In today's chapter I'd like to show two relationships clashing a bit to cause some tension while an oblivious Firkle remains clueless to it all. You probably know who I'm talking about, but I'm still not going to tell you here.

Also, I'm sorry for how long this and my other stories have been taking to update. Hopefully this extra-long chapter will make up for it.

Chapter 15 – Black Book Club

While Ike and I walked back to my house after school, I continued to keep close to him. He didn't seem to question it, though, and just kept yammering on as if nothing was wrong. I was a little paranoid that the quarterback would grab me and drag me away if I was even a foot away from Ike. I hated having to rely on him like this, but I hated the thought of what the quarterback would do to me if he caught me even more.

After we reached my house, we got settled in my room. Now that I had a couch and table we used that instead of my bed which was nice and easy on my back. I was about to pull out my homework when I got a text on my phone. I pulled it out and grinned at the group text I got from Michael.

Michael: Road trip to Denver this weekend. Get hyped, or whatever.

"Yes!" I said out loud. Ike gave me a confused look.

"What's up?" he asked.

"My friends and I are going to Denver this weekend," I explained, "Every other month or so we take a road trip out there and stay a night."

"That sounds like fun," Ike said, giving me a smile, "There's so much in Denver that we don't have in South Park. So many shops…"

"Yeah, sure, but we mostly go for the bookstore," I pointed out, "It's so much bigger than the piddly thing here. I've been wanting to get more H. P. Lovecraft stories. Plus, I can the next couple of volumes of Black Butler."

Ike blinked in surprise at me. "You read manga?" he asked. I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah, why not?" I replied, "There are some pretty dark manga out there. I've been reading Black Butler ever since I finished Death Note."

"Wow. Sounds like you guys will have a good time," Ike said. He sighed slightly. "I wish I could go to Denver. I haven't gotten anything new to read in… years. My mom never wants to drive out that far and I've read all of my books. And all of Kyle's books."

I stared at him for a moment before turning back to my phone.

Firkle: Hey guys, is it all right if Ike comes with us to Denver? He's bored, lonely, and book starved.

It was only a moment before I got a reply.

Henrietta: Yeah, sure, why not?

Michael: I don't care. He owes partial gas and room money, though.

Pete: Whatever.

"What are you texting about?" Ike wondered. He was leaning over, trying to see what everyone was saying.

"Hey Ike, want to come with us to Denver this weekend?" I asked him. Ike immediately looked taken aback.

"R-Really?" Ike exclaimed, "Are you sure? Your friends wouldn't mind?"

"I already asked my friends and they said it was ok," I pointed out, "Michael says you have to pay a bit for gas and room though. Don't worry, it won't be that much. We all chip in except for me."

"Why not you?" Ike asked incredulously.

"Where am I going to get the money?" I countered, "I don't have a job and my parents don't give me an allowance. Stealing from them only gets me so far. Anyway, should I tell my friends you're coming or what?"

"Oh! Um, I should probably call and ask my mom if it's ok first. Pardon me," Ike quickly got up from the couch and rushed out the door. I briefly wondered why he never wanted me to hear his conversations with his mother, but I supposed it was none of my business.

I continued working on my homework for another minute or two until Ike came back in with a wide smile on his face. "She said it was ok!" he announced happily, "She even said she would give me an advance on my allowance so I would have money to spend."

I gave him a small grin. "That's great Ike," I told him, "I wish I got an allowance. When we go to Denver my friends take turns paying for me." I sighed deeply. "I hate burdening them."

"Well, I'm sure they're happy to do it," Ike said, "Otherwise they wouldn't keep doing it, right?" I shrugged.

"I guess so," I replied, "Anyway, we leave on Saturday, stay the night, then head for home on Sunday. We usually hit the bookstore when we get there and if we feel like it check out some other shops before having dinner. Then we have breakfast the next day and head home." I explained this to him while texting my friends that he had permission to come with us.

Henrietta expressed her confusion as to why his mother would agree to let him come with us, seeing how protective she is. "Oh, you know, she just trusts me, is all," Ike said when I read him the text, "My friends and I used to go out of town all the time."

"Ok, if you're sure," I said lowly.

…

The rest of the week went by way too slowly for my liking. Every class seemed twice as long as before and everyone kept getting on my nerves. I made sure to pack early, even though we were only staying one night. I always hated forgetting my make up when we traveled.

