Chapter 25: Return to Normalcy
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my OC
"Happy Thanksgiving everyone!" Lauren exclaimed cheerfully as she bounded down the stairs.
"Well, thank you, Lauren!" Miss Grimwood called, walking out of the kitchen. "And a happy Thanksgiving to you, too."
"Whatcha cooking in there?" Lauren asked, walking up to her.
"Just the standard turkey, ham, and a dozen side dishes." Miss Grimwood informed her airily, stirring a pot.
"Well, it smells delicious." Lauren complemented, inhaling deeply. "Are the cadets going to be joining us?"
"Them and the Colonel." Miss Grimwood supplied.
"Sounds great. Do you mind if I pop in there for a second?" Lauren asked, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Be my guest." Miss Grimwood replied.
Lauren smiled at her before walking past her and into the kitchen. Stepping inside, Lauren took a whiff. It smelled good to her, but there was one problem. It was all rotten. This wouldn't do if the cadets planned on eating it. Rolling up her sleeves, Lauren pulled open the oven and took out the turkey. It wasn't fully cooked, but that was okay. She shut her eyes and placed the palms of her hands over the turkey. Focusing her magic on the bird, Lauren felt it becoming fresher. Opening up her eyes, Lauren tore a bit of the turkey off and tried it. It was still delicious, but fresh this time. Smiling, she put it back in the oven before doing the same thing with the ham. Lastly, Lauren worked her magic on the mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and the pumpkin pie. When all the food was no longer rotten to the core, Lauren smiled, wiped her hands off on a nearby rag, and left the kitchen.
Checking the time, it hadn't even taken half an hour. And it was only nine o'clock in the morning, giving her plenty of time to get ready for the evening. Lauren went back upstairs and into her bedroom before taking off her pajamas. She pulled on a pair of jeans, a grey sweater, and a pair of black boots. She then sat to work on her hair. Sitting down in front of her vanity, Lauren concentrated on her hair until it was curled to perfection. It was nearly eleven o'clock and Lauren had the next seven hours to occupy her time with. Her eyes instantly landed on the pile of books on her nightstand. Walking over, she picked one up and sat on the cushioned area by her window. Leaning against a pillow, she propped the book open and began to read. She was sucked into the magical world of James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and Snape and it was phenomenal. Lauren couldn't believe how well written the books were, especially compared to the original Harry Potter series, which started out much cheesier.
It was hours before she checked the time again. When she did, she saw it was nearly six o'clock. She was already on the third book when she decided to check the time. Placing a bookmark to keep her place, Lauren set the book on a pillow and stood up. Stretching, she popped out her back, beat the wrinkles out of her shirt and headed down the stairs. The feast was going to be held in Miss Grimwood's school and all the ghouls were going to help set up. Descending the stairs at a run, Lauren took notice of how the other ghouls were already down stairs. Sibella and Phantasma unfolded the table cloth and let it out on the table. Winnie and Tanis set the plates and silverware. Elsa was bringing out the food and setting it on the table. Feeling guilty for arriving too late to do any of the heavy lifting, Lauren ran into the kitchen and smack into Miss Grimwood, coincidentally the woman she was looking for. "Miss Grimwood!"
"Yes, Lauren?" Miss Grimwood blinked, not expecting this sudden exclamation.
"Are there any decorations that need to be set out?" Lauren quickly asked.
Miss Grimwood didn't even need to ponder her response but simply said "I'm afraid not. Thanksgiving just isn't that major of a holiday around here. The only one we pull out all of the stops for is Halloween."
"Wait, wait, wait. Does that mean no Christmas tree, wreath, sleigh, snowmen, lights, or presents on Christmas? No eggs, bunnies, and flowers on Easter? No flags on the Fourth of July? No hearts, flowers, and chocolate on Valentine's day? No cornucopia on Thanksgiving?" Lauren asked, clutching her heart in shock.
Miss Grimwood smiled sheepishly before replying "Like I said, the only holiday we decorate for is Halloween."
Shaking her head, Lauren hopefully asked "Would you mind if I decorated?"
"I don't see why not." Miss Grimwood replied as Lauren teleported out of the kitchen and into a home goods store. After a bit of walking, she found what she was looking for. A cornucopia filled with fake foods and leaves, leaf shaped lights, festive cushions, streamers, and several other little baubles that she quickly paid for before teleporting back to her school. She set the decorations up, placing each one with noticeable care. Lastly, she lit the candles she'd set up and turned on the lights she'd strung before stepping back to admire her work.
It wasn't a second later when the Colonel walked through the door, the cadets following closely behind him. Tug saw Lauren and made a beeline for her. "Happy Thanksgiving." Tug said, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Same to you, babe." Lauren said, pressing her lips against his, and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"It is now that I'm with you." Tug replied as he pulled his lips away from Lauren's and leaned his forehead against hers.
"Oh, please." Lauren replied, about to kiss him again when Miss Grimwood gently tapped a spoon against a glass and said "Everyone, please have a seat."
