Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Andrew glanced at the clock ticking away in his peripheral. Half past ten, it read. Half an hour remained of his history class. Not that he was paying attention to the lecture anyway. Andrew was lost in thought. Thinking about one thing and one thing only. What to do now? It would look far too suspicious to pick someone in town. And after the encounter with the officer, suspicion was the last thing Andrew needed.
"Mr. Baldmen!" The professor shouted.
"Yes, Professor Harding?" Andrew said, trying to find his bearings.
"Would you care to tell me what variable x is in this equation?" The professor asked, sure that Andrew wasn't paying any attention.
"Umm… 34?" Andrew threw the number straight out of his ass.
"Not even close! Pay attention, Baldmen!" The professor scolded.
After class was dismissed, Andrew strolled out into the hall. At that moment, a young woman with curly blonde hair walked up to him and shoved a flier with loud colors directly in his face.
"Party on Thursday! Ya coming? Everyone's invited! Well, almost everyone…"
"Umm… sure! Why not!" Andrew said after glancing at the flier and seeing that the party would be a little ways out of town.
That night, on the way to the party, Andrew experienced something unexpected. He was driving on the open road with no civilization in sight. On one side of him was the beautiful sunset and an expansive field of grass that went on for miles. The other side was much the same, except for the detail of a lake that stretched to about the size of a football field. The lake glimmered in the evening light. Beautiful visions of red, yellow, and maroon danced across the waters. Andrew lost himself in the wonder of nature and the beauty of the light on the horizon.
I don't deserve this. Andrew thought to himself. Not one bit… maybe it would be for the best to just turn myself in. The police are probably gonna be looking for me soon anyway.
Andrew was starting to feel a bit toasty. He reached for the knob for the air conditioner when suddenly-
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Don't you know that I prefer it on the warmer side?"
It had returned.
Andrew, stricken with fear, was unable to control the vehicle. The car swerved off the road and straight into the lake.
"Hey! Stop trying to kill me! It won't work!" The demon said as it raised the car out of the water and placed it back on the road with nothing but the flick of a finger.
Andrew turned around to speak face to face with it. Its face appeared differently this time. It wasn't a rabbit but something else. Something that no mortal had ever seen before and lived.
"What… what do you want?" Andrew asked hesitantly.
"Why do you people always think I want something!" The demon mocked, "I've actually come to you with news. Quite good news, depending on your temperament."
"O-okay… what is it?" Andrew asked fearfully.
"The police won't be a problem for you. I took care of it for you!" The demon hissed.
"Y-you… took care of it?" Andrew said, confused and horrified by the implications.
"Yeah, I casted a spell that made it so the police will never find you…" the demon laughed, " if you really wanted to you could just go up to an officer and say 'it was me' and they wouldn't do jackshit about it!"
"W-…Why would you…" Andrew struggled to speak.
"Cuz' it's fun, duh! You and your little girlfriend are so much fun to watch. Wouldn't wanna ruin it! I'm not done watching you suffer!" The demon jeered.
"No… of course you wouldn't be…" Andrew said somberly.
"Tell your girlfriend I said hi!" The demon said before disappearing in a burst of flames.
Suddenly the sunset didn't seem so pretty.
"1230 Westerton Drive…" Andrew said looking at the street number of a big beige two story house.
The house had tons of bells and whistles. It had a balcony where you could see over a lake, furniture made by some of the most expensive brands in the world, and last but not least, a backyard with a basketball court, football field, and an outdoor swimming pool.
"Wow… this place is almost as nice as Holly's dad's. The owner must be loaded." Andrew thought.
The door to the house was wide open, people flooding in and out. There were partiers passed out on the lawn and making out on the porch. The smell of alcohol and the sound of rap music could probably be made out from a mile away.
Andrew walked up onto the porch and went right in. It was a rave like he'd never seen before. He'd been to a couple parties, but this place felt so alien. It was packed, and in the colored lights everyone looked like monsters.
Andrew wasn't really in the mood for this.
Andrew sauntered off to the kitchen where a few people were just casually sitting and talking.
"Hey, who's the new guy?" Lily asked her friend Jenna.
"Not sure, but he seems boring!" Jenna said.
"What the hell? I literally just walked in the room?" Andrew snapped.
"It's just a vibe, okay!" Jenna said with a burp before taking another swig.
"Sorry, she's a dumbass…" Lily laughed, "not cuz' she's wasted, just cuz' she's Jenna."
"It's cool… I've got my fair share of dumbass friends too." Andrew replied, "you back here for the quiet too?"
"Pretty much… I'm really only here because Jenna needed a babysitter."
"Do not! I can handle myself on my own!" Jenna said as she opened the fridge.
"Hey! How many times do I gotta tell you not to steal people's shit!" Lily shouted.
"Looks like you have your work cut out for you!" Andrew said after a laugh.
"Sure do! So if you're not a fan of the noise, why are you here? Got someone of your own to babysit? If it weren't for Jenna, I sure as hell wouldn't be here!" Lily said.
"No… just came to socialize a little. I've never been to one of these. I didn't realize It'd be so loud!" Andrew said.
"Couldn't you have just gone to the library or something." Lily poked.
"I guess… This girl from university really pushed me into coming though. She wouldn't take no for an answer. So I just figured, what the hell… might as well go see what the fuss is about." Andrew said.
"You're the type of person who just goes along with whatever somebody else says, aren't you!" Lily asked.
"Told you he was boring!" Jenna butted in.
"Shhh! The grownups are talking." Lily said while giving Jenna a pat on the head.
