away, leaving her confused. She'd actually been looking forward to seeing him for once, but it seemed like he was as unenthusiastic about seeing her as he had been before the summer. She wondered if he was mad at her for not talking to him since school started. Or maybe everything they'd been through together this summer hadn't really changed anything between them the way she thought it had.

So the two of them spent dinner shooting each other nervous glances, both of them suspecting the other of being mad at them, and neither of them willing to be the first to break the silence.

After dinner, Ben's mother started clearing away the dishes. "So! What next, kids? Do we wanna have cake first, or do we wanna open presents first?" she asked as she piled up everyone's plates.

"Cake!" Gwen said.
"Presents!" Ben said at the same time.

They looked at each other for a second, not knowing whether to apologize or to start fighting.

They settled on fighting.

"Cake!" Gwen repeated.
"Presents!" Ben returned.
"Cake!"
"Presents"
"Cake!"
"Presents!"

"Whoa, whoa! Calm down, you two!" Max stood up and held up his arms. Ben and Gwen stopped, but they continued to glare at each other. "Ben, Gwen, how about we start with the cake? Have our dessert to finish off our dinner. We can do presents right after," he suggested.

"I think that's a great idea, Grandpa!" Gwen said, giving Ben a smug look.

"Whatever, Dweeb," Ben said.

"Doofus," Gwen responded.

Ben's mother passed out new plates and forks for everyone. His father cut the cake and served everyone a piece. As they ate, the adults continued talking the way they had during dinner. Ben scowled the whole time. Even though the cake was delicious, he hated when Gwen beat him like that.

The fighting didn't end there either. They'd argued over who got the first slice of cake as well, and then when it was time to open presents, they fought over who got to open the first one. Both times, Max was able to intervene, suggesting they go at the same time rather than either going first. Ben and Gwen agreed, but they were both annoyed. They'd rather win than tie.

As Ben and Gwen opened their presents, their grandfather asked them, "Ben, Gwen, do either of you have a present for your cousin?"

They looked at their grandfather, then at each other, and then they both looked away at nothing in particular.

"For him?"
"For her?"
"Of course not!"
"Why would I?"
"What do I owe him?"
"So lame."

Max just sighed and rolled his eyes.

Ben and Gwen wore the same expression, their faces scrunched up in fake irritation at their grandfather's suggestion. Neither of them wanted to admit they felt slightly ashamed.

Gwen chanced a peek at Ben, who was focusing intently on opening another present.

Next year. I'll get you something next year. I promise.

"Alright!" Ben shouted, holding up the present he'd just opened. It was the new Sumo Slammers video game. With a smile on his face, he turned to Gwen. "Let's go play it! Right now!"

"Oh…okay," Gwen said as Ben grabbed her hand and pulled her along to the TV where he had his game console set up. She stared at him with a blank expression, surprised by his sudden change in attitude. It was like he'd completely forgotten they'd just spent the last few hours fighting.

I guess he just really likes his video games.

Ben handed her a controller as he started up the game, and before she knew what was happening, they were competing in one-on-one sumo combat.

Ben, who had played a lot of the previous game in the series, won the first few rounds. But after that, Gwen started picking it up rapidly, and won the next game.

"Yes! Take that, Doofus!" she gloated as Ben's character hit the ground.

"You got lucky. I'll win again next round," Ben declared.

"Dream on! I got this down now. I'm so gonna destroy you!"

For the next hour or so, Ben and Gwen continued to play each other in Ben's new game. The trash talking never let up. And as the kids played, the adults sat in the next room talking, occasionally looking back at Ben and Gwen when they shouted too loudly.

"Well, I'm glad to see my grandkids are getting along as well as ever," Max said, half-jokingly.

"Yeah, this is great," Sandra began. "Ben's been in sort of a…funk, lately. I haven't seen him have this much fun since before school started this year."

"Gwen, too," Frank said. "Her grades have been slipping this year, for the first time in a while." He turned to look at his daughter. A huge smile stretched across her face as she played the video game. "I'm glad she's having some fun for once."

"Well, maybe you could bring Gwen around more often. I'm sure Ben would appreciate the company," Carl said to his brother.

Frank looked at his wife, who reluctantly nodded her agreement. "I think that's a great idea," he said.

"Well, you two and Gwen are always welcome here," Sandra said.

After a bit longer, Gwen's parents decided it was getting late, and went into the TV room to collect their daughter.

