Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Getting up was hard for the group. Neither of the members were really morning monsters.

Brian, only in his dark green underwear, was lazily brushing the teeth that were exposed outside his mouth. Oz, in a yellow T-shirt and black sweats, was also dozing off in front of the bathroom mirror. Their little black friends were helping them comb their hair. Amira, in a black tank top and red shorts with her hair at a low dim flame, was sipping on some coffee to fuel her energy.

“Hey, you two,” she shouted from the kitchen, “one of you go wake up Vicky!” She was too lazy to do it herself.

Oz peeked from the bathroom door. They tiredly lifted a hand up while one of their blob friends was waving the comb enthusiastically. “I’ll do it…”

Oz sauntered into Vicky’s bedroom. The girl was completely unconscious, practically dead on her steel bed. Oz took the electrical plugs and placed them on both sides of Vicky’s neck bolts. They went over to an electrical box and pulled the lever down. Blue electricity burst around the long and thick wires and trailed all the way to Vicky. Once it made contact, the room crackled with bright lightening for a few seconds. And then, smoke dispersed in the air.

Vicky’s eyes began to open and then she yawned. “Mornin’, Oz…” She was dressed in a simple matching blue and gray pjs.  

“Morning…” Oz greeted back, contagiously yawning too. “I think Brian’s making breakfast soon…”

“Oh, goody!” Vicky stretched. She jumped off her bed and followed Oz to the kitchen.

Amira was sitting at the table, drinking her third cup down. Brian was at the stove cooking something. He was the best cook out of all of them. Oz sat down next to Amira while Vicky sat across. Brian simmered the stove down and brought the sizzling pan over to the table.

In one last gulp, Amira’s flame was roaring. “Alright!” She bursted. “I feel like today’s gonna be a great day!”

“Why do you feel that?” Oz asked.

“Just a feeling!”

“Is it because prom is coming up?” Vicky eagerly bounced in her seat. Brian finished scooping whatever content he made onto everyone’s plates and sat down next to Vicky.

He idly munched, “in three weeks, huh…”

“That’s right! Today’s the day we’re branching out to find dates!” Amira patted down the physique muscle on her arm.

These 4 were known to generally hang out in their own social group at Spooky High. They were usually called “the Player Characters”, but to their more meaner classmates, “the Loser Squad”. However, since prom was coming up, they decided to branch out and try to woo their other attractive classmates. If worse comes to worse, they can just wallow in shame and die alone for the rest of their lives; or take each other to prom as good friends do. Amira and Vicky were tremendously excited, Brian didn’t really care, and Oz was a little nervous.

“We all know who Oz is going for!” Vicky snickered.

Oz flinched and almost dropped the spoon that was feeding their little friends. “Vicky…!” A surprisingly visible pink blush formed on their face.

Amira saw and laughed as well, elbowing Oz. “Not a surprise there! You know you’re not discreet about it with all the doodles in your notebook.” Oz was growing more red.

“I like the wedding picture! It’s so cute!” Vicky leaned in, resting her face with her hands. Oz buried theirs with their own. They peeked through their fingers to see Brian.

He gave a shrug. “They’re not bad.” That dealt the finishing blow. Oz gravitated their head to the table. Amira felt pity for them and soothingly rubbed their back.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about! We’ve all got our fair share of crushes.” Oz lifted their head to see Amira’s radiant smile. “You got this! You should totally take the opportunity to hang out with him and ask him to prom.”

Oz’s eyes fell downward to their plate. Their finger idly slid around the rim. “That’s easier said than done…”

“Gotta admit you didn’t exactly pick an easier guy to fall for,” Vicky said, popping a spoonful of breakfast into her mouth.

Brian nodded. “Remind me again… why Damien?”

Oz shrank back when they heard the name. It was completely unexpected. Oz never thought they would fall for the violent, pyromaniac prince of hell, but here they were feeling butterflies from thinking about him. At first, Oz was deadly afraid of Damien from all the unfortunate scenes they witnessed the demon threatening to kill someone or them escaping from another massive destructive fire he started. They never thought they would ever interact either, since Oz was more timid and studious while Damien was rambunctious and violence-driven. And if they did, the meeting would end unfortunately for Oz.

However, one day, Oz was in the bathroom trying to be more bold. They wanted to experiment with themselves, but their little buddies thought it would help if they gave Oz a new hairdo. It really didn’t fit with their style, so Oz wanted to change it back but unfortunately a group of students came in and started making fun of their hair. They said Oz looked like a mop that was dipped in tar. Oz messed up trying to come up with an explanation that would make them seemed more charming, but it didn’t work out. They didn’t have the strength to escape or fight back the harassment either.

But then, the bathroom started to fill with smoke and smelt like it was burning. The students got the clue quickly and tried to escape, but the door was barricaded from the outside. They were stuck in there screaming for help as the flames started to roar higher. Luckily for Oz being the way they are, they morphed their body into a shadowy glop and managed to squeeze through the cracks of the exit door. 

Once their body emerged back together from the outside, they heard laughing nearby. It was Damien looking very smugly and proud.

“Stupid fucks! That’s what you get for blocking the door!” He was feeding off from their delicious screams. Damien turned around and was about to walk away until he spotted Oz. “Hey, weren’t you the noob they were just making fun of in there?”

Oz didn’t know how to respond other than a nod. Damien approached closer and griped Oz’s shoulder with a rough hand. It made them jumped a little.

“Well?”

Oz looked at Damien confused.

“What did their faces looked like?!” Damien showed off a terrifying and deranged grin. “I would’ve loved to see the skin melting off their faces as they were screaming.”

Oz didn’t know what to say. They started out with a quiet “um” before a loud authoritative voice shouted out at them across the hallway.

“Hey you!”

“Shit!” Damien seemed to know immediately it was towards him. “See you later, noob!” He quickly dashed away as one of the school’s faculty members tried to chase after Damien, not caring about the burning bathroom they passed. Another teacher can handle that.

Oz watched the blazing demon go, not caring either how the bathroom stopped screaming. After that, Oz started to take a few peeks towards Damien’s direction whenever he was nearby. Their curiosity got the better of them as the bad boy appeal started to draw them in. They had a few interactions with Damien after that incident, but it was only when they were with their other classmates. However, from those interactions, it made Oz see that Damien has many other hidden sides to him. Along with, reaffirming Damien’s destructive nature but they started to learn how to deal with it.

And ever since then, Oz has been struggling to get Damien’s attention and interest.

“Well, with all the details aside now,” Amira said, “don’t worry, Ozzy! That’s why we’re here to help!” 

Oz turned to see Vicky giving two thumbs up while Brian gave one. Oz didn’t know whether to feel happy or worry since they know pretty well how their group’s plans work out.

The morning started with Brian, Vicky, and Oz attending class. Amira decided to ditch and hang out in the newly refurbished bathroom. Today’s lesson was astonishingly something new and valuable to their lives that half the class felt enlightened. Oz and Vicky were taking notes like good students while Brian was slumped at his desk, probably asleep.

Despite taking notes, Oz’s mind was still occupied at the problem of how to get their crush to notice them. While they were lost in thought, they felt something hit the back of their head. They looked down to see a blank crumpled paper ball and turned around, trying to find the culprit.

No one seemed to look suspicious, so Oz turned back to the front. They glanced at Vicky who seemed to be really concentrated on the lesson. It was a little too concentrated that it seemed like she was avoiding their stare.

Before Oz could question, another paper ball hit them and they sharply whipped back around. Again nobody looked conspicuous; most of them didn’t even seemed to care. Oz glanced to Brian who was still slumped over with his arm dangling out.

Oz slowly turned around. Again, they tried to make eye contact with Vicky but she was not paying attention to them. In fact, they noticed she was texting underneath her desk. She wasn’t even looking at her phone impressively, but had her thumb hovering over her keyboard. Oz couldn’t see who she was texting. And then when her thumb pressed something, another paper ball hit them.  

Feeling really irritated, Oz whisked around with their arm raised up and the pencil in their hand ready to snap.

“Yes, Oz?”

Oz jumped and turned back around to face the teacher looking at them for the answer on the board.

The anxiety of being called on and put on the spot was exploding within. Their heart was pumping and felt nauseous in their stomach. “Uh… uh…”

The teacher shook their head and called upon another poor sap. Even though no one really cared, Oz was feeling the sour dread of looking like an idiot in front of the entire class. They felt like the class was secretly thinking how stupid they were in their minds and will laughed over this and remember it for the rest of their lives. Oz will be secretly known as “the dumbass kid who couldn’t answer a freaking question” for years. They hid their face for the rest of the class time, wishing the day was over.

Gym was next. Vicky and Brian wasn’t with Oz this time, but Amira. They were playing dodgeball again like they always did. It was as if there was nothing better to do as a gym activity.

Before it started, Amira gave Oz a hearty slap on their back. “Hey, Ozzy! Guess what? I got some real good news!” She grinned. “There’s going to be a party at the tree tonight-”

“Amira, there’s always a party there.”

She shushed them with a finger over where their mouth should be. “Let me finish! I’ve got confirmation that your little boy toy will be there.”

Oz blushed, hiding their face in their hands. “Can we please not call him that?”  

Amira laughed and ruffled their hair. “We can call him whatever you liked. Hopefully, one of them is ‘prom date’.” Oz shook their head more out of embarrassment. They were kind of glad that they haven’t seen Damien all morning. Amira continued, “so we’re partying there tonight, don’t forget! Oh, and can you text the others about the news for me?”

Oz nodded, not trusting their voice. And then, suddenly they felt another hearty slap on the back that almost knocked the wind out of them. It was followed by a deep boisterous laughter.

“Hey, bro!” Scott gave a radiant smile, baring his adorable fang out. “Why do you look so down?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Scotty!” Amira greeted him with a high five. “I’m just teasing them.”

“Brian’s not here?” Amira shook her head. “Aww…” Scott’s ears lowered down. “How come? I thought he loves dodgeball.”

“He still does. He said he got something else to do that was really important. He says ‘hi’ though.”

“Oh, tell him I said ‘hi’ back!” Scott’s ears perked up and his tail began to wag. He seemed to be full of energy more than usual. “Man, I can’t wait for lunch! I’m going to get all the pudding desserts today!” Oz kept a mental note about that.

A whistle broke out. Coach Tiger gave out the same energetic greeting speech that the class practically knows by heart from hearing it over and over again.

The teams were split; Amira was on one side while Oz, paired with Scott, was on the other. Oz would say they were pretty decent at dodgeball. Of course, they weren’t as good as Brian, Amira, and Scott, but they had a little bit more technique than Vicky. With Scott by their side, their team might win. The only problem was that Amira was impossible to defeat. Oz glared at her as she was impatiently tapping her foot. This required all the knowledge they can muster about Amira to take her down. They needed to be swift and fast. Don’t catch the ball she throws, because her flames would cause players to let it go due to the heat causing them to be out. It was going to be an intense match.

The whistle blew. Oz rushed forward and successfully grabbed a ball from the center. Out of the corner of their eye, they saw Scott was able to scoop a whole bunch in his arms. Some from the other team were able to grab what was left; strangely Amira didn’t get a ball. Both teams scooted back from the middle and went back to their side. Everyone aimed, readied, and then fired.

Oz gave their best throw. They saw the ball flew forward like a bullet. The objective was to aim low so there wasn’t a better chance for the other team to catch it. It bounced off of Amira’s leg.

“Oh, shoot!” Amira stomped her foot.

The whistle blew again; Coach told her that she was out. Oz couldn’t believe it. They actually hit Amira that easily. That was not possible. However, Amira fumed as she stomped over to the benches. She sat down with a huff, arms crossed over.

“Amira’s out already?” Scott called over. He swiftly dodged a ball flown over his head and threw one forward. “Nice job, bro!” He dodged another that went passed his cheek. “It’s weird she’s out that fast! Must be off her game today?”

Oz nodded along. They jumped from a ball rushing to their feet. They grabbed another off the ground and swung it forward. A good number of people were out, but there were still a lot of members left from both teams. The only ones left were the ones that were really skilled and hard to get out. Amira was supposed to be one of them. Oz still couldn’t believe they got her out.

While they were busy moving, they could see Amira making her way over to the coach. She whispered something into Coach’s ear. His eyes lighted up and Amira calmly walked back. Oz couldn’t dwell on the scene any longer before narrowly dodging a ball that almost hit their face. They scanned around. The teams weren’t diminishing any time soon and it seemed like none of them were losing any stamina.

The whistle blew again. “Students!” Coach shouted, but nobody paused. “To make things more exciting, the team that loses will have to go run 20 laps around Obstacle Course H!”

Suddenly, everyone’s energies were powering up. Obstacle Course H was the absolute worst one to go through because of the exhausting and deadly traps such as the sword climbing wall, the poisonous spikes hurdle jumps, the rope climb leading to the endless pit of death all while trying to escape the venomous creatures imported from that Australian monster school. The students deemed the H stood for Hell. Oz could feel their adrenaline flared. Nobody wanted to run through that which is why everyone was determined to brutally murdered the opposing team.

“Woah, everyone is super pumped!” Scott cheered and laughed as he barely lunged away from a flying ball. “Let’s try to win, buddy!”

Oz frantically agreed. Because of the pressure, everyone’s strategizing composures faltered from the thought of losing. Little by little, members started going out. It was down to Scott and Oz for their team. Looking over at Scott, they could tell that even he was afraid of Obstacle Course H from the expression on his face like he wanted to pee himself.

However, Oz made the mistake of foolishly being distracted at Scott’s face. Their reaction was too late as they saw a ball flying towards their face. They braced quickly for impact by shielding with their arms. Their eyes tightened readied for the rubbery scratches. Strangely, it never came. However, they did hear a cry beside them and a whistle being blown.

“Scott, you’re out!”

“Aww…” Oz quickly looked up to see Scott with his ears down beginning to trudge over to the benches. He shoot Oz a thumbs up. “Good luck, bro! Win for us!”

“Wait, what?” Oz was the only one left. They stood there pathetically in the middle while the other team had a couple of more players ready to strike them out. Sweat was raining more from Oz’s forehead. They began to freak out.

Balls started to pummel towards their direction like a machine gun. Oz did their best to avoid them all. Without the flying balls, they looked like they were doing a weird dance. Miraculously, Oz was able to survive the onslaught having the advantage of most of the balls on their side now. Picking some of them up with the help of their little friends, Oz fired back.

Their teammates started cheering Oz on with the help of Scott’s persistence. They felt more empower from the encouragement as their hits landed on the other team. Although, it was weird that some of the throws actually landed on the opposite team. Sometimes, the way Oz threw it shouldn’t have been able to hit the opposing members. And another strange thing was that Oz would catch a glimpse of a weird spark off the balls. But now was not the time to dwell on things, it was down one-to-one.

“Go, Oz!” Scott whooped. Oz’s team was chanting their name. It really pumped them up. They felt like they could do this.

The last member threw the ball. The momentum was light and low that Oz felt more confident to try and catch it. They almost had the ball ready to scoop into their arms.

And then suddenly, the ball changed direction and hit Oz squared in the face. The force was actually so powerful that their head fell backwards and they landed on their butt. The impact would have definitely caused a nosebleed if they actually had blood running through their body.

The whistle was blown. “Oz is out! The other team wins!” Cheering from the other benches roared through the gym. “Losing team, go run those laps!” From Oz’s side, their team groaned and whined. They could feel some of the disappointing and harsh glares from their members. Oz really wanted to cry and say it was sweat. They let the team down. It was all their fault. Now they will be known as “the one who choked at the last second that made the team go run laps at the worst obstacle course”.

They heard squeaky footsteps coming towards them. They thought it was one of the members about to blame them. However, it was Scott. He smiled and offered his hand to Oz. They took it and was lifted back up to their feet.

“Don’t sweat ‘bout it! You were great out there! You gave it your best shot!”

“Thanks, Scott…” Oz felt he were too nice for his own good. Although, something plagued their mind that they were able to remember from all the dramatic tension. “Scott, how did you get out by the way?”

“I don’t know,” Scott frowned. “All I remembered was that a ball was about to hit you and then suddenly it hit me!”

That was questionable. Oz wanted to ask more, but the whistle from the Coach made them cut the conversation and get moving. 

