Another update! Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. This chapter is starting to get into the relationship drama. Let me know what you think! Read and enjoy :-)
Special thanks with sugar on top to everyone who comments!
TiredOfBeingNice: Daw thank you! I'm a bit of bio geek, so I'm glad my interest in sciency stuff came across as interest for the reader.
MBAV fan66: Ah Benny's stupidity. I think he's my favorite character because of all the dumb stuff he does.
Through the death-grip of sleep, Ethan indistinctly registers his shoulder being shaken. Groggily an eyelid peels back, and immediately snaps shut against the assault of bright. This effort isn't sufficient for phantom-shaker, who then grabs an arm and tugs. Ethan resists, folding his body back into the covers.
"Come on, E. Wakey, wakey, eggs and bac-y," Benny's voice cajoles.
Ethan grunts in acknowledgement. Benny yanks harder this time and... ka-thunk.
"Uugh..." Ethan complains from the floor, rubbing his head where it hit the hardwood. They need a rug in this room. A nice plush rug.
"Do you want me to ask your mom if you can stay home today?" Benny asks, towering above Ethan, his hair in wet messy strands around his face. Ethan had been amazed to discover that Benny actually spends a good twenty minutes on his hair everyday, putting in some sort of volumizer and blow drying it. Guess he hasn't gotten to his beauty rituals yet.
"No," Ethan groans. "I don't want to miss school."
"It's not like you'd learn anything today, Snorlax," Benny reasons, clearly amused by his best friend balled up on the floor. Benny nudges Ethan's side with his toes, chuckling with Ethan swats at the foot.
"Well," it takes Ethan an extra moment to form his response, "I could not learn something here, or I could not learn something there and hang out with you and Rory." And considering everyone has senioritis, it's unlikely the teachers will really cover much material anyway.
Benny snorts. "Are you hoping to get points for being alive, because it'll take a sizable miracle to keep you conscious."
Ethan raises his arms in the universal 'pick me up' gesture. "Be my miracle, Benny," he implores facetiously.
"Alright, come here." Benny grips Ethan's hands and hauls him up. To return the favor, Ethan valiantly attempts to not fall while Benny is holding him up.
"I'm fine, Mom," Ethan protests.
Samantha pulls her hand away from Ethan's forehead. "Well you aren't feverish, but you look like you might fall over." Her motherly concern bleeds into a worried frown.
Ethan may have fallen asleep against the door frame. Feeling suddenly overwhelmed by basic hygiene requirements, he had only meant to give himself a short pause. However if Mom had found him sleeping on his feet… It didn't help his case.
Ethan shifts his weight over his own feet and peers into the bathroom.
The bathroom is warm and muggy and lit with an overly yellow glow. It's likely that Ethan is the last of the five household members to bathe. Although his mother and Benny's grandmother use the master bathroom, there's only one hot water tank in the house. Cold water might wake him up a little, though.
"I'm just tired. I'll be fine." He hopes it sounds convincing; he really doesn't want to be stuck home all day.
"I really don't like how much all this magic stuff takes out of you kids," Samantha laments half-heartedly. Both Morgan parents had reached agreement on the current arrangements, but that didn't stop Mom from repeatedly voicing her opinion, "If I had my way, we'd all move out of Whitechapel, and you and Jane would just live normal lives."
"Going to school is normal," Ethan argues, with what he considers is a fairly strong point.
"Okay..." Samantha inspects her son critically. "Well, hop in the shower and I'll have coffee and breakfast ready for you when you get out. I think Benny can get your school things together for you." She gives Ethan's wobbly form another glance over. "You won't die in the shower, right?"
"No, mom." Ethan musters all his will if only to prove his mother wrong.
Ethan is just pulling his shirt on when Jane knocks on his door. "Are you decent?"
"Yeah," Ethan answers.
Jane walks in carefully, carrying a very full mug of coffee. Seeing her alive makes something in his chest relax. "Mom asked me to bring you this," she says handing him the coffee. She holds the mug a beat long, making sure that Ethan really has it.
The shower roused Ethan from dead-walking to miserable, and he hopes the caffeine will bump him up to functional.
"Thanks. I need it," Ethan manages to say before gulping down nearly the entire mug of lukewarm coffee.
"I can tell," Jane says teasingly, but her eyes look worried.
"I'm fine Jane," Ethan snaps reflexively.
"Whatever." She's about to walk away, but Ethan grabs her arm and pulls her into an awkward hug that nearly sloshes coffee down her back. Jane tenses initially, but then eases into the atypical show of affection, hugging him back.
"Are you really okay, Ethan? I know I'm your little sister, but you can still count on me," Jane says quietly.
Ethan hums. "I think I liked it better when you were extorting me for money. I-" Ethan considers if he should really tell her. She'll find out eventually. "I saw you die in my dream last night."
"Oh." Jane sounds shocked. Her arms slacken but she leans into her brother. "How?" she asks timidly.
