Summary: Hestia Warner has always felt like she didn't belong, between finding out she was adopted to the pure craziness that has surrounded her for years. When several new students transfer to her school in the sleepy town of Widowsvale halfway through her Senior year, she is intrigued by them and the mystery surrounding them. With the return of something she thought she had put behind her, she's about to find out that not everything is as it seems. Especially, concerning a mysterious boy that makes her feel things she thought herself incapable of feeling. But, seeking the truth behind all of it is a lot harder than it seems, especially when darkness is around every corner and she's not as safe as she thought she was. A rewriting of True Heritage.
I don't own Winx Club
Chapter 3
"I hate you all." Brandon grumbled a little later in the day, seated in a chair on wheels, fingers gripping the armrest tightly. The latter part of herself had won, meaning that she had won their little competition, so he was being forced to be given a makeover. And, no, not the guy makeover where a guy goes from being a pizza face to being a ten in the looks department. But a makeover where they would put girl make-up on him and pick out the frilliest outfit, they could think of to stick him in.
Hestia had initially invited them to her place – after checking with her parents if she could have friends over – but then Lyrica had brought up Rory and her giant stash of make-up and clothes and they had opted to go to their place.
They lived in an apartment building – which was styled as one house but had two first floor units and one upstairs unit. Leanna had said that Brandon, a guy named Carter who wasn't currently at the house, and herself lived on the top floor while Ryan, Jason, and Lyrica inhabited the front downstairs unit while Aurora was in the back downstairs unit with a guy who didn't attend their school and was in the local university, who was apparently Aurora's older brother and was twenty-one.
Currently, they were in the back-downstairs unit, having to travel down the gravel driveway – which led to a small backyard with a shut and locked shed against one corner of the tall wooden fence – to get to the entrance. The back door – and makeshift entrance – led to a medium-sized living room and kitchen with a hallway across from the door that lead to five doors. One door was a small closet that doubled as the laundry area, three of the doors were for the bedrooms, and the last door lead to the bathroom.
Rory clicked he tongue, "Probably shouldn't have made that bet, Brandy-boy." She said, ducking into the third bedroom, which was presently unoccupied since it was only herself and her older brother.
Lyrica was making the most of the situation that Hestia had set up for her, taking a video of him and constantly zooming in on his disgruntled expression as Leanna applied heavy make-up around his eyes. A challenge considering he was not the most cooperative person in the world, while Rory reemerged from the bedroom across the hall with a frilly pink shirt, she held it up to Brandon's chest experimentally while the male groaned. "I thought I would win." He muttered, "I didn't think someone so small could eat so fast."
Hestia snorted in amusement as she browsed hairstyles – when they meant a makeover, they meant a full-on makeover. Including nails, if they could get him to sit still that long – but it would be even funnier if his nails were messy. "Never underestimate me, Brandy."
"Yeah, I won't make that mistake again." He said, before wincing. "Ouch, sis…are you trying to poke my eye out?" Brandon backed away from her as she held up the eye liner.
Leanna rolled her eyes. "Quit being such a baby." She muttered, patting him on the shoulder before she grabbed his face and pulled it back to her. "Close your eyes." Leanna ordered and he complied with another noise of annoyance.
"Since when did you become so bossy, sis?"
"I wouldn't try to annoy the person holding something that could poke out your eye if I were you." Hestia commented, smirking as she finally landed on a hair style. It was amusing, dolling him up like he was a girl with him not being able to have much protest, especially since he was outnumbered by four to one. She stood up, plucked a few hair ties and pins off the messy desk that housed accessories and make-up – somehow, Rory was even messier than Morgan, a feat that Hestia had previously considered to be impossible.
She waited for Leanna to finish with one eye, before running the brush through his hair. He tensed at it but had not otherwise jumpy reaction. Hestia glanced once more at the screenshotted picture, before resuming brushing his hair. "That is the first thing that feels nice." Brandon mused, glowering at his sister as she moved to the other side to make his other eye look the same as the first. "You know, you brushing my hair." He lifted one hand and waved it back and forth.
"It would take less time if you brushed it more." Hestia carefully worked through a knot, wondering how he could get away with not brushing his hair seeing as the constant state of messiness he always had his hair in.
Leanna snorted, "Good luck getting him to do that. He's been a pain about it since we were kids." She glanced up from her crouch before pulling the eyeliner back and replacing it with an eyeshadow brush.
Brandon crossed his arms, "I have not." He protested. "Are you almost done, sis? Wait, Rory…what are you doing? Don't come near me with that!" He inched out of reach, leaning far back in the chair. Rory had been picked and choosing between nail polishes with the collaboration of Lyrica, who had alternated between adjusting the music and videoing his humiliation.
"It's just nail polish." Rory raised an eyebrow.
Brandon muttered a few curse words under his breath and Leanna reached up to flick his forehead. "I hate you all." He declared.
Hestia chuckled, "You've said that already. Clearly, we're not that hurt by it." She deposited the brush on the dresser and hesitated for a second. Braiding his hair would require running her fingers through it – and the thought made her heart flip inside her chest as if the muscle was an Olympian. She brushed it off, checking to see she had gotten all of the knots out by running her fingers through his hair – it was soft, lacking any gel or hair product – and pulling it back into a high ponytail on his head. His hair wasn't quite long enough where it would be considered a full ponytail, but it worked.
"Please tell me you're not going to destroy my hair." Brandon begged, disrupting her thought process of how she was going to tackle it without feeling any type of way about it.
Hestia smirked. "I promise I won't completely destroy your hair." She said, "Uh…let me know if it hurts too much. I don't want to pull out your hair." She added after a minute.
She didn't have to be looking directly at him to know he was smirking. "I don't mind a little hair pulling." He said.
She facepalmed. "You're the worst." She said, starting to braid parts of his hair and tying them off with small hair ties. He didn't even flinch, and she knew – from experience of having her hair tugged when Morgan gave her makeovers – that it must hurt. Finished with the top half of his hair, she began to work on the bottom, lifting up enough of his hair to reveal a circular birth mark he had on the top back of his neck, consistently hidden by his hair. "Neat birthmark." She commented.
"Yeah, I know." Brandon shrugged carelessly. Leanna stepped back to survey her masterpiece, lips twitching at the corners when she saw the make-up paired with the awful hairstyle that Hestia was giving him. "What do you think, sis? Don't I look fabulous?"
Leanna and Lyrica shared a glance. "I'm going to reserve my right to remain silent on that one, brother." Leanna said, stretching out the cramped muscles in her legs from the awkward position. "I'm going to head up to our floor for food, you guys want me to bring anything down?"
"Popcorn." Rory immediately answered.