"Alright, Gwen. Time to get going. Say goodbye to everyone, now," her father said.

Gwen was in the middle of a game. "Just let me finish this game! It'll be real quick, I swear. I'm kicking Ben's butt!" she said, never taking her eyes off the screen.

"Are not!" Ben responded.

"Am too!"

"Now, Gwen," her mother said, a little more sternly than her father.

"Oh, alright," Gwen sighed, pausing the game and putting her controller down. She went over to her aunt and uncle and gave them each a hug when she said goodbye. She did the same with her grandfather, giving him a kiss on the cheek as well. Then, as she grabbed her coat and headed for the door where her parents were waiting, she turned to look at Ben. He'd been standing, still holding his controller, watching her. She was glad she was a good distance from him because she would have been too embarrassed to hug him, especially in front of her whole family. Instead, she awkwardly smiled and raised her hand to wave goodbye without saying a word. Ben returned the gesture, and before he could say anything, his cousin turned and left.

After seeing their guests off, Ben's parents returned to the TV room to find Ben playing his game again. He had replaced Gwen's character with a CPU.

"Ben, how much longer do you plan to keep playing? It's pretty late as it is," his mother said.

"I can't stop now, Mom! I have to practice so I can beat her next time!" By their last match, Gwen was getting very good at the game. He wanted to be able to beat her every time. Ben wasn't above taking advantage of the fact that she didn't own the game so he could practice more than she could.

"Well, I'm glad you had so much fun playing with your cousin tonight. You can have her over any time you like, you know," Ben's father said.

Ben glanced at his parents and quickly turned back to the game. "I didn't say I wanted her over here again!" His parents smiled at each other and shook their heads. As they turned to leave, Ben said, "Well, maybe once or twice. But just so I can kick her butt again."


Frank Tennyson looked in his rear view mirror as he drove. Gwen was in the back seat, laying across the seats. She wasn't asleep, but her eyes were closed and she had a content smile on her face. Frank was happy to see his daughter like this. She'd been looking so stressed this year. He figured it was probably from school ramping up the workload to prepare her for middle school. It must've been hard on her. But at this moment, she looked so relaxed, like she didn't have a care in the world.

"Did you enjoy your birthday, Gwen?" Frank asked.

Gwen nodded and opened her eyes. "It was great. Thanks, Dad. Thanks," she said to her parents.

"Even with Ben there?" Frank asked.

Gwen shot up straight in her seat. "Ugh, he was the worst! He had to fight me over everything, like always! Like, would it've killed him to wait five more minutes to open presents?!"

"You sure seemed to enjoy it when he shared his new video game with you," Frank countered.

Gwen looked down at her feet and shifted around in her seat. "Well...he wasn't all bad," she said quietly.

Frank chuckled. "Well, don't worry. You and him can play more in a few weeks when we see him for Christmas."

"Pfft. Great." Gwen flipped her hair in annoyance.

Frank worried that his daughter was actually upset. But just a few minutes later, he checked his rear view mirror again. Gwen was back to laying down in the seat, eyes closed, with that same content smile on her face.


About a week after her 11th birthday, Gwen was in class. She hummed quietly to herself as she wrote down everything her teacher said. For some reason, she'd been loving her teacher lately. Everything she said was helpful and interesting to her. At the end of class, Gwen's teacher passed back the quiz she'd given the day before. Gwen slowly turned it over, worried about what grade she might see on it. Then she remembered she'd answered every question on it confidently when she'd taken it, and flipped it over. The top of the page was marked '100%.' "Yesss." Gwen smiled and did a fist pump.

"Great job!" Emily said, wheeling up next to Gwen's desk. She hadn't meant to peek at her grade, but since it was a good grade, she figured Gwen wouldn't mind.

"Thanks!" Gwen said. "You getting lunch? Let's go!" Gwen said, grabbing her stuff and standing up.

"Someone's in a good mood today," Emily commented. It seemed strange, given how bored or even sad Gwen had seemed this year. She figured it was because of the 100. Acing a quiz would lift anyone's spirits, especially a bookworm like Gwen.

"Sure am!" Gwen replied. This week was going great. Way better than the rest of the year had been. The only explanation she could come up with was that she'd been thrown out of the loop by her incredibly weird summer. It had simply taken her awhile to readjust, and now she was finally getting back into the swing of things.