On Friday, Ike convinced me to let him stay at my house so my friends wouldn't have to stop by his place and we could get going earlier on Saturday. He even brought his overnight bag to my house so he would be all set to go. We made sure to finish our homework by Friday so we had nothing to distract us, and Ike spent the time until bedtime kissing me. I made Ike sleep on the couch.

When I woke up the next morning, Ike had gotten into bed next to me at some point in the middle of the night and was fast asleep. I sighed and rolled my eyes. This boy had no boundaries.

I got out of bed and started getting ready for the day while Ike continued to sleep. It wasn't until I was applying my makeup when I heard him stirring behind me. I finished getting ready and turned around to see Ike sitting up and stretching. He gave me a small smile when he saw me.

"Hey," he greeted, "Good morning. Sleep well?"

"All right," I replied with a shrug of my shoulders, "Though I do recall making you sleep on the couch." Ike suddenly grew sheepish.

"Heh, sorry. I got cold during the night and I thought sleeping next to you would help keep me warm," was his lame-ass excuse.

"Well if you were cold last night then it's going to be worse for you tonight," I warned him, "Because we like to keep the hotel room at freezing temps."

"Oh dear," Ike muttered under his breath, "It's a good thing I packed extra warm clothes just in case."

We finished getting ready just in time as I heard Henrietta pull up to my house in her truck. Ike and I picked up our bags and made our way downstairs. My friends were waiting for us and Pete looked kind of annoyed.

"Hey Pete, I thought you were driving today," I said as I tossed my bag into the back of the truck. Pete gave Henrietta an angry look.

"I was, but then Henrietta decided she wanted to drive so we did rock-paper-scissors for it and I lost," he growled.

"You'll get over it," Henrietta said dismissively with a shrug of her shoulders, "This just means you get to sit in the back with the squirts."

"Don't call us that," I muttered as Ike finished putting his bag in the back as well.

My friends and I had a system whenever we went anywhere. Whenever Henrietta drove Michael got shotgun and when Pete drove I got shotgun. Theoretically if we let Michael drive Henrietta would get shotgun, but we didn't let Michael drive. And I didn't know how to drive.

I climbed into the backseat where I was immediately shoved into the middle by Ike and Pete, despite my intentions to sit by a window. I didn't complain, though. Ike probably didn't want to sit by someone he didn't know that well. And Pete always liked to sit next to me. Henrietta got into the driver's seat, Michael in the passengers, and after Henrietta started the truck she suddenly decided she had to pee, turned the truck off, and rushed into my house. We waited ten minutes for her to return and we finally got on the road.

On any road trip our standard tunes was, of course, dark wave. But there was an artist that Henrietta loved to listen to that was definitely not gothic. His name was David Cook and she refused to let us complain about him.

So it rather surprised Ike when he was the first thing she started playing when we hit the freeway. He gave me a wide-eyed look.

"Huh, this is not the kind of music I thought you guys would listen to," he said as "Declarations" started playing,

"Oh, trust me, it's not," I told him, "But Henrietta loves this guy. So we're not allowed to complain. Don't worry, the usual stuff will come on soon."

Sure enough, as soon as David Cook was over, the usual dark wave stuff that we knew and loved came on. Ike gave me a small smile, but I could easily see this wasn't his type of music. He probably liked to listen to pop or rock. Or worse, rap.

About fifteen minutes in, he got bored of staring out the window and turned to talk to me. We talked about what we planned to do once we got to Denver. Michael had reserved a room for us, so first we were going to check into the hotel. Then we would go to the bookstore and then get dinner afterwards.

A little while later Henrietta stopped so we could use the restroom and get some snacks. Pete and I always shared a bag of Bugles because of how addicting they are. Thankfully, the vending machine had a rather large bag of them. When we got back to the truck, Ike was there, sucking on "super fiery hot balls."

"Hey," he greeted, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. I gave him a weird look.

"Are you crying?" I asked.

"It's these hot drops, man," he panted, "They're really spicy and burning my tongue!"

"So stop eating them," Pete suggested.

"No way! They're great!" Ike exclaimed.

We waited around for Michael and Henrietta to let us back in the truck since she had locked it and it took ten minutes for them to finally come back. Pete gave them an annoyed glare.