They all gave her a look. "You do realize, that's not dinner, right?" Leanna said slowly.
Rory shrugged. "I've been on a popcorn kick." She answered, "And, if you're talking about dinner, Lea. I think you should just get pizza delivery." She observed Brandon's face for a second, "Are you going to give him lipstick?"
"Please don't." Brandon begged.
At the mention of dinner, Hestia pulled back from what she had mindlessly be doing. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand and checked the time, before cursing. "Crap. I forgot to text my parents. They wanted me to check in half an hour ago." She started off a quick text to Mom, she had told them that she was hanging out with friends, but they had set a check in time for her so that they could know whether to include her in their thought process for dinner. Mulling over the text, she sighed before hitting send.
She just explained that she had lost track of time and that she would be home in time for curfew at midnight – she would spend the night, but they had just briefly become friends and she didn't feel comfortable enough to stay the night, especially if she had another episode. Her phone chimed a second later, her mom's rather lenient response – they hadn't really talked about everything that they should, so it simmered underneath every interaction – and she read it before plopping the phone back on the nightstand.
"Everything good?" Brandon asked, one eyebrow raised, and Hestia glanced over at him, finally taking in the make-up covering his face.
Somehow, he wasn't completely unattractive as she had thought he would be. "Yup. So, pizza?" She diverted the topic back to food, aware that Leanna hadn't left yet as they contemplated their options.
Lyrica shot the idea down. "We've had pizza for the past few days. Can we get something else?" She asked. "Like Taco Bell?"
"I'm on board for Taco Bell." Brandon said, "Who's going to go pick it up?"
Leanna shook her head, "I picked up dinner last week. It's someone else's turn." She sat down, knowing there was no point in going upstairs for snacks if they were just going to do take-out. Hestia felt like she was on the outskirts, they all lived together – which struck her as weird once again – and had all of this stuff going on and she was the weird interloper. She was the weasel like what Tracy had been accused of almost being if she tried to get in the middle of that.
Although technically it wasn't like she meant to do it. They just kept running into each other. "Fine. I'll pick up dinner." Brandon said.
They all stared at him. "Do you really think you should be leaving the house looking like that?" Hestia voiced the question the girls were all thinking.
He brought a hand up to his face, poking at the blush they had dusted over his cheekbones. "Oh. Right. Then, I'll do it next week." He sounded slightly embarrassed. He hadn't even glimpsed his reflection and he already knew how bad it was going to look – or well good since they hadn't tried to make it look messy, just feminine.
"I can go pick up dinner." Hestia said, shrugging. "I don't mind. Besides, all I was going to do was his hair since I no zilch about anything else."
Rory sounded amused, "Not a make-up pro, I take it."
"God, no." Hestia shook her head, "That's more my sister's department."
"Who is your sister, by the way?" Lyrica asked.
Hestia shrugged, considering Lyrica. "You might know her. She's a sophomore, but she takes advanced classes." She said, "Morgan Warner."
Lyrica looked briefly confused, "You don't look much alike. She's got brown hair and eyes and you're strawberry blonde and have blue eyes." She said. Hestia briefly got the feeling she was being interrogated and instantly thought of ways to change the subject.
"Yeah. Distant relative." Hestia latched onto the excuse that her parents had fed to her. "So, do you guys want to watch a movie after we're done giving him a makeover?" She shifted her weight a little, hoping that Lyrica would let go of the matter. The girl briefly looked determined but was perceptive enough to realize that pushing it would just make Hestia come up with an excuse to leave.
Rory nodded. "Sounds fun. What movie are you thinking of? We've got Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney plus on the firestick." She rattled off the streaming apps they had, and Hestia briefly considered them.
"You haven't jailbroken the firestick, yet?"
"Ok. What does that even mean?" Lyrica asked.
Hestia shifted her weight, surprised that they hadn't heard of it. She considered them for a second, where could they come from that didn't have at least one person who jailbroke the firestick. "Um, basically it means that you haven't gotten an app so that your firestick can let you watch all sorts of movies – even ones that have just been released." She elaborated. "It's called 'jailbroken' since it's not entirely legal to stream some of the movies – especially the ones that have just been released – and TV shows."
Leanna looked aghast. "Do people actually do that? Illegally stream movies?"
Hestia shrugged. "Well, yeah. It doesn't cost anything to stream them, unless you get caught and nobody really gets caught." She said, "If you don't want me to set it up for you, don't worry about it. We can just watch something from the other streaming services. It was just a thought." She backpedaled. Leanna seemed like the type – from her reaction – to be a stickler for the rules, so she wasn't going to coerce the girl into anything. If they didn't want it, they didn't have to have it, besides, they had other stuff that Hestia knew her parents would think of as too expensive to get, like Hulu and Disney plus.
"Meh. If people don't normally get caught. Then, we can do it." Brandon suddenly nudged Leanna. "Come on, sis. Relax. Live a little. You're too tense." He shook her and she narrowed her eyes at him threateningly gesturing to the make-up kit.
Rory rolled her eyes. "Come on, Tia, let's go. Text me what you guys want from Taco Bell." She hooked her arm through Hestia's and began to walk them towards the door.
"You're just going with her, so you don't have to go get groceries on Monday." Lyrica called Rory out while Hestia hid her amusement by unlocking her phone and letting her parents know that she was about to leave. They had a strict thing about her texting when she was driving anywhere, aside for when it came to school, out of their overprotectiveness.
Rory didn't even deny it, nodding. "Yup." She popped the p, and they walked down the hallway. An older male was in the kitchen, with a few other students that looked to be university age. He had a hint of stubble on his chin, outlining his jawline and darkly tanned skin. A sleeve of ink was covering one arm, numerous tattoos overlaying and interlacing with each other. His eyes were a dark emerald, hair a midnight color that gleamed almost blue and he was rolling a cigarette tube in between his fingers contemplatively. "Hey Luke." Rory sounded less enthused, greeting her brother with her eyes straying to the tube.
Luke – Rory's older brother, Hestia realized – quirked an eyebrow. "Hey Aurora." He gestured to his friends, there were two of them and they wore the same posture he did. His eyes snapped over to Hestia's and narrowed slightly. "I see you're making friends."
Hestia shifted, uncomfortable under his piercing gaze. It wasn't the discomfort that Brandon somewhat inspired in her, it was a whole different brand of discomfort. Like she was stripped of everything under his gaze and he could see all of her flaws written out like a bullet point list in front of him. "Yeah." Rory said, fingers tightening around Hestia's elbow. "We've got to go. Uh…bye." She dragged Hestia the rest of the way to the door, shivering once they reached the outdoors.
