Chapter Three: Ethan's Crush

Benny rolled up to the long line of students eagerly waiting for the grossest food known to man: cafeteria food. If his stomach wasn't angrily punching him, he would be sitting next to Rory by now. But beggars can't be choosers and the food was at least appetizing when you added salt to it. So far nothing had seemed out of the ordinary, although that could've been the smell of phony baloney masking, and he had almost forgotten about the spell completely. That was until he felt a hot gust of air pressing against his neck.

"Hey Benny-boo~," a familiar voice cooed into his ear.

Holy cannoli the spell really had hit Ethan! Benny had no idea what to think in a situation where his best bud had a crush on him. Last time an incident similar occurred, he was disguised as a cheerleader and fooling an idiot vampire into falling head over heels for him. This was different, way different. It was incredibly weird too, seeing Ethan act like this. However, he couldn't be rude to his poor friend. He was under his spell after all, even though it was mainly Rory's fault in his opinion.

"H-hey Ethan..." Benny said awkwardly as he moved up the line to have sloppy macaroni and cheese plopped onto his pathetic tray. So much for having an appetite, he thought to himself.

"You weren't with me in Calculus. I got lonely!" Ethan pouted, grabbing Benny's arm and clinging to him like a panda to bamboo. There was no way he was letting go of Benny after the torture of not having him around for three hours. It was almost agonizing to even fathom.

had the most monotonous voice in the entire universe. He was so dull that even the most unsharpened pencils knew they were no competition to his personality, hence the challenge of focusing in a boring math class with laborious curriculum. Benny attending would possibly make the class worth the credit towards his advanced diploma. Instead, he had to wallow away with a deteriorating interest in numbers as he dealt with a clueless girl adjacent to him.

"Well we don't have Calculus together E. I was in AP bio," Benny didn't know what to say to someone who was waning for his attention this way. He tried to pretend like Ethan were some clingy chick, but it was hard to imagine with his bony elbows and less than smooth arms. Should he push him away when he's holding onto him like this? It was difficult to determine what to do. After a short deliberation, Benny came to the conclusion that he'd have to play along until he figured out a quick reversal spell. A school day of whiny Ethan couldn't be that bad, right?

"So? You could've ditched class to be with me. You never consider my needs," Ethan squeezed his arm tighter as if afraid Benny would suddenly escape from his grip. The boy just wanted his lover to think of him sometimes and who could blame him?

Ethan had so much to offer. He was always considerate of other people, worked against his fears to save others, was a great video game competitor, shared all of his common interests, often went with the flow, and had a big heart. Affection was a scarier concept that he had started to get familiarize himself with when he realized that he couldn't resist the urge to touch Benny. Most people would kill for a companion like that, being crazy in love and ready to take on the world! What did Benny have to lose? It could only get better from here.

"Maybe tomorrow," Benny said as he tried to appease the upset teen. Man, does this spell make guys sound more like girls too? He could've sworn he'd heard his mom yell that at his dad only a hundred times in the past. Ah that didn't matter now. What mattered was that Benny was having to pay Stephanie, the once cheerleader witch turned lunch lady for fake food. It took some shifting, but he managed to pay for his meal without dropping anything. He almost did, but Ethan was kind enough to catch his tray.

"No, tomorrow is too late. Meet me for fourth period," Ethan insisted. Benny didn't say anything and rushed to the table with a human stuck to him like a parasite. Parasitic friends were the worst.

Tempting, Benny did have a study hall period for fourth. But the thought of dealing with Ethan's flirting intertwined with the necessity to find a reversal spell quickly, made it a less enticing idea. Though it wasn't exceptionally uncomfortable for Ethan to seek his attention in this manner, Benny wasn't fully and mentally prepared to take on the task of distancing himself from his smitten comrade. Speaking was tolerable, however, the touchiness was a bit much. He needed to know someone wasn't sharing his breath every time he respired.

"When's the wedding?" Rory teased as he watched the two pathetically settle into their seats. Benny set his tray on the table, looking agitated at the blonde vampire, and kicked his left shin as hard as he could. "Ow!"

"Ethan's just under a spell, one that you ruined this morning," Benny said to him bitterly as he scooped a bite of plasticky cheese into his mouth. Salt, he needed salt. Picking up the packet, he ripped it open and sprinkled the small crystals all over his meal. Another bite determined he made the right decision with his spice choices.

"Oh that's what you were mad at me for. Dude, I didn't know you liked Ethan," Rory didn't know how to handle the situation other than just be unaware. Benny liking Ethan was surprising to him, but maybe that's why they were always doing things alone together. Plus he had never managed to pick up any hot babes. Were hot babes not his type? Was Ethan his type? If Benny liked guys then he should go for someone a little more like Jesse, way hotter.

"What? No, you pushed him in the way of the spell hitting Tiffany," Benny told him, losing his already deteriorating patience. Right now he could be flirting with Tiffany and eating at her lunch table if it hadn't been for that idiot Rorster.

"Who cares about Tiffany? You have me," Ethan protested, smiling only a little and beginning to crawl onto Benny's skinny lap. It seemed so warm and inviting. Plus he could feel Benny's heart beating against him if he rested just right against his chest. Benny tried to pry him off, but Ethan wasn't giving up without a fight. Not worth the trouble, Benny quickly gave in and let the teen onto his lap.

"Exactly," Benny muttered.

This day had gone horribly wrong. When he woke up, he had visions that the spell would work perfectly and Tiffany would be twirling her hair cutely next to him in class. They'd get along so well that she'd invite him to lunch and say yes to his proposal of being his date for the valentine's day dance. Instead, he had a hormonal and overly cologned guy perched on his lap like a chair, asking him how he liked his breakfast cooked in the morning. It seemed this day couldn't get any worse.

"For someone who says he doesn't like Ethan you are awfully close," Rory said, commenting on the lack of effort Benny had pulling apart from Ethan. He was aware that Benny didn't see Ethan that way, but it was incredibly funny to watch the man struggle.

"Rory, you're this close to being turned into a toad," Benny threatened, squinting his two fingers together to indicate how much more he was willing to let Rory get away with. Evidently, not much.

"Okay, okay. Honestly, doting Ethan is starting to get on my nerves. When do you think this'll wear off?" Rory said, acknowledging that his precious time teasing Benny had to sadly come to an end.

"My guess is by tomorrow. It took under 24 hours with the potion so I'd assume it's the same thing," Benny said, not honestly sure of the correct answer.

Benny knew the potion he used and the spell he casted were two completely separate versions of the same concept; love. Presumptuous as it was, he based his estimate off of the magic used previously. In actuality it could take years before the it wore off. Spells were different types of magic than potions and worked contrastively too. Still, he didn't want to admit that he was uninformed regarding a spell he used. By the time he finished reading about it, he'd be an expert (more or less).

The fate of Ethan and Benny's friendship rested in a vacuous warlock. He had to take action and preferably pronto!