The next day was a Friday so Charlie and her friends just wanted to get the school day over with. That usually meant just quickly running to and from all their classes without Helsa and her gang noticing her. Charlie particularly did a very good job of it by keeping her head and face hidden by the hood of her jacket, but what really helped her pull it off was that Helsa was too distracted by an apparent ache attack that she woke up with this morning. All day she could be seen desperately trying to cover it with all the make up and concealer she had but nothing could hide that hideous spread of blisters and blotches that was all around and on her mouth.
"Serves her right." Angel said observing the mean girl run screaming from the girl's bathroom. "Grandma always says that people get what they deserve one way or another."
"Yeah but dios mio, that's an ugly set of zits." Vaggie said. "In fact I'm not even sure those are pimples."
"Well what else could they be?"
"Well it looks more like an allergic reaction to me. You think she might have an allergy to a certain brand of make up?"
"Or maybe she bought a brand that was toxic." Angel said. "Blitzo did that once. He bought some pancake make up from a guy in a van and it made his entire face swell up to the size of a balloon."
"Was he alright?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah but he had to spend six hours getting the leech treatment."
"Who the hell still uses leeches?" Vaggie asked.
"Grandma. She's very into the home remedy shit. It's weird and sometimes painful, but it works."
"Why doesn't she just go to a doctor like a normal person?"
"Because she thinks all doctors are quacks except for Doc Mulligan."
"Why is he different?"
"Because he delivered all her children and grandchildren, he doesn't condescend or insult my grandmother's home remedies, and because he gets her tickets to the opera at Christmas time."
"Ah." Vaggie said nodding. "So Charlie, are we going to meet up tonight again?"
"I can't. I'm babysitting Octavia."
"But I thought Angel's grandmother was watching her this week."
"Yeah but Friday is when Grandma goes to her bridge game." Angel said. "And she never misses an opportunity to beat Eunice Lichtman at bridge."
"Sorry I can't make it Vaggie." Charlie said.
"It's alright. I didn't really feel like going out tonight anyway. We've been doing so much every night, I think I'm going to take it easy this evening."
"What exactly have you chicks been up to every night this week?" Angel asked.
"None of your business."
"Oh come on, don't leave me out of the loop." He whined. "I like to be involved."
"Hey we don't pry into your business so stay out of ours."
"But don't you want us to get closer?"
"No. In fact, sometimes I'd like for us to get far away from you."
Charlie could sense an argument between them in the near future so she decided to just make herself scarce until it passed. She went over to her locker, opened it up, and proceeded to gather up her books while taking a moment to glance in her locker mirror and smooth out the hair strands sticking up on her head.
"Stupid cow-lick." She muttered to herself annoyed.
"I actually think it's kind of cute." A voice from behind chuckled.
She turned around and there stood Seviathan smiling at her. He looked especially handsome today and even though he was the brother of the girl who basically tortured her, she couldn't help but blush at little when he looked at her.
"Oh hi Seviathan. What brings you by?" She asked him shyly.
"I just wanted to apologize on behalf of my sister and my girlfriend." He said. "They don't really have much to do with their lives so they take up teasing as a hobby."
"Well no offense but haven't they ever heard of cheerleading or soccer or chess club?"
He chuckled again.
"You know you're really funny." He craned his neck a little. "And cute."
She blushed again. He thought she was cute?
"Thank you." She said trying not to giggle. "But you know you really shouldn't say things like that to me. What would your girlfriend think?"
"To tell you the truth, Velvette and I are just a couple in name. We're not really into each other. We just pretend to be to please our parents. We're going to break up any day now."
"Well good luck with that."
"So listen, we're probably going to end it today or tomorrow, so how about on Monday, you and I hang for a bit?"
Charlie was stunned. Seviathan actually wanted to hang out with her? A popular boy actually wanted to hang out with a freak like her?
"I don't know." She said. "It would still feel like cheating to me, even if you and Velvette aren't really into each other."
"Well it's not really a date. It's just two people talking and getting to know each other. Trying to make new friends. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"No, I suppose not. But somehow I don't think Helsa would like the idea of you making friends with me."
"I don't give a shit about what my sister likes. I only care about what I like, and I like you."
That made Charlie finally let out a giggle.
"Then I guess we could do something."
"Cool. Meet me outside the gym after school on Monday."
"Okay. I'll see you there."
"Looking forward to it."
Seviathan and Charlie then parted ways to go home with the latter now being very excited about Monday of next week. However the poor girl had failed to notice that Velvette had been watching part of the conversation from across the hall.
