Part 9: Chloe Summer Vibes
Chloe was getting sadder by the minute and it was driving Nate and Tori insane. After Chloes birthday, Tori was more often then not hanging out with the Gothic duo. She still would wear crop tops and legging, never feeling pressured to be like them. Tori didn't admit it to anyone, but she was really starting to like Chloe. She didn't completely understand what being a mate was, but it meant Chloe was always going to be in Derek's life one way or another. Plus, Tori just never felt like she could be herself.
Chloe had checked her phone five times within an hour trying to look for any message from Derek. Nate and Tori had made her drive to the Cafe they frequented and had a tea party. Even when Nate dressed Chloe in the cutest Gothic Lolita outfit to go with the tea party idea, Chloe still appeared absent. Nate made her focus for a camera shoot. "Chloe, you are 17. It's not like your husband is in Vietnam right now. Don't make summer boring!" Nate complained.
"I'm sorry! I can't help it." Nate just rolled his eyes.
They walked into the magic shop after their tea party and saw Brian stocking a shelf.
"Oh, hey guys. Woah, you look great, Chloe!"
Tori knew Brian had a crush on Chloe. It was hard not to see it. She had known since before the ski trip. She hoped seeing Derek and Chloe so close would have stepped out any hope. But, by the way he was mesmerized by Chloes' over the top look, it hadn't worked as well as she hoped.
"Right?!" Nathan squealed. "I put so much work into her look and she's barely even recognizing my talents!"
"What's got you so spaced out?" Brian asked.
Before Chloe could respond, Nate was already interjecting. "She's all sad because Derek is working crazy hours and can't text until he's home. But now she's so borriinnggg." Nate put extra emphasis hoping Chloe would retaliate. The most he got was her rolling her eyes.
"Look, okay. Yes I'm sad and boring. I'm sorry I'm not appreciating my outfit. It is actually really cool. Like, I can't believe you handmade this. How about I make it up to you. You can take pictures of me for your portfolio."
Nate pumped his fist in victory making Tori chuckle.
"Sounds like fun. I'm actually off in 10 minutes. Beth hired someone for the summer. I trained him last week so it's his first day on his own." Brian looked up at the old timey clock in the shop. "I hope he isn't late."
"Do you want to go with us to the cemetery to take pictures? I could use someone to hold up lights. Tori will just complain." Nate scrunched up his white powdered face at Tori and she pushed his shoulder in retaliation.
Brian smiled. "Yeah sure. I haven't hung out with you all in a while."
Tori had been silent for the conversation. Nate was obviously way more friendly than those he tended to befriend. It was also probably nice to have another guy around. But, Tori couldn't help feel a little annoyed. She was thinking about how Derek would not like this, and kept it in her mind to stay between Brian and Chloe in case he tried to make a move.
Suddenly, Simon walked into the shop. "Hey-" his appearance shocked the others and himself. "Oh, hey."
"Hey Simon. I'm just finishing this. Go clock in and I'll count the drawer."
"I didn't know you got a job." Tori said.
Simon rolled his eyes. "Of course not. You're never home during the summer anyways. Dad's making me work… to pay off the stuff I broke on Halloween."
Chloe couldn't help but grimace. She wasn't the biggest fan of Simon after the incident with Peter at her party. But, after that he left her alone for the most part. Derek had explained to her that he was getting jealous that he wasn't spending as much time with him, so Chloe forgave him. It was still nice to know Kit was holding him accountable.
"Alright let me go clock out and I'll meet you guys out front."
"Well I'm gonna buy something. Chloe can you grab the car and bring it around?" Tori asked. Chloe nodded and Nate followed her out of the store. Simon eyed Tori before walking to the back of the store. Brian started to count his money in his drawer while Tori slowly walked around the brightly lit store. She grabbed a few interesting stones and some sage before seeing Simon take over the cash drawer. Brian walked out with a string backpack and stood next to her. "Ohhh those are nice! I've been meaning to buy some sage."
"Yeah, I like to burn it at home as often as possible. Plus some of my friends thinks it's weird and different, so I like to do a cleansing at sleepovers."
