When I returned home, I immediately went straight to the kitchen and made dinner early because I wanted to chill in my bedroom for the remainder of the day. The food of choice was Chinese; store bought, warm it up on the stove, in the oven, or in the microwave type of Chinese; noodles, beef, chicken, rice, and egg rolls, the cheap way. I could really taste the artificial flavoring in the chicken, noodles, and egg rolls; it was really disgusting but I ate a bit more of it anyway because I didn't want to make something else and waste a lot of the food I just made. I hoped Cassius would eat the rest when he got back.
After eating my mostly gross last meal (of the day), I went to my bedroom. I listened to the roaring rains of the heavens as I skimmed through Looking for Alaska; I didn't really like the book but I didn't feel like properly reading something, so, yeah. Anyway, I ended up spending several hours of my life just skimming through all the books I disliked, just because. Eventually, I ended up passing out. What sweet relief that had been.
The following day, at school, as soon as she got the chance, Erica loudly laughed in my face. "I can't believe you fucking fainted! All because of a speck of blood! Seriously, how pathetic are you?!"
"You are literally making fun of thousands of people with the same exact issue," I pointed out. "If anyone's pathetic, it's you for being an inconsiderate bully."
She hmphed. "Whatever, bitch." She crossed her arms, leaning back in her desk, narrowing her eyes at me. Class had yet begun. "Moving on to more important matters, are you sleeping with Maverick Soren?"
"Not yet, but I will be." I smirked. "Why do you ask?" Jealous, you little slut?
"…You're fucking with me, right?" Erica accused. "The two of you were getting along a little too well for two people who supposedly hardly know one another."
I glared at her. "No. As I've said, we aren't sleeping together currently but in the future, most definitely."
"Ugh, whatever, bitch. Be a prune all your life," she responded, turning her attention away from me. Finally, the wicked bitch is distracted. Class started shortly thereafter; it was very boring, like it usually was.
As expected, come lunch time, Maverick and River weren't sitting with their not-siblings. Even so, I still felt super duper sad; I missed him terribly. I wanted another pleasant conversation with him; I wanted many of them. I strangely wanted to argue with him again, too. And banter. And yell. And makeout. And fuck. Sigh. Baby steps, past me; baby steps. I briefly perked myself up, knowing he'd return eventually, but I immediately felt dreadful again, as he never told me when he'd return to school. I assumed it would be the following week, on Monday, but you never know what to expect from him, so I was only half hoping to see him then, and half dreading not seeing him then.
I silently ate my nacho lunchable (yes, I brought a kid's snack meal) and drank my Capri Sun as my "friends" and friends talked about the trip for tomorrow. Constantine seemed to be the most excited about going to the beach; he probably just wants to get sand up his ass crack as he fucks Erica in a public space. Chrysanthemum seemed almost as uninterested as I was; she probably would rather sleep all day or something. Big same, though. Everyone else, I assume they were ecstatic about the trip but all I heard was incoherent idle chatter.
That's when I noticed Heather glaring at me for no apparent reason. "What the fuck are you looking at, you brunette whore?" I rudely asked, making her jaw drop in shock. "Take a picture and glare at that. Throw darts at it, too, if you want. I don't give a shit. But if you keep glaring at me in front of my face, I'll give you an actual reason to be glaring at me. That means I'll fuck up your face; we all know how much you appreciate your looks, what little looks you have."
She averted her eyes, looking towards Erica, who was sitting right beside her. "Hate her," she whispered.
"Heard that," I stated, narrowing my eyes. The feeling's permanently mutual. Better watch your ass from now on. Erica was on thin ice, too; she was really pushing the limit of my patience (with her) that day. She was getting super close to being an enemy alongside Heather. Thankfully, she knew better than to openly agree with Heather about hating me, so she was off the hook. For now.
Blah blah blah, school was boring, blah blah blah, it ended for the day.
For dinner, I made Salisbury Steak for two, with the microwave because it was a store bought meal. I was feeling lazy again, okay? I didn't have the patience to cook a real meal anyway. I'm mentioning this again, dinner stuff, because I had a conversation with Cassius. First, we talked about the Le Pull beach trip; of all the attendants I listed (I wrote down names, just because I knew he'd want to know exactly who was going), he only liked Chrysanthemum. Me too, I didn't say aloud but probably should've, maybe. Then, we briefly talked about Maverick and River's camping trip, only he didn't know it was them camping and I was just trying to get information about their exact whereabouts. Epic fail, though; Cassius just said 'that's nice' and then left the dining table to watch television all night again.