I'll be back to the top of the class in no time!


"So, how have you been recently?" Ben's counselor asked him.

Ben still hated having to go to these sessions. He sat with his arms crossed and gave an unhelpful answer, "Fine."

"That's good to hear. Better than usual?" Susan asked.

"About the same," Ben answered.

"Now Ben, I spoke with your teacher earlier today, and she tells me you're attitude has significantly improved in the last week. In fact, she said you even asked her a question in class yesterday. You don't usually do that, it seems. And more than that, you've been friendly to all your classmates."

Ben put on his best 'I really wish I weren't here right now' face.

"Why do you feel the need to hide that from me?" she asked him. Ben didn't have an answer. "I know you don't like being here, but if you've had a positive change in your life recently, wouldn't it feel nice to share it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ben said.

Susan held back a sigh. Then she had an idea. "Your birthday was last week, wasn't it?" she asked.

Ben cracked a smile, but quickly hid it. "Yeah," he offered simply.

"Did you have a good birthday?"

Ben hesitated. "It was lame," he said.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"My birthday is two weeks before Christmas, so I never get a lot of presents."

"That's a shame. But I'm sure you got something you like."

"Well, yeah. I got this new video game I wanted."

This was good. He was answering her questions. Since this seemed to be something he was willing to talk about, Susan decided to keep asking about his birthday. "What game was that?"

"The new Sumo Slammers game," Ben said, cracking a smile and not bothering to hide it anymore.

"Cool! Is it fun?"

"Yeah! Me and my cousin played it for hours! It was awesome!" Ben's counselor was looking at him with an interested smile. He realized he must've been talking really enthusiastically. His smile, which had widened considerably, shrank again. Then he realized his other mistake. "The game was! The game was awesome, not playing it with my cousin."

Susan had a hunch this cousin of his might have been the person he claimed not to be missing at an earlier session. "Do you see your cousin very often? Or just on holidays?"

Ben scowled and fidgeted in his chair. "Just holidays, I guess."

"So this was the first time you've seen him in a long time?"

"Her," Ben corrected her, a little more forcefully than necessary. "And no, I spent all summer with her. It wasn't that long ago."

"Still, that's three whole months. It must have been a tough transition for you. Spending all summer with someone, then not seeing them at all for three months. It's hard to get used to someone not being there, after they spent so long always being there."

Ben didn't say anything. She'd basically just put into words the thoughts he'd had before, and that made everything feel weird. He scratched his head nervously and started looking around the room a lot.

"What's your cousin's name, Ben?" she asked.

Ben looked her in the eyes and hesitated. Looking away, he answered, "Gwen."

"Ben and Gwen, huh?" his counselor said, smiling. "That's funny!" Ben rolled his eyes. "Tell me about Gwen," she continued.

"She's the worst," Ben said quickly.

"What do you mean?" she asked. From the way Ben had tried too hard to make it clear it was his new game he enjoyed, and not his cousin, she was expecting him to say something like that.

"She's annoying. She's bossy. She thinks she knows everything. And she hates me," Ben said.

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you, Ben. Sure, family members are bound to get on your nerves once in awhile, but she still came to your birthday party, didn't she?"

"Only because it was her birthday too," Ben countered.

"You have the same birthday?" she asked. Ben nodded. "Is she older or younger than you?"

"We're the same age," Ben said.

"So you two were born on the same day? That's a pretty special thing to share with someone." Ben said nothing to that, so she continued. "Are you going to see her again on Christmas?"

"Yeah," Ben said.

"That's great! Are you looking forward to seeing her again?"

"No!" Ben denied it immediately, then quickly averted his gaze again. His face turned red, and he started scratching the back of his neck. It looked like he instantly regretted saying that.

Susan wasn't convinced that Ben was opposed to seeing his cousin again. He seemed much more willing to talk about her than anything else. But at the same time, he was even more prone to irritability than normal when he talked about her.

Their relationship must be pretty complex. But still, this is progress.

"I think we should meet again sometime after the holiday break, okay?" Susan said, dismissing Ben.

Ben nodded, his face still red with shame. He got up and left without another word.


Christmas Eve. Ben's parents were hosting the Christmas party this year. Most of the Tennyson family was invited, as well as a number of Carl and Sandra's friends. Gwen and her parents were invited too of course, although unsurprisingly Gwen's mother made an excuse not to come. Gwen loved her mother, but she resented the way she seemed to look down her knows at the Tennyson side of their family. Gwen knew the Tennysons were good people, even if some of them could act like jerks sometimes.