Simon felt somewhat shocked. It didn't sound like she was using her powers exactly. But nonetheless she should know better to do anything like that in front of normies. He was dying to chew her out, but with Brian there he didn't have the freedom to talk to her about it. He gave her a look as she paid for her things and Tori just shrugged.
"That sounds fun. Are you going to take any pictures with Chloe?"
"Nah. Nate dressed her up to try to cheer her up more than anything. I've got plenty of photos I took this morning I could post. What about you? I haven't seen you super active lately."
"Haven't really done that much, mainly working. Beth is talking about giving me more responsibilities for the store. Low-key I'm wondering if I stick around she'd pass it down to me."
That certainly perked their ears. Simon couldn't interject himself into the conversation without it being awkward. Tori and Brian were literally stepping out of the store. It made him curious, what would Beth do? She wasn't so old she couldn't handle her own, but Simon realized he really had no idea how old Beth actually was. Wouldn't it make sense she'd want to sell the store one day?
Tori also knew that Beth made sure to be in the store on days that supernatural beings were looking for remedies and potions. Real potions. Is this the new responsibility she was giving him? Should she tell her Dad? It was a big deal to reveal supernaturals to normies. Nate knew because Chloe told him, but he was totally cool with everything, having grown up with Chloe. However, the Bae family knew well that not everyone reacts so casually. If Beth was going to reveal everything, would she also tell him about their family? About Chloe? Tori couldn't help but wonder how Ben's feelings might change if he knew Chloe could reanimate the dead.
They pulled into Chloe's car and stopped at Nate's house to pick up supplies before heading to the large cemetery. Chloe was a little nervous bringing Brian to the cemetery. It's not as though she didn't like him. They had always gotten along well. He never shamed her for how she dressed. He was overall super friendly and Chloe enjoyed their small casual chat throughout the years. But Brian did not have any idea of what Chloe was. Outside of her freak out when she started her period, she made sure to keep to herself and practice how to not talk to ghosts in public. It was extremely hard. Sometimes nothing felt real. The cemetery could be especially difficult. She made sure to remind Nate of that when they had left to get the car together. He was apologetic, but they couldn't escape the situation.
Chloe did her best to disregard the ghosts that immediately flocked her upon arrival. She was used to it. But, most of the time she was going there specifically to talk to them. Now, she had to ignore them-but that didn't mean she still couldn't see or hear them. She wished desperately that they could get it over with soon.
Brian was holding up a reflector and Tori was holding up a light. Nate began taking pictures left and right, having Chloe in different positions to show the impeccable details of the Gothic Lolita dress.
Suddenly a ghost that was getting especially angry at her blatant disregard jumped at her. He was angry looking and old. There weren't any obvious injuries but his voice was deep and scary.
"LISTEN TO ME BITCH." He screamed with his arm waving high. She could even smell an awful breath of alcohol. She never could smell ghosts before. She screamed and jumped back, falling into the grass.
"Get away from me!" She yelled, engrossed by the man's anger. She closed her eyes and covered her ears. Tucking her face into her dress with her legs up to keep the smell away she used everything in her body to push the soul away from her.
As soon as she did she felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped with fright. She suddenly realized it was Ben's hand on her shoulder. A concerned look on his face. Nate was in front of her crouching down and Tori doing the same by her side.
Chloe could feel the tears welling in her eyes. She felt ridiculous and ashamed, a feeling she felt regularly when she couldn't keep her powers at bay, or when she was easily frightened. "What happened?" Ben asked.
"Let's just get out of here." Nate said. He stood and began packing his things. Chloe was thankful he interrupted before she could try to make any kind of excuse. Brian stayed by her side while Nate packed things up and Tori helped put them in the car.
Chloe usually was happy to drive her friends around, but she was extremely shaken up by the events and realized she didn't know what to do and hovered at the drivers door, her body practically shaking. Ben reached over and took the keys. "Hey, I'll drive."
Chloe nodded, handed him the keys and sat in the passenger seat. Ben had attended Nates family game nights before, so he knew where he lived. Nate gave Chloe a worried look, but she nodded to him to tell him she was fine. He let Tori direct her to her home. She did not want to leave the car. She felt like she was dying to know what Chloe saw, wanted to be there for her as a friend. With Brian there she was limited. She made a mental note to text Derek to check in on her asap.
