22. That’s What You Get.

“We have to do that thing we all talked about.” Luna sat across from me at our table, flinging chewed gum at the ceiling. Orion dangled from the ceiling by sticky licorice, dodging the gum.

“LET ME DOWN!” Orion screamed.

“Scalp him?” I asked, leaning my chair back so that I could stare up at him.

“Don’t scalp me, let me down!” Orion screamed.

“I’LL LET YOU DOWN WHEN YOU PROVIDE ME WITH THE DESIRED INFORMATION.” Cassie screamed back then turned back to me calmly. “No, that party thing. Fenrisúlfur and Sirena invited us. It’s in an hour, I think?” she glanced at her watch. “I sit corrected, it’s in thirty-six minutes.”

“LET ME DOWN!” Orion screamed while he squirmed.

“DESIRED INFORMATION.” Cassie yelled back.

“Alright. I suppose we should leave soon then.” I sighed.

“LET ME DOWN!” Orion screamed while he squirmed then screamed again when he saw me point my arm at him. Two shards flew from the bracelet and sliced the candy, making him fall to the ground. “Ow ow ow ow.”

“You said to let you down,” I shrugged as he glared back. “Now what have you learned?”

“Not to say anything while you possess your twisted mind and a lot of candy.” He wriggled free of the yummy ropes and slowly got up. “I’m going…to take…a shower.”

“The information, please.” Cassie stared icily at Orion, who froze with fear.

He sighed. “I ran around the playground nude yelling ‘I am the gingerbread man’ alright?”

I snickered and Cassie burst out laughing. “That’s so…stupid…” she gasped for air. “You’re not made of gingerbread.”

“That’s not the funny part.” I rolled my eyes. “When the teachers were chasing him, he kept yelling ‘Can’t catch meeeee!’ then he broke out of the school and ran down the streets like that. Best day of third grade. Ever. He ran naked.” I pointed at Orion. “And I learned that if you dumped juice on an annoying girl’s dress while the teachers are distracted, you can also dump ants on it.”

“Yeah. Ha. It’s funny. Go on without me, I’ll meet you at the party!” He waved over his shoulder as he walked down the hall.

“Okay, Gingy.” Cassie yelled back.





“Nifty.” I mumbled, staring at all the colorful lights as they swept back and forth across all the people/things. The music invaded my head with a steady beat as I scanned the crowds. “CASSIE?” I yelled at the top of my lungs. It was so loud and crowded I just got weird looks and…a giant swirly color lollipop.

“LUNA!” Sirena waved a couple feet from where I stood so I wandered over. She led me past a good chunk of more people and bright thingamabobbers with those thingies. I saw Cassie fall in behind me and Sirena stopped and turned back around. “Can you hear me?”

“No, I’ve gone deaf.” I grinned.

“Well, I’d like you to meet my friends,” she laughed and gestured to a small group of people about three feet from me. She pointed to a super-tall girl with long and smooth dark purple hair. She looked like a vampire supermodel and had tattoo swirls forming a ringlet on both her arms. Her matching purple eyes danced with joy and mischief. “This is Vix. Don’t let her looks fool you; she probably eats more than half the people here put together.” She grinned.

I glanced back at the mashed together people, there were two hundred, easy. It made me laugh a little when Vix’s jaw dropped. “I do not!” she protested. “That’s Jolen,” she glanced at Sirena and grinned.

“I heard that, Vix!” A voice called from behind me, it sounded eerily familiar. My body stiffened as I faced forward, that is, until a hand grabbed my shoulder. Then I reflexively grabbed it and flipped the owner. “…I should’ve known better. Geez, always violent, Luna.” I stared down, cocked my head to the side and made the Quasimodo face.

“Jolen? What are you doing here?” I asked as he got up, brushing dirt from his black jeans.

Jolen was thin too, just…guy thin, you know? He peeked up at me from under his black hair with his mischievous ghostly blue eyes. We stared at each other for a good twenty seconds before he smirked. He was staring at me. I was staring at his snakebites changing colors from the lights. “I live here.”

“OH!” Sirena broke in awkwardly, “So you know Jolen?” she asked, really not knowing what else to say.

“Yes, we’re lovers--OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR, LUNA?!” he rubbed his skull where I’d bashed a tree limb against it.

“For lying, you weirdo.” I stuck out my tongue and Cassie caught herself from laughing. “Don’t lie to people or I’ll do things you won’t like.”

“I like everything you do.” He looked me over then met my eyes while wearing a cocky grin. I whacked the branch against his head again. “OW! Okay, stop doing that!” he put his hand up in a ‘stop’ motion as if that would do anything.

I thwacked him again. “Like that?” I stared at him, ready to take another swing. Sirena stood there, shocked; Vix was on the ground laughing.

“Okay, sorry, sorry.” He held his hands up defensively.

I dropped the branch and turned to Sirena. “Yeah, he’s my--” I started to say when Jolen leaned uncomfortably close to my face, making me freeze in surprise. Suddenly a fist flew from the side and connected with Jolen’s face, knocking him unconscious.

“He is her ex.” Orion grinned, putting his arm on my shoulder and leaning on me.

I snapped back to normal “I’m not made for leaning on!” I slapped his arm away and stared down at unconscious Jolen.

“What’re we going to do with him?” Orion asked.

“Take him back to the house and wait for him to wake up?” Cassie offered.

“I sayyy we push him off a cliff and see if he wakes up fast enough to keep from turning into Jolen pancake.”

“What…what just happened?” Sirena asked blankly, clearly confused. Vix was still on the ground, now red and not looking like she was breathing but still laughing.

“WELL.” Fenrisúlfur started, making Sirena jump.

“Don’t do that!” she yelled up at him.

“Do what?” he stared back down at her.

“Sneak up on me!”

“Oh that. Right. Sorry.” He beamed, she blushed. I was bored.

“We have to go!” I said, picking up one of Jolen’s arms, Orion picked up the other. “Had a great time, we’ll leave you two lovebirds alone now.” I winked and took off into the sky alongside Orion and Cassie with Jolen’s body dangling by his arms behind us.