I went to bed. I had nice wet dreams again, which were also weird still.
I woke up early. I didn't want to, but the sun, which was surprisingly visible in the sky for fucking once in that town, thought otherwise. I wonder how long that'll last, I thought. I think it lasted the entire day; maybe half of it. I don't remember. Anyway, I took a shower, brushed my teeth, did other stuff of importance, and also got dressed in something nice and cozy, and entirely black.
I drove to the meetup spot for the trip; an adult toy shop (of the sexual sexiness type) that Constantine's father owned. I'm not commenting on that. Anyway, I wasn't old enough to shop there, but I would've been if not for me currently dying; lost opportunity of kinky sex stuff. Almost everyone meant to be going on the trip was there; Constantine, Scout, Magnus, Silent Guy (forgot his name), Dude Bro (forgot his name, too), Erica, Chrysanthemum, Heather, and a few more Basic Bitches. At least two people were missing in action. I parked Thelma in the parking lot (obviously; where else would I?) and grouped up with everyone by the Ford Expedition, which I didn't quite understand because only, like, nine people could fit in it and we have, like, thirteenish peeps. I guess we're gonna fight to the death to see who gets a seat in this baby.
"Why was she invited?" Heather sneered.
"Because I'm awesome," I immediately replied.
"And she's our friend," Chrysanthemum and Magnus stated together. I noticed that Constantine and Erica didn't say a word in my defense. Alright, I see how it is. I knew they were some fake ass friends anyway.
"That's right," I stated. "My reason for being here is because I'm their friend and I'm awesome. Just like you're here because you're Erica's friend and Constantine just wants to get laid again, but on the beach, so he allowed you to come along, too, in exchange for that happening between those two." Erica flushed in embarrassment and Constantine made a tsk noise. Chrysanthemum giggled, and Magnus snorted, at my words. Scout looked entertained. Heather looked pissed; the truth hurts, bitch. Everyone else looked either bored or annoyed.
"Did you invite anyone?" Constantine asked me, wanting the attention off of him and Erica's sex life.
"No," I lied. "I figured it was a closed invitation, with only those you've personally invited being in attendance."
He smirked. That's not a good sign. "Good." That's not a good sign either. "You'll be riding in the Ford with Scout, Erica, Heather, Magnus, Cyrus, Kenji, …, and I." The dots mean I don't remember his name; it was the person I nicknamed Dude Bro, by the way. Anyway, I guess I knew Silent Dude's name after all; Kenji. Cool, I guess.
"Alright, then. Chrysanthemum, Magnus, and I call the back row," I stated. "I have spoken."
Constantine looked at me weirdly but nodded in agreement. Success. Chrysanthemum and Magnus moved to stand beside me, to really solidify the statement I said. True friends stick together.
Instead of two, three people showed up in a Cadillac Escalade. Plenty of room left for everyone without seats, I'm assuming. Also, I just realized I managed to name two different cars. Nice. Anyway, as promised, Chrysanthemum, Magnus, and I claimed the backseat of the Ford, Scout, Heather, and Dude Bro were in front of us, and Constantine, Erica, and Kenji were in the very front. Off to Le Pull, we went.
The ride was nice. It wasn't as cramped as I thought it'd be; there was a lot of room in that vehicle. I spent half of the time talking with my real friends and the other half staring out the window. The landscape was okay, I guess; I recalled Cassius claiming I'd been there before, as a child, but I still didn't remember shit from those supposed experiences. But, yeah, the place looked alright, I guess. The beach looked like any other beach; and it was called Third Beach. Shrug. Who cares?
We found a parking spot, as did the other vehicle. We went down onto the beach where there was an abandoned, previously (maybe recently) used fire pit. The girls I didn't like started doing drugs, Constantine started smoking, Scout started drinking, Dude Bro went off by his lonesome to do whatever the fuck, and the other people I didn't know fucking vanished out of thin air, I don't know where the fuck they went. Kenji and Magnus gathered wood for the fire pit, like decent people. Chrysanthemum and I stood as far away as possible from the substance abusers and the like but still stayed close enough to the fire pit.