"What were guys doing for so long?" he asked, "Having a quick fuck?"

"Shut up, Pete," Michael growled as he climbed into the front seat.

"Is everyone all set?" Henrietta wondered once we were all seated.

"Are you sure you don't have to go again, Henrietta?" I asked snarkily.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Firkle," Henrietta huffed. But then she paused just before she could turn the truck on. "Actually, I do have to go again. Be right back."

We all sighed and groaned as she hopped out of the truck and rushed back into the restroom. A few minutes later she came back and we were on the road again. About an hour later we were arriving in Denver. Ike practically glued himself to the window, staring out at the city in awe and wonder. I couldn't help but smirk at him.

A few minutes later we got to the hotel and Michael checked us in. We went up to the room to drop off our luggage then went back to the truck so we could go to the bookstore. And thankfully, it wasn't very far from the hotel.

The bookstore was huge and wonderful. It was so much bigger than any store we had in South Park. As soon as we went in, we all separated, except for Ike, who stayed by my side. He followed me as I found my way to the manga section to get the next few volumes of Black Butler. I grinned as I pulled three of the books off the shelf.

"So, that's the manga you're into?" Ike asked, "What's it about?"

"It's about a young earl named Ciel who's butler is a demon who is under contract to serve him until he can take revenge on those who tortured him and murdered his family, at which point the demon gets to devour his soul," I explained gleefully, "All the while Ciel has to do tasks for the queen whenever something bothers her. I quite enjoy it."

Ike turned slightly pale. "Oh. Um, that does sound like the sort of thing you would be into," he commented. I grinned at him while slipping the manga into the basket I had grabbed.

"What about you? Are you into any manga?" I wondered.

"Uh, I don't know," Ike answered, "I've never gotten to really try out any before. My mom never let me when I was younger. But I've always been kind of interested. Um, what do you think would be good for me?"

"Well, I'm usually into darker stuff, but I think you would like something a bit smarter," I said, "If it were me, I would go for Death Note, but that may be a bit intense for a starting manga. If you want something fun and adventurous, might I recommend One Piece? It's about pirates."

I led him over to where that manga was and pulled out the first volume to show him. He smiled as he took it from me. "This looks interesting!" he said, "I'll try it!" He took the next two volumes as well and put them in a basket then we went off to a new section.

"Anything in particular you're looking for?" Ike wondered as we browsed the horror section. I nodded.

"Yeah. I only have one kind of small volume of H. P. Lovecraft stories and none of them are the Cthulhu mythos. Whenever I want to read those I have to borrow them from Henrietta or Michael. So I wanted to get more volumes for myself," I explained.

"Wasn't Lovecraft kind of super racist?" he asked. I shrugged.

"You can hate the artist but love his work," I pointed out, "Don't tell my friends, but I don't exactly approve of Lovecraft himself either. I just really enjoy his stories. They're so dark and complex. It's hard for me to choose who's stories I like more; Lovecraft's or Edgar Allan Poe's."

As we talked I scanned the bookshelves and eventually found Lovecraft's name. With a smile, I pulled the thickest book off the shelf. I looked through the table of contents and found that there was a good number of stories in it that I wanted to read, including all of the Cthulhu mythos. Satisfied, I put the thick volume into my basket.

"All right, while we're here, what else have we got?" I murmured to myself, "Ooh! Dracula! Gimme!"

"Really?" Ike asked skeptically, "I thought you goths hated vampires."

"We hate modern day, sparkly, 'cool' vampires," I corrected, "The old-school gothic vampires like Dracula are awesome. Plus he dies in the end, so it's all good."

"Firkle!" Ike exclaimed suddenly. I gave him a startled look.

"What?"

"Spoilers!" I blinked at him and it took me a moment or two to realize he was joking. I grinned and nudged him in the arm.

We continued through the bookstore with Ike picking up Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while we walked. I think I was becoming a bad influence on him. He also picked up a book about gothic culture and smiled at me.

"If we're going to be hanging out with each other I thought I could learn more about you and your friends," he explained. Something about that made my heart leap and I didn't know why.

Eventually we found my friends at the café getting coffee. And suddenly I wanted coffee. Ike and I joined my friends over at the café with our baskets full of books.

"Hey guys," I greeted, "Find any good books?"