As soon as her father pulled up to the curb, Gwen hopped out of the car and practically ran to the front door of Ben's house. But when she got there, she stopped, thinking. It hadn't been long at all since she'd last been here; a mere fifteen days ago on her birthday. For the first time since then, she considered whether or not she'd left on good terms with Ben. Sure, they had fought over everything all day, but then they played video games together. They even waved to each other as she left. Or did they just do that because their parents and Max were there?

"You can just go right in, honey. They're expecting us," Gwen snapped out of her thoughts when her father caught up to her. She opened the door and stepped inside.

Gwen's uncle Carl and aunt Sandra greeted them almost immediately. Then Gwen took a moment to scan the area. Music was playing a bit louder than Gwen expected from an adult's party, and the house was much more crowded than it had been on her birthday. She saw her grandpa Max, Max's sister Vera and their brother Gordon, Gordon's wife Betty Jean, a whole bunch of extended family she vaguely knew, and some of her aunt and uncle's friends she really didn't know.

Then she spotted Joel, her great uncle Gordon's son, and his wife, Camille. Camille the sludgepuppy.

There's an alien in Ben's house!

Gwen freaked. She wasn't scared of Camille, since she knew she was a friendly alien. What she was more concerned about was her dad and Ben's parents finding out. She quickly ran over to her grandfather.

"Hey! Gwen! Glad you could make it!" her grandfather jovially greeted her. Gwen didn't say anything, but instead looked at him with a wide eyed look that signaled trouble. Without looking in their direction, she tilted her head towards Joel and Camille. Max looked over at them and got the message. "Oh, no need to worry," Max bent down and hugged Gwen, taking the opportunity to whisper in her ear. "She's staying in disguise for the whole evening. No need to worry about anyone else finding out."

Gwen was relieved, so she calmed down and gave her grandfather a real greeting. "It's good to see you again, Grandpa!"

Gwen chatted with her grandfather for a little while. He wanted to know how she liked being 11 and how school and her extracurricular activities were going. Gwen answered him as truthfully as she could, but she kept looking around like she was distracted by something.

"Looking for Ben?" Max asked.

"No!" Gwen answered as if she were offended by the mere notion.

Max laughed. "He's probably with Lucy. You remember Lucy, right?"

Gwen gave him a dumbfounded look. "Lucy, from the wedding?" she said.

Just how many aliens are at this party?!

Gwen remembered Lucy. She's the one who took her position as flower girl.

Not that I'm bitter.

She also danced with Ben.

Not that I care.

"You should go see her! I'm sure she'd be happy to see you. You're family now, after all. She and Ben are in the basement, I think."

Gwen nodded, excused herself, and headed for the basement like her grandfather suggested.

Downstairs, she found Ben and Lucy lounging on opposite ends of a couch, holding paper plates of food they'd brought from upstairs. She wondered what they were doing down here, but figured it was just because they were the only kids at this party, other than the infants some of their other relatives had brought with them.

As soon as they saw her, Lucy gasped, got up, and leaped over the couch. "Gwen!" she shouted, running over to hug her.

Gwen was taken by surprise. "Uh, hi, Lucy," Gwen said, awkwardly returning the hug. They were family now, but still, they'd only spoken a few times at the wedding last summer. Gwen thought it was weird for the blonde girl to be this enthusiastic about seeing her.

"Come sit with us! You want some cake? Or some chips? We snagged a bunch before we came down here. Eat 'em before the adults notice they're missing!" Lucy pulled Gwen by the hand and led her to where she and Ben had been sitting. Gwen sat in a sofa chair off to the side of the couch, both of which faced a table with a bunch of snacks on it.

Lucy immediately began asking her and Ben questions about 'Earth stuff' as she called it. Gwen didn't even get a chance to say hi to Ben. All they'd managed was to look at each other and nod, smiling vaguely.

"Ooh! Ooh! What's your school like? Is it in a big building? Is it just like math and stuff or do you have sports and stuff too?" Ben didn't like the mention of school, but Gwen answered her and told her a bit about what her school was like.

"Was the wedding your first time on Earth?" Gwen asked.

"No, Camille brought me when I was younger. But I'm living here now!" Lucy answered.

