AN: Huzzah! Hope you guys are doing alright. Gonna get this week started with another chap, so, before we start...
McSgwizzle: I was wondering if anyone would catch on, but you are correct; Susie is based off the indigo fairy from Dog's Day Afternoon. Smart cookie ;)
****3 MONTHS LATER****
A breath of fresh air brushed her face as she strolled down the sidewalk of Abbott Street, embracing the warm rays of Sunday afternoon Spring. Wanda tapped the corresponding keys on her cellphone, replying to Susie's most recent text, before she came upon the Magnificos' abode and hovered towards the front door.
Finals week followed shortly after Senior Night, and after Finals Week came the three-week Christmas Break. Because they never really spent much time together outside of Susie and/or Alewandro, Juandissimo and Wanda spent majority of their Christmas Break with each other; frequenting the mall, spending time at Fairy Falls, grabbing a few shakes at The Diner, and visiting each other's respective households to get to know more about their families. On the eve of the Monday students returned to school, Juandissimo asked Wanda to be his girlfriend, and without hesitation, Wanda accepted.
Word of Wanda and Juandissimo becoming official spread through CPPFH halls like wildfire; it was the highlight of most conversations during the first week after the break. There were many speculations as to how they got together, from Juandissimo dating Wanda out of pity for her to Wanda 'giving herself' to Juandissimo. Juandissimo quickly dispelled the rumors, but Wanda wasn't comfortable with all the unwarranted attention. Susie came to her comfort, reminding how she had gone through that exact scenario when she started dating Alewandro, and she assured her that all the talk would dissipate as soon as it began, which it did.
Things were pretty smooth sailing after the first few weeks, and though some still had their opinions, they mostly kept those opinions to themselves. Wanda took notice of how reclusive Cosmo became upon hearing his ex in a new relationship, and it honestly worried her. Juandissimo and Susie would remind her that she wasn't responsible for Cosmo's happiness anymore. She knew they were right, but for some reason, she couldn't stop herself from caring. Despite this, she gave Juandissimo as much attention as she could when they were together, shutting all thoughts of Cosmo out of her head.
Wanda knocked on the front door and waited for a member of the Magnifico household to answer. She could hear the unlocking of the doorknob and deadbolt before she was greeted by Mrs. Magnifico upon opening the door.
"Wanda! ¡Buenas tardes!" Mrs. Magnifico welcomed as she gave Wanda a hug 'hello.' "¿Cómo estás?"
"Good." Wanda replied, returning the hug. "How are you?"
"Ahh, soy buena, gracias." Mrs. Magnifico smiled as she motioned for Wanda to come inside. "¡Entra, entra!"
Wanda entered the short hall which led straight into the kitchen as Mrs. Magnifico closed the door behind her. Shortly after, Juanita entered the kitchen, waving to Wanda with a smile. Wanda returned her greeting, and Juanita hovered over to the refrigerator. She reached for an apple soda, releasing the soda tab as she waited for the fizz to settle.
"Juanita, seriously?!" Mrs. Magnifico placed a hand on her hip. "That is your third one today! You will spoil your appetite for dinner if you keep drinking those!"
"Can I just have one more, mamá?" Juanita begged with fake pleading eyes. "¿Por favoooooooooorrr? Last one, I promise!"
Wanda watched as Mrs. Magnifico shook her head and eventually sighed. "Fine, one more." Mrs. Magnifico waved a finger. "But only one more!"
"Gracias, mamá!" Juanita beamed as she exited the kitchen with soda in hand, making Wanda chuckle.
Alewandro soon entered the kitchen, acknowledging Wanda's presence with a pleasant hello before floating over to his mother to kiss her on the cheek.
"Well hello to you too, mijo." Mrs. Magnifico responded to her son's suspicious affection with a side eye. "What do you want?"
"May I go over to Susie's?" Alewandro asked. "Just for a little while?"
"You just came from her house an hour ago!" Mrs. Magnifico pointed out. "And now you are going back?"