"Hell yeah," Pete replied, "I found Hellbound Heart, the book that inspired the 'Hellraiser' series and other novels by the same author. I plan to binge read them and write an elaborate report about the author's style."

Ike blinked at him. "Really?" he wondered.

"No," Pete snorted in reply, "But I will probably end up binge reading them even if I don't mean to. Did you find that manga you like, Firkle?"

I held up my basket. "Yup. Plus some other books I wanted," I told him, "By the way, where are we going for dinner?"

Henrietta shrugged. "I have no idea," she said, "We haven't really talked about it yet. I was thinking a steakhouse or something because I am really craving meat right now."

"You always crave meat," Michael pointed out.

"Well forgive me for being a carnivore."

After we ordered our coffee (with Ike ordering a latte, the weirdo,) we went over to the checkout counter to purchase our books. On the way over, I had also slipped a copy of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray into my basket as well as a deck of gothic tarot cards. I stood next to Pete, as he was the one paying for me. He looked down into my basket, then at me.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray?" he read, "That's not gothic or horror."

"Pardon me for reading outside my typical genre," I said snarkily.

We finished checking out and headed back to the truck. We all climbed in and Henrietta started it up. "All right let's find somewhere to eat," she said.

"How about we find something in a plaza?" Michael suggested, "If there are any shops or places we want to look at afterwards we can do that."

"Good idea," Henrietta agreed, "As long as the place has steak."

I turned to Ike and rolled my eyes at him. He tried hard not to snicker.

We managed to find a nice looking restaurant in a large plaza that boasted on its sign that it had steak. The five of us headed in and got a table. We decided to be on one check, but everyone (except for me) was paying together.

I sat next to Henrietta (I hoped I could steal a piece of her steak) and Ike sat on my other side. Pete looked just a bit miffed for some reason as he took a seat between Ike and Michael. I had no idea why. We ordered our drinks, (Michael and Pete ordered something alcoholic while Henrietta and I ordered coffee. Ike had a soda,) and then we started chatting about the books we had bought.

"I picked up The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson," Michael informed us, "I've always wanted to read that story and never got the chance to. And the 1963 movie was pretty good and scary."

"You're going to have to let me read that when you're done," I told him.

"What did you get, Henrietta?" Pete asked her.

"A bunch of Stephen King novels," she replied, "Carrie, The Shining, It, and Misery. Also a couple of his collections with his novellas. I want to see just how nutty of a writer Stephen King really is."

"I've read a few of his short stories and novellas," Ike offered, "He's a very interesting author. He doesn't just write horror, which a lot of people seem to forget. I think you'll enjoy him."

Henrietta nodded, but didn't appear to want to comment. Sometimes I wished my friends weren't so unfriendly to outsiders. I know we're goths, but I did invite Ike, the least they could do is try to talk to him.

A minute later the waiter came back and we ordered our food. Of course, Henrietta ordered a steak, medium rare, with a baked potato because she also loves potatoes. Michael got the fish and chips. I think he's secretly trying to turn British. Pete ordered a plain burger with nothing on it because he's boring. Ike decided to get a basket of buffalo wings (I didn't know buffalos had wings) with several different sauces. And I went with a chicken strip basket. I never ate that much anyway.

When our food came we mostly ate in silence. I was surprised with how many wings there were in Ike's basket and I was even more surprised when he actually managed to eat them all. I barely managed to finish my three chicken strips!

I then proceeded to stare at Henrietta and her steak until she grew uncomfortable and gave me a piece. She did so with a loud sigh and lots of eyerolls.

After we were done eating and had paid, we walked out into the plaza and looked around. Ike spotted something and suddenly got really excited.

"Look!" he exclaimed and pointed, "A frozen yogurt place!"

My friends and I glanced over to the overly colorful façade he was gesturing at. "So?" Michael asked.

"So, I love those kind of places," Ike explained, "They have all sorts of flavors that you can mix and match yourself and lots of toppings! And you pay by the ounce instead of one large price. They're great. You guys should try it!"

We all looked at the place again and how bright and colorful it was. There were a couple of peppy teens hanging out in front of it. Michael curled his upper lip up in disgust.

"I don't know…" he muttered.

Growing desperate, Ike blurted, "I'll pay for all of you!"

We all sighed in resignation. "All right, fine," Henrietta agreed, "But this better be the best frozen yogurt ever."