Constantine got the fire started with his lighter. Those of us who hadn't already wandered off, we watched the flames for half an hour. Then, Magnus suggested seeing the tidal pools; only Constantine, Erica, Chrysanthemum, and I agreed with the plan, everyone else either being prissy little babies or stereotypically mute (I'm looking at you, kind of spooky looking Kenji). Ultimately, on the way there, Constantine and Erica split off from our five man group to obviously have sex. Chrysanthemum, Magnus, and I were better off without them, anyway; they'd ruin our fun.
We made it to the tidal pools. We stared at them, admired them. We chatted. It was nice. For once, I didn't think about Maverick. Actually, I hadn't really thought about him since lunch that previous day; my dream didn't count because that wasn't thinking. How odd. Maybe it was because I knew I'd see him again, eventually.
After a while, we headed back. Unlike before, I ended up tripping a lot on the return trip. Magnus and Chrysanthemum helped me up each time, before standing guard on either side of me, prepared to catch me if I continued tripping. They did, in fact, have to catch me a few times. What nice friends I had; I'll miss them in the afterlife. Just before we made it back to the fire pit, Constantine and Erica rejoined us, smelling very gross. I hate them.
Returning to the fire pit, we noticed that some of the natives (the Lycanthropes) to the area had joined in on the fun. I won't describe their looks because you know what natives look like, when television doesn't stereotype them. Everyone was munching and crunching on snacks when we made it over. As Scout introduced the five of us to the newcomers, Chrysanthemum and I sat down, and shared a snack together (cheese and crackers; we weren't that hungry) and drank the same type of soda (Dr. Pepper, as always). I didn't pay attention to the names of the newcomers; I wasn't interested in their existence. I just wanted to chill with my only two friends; Magnus joined us, with a beef sandwich and Coca-Cola in hand.
The beach trip continued to be rather pleasant, to my surprise. Magnus, Chrysanthemum, and I chattered amongst ourselves, cracking jokes and such. I felt like we'd grown closer since we didn't have the others (our fake friends) interrupting our conversations for once, though they probably still listened in, the rude fuckers.
In time, the afternoon rolled in. The large group around the fire pit dispersed, some folks leaving to do whatever the fuck and some others leaving whilst loudly proclaiming they were about to go fuck and get high some more. In the end, Heather, Chrysanthemum, myself, and two native dudes remained by the fire pit; Magnus ended up "ditching" us, with our approval, to skip rocks with silent Kenji. Hmm, now that's an unexpected pairing I can get behind.
After a minute of Magnus being absent from our side, one of the native dudes joined us at our spot. He looked equally as hot as Maverick, if I'm being honest with myself. He had a cute long hair, man bun hairstyle going on. Dark eyes. He was definitely younger than me, at least by a year or two; his face wasn't entirely matured. But, yeah, still equally hot to my soulmate-to-be.
"You're Iris, right? Cassius Carson's daughter?" Damn, his voice is nice, too!
"That's right," I answered. "And you are?"
"Cormac White." He smiled a friendly smile. "Your Chevrolet used to be my dad's."
"Ah." I nodded shortly. "If you are looking for some childhood reminiscing, you are in for disappointment. I don't remember very much about my experiences here as a child. Sorry, not sorry."
He continued smiling at me. "No, we never actually interacted before now. If you'd remembered anyone, it would've been my older sisters, Aiyana and Dyani." Wow, he has the whitest name, yet theirs is more native. That's…a bit odd, not gonna lie.
"They're not here, are they?" I asked. "Because I don't want to have any awkward conversations with someone I don't even remember knowing."
"You've survived worse," Chrysanthemum softly commented from the other side of me. "Like any conversation with Heather and Erica, for example."
I snorted. "I suppose that's true." I stared at Cormac. "So, are they here?"
"Aiyana is at college and Dyani lives with her husband in Wahiai," he answered.
"Good for them, I guess," I responded, not actually caring but he seemed decent enough, so I was trying to remain polite. "Anyway, I am loving Thelma." My car, if you've forgotten.
He snorted. "You named her Thelma?"