"I just realized I forgot something over there!" Alewandro replied, trying to persuade his lie into truth. "I am just going back over to get it."
"You know your father does not like you spending so much of your time over her house." Mrs. Magnifico reminded, folding her arms. "And you promised you would stay for dinner!"
"¿Por favor, mamá?" Alewandro pleaded pathetically. "I will not stay long, I swear!"
Wanda turned to Mrs. Magnifico as a cunning smile etched across her face. "Tell you what." Mrs. Magnifico reasoned, reading her wristwatch for the current time. "If you are back before dinnertime, your father will never have to know."
Alewandro reached into his pocket for his cellphone, also reading for the current time. "One hour, tops!" Alewandro assured. "Promise!" He waved 'goodbye' and sped through the hallway to the front door, locking the door as he left.
With a chuckle, Mrs. Magnifico turned to Wanda and guaranteed "He will be back in forty minutes."
"Wow." Wanda giggled. "Does that work every time?"
"Si. With all three of them." Mrs. Magnifico bragged. "Perks of having a cop for a husband. Anywho." Mrs. Magnifico hovered to one of the cabinets for a pot. "Juandissimo is in his room. Make sure to keep the door open?"
"Yes ma'am." Wanda assured politely, entering the hallway towards Juandissimo's bedroom.
She had learned pretty quickly that Juandissimo's parents weren't nearly as helicopter as hers, but she understood the Magnificos' 'don't close the door all the way' policy when it came to any significant others visiting under their roof. It wasn't a rule against her or Susie since Juanita would have the same rule when she began dating, but, in the words of Mrs. Magnifico, "I know how teenage boys can be, and I am too young to be an abuela!" Wanda knew she was seriously joking when she made that statement, loving his parents even more.
Melodies of G major I-V-vi 6/4-IV chord progression resonated from Juandissimo's guitar as Wanda opened the door to his bedroom. Realizing his guest had arrived, he muted the strings and gently placed his guitar on the floor to lean against his bed, leaving his pick in between his strings. Wanda half closed the door as Juandissimo hovered over to her, smiling as he approached. He held her by the waist and pulled her closer to him, kissing her softly. She smiled as his lips met hers once more, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs.
"Eres tan linda, mi remolina rosa." Juandissimo rubbed his nose against hers, his day instantly brightened by her presence.
Wanda had been around him enough times to know exactly what he meant, blushing shyly. It made her stomach get all fluttery whenever he called her cute. "So, what were you playing?" Wanda asked, averting the subject.
"Just a little something I learned from when I was younger." Juandissimo explained, tucking a loose curl behind Wanda's ear.
"…wiiillll you play it for me?" Wanda asked innocently, throwing in a puppy dog pout just because. "Pretty please?"
Juandissimo chuckled, knowing that she knew he couldn't say no to that face. "Okay, okay." Juandissimo groaned teasingly as Wanda smiled, letting her go to grab his guitar. "Since you asked so nicely."
Wanda made her way onto the bed as he returned to his seat on the edge next to his nightstand, positioning his guitar to where the side of the body nestled on his right leg and his right hand pressed against the frets. She leaned against the pillows by his bedpost and brought her knees to her chest as he retrieved his pick in his left hand. He strummed in an andante tempo with rhythmic patterns, staring with the same I-V-vi 6/4-IV chorus from before.
"I remember how often my mother would sing, no matter a decent day or a horrible day." Juandissimo recollected as he played. "As cliché as it sounds, her voice was like the chorus of a thousand angles. It was soothing to hear her sing; when Juanita and I were younger and were afraid of the dark or scared of silly monsters in our closet, she would lay with us in our room and sing to us until we fell asleep. This was one of those songs, but she did not sing this one as often as others."
Wanda listened intently, taking everything in. She liked moments like these when he would reminisce of good memories about his mother. It was a nice change of pace from those awful flashbacks of the night she died.