Oz was hoping to see their friends at lunch so they could vent their frustrations about today. It was already the afternoon and they just felt like shit. However, when they reached the cafeteria, they scanned around to see Vicky, Brian, and Amira were all separated at different tables talking to a couple of their other classmates. It gave them a shock before they realized that the group had a goal to get prom dates and lunch time was a perfect opportunity. Despite feeling a sense of loneliness, Oz was determined to follow through with the plan. 

After getting a tray of food, they saw a table where Polly and Damien were sitting at with a few good open seats around. Oz took a deep breath and approached the table. When they grew closer, Polly spotted them and waved them over.

“Hey, Oz!” Polly cheered, “How’s it going, fellow non-eating entity?”

Polly was really nice to Oz. They guessed it was because both of them were quite similar compared to everyone else like how they don’t have an intact physical form, can move through solid objects, don’t need to eat, etc.

When Oz sat down, they gave a shrug to Polly’s question. They weren’t having a good day, but they had worse. Hopefully, hanging with Polly and Damien might cheer them up.

“Yeah, I was wondering about that,” Damien furrowed his eyes, “how do you eat without a mouth? Why do you still grab food?”

“Oh, uh…” Oz felt a little tingly about the thought of Damien wondering about them. They gave a sideways glance to the little blob on their shoulder. “I don’t. The food is for them.” The little friend gave a wave.

“Oh, right!” Polly’s eyes twinkled. “It’s your little minis! They’re so adorable!” The little shadow was flattered, making a pardon gesture as if saying, “oh you.”

Oz snickered a little. “They like you.”

“Nice!” Polly winked. “Who doesn’t?”

“Alright, back to business!” Damien announced.

Polly saluted, “right, sir!”

Oz looked back and forth between them confused. “What’s going on?”

“Tomorrow’s steak day.” A smirk appeared on Damien’s face. Steak day was really popular in school since most of the monsters here were bloodthirsty carnivores.

“That means everyone is going to race to the cafeteria, trying to get the best piece of steak!” Polly grinned. “It’s totally the perfect opportunity to pull a prank!”  

“Our problem is what’s the best ultimate prank to pull.” Damien frowned, “got any bright ideas?”

This was their chance. Oz contemplated hard. They had a finger over the empty space below their nose. This was a difficult decision, mainly because they need to come up with something that would impressed and pleased Damien. It definitely needs to be with something destructive and flammable.

“We could um…” Oz quickly glanced at the entrance doors of the cafeteria. They remembered this one prank Vicky and Amira pulled on them. They said it was a classic. “...put a bucket of… gasoline on top of the doors. And when people burst through, we could set them on fire…?”

Polly and Damien stared at Oz with curled lips. “Well, it involves fire so I’m all for it,” Damien half-grinned.

“I guess, but it’s not exactly original…” Polly seemed disappointed.

“Yeah,” Damien’s grin fell, “but then again it’s fire so…”

“Oh!” Polly brightened. “What if not one bucket on the door, but many buckets on the ceiling so it’s a bigger splash zone?” Polly winked.

“Not bad, more people to set on fire.” Damien was now fully grinning.

Despite going with their idea, it didn’t seem like a win for Oz. Their original idea didn’t seem to impress Polly and Damien. They sank down in their seat staying quiet while Polly and Damien discussed more of their plans and potential ideas. Now they will be known as “Oz, the uncreative prankster”. There was no way Damien was going to be interested in them now. They felt like slamming their face in their food while their little friend was patting their cheek for comfort.

Oz was almost done with this day. They really wanted to go back home, but the party was nearing in a more few hours. They knew that if they did go home, they would just be in bed moping and never coming out. Plus, Amira would kill them (both figuratively and literally) if Oz skipped out. They just needed to suck it up for a little bit longer and then they can properly moped in peace.  

So, with the extra time, they decided to go to the auditorium. After the lunch encounter with Damien, they decided to better themselves and increase their creativity by auditioning for another school play. Vicky and Amira joined with them this time, because they really liked immersing with all the acting and costumes and stuff. Brian opted out, because it wasn’t his strong suit.

How the auditions worked was that everyone can come in with the characters they wanted to be, original or not, and performed a monologue that accurately portrays their characters. They could put together their own costumes or borrowed used and old ones from the school. Afterwards, the theater teacher decided their general roles and the students prepared how the play turns out. It became like that when the students would improvise and make things either better or worse during the plays so the teacher let them do whatever they want now. Again, it was all about encouraging creativity.

Oz had a pretty good character they would like to act out. It was musketeer type character that was righteous and selfish in a suave and brave manner; not necessary a hero, but more of a vigilante. It was something that Oz inspired to be, because these characters were so brave and cool.

As Oz settled at the backstage, they spotted Vicky talking with Liam and Miranda. The two together looked like the stereotypical princess and prince couple, and Vicky - dressed in armor - looked like their knight protecting them. All of them really fit the image of medieval times.

It reminded Oz that they should get into costume so they could really act in character. They went to the clothing rack to find the perfect outfit they saw earlier. When they first pulled it out, they were extremely happy. However, something felt very off. The feather on the hat, the mustache, the gloves, and the sword were missing. Although these details were minor, Oz felt that every little thing was important to the character and now they felt very incomplete. Putting on the costume felt worse; Oz looked like a fancy cowboy. It was almost like everything was ruined. But it was no used now losing time to find the missing pieces, they needed to practice their lines soon.

When they walked back to their spot, they saw Amira this time talking to Miranda and Liam. With Amira’s costume, she looked like an entertainer for the royal couple but who also secretly does magic to overthrow them. Vicky seemed to be on stage auditioning right now.

Oz picked up their script and started practicing. So far, they had the delivery of the lines prepared. When they turned the page over, their eyes grew wide. There were messy scribbles all over their lines that definitely wasn’t there before. They could barely see what were the original words and couldn’t erase the new ones since they were written in ink. Before they could mull over this some more, Oz’s name was called to be next.

They switched back and forth to the stage and the script. They wanted to back out, but it was too late now. Their performance wasn’t going to be good and they didn’t even look the part. Fuck it. They decided to risk it and go. It was what their character would do.

They tried to walk out confidently, despite every step feeling like cold needles prickling their feet. They stood in the middle of the stage; script in hand (because it was allowed) and head feeling foggy. With one last gulp, they cleared their throat. Saying the first couple of lines were easier. However, they did falter a bit when they went over to reach the sword they don’t have and now displaying an awkward gesture. When they turned over the script, that was when the real hell began.

“I will steal from the rich…and give it to the poor?” That line definitely wasn’t right. If Oz could remember correctly, the line was supposed to be that they were giving it to themselves.

Miranda and Liam were behind the curtains, looking disgusted at the performance. Oz could hear lightly to what they were saying.

“Steal from the rich and give it to the poor?!” Miranda repeated, not believing her ears. “No no no! That won’t do! It’s usually the other way around in my kingdom.” Her face grimaced again, “and why would you give it to the poor? What benefits does that have? It’s not like they have anything to give back; they’re poor!”

“This character’s morals are quite questionable,” Liam scorned. “Not to mention, their sense of style is utterly atrocious. The combination of that hat with that cape is such a gaudy look like they’re trying too hard to stand out in a subtle way.”

“I know,” Miranda agreed, “it would have been cuter if they had a feather in their hat.”

“Maybe a mustache would work,” Liam said.

Oz tried again, trying not to let the messed up lines take away their performance. “Afterwards, I shall indulge in some fine wine… cheddar cheese… and caviar?”

Miranda gasped, “how dare they!”

“I know, Miranda,” Liam frowned. “Ugh, cheddar.” He spat.

“No, not that!” Miranda screeched, but then she paused. “Well, maybe a little, but it’s the caviar thing! How insulting!”

“Not only no sense of style, but also no sense in taste too…”

This was all going terribly wrong. They could throw away the script and improvise, but then they would go blank in the mind and messed up more on their performance. Thankfully, they were almost done.

“...wow, I’m so bored for the evening. Perhaps I shall go out on a rendezvous this evening and see what …woman will accompany my bed tonight.” There were a few words that were scratched out. If Oz could remember, their character didn’t have a sexual preference.

“Hmph,” Miranda pouted.

“Just a woman?” Liam questioned.

“I know it’s strange! Not even multiple ones like a harem?”

“Or that they didn’t include males either?” Liam seemed appalled.

“Such a picky character,” Miranda thought. “I’m surprised they’ll even get a person with that attitude. I don’t find they have any appeal.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Maybe they’re a tragic character. It would make sense.”

Miranda’s eyes widened. “Oh, that must be it!”

Oz was officially done. They existed off the stage in a hurry, forgetting to give a signature bow with their hat. They lost the appeal, so what was the used. They tossed the costume aside and threw back on their regular attire. They don’t want to see it again. They buried their face into their hands feeling hopeless. After some time, they could hear Miranda’s singing voice out on the audition stage. She sounded lovely; suited for her character. Unlike Oz’s character who will now be known as “the tragic lame character”. Ironically, it seemed fitting to their own situation. This day kept getting worse and worse and Oz doesn’t know how long they will take it. They could feel their hands shaking, but tried to calm down.

A gentle hand touched their shoulder. They whipped their head to see Vicky and Amira dressed in their normal attire giving them reassuring smiles.

It was finally party time. The group gathered at the tree where a huge crowd was already getting wild and dancing. Of course, there was always a party here 24/7, but it gets crazier at night since most monsters prefer the nighttime. The beat was so kicking that the four can feel their bodies eagerly moving to it.

“It’s showtime! Time to bust our moves!” Amira roared.

The group swiftly dove into the heart of the crowd. Amira was amazing everyone with her intricate fire-incorporated interpreted dance. Vicky was acting silly and popping every move she can; hopefully not too much to pop her stitches off again. Brian didn’t care and just grooved the way he wants to; more slowly so he doesn’t lose a limb. Oz really tried to look cool, but kept messing up most of their dances. Regardless, it felt really good to let out all this steam they were holding in for this terrible day. Eventually, they didn’t care and just boogied like nobody was watching. It was a really good time for all of them. However, it ended way too quickly.

The music stopped and it wasn’t because the DJ stopped it out of choice. One of the speakers tipped over and gave a loud crash that made everyone halt in their tracks.

“Wait, whaaaaaaaaa,” Polly drawl out. “What happened to the music? Turn it back on!”

“I don’t think that’s an option anymore, Polly.” Vera scrunched up her nose to the broken speaker. Polly let out a dramatic gasp.

“Did Damien do this?” Miranda suggested, even though the boy she questioned was standing near her.

“Hey-!”

“Probably,” Liam rolled his eyes, most noticeably ignoring Damien’s obvious presence.

“Hey, assholes, I’m right here!” Damien shouted. “I was with you the whole time! Besides, I couldn’t get near the damn fucking speakers even if I tried!” And he was extra pissed that someone beat him to it.

“So, if it wasn’t Damien, then who did it?” Scott asked with an dumbfounded expression.

Then, suddenly the only thing that replaced the music was a loud hearty laugh. Out of nowhere, a group of multicolored ogres wearing jerseys came out from the shadows, the bushes, and even from the big tree.

“Oh, great,” Vera spat, “they’re here.”

“What up, NERDS!” One ogre, presumably the leader and typically the captain, stepped up. His buddy came up and gave him a high five for the not-so original insult they’re hyping it up as. These ogres were from a different rival monster high school. Since these monsters are only here for plot conflict convenience, there is no need to learn their names nor the name of the school they go to. (Also, that the author has no attitude against ogres; it’s just the best she came up with.)

Polly scoffed, “ugh, what do they want now?”

“Probably the same as always ever since they lost the game to us.” Liam said. “Some self-gratification by harnessing others to fill the hole in their pathetic miserable lives.”

“Aww,” Scott pouted, “I feel bad for beating them now.”

Liam stared at him. “No, Scott, you shouldn’t.”

Knowing this happened more than once, these ogres weren’t going to leave until they were satisfied annoying everyone. The group reunited back together when the ogres came out. Amira was angry, because she didn’t get to pull off her finishing move yet. Her flame was igniting high like a beacon bright enough to attract the leader ogre’s attention.

“What’s wrong, hothead?” He sneered.

As if Amira hasn’t heard that one before. But coming from his stinky breath, it was worse. “You got what you wanted,” she gestured to the speaker. “Now, can you just leave?”

“And if we don’t?”

Amira had the answer ready for him. Her hand burst into flames, but however the ogres were surprisingly smarter. The leader stepped back and his buddy was right behind him holding a fire extinguisher. Amira gasped and reacted too late before getting blasted with foam that doused her fire, leaving her super cold. Even her hair was fading too. As to why the ogres had a fire extinguisher in the first place was because they were preparing it for Damien.

“Amira!” Vicky and Oz both shouted as they caught her from the impact and tried to wipe the foam off of her. She was coughing profusely since some went into her mouth.

Brian reacted by charging at the leader. He was revving up a good solid punch towards his way. However, in mid swing, a chainsaw cut his arm in half. It caught him off guard, but he didn’t care. What he greatly cared about was that nobody messed with his friends like that. Before he could throw another punch, his complementary leg got cut off too making him fall back on his butt from the unbalanced weight distribution. The chainsaw should have no explanation to why it was there.

The leader picked up Brian’s arm, teasing it in his face. “Need a hand, pal?!” Brian attempted to grab it back, but the sound of the chainsaw nearing his face made him stopped.

Vicky saw this and ran full speed to the ogre wielding it. She jumped on his back and tried to choke him with her arm. “No! Leave him alone!”

“Ey, get off, bitch!” He tried to shuffle out of her hold, but she had a surprisingly tightening grip on him.

The leader threw Brian’s arm to his lackeys who proceeded to play keep-away from Brian. He pulled Vicky off by the collar of her sweater and grabbed her tightly by the throat. She was lifted high in the air with her hands clawing against his grip and legs kicking around.

“Huh? Nice neck bolts you got there.” The leader sneered, making Vicky swallowed a hard lump. “It would be a shame if I were to crush them!” Her eyes flared. That’s what she feared the most. It wasn’t the lack of air, but for the damage of her neck bolts that gives her life.

“S-Stop it…!”

The leader turned to see Oz standing there in front of him. They seemed intimidating if only their fists would stop shaking and sweat would stop leaking. The leader seemed to smell the literal fear off of him and tossed Vicky to his buddy who held her in the same hold as he did.

“And what do we have here?” The leader grabbed Oz’s shirt and pulled them face-to-face. “Trying to act tough, kid? Wanting to save your friends?” He mocked. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to charge at him with no plan. Even the other 6 classmates watching from the sidelines thought they were a goner. They all didn’t bother to intervene since it was troublesome to get involved with these annoying ogres. Oz wanted to nod, but the expression from the leader made Oz looked around at their situation.

Lying helplessly, Amira kept getting blasted with the fire extinguisher after Oz left her side. Brian was desperately trying to get up and get his limbs back from the ogres that were tossing them back and forth. Tears were almost leaking from Vicky’s eyes as she could almost feel her neck bolts about to crack.  

Oz began to hyperventilate. “S-Stop…”

Amira’s face turned more pale as she looked at them with sickly eyes.

Oz’s fingers twitched uncontrollably. “S-Stop it-t…”

Every time Brian was able to stand, the ogres would kicked him down and pulled him around.

The blobs by Oz’s feet were multiplying and growing. “J-Ju-Just-st s-sto-p pu-p…!”

Vicky’s skin was changing more bluer by the second as a silent scream threatened to escape.

Oz’s voice cracked. “P-pu-pleassse…!”

The leader laughed. “And what are you gonna do?” Compare to the ogres, Oz appeared too weak and scrawny. “You don’t scare me, kid! And you call yourself a monster?!”

That was the final trigger.

“S      T      O      P            I      T”

A screechy echoey voice screamed through everyone’s head. Everybody who wasn’t getting tortured stopped what they were doing and covered their ears. The ringing was inside their heads; they couldn’t stop the uncomfortable shivering feeling.