"It doesn't matter, it's not going to happen," Ethan affirms. Honestly, he doesn't know how, he never never remembers the dreams and he hasn't read his report yet, but he means it. He holds Jane at arm's length to look in her eyes. "I won't let anything happen to you."
She smiles weakly. "I know you'll do everything you can. Aera solem siccare capillis." Jane waves a golden ball of light at her brother's head. "And I'll do everything I can." The spell heats his scalp momentarily, after which Ethan touches his head to discover Jane has dried his hair.
Benny's footsteps pound up the stairs announcing his presence before he barrels into the shared bedroom. He snorts. "Nice hair."
Somehow he's found time to coif his hair into that perfect bad-boy-that-still-does-homework look.
Ethan pats his head again. "What's wrong with it?"
Ethan and Jane have already loaded themselves into the station wagon while Benny hangs back to compose a text.
The chilly morning air is still heavy with thick lavender fog, an artifact of the Lucifractor explosion. The purple mist mostly condenses at ground level creating a cloud carpet, but it also coils around trees and mailboxes, it crawls up the sides of the house, and clings to the car. Benny kinda loves it.
Behind the window being molested by lavender fog, Ethan munches on dry pancakes, sitting in shotgun. Jane is in the middle in the back, her nose in a book. Benny and Ethan take turns driving everyone to school, but as Ethan is too tired to operate heavy equipment, Benny is by default driving them to school today.
Benny reads over his text. "S can u fly into town today? E had a bad night could use some gf luv :-* :-*"
Send.
"Hurry up, idiot," Jane yells from the car. Benny pockets his phone and jog-steps to the car, the purple fog parting in his wake.
Ethan eagerly accepts his third cup of coffee, freshly delivered by Rory no more than two minutes into the break after first period.
"Did you know a latte is just coffee?" Rory asks, joining Benny and Ethan at their lockers where the boys were supposedly switching out books for the next class. Instead Ethan is distracted with his coffee, and Benny is sucked into his phone.
"You're a lifesaver." Ethan sips carefully to avoid burning his tongue, unnecessarily. Apparently a trip at vamp speed across town takes the edge off of 'caution: contents are hot.' Irregardless the potent full-bodied liquid elicits a deep whole-body exhale.
"No problemo amigo! You need it-you look awful," Rory comments with his large cheerful smile.
"Thanks," Ethan answers sarcastically.
"I'm glad you're not actually a zombie, though," Rory says, referencing this morning when he had mistaken Ethan for the brain-hungry undead and valiantly tackled him into the bushes to save Benny.
"Aw fuck," Benny exclaims loudly, drawing passing curiosity from other students in the hallway. Benny, Ethan, and Rory all draw extra attention these days as active Coven members. Not only had this lent to Benny's success with girls, but it also made students nervous when the trio acted agitated.
For the moment nothing is amiss, and the crowds quickly resume. Despite the drop in student numbers two years ago, right after the Lucifractor exploded, the halls maintain a respectful density of now mostly supernatural high schoolers. It helped that the administration had closed off half the school.
Benny was still grimacing at the offending text on his phone. "Trisha just broke up with me! By text!"
Ethan rolls his eyes, but Rory is slightly more compassionate, "That's totally lame."
Benny reads the text, "Listen to this: 'We're over. I guess you were a good kisser, but the new guy is way hotter. Shrugging emoji."" Benny sounds equal parts hurt and insulted.
"Ugh, Benny... You went on a total of two dates with her, and you didn't even like her that much." Ethan grumbles, sipping on his coffee irritably.
"Three," Benny corrects, pocketing his phone. "And she was babelicious."
Rory nods dreamily in agreement.
"Rory! You have a girlfriend! And Benny, this is why you've never had a real girlfriend. You only go after the pretty, shallow girls!" Ethan chastises. It comes out harsher than intended. He misses Sarah.
Rory still looks dreamy, but this time for better reasons, "You don't know what you're missing. Ann makes me snickerdoodles and we sneak into the attic to eat them."
Benny and Ethan give Rory a curious look. Neither is quite sure how his relationship with Ann works.
"Right. That sounds awesome and everything, but as you already know there are no spells for a doting, cookie-baking girlfriend. My charming personality," Benny demonstrates a wide smirking grin and eyebrow waggle combo. "is all I got. Besides hot girls who are willing to make out with me has been my dream since freshman year." Benny adds, closing his locker.
"Leave this to me," Rory points at this chest proudly with both thumbs, his smile showing all his teeth. "Rory, vampire matchmaker. Just describe your dream girl, and I'll do the rest!" His vapid nodding is not confidence inspiring.
"Mmm. Blonde, busty, great fashion sense, thirsty for adventure," Benny rattles off. That sounds an awful lot like a certain vampire they haven't seen recently.
"Erica isn't an option," Ethan says, jiggling the lever on his locker. He can't get the lock with only one hand. "Even if she wasn't Anastasia's glimmered personal assistant now, she was only ever nice to Sarah. Or when she wanted something."
