Chapter Two: Disaster's Struck
The hallway was plastered with giant red and pink hearts stamped onto the walls, strings of cheesy kisses hanging from the ceiling, and sweet sayings like 'You rock!' stuck to everyone's locker. Yep, tomorrow was Valentine's day. Even with the darkness looming over the little town, Whitechapel still managed to throw up Valentine's day in its proud high school. Ethan didn't know whether to be miffed with the fact it was being shoved in his face that he was still single, or pathetic that he couldn't manage the courage to just ask Sarah out after knowing her for almost four months now. The worst holiday ever was always blown way out of proportion. The day that having a valentine is the thing of the past is the day Ethan finally celebrates not dreading the first two weeks of February.
Ethan approached an atypically focused Benny at his locker, staring into it as if there were a secret he wanted to stash away. Though it wasn't unusual for him to be hiding something, focus was definitely not a word Ethan would use to describe Benny. Impulsive, chaotic, and reckless were more accurate choices that came to mind. The reticent male jumped back in surprise when a small tap bounced on his shoulder. About to snap at at the stranger, he turned to see it was just his best friend curiously looking over.
"What are you doing?" Ethan asked Benny, almost annoyed that he hadn't been told what he was up to. That was until he noticed familiar pages of a certain someone's spell book peeping out from the cave. "Please don't tell me this has something to do with Valentine's day," Ethan groaned more than pleaded.
"Sorry, no can do E. I've been waiting all year for this sexy Lea and as Link I can't let her escape," Benny said passionately. Ethan didn't know how to feel about his lack of influence he had on Benny. It seemed to be lowering more and more these days. Then again, when did Benny ever listen to anyone other than himself?
Benny wasn't bothered that he was single on a holiday that celebrated love. The perfect excuse to hit on chicks appropriately was February. Magic had also been a factor in his boost of confidence. Unlimited powers, when used correctly, were the perfect gift to make the warlock feel invincible. Nothing could hold him back, not even thirty rejections and ten girls that ignored him. Ethan might've been down in the dumps, but that's because he didn't have the right tools to get what he wanted. As a gift to Ethan, he should cast a confidence spell on him. There was bound to be one desperate girl for him on this depressing day.
"What?" Ethan didn't know how he could be more confused than he already was, but Benny never failed to surprise him. Many ideas ran of what Benny was possibly doing with a spell book and some innocent girl. He could make her say yes to anything he asked, have her turn into an even more attractive girl, add to her personality (unlikely), or make him charming to her. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Ethan almost didn't want to know.
"I'm using this new spell called 'Amare' I found to get Tiffany to be my valentine. If I use it now, the spell will start to work right when we have AP biology together. Then I can ask her to the dance," Benny explained, almost too excited to contain his own foolishness. Did this sound like a bad idea? Yes. Did Benny repeat mistakes he made in the past? Absolutely. Teens felt unstoppable enough without magic. Supernatural forces made him that much more temerarious.
"Benny, remember what happened last time you did something like that? We almost got killed," Ethan said, trying to speak quietly so that he didn't strangle him from another horrible plan. Magic and Benny rarely went well together. He was still holding a slight a grudge from being turned into a hairy beast of the moon. Not to mention the time he resurrected an evil pet, failed to get rid of Doug and sold his grandma's terrifying camera. Thoughtless, that was another word to add to the list.
"Relax, this spell is different. I cast the spell to get her to fall in love with the first person she sees," Benny assured him. Using logic wasn't a quality of his, but he tried his best to explain ideas to his very methodical friend in hopes of changing his mind. It didn't work most of the time, but it was worth trying to aim for that 5% of the time when it did.
"Okay, but what about when she starts hating you?" Ethan, the voice of reason, questioned.
"The only reason the girls hated us last time was because they never liked us in the first place. I've got sources that tell me Tiffany already has a thing for me. This spell is just to spruce things up a bit,"
It sounded like an awful plan no matter how you looked at it. Ethan wasn't comfortable letting Benny use magic for his own leisurely pleasure when he could barely control them to fight monsters. And if Tiffany already liked him then the spell wasn't worth risking anyways. The hard part was convincing Benny that his own plan sucked.
"Oh here she comes! Move," Benny pushed Ethan aside before he could even protest this entire thing.
Tiffany was way out of Benny's league and beyond gorgeous. Soft strawberry blonde curls swept past her hips, she had chocolate brown eyes, the sweetest looking lips and a rosy face to match. Pink was her signature color and today was no different. A flowery pastel pink dress curved her body and puffed out to her knees, showing off her tanned legs. Covering her arms was a mint leader jacket with silver zippers. Chunky black boots adorned her attire. Gosh did she have the most adorable style. There was no way she'd ever go for a guy like Benny, no matter what he told himself.
Aiming for the victim, he began chanting in Latin. "Ruinam in amor!" Just as he finished, as if on queue, Rory shoved Ethan into the lockers.
"What's up my fellow sky walkers!" Rory cheerfully greeted. Ethan hissed in pain and stood there for a moment, trying to figure out if he had actually been hit with the spell or not. He didn't feel any different. Benny was still his obnoxious friend that was also a beast at Star Ninja VI.
"Rory! You idiot!" Benny shoved him lightly and slammed his book annoyed into the depths of his locker. There was a glimpse of hope in his heart that the spell had managed to hit Tiffany before it could reach Ethan, but the chances of that seemed slim.
"Jeez, what's burnt out your lightsaber?" Rory asked, not really having a clue why he was being scolded. It was rare that he understood what was going on though, so he let it slide and decided to go hit on that sweetie Erica instead.
"Ethan, how do you feel?" Benny gave Ethan a concerned look and bit his lower lip nervously. They wouldn't truly know who had been hit for a couple of hours, but maybe he felt the spell?
"Fine, I guess. Just please don't try that spell anymore. We don't need half the school falling in love with you, again," Ethan leaned against the locker and tried to sense any new feelings he might be having. Much to his dismay, it seemed like he'd have to wait this one out.