Chapter 3 – House. Let's All Play It

I swear. I swear on whosever grave, and whatever good alien I find, that I will become a crazy religion where I have to gut a chicken and where it over my head. This way, I will feel like I have humiliated myself more than what I had done.

My skin - his skin. Touching, and all wet from the shower.

It's over now, I breathed in the hallway as I looked out the school's front doors. Not just that, but school was over to. The day had ended and nothing else bad had happened between Gwen, Lucy, and... that thing.

It's not that I hated Niko because he was, well, gay or anything. It was that it just made me uncomfortable. Simple as that - and I don't like to feel uncomfortable. Who would?

Today, the sun was shining. Nice and bright.

Like Niko's backside.

"No!" I shouted aloud - drawing stares from other children. "Shut up!"

"Is that kid okay..." "He's lost it" "What a creep"

I sighed. Yep. This was all my fault. I know.

As soon as I stepped outside the school building...

"Ben!" Gwen called, running down the halls. I turned.

Her hair swaying back and forth, and her curvy figure rushing towards me. I noticed how some of the guys looked at her. Well, what little amount of guys were even at this school. I could tell they regretted what they had just thought of me when I shouted.

But wait...

She was coming towards me with her arms open. No way does she think she can hug me here! Everyone would see!

Her eyes were closed though. If I stepped out of the way, she would fall out the door and down the stairs.

What do I do!

Just let her fall...

I almost slapped myself. Apparently I was getting a pretty snappy sub-conscious. I'll need to look into that.

Finally, I made the decision to stop her with my arms.

"Oof!" she scoffed as I knocked most of the wind from her.

"B-Ben.." she said through coughs. "What do you think you're doing!"

"What am I doing!" I snapped back. "What do you think you were just about to do!"

"Well..." she looked around and stopped speaking. She was nervous now. "We're drawing stares.." Gwen whispered.

Not again...

"Alright," I spoke. Let's go outside. I pulled her into the light and away from prying eyes.

Gwen spoke again. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you and I go to your house?"

My eyes grew narrow. "...Why...?" I dared to ask.

She shuffled her feet and looked at the ground. What was this for?

Then it hit me! This was all because I still haven't done the chicken-gutting ritual yet!

Ah-ha! Of coruse! It's so simple. All I need to do is that ritual, and this hellish nightmare that plays with my hormones will be gone. Done. Over! Aliens will return to attacking the planet and Gwen will return to being stuck-up.

"Gwen, do you have a chicken?"

Now it was her turn to be confused. Her face looked more like a puzzle now.

"Chicken?"

I blinked. "Never mind. Why should we go to my house again."

Whatever was going on in her mind was now solved - she had a straigh answer. "Just to hang out. We haven't done that in a long while."

"We've never done that," I said.

"Don't you remember when grandpa-"

"Yes, but that wasn't hanging out. It was more like us calling each other the over-used...dweeb and doofus."

She giggled. What was with these girls giggling?

"Come on," she took my hand and dragged me out of the courtyard and down the sidewalk towards my house.

. . .

I don't know what had happened. It was such a good day. But I could have never imagined it would turn out like this.

I was strapped to a chair. I was befallen by the enemy. In front of me was what nobody could ever be subjected to and live.

"Gwen stop!"

Sbe shot me a sour look.

"If you don't do this math homework, then you'll just start this school year like all your others."

"Yeah, and what's so wrong with that?"

She looked at the math book. I would have bet everything I owned that she would push me even farther and never let up.

Instead, she defied the odds.

Gwen dropped the math book and sighed. "Okay. I'm hungry anyways."

I didn't want to jinx it. "Now we're talking! Let's go to the kitchen and grab something from the fridge."

I was about to race from my living room and into the kitchen to raid the fridge, but her hand caught mine.

"No you don't. For letting you off, you're going to cook a proper meal with me. The right way."

What...

"No way, dweeb!" I tried to free my hand. No luck. My strength was in the Omnitrix.

"Yes way!" She looked hard into my eyes. Was this the old Gwen? Thank the gods! All of them. Even the crazy chicken one that I will be soon converting to! Niko be-gone!

There was no choice here. "Fine..." I said softly, but with a grunt. "What are we making...Mom?"

"Speaking of your mother, where are your parents?"

I blinked. "You really haven't been here in a while, have you? They've always worked late now. I see them in the morning and on the weekends. That's it."

"Oh I see," she looked sideways. Then smirked.

Uh oh.

The smirk faded. "Anyways, come on. I'm about to show you some secrets."

I'm not sure I wanted those secrets...

We went into the kitchen. It was nothing special. Granite counter-tops, diner-styled black-white tiling and dark-wood storage cabinets. Some chrome appliances, and a silver-top stove.

Gwen dug out one of my mom's aprons, and threw one at me.

I put it on without saying a word - knowing full-well what would happen if I refused.