Chloe was considerably calmer when they reached her house. When he parked in her driveway it was as if she snapped back into reality. She felt embarrassed for being so quiet and weird the whole drive, but also thankful Brian didn't press her for details.
"Uhm…" Chloe started. "Would you like to come inside? I'm a lot calmer now, I can drive you home once I've gotten something to eat."
"Oh yeah. Thank you. Mind if I grab a snack as well?" Chloe nodded, actually kind of happy to not have to be alone in her house.
Chloe opened her door, turned on her lights, and showed Brian the kitchen. He had a basic understanding of her house. He always loved her Halloween parties. He had heard about what Simon and Peter did this past year and he was almost sad he missed seeing Chloe fight him. He had heard all kinds of crazy stories of what actually happened. Brian wasn't one to pry much. He himself didn't have that great of a life and didn't bother to share anything personal, so he usually didn't go out of his way to ask anything personal either.
Brian knew about the rumors Peter had spread about Chloe when he was still in school. He never believed them, but mostly because he knew first hand what kind of asshole Peter was. He started working for Beth his junior year to save up for a car. In the end he ended up getting his own apartment not too far away and used some money to take some business classes at the local community College. The car was next on his list and he was close to getting one. For now he tended to use public transportation or getting rides from others. When he was younger, he used to hang out with Peter and some of the other basketball and hockey guys. He knew Peter to be annoyingly spoiled and full of himself. Not knowing any better, he tagged along on many of their terrible adventures; tagging buildings, destroying windows, smoking cigarettes. It honestly wasn't until Peter tried spreading rumors about girls that rejected him he just dissociated himself from the group. He started working and kept to himself. He was able to find a handful of friend online and through a gaming club at school. Recently he's befriended a few people from college, but nobody he would consider his best friend.
When he saw how messed up Chloe was after Peter, he felt like it was his duty to at least try and be friends with her. His first day at Magic Potions she showed up to buy some oils. They started talking and then it became a regular thing for them. He never tried to hang out outside of the shop, he felt like it would just impose her. Plus, after he graduated he didn't want to seem like some weirdo hanging out with highschool kids. But, after Tori stopped by and ended up inviting him to their ski trip, he was starting to feel more comfortable finding time to see them outside of work. He didn't want to admit it, but Chloe was the only person that really listened to him when he talked about his dumb nerdy the end, he couldn't help the little skipped beat of his heart when he saw her walk through the doors of the shop.
He knew Beth was selling something else on the size that wasn't regularly stocked. Sometimes he honestly thought it was drugs. But he just couldn't imagine that sweet weird old lady selling hard drugs to random people coming in from out of town. The last time they had their meeting, he asked her for more responsibilities and she said she would give that to him. She recognized he was responsible and told him that next week she would train him on her private businesses.
He also knew Beth and Chloe were close. He was slightly envious, even if it was hard to admit to himself. He hoped that maybe knowing more of her business would give him a leg up in her eyes. Although there was Derek to think about.
He pushed that out of his mind as Chloe made her way down the stairs. She was wearing black spandex shorts with a baggy sweater and had wiped most of the heavy makeup off of her face. Brain realized he had been mainly sitting there in thought instead of eating like he had said he wanted to do. But, he was also incredibly curious about what the heck happened while they were at the cemetery! He wasn't one to pry, but he cared for Chloe, and she seemed legitimately scared, something he had never really seen from her before.
"Hey, you didn't even eat anything!" Chloe laughed. "Did you not know where things are? My bad. Do you want chips or something?"
"Oh, yeah. Maybe some water?" Chloe made her way around the kitchen grabbing a chip bag and pouring it into a bowl and pouring a glass of water for him. Brian couldn't help but enjoy Chloe in her casual outfit walking around the kitchen.
Once they both sat down, Brain pushed back the knot in his stomach to ask the difficult question. "Are you okay? You seemed… weird earlier. You said, 'get away from me.' Did I do something….?"