Ike led us towards the abomination of a business as we tentatively followed behind him. As we entered the place, we noticed all the preppy, peppy teens staring at us. Not one of them were wearing a single dark color. It was painful. Thankfully, my friends and I have mastered the art of ignoring posers like them and went over to the yogurt machines. Pete gasped.

"Guys! They have a coffee flavor!" he exclaimed.

"Score!" Michael said, grabbing a paper cup-bowl and filling it about halfway. The four of us followed suit. I of course put a bit coffee in mine, but then I decided to look at the other flavors available.

And that's where my self-control left me.

My eyes widened as I started pouring a little bit of every flavor (there were like, ten or twenty not including the pumps that combined two flavors), into my bowl. I blinked in awe as I built a tower of frozen yogurt.

"Pete!" I eventually cried out, "Help!"

Over where the toppings were (there were toppings as well!?) Pete looked over at me with a confused look. "What do you- Oh my god, Firkle! Have some self-control!" he exclaimed.

"No! I can't!" I replied as I continued to pour on chocolate cheesecake into my bowl.

Pete rushed over and grabbed me around the middle, lifting me off my feet and forcing me away from the machines. "All right, bud, I think that's enough," he sighed, "Remember who's paying for you. Time for toppings."

"Toppings," I repeated, my eyes still wide.

He gently set me down in front of the counter with the yogurt toppings where I immediately started putting a little bit of everything on my Frankenstein's monster of a creation. Pete sighed and shook his head at me.

"I think you're getting more out of this place than any of us are," he commented.

When we were done, we walked over to where Ike and the other two were waiting for us at the register. Ike nearly fainted when he saw how much yogurt I had. Henrietta had to catch him when he saw how much it cost and then offered to pay for mine separately.

"Think you have enough there, bucko?" Michael teased once everything had been paid and we sat down at one of the outside tables.

"Fuck off," I muttered at him.

"You'll never finish all of that," Henrietta predicted.

"Challenge accepted!"

"It wasn't a challenge, Firkle," she sighed.

I did manage to finish it all. Ike was rather impressed, but my friends were kind of disgusted. But I didn't care, because it was delicious. 10/10, would eat again.

…

We got back to the hotel, stuffed and tired. While my friends and Ike started settling down with their books, I decided to use the opportunity to take a shower, since I knew the water would be better than at my house. With Henrietta telling me not to use up all the hot water, I washed myself, feeling nice and clean and a lot better than I usually did after a shower. I dried myself off and put my night clothes on before going back into the room.

Michael and Henrietta had claimed one of the beds for themselves of course. Pete was on the other bed, while Ike sat in one of the chairs, reading. I walked over to the bed and climbed on next to Pete and pulled out the next volume of Black Butler. Henrietta scrambled off the bed to take her shower as we all quietly read.

I was halfway through my manga when I thought of something. "Hey Ike," I called, "Where are you sleeping tonight?"

The Canadian boy looked up from his book and blushed slightly. "Oh! Um, er, I thought that, well if it was all right with you of course, I could sleep next to you," he stammered. I stared at him for a brief moment before sighing.

"I guess!" I replied. Ike thanked me before hiding his face in his book.

When Henrietta stepped out of the bathroom, she had only a single towel wrapped around her frame. Ike, who had moved to sit beside me on the bed, recoiled in shock as she dropped the towel to start getting dressed. I was confused until I remembered that Ike wasn't used to Henrietta's habit of casually undressing around us.

"Oh sorry," I said to Ike, "I forgot that Henrietta is really, er, unashamed about getting naked in front of us."

"Unashamed and proud!" she declared as she dug through her bag for some clothes. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Can you at least put your towel back on? You're making Ike nervous," I pointed out. Henrietta muttered something in a mocking voice but complied.

For the rest of the time until we went to bed we all simply read quietly. I didn't realize that I would have to sleep in between Ike and Pete and it made me a little claustrophobic. Despite this, I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep anyway.

I think this chapter has gone on long enough. We're going to get the rest of their trip next chapter and it's probably going to be a lot shorter than this one. Sorry for taking so long to update. I was busy with school and this chapter was long and depression has always been an issue and writer's block was rearing its ugly head. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things with this and my other stories as well. In the meantime, please leave a comment!