"Really?" Ben asked, seemingly excited at the prospect.

"Yeah! Well, not here here, but I've been living on Earth with Camille and Joel!"

Gwen was surprised to hear that. Most of Lucy's family hated humans, including Camille's parents, and probably Lucy's parents too.

Maybe that's why she's living with her cousin now. Neither of them get along with their parents.

Gwen decided not to ask about it.

"The schools I saw on Earth TV are way different than my new school, so I thought maybe all your schools were different or something. But your school sounds pretty similar to mine, Gwen. What's yours like, Ben?" Lucy spoke very fast. It was actually kind of hard to keep up.

Ben was staring at Lucy. "What?" he asked when he realized he'd been asked a question. He seemed distracted by something.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Lucy asked.

Ben looked kinda embarrassed, then answered. "Your eyes. Weren't they, like, blue before?"

Gwen looked into Lucy's eyes and saw they were violet. She hadn't noticed what color her eyes were at the wedding. Her face scrunched up in confusion.

Why would Ben notice something like that?

Lucy giggled a bit and gave Ben a sly grin. She leaned forward and locked eyes with him. "Just can't help getting lost in my pretty eyes, huh?"

Ben and Gwen's faces both flushed bright red. Gwen didn't like where this was going.

What the heck is she doing?!

"Uh, uh, um…" Ben stuttered and looked all around the room.

Lucy leaned away from him, laughing. "I can make my eyes whatever color I want! I kinda went back and forth between blue or violet in human form for awhile because of this human actress I saw in some old movies Camille showed me. Her eyes were always switching between blue and purple, and I just thought it was so pretty!" Lucy demonstrated by blinking several times. Each time she opened her eyes, they were a different color, sometimes a color that you'd never see in a human eye.

"That's so cool!" Ben said.

"Think so?" Lucy said, sounding kinda proud of herself. "The hair and the clothes and the rest of me I got from comic book superheroes!" she said, flipping her long blonde hair as she stood up to strike a majestic pose. Then she giggled and plopped back down onto the couch. Leaning in towards Ben again, she looked at him very intently. "You have really pretty eyes, too!"

"Uh, thanks." Ben was smiling awkwardly, not really sure how he felt about being called 'pretty.' However, he still blushed again. Gwen thought he was acting really weird.

Lucy turned to examine Gwen next. "Oh, wow!" Lucy got up off the couch, scurried over to Gwen, and leaned on her armrest, giving Gwen's eyes a closer look. "You two have, like, the exact same eyes!" she exclaimed.

Gwen was a little uncomfortable. She didn't like people invading her personal space like Lucy was doing just now. She looked over at Ben, making eye contact with him.

...We really do have the same eyes.

"Ooh! I know!" Lucy spun around once and struck a pose. "Whaddya think?" Her eyes had changed color again, and this time they were emerald green. The exact same shade of green that was in both Ben and Gwen's eyes. Gwen was bothered by this, but she wasn't sure why. Ben, on the other hand, seemed happy with it, which also bothered Gwen for some reason. She'd seen him look at someone else like that before, but she couldn't remember who it was.

"Heehee!" Lucy giggled and sat back down. Her eyes changed back to violet. "I gotta keep 'em purple now, though. Camille told me if I'm gonna live on Earth, I gotta pick a look and stick with it."

The three of them talked for a little bit longer. But after a while, it turned into mostly Lucy and Ben talking, and more and more Gwen was getting left out of the conversation. It was really starting to bother her.

Ben's never that interested in talking to me.

Gwen scowled at her own thoughts.

Not that I care.

"Hey, let's go upstairs for a bit," Ben suggested.

Lucy leaned over close to him like she'd done when he asked her about her eyes. "Hmmm? Why? You wanna dance with me again?" she asked with a suggestive grin.

Okay, are they FLIRTING?

Gwen's face scrunched up a bit.

I guess she's only related to us through marriage, but still. That's weird, right?

"What? I, I-" Ben stuttered.

Lucy hopped up onto her feet and laughed pleasantly. "Only teasing!" She grabbed Ben by the hand and stood him up. Then she made that same face at him again. "Unless you really want to!" Ben started stuttering again. Lucy laughed. "You're too easy!" She bounced over to Gwen and pulled her to her feet too. "C'mon, Cuz! Let's go see what's going on upstairs!"