"Juanita reminds me of her a lot." Juandissimo continued. "Not just in looks. She has a voice similar to hers, though she jokes how she will never be a great of a singer as our mother. I disagree, but she will learn, soon enough."
"I kind of wish I had the chance to meet her." Wanda admitted, thinking to herself. "She sounds wonderful from what you've described."
Juandissimo smirked. "If you think my parents love you, my mother would have adored you."
As the song came to a close, Juandissimo silenced his strings with his palm and returned his guitar to his spot on the floor against his bed. "So." Juandissimo turned to his girlfriend, scooting beside her. "Anything exciting I should know about?"
Wanda face fell, looking away.
Juandissimo noticed the sudden mood change. "¿Qué pasa mal?"
Wanda hugged her knees, her chin resting on her kneecap. "Nothing, just my parents on my case again about not going into the family business. They're practically Blonda's management when it comes to her acting dreams, getting her all of these different prospects with talent agents and photographers and acting classes…yet when it comes to me wanting to become a god parent and actually bring happiness to a miserable child, they condemn it like it's sacrilege…"
Juandissimo sighed, wondering when her parents would ever get off their high horse. "You have not…..have you?"
"No…" Wanda assured, knowing Juandissimo was referring to her unhealthy coping method. "But I can't say it hasn't been difficult not to."
A cheeky idea crossed Juandissimo's mind.
He scooted her legs to lie horizontally and positioned himself to sit in between them. He sat on his knees and propped himself on top of her with his arms on either side of her waist, arching just above eye level. 'What are you doing' was written all over her face as he leaned closer to where their noses almost touched. With a sensual smile, the tone of his voice deepened as he softly said "Maybe this will help."
He tilted his head and parted his lips to hers. At first, she didn't know how to react, but after the second and third kiss, she knew exactly what he was doing. He was seducing her, and it was working.
She caressed his cheeks in her palms, closing her eyes in arousal as he deepened the kiss. His soft lips became more longing, tender enough to take things slow yet rousing enough to leave her begging for more.
"Hey, Juandissimo?" Juanita called from the hallway, approaching his bedroom. "Mamá wanted to know if Wanda was staying for dinn-"
Her sudden squeal when she flew into the room stirred the teen couple, both darting their heads towards the door.
"Juanita!" Juandissimo exclaimed, a wide glare in his eyes. "¿¡Qué carajo!?"
"¡Lo siento, l-lo siento mucha!" Juanita apologized, whirling her hands in humiliation. "No quise entrar-"
"Ever heard of knocking?!"
"S-Sorry!"
Juanita fled the room as quickly as she entered. Juandissimo fell backwards on the bed, grunting as he palmed his face with both hands. Of all the freaking times…it had to be this. It wasn't like they'd go any further than where they were, but still!
Totally not expecting that exchange, Wanda turned to her boyfriend and laughed. He was so cute when he was embarrassed.
Glimmers of sunset sparkled amidst the dark of his bedroom, particles of air dust shimmering within the sunbeams. Mama Cosma knocked three times before entering his bedroom, sensing the need to check on him. He hardly said a word that morning, and after lunch, he went straight to his room, making not a sound. After not hearing or seeing him for six hours, she decided to go to his room to see what he could possibly be up to. His silence the last couple of months has been quite odd, even for her.
Cosmo, fully clothed with socks on his feet, laid flat on his stomach with his head facing the window. She knew he was asleep from the rhythmic rise and fall of his wings, followed by the ebb and flow of subtle snoring. 6:00pm blared in red across his alarm clock as she looked to see the current time. He couldn't have been asleep this whole time; how tired could he be?
Groaning in displeasure, Mama Cosma hovered over to his nightstand to twist the switch of his lamp to 'on.' She placed her hand on his back and shook him, giving a few tries before Cosmo jolted awake, sitting up in a haze.
"Cosmo, it's six o'clock!" Mama Cosma complained, Cosmo rubbing the sleep from his mind. "You've been out for hours!"