"That's what I said, ain't it?" I retorted, sticking my tongue out at him. "So, whatcha do as a hobby, Cormac? Other than talking to two strangers like Chrysanthemum and I." Hopefully, he wasn't put off by Chrysanthemum's mostly silent presence; she was bashful, up until she became comfortable with someone's existence.
He playfully rolled his eyes. "I fix up old cars. Like a 1984 Ferrari Testarossa. I haven't found all the parts yet, but soon."
"Well, when you do get it all fixed up, remember to hit us up. We'd like a ride, right, my little flower angel?" I glanced at Chrysanthemum, grinning widely. I wanted her to be a part of the conversation more; I didn't particularly like that she was kind of being left out, getting treated as a third wheel. I mean, I understood that she was bashful but it still felt wrong.
She smiled, cheeks slightly red. "Yeah, sign me up."
Our pleasant conversation was suddenly ruined by Heather. Because she was such a bitch. "So, you two know each other, then?"
"We do now," I quickly answered, glaring at her, daring her to say something else to us. Daring her to be insulting. Daring her to continue being disrespectful. Our conversation wasn't open to ugly hoes.
She looked at Cormac. "She doesn't actually like you, you know." For the first time since he started chatting with Chrysanthemum and I (but mainly me), he frowned. "No, her sights are actually set on Maverick Soren, but he wasn't in school yesterday and, clearly, he turned down her invitation to join us here when they talked the other day, so she's just looking for the next best thing and you're it."
"That's not true," Chrysanthemum comments. "You're just mad that everyone likes to be around Iris. If you were a bit nicer, maybe one of the Soren or Phoenix siblings will talk to you, too." I didn't laugh, but it was very funny, hearing a soft toned girl like her telling off someone like Heather.
I smirked. "You heard my flower angel. Stop being such an uber bitch for absolutely no reason." Cormac snorted, his mood positive again. Good; I liked him already. Platonically.
And just as Heather stood up and stormed off, that's when the other native dude started talking, butting into the conversation. What's with these people and interrupting conversations that have nothing to do with them? "Were you talking about Ansel Soren's children?" Goddamn, his voice was deep; holy shit.
"Obviously, unless there's another family around here with the surnames of Soren and Phoenix," I snarked.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at me. "And you invited them?"
"Actually, I only invited Maverick but he went camping with one of his non-biological siblings instead," I admitted. "But why is that such a taboo thing?" He was glaring at me for a reason.
"The Soren-Phoenix family isn't allowed here," he stated factually. That caught me off guard.
Chrysanthemum spoke for me, as I was still flabbergasted by the information. "Why's that?"
The man without a name, because he didn't give it to us (again), didn't answer. He just stood up and left, almost in the same exact manner as Heather had, but maybe angrier.
"Fuck you, too, then," I lowly commented, glaring at the dude's back.
"…" Chrysanthemum took the highroad and looked towards Cormac, continuing the conversation between the three of us like no interruptions ever happened. "How old are you?" Ah, right, the conversation was practically fifty questions, the best game for strangers to play to become friends.
"…Fifteen," he hesitantly stated, looking sheepish.
My eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?!" He nodded, still looking sheepish. "I thought you were, at least, sixteen!" Or fifteen, as he stated, but I wasn't gonna make him feel more embarrassed about his age. "You're tall as hell, damn!" He beamed, happy with my words. I glanced towards Chrysanthemum.
She caught on quickly. "I thought you were seventeen." Cormac's smile widened. Good job, us, I thought.
"The rude jackass was, what, twenty?" I asked.
"Nineteen," he corrected.
"…I was close enough," I stated slowly, for comedic effect. Chrysanthemum and Cormac snorted. "Is he always like that?"
He hesitated. "Raoul…can be a little rough around the edges."
"So, he's always like that, then?" I pressed. There's no need to hold back; the bastard's not here with us right now.
"Yeah," he sighed.
"Well, the jerk should get off his high horse and act his fucking age; you're more mature than he is and he's supposed to be the more mature one." I paused. Should I ask? I ended up asking the important question immediately afterwards. "What did he mean when he said that the Soren Phoenixes weren't allowed here? Did they…do something bad while they were hanging out on the beach and, now, all of them are just permanently banned for life?"
"It's a really long story," he sighed, grimacing.