And then a huge burst of inky and shadowy blobs emerged from Oz. Their eyes were distorted, unsynchronized white circles and had fang-like teeth. Each of them were letting out high-pitch screams and crawled slimy to the ogres. They began biting and gnawing at the ogres. The ogres couldn’t get them off. Every time they tried to grab the little terrifying creatures, they were only met with a shadow-like substance that faded in their hands and the creatures regenerated their form back without losing their hold. What was more horrifying was that the shadow creatures started to squirm through the mouth, nose, ears, and even eyes of the ogres to get inside their minds. Once they were inside, the ogres began to intensely feel panicky and scared for no reason. They kept screaming and convulsing; their heart was pumping uncontrollably; tears streamed from their eyes; and gurgling foam and bile from their mouths poured out.

The leader let go of Oz and tried to fight off the shadows, but to no avail. The leader’s vision went blurry and all he could see was Oz. Their eyes were wide and glowing bright like saucers. They creepily sauntered towards him with slow, heavy, stalking movements. All around them were swirling inky shadows. And right behind them was one big frightening screeching shadow creature.

Oz raised a hand up and the echoey voice returned, “ L E T  T H E  F E A R  C O N S U M E  Y O U"  More shadow creatures were slithering inside the leader’s mouth, stretching his cheeks impossibly wide and full almost choking him. He had to swallow them and then the dreaded overwhelming fear took control. He saw nothing but static and Oz. He shrieked and more shadows went in. His body thrashed and spasmed, but the creatures biting him held him down. He could do nothing but scream, even when his voice broke. “A R E  Y O U  S C A R E D  N O W"

As the creatures were taking care of the ogres, Vicky was finally freed and checked to see if her bolts were steady and okay. After that, she rushed over to Brian and nabbed his limbs away from the lackeys’ hands before the shadows eat his arm and leg. Amira was finally regaining her heat back and scanned around to see that the creatures began to attack anyone in sight that they don’t recognized. Monsters ran off screaming and shaking off the shadows. It was getting too out of hand.

Amira rushed over to Oz and gave a good karate chop to the back of their neck. It didn’t knock them out, but it was enough to give them a shock and snapped them out of their deranged state.

Oz blinked several times before their eyes lost their glow and went back to normal. The shadow creatures faded away and returned slowly back to Oz. They circled around Oz’s feet until they morphed back into the little blobs on Oz’s body. The big one shrunken down and became the blob that was always on Oz’s shoulder. Everything was no longer a sketchy black and white vision in Oz’s eyes and they finally noticed their surroundings.

The party was practically deserted. The only ones left were their 6 classmates that were frozen in shock (unharmed from the shadows), the ogres that were practically lying dead on the ground, Vicky and Brian trying to sew Brian’s limbs back, and Amira with her arms crossed looking at Oz with a thin mouth expression.

“I lost control again, didn’t I?” Amira nodded. Oz slumped their shoulders. “I’m so sorry.”

Amira sighed and she gave them a pat on the shoulder, “it’s alright. It was for the best.” She glared at the emotionally traumatized (and probably died from shock) leader on the ground before turning back to Oz with a heartfelt expression. “Are you alright, Oz?”

“Yeah…” They touched Amira’s warm hand. “Yeah… I think I am okay.”

She nodded and then gestured over to go see Vicky and Brian. The two were still stitching up Brian’s arm and leg back; thankfully they both had the skills because they were used to this. Vicky was working on Brian’s arm while Brian was working slowly on his leg. When they saw Oz and Amira coming over, they both waved.

“You okay, Oz?” Brian asked.

“Yeah,” Oz sat down crossed legged. “Are you guys okay?”

“Oh, don’t worry, we’re fine!” Vicky smiled and Brian nodded. “Just a few more stitches and he’s good to go! And it won’t cost him an arm and a leg too!” Vicky snickered at her joke while Brian groaned. She was hoping to cheer Oz up, but they merely glanced away. That’s when the sense of guilt was eating her and she couldn’t take it anymore. “Hey, Oz, I’m really sorry.”

Oz was surprised. “About what?”

“Well… about a lot of things that happened today. Not this ogre thing, no, but… a lot of the minor incidents that happened to you.” Both Brian and Amira had similar guilty expressions too. “It was all our fault.”

Instead of a surprised reaction, Oz looked over at all of them and gave a small chuckle. “I knew.”

And then, they ironically gave a shocked look to Oz. “You knew?” Brian asked.

“Of course, I did.” Oz sounded like they were playfully pretending to be offended. “Don’t think I didn’t noticed how stuffed your jacket’s pockets were and how they kept making crinkly sounds whenever you moved in class.” Brian made a rumbled noise and glanced sideways. “And that the ball that hit me in gym smelled burnt and felt crispy.” Amira coughed and rubbed her neck. “And how all the scribbling on my script looked a lot like your handwriting and was even written in blue.” Vicky whistled and twiddled her thumbs.

Oz waited until one of the them spoke up. “I guess we’re not really discreet either,” Amira joked. This time Oz actually laughed, followed with the rest of the group.

“So, can you explain why you all were trying to annoy me?”

“Well, we figured it would be a good way to get Damien’s attention.” Oz eyed Amira strangely and she sighed. “Come on, why do you go to classes anyways if you’re not getting any smarter?”

“Damien loves destruction and we thought if you had one of your outbursts again that he would be impressed,” Vicky explained.

“I see…” Oz turned around to their 6 classmates and saw the mixture of horrified, disgusted, and shocked expressions across their faces. “I guess it didn’t work…” They glanced at the broken speaker and motionless ogres on the ground. “I know the ogres weren’t part of your plan, so what was supposed to happen tonight?”

“Well, ironically, you were supposed to be crush by the speaker,” Amira explained. “We figured that would be enough to make you explode and have your little friends try to eat it.” Amira sat down with her knees together. “We only meant it to be a mild outburst, not a huge one like these idiots caused.” She pointed to the ogres.

“Very unlucky,” Brian commented.

Oz sighed. “I appreciate the sentiment.”

“We’re sorry, Oz…” Brian said as the other two nodded.

“It’s alright,” Oz waved their hands. “I’ll still have fun with you guys at prom even without a date.”

“Aww, Ozzy,” Amira gave Oz a hug. Vicky would join too, but she still needed to finish sewing Brian’s arm. And Brian would too if both his arms weren't preoccupied. Instead, he gave a good pat on Oz’s arm. Together, they all laughed like a cheesy family sitcom where all the problems presented in that one episode were solved at the end.

Meanwhile, their other 6 classmates were staring at the group strangely.

“Just… what happened? Like did anybody see that or is it me being super high again?” Polly asked.

“No, you’re not high… I think,” Vera said, “that was definitely real.”

“I’ll say!” Liam exclaimed. “I’ve lived for so long and I’ve never saw anything like that.”

“Oh dear!” Miranda grimaced. “I don’t have any words to describe that and all my serfs ran off.” And then she pouted, “they think they’ve escaped fear once, they’re truly have not seen fear yet once Daddy hears about this.”

“Whoa, those little buddies…” Scott gasped.

“That…” They all turned to Damien. His voice was very low and raspy. His expression was wide-eyed. “That was…” He kept staring at Oz. His face spread into a shit-eating grin. “THAT WAS FUCKING METAL!” The complete destruction and chaos was super terrifying and gruesome. It was so gross and nauseating that one can throw up from the sight. And Damien loved that. Not only was it crazy, but it was also done to save their friends in need which was pretty righteous. He never would have expected it coming from the puny yellow nerd. But now he has seen them in a new light. “Holy SHIT!”

“That was super cool, not gonna lie!” Polly agreed.

“It was a bit unorthodox, and I would have preferred it to be done in a more elegant way, but I’m not complaining,” Liam critiqued. “At least those ogres won’t bother us anymore.”

“True, it did get rid of those pesky ogres.” Vera's disgust morphed into a grin. “Now that they’re probably dead, I can grab their wallets.”

“It totally counts as self-defense, right? ‘Cause they were the ones that bothered us first,” Polly thought.

“I can vouch for that,” Vera said. “If they get sued from the other school, I can be their lawyer. It’s the least I can do after tonight.” She would still charge them though for her services.

“They certainly helped me figured out easily which serfs I need to execute.” Miranda was still huffing.

“Aww,” Scott laughed. “Those little guys sure are hungry. I remembered when my little brothers would eat everyone around.”

The 4 group members were oblivious to the compliments and expressions of gratitude from their 6 classmates. To their defense, it was definitely a long day and a lot of them felt tired. For Oz, they couldn’t wait to go back to bed. They were absolutely convinced they had no chance with their crush now, but they didn’t noticed the amazing stare Damien was giving to them.

Chapter Text

Oz was hoping to skip school today, but Brian encouraged them to come anyways. If anything happened to them, then him and Amira would hunt down the culprits and make them know the hard way that there were many different post-war urban torture practices. Oz appreciated it. However, they were worried about that the least. They were drowning in self pity, convinced they will never love again. Even though it was quite an exaggeration and this was literally only high school, the feeling was there and it felt like shit.

The one thing that Oz dreaded today, other than running into Damien, was finding out what role they got after their awful sabotaged performance. Once the news was up that the roles were casted, Vicky and Amira kept apologizing to them and promising to make it up somehow. It must be that bad.

Oz swallowed a lump when they made it to the bulletin board that mostly nobody reads. As they searched their name, they can see why Vicky and Amira were sorry. The little shadow on Oz’s shoulder placed its hands on its cheeks and let out a tiny gasp.   

Oz was placed in the villain group.

His name was under Damien’s.

Damien was in the villain group.

They were both in the villain group.

That means they both needed to interact with each other.

That means they had to see each other.

Oz really wished they could die. Unfortunately, they were the concept of fear and fear never dies. Damn it.

Oz sighed heavily. This was the second worst thing that could happened to them. The absolutely worst thing was just seeing Damien.

“Hey you!”

Oz turned around to see that the absolutely worst thing was happening now and they were not prepared yet and the universe was so cruel to them.

They kept telling themselves to calm down and maybe Damien wasn’t referring to them and would walk passed them. It was unfortunate that no one else was around.

Damien rushed forward so quickly that it made Oz backed up a few steps until their back hit a wall. From there, Damien slammed his hand on the wall near their head. Even though Oz could escape through the opening since he didn’t slammed both hands, Damien’s intimidating presence made them feel so trapped that they had no choice but to stay still and listen to what he wanted.

“You’re that kid that went batshit crazy on those ogres last night, right?” Oz shakingly nodded; they were pretty sure they were the only shadowy personification of fear monster at this school who did that last night. Damien narrowed his eyes before he broke out into a grin. “That was so fucking metal!”

Oz perked up and blinked several times.

“Like holy shit, that was so fucking terrifying and messed up! It was so cool!”

Oz wasn’t sure what was going on anymore. It seemed like Damien did liked their outburst last night. They weren’t sure whether to call it ironic.

“What the hell was that even about?!” Damien asked with a glint in his eyes.

“Uh… um…” Oz’s heart was pounding too loudly in their ears. “...That’s what happens when I get… really frustrated.”

Damien raised an eyebrow. “So you go crazy like that every time you’re angry?”

“No! Not exactly…” Oz fiddled with the sleeve of their button up shirt. “Um… that usually happens when… um… well, uh… I need to slowly uh…” Explaining it bluntly wasn’t easy. The new tactic was examples. “Okay, so… it builds up like let’s say I was having a really bad day and then something just triggers me… then I become like that. Or if something really bad happens to my friends too… In last night’s case, it was both which is why it was so intense than usual.”

Damien nodded like he understood. “Does it happen all the time? A lot?”

“Not really.” Oz preferred it that way. “It only happens when I lose control over my emotions. It’s really rare for me to lose it like that.” Oz wasn’t sure if they could keep control much longer with Damien’s intense stare. “I… I was just having a really bad day.”

“Well then, I hope to make your days a lot worse from now on.” Damien flashed a grin; his tone of voice sounded seductive. Oz didn’t know if they were being flirted with or threatened. Probably the latter. It increased their heart rate, but not in the jittery butterfly way. It was the flight or fight way.

“Oh my god.” A raspy voice caught both Damien and Oz’s attention. “What are you two doing?” It was Liam, squinting his eyes at them.

“Fuck off, Liam. I’m busy.” Oz wished Liam doesn’t fuck off. And thankfully the vampire doesn’t move. Instead, he continued to sneer at them like he was studying them.

“Wait a second.” Liam’s lip curled up. “Are you two doing the infamous kabedon?”

“What?” Damien gawked. “What the fuck is ‘kabaron’?”

“No, kabedon.” Liam rolled his eyes. “It means ‘wall thump’ in Japanese. It’s usually portrayed in romantic media showing one person dominating another. It’s supposed to be both arousing and intimidating.” Oz could definitely say that described Damien pretty accurately. “I find it demeaning and the intention behind it stupid. Not even the Japanese humans take it seriously.” Liam certainly remembered the day when Polly kept laughing at her phone. She even claimed that laughing to death might be how she died.

“Great, thanks Liam. Now go away.”

“Why on earth are you two doing something so cliche?” Liam interrupted. “You know people associates me with you guys, right? I don’t need you two displaying this publicly and ruining my reputation.” Even though, technically, no one was really around.

Damien was losing whatever patience he had left in his soul. “Liam! I swear to fuck if you don’t scram within the next two seconds-!”

“I just want an explanation already,” Liam calmly stated like Damien was in the wrong.

“It just happened that way, okay?!” Damien yelled. “Now get lost! I was in the middle of talking to someone!”

“Who?”

“What do you mean ‘who’?! The one you keep bitching me about this ‘katacon’ stuff!”

“That one wasn’t even remotely close.” Damien growled. “Well, just so you know, your partner just left that’s why.”

“What?!” Damien saw the space in front of him was empty. There was no shivering shadow in sight. Oz finally took the chance to escape while the fight was escalating. The tension between just them and Damien was already too much. They felt like they couldn’t breathe.

Damien pounded his fist against the wall. “FUCK!” He kicked the wall in front of him. “Way to go, Liam! You scared them off with your boringness!”

“Right,” Liam sarcastically drawled. “Why are you so obsessed with them?”

“I’m not! I just think the shit they did last night was cool!” Damien said with a light pinkness to his cheeks. Liam sighed.

Still feeling frustrated, Damien kicked the wall again. The force vibrated so much that one of the papers fell from the bulletin board. Normally, Damien wouldn’t have cared but he caught a glimpse of his name on it. He picked it up. It was the audition sheet. Damien recalled Oz staring at something before he rushed over. It must be this, because he saw Oz’s name below his. An idea dawned upon him.

“This is it!” Damien said as he crumpled the paper and tossed it on the ground. “I gotta go!” He scampered out of the hallways.

Liam watched him go while drawing out the biggest sigh he could muster. “I feel bad for the poor sap.” On which sap he was referring to didn’t matter. “I could get involved, but I don’t want to.” Dealing with Damien was too troublesome and dealing with romance was too cliche.

“And that’s what happened…”

“Hmm.”

After escaping Damien’s clutch, Oz ran with no destination in mind. They went outside hoping to clear their head and get some fresh air to cool their face. Coincidentally, they ran into Brian who was on his way to the auditorium. Apparently, Vicky and Amira signed Brian up without his permission because they thought it would be fun for all of them to be in the play. While he was disgruntled about it, he couldn’t refused from their pestering. The girls even managed to convince the teacher to let him audition at the last second. Oz decided to come along; if Damien was chasing after them, the auditorium would likely be the last place he checks since it was far from where they were.

They finished telling Brian the story of this morning while Brian was rummaging through the costume rack.

“That’s really strange.” He pulled out a suit and inspected it.

“I know. I don’t know what to do.” Oz could try to avoid Damien for the rest of the school year but it was going to be hard, both physically and emotionally. Despite thinking about giving up their crush on Damien, they still felt feelings for him. It had only been a day too that they thought about it.

Brian hummed again, “what about this?”

Oz looked at the suit he was holding up. “It seems fine.”

“I guess I’ll try it. Show me your costume too.”

Oz nodded. They both went to the changing rooms and came back out a few minutes later. When Oz saw Brian in his rundown dragon costume, they were holding back their snickering.

Brian lifted up his claws and said in a monotone voice, “rawr.”

Oz proceeded to burst out in laughter. The dynamic was too funny. Brian’s serious expression and nature clashed with the dragon’s goofy appearance. They wondered why Brian would choose this costume.

“I’m glad you’re laughing,” Brian said with the corner of his mouth lifted up.

Oz halted. Their eyes beamed. So, that was why; to cheer them up. “Thanks.”