"Oh, no! It wasn't you. I was just… remembering something and I was in my head… I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you. Sometimes cemeteries do that to me." Brian immediately accepted the explanation. If she didn't want to delve further she didn't need to. Plus, he knew her mom died when she was young, so he assumed that was probably her issue with cemeteries.
"Well, as long as you are okay. I don't want my favorite customer to drop dead from a heart attack or something."
Chloe laughed. "No I think my heart will be okay. And awww I'm your favorite customer? Probably because I'm the only one who's not a housewife, haha!"
"No, that's not it."
Chloe paused, not really sure what to say. Was hw insinuating something? Chloe had never been hit on in her life. Besides, Brian knew she was dating Derek. She thought she must be overthinking it.
Instead of dwelling on it, Chloe asked Brian about his summer and if he's saved enough for a cat yet. He said he had enough for a down payment but wanted to make sure he could afford something reliable so he was going to save just a little more. Chloe drove him to his apartment, somewhat shocked that he wasn't still living with his parents.
"Wow!"
"I'd invite you in if I knew my roommate wasn't a literal pig."
"I get it, maybe we can all have a game night or something here."
"Yeah, maybe. Well, it was really nice hanging out with you." Brian smiled brightly at Chloe, a smile she rarely saw from him.
"Oh yeah, and thanks again for driving me home after…"
"Anytime."
Chloe went home and face-timed Nate to tell him she was fine and explain everything to him. She kept him on the phone while making a pasta dinner for herself when her Dad called.
"Hey Nate, I'll call you back my Dad is calling."
She answered her Dad's phone call. He was currently in China finding somewhere to build a factory for one of his partners. "Hi sweetheart."
"Hey, Dad. How's everything?"
"Good. Looks like I'll be finishing up in a couple of weeks. How's everything there? Are you keeping yourselves busy?"
Chloe couldn't help the sigh that escaped her mouth. "Yeah, I guess. Nate invited Brian to the cemetery without even thinking about it! We were trying to take pictures for Nate's portfolio and this old guy-a ghost-jumped in my face and I screamed and fell down! It was so embarrassing. Brian had to drive us all home until I calmed down and dropped him off."
"Oh, wow. That does seem like a lot. How are you doing now?"
"I don't know. I've… also been sad because Derek hasn't messaged me or called me all day. I know he's busy. I just miss him."
"I hear you sweetheart. First love can be tricky."
Chloe grimaced at her dad's statement. To him, he probably thought Derek was one of my boyfriends she'd end up interested in or bring home. She hadn't talked with him about the Mate issue, she just didn't know how. And she didn't think it was something she'd ever really be comfortable talking to her dad about. After all, he just didn't really understand some of the supernatural stuff that she was dealing with.
Instead of going further into the topic, Steve changed directions. "Well, why don't you tell me more about the cemetery? You usually do pretty good there."
"I think it was harder with Brian there. I just couldn't acknowledge any of them or put a circle up without seeming weird. When the ghost jumped at me… I could smell his breath. It smelled like alcohol. That's never happened before. I think it just freaked me out a bit."
"Hmmm. That does sound new. Well, maybe try looking over those books again? Or ask Beth?"
"Yeah, maybe."
"Well, let me know if anything else happens. I'll let you do your thing. Make sure to eat healthy! Oh, and your Aunt Lauren let me know she's going to visit the week you leave for California so she can drive you to the airport."
"Ugh, Dad. Really?"
"Yes, it's only fair. She's very sad you didn't want to go visit her this summer."
"She's just so frustrating. I don't need to hear her complain about my makeup, my hair, and my choice in boys."
"I know baby girl. She just wants to look out for you. Try to be nice, okay?"
"Fine, I'll try. But if she pushes me over the edge, it's not my fault!"
Steve chuckled. "Yes, of course. My daughter who could do no wrong." Chloe rolled her eyes. "I love you. Have a good night."
"Love you, too."
Chloe hung up the phone and sat down on the floor of her kitchen. She had been leaning against the counter. First, she freaks out in front of a normie, next she learns her dreadful aunt is going to be visiting for a whole week!
In reality Aunt Lauren didn't live that far away. She could visit more often if she really wanted to. But, her and Chloe had a strained relationship. She was more often than not working crazy shifts as a nurse in the ER.