Night had settled over the outside and bugs launched themselves occasionally at the outside light, making loud flicking sounds. "Well. He seemed nice." Hestia mused, grabbing her car keys and unlocking her car. She glanced behind herself, she had just enough wiggle room to get out, but not by a lot and would probably need a second set of eyes from Rory.
Rory snorted. "Sorry about him." She said apologetically. "He's…it's complicated." She sounded like she wanted to say more but withheld further explanation.
Hestia made an understanding noise. "I feel that. Well, not directly, since I don't have a brother," for some reason, the words felt inaccurate, but she couldn't quite understand the feeling, ", but I know that shit with family gets complicated." She fell silent. It was a major understatement, her entire family life just seemed like one downhill spiral. Her parents were clearly unsure how to act around her, her relationship with her sister was wilting away into nothing, and she couldn't even touch the issue of her birth parents with a ten-foot pole.
"Right. Enough of the dark stuff." Rory said, turning the radio on and adjusting the stations until she found something she liked. "Tonight's about having fun and you have to update me on the latest drama. I've been so new to the loop." She sounded gleeful and Hestia chuckled a little, easing herself out of the driveway with the silent help of Rory.
Hestia shrugged, "I'm not really involved with the drama."
"Bullshit." Rory said in a sing-song voice. "You're on the school newspaper, right? You've got to give me something." She pointed out.
"I'm on it because I'm good with layout and stuff. I don't do much research into articles." Hestia admitted. "Anyways, what kind of school drama are you interested in? Like, who's dating who? That's basically all we really have since Widowsvale is such a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere. The newest thing that's happened out here is you lot moving here and transferring halfway through the school year." She said, stopping at a four-way intersection, before slowly easing herself forward.
Rory twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "Go figure we move to a town like that." She chuckled a little. She gave Hestia a sideways glance. "Basically, we got into some trouble with our parents and they wanted us to come out here to 'learn how to navigate life without relying on them.'" She used bunny ears to quote it, "Apparently, they're worried that we're not self-reliant enough, even though Luke's a clear testament to otherwise." It was a half-truth, Hestia realized. There was more to it than just getting in trouble with the parents and them shipping the group away, but she didn't push it.
"My parents think I'm too self-reliant." She admitted with a shrug. "I think they're just struggling right now with what parenting approach to take."
"Ugh…parents being parents." Rory groaned, before lighting up as the song 'Teeth' by Five Seconds of Summer came on. "Oh. I love this song." She turned the knob for the sound up and Hestia laughed a little, sharing the opinion. It was nice that they were into the same music, she pulled into the Taco Bell parking lot, finding a spot and putting the car into park as Rory sung along – very badly – to the song. "Call me in the morning to apologize. Every little lie gives me butterflies." Rory pointed at her, before clawing at her heart melodramatically.
Hestia sarcastically clapped. "Bravo. You'd be perfect for the Drama Club. I can see it now, center stage, lead actress."
Rory smacked her upside the head but continued her offbeat singing. Once the song ended, she replied, "Way to layer on the sarcasm there, Tia. My feelings are really hurt right now." Rory put a hand over her heart, the other hand wiping away fake tears.
"It'll be ok. You'll recover." Hestia said.
"Nope. I won't ever recover. I'm going to die of permanent hurt feelings." Rory deadpanned.
Hestia snorted, "That's not a thing, drama queen."
Rory nodded sagely. "Yes, it is, sarcasm queen."
"Thanks for acknowledge my role as the queen of sarcasm. I worked really hard for that."
"Well, I must thank you for acknowledging my role as the queen of drama." Rory said as Hestia opened the door and held it open for them both before they entered. Taco Bell was half-way full of teenagers, some that Hestia recognized from school, either eating food or actively working there. "Now, let's see. The group said they basically wanted multiples of everything from the dollar menu." Rory thumbed open the messages from the group chat. "Hey, you don't mind if Jason, Carter, and Ryan join us for impromptu movie night, right?"
"Nope." Hestia selected what she wanted from the dollar menu, it was the best way to go in her opinion. "I only recognize one name from that list, though."
Rory nodded, "Right. Well. Ryan is Lyrica's older brother. Carter is Brandon's best friend. Ryan and Jason are also best friends." She explained, also selecting the food she and the group wanted from the menu. It was a lot, but it wasn't too expensive considering they were sticking to the dollar menu. Rory seemed lost in thought for a second, "Jason and Luke also used to be best friends." She tossed that tidbit of information out there after a second.
"Oh." Hestia answered. "Isn't there a bit of an age gap, though?"
Rory resolutely stared at the board, her eyes contemplative and flicking through memories along with a sheen of water crystalizing them. "Yeah. It's kind of why they're not friends anymore. The three of us grew up together – well we all did – but we were neighbors, so to speak, since our Moms are best friends, so we saw a lot more of each other." Rory recalled, before shaking her head. "Sorry, it's a little weird to talk about." She offered a watery smile.
Hestia struggled with herself for a moment, Rory had volunteered a piece of information about herself to Hestia, without any excess pressure on her part, so she supposed it would only be equivalent if she did the same. "That's the same way Ally and I grew up." Her throat closed at the mention of her best friend. They still hadn't talked since their conversation in the bathroom, both unsure of what to say to each other, and it sucked that it took only five minutes for a fifteen-year-long friendship to go down the drain. "I guess, people just grow apart, don't they? Ally and I have been friends and inseparable since we were two."
"Sorry about that." Rory said after a minute.
Hestia wiped at her face. "Right. So, back to lighter stuff." She offered a small smile. "What's the funniest thing you've ever made someone do?" She asked, thinking off the top of her head.
"Other than us making Junior get a feminine make-over?" Rory asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully while they both accepted the medium-sized cups the person behind the counter held out to them upon looking at their receipt. Hestia scanned the machine for a second, before going with Fruit Punch while Rory went with Coca-Cola. "I think the funniest thing would have to be when I got my little brother Ian to go shopping with me – apparently I'm a nightmare to shop with according to everyone but my Aunt Stella – and had him carry twenty of my bags."
Hestia shuddered, "That's not funny. That's evil." She said.
Rory pouted, "Why does nobody appreciate the joy of shopping till you drop?"
"Probably because we don't want to die in a mall." Hestia pointed out.
"You won't die."
"Not physically. My soul will die, though." Hestia said.
Rory grinned manically, "That's it. I'm taking you shopping with me."
"I will charge you with murder." Hestia felt her lips twitching and it was a struggle to keep her expression straight. "Although, can I have tiger lilies at my funeral? I also want a dragon on my tombstone."
A beat. "Why a dragon?"