“Well, it’ll be easier to play this character. I’ll just go out there and say ‘rawr’ all the time.”

“It would be nice if you took this seriously, but okay.” After all, Brian was forced into this, so Oz wouldn’t blame him.

Brian kept looking up and down at Oz’s costume. “You look cool.”

That made them happy. “Thanks!” Oz truly felt immersed into their character now since Amira told them where she hid the missing pieces. There was still the problem of their role, but they were going to deal with that later.

Unfortunately, the problem came sooner than they expected yet again. Damien cruised around the backstage, looking around for Oz. He had to strip away some costumes that were covering the faces and then burned them when it wasn’t Oz. He finally came around the area near the changing rooms and saw Oz giving a happy expression to one of their loser friends in a dumb-looking dragon costume. Damien had the urge to set the curtain on fire.

“Hey!” The familiar voice made Oz jumped. Their little friend gave a tiny ‘eep’. “I wasn’t done talking to you!”

Damien marched to Oz who refused to turn around. They were shaking a bit, possibly sweating too. Damien was about to grab them when his hand was blocked by the dragon.

“Do you need something?” Brian asked sternly. Oz finally turned around and saw Brian was in between them.

“I wasn’t talking to you. Beat it,” Damien demanded.

Oz gulped. They really didn’t want a fight to break out between their friend and their crush, especially when their friend looked like this. They definitely didn’t want Brian to be known as “the fool that tried to fight Damien in a dorky dragon costume”. Even though Brian wouldn’t care, they couldn’t live with that guilt.

Oz tugged one of Brian’s scale. “I-It’s okay. I… I can handle this.”

“You sure?”

Oz desperately wanted to shake their head, but they did not want their friend to get hurt. Brian was capable of holding down a fight, but Oz would not live with themselves if Brian even got one bruise because them. It was unacceptable no matter what. They timidly nodded, not trusting their voice.

Brian took a deep breath and stepped aside. He was watching carefully, slightly glaring at Damien who didn’t give a fuck.

“Y-Yeah, Damien?” Oz took a step forward to him.

“I wanted to,” Damien stopped. He didn’t get a good look at Oz until now. His eyes kept glancing up and down.

Oz felt more nervous under his stare than they did with Brian. They switched back and forth to Damien and their friend. Brian gave a shrug, not knowing what to make of the situation. They started fiddling with their glove. They were afraid they looked weird to Damien.

“You look…” Oz waited with more sweat running down. “You look…” The tension was killing them. Oz tried to look anywhere but Damien’s eyes. They didn’t catch Damien turning slightly pink, but Brian did. His eyebrow rose up. “You look…c-” The embarrassment kicked in and Damien had enough. He yelled out the first thing he thought of that wasn’t his initial thought, but sounded close enough. “C… creepy!”

Fuck.

Oz’s eyebrows drew in and they looked down. He said it in a tone that sounded like it wasn’t the good kind of creepy. That made them feel sad.

Damien was getting a weird unfamiliar feeling from seeing Oz like that, so he did what his first instinct told him to do. Cuss it out.

“Fucking shit! God damn it!” Damien swore through every word he could think of, every cuss word that existed, and even made up some of his own. He stormed out and pushed some other people out of his way, running away from this weird heart wrenching feeling.

Oz turned to Brian. “Does it really look creepy?” They said in a small voice.

Brian shook his head and gave Oz a pat on the shoulder. He let out another rawr, but Oz didn’t laugh this time. They looked away. Their little friend hugged their cheek with one teardrop running down.

Brian’s name was called. Oz perked up a little and wished Brian good luck with a little encouragement in their voice. Their little friend even gave a thumbs up. Brian wanted to bail out and just stay here to comfort Oz, but he knew they wouldn’t let him. They might even pushed Brian out onstage if he insisted.

So, he left their side and went out. He stomped his feet, dangled his claws, and let out monotone “rawr” and “I’m a dragon” and other obvious facts about his character. Oz watched from the side curtains. Seeing Brian’s performance made them feel a little better. It was nice to see Brian giving his best out there… somewhat.

Oz glanced at the teacher who seemed to be questioning their life choices up to here. They had the thought of going up to the teacher and explaining that their friends messed up their performance as a joke and was wondering if they could redo it to get a different role. It would be better if they could avoid any interaction with Damien. However, the unsettling nervousness of confrontation seeped in that made them backed out of the idea. It was more easier to accept the situation and all the consequences that came along with it.

“Excuse me. You there.”

Oz turned around and saw Vera standing before them. She was dressed as some kind of dark warlock or assassin.

“Y-Yes, Vera?”

“Word’s getting around that all those ogres you relished on last night are all in the hospital. They’re in a coma apparently. So, bad news is they’re not dead yet.” Oz thought it was good news they didn’t kill them, but maybe it was bad news since the ogres might have a chance to regain consciousness and exact revenge.

“But the good news is that my services are being offered to you in case you get sued. It’s the perfect opportunity to grab it now while you still have a chance.” Vera confidently grinned.

Oz doesn’t know about this. Anything was a risky financial deal with Vera involved and they only have 5 dollars at most in their pocket.

“I mean who else is willing to represent you for traumatizing some ogres. I’ll help you win the case since I’m a key witness and can get 5 other people to testify for you.” And then Vera paused. “Well, 4.” She didn’t trust Scott.

Now Oz can see how people can get charmed from her skills and she didn’t even have to use her snakes. As they thought about it, paying Vera seemed much better than paying those awful ogres. That definitely convinced them. They had nothing else to lose, besides money. Oz gave the okay.

“Perfect,” Vera smiled. “As to commemorate this new client-lawyer relationship, I need you to fill out this sheet.”

Oz was expecting it to be some sort of contract or waiver that said Vera would not be responsible if something happened to Oz or anything like that. But to their surprise, it was a paper asking them of personal things like their favorite/unfavorite food, hobby, music, etc.

“Uh... What’s this for?” Oz asked.

“So I can better understand my client’s taste,” she explained easily. It seemed like a convincing argument, but Oz wasn’t too sure. “Just fill it out,” she spat. And then, they proceeded.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” She happily took it back. She also made Oz signed an actually contract and waiver which they expected it anyways. “I wouldn’t worry too much about those ogres,” she mentioned. “Knowing them, who would want to admit they were defeated by someone they thought who was weaker than them or admit they provoked first. The odds are in our favor.” Oz looked at her surprisingly. They weren’t sure if that was her way of comforting or reassuring them. Or she might have tricked them into being another source for her income. Probably both.

She left just in time for Brian to come back. When Oz explained what happened, he stared at them uneasily. He probably had the same thought as Oz too.

“And I thought you already sold your soul to the devil,” he commented, “looks like you signed yourself to another one.” Oz agreed with the statement.

It was almost nearing lunchtime. Oz hadn’t seen Damien around since their last encounter and it was probably for the better. They were actually at Valerie’s store, hoping to buy something that could lighten their day.

It was hard to decide on something and they felt like they needed to choose quickly to not waste her time. They also didn’t want to leave without buying anything either, because it seemed rude.

They were checking around when they saw something in particular. It looked rubbery, colorful, and stretchy with a rubber ring at the opening. Oz blushed a little. They knew this was a monster school where those types of activities usually would happen, and it was always good to have these things around. Plus, everyone was above age. It was still embarrassing to think about it though.

Valerie saw them staring at the item. “Balloons are 5 bucks.”

Oh, thank god, they were balloons. Oz felt a sigh of relief escaped as they hold their chest.

“What were you thinking about, perv?” Valerie smirked at Oz, making them blushed from their foolishness. They didn’t want to be known as “Oz, the perv”. It sounded worse and catchier than all the other terrible names they thought of themselves before.

Before Oz could buy something to avoid more embarrassment, Polly popped from the shop’s counter. She scared them so much that their little friends jumped too.

“Quick, Oz! It’s an emergency! Code red, or blue, or whatever color!” She panicked. “Just follow me quickly!”

She flew passed them before they questioned why. Panicking, Oz went with the one that seemed more important but also more pressuring. At least, they could get out of their embarrassing moment. They apologized to Valerie and sank to the floor, morphing into a black puddle. It was easier to travel this way in case of emergencies.

“Next time, buy something!” They heard Valerie calling out to them.

They slid through the hallways jumping as other students’ shadows until they reached their destination. Polly fazed through the doors as Oz slipped under the cracks. They took on the form of the nearest body shadow.

“Polly!” Damien yelled. “Where are they!?”

Unbeknownst to him, a pile of black goo started to form behind him. Polly watched in curiosity. Oz regained their anthropomorphic structure back. “Here I am.”

Damien yelped a manly scream that just coincidentally sounded really high pitch. “What the FUCK?! Where did you come from?!”

“It was totally cool!” Polly awed with sparkles in her eyes. “Oz was like this black puddle and then they were hiding as your shadow and totally rise from the ground!”

“You can do that?” Damien eyed at Oz who looked away and nodded. They were afraid he was going to call them creepy again. “Whoa, you can totally scare the shit out of people!” He grinned as a new prank idea was hatching. Oz felt tingly again; they would try to better understand Damien’s taste which seemed to be mostly scaring people. “Well enough about that! Do something, asshole!” Damien suddenly changed to glare and shout at Oz. They flinched a little not knowing why the sudden mood change.

“A-About what?”

“We don’t have enough buckets to spread across the ceiling!” Oz looked up and saw only a couple were hung up so far. “I can’t believe they’re like only 2 available from the janitor’s closet! And I tried asking other people for their medical buckets, but they wouldn’t give.” Polly whined. Some monsters have ‘medical buckets’ for cleaning up after themselves when they couldn’t help it like oozes or slime.

“And everyone always runs away from me when I start talking!” Damien frowned. “Fix this, fuckface! This was your idea!” Technically, Oz’s idea was one bucket on top of the doors but they can tell it wasn’t the smartest idea to correct Damien when he was pissed.

And then the bell rang, freezing Damien, Polly, and Oz. They all could feel the vibration on the floor as thousands of feet were trampling to the cafeteria.

“SHIT!” Damien rushed to hold the doors down. The doors made a loud bang and Damien almost jumped back from the impact, but kept his position. Outside, those streak-crazed heathens were like animals; in fact, some of them were animals. Oz would be admiring Damien’s strength and endurance, but now was not the time. He couldn’t hold out for long.

“What do we do?!?!” Polly panicked. “Think of something, Oz! You’re smart, right?!” Polly assumed, because she doesn’t go to class often.

They hated this kind of peer pressure, or any social pressure in general. They failed once in words; they didn’t think they would succeed in action. They scanned around the room for something bigger and larger to block the doors. That was when they and their little friends saw the tables and pointed at them.

“Polly! Help me move the tables!”

“You got it!” she saluted.

They pushed every table to the doors. When they got the first table against the doors, Damien helped out too and stacked the others on top of the first one. It bought them some time, but the more hungrier the crowd became with every second delayed, the more rowdy and hangry they were becoming.

“Great, now what do we do?!” Damien said. “We only have a few minutes before we’re today’s lunch and the prank is still incomplete!” The tables were jumping out of place. Damien did his best to push back against the tables.

“I don’t know!” Polly screamed. “I’ve tried finding substitutes like trash cans, but there was some nasty stuff inside that I didn’t want to bother like blood and guts, and some overused condoms.”

The word condom gave Oz an idea. Not the best way to get a solution, but it was better than becoming today’s meal.

“I… I got something!” Oz announced. “Keep stalling! I’ll be right back!”

“Roger!” Polly saluted again.

“Easy for you to say!” Damien complained. He was the only one holding the tables in place, because Polly couldn’t do much. “Hurry back, fucker!”

Oz morphed back into his shadow puddle and slid through the cracks of the doors. Since there were a lot of people crowding the hallways, it was easier to travel through their shadows. The crowd kept chanting to let them in like a protest. Oz zoomed like a blink of an eye. It was like a black speeding bullet on the ground. They arrived to Valerie’s shop in no less than a minute.

Oz threw down the last 5 bucks they had to their name on the counter. “I need the condo-I mean balloons!”

Valerie sold it to them in a heartbeat. “Thanks! Come back and buy more shit.” She threw a peace sign. “Have fun with those!”

Oz stuffed them in their pockets and dropped down to the floor. They traveled even faster since more people were filling the hallways. The crowd even had time to gather old fashioned pitchforks and torches like they were starting a revolution. Oz was so glad they texted their friends beforehand to avoid the cafeteria for the first 10 minutes. They easily slipped under the cracks and appeared in Damien’s shadow again. They morphed back to themselves. Luckily, they didn’t scare the demon this time since he was too occupied.

“I’m back! And I got these!” Oz showed them what was in their hands.

Polly stared and pouted. “Umm…”

“Why the fuck did you bring those?!” Damien yelled, “now’s not the fucking time!” He would have preferred if this was done quite possibly later if they ever get out of this situation.

Oz got the memo and stuttered. “N-No! They’re not condoms, they’re balloons!”

“Are you sure?” Polly asked. “‘Cause I know one when I see one and I’ve definitely seen someone used those before. Either that or they were really kinky.” She grinned.

Oz shook their head. “Ju… Just help me, I got a new plan!” Another bang from the door quickly knocked a table off of its place and sent it crashing on the floor. “And quickly too!”

It wasn’t before long that the hungry crowd gathered a battering ram and kept pounding it against the doors. After several tries, the last heave had done it successfully. The doors burst opened with some tables flying everywhere. They cheered and marched right in, forming a big pile in front of the counter. They were so blinded by hunger that they should have noticed something was wrong. Their first clue was that there was no lunch staff at the counter.

Instead, Oz popped up holding two filled balloons in their hands. Some of people at the front had quieted down when they saw Oz while others in the back were still rowdy, because they didn’t see what was going on. A twinkle gleamed in Oz’s eyes. Their little shadow with a bandanna on scoped beyond the crowd.

Oz lifted up one of the balloons and threw into the crowd. It made contact with someone’s face and exploded on impact. Others caught in the splash zone were hit too. A dangerous scent of gasoline filled their nose that almost made them puke. Some liquid got inside their mouths and they tried to spit it out. Oz lifted the other one and tossed it into the middle of the crowd. They were grateful for their dodgeball skills to come in handy; Coach might be so proud if he hopefully wasn’t in this.

A lot of the crowd started complaining until they were hit from the other side another spray of balloons. Polly giggled and flung as many as she could. She handled the back while Oz had the front. The last person had the most fun part.

“Hey fuckers!”

The crowd froze in their place as they heard the terrifying demon laughing with his maniacal smile. He was armed with a fire hose that was trailing from a window. He probably stole it from somewhere.

“Eat this for lunch!”

Damien turned it on and then gallons of gasoline squirted from the nozzle. The crowd screamed which caused more of the toxic liquid into their bodies. Practically everyone was drenched in gasoline. Nobody wanted to move since the floor was covered in it too. If they took one step, they would slip and fall on their asses. Some of them made the mistake already. Damien laughed how all of them looked helpless and pathetic. And now he was excited for the fun part.

His hand started to catch on fire. He was about to release hell when he caught a glimpse of Polly flying over to Oz. She happily handed them a matchstick.

Oz took it in their hand and flicked the top with their thumb. A spark ignited, like the one in Damien’s heart. A small flame appeared and Damien could feel his face burning. It was way too hot in the cafeteria and they hadn’t even set the place on fire yet. Oz had this little devilish glint in their eyes and even their little friends were grinning evilly. Damien gulped. That person was way too dangerous for this world and his heart, but he liked it.

This was a good stress relief for Oz. Today was almost turning into another bad day, but this took a load off for them. They hoped this doesn’t turn into some kind of weird fetish.

Oz tossed the small matchstick in the center of the crowd while Damien timed his flame to set off simultaneously with Oz’s. His burning hand touched the wet trail of gasoline leading to the crowd. The fire traveled its way like a wire to a bomb as the matchstick lightly touched someone’s wet clothes. A giant fire erupted. Dozens of melting faces were screaming in pain and hysteria. Everyone ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. Some escaped out of the cafeteria, some were rolling on the floor, some jumped out of windows, and some climbed over and tried to rip the faucet off of the kitchen sink. In addition, everyone was just screwed over since Polly and Damien hid the emergency fire extinguisher.