Chloe dreaded it. Dreaded being alone, dreaded embarrassing herself. She moved up to her room and grabbed her tablet and played a podcast about trees. She thought about going into the woods, talking to Herb. She realized she hadn't done that in a while. Many of the ghosts stayed back when Derek was there. She could tell they were nervous and wary of the werewolf they never thought existed. She remembered the first time she really felt lonely after her mother died. She was laying on her couch, looking up at the ceiling, wearing a black dress around her small frame. Her hair displayed like sunshine around her head. Everyone had left and her father had stepped out. It was the first time she was left home alone.
Chloe felt so overwhelmed. Memories of being alone in her big house, how she'd go to the woods for solace, being greeted by friendly ghosts. She looked down at her amulet, it had changed again. When did that happen?
It had changed once before, but she figured it was because of the major change in her life. Even though she wore it constantly, she realized she never really took the time to look at it in a while. Months even.
After sitting alone in her room for another hour, she heard her phone vibrate and jumped-having slightly dozed off.
It was a new message from Derek!
Chloe looked at the time and it was already 6pm.
Sorry I haven't messaged. Are you ok?
Yea its been a rough day
Seconds after sending the text, his face popped up on her phone. He was calling her!
"Hello?"
"What happened?"
Chloe smiled hearing his protective voice. "A ghost jumped at me at the cemetery in front of a normie and I got scared. I just felt really embarrassed. And then he had to drive my car and drop everyone off."
"Did he come over?"
"Yeah, he just had some chips so I could calm down and change and then I dropped him off."
"Did he ask anything?"
Chloe paused, unsure of how she felt about him interrogating her. "He asked if I was okay. Then I said it was just that cemeteries creep me out or whatever,"
"Oh… are you okay?"
Chloe sighed again, something she was getting too comfortable with. "I don't know. It was weird. I could smell the ghosts' breath. It was like hot and smelled like alcohol."
"What?"
"Yeah, I've never really smelled a ghost before. I mean, I've smelled a squirrel after accidentally bringing it…back. You know? But never like that. It was so weird."
"Yeah. Have you tried looking in those books from your mom, maybe?"
Chloe laughed. "I haven't yet, but that's what my Dad said, too."
"Oh."
"How's everything there?"
"Good, I'm just on break right now. I'll call you back when I'm done? I'm sorry all that stuff happened. Maybe we can figure it out together."
"Yeah. That sounds good. I miss you."
"I miss you, too."
"I love you."
"Love you, too."
Chloe hung up the phone and stared at her ceiling. After a mental push she finally got up and walked over to her bookcase. On one of the middle shelves was three books her mother left her. She read them briefly a few times when she was first getting a handle on her powers. Thankfully Beth was there during that process and had helped her Dad try to understand what she was going through.
They were leather books and the top of it had a small layer of dust. Wow, she really hasn't looked at these in ages. She decided, with nothing better to do, she might as well read something. She sat in her comfy beanbag chair and played the playlist she made for studying on her speaker.
When Simon got home from work he found Tori in her room on her PC. Kit was at work all day and wouldn't be home for another hour, so Simon knew he had room to chew Tori out as needed.
He tapped on her shoulder since her headphones were on and she turned with scary calm and looked up at her brother. She slipped her headphones off to hear him.
"Do you really do witch stuff with your friends?" He figured he should just get to the point.
"No! All I do is burn some sage and say some bullshit about witch whose name I made up. It's a small town, it's not that hard to be edgy."
Simon sighed and sat on Tori's bed and ran a hand through his hair. "God, you both stress me out."
"Who?"
"You and Derek!"
"I think you're overthinking it."
"Am not. Look, I know I've been a douchebag, but I also don't understand what's going on. We've always had to keep things very secret, but now it feels like anyone and everyone knows about us."
"Look, Dad never let us have friends growing up! Not real ones. I know we were running away from some evil group-who he never actually talks about. Suddenly he knows they are 'disbanded,' we move to this town and find two supernatural people that are friendly." Tori looked down at her hands. "I don't want it to be a crazy thing that we can live… normally. And not normal like Dad wanted us to be. Normal like we can actually be ourselves. I get so crazy if I don't do some kind of spell, even if it's just something simple. And now there are people that I can do that in front of and I'm not worried about being set on fire or something."