Christmas music was still playing on the ground floor. Even in the rooms furthest from the speakers where it was quiet enough to actually hear other people talk, the music could still be heard. Lucy was enjoying it immensely. As they went around sampling every little snack Ben's mother had left out and talking to relatives and other guests, Lucy was dancing from room to room. Occasionally she'd pull Ben or Gwen into her dance and spin them around or something while laughing at their reactions. Gwen thought Lucy's overly-energetic antics would start to wear on her, but she actually started to enjoy hanging out with her. The alien girl's upbeat attitude was infectious, and it was hard to say no to such a genuine smile.

At one point, Gwen got separated from Ben and Lucy, having gotten stuck talking to one of her more boring relatives. The distant aunt, or however they were related, was going on and on about people Gwen knew absolutely nothing about, so she glanced over at the others for some help. She saw Lucy whispering something into Ben's ear, to which Lucy giggled and Ben laughed and nodded. The two of them looked over at Gwen and pointed in the direction of the stairs leading to the second floor. Then they walked off through the kitchen in that direction.

Gwen wanted to know what that was about. After another minute, she managed to find an opening in her relative's story and excuse herself. She quickly headed upstairs. When she got up there, she saw no one. "Ben? Lucy?" she called. The music from downstairs could only faintly be heard, but she still spoke up.

"In here!" she heard Ben call back from his room. She could faintly hear Lucy giggling as well.

Ben's door was open a crack, so Gwen pushed it open as she walked in. "What are you two-" She was cut off by the punch bowl that fell on her head. She shrieked in surprise as she was suddenly soaked, and Ben and Lucy cracked up. "Psych!" Lucy shouted mid-laugh.

Gwen stood in the doorway, fists clenched in anger, glaring at the two of them with fury in her eyes. Ben and Lucy kept laughing for a moment. "Man, we so got you!" Ben said.

"Got you good! With a classic too!" Lucy joined in. She looked at Gwen with a smile, but when she saw how angry Gwen looked, her smile shrank considerably. "Er...Gwen? Are you alright? Sorry if that hurt, we were just trying to prank you."

"Pfft, Gwen can't take a joke," Ben said. He chuckled a little more, but he sounded nervous.

Gwen inhaled and exhaled deeply. Closing her eyes, she raised her arms and said a few words. It sounded like Latin, and her voice echoed a bit.

"Wait, wait, no!" Ben shouted, shielding his face with his hands. Lucy stood there confused.

A blue circle appeared above Gwen. It slowly lowered through her, reaching the ground and disappearing. Suddenly she was dry, all the punch having magically disappeared.

"…Oh," Ben said. He was expecting violent magical retribution, not a cleaning spell.

"Wow, cool! I didn't know you could do magic!" Lucy excitedly bounced towards Gwen, but Gwen turned and slammed the door on them, storming off down the hall.

Back downstairs, Gwen sat in a sofa chair in the corner of the living room. The party was still going on around her, although the music had died down and some people were starting to leave. Gwen was glad nobody was trying to talk to her right now.

She was mad. It wasn't the prank itself that she was upset about, not exactly anyway. It hadn't been too harmful, especially since she was able to clean herself up so easily. But she didn't like being tricked, or ganged up on, or laughed at, or humiliated, or being told that she couldn't take a joke.

Ben. He always says stuff like that. And it's not true! He's just being a jerk!

After sitting there brooding for a while, Gwen saw Lucy come into the room, looking around. She spotted Gwen and walked over to her. "Hey," Lucy said with a nervous smile on her face. When Gwen just stared at her angrily, Lucy sighed. "I'm sorry about the punch bowl thing, Gwen. We were just playing around. We didn't mean anything by it, I swear."

Gwen nodded. "…Okay."

"And Ben's sorry too," Lucy continued.

Gwen looked at her skeptically. "I doubt it."

"He is!" Lucy insisted.

"Did he say so?"

"...Well, no, but-"

"He's not sorry."

Lucy didn't argue with that. "So, you wanna come back upstairs with us?" Lucy asked.

Gwen just shook her head, so Lucy excused herself and headed back upstairs.

Of course he's not gonna apologize. When's the last time Ben apologized for anything?

Gwen continued brooding. This was nothing new.

This is so like him. He does something to me, and then he acts like I'm the one who's wrong for getting mad.

"Doofus!" she said out loud.