Damien was laughing so hard, he might dropped on the floor. The scene was so beautiful. Best prank ever. Polly jumped with joy. She gave Oz a big hug and they blushed in response with their arms hovering awkwardly, wondering if they should hug back. It wasn’t that they particularly liked her that way, they were just generally embarrassed by her sudden affectionate touches. They were so awkward most of time that they don’t know how to respond back. Maybe it was because of that one traumatizing moment where Polly made Oz grabbed one of her boobs as a dare and they still have not recovered since. Whichever way, the hugging scene made Damien stopped laughing.

He walked over with a scowl. “Hey!” They both paused and looked at him. He took a deep breath as one guy ran across screaming. Damien gave a half grin. “Lunch is on me. Get a table.”

“Sweet!” Polly bounced while still clutching Oz. Damien frowned more and Oz caught his glare. They became frightened, wondering what they did to make Damien mad even when the prank was a success. They glanced at Polly. Maybe Damien liked Polly and Oz was hogging her affections. The thought made them extremely sad, but they should have expected it. Polly also caught Damien’s glare and gave him a smirk. She nuzzled Oz’s head and pushed her boobs more into their chest. Oz turned more pink. Damien was almost snarling, which made Oz shifted to extremely scared.

“Come on, Oz! Let’s see if we can find one that still intact!” She grabbed their wrist and dragged them away. Once Oz was facing forward, Polly turned back to Damien with a wink and a peace sign. Damien had never felt such a strong urge to smack Polly with a piece of steak, but it would go right through her. He settled with giving her the more burnt steak in his hand.

After today’s events, it was best to unwind and take it easy for the evening. Oz decided to go to the library where they could hopefully earn some money back. This time, the group came along and wanted to gain some cash too. They all were gushing over Oz’s performance at lunch and how awesome it was. They even praised that it was an excellent step towards Damien’s heart, but Oz told them that it might be possible that Damien liked Polly from their observations. Oz reassured their friends that they were fine though and knew they had no chance since the beginning.

Vicky, Amira, and Brian stared at them with pity. They all knew Oz’s words and what they’re feeling on the inside were two different things. Oz was working on the computer, while Brian informed Vicky and Amira about his observations from this morning. The group debated if there was an actual possible chance and if they needed to push Oz in the right direction. However, they should confirm for themselves before they meddled again. Their poor friend has been through enough.

Brian saw Damien walked in the library. He skipped passed everyone and sat down awfully quietly on his own. He looked like he was in a bad mood. This might not be the perfect time to test it, but it was worth a try. Prom would come sooner than they expected; every second counted. Brian gave the girls his idea.

Damien needed a moment to clear up this pent up frustration he had been feeling. He had already tried destroying some cars and lighting a gas station on fire, but nothing worked to make the feeling go away. In fact, the gas station made it worse. It reminded him too much of today’s incident at lunch and he couldn’t get Oz’s face out of his mind. He groaned and dug his face in his arms. The small fucker was too cute, cool, and crazy. Damien had it bad.

And to make matters worse, he heard a voice calling his name. It was one of the people he definitely didn’t want to run into while he was like this.

“Hello, Damien.”

“What do you want, Vera?” He poked one eye out.

“You seem troubled. Let me guess. It involves your new little boy toy.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Damien went back to his hiding hole.

“Relax. I’m here to solve all your troubles.” To emphasize, she slammed a portfolio down. It caused him to jerk up. “This here,” she pointed it, “contains all of Oz’s interests, likes, dislikes, etc. You can easily sway them with all the information here. It’s 100% valid and golden. I’m offering it to you… for a price.”

Damien scoffed. Everything involved a price for her; nothing was ever out of good will. It was like Vera had a sixth sense on what could increase her more income.

“No thanks,” he pushed the portfolio away. “I don’t need something like that!” It seemed too stalker-ish and Damien wanted to play it cool. “I got my charm and that should be enough,” he stated confidently.

Vera’s mouth formed a thin line. “Really? How’s that working out for you?”

“It’s going fucking great-”

“Don’t forget I saw what happened this morning.” Vera grinned when Damien scowled at her. “Mister Charming, huh?” She chuckled. “How about Sir Creepy? I like that one.”

Damien huffed, “whatever.” This morning was just a fluke and he was off his game a little bit. “The point is I don’t need your stuff. I can figure out Oz on my own.”

“Really?” The way she said that word made Damien’s eye twitched. She took her folder and scanned the paper hidden from Damien’s view. “I bet you don’t even know what their favorite color is.”

Damien snorted. “Duh, that’s easy.” He recalled to what they were always wearing. “Yellow.”

Vera raised an eyebrow at him unamused. She kept glancing up and down at the paper to him. Her stare made him feel like an idiot. “Is that your final answer?”

“What? It’s not?!” Her expression didn’t change. He hated how vague she can be. “Uh, black?” She didn’t say anything. She kept eyeing the damn paper. “...White?”

“Are you going off by their appearance, Damien?” Her tone was full of mocked pity. “That’s honestly pretty sad. That’s all you have to go off on.”

“Shut up!” Damien gritted his teeth. He couldn’t afford to yell or the librarian would kick him out. Just from one stupid simple question, Damien started to hate this puzzling feeling like he was doubting himself. He admitted it that he doesn’t know jack shit about Oz and the answers are right in front of him. Vera kept waving the portfolio around and using it to fan herself. Damien squeezed his eyes. “Okay! Give me the damn thing!”

He reluctantly paid her. She knew her target well, going after a prince with a typical large allowance. Damien took the folder and looked inside. He felt the urge to shut it and throw it at her. “You bitch! It was yellow!”

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Vera laughed as she fanned herself with a new wad of cash. “No refunds.”

Damien growled, “how do I even know these answers are legit?”

“I had Oz filled it out. Their signature is at the bottom and everything. But I guess a more easier way is to ask them yourself.”

Damien sighed. Despite not trusting her, he continued to look through. “No birthday?”

Vera shrugged. “I guess not. It is hard to pinpoint when fear was created before calendars were even established.”

Brian wasn’t sure what Vera and Damien were doing. Their conversation was too far away, but from an outsider’s perspective, Vera seemed to be annoying Damien until they traded off some things. Now they were quietly chatting with one another.

Oz came back with a book in their hand. Vicky and Amira both jumped into action. They shouted, “Oz!” quite loudly and noticeably in the library that anyone around them can hear. The librarian shushed them and they softly apologized. It worked, because Damien perked up and his tail stood straight. Brian observed as he fumbled with the folder he was holding and flung it back at Vera, who stumbled from the surprised throw, and innocently hid behind a random book he grabbed. His eyes popped up from the book. The bait was thrown.

Oz slowed down their movements when they approached the group and cautiously sat down next to Brian. Vicky and Amira were on the other side.

“Yeah…?”

“What’s wrong?” Amira asked.

“Nothing…” Oz glanced at them back and forth. “That was just weird you shouted my name out loud even though we’re in the library…” The smiles they were giving to Oz was a little disturbing too. “What’s going on? Are you guys planning something again?”

“We might be. We might not.”

“Who knows?” Vicky shrugged.

Oz gave a deadpan expression. They could interrogate the girls some more, but they doubted they would get an answer. Besides, they wanted one peaceful evening so it was better not to get involved. They made a brief glance towards Brian who was watching something from a distance. They tried to follow his eyes and craned their head around.

“What is it, Brian?” They thought they spotted Vera. She seemed to be sitting next to someone until Amira’s flaming hair blocked their view.

“So, Oz,” Amira casually brought their attention away, “how much money did you make?”

“Huh? Oh,” Oz shrugged, “a couple. It’s not much, but it’s a start.”

“Good job!” Vicky gave two thumbs up.

“Nice work!” Amira smiled, delicately placing her chin on her palm.

Oz tilted their head in confusion; their little friend followed too. Suddenly, they felt an arm wrapped around their shoulder. They looked up at the source. Brian kept nodding at them and rubbing their shoulder. “Well done,” he simply said. Oz wasn’t so sure about the sudden affection, but they went back to opening their book. Brian’s arm did not let go which was strange. Oz glanced up at him again and Brian was staring down at their book. “Can I read with you?”

“Oh, sure,” Oz scooted their chair and leaned in closer. They completely forgot the arm was still around them. However, they assumed it was just a comfortable position for Brian, so both their arms weren’t awkwardly squishing together.

Brian tore his eyes away from the book when Oz wasn’t paying attention and saw the book Damien was holding was starting to catch on fire. He could feel two burning holes were singeing through the poor book.

And then, Brian let go and hovered his hand away from Oz. They noticed it for a brief second before returning to the novel they were reading since they were at a good part. Brian took a note of the flames roaring on Damien's book were simmering down. Vera was watching her acquaintance with an uncomfortable expression.

Brian put his hand back. And then the inferno arose.

He placed it off. And then, the heat bubbled down.

The hand was on. The fire boiled.

The hand was off. It smoldered.

The hand was on and then quickly off. There was a weird burst of a conflagration, but it evaporated into smoke.

Brian admitted he was having fun; this was all too funny. Damien gripped the book so hard, there were dents where his fingers were holding. It looked like he was about to rip the book in half. Brian couldn’t stop the deep chuckle vibrating in his throat. The fun was cut short when he looked down and saw Oz with deep furrowed brows staring up at him.

“Would you like to tell me what’s so funny? And you can’t say it’s the book.” Brian remained silent. “Also, what are you doing? Why do you keep touching me repeatedly?” It wasn’t that Oz minded a few touches, but it was how odd it kept repeating. It almost had the same irritation as to someone who kept poking you. They tried to find what Brian was always observing at, but Vicky and Amira were blocking the way.

Brian pouted, “sorry. I must have kept interrupting you.”

Oz sighed. “Don’t worry about it. If you didn’t want to read, you could have said so. Sorry if it was boring you.”

Brian shook his head. The corners of his mouth lifted up. “That’s not it.”

“Then, what was?”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Brian gently ruffled Oz’s hair and Oz enjoyed the feeling of it.

“FIRE! FIRE! DAMIEN SET THE TABLE ON FIRE!”

“MOTHERFUCK-!!!”

More chairs and tables were blazing as the fire started spreading to the bookshelves. Many students scrambled; either evacuating the area or trying to put out the fire.

“D-Damien!” Oz shrieked. They couldn’t believe they hadn’t noticed he was there. He must have been in their blind spot, but there was no time to dwell on that now.

Brian wondered what caused the explosive destructive. He wasn’t touching their shoulder again. His eyes followed where his hand was. And then, it clicked. It was on their head. “Oops,” he muttered.

“No time, guys!” Amira stood up with all of them in pursuit. “We have to get out of here!”

“No argument here!” Vicky packed up her stuff.

“B-Bu-But, Damien-”

“Oz, don’t risk it, let’s go!”

Oz could say no more before they were dragged by the arm by Brian. They turned back; Damien was nowhere to be found. They assumed he escaped somehow. Today was just odd. It was not bad, but it was utterly strange. Oz was so confused about Damien. There was a method to his madness, but this was very random. Not only just this moment, but the entire day made Oz wondered more about Damien. It definitely ignited the spark they felt before when they first met him. Oz really had strange taste, but this crush was certainly not going away anytime soon. Oz watched as the library was engulfed in magnificent flames before exiting through the doors.

Once the majority of the students were out in the hallway, Vera leaned against one of the lockers. She was trying to catch her breath and took in some fresh air. That was a close one; too close. She could have suffered more hazardous burns since she was the nearest one to the cause. Thankfully, her instincts told her to run before Damien slammed his hands down on the table. What an idiot. No, she was the idiot because she should have charged him more for her information if she knew this would happen. Damien was lucky that she kept the folder safe on her. Now, she can charged him twice as much if he wanted it back. Consider it payback for almost burning her snakes off.

Once her determination settled, she noticed someone near her. It was Liam, crossing his arms and shaking his head with a grimace.

“See. This is what happens when you get involved.”

Chapter Text

“Well, with all the details aside now,” Amira said, “don’t worry, Ozzy! That’s why we’re here to help!”

Oz turned to see Vicky giving two thumbs up while Brian gave one. Oz didn’t know whether to feel happy or worry since they know pretty well how their group’s plans work out.

The worried expression on Oz’s face made her almost laugh. Her friend should trust the group more considering all of their genius plans eventually worked out somehow; emphasizing more on the somehow. Nevertheless, she was fully determined to help out Oz’s love life. It was also to distract her from her own depressing one.

“Moving aside, how’s your progress with Scotty, Vick?”

Vicky banged her head against the table, making a huge thud sound. She rattled their plates and utensils. Brian held his spoon in his mouth and moved Vicky’s plate away in case she would do it again. He gently rubbed her back while she groaned.

Amira’s face fell. “I’m guessing it’s not good.”

Vicky groaned again. “Why does he have to be such an idiot?!” She pressed her cheek against the hard cold table. She lifted up her fork and twiddled with it. “But a cute idiot…” she pouted.

“Now, now, give him some time. He’s just a little slow,” Amira reassured.

Oz leaned in closely to her and whispered, “yeah, but how many times has it been?” Amira shushed them while Brian held up a number with both hands. Oz’s eyes widened; there had been way too many times.

Vicky started poking the table with her fork. It was no surprise that she fell for Scott. At first, she thought he was a lovable guy with a big heart, but a small brain. She didn’t mind that part, but she was sometimes worried if he ever get into trouble. Scott was a kind and sweet boy; she hated if anything happened to him. He was nice to her like he was nice to everyone else. He was also cute, which she could admit that. However, she saw him nothing more than a friend. There was no spark or anything that made her interested in him at the time.

Until one day, she had a very unfortunate morning. A stupid cheeky cat decided to nab one of her bolts. Vicky needed both her bolts to function both her sides. It worked like the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Once the cat took it off, she felt paralyzed on one side of her body from the neck down. She tried to chase after it, but it took some time since she was mostly hopping on one leg while dragging the other on the ground. Short out of breath, she found the little rascal licking its fur all the way up in a tree. Her bolt was wedged between its paws.

She needed to do something quickly before the cat decided to gnaw on her bolt. She rushed over to the trunk of the tree and put one arm and leg around it. She attempted to shimmy her way to the top before giving up and realizing she needed both her arms and legs working to climb it. She tried jumping with one arm flailing around to shoo the cat. It was too high up and it completely ignored her. With not many options left, Vicky grabbed a long stick and did the same thing again. She waved the stick around, frantically trying to get close to the cat.

“Come on! Come on!” She cried. “Get! Over! Here!”

And then suddenly, she heard a loud bark and the stick was gone from her hand in a flash. She looked around to see where it had gone, but heard scampering feet running around her and tried to follow the sound. She finally met her source when she went back into her original position.

“Scott?”

He barked with the stick in his mouth and his tail wagging happily. He set the stick down and waited for her with patient twinkling puppy eyes.

She eyed the stick and back to him. “Scott, I’m not playing fetch with you.”

“Then, what are you doing?” His ears flopped. She thought all of his expressions were adorable, but in a pet kind of way.

“I’m trying to get my bolt from that freaking cat up there!” She pointed to the culprit that didn’t seem to have a care in the world. “I can’t move from one side of my body so I need it back, but again I can’t do anything like this.” To demonstrate, she moved her limp arm and it swayed boneless.

Scott nodded understandably. “Do you want me to get it?”

“Could you? That would be a huge help!”

“No problem!” He grinned.

Scott went over and mounted the tree trunk like it was simple rock climbing. She was very impressed with his ability. Once he reached the branch where the cat was on, he made a big leap grabbing the base with both hands and joyfully swinging his legs. The branch slightly jolted which alerted the cat. Using his instincts, Scott stayed still in his position until the cat went back to licking its paw. Vicky was amazed that he could hold on for some time; she guessed those muscles weren’t for show. Scott then pulled himself up with ease until he was steadily on all fours on the branch. He slowly crawled over carefully to not startle the cat. Vicky was holding her breath; she questioned what was his next move. She wondered if he was going to pull a stealth mission and swipe her bolt away without the cat noticing or maybe he was going to coax the cat into letting her bolt go.

Scott was a few inches away from the cat. He took a deep breath before repeating barking at it. The cat screeched with its legs stretched and fur standing up. It leaped away, causing Vicky’s bolt to fall perfectly into her hand. She clutched it against her heart, sighed a relief, and then adjusted it back to her neck. Scott swung on the branch again and then made a perfect landing in front of Vicky. She would score it a 10/10.