Hestia shrugged, "They're cool." She said, "Make it a fire-breathing dragon. Since my name is technically the name of a Greek goddess who was the goddess of the hearth. Meaning, fire." She dragged the last word out.
"Alright, fine. You're funeral's too expensive. I won't take you shopping." Rory said. The lady behind the counter gave them a weirded-out look and they both smiled childishly as they accepted the several bags of food. "We might have overdone it, just a little bit." Rory said, struggling with the two bags as they exited the warmth of the inside of Taco Bell. Frigid air caused Hestia's breath to puff out as she also struggled with the bags.
Hestia quirked an eyebrow. "Just a bit? This is enough to feed me for two weeks, maybe even three. And that's breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
"What about dessert? That's a meal, too." Rory said.
"Is it?" Hestia asked, before weighing the answer. "Then, why don't people lump dessert with breakfast, lunch, and dinner?"
Rory and Hestia took a minute to unload their burdens on the floor space of the backseat, before they settled into their respective seats. Hestia turned the car on, briefly considering the topic. "This conversation has taken a weird turn, hasn't it?" Rory mused.
"Yup." Hestia popped the p.
"I'm an angel, tell me what you mean by that." They both sang as the song 'Born without a Heart' came onto the radio. "Honestly, that's my favorite line, next to the nightmare line." Rory said. "So, now for me to ask you…what's the funniest thing you've ever made someone do?" She asked, reaching over and turning the volume knob down.
Hestia hummed thoughtfully, "I made my cousin – who is a male, by the way – run down the street in a hot pink bra and ask my very religious neighbor for a condom." She said.
Rory snorted, peals of laughter escaping from her throat. "You did what? Oh my god…I can't. That poor guy…how did you manage to convince him to do that?" She finally asked. "And, you said what I did to my brother was evil."
Hestia shrugged, "We were playing truth or dare."
"Note to self; never play truth or dare with Hestia Warner." Rory muttered and Hestia smirked. "Ok, I'm bored." She dragged the last word out dramatically, stretching as far out in the seat as she could.
Hestia offered up the Aux chord, "Play whatever you want, Miss. Bored." She said.
"Why didn't you give this to me before?" Rory asked, taking the chord and plugging it into her phone. Her voice almost came off as a whine and Hestia hesitated for a second as she saw that someone had taken up the spot, she had previously occupied. She sighed, knowing that she would have to parallel park across the street, since there was no room on the house's side of the street. "Damn. My brother must be throwing a freaking college party." Rory mused, unplugging her phone. She eyed the chord sadly, "Next time, I'll introduce you to some of my favorite songs."
Hestia smiled, "Who said they'll be a next time, drama queen?" She asked teasingly.
Rory flattened a hand to her chest. "Gasp. You don't want there to be a next time? I don't know how I'll survive if there isn't a next time."
Hestia swatted her, opening the back door and pursing her lips as she saw the five bags they would have to carry. "Stop trying to steal my role as the queen of sarcasm." She said, giving Rory a look.
"Ok. So, everyone is upstairs." Rory slid her gaze from her phone to the bags, before unlocking her phone and thumbing open her messages. "I'm going to see if I can get one of the guys to carry the bags." She sent off a quick text.
"I can carry two, maybe three." Hestia mused, biting her lip. She factored in the stairs, knowing that even if she weren't that clumsy, she would probably trip up and end up coating in taco and burrito. "Nevermind, two it is." She hoisted two bags up, glancing both ways. The neighborhood they were in was further downtown than hers, leaving it in a seedier neighborhood that briefly made her uncomfortable and wonder if it would be wise to drive somewhere close to midnight. Hestia mentally shook herself, it would be fine. Down the street was where an activity of cars was, but it left this area somewhat silent – other than the music coming from the back-downstairs unit.
The front door – which led to a staircase for the singular upstairs unit – opened, casting a stream of light out on the street. Brandon and another guy emerged, Brandon being a few inches taller than the guy but what the other guy lacked in height, he made up for in bulkiness. His hair was blonde, the sides had a fade while there was a flop of curls in the front, but while Brandon's was golden, his was hued with red. It was almost like Hestia's own hair color, except hers had a more brilliant red hue. His face was defined with a light dusting of freckles across his nose and kind sky blue eyes.
Something, small and infinitesimal blinked sleepily inside her at his face. He felt familiar, and it wasn't the fact that their coloring was close to identical, but something deeper than that. The stranger smiled, glancing both ways before he crossed the street, "Hey, you two need a hand?" He grabbed three of the bags from the back seat.
Rory rolled her eyes. "Well, duh. I already told you that, Cart." She said, before turning to Hestia. "Tia, this is Carter. Carter, this is Hestia." She gestured back and forth between them.
Carter's eyes dimmed a little and Hestia fought the urge to frown, wondering why the simple act of introduction upset him. She shook herself, "Right." She quirked an eyebrow at Brandon. "So, he came down here to help and you came down here to what?" She scanned him for a minute.
Brandon ran a hand through his hair, taking the bags from her hands. "There, you happy now?" He inquired dryly.
Hestia flicked his forehead. "Don't be a jerk." She suddenly frowned, grabbing his face. "Hey, why'd you wash off the stuff from the make-over? I didn't even get to take pictures." She pouted, before realizing she had invaded his personal space and taking a step back, releasing his face. She wiped her hands on her jeans, feeling heat building in her palms and her face felt like she was standing too close to a fire, heat spreading all along her body.
"I'm sure Lyrica got plenty of pictures." Brandon gave a little disgruntled noise as they crossed the street, walking in a line with Brandon and Carter on the edges. "You know, you gave her so much blackmail material to use on me." He shivered a little.
Rory chuckled, "At least, you haven't played Truth or Dare with her. I'm never going to forget what you did to your cousin, Tia." She said.
Hestia just smirked, "Well…he did dare me to jump in every pool on the block in my little sister's bikini – and she's a lot smaller than me." She shrugged, "Embarrassing him in front of my extremely religious neighbor was payback."
"You dared him to wear a hot pink bra and ask said neighbor for a condom." Rory deadpanned.
Hestia chuckled. "It was well deserved."
"A condom."
"Yup. I know. I was there." Hestia said. "Don't tell me I need to explain to you what a condom is?" She paled dramatically, nudging Rory, who choked on her breath and began coughing, her tan face reddening.
Rory finally managed to stop coughing. "Please don't. I don't want to hear that explanation." She said, her voice hoarse.
Carter nudged her. "You better know what that is." He said in a serious tone.
Rory stared at them all, Hestia could tell her own amusement was mirrored by both Carter and Brandon. It was kind of fun, having the same sense of humor as both of them, and she felt oddly comfortable around these people. She suddenly started laughing, "And here I thought the three of us were the only ones with that sense of humor. It's so weird being on the receiving end of it." Rory said.