Blinking away the fog, Cosmo squinted towards his clock, soon realizing how long he'd slept. He felt awful and figured a nap would help make the grogginess go away. He didn't expect an hour nap to turn into six. "Sorry, mama…" Cosmo mumbled with a yawn. "…Didn't mean to sleep so long…"
She pressed her palm against his forehead, checking for any signs of ailment. "Hmm…" She switched from her palm to the back of her hand, noting how half open his eyes were. "You're a little warm, but you're not feverish."
Cosmo didn't respond as she removed her hand, arching her brow as she pointed out "You've been sleeping a lot, though."
"Sorry, mama…" Cosmo murmured, keeping his eyes low. "…just been…tired."
"More like lazy." Mama Cosma criticized, folding her arms. "You think you're tired? You don't know the first thing about being tired!"
Cosmo sighed, bracing for yet another Mama Cosma rant.
"You have no job and no other responsibilities outside of chores and school, which you haven't been doing a very good job with either one! All you do lately is sleep, and you barely talk to me anymore!"
Well geez, mother, I wonder why?
"Get off your butt and go take a shower!" Mama Cosma ordered, turning to leave the room. "It smells like wet dog in here!"
Cosmo didn't do as much as flinch when his mother slammed the door shut. He doesn't know the first thing about being tired? Yeah, right. He felt like crap all day every day; she wouldn't have any clue what that feels like! "Screw her…" Cosmo grumbled under his breath, eventually finding the strength to get out of bed. After searching through his dresser for his night clothes, Cosmo rolled his clothes into a ball and left for the bathroom.
Closing the door behind him, Cosmo flew over to the shower and twisted the faucet to lukewarm. Water spritzed from the showerhead as Cosmo slowly removed his clothes. When he wore nothing but his underwear, he glared at his reflection in the mirror. What a piece of crap…he spat in his mind, despising the image glaring back at him. He had twigs for arms and sticks for legs, and he could count the number of ribs from how many poked underneath his skin. Just look at him, a sorry sack of skin and bones!
Ignoring the insults of his thoughts, he released the clasp of the back of the mirror which lead into the medicine cabinet and reached inside for a spare washcloth. Cosmo happened to notice the bottle of sleeping pills prescribed to his mother. She suffered from chronic insomnia, so when he saw how those pills knocked her out like a light, he quickly learned the true definition of insomnia. In fact, he started to think he suffered the opposite of insomnia. His problem wasn't sleeping too little; his problem was sleeping too much.
Setting the washcloth down on the countertop in front of him, Cosmo took the bottle and stared at the prescription. The bottle joggled a memory of finding his father lifeless on the bathroom floor with this brand of prescription emptied beside him. He realized then that his father must have used his mother's prescription to end his life.
Staring at the bottle in his hand, he pondered what it must have been like, what it must have felt like. He pondered what went through his father's mind when he came to such a permanent decision. Did he feel how he felt right now? Hopeless? Miserable? Tired of feeling like dirt every day? What low did he reach to lead him into believing he was better off dead? It had to be pretty low…though, Cosmo wasn't sure if there was a low any lower than how he's felt the last few weeks.
Or was it a drastic effort to get away from his mother? Did he leave this way because he knew his mother would throw the biggest fit if he left any other way? He vaguely remembered her threatening his father that if he left her, she would fight for full custody of Cosmo and frame him as a 'dead beat father.'
Dead beat was the farthest thing from his father. His father was his best friend at the time. They did a lot of things together; they played catch, watched movies, played video games, and his father even taught him how to maneuver a skateboard. The first eight years of Cosmo's life were great, thanks to his father. His father comforted him whenever his mother yelled at him for being stupid or for 'being too hyperactive.' His father helped him to feel normal, at least, before he met Wanda…
Maybe his father was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Staying in a toxic marriage just to ensure his child lived as normal of a life as possible under one household presumably wasn't worth it at some point. Then again, his mother wielded the power to either take Cosmo from him if he attempted to gain full custody, or she could gain full custody and prevent him from seeing his son ever again. Thinking about it now, his father was caught in a lose-lose situation; he must have felt like he'd lose his only son in either scenario...