But a few minutes later, she saw Ben and Lucy come back downstairs. She perked up and stared at them. Against everything she'd been thinking, she actually thought Lucy had convinced him to come and apologize to her. But he didn't even glance in her direction. Lucy did, and gave Gwen what looked to be an apologetic smile. The two of them sat down with Ben's parents at a table in the other room.

Ben's parents wanted to get to know Lucy better. Having missed Joel and Camille's wedding, they'd only just met her and Camille for the first time that day. As they talked, Ben kept looking over in Gwen's direction, but he never made eye contact with her. Gwen honestly couldn't tell whether or not he'd even noticed she was staring at him.

Come on, Doofus. Just an 'I'm sorry.' Even a half-sincere one. Can you manage that?

But Gwen didn't get her apology. When her father told her it was time to go, they went to say goodbye to Ben's parents. Ben had disappeared to some other part of the house. Lucy, however, gave Gwen a big hug goodbye.

"Mmmmm!" Lucy made a strained sound as she hugged Gwen tightly.

"Ow. Okay, Lucy. Ow!" Gwen struggled until Lucy let up a bit.

Lucy giggled, but still kept Gwen wrapped in her arms. "It was so good to see you again, Cuz!"

"It was great to see you again too, Lucy," Gwen said, genuinely glad the other girl had been there, despite the trouble she may have caused.

"We definitely gotta keep in touch. I wanna see your pretty face as much as possible, okay?" Lucy went on.

Gwen laughed a little at that, even though it was embarrassing. "Sure, I'd like that. Let's keep in touch." After Lucy finally let her go, they exchanged phone numbers, then Gwen left with her father.

As they got in their car, Gwen's father noticed she was looking a little upset. "Something wrong, Gwen?" he asked.

"Nothing," Gwen said, not even making an attempt to make it sound convincing.

"You and Ben have another fight?"

Jeez, that obvious?

Gwen sighed. "He's such a jerk."

Gwen's father continued driving and took a moment to respond. "You know, after spending all summer with him, I figured you two would've had more than enough time to work out this feud you guys have." He didn't say it angrily or condescendingly at all, it was more like he was surprised that things didn't work out like that.

"Hah," Gwen gave a derisive laugh. "As if. We fought constantly last summer. If anything, it just proved he was even more of a jerk than I thought."

Gwen looked up at her father. She could see the tinge of sadness in his eyes as he stared ahead at the road. Gwen felt bad. She didn't like it when her father was upset, and he always wanted her and Ben to get along. Gwen had to remind herself that this was Ben's fault.

He's the one who's impossible to get along with. Not me.


Ben couldn't get to sleep. The party had ended and h'd gone upstairs to bed an hour ago, but he just laid in bed, awake and staring at the ceiling. His brow was knit and his jaw was clenched. Thoughts of the night's events nagged at him.

He knew he'd screwed up. When he pulled that prank on Gwen, he really didn't think she'd get that upset. He just wanted to annoy her a little. But after she stared daggers at him and Lucy and stormed off, he knew he'd made a mistake.

But Ben couldn't admit that to Gwen. He couldn't just let her win like that. That's why he couldn't apologize, even after Lucy begged him to.

And that just made him feel even more guilty. He'd screwed up, and then he'd just left her to mope in the corner for the rest of the night. All he had to do was apologize, then maybe things could've been okay.

He wasn't sure why he'd hidden in another room when Gwen was leaving. Maybe he knew he'd crack and apologize if she confronted him, and he still didn't want to let her win like that. Maybe he was just too ashamed to even be around her. Whatever the case, he'd let her leave without giving her an apology or even saying goodbye.

He had no idea how long it would be before he saw her again.

What am I supposed to say to her when I do?

The thought felt familiar. It was just like before he saw her on their birthday. Ben rapidly lifted his head and slammed it into his pillow several times.

This shouldn't even bother me!

He yelled at himself internally. Before last summer, he and Gwen had parted ways on bad terms like this many times, usually after fights a million times worse. Some of those times he'd felt guilty, but never like this. He never worried about how long he'd have to go without seeing her, or what he was gonna say to her the next time he saw her.

Ben rolled over onto his side.

It's still her fault. She cleaned it up with her magic, so no problem. And it was just a joke. She needs to learn to take a freaking joke.

But that thought only made him feel more guilty. "Argh!" he grunted, rolling onto his back again and slamming his fists onto his bed.

What is WRONG with me?!