"Hey! What's taking you guys so long? You have starving people up here!" Lyrica poked her head out the door that was past the stairs, the extensions – Hestia didn't even realize she had them – gone from her hair, leaving it in a shoulder-length bob. She was wearing an off the shoulder gray sweater, revealing a black bra strap. "Chop. Chop. I'm starving!" She said, ducking her head back in the room when Carter made to throw something at her.
"No patience. You freeloaders have no patience." Carter muttered.
Hestia patted his shoulder consolingly, before they all chuckled and began climbing the stairs. The second-floor apartment was small, having three rooms immediately by the entrance and a dining room – which they had turned into a theater area for the sake of watching TV. Jason was sitting on a beanbag, a guy with midnight blue gel-spiked hair next to him on a different bean bag. The guy had the appearance of what some people dubbed a 'bad boy,' with a black leather jacket and a dark wardrobe. His eyes were the same as Lyrica's, a marker that they were siblings.
She felt a small pang at that, looking away when she realized that most people that were siblings had at least one feature they shared among each other, whether it was hair, build, or eye color and she had always been the oddball. The one who didn't fit in, and she hadn't even realized it, or she had subconsciously, and ignored it. Next to Ryan was Leanna, both of them seated close enough that their knees were touching on their respective bean bags, while Lyrica dropped her phone on Leanna's other side, claiming the couch for herself.
Brandon's eyes zeroed in on his twin and the boy she was next to and he deposited the bags on the table in front of the couch. "So, have we selected anything?" He plopped down on another couch, leaving one spot open in between Jason and him. Rory grabbed Hestia's hand and dragged her over to the empty spot. Rory sat down on Jason's lap while Hestia took a seat on the couch next to Brandon and Carter settled on the other side. It was weird, she mused, that she was close to the center, but yet she was the newbie to their group.
"Well, we're debating between Office Christmas Party, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and the Internship." Leanna informed them, while Jason grabbed a bag and passed it down to that end of their group.
Hestia hummed thoughtfully. "All of those are really good." She mused to herself. She didn't really want to watch the Internship, so she was torn between voting for Office Christmas Party and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. "Go with Jumanji. Have you seen the first one, though?" She inquired.
They all shared a glance and Hestia once again felt a little like she was on the outside looking in. "Uh…no. Should we watch the first one?" Jason asked.
"Oh. There's no need. The first one was made a really long time ago. Besides, there's only, like, one reference to it in the entire movie. It's basically a bunch of people getting sucked into a board game – or, in this case, a video game – and having to finish the game to escape." Hestia explained. "The first one, I think, was supposed to be scarier, while this one leans more towards humor and is kind of considered a remake?" She shrugged, unsure.
"Sounds fun." Carter said, "Well, turn that one on." He gestured to Leanna, who shifted her grip on her burrito to select that movie option before picking a stream.
"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Brandon leaned over, his arms crossed and hanging lazily on her open window. Hestia rolled her eyes, partially touched by his concern, letting one hand fall uselessly off the steering wheel. They had gotten through Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, before she had realized the time and said her goodbyes before heading out to her car with the group responding with varying levels of enthusiasm – Rory going so much as to give her a hug and demand for her to text once she got home. That little demand had caused Brandon to look up in interest and insist on escorting her to her car.
Hestia gave him a look. "I'll be fine. There's no need to worry."
Brandon looked at her, assessing her with his chocolate eyes. "I could follow you home in my car. It wouldn't be a problem." He insisted, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder to the car he shared with Carter, Ryan, and Jason. The girls traveled in a separate car while Luke had his own car, distancing himself from the rest of them.
"That would be a waste of gas, Brandy."
"No, it wouldn't."
Hestia fell silent, biting her lip thoughtfully – in truth, she was a little scared of driving home so late, especially considering the neighborhood giving her an uneasy feeling, but she didn't want to be needy or make him go out of his way. "You're not going to let this go, are you?" She finally asked after a few seconds.
Brandon offered a half-smirk. "Nope. Not really, princess." He chuckled when Hestia wrinkled her nose at the nickname. He straightened, "Just wait for me." He jogged over to the car, catching the keys when Carter tossed them to him from the open door that he had been leaning against. Carter had been watching them, surveying the neighborhood with keen eyes and a tenseness to his shoulders. He said something to Brandon through the rolled down passenger window, before offering Hestia a sloppy salute and closing the front door.
Hestia plugged her phone into the Aux, shooting a quick text off to her parents to let them know she was on her way home, before selecting her playlist and rolling up the window partially. She locked the doors as well, watching out of the corner of her eye as Brandon put the car in reverse and eased out of the driveway and onto the street, not entirely surprised that he seemed to know which direction she was going in. She put her phone in the center console, adjusted the volume, before maneuvering her car from the parallel parking job she had left it in.
Brandon flashed his lights at her, a smirk on his face, and she rolled her eyes with a small smirk that she couldn't quite control. Driving home with him behind her made her a little nervous, her hands clammy against the wheel before she pressed the volume up button on the center of the steering wheel to soothe her nerves. She got through a few songs, sitting there with her lips pursed and contemplative of why exactly she had let him follow her.
She could have easily just left him behind – she mused as her eyes flicked to the rearview mirror to see the front lights of his car – but for some reason his presence behind her was comforting. Hestia fidgeted a little, before her face slackened as she felt a crawling sensation traveling up her arm. She blinked the tears from her eyes, her arms trembling as she tried to keep herself together.
It's not real. It's not real. It's not real.
But it sure as hell felt real. Darkness crept in at the corner of her vision as she pulled into her neighborhood, the shadows around her stretching and growing into grotesque creatures and the turn she took through the development was jerky at best. She flicked her gaze to the rearview mirror, freezing when she realized that Brandon wasn't behind her, her foot slamming onto the brake. Her breath hissed out between her teeth, seatbelt digging into her, trapping her against the seat as she put the car into park in the middle of the street – it was nearing midnight, no one was awake in her development, thankfully.
She unbuckled her seatbelt, unlocked her door and slid out in a boneless heap onto the street, her hands bracing against the oily-colored pavement. Sharp rocks dug into her hands, the rough landing scraping her hands and she peered up through her hair.
Brandon hadn't even followed her, like he was just a figment of her imagination and she didn't bother shutting her door, sprinting over to the street corner. The hair on her neck stood on edge, gooseflesh covering her skin, and she wrapped her arms around herself. "Brandon?" She called, scanning the cars around her for any trace of him. There wasn't, they were the same cars she had already passed and then something moved in the shadows, thousands of hands shaped like claws grasping and pulling her.