“Thank you so much, Scott! I really appreciate it!”

”No problem!” Scott raised both hands up for a double high five.

Vicky glanced at them with a sad smile. “Sorry, I can’t. I need electricity into my bolt for me to move my arm and leg again.” She didn’t considered it a problem since she could absorb electricity from anywhere in the school. She was just slightly sad she couldn’t give him the high fives he deserved.

But, apparently, Scott misinterpreted. “Oh no! So we have to find some?! But where could we get any? Do you think the store has it?”

“Uh… no, Scott, it’s okay! I can-”

“I got it!” Scott had an expression like he struck a marvelous idea. “Polly and Damien showed this to me once! Come with me!”

Scott scoped her into his warm fuzzy arms and dragged her away before she could protest more. She definitely felt embarrassed by the position, but she couldn’t deny it felt nice being carried away by a big soft man. They reached the library where Scott set her down gently on one of the furry carpets.

“Alright! Watch me!” He flashed her a toothy grin. He took off his shoes and kept shuffling his socks against the fuzz. “If we do this enough times,” he lifted up a finger and edged near her bolt. There was a little shock. “We’ll create electricity! It was so cool when Polly and Damien kept doing this to me! They were so nice to teach me too!”

At first, Vicky was worried that those two pulled a wool on Scott, but at least they humored him enough to teach him.

“Come on, Vicky! Try it!”

He seemed to be having so much fun, she couldn’t spoil this. She didn’t have the heart to tell him about her faster ability to absorb electricity either. He was so happy that he was helping and she didn’t want to ruin that face. Her heart took a big swing over her consciousness. Besides, the look he was giving made the activity seemed like it was fun.

“Okay!”

She joined him by taking off her shoes and shuffled her feet with him. She had a blast with him as they slowly regained her energy back. It definitely took the entire day for her arm and leg to start moving again but it was worth it. Spark after spark, she certainly felt one in her heart. The fact that he spent the entire day with Vicky, taking care of her needs, made her feel special. It was no surprise she was drawn in by his kindness.

She asked him out the next day. He smiled and took her hand. She felt butterflies from his touch. They walked through the entrance doors to the outside. They stood there for a minute before Scott happily announced he had a good time and then walked back inside. It took Vicky a second to realize he misunderstood “going out”. She facepalmed herself.

She tried again, rephrasing herself more clear that she meant on a date. That was when Scott rejected her, because he was going to be very busy with practices and wanted to focus on them. She couldn’t say she wasn’t crushed, but she told him she understood. And that was when he accidentally said she was such a good friend to him. It felt like a low blow to her heart. Vicky basically felt like Scott subtly rejected her completely by friend-zoning her, except she knew he wasn’t that smart. So, him saying that was his honest feelings about her and it told her that she had no chance. The friend zone was a heinous trench to climb out of; only a selected few made it out alive. But, that didn’t stop Vicky. Now that the sport season was coming to an end and prom was coming up, she would have another chance once again. She needed to do things differently this time and make Scott see her as a date.

But first things first, she needed to get rid of the friend barrier.

It was a lot harder than she thought considering her opponent is a formidable foe who was not even doing it on purpose. Scott was too oblivious to her numerous subtle advances. She complimented him and called him cute nicknames, but they flew right over his head without a second thought. She made herself more appealing by fashion magazine standards, but he was never charmed. She tried everything, but resulted in nothing.

“Should I give up?” she moped.

“No!” Amira slammed her fist down on the table. The plates rattled again. Brian and Oz moved her plate and cup away at a safe distance. The motion made Vicky lift up her head. “Now’s not the time to give up, now is the time to try harder!”

Vicky pouted, “but how do I do that?”

“Think like Scott.” Amira smirked as her answer got Vicky out of her depressed mood. She sat upright again and stared at Amira with wonderment. “Forget the smarts or the charm or whatever. Just get his heart. Think what would Scott like.” Vicky realized from her past attempts that she used methods to make herself generally likable when she should have tried appealing more to Scott. “Besides, we’re here for you too.”

She looked around at her group who had encouraging expressions. It made her smile. “Thanks, you guys!”

‘Operation Annoying Oz: Phase 1 - Morning in Class’ was a success. She definitely gave a high five to herself on how smoothly she pulled it off with Brian. In fact, she wanted to give Brian a high five too but he had to go somewhere before she got the chance. Either way, the operation was moved to phase 2 in which she passed the baton to Amira.

Speaking of her gal pal, Vicky got a text after class. Amira told her about a surprise she had install for Oz which involved the new speakers the DJ had for the party tonight outside. That also gave Vicky another idea based off of Amira’s.

To commit her plan into action, Vicky decided to go to the bathroom. She checked through the stalls to see if anyone was there. No one. Good. She pulled out her secret stash from a little hidden compartment under the sink, pushing away other people’s drugs and alcohol.

It was her electric battery. Sometimes, Vicky needed some more juice into her system. She loved the feeling of being super energized and wild. This time was for a good cause, she told herself.

Vicky touched the knobs and felt the current coursing through her body. Her limbs gyrated and her eyes dilated. Her hair was frizzing up. Electricity was pulsing out of her bolts. Her heart was pumping ecstatically. She let go and felt the current pulsing through her hands. There were circular burn marks on her palms; she dusted away the evidence.

She rubbed her hands together and saw the sparks flew between them. Her eyes twinkled. If Oz doesn’t freak out on those speakers, giving them a little shock would definitely do the trick. Her fingers tingled with glee.

And then Vicky heard the bathroom door opened. She quickly stashed her battery in the compartment and tried to look normal, pretending to fix her hair while whistling. It was Miranda. She came in singing a simple tune.

“Oh, hello!” Miranda greeted.

“Hey, Miri!”

Miranda walked over to the mirror and brushed her bangs away. She was humming her melody until she sang it out loud again.

Vicky hummed along. “Gosh, you sound as beautiful as ever!”

“Thank you!” Miranda smiled. “I’m practicing for the audition today.”

“Oh, yeah, for the last school play this year!”

Miranda nodded. “Are you going to join?”

Vicky crossed her arms and puffed out her cheek. “Hmm, I’m not sure. Maybe?” She shrugged. “Did anyone else joined?”

“Actually, yes! Most of us have already auditioned since we all thought we should experience this last moment together.” Miranda started counting with her finger. “Vera, Polina, Liam, Damien, and Scott…”

Vicky perked up. This was a sign; a perfect opportunity for her. And since the main 6 were already joining, it would be perfect for the group too. “When are the auditions?” She said too enthusiastically.

“Well, I believe right now all day. I’m planning on taking mine after lunch!”

Vicky nodded, keeping the information in her head. She later got a text from Oz. They informed in the group chat about the party they were all going for the evening ordered by Amira. Vicky figured that out already from the earlier text she got. And then, she got another text from Oz privately this time. They told her to get as many pudding desserts as she can for Scott at lunch. She expressed her gratitude by sending a lot of heart emojis to them.

Vicky arrived early to lunch. She heed Oz’s advice and tried to sneak as many puddings inside her clothes as possible. Everywhere felt plastic, cold, and uncomfortable, but she reminded herself that it was for a good boy. Several minutes later, people were coming in. Vicky anxiously waited for Scott and saw him walking in with the Wolfpack. Vicky cringed. She was slightly uncomfortable with Wolfpack, because she did not know how to deal with these guys most of the time. Nevertheless, she was fully determined to not back down. This was her moment with Scott and she would not let it go. She did not stuffed cold pudding cups in her bra for nothing.

Vicky took a deep breath and marched to their table without looking awkwardly suspicious maintaining all the pudding cups in her clothes. She sat down while juggling one cup that threatened to slip out.

“Oh, hey, Vicky!” Scott’s expression made the trip worth it. “You’re just in time!”

“Time for what?” She noticed there were 2 huge piles of puddings all around their table. One was near Scott while the other was near the Wolfpack. There was also a scoreboard behind them that displayed Scott’s name and the Wolfpack.

“Our pudding eating contest!” The Wolfpack declared. “We’re going to eat our hearts out to show how dedicated we are! The one who eats the least… will be shunned by the team!” And then they added, “for a week.”

Vicky wasn’t following the logic for the contest, but Scott seemed excited about it. “Whoo! I wanna win!” He continued cheering. “You can time us since none of us don’t know how to tell the time!”  

“O… Oh sure!” She reached over and set the time on the scoreboard. A pudding cup almost slipped out of her sleeve quite noticeably. She put it back in and looked to see if any of them saw that.

“Hey…” The Wolfpack narrowed their eyes at her. Sweat was forming on her forehead as she bit her lip.

“...did you…” She gulped. She impulsively thought about using her power to shock them. She could, but then Scott would be upset. She didn’t want to break his heart. She stayed still; her fingers were twitching.

“...do something…” The Wolfpack were idiots, but they weren’t that blind. They had to have seen that. She doesn’t want to be excuse from the table. Her hands gripped her pants.

“...new to your hair?” She breathed out. It turned out they were stupid enough who didn’t see anything. She followed up with a quick excuse and then proceeded to the countdown.

“Ready!” Scott and the Wolfpack hunched over in their seats. Their claws were hanging out, scratching the table. “Set!” They bared their fangs out, drooling everywhere. They growled over to one another. Vicky paused for a second, because she liked to add the suspense. “...EAT!”

In no time, Scott and the Wolfpack were scarfing down pudding cups each by the second. They took a hold of one, ripped off the plastic, and squeezed the container until the content perfectly popped into their mouths.

It was entertaining to an outsider. Vicky lost herself to the excitement of the contest that she almost forgot that she should do something to get Scott’s attention without breaking his concentration. It was a competition, so she thought about what would Scott do if she was in his place. The answer was easy and it was cheerleading. “Go, Scott, speed it up! Devour all those pudding cups!”

She could see him smiled while his mouth was full of pudding chunks. The sight was messy, but still adorable in her heart. It also worked, because she saw how his speed increased from her chant. “Go, Scott, you can eat! Chew up all those tasty treats!”

Again, the chant worked. Scott gave her a thumbs up as he kept stuffing his face. Scott was pulling ahead by one as the seconds counted down. At this time, Vicky noticed how little his pile was getting while the Wolfpack still had a lot left and they weren’t far behind in scores. She calculated in accordance to the Wolfpack’s and noticed something odd. Scott would finish his pile with extra time, but would not have enough points to beat the Wolfpack if they kept eating and won’t even finish. This was unfair; they should have had an even number of puddings in their pile from the start. That was when she realized they must have grabbed what they can, guesstimated the amount, and then separated it without bothering to count because they don’t know how to. Scott was going to lose at this rate.

She couldn’t let that happened. She knew how much the team meant to Scott and she didn’t want to see his sad puppy eyes all week. She had to do something. And that was when a pudding cup slipped from her sleeve.

Neither Scott nor the Wolfpack noticed as they were heavily deep into the competition. Scott saw the cup, picked it up, and ate it like he thought it was from his pile.

A figurative light bulb lit up near Vicky’s head. She shuffled closer to Scott’s pile and secretly placed one by one all the pudding cups she hid. Anyone would be astonishingly amazed how many she kept in her clothes. She took off her shoe and ten more came pouring out. How was that possible, even she didn’t know. Scott kept eating and eating, not noticing a significant change in his pile.  

However, she might have gave him too much. He wouldn’t be able to finish them all as the seconds ran out. The score was neck-to-neck with the Wolfpack speeding up. Finding no other option, Vicky edged closer to the scoreboard and touched it. She closed her eyes and used the extra electricity she took from the battery. A current zapped from her bolts, trailed her arm, and surrounded the scoreboard. The numbers were going haywire, but the wolves did not noticed. The time shifted from 30 seconds to 69 seconds left. She snickered to herself, because she couldn’t resist. More importantly, Vicky was confident that Scott could pull ahead in the amount of time. For good measures, she cupped her hands around her mouth, “chew! Chew! Chew it like a chew toy! Come on, Scott, who’s a good boy?!”

“I AM!” Scott declared. His speed powered up ten times faster than the Wolfpack. Scott didn’t even have to rip off the plastic. His strength was enough to squeeze the contents so much that it popped through it.

He swallowed his last one down. The timer buzzed. Vicky stopped them with a whistle. “Alright, no more eating! Put your mouths away!”

Both opponents didn’t seem tired from the excessive eating. If anything, they were super hyped up and energetic. “WHOO! WHOO!” They were probably high from the adrenaline of the competition, or just plain sugar rush.

Vicky checked the scoreboard. Her face broke out into a grin. “The winner is… Scott!” Amazingly, Scott beat them by two.

Scott raised both fist in the air, cheering, “yay! I won! Whoo!”

The Wolfpack seemed disgruntled and angry. “Aww, darn it! Since we can’t count, we’ll have to take her word for it!” The Wolfpack began congratulating Scott. They can be jerks, but they did have sportsmanship.

Vicky went up to Scott. He gave her the biggest smile with pudding stuck in his teeth. “Thank you so much for the cheer, Vicky! That really pumped me!” And then his face shifted to a realization one. “Man, during the middle of it, my puddings started tasting warm for some reason. And lightly scented too.”

Vicky bit her lip and gave him a shrug, innocently pretending not to know anything. She would take this secret to her grave.

She really hoped Oz was going to be okay. Vicky admitted that she messed up big time for her friend. Not only was last night not a success, but that the audition sheet placed Oz in an awkward situation. She prayed that they would make it out through this. She hoped to get another chance to make it right for them.

She was walking through the halls when she ran into Liam, looking grumpy than usual.

“Hey, Liam!” She waved.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“What’s wrong?”

Liam sighed, “oh, nothing. I had to witness an embarrassing moment between Damien and your friend, Oz.” Liam sounded like he wasn’t close to Oz, but she knew better. She knew when he said that that he really considered Oz more of a friend than Damien. However, she went back to focusing what he actually said.

“What embarrassing moment? What happened?” She bounced on her heels.

“They were up against the wall with each other.” Her eyes widened. She covered her mouth, squealing. Liam caught on and scrunched his face. “Relax, they didn’t do anything like that.” Vicky pouted. “Their position was so cliche, I felt like I almost died again .”

“What was going on? Like what were they talking about?”

“The usual. Damien is trying to intimidate them, but they got away.” Liam excluded the reason why Damien approached them in the first place, because he knew better. Vicky was like Polly; they spread the latest gossip around faster than the internet did. If she got a hold of the reason why, she would tell it to Oz and then Damien was going to be all over Liam’s case for ‘ruining’ his weird way of courtship.

“Oh, Oz…” Vicky muttered. Her expression screamed guilty. She was definitely going to text them later on to see if they were alright.

Liam observed her. “You guys sure are awfully close with one another.” Vicky curiously looked at him. “You, Oz, Amira, and Brian.”

Vicky giggled, “well, we’re a squad obviously!” She threw up 2 peace signs. “The Player Characters!”

“Nobody really calls you that.” In Liam’s opinion, it was a questionable name. It was very meta for some reason. “Why that name?”

“It’s the name of our band!”

“You guys are a band?!” Liam was shocked.

“Yup! Lead singer right here!” She pointed to herself. “Amira plays the guitar, Oz plays the bass, and Brian rocks the drums!”

“Huh,” Liam didn’t know whether to be impressed that they were a band or pity that he had never heard of them before. “Have you guys played somewhere before?”

“Yup, weekly concerts at our garage!” She spoke proudly.

Liam shook his head unimpressed. He found his answer as to why they weren’t well known. “Well, that explains it.” He looked at her sternly and seriously. “You guys should play at a public venue to gather more recognition. Start with the elderly home or something.”

“But we’re a rock band.”

“Which makes it more perfect.”

“Oooh,” she nodded. “Thanks, Liam!” The talk about her rock band actually reminded her of her original task. “Oh, speaking of which, I was on my way to grab that fallen speaker from last night for our band! Will you help me?”

Liam narrowed his eyes, “isn’t that thing broken?”

“With a little tune up, I think I can make it work.” She gave him a playful wink. He didn’t questioned more, afraid to ask. He agreed to help her anyways. Liam considered it a payment to Oz for their clean up with the ogres.