Simon had never really thought about it that way. Tori was exceptionally stronger than he was, something he was always extremely jealous of. But, when you have that type of power and you're forced to hold back? He could see why she felt the way she did. "I'm just worried. Did you hear what Brian said?"
Tori perked at the new topic. "Yeah! That was weird right?"
"Yes. I think we should tell Dad. I mean, of course in the end it's probably Beth's decision. But, she can't just go around telling people stuff, right?"
Tori shrugged. "I don't know. She's like super old. Older than she looks. I mean, she's bound to have a successor at some point?"
"But he's a normie!"
"I know. Plus, he saw Chloe flip out today at the cemetery."
"What?!" Simon jumped up. He was absolutely shocked by the information. "Tell me everything that happened."
Tori eyed her brother for a moment. "Okay, I will. But I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. I do not want to tell Dad about it. I could tell it really freaked Chloe out. I'm waiting for her to tell me everything. Brian was there so it wasn't like we could really talk." Suddenly her phone pinged and she checked it to see a fury of text messages from Nate being sent to her. She really loved Nate because he was telling her all of the gossip. Despite his gothic look, he was a gossiping queen.
"Who's that?" Simon asked.
"It's Nate. He said he just got off the phone with Chloe and he's telling me everything. Let me read it first."
Simon sat impatiently with his heel tapping the floor repeatedly. After what felt like forever, Tori looked up from her phone. "Okay, here's what happened. You saw us at the store and Nate invited Brian. Chloe was pretty upset at him after that because he didn't think about Brian being a normie and her usually talking to ghosts when they were at the cemetery. Well, we get to the cemetery to take pictures of Chloe in her outfit. It went on for like 15 ish minutes, I guess? Then, Chloe screamed, Get away from me!
"Well, after that she was shaking really badly. Brian had to, like, help her get to the car and he ended up driving everyone home and drove to Chloe's house. Nate says that an old guy ghost jumped at Chloe and screamed in her face and that's why she freaked out. I guess Chloe made some excuse about feeling weird at cemeteries and her mom being dead. I guess he just accepted it and she drove him home. Ugh, he's probably not pressing her because he's got a crush on her."
"What are you even talking about? There's no way this many people like Chloe!"
"We haven't even lived here a year yet. There's so much about Chloe we actually don't really know yet. Besides, you're the one who got drunk with Peter. Didn't you guys, like, talk shit about her."
"Ugh, don't remind me. It didn't start out like that. First we were just having fun and then they offered me something to drink and it kept going. Then he started talking like… I don't even want to repeat it. I was so messed up and just tagged along because I was jealous. Plus, I didn't know they were mates. I figured it was the first girl to pay attention to him…"
"Yeah, but you're still a dick. Well, we can at least tell Dad about Beth, but we leave the cemetery stuff out of it, okay?"
Simon nodded. "Yeah, okay. I don't need to give Chloe more grief than I already have."
Tori nodded in agreement. "Well, it was pretty obvious Brian has a crush on Chloe. I brought him skiing with us hoping seeing her with Derek would get him to move on. It obviously didn't work. Plus, I'm pretty sure Derek has an idea about it. That's why he got so pissed at Brian! Maybe he thinks like you, that its just a fling and is waiting for it to end. I can't see them ever breaking up though. Chloe was depressed all day and could barely pay attention to anything because she was waiting for Derek to text her." Tori made a dramatic gagging face with a finger pointed at her mouth. "If I ever get like that, just kill me."
Simon laughed hard. "Bet. Well, if Derek knows, should we say something about today?"
"I texted him saying that something happened with Chloe and Brian at the cemetery. I'm sure he'll be interrogating her in a few minutes. I don't know how she deals with him."
Simon just rolled his eyes. "Fine then. I'm going to work on my comic."
Tori turned back to her computer and threw her headphones over her ears. Taking that as her goodbye, Simon left her room and moved into his. He checked his phone and saw no new messages from his brother. In reality, he was just as sad as Chloe.