Hestia tried to free herself from them, but there was nothing she could do. She was stuck, trapped in an oily darkness that swallowed her screams and pleas. It wouldn't release her. It wouldn't let her go.
Let me go. Let me go. Let me go.
A haunting note cut through the night, a humming voice reaching her ears. She stopped struggling, recognizing that voice. But she couldn't exactly place where she had heard it – when she was awake. She had heard it only in her dreams. She felt crazy, maybe she was crazy. Maybe, Ally was right, and the craziness had snaked her in when her defenses were lowered. Maybe, she had been driven by insanity when she had cut her best friend from her life, after a small spat.
No. That didn't feel right.
It was the last thing she could think of before something cut through the darkness, the suffocating pressure on her chest abating. She could feel the seatbelt hold her against the seat and had an almost out of body experience when she realized she was still in her car and had slammed on the brakes because of a deer trying to cross the road. A breath she didn't even realize she was holding escaped when she watched three deer prance across the road, her eyes darting to the rearview mirror.
Brandon's car was still behind her, his expression not visible past the brightness of his headlights. Hestia put one hand on her chest, heart pumping blood to her veins irregularly. Her phone screen lit up, and she waited a second before reaching over to it and plucking it up from the center console. He had sent her a message, asking if she was ok, and she subconsciously thumbed out the automatic response to the question, sending it before her mind could think of reasons as to why it was such a lie.
"I'm losing it." She muttered to herself, frowning a little when she realized her car was in park. She must have followed that motion during the daydream – it really wasn't a dream, falling more under nightmare – and she eased the car back into drive before slowly applying pressure to the gas. She turned into her neighborhood, feeling like she was peering on from a separate plane of existence as she robotically followed the movements that would take her to her house. Turning onto her driveway, she killed the engine and opened her door – removing the key from the ignition beforehand – and locked her car.
Hestia walked to the edge of her driveway, where Brandon was chilling, the passenger window rolled down and the volume of his music lowered. "Thanks. Although, it was unnecessary." She slung her lanyard around one wrist as she lingered awkwardly on the sidewalk.
Brandon shrugged, "It wasn't a problem." He waved it off. "Those deer really came from nowhere, didn't they?"
Something felt off by the innocuous question. Hestia felt her eyebrows furrow, as she considered the question, wondering what about it made her uneasy. She dismissed the matter for later, realizing she had been sitting there silently for several minutes while his eyebrow raised higher and higher on his head. "Yeah. I guess they do." Hestia finally answered, checking the time. "Crap. I'm toast if inside the house any later than midnight. Um…be safe on the drive back…watch out for dear."
He looked amused, offering a two-fingered salute. "Sure thing, princess." He rolled up the window before taking off.
Hestia shook her head at herself, turning and hurrying up the driveway. If her parents were awake, the front door should be unlocked, and she knew they were awake since the TV was on, signaling they had yet to head up to bed. "Watch out for dear? Seriously, Hestia?" She muttered to herself, feeling heat flare across her cheeks as she realized how utterly lame that had sounded.
No wonder, he had looked amused.
She opened the unlocked door, uneasily stepping into the house. The nightmare from last night still tingled at the back of her mind, repainting the scene in front of her into something it decidedly wasn't. There wasn't a musty odor trapped above the floor – an odor she would later recognize as the scent of decaying human flesh and blood. Rather, her parents and Morgan were on the couch with Morgan's best friend, Bree, watching a movie on the firestick – so incredibly similar to what Hestia had been doing.
"Not a second to spare." Mom peered over the back of the couch. Her warm brown eyes were light and ringed with smile lines – according to them, they had been married for close to a decade with very little success at having children with several miscarriages haunting them when they found Hestia. She had been abandoned on the doorstep of the fire station with only a fuzzy blanket, box, and locket to her name. The locket had aged and somedays Hestia wore it, but otherwise she left it alone since the thing had been jammed shut, in spite of their attempts at opening it.
Morgan had been a miracle, at least as far as the story went. Hestia shrugged sheepishly, depositing her keys into the wooden bowl by the door that had been given to them by Mom's older sister's husband. "Yup. So, what are we watching?" She asked as she claimed the recliner that was separate from the couch. She grabbed a handful of popcorn and mindlessly shoved a few pieces in her mouth, as she observed the scene from the movie.
"The Ring." Bree chipped in. Her dark skin glowed in the light, warm brown hair curly and bouncing with several shades of brunette threading through it. "Hey! Don't steal all of the popcorn, Tia!" She snatched the bucket from Hestia's reach, tossing some kernels into her mouth.
Hestia shrugged, "I've got to admit. I'm surprised Dad managed to make it this far through the movie." She teased lightly, remembering the scene from when she had watched it. The movie was over the halfway mark, and – to her surprise – her Dad was still awake with a plate of hot wings next to him.
Dad pouted, "I'm not that bad."
Mom smiled teasingly, patting his shoulder. "Yes, you are, honey." She turned to Hestia, eyeing her a little in a way that made Hestia briefly shift with discomfort. "You know, Ally stopped by earlier. Is everything ok between you two?"
A twinge of anger flickered inside Hestia and she wondered what exactly Ally had said to her parents, before she relaxed a little. If it had been anything too major, they would have called her home immediately rather than letting her stay with a friend all day. Well, friends, but she hadn't directly stated who she had been with. "Yes, Mom. Everything's fine between Ally and I." She folded her arms across her chest.
"So, you were with her, then?"
Hestia shook her head, "No. I ran into a few of the transfer students at Antiques and Things and we started hanging out." She corrected her Mom's assumption. In truth, she hadn't heard from Ally all day and the fact that her best friend had stopped by was a little surprising to her. If she had, why hadn't she bothered to text or call? She quirked a smile. "So, what about you two? Weren't you going to head to the mall?" She changed the subject to Bree and Morgan.
Morgan nodded, attention on the movie. "Yeah. We tried on a few Prom dresses, but we didn't really get anything. It was mainly just a trip to goof off." She said.
"Oh. Prom dresses. Sounds fun. Did you get any pictures?" Hestia asked, she knew that Prom was only a few short months away, but she had avoided the topic of it, not really caring enough about attending.
Besides, it was rather awkward when one didn't have a date.
Especially, with the slow songs and how people were announced when they entered with their date.
Bree nodded. "Yeah. They're on our stories." She flicked her gaze to Hestia before going back to the movie. "Now, all of you, shush. It's getting good." She leaned forward eagerly while Morgan passed her a bemused glance.
Hestia chuckled, but zipped her lips.