Benny winces, "Yeah... Ror, how did you escape that fate?"
"Easy. Anastasia said I was too brain-dead to keep around." Rory replies matter-of-factly.
"Keeping it real." Benny fist bumps Rory. If their academically-challenged vampire friend hadn't discovered his talent for the arts, Ethan doubted Rory would have had any kind of future despite being immortal.
"Whoever Benny dates should have the patience of a saint. And she has to get your dumb jokes," Ethan snarks. Giving up on one-handed unlocking, he holds his cup out to Benny, "Hold this."
"I'm not that bad." Benny says indignantly, taking the cup.
Rory is jotting this down in a notebook he pulled out of his backpack, "What else?"
"Uh... Well going on Ethan's advice: not-shallow?" Benny adds. He glances at Rory's scribbles curiously.
"I guess that means smart," Ethan translates, "Or like cares about stuff."
"Doesn't do that girl thing where she says one thing and means another, and then gets mad at me for not getting it," Benny continues. "Or gets mad at me for not doing some 'boyfriend' thing she expected but didn't tell me about." Benny takes a sip of Ethan's coffee. As they've discussed before, Ethan can't expect Benny to not consume food items he's been asked to hold.
"Don't write that." Ethan tells Rory quickly. Obligingly, Rory scratches out the line. "Write straightforward and honest," Ethan instructs, stuffing his history book into his backpack.
Seeing Benny going for another sip of his coffee, Ethan uncharitably snatches at the cup; however his haphazard grab is only effective at knocking the cup out of Benny's hand. Benny points at the paper cup midair, silently floating it with green sparkles upward and firmly into Ethan's grip. A couple drops splash on the floor, but otherwise the coffee is unharmed. Benny smirks at Ethan, good-naturedly putting up with his grumpiness.
"Okay what else?" Rory prompts.
Benny taps his chin thinking, "Doesn't talk ad nauseam about boring stuff like clothes or girl drama or her pets."
"I have a cousin that talks about being nauseous a lot. It's a total bummer," Rory replies sympathetically.
"No, Ror. 'Ad nauseam' is Latin for 'until you get nauseous;' I meant that girls talk just on and on and on..." Benny makes a rolling hand gesture to emphasize his point. Ethan hadn't realized the expression was so literal.
"So... someone who shares interests with you," Ethan suggests. "Maybe a gamer? I mean considering how much time you spend playing video games, she's gotta be at least a little into them." Ethan is critically watching Rory write. Knowing Rory, even matchmaking could become a runaway train wreck overnight.
"Did you get everything you need?" Benny asks, his hand on Ethan's open locker door, ready to close it for him.
"Yeah," Ethan answers offhandedly. He might be slow today, but he would've gotten around to it.
Benny closes the locker. He also zips up Ethan's backpack. "But not Mathlete girls. They glare at me when I try to flirt with them."
"Yeah. Do you know what you sounds like when you "flirt" with girls? Stupid, and sexist, and borderline harassment." Ethan admonishes Benny with an 'I expect more from you' glare over his shoulder.
"Since when did you get so touchy?" Benny asks, backing off with his hands in surrender.
"Since Sarah talked some sense into me. I mean you don't even treat girls like people," Ethan continues to grumble. "If you did, you wouldn't get dumped so often." Ethan recognizes that it's cruel to attack his best friend's weak spots like this, but sometimes he feels like it's the only way Benny will listen to him.
"You're one to talk," Benny replies. "You just got lucky with Sarah!"
Rory breaks the tension, suddenly reading out the summary of his notes, "Okay so a hot, patient, smart, straightforward, honest, geeky gamer who laughs at Benny's jokes, cares about stuff, and can't be a vampire." Rory scratches his head with the pen thoughtfully.
"What I didn't say anything about vam-" Benny asserts, but is cut off by Rory.
"Except for the hot part that describes Ethan," Rory concludes.
Ethan blinks dumbly at their very blonde friend. His brain short circuits trying to decide between the many issues he could point out with Rory's logic.
Benny snorts, "Some matchmaker you are."
Rory's undeterred. "It doesn't matter how hot the new guy is, Benny, I'll find you the perfect girlfriend!" With a flash of vampire speed he's gone, likely thinking he might find someone before the bell rings.
Ethan shakes his head looking at Benny to confirm he isn't insane, "New guy?"
"The guy Trisha dumped me for," Benny clarifies, shrugging.
The warning bell resounds through the hall causing the semi-aimless movement of the hallway to coalesce into a directed rush.
"Oh shit," Benny starts, "E, give me your coffee." Benny pulls something out of his messenger bag as Ethan reluctantly hands the cup over.
Benny tips the sparkling cobalt ooze out of an unlabeled vial into the cup and re-secures the lid. Ethan suddenly regrets trusting Benny, "What was that?"
"A little extra kick," Benny answers, a smug gleam in his eyes.
Tune in next time to learn why Ethan hates himself :-(