"Hey, I am a grownup though!" Jenna said, trying to take another drink out of her already empty bottle, "Hey, what happened to the whiskey?"
"You drank it, Jenna."
"Oh."
Jenna passed out on the kitchen table and started snoring loudly.
"God…" Lily laughed, "at least she isn't throwing up."
"Has she done that before?" Andrew asked with a hint of disgust.
"Dude, I've seen like ten people barf at this party alone. It's no big deal. It's just what happens at these things." Lily said, "Anyway, I'm gonna get back to my book now…"
"Gotcha…" Andrew replied.
Andrew was about to walk off when suddenly-
Lily picked up a book laying on the counter. The name Stephen Hinderson was embroidered on its side.
"You read Hinderson?" Andrew asked.
"You know Hinderson?" Lily replied.
"Yeah, he's one of my favorites. I've been reading his stuff since I was like nine." Andrew laughed.
"Isn't that a little too young?" Lily smiled.
"Definitely. My parents didn't really pay all too much attention. If my brothers watched stuff with blood and guts they'd get their asses chewed, but if I did it, nobody even noticed." Andrew said.
"You're kidding. At least it was unfair in your favor!" Lily said.
"It was probably because I'm the only one they didn't give birth to."
"You were adopted too? Crazy how you got the opposite treatment that I did. My foster parents were way too fuckin' hard on me. I'm actually pretty jealous!" Lily laughed, "Hey, maybe we should get out of here. I'll show you my book collection I got at home. If you like Hinderson, you'll love this."
"Umm… yeah. That sounds great." Andrew said, unsure.
"First we gotta deal with her though." Lily said, patting Jenna on the head."
It wasn't long after dropping Jenna off that Lily and Andrew got to Lily's place of residence. It was a nice middle class house with walls painted gray. Lily took Andrew down into the basement. Where her bedroom was.
"So! What do you think?" Lily said as she proudly showed off her room.
Lily's bedroom had walls of bright pink. In the corner of the room rested a small army of stuffed animals. One side of the room had a bookshelf that stretched the whole length of the room, about thirty feet.
"It's so cool! I wish I grew up in a place like this!" Andrew said.
"I guess there's some perks of the foster parents I ended up with… This is their house. I may be adopted but they still love me a whole lot." Lily said.
"Yeah… you're lucky." Andrew said, seeming distracted by his thoughts, "Hey! Is that what I think it is?!"
Andrew ran up to the T.V. stand and sat himself down in front of a small video game console shaped like a purple cube.
"You've gotta ****cube! I used to play **** bros. On one of these things all the time!" Andrew said excitedly.
"Same here! Or at least until high school, then everybody decided that stuff was just for kids…" Lily said.
"I feel you… what would you say about playin' a little?" Andrew asked.
"Sure! Why not?" Lily said excitedly.
Lily booted up the console and turned on the T.V.. She then took a seat on the edge of her bed. Andrew sat down on the floor right next to her.
"Hey… what are you doing down there?" Lily asked playfully."
"Umm… sitting?" Andrew said.
"Get up here!"
Andrew crawled up on the bed and sat next to Lily.
The intro cinematic played as the two sat quietly watching.
"Sure brings back memories…" Lily said.
"Same here." Andrew replied.
Lily held two controllers in front of Andrew, one in each hand.
"So… player one or player two?" Lily asked.
"Umm… I'll think I'll just go with player two." Andrew said.
"You don't wanna fight me for player one?" Lily laughed.
"Nah… I'm used to player two."
"Suit yourself." Lily said before selecting "versus mode."
Without saying anything, Lily unbuttoned her shirt just a little bit. Revealing a hint of her scarlet bra. Andrew glanced over and his eyes were glued to her chest.
The two selected their characters and the battles began. The matches were close but Lily won time and time again.
"You salty?" Lily taunted Andrew.
"No… I'm just warming up a little." Andrew said as he selected "rematch".
"I wish I had someone like you to hang out with back in high school! Having to pretend to be normal was exhausting!" Lily said.
"I wouldn't really know…" Andrew laughed.
Andrew lost again. Lily turned to Andrew and took her shirt off, tossing it in a nearby laundry basket. Andrew's eyes became fixated on her.
"Umm… what… are you doing?" Andrew asked as his cheeks turned red.
"Uh, what do you think I'm doing?" Lily said before taking off her leggings.
"Lily, I'm sorry… I…"
"You don't want me do you?"
A deep silence filled the air. Lily got up and grabbed her shirt from the laundry. She put both her shirt and leggings back on and then buttoned her shirt all the way up again.
"No… it's not that… I…"
"It's okay… if you don't wanna it's fine…" Lily said dejectedly.
"It's nothing against you… it really isn't. It's just… I don't think I'm ready. I mean we hardly know each other." Andrew said.
"Yeah…sorry. I guess, I just didn't want you to lose interest." Lily said somberly.
"You don't need to give yourself out like that to keep my interest. You don't owe me your body for spending time with you." Andrew said.
"Thanks. I wish more guys were like that."
"You belong to yourself and only yourself." Andrew said, "I don't want to have sex with you, but…I'd kiss you. If you want me to."
"Yeah… I do."
Andrew leaned in and gave Lily a gentle kiss. As their lips joined, Andrew was happy. He thought nothing of anything but this moment. Not of the curse. And not of Holly. Their lips separated and they looked into each others eyes.
Andrew looked at his phone to check the time.
"I should get heading home." Andrew said getting up, "Thanks for tonight."
"Do you… wanna see each other again?" Lily asked.
"Yeah… I'd like that."