Jumping awake, Hestia shot up in bed, the comfort twisted around her like a snake around a hapless mouse. She lifted one shaky hand to her forehead, feeling the heat practically radiating from her skin. She almost felt feverish, the nightmare feeling very much real, before it receded to the back of her mind. Her gaze slid to her window, watching as the first rays of sunlight started to wake up the world. She fell back against the pillows, worming her way out of the comforter and feeling the coolness from the fan settle over her, skin covered in gooseflesh.
She frowned, she had never really been a morning person, preferring to sleep in until noon – if possible – but with the nightmares, her nights were slowly becoming shorter in terms of sleep and longer in terms of staring up at the ceiling with strange thoughts echoing around her mind.
Hestia reached over and plucked her phone from the nightstand and its charger, pressing her thumb over the home button to unlock it. She took a picture of her ceiling fan, using that for her streaks – of course, with her fight with Ally still fresh on her mind, they had lost their streak out of neither one of them reaching out – before exiting Snapchat and flicking back and forth between the home screen and another screen on her phone, her mind elsewhere.
With an exaggerated sigh, she sat up and forced herself out of bed. She could already hear Bree in the shower – she knew it was Bree because Morgan and Hestia shared the same mindset about sleeping in for a s long as possible – and her Mom downstairs working on breakfast. She glanced around the room, before frowning as she realized she had left her new journal in her car and slipping her feet into her trusty sandals and heading downstairs.
Mom glanced up from where she was flipping a pancake, Dad situated on the couch and catching up with all of the T.V. shows he had fell behind on during the week. "Morning, sweetheart." She greeted, before her gaze slid to the clock and surprised colored her expression. "Wow. You're up early. Is everything ok?" She asked.
Hestia raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, Mom. Everything's fine." She grabbed her keys from the wooden bowl. "I left my bag in my car yesterday, I'm going to go get it." She answered the unasked question in Alice's gaze.
"Oh…of course." Mom nodded in understanding. "Would you like pancakes?"
Hestia eagerly smiled. "Of course. Chocolate chip, please." She chirped, before exiting the house. It was like there was a wall of coldness in between the house and the outside, her teeth chattering as she hurried to her car, unlocking it with fumbling fingers. The cold air reminded her that she was still in her pajama shorts and a flimsy tank top – she couldn't sleep in anything heavier without overheating – and she slid into the driver seat to reach over and grab the bag from the floor of the passenger seat.
She slid it onto her wrist, tumbling clumsily out of the vehicle and shutting and locking the door before hurrying up the steps and back into the house. "Cold, huh?" Mom sounded briefly amused when Hestia reemerged from the outside with goosebumps.
"Yup." Hestia popped the p. She took a seat at the table, resting her forearms on the table. "So, what's your plan for today?" She asked, toying with the bag she was still holding. It would be odd if she went upstairs with the bag and immediately started using the journal. Mom and Dad would want to know why she was keeping a journal separate from the other diary, and she was in no mood to explain to them why exactly she was done with sharing stuff with the therapist.
A journal – in her opinion – was supposed to be a private account of her day, not something for a mental professional to go through and criticize. It just made her want to withhold more information because of how exposed it made her feel.
She couldn't very well relay that to her adoptive parents without them fretting over what kind of secrets she wanted to keep from them. The episode yesterday, in the car, no less, had not been brought up and she wasn't sure how to tell them that she was relapsing because she thought it was all behind her and it coming back left a sour taste in her mouth. It also didn't escape her notice that the relapse coincided with the transfer of several new students.
"I'm going to get our laundry done." Mom answered, her voice snapping Hestia from her thoughts. She slid the pancake she had been making onto a tall stack and Hestia automatically grabbed the syrup and a fork before carting all of the items to her dad.
Dad glanced up at the food, looking incredibly like a kid in a candy store when he realized that there were pancakes for him to eat. "Oh. Yum. Thanks, honey." He called to Mom, while Hestia snorted in amusement at the endearing term.
She held up her bag. "I'm going to go put this in my room. I'll be right back." She headed up the stairs on light feet, nudging her door open and depositing the bag on her chair for later. Hestia frowned a little, before tugging the journal out and stashing it underneath her mattress for safe keeping. She straightened up, wiping her hands on her shorts as if it could hide the evidence before grabbing her phone from where she had left it and heading back downstairs.
Rory had texted her a few minutes ago, she mused, unlocking her phone and opening the message.
Rory: Hey! You forgot to text me when you got home last night!
Hestia felt her lips quirk a little at that, mindful of the stairs as she went down them with her phone in hand.
Tia: You just woke up and remembered that, didn't you?
Rory: …
Tia: Alright, fine. Sorry, but I'm complete crap at remembering stuff like that.
Rory: I'll forgive you…if you pay me back in coffee
Tia: You're just looking for free coffee, aren't you? You caffeine addict.
Rory: Yes
Tia: Fine. How's one sound?
Rory: Perfect, see you then.
Hestia glanced up from her phone from where she had plopped down on a chair at the dining room table. "Hey Mom, can I go meet up with a friend at one?" She asked as Alice finished up with the third chocolate chip pancake, slid it onto a plate and placed it in front of Hestia. She stood up and grabbed a fork while Mom stirred together more mix for Bree and Morgan, before heading over to where Dad was hogging the syrup.
Mom pursed her lips. "I don't see why not." She answered. "Which friend?"
"Uh. It's a new one." Hestia poured syrup over her pancakes. "Her name's Rory. She's one of the new transfer students that just moved to Widowsvale." She filled her Mom in, "I was hanging out at her place yesterday." She was going to add that there had also been guys there, two of which were single and one of those two that kept flirting with Hestia and had followed her home.
Mom hummed thoughtfully. "Well, it's about time you branch out a little, sweetheart."
Hestia resisted the urge to slam her face against the table at her Mom's tone. She wasn't that anti-social, she just had grown up with these people her entire life, and well, they had already established solid friendships and she didn't feel keen on intruding in that. Then again, she had somehow become friends with a group of people who had also grown up together and established the same friendship as the former. Her mind was wired weirdly, she just stuck to that as an answer.
"Oh. Tia's making friends, I hear." Bree's voice floated teasingly from the stairs. Her hair had been blow-dried and styled and she was dressed in a simple outfit that still fit her like a model.
Hestia took a bite from her pancakes, in food heaven with the chocolate melting in her mouth. "Oh, shut it." She retorted after swallowing.
"Rude." Bree said, accepting a plate gratefully from Mom, before she sat down at the table. "So, who are your new friends?" She asked.
"The transfer students." Hestia answered.
Bree's eyes lit up. "Oh. The hotties."
Mom choked and started coughing. "The what?"