So…he chose the easy way out.
He rather Cosmo live without him than he and Cosmo live knowing one couldn't be with the other…
Shaking his head from his thoughts, Cosmo put the bottle back on the shelf and shut the medicine cabinet. He shouldn't think about those kinds of things, it only makes him more depressed.
With a solemn sigh, Cosmo removed his underwear and floated into the mist of the shower.
"Babe, c'mon!" Luther whined as Blonda twisted the combination to her locker. "You promised you'd watch 'The Revengers' with me when it came out!"
"I must have either been drunk or delirious." Blonda sneered, releasing the lock and opening her locker. "I'd never agree to watch a dumb movie like that!"
"Well, you did!" Luther huffed. "But you're gonna stand me up for some stupid rehearsal?!"
Blonda shot a glare towards her boyfriend. "It's not some stupid rehearsal! It's 'Rodeo and Jupiter!' A play about two teenagers from rival families falling in love and ending their lives to be together at last!"
"Two kids kill themselves cuz they're in love? Stupid!" Luther retorted. "Why is that even a thing?!"
Blonda rolled her eyes, shoving her History binder in her locker to trade it for her Math textbook. The past couple weeks have been nothing but fighting over trivial crap! And the sex seemed to be dwindling in satisfaction, too. Their chemistry has been off ever since she devoted more time towards her acting than her relationship. She knew that he knew what he was getting into when he asked her to be his girlfriend. Now he was switching up like he'd been played for a fool, and honestly, it was striking her last nerves.
"Blonda! Wuddup?"
Blonda turned in the opposite direction of Luther to find her favorite silver haired cutie floating to her in the halls, arms outstretched for a hug. Finally, a breath of fresh air!
"Heeeyyyyyy Treveston!" Blonda welcomed his embrace, a little too eagerly for Luther's liking. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good." Treveston replied, completely ignoring Luther's scowl. "Excited about the play?"
"Definitely!" Blonda smirked, zipping her backpack. "Though I'm more excited to be your leading lady once again."
"That, indeed." Treveston smiled, flirtatiously brushing Blonda's cheek with his fingers, trailing down to underneath her bottom lip. "Can't wait to kiss those lips again."
"Hands off, buddy!" Luther warned, sandwiching between the two. "That's my girl you're flirtin' with!"
"Easy there, brotha." Treveston raised his hands in fake innocence, unfazed by Luther's death glare. "I do no such thing."
Treveston felt the back of his head smash against cold metal, short of breath from the sudden impact.
"I ain't cha bro." Luther belittled, holding him by the collar of his baseball jacket with both fists. "And I ain't gonna repeat myself neither."
Blonda shoved Luther as hard as she could, forcing him to release Treveston from his grasp. Bystanders were starting to gather…so embarrassing! "Stop being a douche, Luther! He wasn't doing anything!"
Luther shot her a glare in disbelief. Was she defending this guy?! No 'friend' does what that snake did without calling it flirting. How stupid did she think he was?
He wanted nothing more than to punch the mess outta that punk. But he too began to notice a crowd forming, and no way was he about to give those losers the satisfaction of a fight.
Gritting his teeth, Luther hovered eye to eye with Treveston, balling his fists to keep from smashing his face in. "You're lucky people are here."
Treveston snickered, making sure to keep eye contact. Guys like him humored him; wanna be tough but sad little puppies on the inside. "See you in Drama, Blonda." Treveston glowered Luther head to toe before flying passed Blonda down the halls, the crowd dispersing back to their normally scheduled routines.
Blonda turned to Luther after watching Treveston leave, fury in her eyes. "Why are you so jealous?! You have nothing to be jealous of!"
"I don't like that punk!" Luther pointed in Treveston's direction, inching closer to his girlfriend in equal frustration. "And I don't trust that punk, neither!"
Blonda rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "I swear Luther, you can be so insecure sometimes!"