Before lunch, she got a text from Oz warning her to not show up to the cafeteria the first 10 minutes. Nobody in the chat asked why, the three assumed something wild would happen like usual. They agreed to it. Out in the hallways, she could hear the violent protesting from the hungry carnivore students. Vicky didn’t crave steak as much as they did, but it would be great to grab a good one for Scott.

She felt a warm hand touched her shoulder and turned around to see Amira.

“This must be what they were talking about.” Amira was gesturing to Oz’s text.

“What do you think they’re doing in there?” Both girls were assuming that Oz was inside the cafeteria, since it was strangely locked. Amira could only shrug at her question.

The crowd was getting rowdier and louder. They witnessed the charging in and followed a distance away. However, they were smart enough not to go in. They both hid behind a row of lockers and watched the events unfold from the obstructed doorframe of the cafeteria. The crowd was roaring in distressed instead of hunger. Polly came into their viewpoint with her back turned to them and pelted the crowd with squishy balls. And then they saw the crowd being sprayed with some kind of dirty yellow or brown liquid from the side.

“Ugh, I hope that’s not pee…” Vicky stuck her tongue out in disgust.

Amira shook her head, “I think it’s gasoline. I can smell it.”

Not a moment too soon, a huge fire erupted. Dozens of screaming bodies were running everywhere. A few ran out of the cafeteria, passing Amira and Vicky who had indifferent expressions. They knew for certain that Damien was involved and they saw Polly earlier. The only question on their minds was Oz. The girls waited for a few minutes before they boldly peeked inside the cafeteria. From the looks of it, they saw their friend getting praised by Polly and Damien. They felt so proud for Oz.

“Aww,” small tears were leaking through Vicky’s eyes, “our little yellow shadow is growing up!” Amira laughed at her dramatic reaction. “We should go over and congratulate them!”

Amira stopped her with a hand. “No, no, let them be. We’ll see them later and tell them. Right now, we should get going.” Amira nodded over to the counter.

Vicky followed in pursuit. They were both on similar missions. And thanks to Oz eliminating most of the competition, they could get the best pieces of steak for their targets.

They both grabbed 2 pretty sturdy tables and set their plates down. Later on, the rest of the 4 classmates and Brian came in with other students who luckily weren’t caught in the blast. Vicky waved over to Scott who dragged Vera with him. It was a bit surprising since the girls accounted for Scott and Vera to sit at different tables, but they guessed not. Vicky nodded for Amira to come over and she did.

“Hey, Vicky! Hey, Amira!” Scott smiled. They both greeted him back. Vera acknowledged their presence which was standard for her. Scott sat down next to Vicky which made her giddy. “By the way, thanks again for refereeing the pudding eating contest! And for the cheers! Couldn’t have done it without ya!”

Vicky blushed a little. “It was no problem!”

“I got this as thanks!” He gave her two pudding cups. Her heart swelled with joy. “This one's for you. And the other one is for Oz! Or, well, their little buddies since they seemed hungry last night!”

Vicky giggled, “thanks, Scott, I’ll give it to them later.”

“I tried explaining to him what really happened last night, but he still didn’t get it.” Vera commented to Amira.

“Let him be. It’s better this way,” Amira said.

Vicky settled the cups down and pushed her tray towards Scott. “By the way, Scott, I got you some lunch! Super rare median steak style, just how you like it!” The steak just basically meant that it was burnt and charred on the outside, but really raw on the inside; so raw that it was like the fleshy uncooked meat one bought packaged in the meat section at the grocery store.

Scott gasped with stars in his eyes. “Yay! One of my favs! Thanks, Vicky!” Scott took the steak, but then he paused. “What about you? Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Oh no, don’t worry about me!” Vicky flashed a smile. “You just eat to your heart’s content!” She patted his arm. Scott happily sunk his fangs into the steak; dragging, digging, and stretching the meat with growling sounds. Vicky stared at him adoringly.  

Vera glanced over and rolled her eyes. “She cannot be any more obvious.” Scott finally ripped the meat in half, blood spattered everywhere on the table. Some even sprayed on Vicky’s cheek which she didn’t mind. Vera retracted her arm away from any blood or saliva that could have landed on her expensive sleeve. “And he cannot be any more oblivious.”

“Which makes them the perfect couple!” Amira added. “By the way, I accidentally grabbed an extra meat. You can have it.”

“Oh,” Vera accepted the offer. “Thank you.” At least, she didn’t have to make someone else get her lunch.

“No problem. Would you like me to cook it for you?” Amira offered as she flicked her finger to cause a small flame.

“No thanks. I like mine just ultra-rare.” When she meant ultra-rare, it really just meant ultra-raw. It was barely cooked with all the raw juices leaking out.

“You seemed to be in a good mood, Vera. Is there a reason why?” Vera widened her eyes at Amira. She didn’t expect that her mood was easy to read. It might be that Amira was good at reading people’s hidden expressions or maybe understood Vera than she thought. The real reason was that Amira was bluffing.

“Well…” Vera glanced away for a bit before turning back with a confident grin. “If you must know, I’m about to score some cash from Damien later.”

“How?”

“Trust me. I got an offer he can’t refuse.” She smirked. It reminded Amira that she should increase her money later if she was going to impress Vera.

“Can you enlightened me the idea?”

“Well,” Vera swirled her drink, “it involves his pathetic infatuation with a certain someone.”

“He’s crushing on a different boy toy?!” Amira exclaimed. Vera had a surprised look on her face that it made Amira backtrack her statement. “I mean... or girl pearl, I guess?”

Vera furrowed her eyes at Amira, “something like that.” Not only were Amira’s statements odd, but Vera was confused on where to place Oz in those categories. She guessed ‘boy toy’ would be the closest.

Meanwhile, back with Vicky and Scott, he finally noticed the blood splatter on her cheek. “Oh, sorry, Vicky!” Vicky didn’t noticed what he was referring to until he wiped away the blood with his thumb. “I got some on you! Sorry, I’ve always been such a messy eater…” His ears flopped down. Vicky could feel someone metaphorically pulling on the stitches of her heart.

“It’s okay, Scott!” She tried to cheer him up. “You ate that steak very ‘well done’!” Vicky used her method of using really bad puns to make him happy again. It seemed to be super effective.

It took Scott a minute before he got it. “Oh, I get it! I guess I should have relax and ‘steak’ it easy!” Vicky covered her mouth and pounded her fist on the table. She was going to marry this boy.

Amira didn’t want to acknowledge this or say anything. She was used to Vicky’s bad puns. If she knew anything, she had better not speak in order to avoid another one. Vera unfortunately didn’t know and she let out a groan. “Please kill me.”

“What’s the matter, Vera? Asking for a ‘steak’ through the heart?” Vicky finger gunned and winked.

“Stop!” Vera growled. “This was a mistake eating here.”

“Mis-steak! I get it, Vera!” Scott laughed.

“No, that wasn’t-!!!”

Amira shushed her gently and whispered close, “it’s better you don’t say anything. Don’t add fuel to the fire.”

“I wished you warned me of this sooner,” Vera hissed.

Meanwhile, the happier couple laughed together. “I love this! Do more! Do more!”

Vicky looked around and saw the pudding cups near her. She smiled and lifted one up. “Scott, you’re my puddin’!”

Instead of laughing like she had expected, Scott’s smile fell and he looked at her nervously. “What? Does that mean you’re gonna eat me?!”

Seeing she messed up, she frantically set the pudding cup aside. “No-no-no! I meant because you’re always so sweet and stuff-”

“Do I really look that delicious?!” He screamed. “Please don’t eat me! I got practice tomorrow!”

“No, Scott, that’s not what I meant!” Vicky glanced over to Amira and Vera, pleading with her eyes for help.

Vera turned her nose upwards. Her ears had to suffer through those terrible puns. “You reap what you sow.” When one instigates bad puns, that one must pay the consequences.

Vicky looked desperately at Amira who could only shrug. “Sorry, Vick.” She was used to Vicky’s puns, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed them.

For the rest of the lunch, Vicky had to calm down Scott, reassuring him that she wasn’t going to eat him. If she did, then how can he be her prom date.  

Chapter Text

“Think like Scott.” Amira smirked as her answer got Vicky out of her depressed mood. She lifted up her head more and stared at Amira with wonderment. “Forget the smarts or the charm or whatever. Just get his heart. Think what would Scott like.” From her past attempts, she tried numerous of times to make herself generally likable when she should have tried appealing more to Scott. “Besides, we’re here for you too.”

She looked around at her group with encouraging expressions. It made her smile. “Thanks, you guys!”

Amira had a satisfied grin as she sipped her coffee.

“What about you, Amira?” She turned to Oz. “How’s it going with Vera?”

Amira sighed, “the same old. She’s playing hard to get.” Oz caught the little smug expression she was trying to hide by sipping her cup again. They shook their head and went back to feeding their little friend on their shoulder.

“Vera’s quite the challenge,” Vicky muffled with a mouthful of food. She gulped it all down. “She’s like the most difficult, I think.”

Amira shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. Besides, you know I like it that way.” She winked.

Amira didn’t need a specific flashback to show how Vera caught her interest. From the moment she met Vera, she felt the fire warming inside her. She knew Vera was going to give her the challenges, the spice, the crazy adventure she needed in her life. Amira didn’t want an easy target for her love; she carved the teasing, the flirting, the underlying sexual tension it came with.

“Still, do you need any help from us?” Oz curiously asked.

Amira smiled and ruffled their hair. “Aww, don’t you worry about me! I’m completely confident in my abilities.” Oz’s little friends seemed disgruntled that Amira messed up their finest work on Oz’s hair. One angrily shook their fist at her, but she laughed instead and used her finger to rub their head apologetically. They seemed to like it and would forgive her this time. “That’s why I’m helping you and Vicky out so much since I got mine covered.”

“Whatever you say…” Oz eyed to Brian and Vicky. Vicky was too busy eating her breakfast, but Brian gave a knowing look to them. They both were slightly concerned when Amira seemed too confident in herself. The worse thing for her was when things didn’t work out the way she planned.

While Brian and Vicky took the sacrifice of going to class, Amira thought she could kill time by hanging out in the bathroom until it was her turn. She did mostly nothing, but burned a cartoon drawing on one of the bathroom stalls. She enjoyed this feeling of being badass and looking hot. It also gave her time to think of a way to end Oz’s day with a bang. She needed something that would cause them to freak out, but not too much. And she also needed Damien there to witness it.

She went into one of the stalls to think more. Maybe the graffiti on the walls could give her an idea. It wasn’t before long when she heard two people coming in the bathroom.

“Aww, man! Tonight’s party outdoors is going to be lit!” She recognized Polly’s voice.

“It better be before I ‘lit’ it up!” The other voice had to be Damien. Amira stayed quiet as she eavesdropped. “So everyone is coming, right?”

“Yup, our whole group’s coming!”

“How did you manage to get Liam and Vera?”

“Oh, you know, I told Liam he can make fun of the music there. And for Vera, it was easy. I said she could steal people’s wallets when they’re passed out drunk.” Amira could admit that she was impressed with Polly. She did have some smarts to her despite getting drunk and high all the time. “And for you, since everyone is going to be filled with alcohol, you can burn them from the inside and outside!”

“Sounds like a real party to me.” Amira could guess he was grinning. “Why do you want all of us to come?”

“Because I heard the DJ got some new speakers!” Polly’s eyes must be sparkling. “Not just any speakers, but like magical ones where you could feel the music buzzing inside you! I hope it feels like I’m drunk! Or maybe I could get drunk and have double buzzes inside me! Either way, I’m excited!” Amira could tell she was from her voice.

“It would be a shame if something happened to those speakers...” From Damien’s voice, it was nothing but trouble. However, his tone definitely sparked an idea.

“Please don’t, Damien.”

“Fine, fine, I won’t.” Amira peeked through the skinny cracks from the stall. It was difficult to see anything clearly, but she could make out that he crossed his fingers behind his back.

They talked mindlessly for a while about planning a scheme for lunch tomorrow before walking out. Amira came out of the stall a minute later to make sure they were truly gone. It seemed like her good feeling was right as always. This was absolutely lucky news for the group, and more importantly for Oz. The speaker thing was even a bonus.

The bell rung. She walked out of there while whipping out her phone. She texted Vicky and Brian about the news of the speakers. Feeling confident, she would make Oz texted the others about the party, supposedly keeping the innocent act. It was totally perfect. Everything was going great so far.

Nothing felt better than a well deserved lunch after her stunning performance at the gym earlier. Despite the plan working out better than she thought, it was really hard to direct those flying dodgeballs away from Oz, only to easily knock down their victory. She felt slightly bad, but it was for the good of their sake. Hopefully, Oz could forgive her and maybe even Scott if she had the heart to tell him. She certainly wasn’t telling Vicky what she had to do.

Amira arrived at the cafeteria, seeing Vicky at the counter and Brian already at a table. Oz was probably in the showers, washing the failure off. Amira looked around and saw Vera and Miranda were sitting at the far corner of the room. She took a deep breath, poofed out her hair, and strutted over to their table. She sat down and joined their conversation casually like she belonged there.

“So, Miranda, how was your crown made?” Vera asked.

“Oh, Daddy had my crown fashioned from the palace of Atlantis! He chopped off the very tip top to symbolize I am above the rest.” She spoke proudly as her crown was gleaming in the light. “The jewels are actually the melted eyeballs of my rivals, the rotten airpeople!”

“Oh, how nice. I got my necklace from a business contract with an ‘archeologist’ that robbed Cleopatra’s tomb.” Vera grinned haughty. She flicked her wrist, showing off her matching accessory. “My bracelet was molded together from the rest of her treasures.”

“They’re beautiful,” Miranda praised. Something flashed across her eye and she saw it was Amira’s necklace. “Oh, hello, Amira! I couldn’t help but noticed your jewelry too.” Amira smiled, because she definitely wasn’t trying to balance it in the light to try to get one of their attention. “How did you get yours?”

Amira hummed as she ran her fingers down the string. “My necklace was formed from volcanic lava in Hell’s throne. It was forged without permission.”

“And?” Miranda pondered.

“Is that it?” Vera seemed unamused.

Amira smirked. “The best part is that it was from Damien's part of Hell. It was done right behind his dads’ backs.”

This fact absolutely shocked them. “What?” Miranda gasped.

“Does he know?” Vera’s eyes widened.

Amira’s grin grew. “Nope. Maybe one day I’ll tell him one day… when he pisses me off.”

“That will show him.” Vera drank her scotch and then let out a frustrated sigh. “I haven’t found a good way to extract money from him since he needs to pay for almost setting my expensive jacket on fire that one time.” Even though it wasn’t on purpose, she thought it only felt right since it was the only way she would forgive him.  

Amira knew she shouldn’t asked for more details. So, instead, she focused on Miranda who was singing with her serf holding a mirror in front of her. “Miri, whatcha doing?”

“She’s practicing for the audition after lunch.” Vera answered instead for Miranda who was too occupied by her appearance.

“Oh,” it clicked in Amira’s mind. “For the school play. Did you auditioned, Vera?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Vera rolled her eyes. “Miranda thought it would be nice if all of us were in a play together.”

“It’s going to be wonderful!” Miranda chirped, ignoring Vera’s obvious disdain of the idea.

Amira quirked an eyebrow. “How did you get Vera to agree, Miri?”

Miranda giggled before sticking her tongue out and winked. “It’s a secret.”

“This better be worth it if I’m going to have to put up with Scott, Damien, and Polly.” Vera muttered under her breath. She considered those three to be the hardest to cooperate with if it involved a school-related project. Amira’s eyes lightened up as a few of ideas were running simultaneously in her head. Her eyes made quick glances towards her friends from other tables. Her gut feeling was on point. This was definitely working out perfectly again. “I’m definitely charging a lot for the tickets. It’s a better business profit than Polly’s idea of just stealing wallets.”

Amira perked up. “Oh, right, I heard about that from her. It’s how she got you to go to the party tonight.”

Vera scoffed. “I mean, it’s easy to steal wallets, but where’s the fun in that? It’s too simple and has no sense of business.”

Amira pondered for a while. She had a couple of ideas, but she decided to go with the one that made her seemed smart. “How about… you do steal people’s wallets at the party and charge them when they want it back? And you can even take the money out before you hand it back to them. If they don’t want it back, you get to keep it. Maybe even blackmail them to not reveal their credit card number? It’s a win-win situation.”