Hestia groaned a little. "There are three girls in the group. You know Bree, she's just focused on the four guys." She glowered a little at Bree, having to diffuse the situation before Mom could even think to give her the talk. "And they're not that hot."
"Oh, thank god." Mom muttered.
Bree snorted. "Who are you trying to kid?" She asked rhetorically, before listing them off on her fingers. "Ryan is hot in that bad boy way with the black leather. Jason is also hot – though, sadly, he's taken by Rory. Brandon is hot in the playboy mixed with bad boy way. And Carter is hot because of those muscles and that jawline," Bree paused, regarding Hestia with a furrowed brow, "you two actually look a bit alike. Strawberry blonde with blue eyes."
Hestia rolled her eyes a little, dismissing it, even though it had bugged her a little initially to see how alike their coloring was.
"Point is. They're hot. Like, they all have muscles that you want to lick. They've got those sharp jawlines and heavenly eyes." Bree finished while Mom cringed in the background at her vulgarity.
Hestia gave her a look. "You might want to dial it back a little, Bree. You're going to give Mom a heart attack." She said, before glancing at Dad. "And, maybe Dad too, if he was listening."
Morgan entered the room groggily. "Why are we up so early?" She moaned, dropping down at the table before Hestia's words registered in her brain and she glanced up. "And why would Mom and Dad have a heart attack?"
"Bree's salivating over the transfer students." Hestia answered simply.
Morgan nodded in understanding. "Oh. Right." She said. "Wait, why were they brought up?"
"Tia's becoming friends with them." Bree answered in the same tone as Hestia did.
Morgan looked intrigued. "Really?" She glanced back and forth between them before looking up at Mom. "Wow, sis. I didn't know you had it in you to branch out." Morgan said teasingly, patting her back.
Hestia glowered. "Why is everyone saying that?" She finished up with her pancakes. "I'm going to go shower. I'm meeting up with Rory at one." She informed the room, before heading up the stairs. She was going to take a quick shower, before writing in her new journal – although the details of the nightmare were gone from her brain, the details of the car episode were decidedly not.
They had finalized the details on where they were meeting up and whether they would drive together or separate during that time – leaving Hestia with not much time to write down the details she did remember from the car episode – and she pushed open the door of the same café she had been in yesterday, inhaling the scent of bakery items. She slowly unwound the light scarf from around her neck with fingerless glove covered hands, leaving herself in a sweater that her Aunt had gotten her a few Christmas's ago.
It wasn't that she was desperately trying to be stylish or a fashionista, but it had been what her mind had decided on after showering and what she stuck with.
Rory was sitting at a table, not the same one from yesterday, with Carter and Jason at her sides. Jason was tucking himself into a hefty meal from the bakery section while Carter watched on in amusement as Rory occasionally stole bites from his piece of cake. "Hey." Hestia approached them with a grin, taking the open seat next to Carter. She eyed the half-empty cup of coffee that Rory had already ordered with amusement. "I guess I don't have to pay for your coffee, after all."
Rory shrugged. "Well, you'll make it up to me some other way." She waved the matter off. She glanced over to the two tagalongs. "These two refused to let me come alone, something about ruining the car or whatever." Rory rolled her eyes.
"You hit a mailbox." Carter deadpanned.
Rory folded her arms across her chest. "Someone moved it so that it was in the way." She said defensively.
Carter snorted. "Right, someone moved it in the two seconds you were backing out and we didn't see that person. Yup. That definitely happened." He said, words laced with sarcasm.
"Yes, it definitely did." Rory retorted, sounding slightly petulant while Jason just ignored them both in favor of following his sweet tooth. "Anyways – according to Carter here, who almost hit a bunny – I'm not a safe driver and not to be trusted behind the wheel of a car."
Hestia smirked. "Gasp. Bunny murderer." She said dramatically while Rory nodded sagely.
Carter rolled his eyes. "Yes. I almost hit a bunny. That's not the same as actually hitting it." He said.
"So malicious." Hestia teased, "So, you're being accused of attempting to murder an innocent and highly lovable bunny. How do you plead?"
Jason piped in. "How do we know the bunny was innocent? What if the bunny was actual a max serial murderer of other bunnies?"
Rory burst out laughing, "What is even happening right now?"
Hestia pointed at Carter. "Come, Cart, how do you plead? Guilty or not guilty?"
"He's obviously guilty. He admitted to it."
"I plead the fifth." Carter answered, crossing his arms.
Hestia pouted. "Awe. That's not fair."
"Yes, it is. This is wrongful interrogation. I request a lawyer." Carter said.
Hestia pointed to Jason with a raised eyebrow. "I thought that he was your lawyer." She said, "If not. Then, Jason whatever-your-last-name-is…"
"It's Tides."
"Wait, really?"
"Yup."
"Huh, weird." Hestia shook her head to clear it from that little side note, storing that piece of information in the back of her mind. "As I was saying Jason Tides will be appointed as your lawyer." She pointed at Carter.
Carter nodded seriously, but his lips were twitching with a smile. "Who's going to be the judge?"
Hestia tapped her chin. "We need a completely unbiased judge and jury for this trial." She mused, glancing around the café. They had been receiving weird looks from the other patrons of the building, but they all glanced away at hearing that sentence.
"I don't think anyone's willing." Carter said. "Guess I'm a free man."
"That's not how it works."
"Well, it is in a world where people go to trial for attempted bunny slaughter."
They all burst out laughing. "So, now what?" Jason asked, patting his full stomach. "Should we go to the movies or something?" He asked.
Rory grinned manically. "We could go…"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Carter warned her.
Her grin widened. "…shopping!" Rory declared.
"No."
"Never again."
"Didn't I tell you that shopping was soul murder? Do you want to be responsible for triple soul homicide?"
...Does it sound like I was on something in the last part? I promise, I wasn't. My mind just went to a very weird place and I was like, 'well, I'm not going to this place alone.' I was kind of just laughing at the last part. I know that this may seem like a filler chapter, but it kind of is and isn't. Obviously, this time around, I want Hestia to be closer friends with all of the transfer students and I wanted to flesh them out a little rather than just being attractive side characters, so I'm going to have goofy moments like the last part so that they can start to get that bond going. I especially want to focus on the friendship between Rory and Hestia because it's my idea that they become best friends (as a note to Amicix where Athena and Rorie were best friends). I want Hestia and Carter to also have a friendship, too as well as with Jason because he's a lovable little brother character in my mind.
Ok, I'm rambling a little and I don't really feel too inclined to give too much away, because in the rewrite, there is going to be a lot more meaning to some things and a lot more of a look into Hestia's and Ally's friendship as well (how good and toxic it can be). I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and a special thanks to Musa Tecna bestfriends forever for being the first to review. I'll see you all next time.