Luther felt his blood boiling, deepening his breaths in attempts to control his anger. The way she scowled at him like some low life infuriated him. Deciding it wasn't worth it anymore, he hurried passed her down the halls, leaving Blonda alone by her locker.
Bozo and Dyno hovered by their lockers, in the middle of a game of 'rock, paper, scissors,' when they notice Luther speed passed them, his face reddened in fury. Baffled by his weird behavior, they rushed after him, quickly catching up.
"Yo, Luth!" Bozo stopped Luther in the halls, turning to face him. "The heck's wrong wit chu, dude?"
"I swear, Blonda's lucky she's hot." Luther grunted. "Otherwise, I'd dump her in a heartbeat!"
"Again, bro?!" Dyno groaned. "Y'all fight like, all the time now!"
Luther was going to respond, but the sight of a certain green-haired loser caught his eye. Perfect; a punching bag to release all his frustrations. The perfect outlet! And his blue-eyed friend wasn't around to try and stop him either.
Cosmo sat with his head in his arms on the floor, shutting out the world around him. He had no desire to be at school, but his mom forced him to go no matter how many times he told her he wasn't feeling well. She called his bluff and threatened him to stop being such a baby. So instead of being miserable at home, he had to be miserable at school. Great.
He felt his hair yank from his head out of nowhere, suddenly dragged off the ground into the face of his worst enemy.
"Lookie here." Luther smiled menacingly, gripping Cosmo by the head of his hair. "Idiot Cosdork!"
No response, not even a blink.
"Woooooooooow, look at chu!" Luther ridiculed, expecting at least a whimper or a cry for him to stop. Instead, he was greeted with a blank expression. "You think you're all tough now?"
He remained silent, too numb to care.
Tired of his lack of reaction, Luther decided to drag Cosmo by his hair into the nearest boy's restroom with Bozo and Dyno following behind. Bozo and Dyno searched under the stalls to ensure they were the only ones in the bathroom as Luther threw Cosmo like a rag doll to the ground. Cosmo didn't stir as Bozo and Dyno gave the okay, Luther cracking his knuckles as he couldn't wait to punch that loser.
Rolling Cosmo onto his back, Luther straddled on top and left hooked his nose, soon proceeding with a right hook to the mouth. Cosmo's face became a literal punching bag, Luther pounding combos blow after blow after blow. Bozo and Dyno felt no need to join in, seeing as how Luther obviously had pent up aggressions he needed to release. Cosmo felt no need to cry out, seeing as how no one would hear him anyhow. He let his body fall limp as he took his beating, counting down the seconds to when it'd finally end.
With one last roundhouse to the side of Cosmo's head, Luther stopped to catch his breath, starring down at the bruised pile of waste before him. Despite his knuckles burning in irritation, at least he felt better. Laughing portentously, Luther rose to the air and motioned for his goons to exit the bathroom. Cosmo stared towards the ceiling, hearing the creaks of the bathroom door opening and closing.
Heaving small drops of blood from his mouth, Cosmo contemplated just how little his life was worth.
"Kramer." Mrs. Slytherin called out, holding the novel 'The Oddnessy' in her hand. "Please read the few pages for the class."
As Kramer started his reading, Cosmo laid his head in his arms on his desk, completely uninterested in anything to do with this stupid story she was making them read. His face hurt, his head hurt, and quite frankly, 'The Oddnessy' wasn't worth his time. Who cared about mystical creatures and gods and stupid stuff like that? They were fairies! What could possibly be more mystical than that?
Spike was following along with the reader in his own book when he glanced over to Cosmo next to him. Cosmo came to class with bruises and wasn't interested in going the nurse. Spike knew it had to be Luther's doing, but when Spike asked Cosmo what happened, he just put his head on his desk and ignored him. Spike was actually beginning to get concerned; Cosmo was changing at a rapid pace, and he was changing for the worst.
"Cosmo, will you read the next two pages, please?"