Still not saying anything, Gwen dug out some things from the fridge and my pantry. It all looked vegetable-related. Not my liking.

"Where's the meat?" I asked, almost helplessly.

"It's going to be mixed in with vegetables."

I groaned. "You mean I have to eat those plants to get to the good stuff?"

"Yup" She started smiling as she cut some carrots. "Ben, why don't you get a bowl from there?" She pointed above her head.

"Umm..." I looked at the cabinet directly above her. "O-Okay..."

I walked right behind her and tried to reach up, but Gwen suddenly pushed back on me.

"Ow!" she said and held her finger to her face.

"What!" I exclaimed, a bit started by her bodily touch. I looked at her finger.

There wasn't even a scratch.

"It's nothing," she resigned, "don't worry."

I reach for the cabinet above her again, but she dropped the cutting knife and bent over to get it. Again, ramming right into my hips.

I jumped backwards.

"Ben," she started, turning to me still bent over, "why are you playing around? Where's the bowl?"

My face shrunk from annoyance. "Well, it's over your head. But you keep moving around so I can't get it."

Her white teeth appeared, and a finger went to her lip. "Oh am I? I haven't noticed."

"Okay. Now I know something is going on here."

"If you mean cooking, then yes, you're right. We are cooking, Ben. Good job!"

Officially annoyed, I pushed her aside and grabbed the bowl from the top cabinet. "Shut up."

"Be more gentle next time, cousin."

"Stop talking like that."

I took some fresh green vegetables from the bottom of the fridge and brought them to my hard-earned bowl. Pulling a knife from the stock, I began to cut them into pieces.

I really felt like a chef now. Even though I have barely cooked, just wearing an apron and using a knife to cut things gets you into that mood.

Though, there was something bothering me. It was this swelling in the pit of my stomach.

I took a glance at Gwen, and the feeling seemed to intensify.

Oh no. I really need that chicken right about now.

It's just you and her...

There's that lovely sub-conscious again. Always there to help me in my worst times.

But the worst part was...I couldn't take my eyes off her figure. Body...arms...legs...

Her eyes shot my way, and only made her smile get more devilish. This was bad. Very, very, very bad. I really wish my parents would come home now.

"U-Um... Gwen. I think...well...I think I need another bowl"

What! You moron! What would you need another bowl for? But I kept on going. It was like that nasty sub-conscious just escaped from the prison of my mind.

"Oh? You do?" She stopped cutting the orange carrots. "Should I move over to let you get it?"

"N-No...you're fine. I'l just reach over you again."

Her eyes widened for a bit, then returned. "Alright then." With that, she contiued the preparations.

I walked behind her and felt my body began to heat up. Here we were. Alone in my house. The sun falling almost completely behind the horizon and clearing way for night.

Alone.

With this...creature...of a cousin.

Gwen stood straight, picking up the chopped carrots. She leaned right into me.

"Ben, before you get that bowl, do you mind if you help me over to the table on the other side of the kitchen? I feel a bit week."

Her head was right below my neck, and the hairs on her head played with the senses of my neck as her scent filled my nose.

"Y-yeah, sure."

I put my hands under her arms and we tried to walk across the tile floor together. I don't know if it was because I was nervous, or because walking like this was simply hard, but it was difficult nonetheless.

It seemed like the sounds around the world grew quiet and only the muffles of our sharp breaths were to be heard. The kitchen was quiet without the cutting, and no birds or insects were making music that night.

My foot wrapped around her ankle, on accident. We went tumbling to the floor.

Gwen tried to turn around for some reason. Why would she do that?

Then, she grabbed my shoulders and quickly swapped positions with me so that I would hit the floor first.

My back slammed on the tiled, and the wind was taken from my lungs.

Now, she lay right on top of me.

"That was payback," she whispered seductively into my ears. Her warm breaths and voice penetrating my senses.

"For w-what..." I managed to say with my eyes closed tight.

"Back at school, when you basically hit me in the chest."

I guess we were even then. But that didn't help my situation. Nope, didn't help my situation at all.

Gwen seemed to shift herself a bit on top of me. "Ben...you know how sick you are?"

Obviously she knew...of course she knew.

"Getting all excited like that from your cousin. And you're bold enough to sit here and let me feel it on my stomach."

I gulped.

Wait no! How was this my fault.

I shoved her off of me and sat up. "There's no way I'm taking the blame for this!"

Good. My strength was returning.

She blinked, surprised that her control over me had failed. "Blame for what? I have no idea what you're talking about."

I could feel her gaze staring at my the area between my hips.

"You have no idea?" It was my turn to smirk. "Then what are you looking at?"

Gotcha!

Her face turned beat red and her eyes looked into mine. "I-I was..."

She huffed and turned to stand up. "Come on. I said I'm hungry, so finish cooking so I can eat and leave."

I smiled. I won this time.