The seats were quickly filled, resulting in Miss Grimwood and the Colonel at the heads of the table, the ghouls taking up three seats on each side, the cadets taking up the other three seats on each side. To the left of Miss Grimwood sat Phantasma, beside her Sibella, beside her Lauren, beside her sat Tug, Roger beside him, Grunt beside him. To the right of Miss Grimwood sat Elsa, beside her Winnie, beside her, Tanis, beside her Baxter, beside him Jamal, beside him Miguel. Lauren and Tug were the only two talking whose conversation involved a cadet and a ghoul. The rest of the ghouls talked to themselves while the cadets kept to their end of the table. Baxter looked at Tanis occasionally, each time opening his mouth to say something, but upon looking at her he seemed to get cold feet and would turn away.
Shaking her head, Lauren grabbed Tug by the wrist and pulled him to his feet, before pulling off, ignoring the shocked and confused looks of the other table occupants. Lauren let go when they were finally out in the hallway. "What's the matter?" Tug asked, rubbing her shoulders soothingly.
Lauren put her face in her hand for a minute before saying "It's the tension in the room. I can't take it anymore. Why won't the cadets and the girls talk to one another? We get along just fine. I mean, we are dating."
Tug scratched his chin before suggesting "Maybe it's because we knew each other before coming here, and already like each other before then."
"Could be." Lauren said, removing her hand from her face. "That's probably the only reason as to why we're not ignoring each other right now. But that still doesn't explain why. Could it be because of that volleyball game? No, I take that back, that doesn't make any sense. Our schools play a game of volley ball every single year, celebrate holidays together like now, you lot came over for my birthday, you saved our lives from Revolta, we saved yours from quicksand, we have constant run-ins with each other! So why the silence?"
Tug shook his head when Lauren's eyes met his because he had no idea. He'd noticed the tension as well, but hadn't the slightest idea why it was there. "Maybe they just don't know what to say to each other. Maybe they need a push." Tug suggested.
"A conversation instigator? That does have potential." Lauren agreed before she was struck by a thought. "But I wouldn't know what to say to any of the cadets apart from you. Unlike the other girls, I'm new here and don't know much of anything about any of them except for you."
"I'm sure they won't mind talking to you, Lauren, I mean you did save our lives with that food. If the Colonel wasn't in there, the guys would probably have asked you to get more stuff for them." Tug told her truthfully.
Lauren laughed before saying "I'd be more than happy to. I say Colonel Calloway can stuff it and the boys can tell me everything their hearts desire." She sighed before adding "And we should probably get back to the table before they start up their own conversation about ending with more kids than they started with." Tug nudged Lauren in the ribs as she said that before kissing her quickly on the lips. Lauren willed herself not to lean in for another but rather walked back into the dining area. She sat down, Tug beside her, and took a sip of sweet tea to clear her throat before saying "So, Baxter, Tug has been telling me how much you like to play basketball during your free time. It just so happens that I played for my school's varsity basketball team since middle school and would be more than happy to play a game with you if you'd like." Baxter froze, not believing that he'd been spoken to. "In fact," Lauren continued, "Since I've been promoted to the P.E. teacher here, the girls have all gotten pretty good at basketball, varsity good, and I bet they'd love to play a game against you and the rest of the cadets. It's wonderful how there's the perfect number of us to play as well, six on six."
"Uh, er, yeah, er, maybe, yeah, sometime, um... yeah." Baxter mumbled into his cup. Tug glanced from Baxter to Lauren, before holding her gaze. She looked determined to keep this going.
"Of course, it couldn't cut into your school time, nor ours, but I'm sure something could be arranged. I hear this Saturday is going to be unusually warm for this time of year." 'Or at least it is now.' Lauren thought to herself as she took a sip of her tea again. She was going to keep this going for as long as possible. "But it doesn't have to be basketball. It could be anything you like. Soccer, baseball, softball, tennis-"
"Tennis? That's a girls sport!" Grunt argued from beside the Colonel. When he saw everyone had turned to look at him, he paled a bit, not meaning to have drawn attention to himself. But it couldn't be helped now.
Lauren's head snapped to face him. Well, she'd gotten the cadets talking, just not in the way she was hoping for. Tug sensed a lecture coming about and stifled his laugh. He would never have called tennis, a sport that involved hard rackets and balls that could be served a hundred miles an hour, girly. Lauren smiled slightly at Grunt before asking "But have you ever played tennis? If not, then a, you have no right to call it a girly sport, and b, I challenge you to a match, directly after this meal. And when you have the body of a Greek god like Nadal, Fognini, Djokovic, Federer, Berdych, or Tursunov, who by the way are all male tennis players and have an annual income of several million dollars, let me know." This stunned Grunt into silence. Lauren smiled, took a bite of turkey, and said "But I am serious when I say we're having a match after dinner. I have a spare racket you can use, and since you believe tennis to be such a 'girly sport', I'm sure you won't need me to teach you the basics, though I will go over the rules. Fortunately, I have a score sheet so we'll be able to keep track of precisely what happens." And with that, Lauren ate very little the rest of the meal. If she got hungry later, she could get more food, but as of now she had to keep her stomach as empty as possible, less she throw up on the court.
The meal wasn't as quiet now, but the chatter mainly came from the girls who were all asking Lauren about tennis, a sport she had yet to introduce to them. "I promise that, starting tomorrow, I will begin tennis lessons for you five. It's a lot more complicated than the sports we've already played, but I think by the second lesson you should get it." Lauren could feel Grunt eyeing her, looking for any form of advice he could use during the game, but at the moment she was feeling merciless. And a tad confused. How could he call tennis girly, but not volleyball, she'd never understand.