"We've got time," Chrysanthemum quietly stated. "If you're willing to tell it."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Only tell us if you want to. We can talk about something else instead if it makes you uncomfortable." Even though I really, really wanna know what's up.
Cormac was silent for a while. I was beginning to think we'd actually have to talk about something different when he started speaking in a serious tone, like he was telling a very special piece of history to us. Which he was. "Our people have many legends we grow up hearing about. Many of us believe them to be true. Raoul is one of those people; I am not. One legend in particular seems a bit far fetched to me; our people originated from wolves."
"That sounds cool as hell, though," I whispered before he continued, really getting into it. From the corner of my eye, I saw Chrysanthemum nod in agreement.
Cormac smiled at us before continuing. "The legend you two will find most appealing is the one of the vampires. My great-grandfather supposedly knew a few, personally. He's the reason they stay off our land to this day. He was an elder of the tribe, like my father currently is. For centuries, vampires have been the enemies of our people, especially the ones that supposedly become wolves at will; werewolves, in other words."
I was leaning forward, watching him, enticed by the story. It reminded me of a dark romance, fantasy plot. I didn't glance at Chrysanthemum to see what her posture and expression was like; I just assumed she was getting into the story, too. I wonder how this is connected to the Soren Phoenixes. Poor, naive past me.
Cormac continued the legend. "However, the ones my great-grandfather came across were civilized, willing to have a conversation with him after they'd been caught feeding on the livestock in the area. Therefore, a truce was made; they'll never walk upon our land again, out of protection of our people against them, and we'll never tell those outside of our people of their true nature."
"Until today," Chrysanthemum whispered.
"Until today," he agreed. "But it's just a legend. It's not real."
"So, what, the Soren Phoenixes are descendants of those vampires?" I asked. "And is this story just, like, a metaphor? Like, vampires means pale people like myself and werewolves means everyone else? Was it a race thing? Is that why Maverick and his family can't come here? Their ancestors killed a few animals during a hunt on someone's property, by accident most likely, and now they can never step foot here again?"
"No, they are the vampires; some of them, at least," he revealed. "Our legend speaks of vampires and werewolves in the sense of what you've seen on television and in books. Bloodsuckers and shapeshifters. Their coven has grown slightly since then but they're still the same clan my great-grandfather happened across." He rolled his eyes. "Supposedly, anyway. Like I said, I don't actually believe any of it." And yet, he still probably doesn't like them, despite never meeting them himself.
"Awesome," I whispered in awe. Vampires; my lover-to-be and his family are vampires. What? Were you expecting my past self to be in denial or disbelief at that notion? Nah, if anything, them being vampires explained so much.
Beside me, Chrysanthemum remained silent.
"I hope neither of you think differently of me now, knowing what some of our legends are," he said, sounding worried.
"Nah, you're good, fam," I stated. "Epic storytelling. Ten out of ten; would recommend it if it weren't supposed to be a mighty secret." I winked. "Which is perfectly safe with us." I knocked shoulders with Chrysanthemum. "Right, flower angel?"
"Hmm?" Her lack of a proper response bothered me, so I looked at her, as did Cormac. She blinked a few times, staring between the two of us. Then, it seemed my words finally caught up to her. "Oh. Yeah, we won't tell a soul." She smiled slightly. "Promise." …Something's off with my flower angel. And I intend to find out what it is. …Later, though.
Cormac smiled. "Thank you."
Shortly thereafter, the group that Chrysanthemum and I came to the beach with returned. It was time for us to leave. Constantine stared down Cormac but Cormac was unphased; gaining Chrysanthemum and I's phone numbers, he bid us a polite farewell, which the two of us willingly returned. And before he walked off, he promised to visit Spoonz in the future, so that the two or three of us could hangout again; in return, I promised that I'd visit him in Le Pull with Cassius, and Chrysanthemum, too, if she wasn't busy. She agreed.
It started raining as soon as our group started carpooling again. I chilled in the backseat with Magnus and Chrysanthemum again, only that time, none of us talked to each other. Magnus was too busy dozing off, apparently worn out from all the non-sexual fun he had with Kenji. And even though I tried to start a conversation with Chrysanthemum, she didn't seem all that into it, like something was bothering her.
I intended to figure it out. And I did; a few hours to a day later.