Spike turned to the teacher, observing her lift her gaze from her novel to glare in Cosmo's direction. He shook Cosmo's shoulder to get his attention, yet Cosmo didn't stir.
"Sleeping in class again, I see." Mrs. Slytherin grumbled, rousing a few students in muffled conversations as they turned to Cosmo, still not moving.
Spike looked on as Mrs. Slytherin gradually floated to Cosmo's desk next to the back of the classroom, Luther and his goons snickering in the background. She slammed her book on Cosmo's desk right next to his left ear, and Cosmo's head shot right up.
"Mr. Cosma!" Mrs. Slytherin crossed her arms as some students laughed at Cosmo, yet again, pissing Mrs. Slytherin off. "Since you can't seem to pay attention, why don't you pay a little visit to the principal's office? Maybe he can persuade you to give a hoot about wasting your time and my time!"
His brow creased in resentment, scowling straight into her emerald green glare. He leaned forward on his desk, his voice seeping with unnatural venom. "Bite me."
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooh erupted from the class, Spike darting his head towards his friend in bewilderment. Did he just say what he thought he said?! To Mrs. Slytherin!? Never in the history of ever had he ever heard those words formulate in Cosmo's mind let alone out his mouth!
Clearly angered, Mrs. Slytherin banged both hands on his desk and shouted in his face. "Principal's office! NOW!"
Wasting no time, Cosmo thrashed his backpack over his shoulder and dashed from his desk to the exit, slamming the door on his way out which only stirred more of a reaction from the entire class. Spike watched as Mrs. Slytherin attempted to regain her composure to continue with her class. He turned to the now empty desk beside him. What the heck just happened?!
Spike leaned against the wall next to the door of the Principal's office, taking the time to head straight there after class. Cosmo had been acting strange all morning, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
A few moments went by before Cosmo rushed past Spike out of the Principal's office, visibly upset, Spike soon hurrying after him.
"Cosmo, stop!" Spike called out, eventually catching up to grab Cosmo's shoulder. Cosmo spun around, shoving Spike's hand away from him. He couldn't recall a time he'd seen Cosmo like this. "What's gotten into you?!"
Cosmo shrugged, his face stern. "What do you mean?"
"What chu mean 'what do I mean?!'" Spike countered, matching his stern glare. "You mouthin' off to Mrs. Slytherin like that?! Where did that come from?!"
"So?" Cosmo replied coldly. "She got on my nerves."
Spike paused, completely thrown off by Cosmo's demeanor. "You know what? All this started when Wanda started dating Juandissimo. Don't say it ain't true cuz it is!"
"So?"
"...So!?" Cosmo was really starting to piss Spike off. "You say that like you makin' a complete one-eighty is no big deal!"
"You're the one always telling me to man up!" Cosmo refuted. "And that's what I'm doing! So what's your damage?!"
"What's my damag-…Cosmo, you idiot!" Spike argued, feeling as if he was arguing with a brick wall. "There's a huge difference…between 'man up'…and 'be a total A-hole!'"
Cosmo held his glare as Spike continued. "I really…really didn't wanna say this…" Spike ran a frustrated hand through his mohawk, tired of the attitude. "…but I am sick…and tired…of being sick and tired…of seeing you so miserable about Wanda!"
Cosmo's face fell instantly, troubled by his words.
"You've cried, you've whined, and you've destroyed yourself over her! Meanwhile, she's over there suckin' face with Muscle's Magoo! Face the music, Cosmo! Wanda's clearly moved on, and it's about time you do the same!"
His heart bled as daggers dug deeper and deeper into his core. Spike ignited the painful reminder of the love the got away, and the painful reminder that there was nothing he could do to change that…
Feeling his eyes gloss with tears, Cosmo sped away from Spike, ignoring his calls as he pushed passed students in the crowd.
Cozzie boy is completely OOC at this point, but it ties into the notion that without Wanda, Cosmo is a shell of a person.
Also, I wanted to narrate a slice of how Juan and his family interact with each other as the next chapter will be mostly based around him. Jsyk.