Alastor dragged his blade like finger nails all the way down the wall of his room the entire time he had been watching Charlie and Seviathan interact. Now of course Alastor knew he had no right to be angry or jealous. After all, Charlie had not chosen him to be her sweetheart. She had not even chosen him to be her friend. Hell, she wasn't even sure if he was safe to be around. Having this amount of anger and jealousy was irrational and foolish. Might even make him come off as psychotic and warrant a stay in the looney bin. But he couldn't help it.
It just made his blood boil to see that oil-slick, pretty boy actually succeed in making a conquest for Charlie when for almost a whole year he had done nothing to defend her against his wretched sister. Whenever that miserable excuse for a young lady preyed on the lovely and innocent Charlie, he only just stood back and did nothing. What kind of decent gentleman would do that? Certainly not one worthy of Charlie's attention, yet he had the gall to try to establish a relationship with her. The very nerve. It made Alastor want to cut off that flirty smile of his.
The whole display had him tearing up the walls and clawing at the drapes, even scratching a few windows. He would have done far worse if a certain owl had not perched himself on his shoulder and gave his hair a little pull to snap him out of it.
"Having another break down, are we?" The owl said in disapproval. "And just after Moxxie finished painting the house. He'll be very cross with you when he sees this."
"Sorry Louis." He told the owl. "I just got a little upset."
"A little?" Louis said pointing his wing at the damage the strange boy had caused. "So what made you hysterical this time? Let guess, it had something to do with that girl."
Alastor didn't answer but Louis knew he was correct.
"You know you really shouldn't be spying on her so much. It's rude and it's creepy. Imagine how she'd feel if she found out."
"Pardon me, but aren't you the one who suggested that I start this little spying bit in the first place?"
"Yes but I wanted you to keep an eye on all children. Not just one girl."
"I'm only paying special attention to her because she's been crossing the bridge into our world."
"So had her friend but you've barely checked in on her."
"Because I don't like her very much." Alastor said simply. "She has a nasty temper and dreadful manners. I can't stand that in anyone."
"She's a teenager. Of course she's like that, and like her or not, you should be watching her too. All of them. That's why I showed you how to do that technique."
But Alastor just rolled his eyes and lightly brushed the owl off his shoulder, then exited the room to enter another. Next he pulled out a tool box, a block of wood, gears, springs, screws, paints, and a container of kaolin. Afterward he sat down at a work bench and began to craft something.
"What are you doing?" Louis asked.
"Putting my emotions into something more constructive." He said. "Could you bring me those spare parts I pocketed? I found five parts that would fit this perfectly."
"Fit what exactly?"
"Not telling you, that would ruin the surprise."
"Why do you have kaolin? You're not going to work with pottery again, are you?"
"Sort of. I'm not making a pot this time but something on this device will be made of porcelain."
"Alastor I don't know why you make those kinds of creations. You know what fire does to you."
"Only when I'm not careful, and besides Moxxie is the one who turns on the furnace. Not me."
He picked up the block of wood and used a special knife to shape it into something. Thank God for Alastor's gift in building and crafting, for it was the only thing that kept him sane. Well as sane as he could be given the circumstances. The house where he lived was filled with cuckoo clocks, calliopes, music boxes, mechanical dolls, marionettes, sculptures, and other special trinkets that he had made himself. And he had always made each trinket more beautiful than the last with it's own unique sense of wonder.
Louis loved to watch him work because he could see all the heart and passion Alastor put into each creation. It was like he had the power to turn every dream he had into a reality and he so wanted to share those dreams with someone and bring a smile to their face. Louis could relate to that desire very much. Sadly though, only a small number of individuals had been able to see what Alastor could create.
"Did she like the crystal you gave her?" Louis asked him.
"She liked it but she didn't take it." Alastor said scraping the wood. "She didn't feel comfortable taking gifts from someone she didn't know very well."
"I know that disappointed you."
"No it didn't. She's right, she doesn't know me and parents are always saying don't take candy or gifts from strangers."
"She did accept the locket you made for her." He said.
You couldn't see it, but Alastor was smiling for real underneath that scarf.
"I know. I saw her wearing it."
"I can't believe you still gave her that. That was a huge gamble. What happens if she loses it or if it breaks?"
"Whatever happens, it's better than Levana getting her hands on it and you know she won't ever stop until she finds it. Pity it's no longer in her domain."
"Still it would have been wiser if I had just buried it somewhere on the other side of the bridge."
"So some digger can find it? I think not. And you burying something? Ha! You can't bury anything, you don't have hands."
"Oh, right. Well then I could have swallowed it and coughed it up in a pellet when you needed it."
"Louis that's disgusting." Alastor gagged. "I swear, you'd never think a bird that's a symbol of wisdom can be so nasty at times. Now keep quiet, you'll break my concentration."
So the owl kept silent and continued to watch him work all through the night.