Vera was so astonished that she set her scotch down. “That’s… genius.” She grinned mischievously. “Just imagine the look of despair on their faces as I fairly ripped money from their own wallets. I love it. Nice plan.”

Amira was feeling pumped that her idea worked for Vera. She silently gave herself a fist pump under the table. She didn’t want to show her excitement easily; she had to keep it cool. But Amira could feel she was one step closer to Vera’s heart. She just needed to make sure that she and her friends do not get drunk at the party. All this talk about money also reminded her to make some more cash soon and learn the art of business deals in order to impress Vera. All of these great creative juices were flowing right out of her and she needed to maintain it. A trip to the auditions would surely keep her creativity up.

Amira was super infuriated. Last night did not work out smoothly like she had perfectly planned; she was running on lack of sleep due to frustration of coming up with any other good ideas for Oz; and the sinking guilt of seeing the audition sheet didn’t help either. She really wanted to make it up to Oz as soon as possible while there was still time, but she didn’t know how now that her golden plan that she betted all her cards in had failed. She constantly questioned why it didn’t work and why did it had to happen to her friend. Her gut feeling was never wrong before, but now she started to doubt it. The feeling of being unsure with herself was overwhelming and she felt frustrated. She didn’t like it; it felt wrong and nauseating like a cold smack hit her stomach. Maybe it was a fluke, but it didn’t change the fact that she messed up greatly for her friend.

Amira was beginning to feel like Damien this morning. She wanted to set everything on fire. Small fire pits were trailing behind her every time she took a step. Her hair and the back of her hands were blazing so much that there was a heat wave around her. The temperature felt toasty when she was near. One monster accidentally bumped her on the shoulder and then he suddenly was on fire from the single touch. Amira stomped passed him, ignoring his screams. Because of that, every monster stirred clear from her in the hallways.

She felt pissed, but only to herself. And maybe a lot towards those ogres. She hoped they stayed in a coma if they know what was good for them. She could hold grudges for a very long time.

But for now, her main trouble was figuring out how to fix the mess she made. She didn’t want to ask Vicky or Brian since it was her plan from the beginning. She felt it was wrong to force them to think of a solution for her responsibility. The longer she was getting stuck with nothing, the more angrier she got.

She couldn’t take it anymore. Amira placed her hands on somebody’s locker and banged her head against it. There was a huge singed dent in it. She tried again. Nothing came to her mind. She was about to go again when someone’s voice stopped her.

“....Uh?” She halted midway and turned to the source. It was Scott looking at her concerningly. “What are you doing?”

Amira opened her mouth, but no words came out. She kept glancing at the hole she made. She wasn’t sure how to explain it, especially to Scott. “I’m... trying to knock some sense into my head. Maybe I can think of a good idea if I tried harder.” She was almost considering it from the longing look she was giving to the dent.

Luckily, Scott nodded. “Oh yeah! I tried that too! But it turns out that it doesn’t work, it only gives you a headache.”

“Really, Scott?” Amira sounded surprised, trying to amuse him. “I did not know that.”

“It’s true!” He said. “Anyways, I know a place where you can get some good ideas!”

This time Amira was actually surprised. “Really, Scott? Where?”

“Follow me!” He got down on all fours and sprinted to his destination. She followed lightly behind. Amira wasn’t sure if she could trust Scott, but she had nothing to lose. It was better than bashing her brains out. And then, he stopped shortly. She wasn’t sure why he exerted so much energy when they were only a few feet away from where they were.

His head nudged towards the door and then Amira scoffed. “Scott, this is a classroom.”

“Yeah!” His tail wagged happily. “The classroom is where you can get all your good ideas, right!?”

“That’s true, but…” She couldn’t argue with the logic, but she groaned while rubbing her temples. She really didn’t want to go to class, since it was so boring and a waste of her time.

“Come on!” Scott dragged her by the arm. She almost stumbled on her heels coming inside by the force he was pulling. He tugged on her to two empty seats and sat down, beaming with joy. Amira stared at him with a pout before reluctantly taking the seat next to him.

Class had started. About a minute in, Amira already became bored. The lesson was valuable, but since it wasn’t related to her current problem, she didn’t care about it. Finding a pencil in the desk she was in, she inspected it and found it to be pretty clean and decent. She started to twirl it with her fingers to give her some entertainment. Another minute passed. Amira was growing more frustrated as she started to chew on the pencil. She would surely die if she had to stay here any longer. Time for a distraction.

She lit the pencil with a small flame and flung it across to the ceiling. Once it was stuck, she increased the flame more. With all the other thousands of pencils stuck on the ceiling, the fire consumed them all until the whole roof was engulfed with flames. It caused a panic in the classroom as the teacher went to grab the fire extinguisher nearby. Finding it the perfect chance, Amira booked it out of there.

She was safely on the outside as she heard the teacher was uncontrollably guzzling foam everywhere. She took a deep breath out. At least that plan worked out. However, she couldn’t help but feel more agitated that a simple idea like that executed perfectly but not the one she had more hoped for.

“Great, now what?” She muttered to herself.

“I don’t know. I’m all out of ideas.” Amira whipped her head in surprise to see Scott right next to her. “Maybe we should go back. We can get more ideas!”

“S-Scott! What are you doing here?! Shouldn’t you be in there?” Amira pointed to the classroom door.

“I saw you go out so I went out too!” Scott beamed nonchalantly. “Was I not supposed to?” He looked at her confusingly.

“I-” She stopped herself. She was trying to stay calm. She didn’t want to blow up on Scott. “It’s fine. I appreciate your help, Scott, but I didn’t get any ideas in there.”

“Aww, I’m sorry,” he pouted. “Where should we go now?”

Amira shook her head. “Scott, it’s my problem. You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I can handle it on my own.”

“You sure?” Amira nodded. “Okay. But you know you can always come to me! I can help you on your problem whatever it is!”

“Thanks, Scott, but it won’t be necessary-”

“I mean it!” His loud voice interrupted her. “Even if I don’t know what the situation, you don’t have to shoulder the problem on your own. You should always come to others for advice if you’re stuck! That’s what being on a team is all about! You always have your teammates to back you up when you’re in trouble! Go teamwork! Whoohoo!” Amira couldn’t follow what he was saying, but she seemed to get most of what he was trying to convey. He gave a gentle pat to her shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on yourself! Listen to others! Give them a chance!”

“Scott,” Amira looked at him with curious eyes. She placed her hand on his cheek. “Are you drunk right now? Did you drink some of Polly’s toilet wine?” She kept feeling with the back of her palm. His face seemed definitely redder and warmer.

“I don’t know. I think I did…” he sounded unsure.

Amira narrowed her eyes. “How much did you drink?”

“Uh… one… two… four… I don’t know everything started getting blurry.” Scott came closer and squinted his eyes at her. “Was there always two of you?”

Amira sighed and patted his cheek. “Come on, big guy, let’s get you sober.” She took his arm and started to lead him to the bathrooms in case he needed to throw up. She also made a note to get him a glass of water too.

“Okay, Damien!” He laughed, not knowing his infelicity. She didn’t mind; instead she chuckled along. She could see the mistake and since it was drunk Scott, she couldn’t get mad. “Don’t set the bathroom on fire again, okay?”

“I promise I won’t.” She rolled her eyes and smiled. She was guessing he probably won’t even remember this moment with her in it specifically, but she was glad Scott was here for her. Leading him to the bathrooms was the least she could do.

“Hooray!” Scott cheered.

Her phone buzzed from her pocket. She whipped it out quickly and saw it was from Oz warning her about lunchtime.

Scott groaned and was turning paler. Amira took it as a warning and placed her phone back. “Hang in there, pal.” She patted his back. “We’re almost there.” She hoped she can make it in time before Scott could ruin her favorite outfit.

“Damien, I’m not feeling too good…” Scott groaned again with a confused expression. His stomach started making loud rumbling noises. His face was turning greener. Amira hightailed it quickly to the bathrooms. Once they busted through the doors, an awful retching sound could be heard from the outside.

Amira never would have thought her morning would turn out like this, patting Scott’s back as his head was in the toilet, but she couldn’t say it was all bad. Her mood was definitely lighter, despite the situation she was put in. However, one good thing came out of it besides Scott’s breakfast. Amira kept Scott’s words in mind. It was better than his vomit on her clothes. She betted he would be fine later on, but didn’t remember this morning at all. And she was right, but she didn’t mind.

Chapter Text

“Whatever you say…” Oz eyed to Brian and Vicky. Vicky was too busy eating her breakfast, but Brian gave a knowing look to them. They both were slightly concerned when Amira seemed too confident in herself. The worse thing for her was when things didn’t work out the way she planned.

They both went back to eating until Brian felt someone staring at him. His eyes turned to Vicky who was trying to hide a grin.

“So, Brian,” she drawled, “you crushing on anybody yet?”

“No,” he simply answered.

“Well, is there anybody you’re interested in asking to prom?” Amira followed in pursuit.

“Hmm, not yet.” He continued eating.

Brian really didn’t have anyone that he liked like the others. He just wasn’t particularly interested in anybody. Going through the agonizing stages of love and the fear of rejection were too troublesome for him. All he wanted was to go through high school and sleep. He could vaguely remember what it was like to have a crush when he was alive. Just reminiscing about it made him feel tired. He rather take a nap than go through that again.

Although Brian wasn’t pining after someone, that didn’t mean someone else wasn’t pining after him. And the others knew about it, except for Brian himself. They couldn’t believe how the monster remained totally oblivious to his secret admirer’s affections. However, his admirer did had a very unique, non-mainstream way of showing it. So, the group didn’t entirely blame Brian. They all gave each other looks before showing individual disappointed expressions. They really pitied Liam.

“Anyways,” Oz interjected, “you and Liam seemed to be hanging out a lot.” Since the vague questions weren’t working, Oz decided on a direct approach. Brian paused with his utensil full of food near his mouth. “Are you having a good time with him?”

Brian shrugged. “He’s not bad.”

“Just ‘not bad’?” Vicky whined.

“Yeah.”

“Why have you two been hanging out often?” Amira asked the real question.

Brian didn’t answer straight away. He thought about it for a while. He couldn’t remember why. All he let out was “umm…”

The girls waited anxiously while Oz’s little friends pointed at their watch. “Hey guys, I think we should finish soon. We’re an hour late to school.”

“Oh shit,” Amira downed her cup like a shot glass. “We’re supposed to be 30 minutes late.”

After hearing the teacher called Oz out, Brian reached into his pocket and checked off the string of text messages Vicky sent as a signal for him to throw the paper balls at Oz. She mostly sent thumbs up and okay emojis, and then threw in one eggplant for humor. Brian was a bit surprised when he saw out of all the new texts he got, one was sent by Liam during the midst of it. He asked Brian to meet up with him after class. Brian sent a ‘K’ before shuffling his phone back in his pocket and actually slept through the class.

He told Vicky he had to go. And after Amira texted him about the speakers, he informed her that he wasn’t going to be at the gym. Then, an image of Scott’s disheartened expression flashed in his mind and told Amira to tell Scott he said ‘hi’ just to cheer him up.

Brian walked through the library and found Liam sitting alone at a table reading a book. He sat across from Liam in silent, crossing his arms on the table and placing his chin on top.

“...Hey.”

“Hello,” Liam sighed.

“You seem irritated.” Brian thought in his head, ‘more than usual.’

Liam shut his book. “It’s just that Polina made me agree to go to a party tonight.” Brian connected it back to Amira’s text as he threw a quick glance at his phone. Liam continued, “I’m dreading every second that passes. However, I supposed it’s only half as bad than Miranda’s ‘brilliant’ idea.”

“What was her idea?”

“She thought it would be ‘marvelous’ if we all performed in the last school play. Miranda even managed to rope Polina and Scott into it.” Brian nodded as he silently praised her approach for getting the two easily influenced people to back her up. Liam rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the performing arts but I wish for it to be expressed my own way. Adding the others is going to be a disaster. How she got Vera and Damien to agree is beyond my imagination." Liam scoffed, "again, she must have used Polina and Scott.”

“How did she get you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it…” Liam turned away with a frown.

Brian knew better than to persist, mostly because he didn’t have the energy for it. He returned with a sigh, remembering how this morning went. “I know how you feel. Getting dragged into plans can be tiring.”

“Your two female friends drag you too?” Brian nodded. “Oh, fellow comrade.” Liam looked at him with sympathy. He knew out of Brian’s friend group that Oz was most likely another victim to schemes than the one initiating it, so it had to be Amira and Vicky. “How do they convince you to do stuff?”

“I just mostly agree. It’s too much effort to argue back.” Brian propped his cheek on his fist. “Once they made up their minds, there’s no use changing it. I just make sure they don’t get hurt.”

“You sound like their older brother.” Brian shrugged. He didn’t take it as an insult; he mostly accepted the role a long time ago. “How long have you formed your little friend group?” Liam could even date back to the first day of high school when he saw them already so tight knitted together. And then he realized his sudden question and tried to quickly followed with, “not that I particularly care or anything.”

Brian paid no attention and stared up into space in thought. “I... don’t know. Around middle school maybe.” He started to rub his face. “Vicky and I know each other the longest. She and Amira became instant best friends on the first day of middle school. And then, Oz came out of nowhere. I guess evidently we all became close and that was it.”

Liam hummed, “it’s interesting.” Brian thought he meant the story, but he was proven wrong. “You’re surprisingly a lot more vocal when it comes to your friend group. Usually you’re a man of few words which I appreciate when you see the people I associate with on a daily basis.” Liam droned while rolling his eyes.

Brian nodded. However, he knew deep inside that Liam does really care about the group of people he associates. How their weird dynamics actually brighten his life and made everyday fun. The thought of it reminded Brian of his own group and it lifted the corners of his mouth. Liam caught it and raised an eyebrow at him. “Sorry. I was just thinking about them, my friends.”  

“You really care about them.” Liam stated it as more of a confirmation than a question.

“Yeah.”

Liam looked down on his book. His eyes almost seemed sullen. “I envy them,” he muttered quietly.

“Hmm?”

“Nothing.”

Liam went back to reading. Brian didn’t questioned more, because he got distracted by a text from Oz about the party tonight again.

Afterwards, Liam invited Brian to sit with him at lunch. Brian agreed to it as he figured that the girls would probably be pursuing their crushes and he should also push Oz into pursuing theirs too. His other option would be to buy something at Valerie’s store, but Brian only had 5 dollars that he was saving for a rainy day.

Liam and him were able to find a perfectly empty table for just the two of them. Liam went to grab their food as Brian could see Vicky at the counter doing something suspicious. He couldn’t even tell it was her at first, because the outline of her figure seemed different than he remembered. Her stomach was much more pudgier with weird circular shapes sticking out. He probably shouldn’t get involved; she would shoo him away if he offered help. So, he waited for Liam to come back.

Liam arrived with two trays and immediately started taking pictures of his food after he settled down. Brian idly munched away, watching Liam struggled for the perfect angle. The food was questionable; a large bone was even sticking out of his plate. He didn’t know what he was eating, but it was edible at least.  

“Hey, um,” Liam spoke. Brian turned to him, but Liam looked like he was struggling to get what he wanted to say out. "So you know um about the uh audit-"

Suddenly, a grate from the ceiling crashed down on their table. And then next, a pair of spiky boots also abruptly landed on their table. Brian thought that if any more stuff fell on their lunch table, it would definitely break. The school budget didn't particularly went into lunch tables since it was spent on everywhere else that got damaged.   

“Hope you enjoyed your lunches, douchebags, ‘cause it’ll be your last!”

“Oh, great, you again.” Liam sighed. “As if this day can’t get any more worse for me.”

The Slayer shifted between Brian and Liam and pouted. “Aww man, I thought you were going to eat with Damien today, so I can get you both!” She seemed very disappointed that Liam was with Brian.

“Why do you always mainly target me and Damien?” Liam was agitated. “Damien I can understand, but why me? I don’t kill as much as he does or as any other monster in this school.”

“Well, no matter what, vampires will always be dangerous in my books. How do I know you’re not saying that just to throw me off?” From the expression on Liam’s face, Brian could tell he was very done. “Besides, you said ‘any other monster’, but brain-boy here is not as dangerous as you are.” She declared with a bored expression towards Brian. “It looks like he would take an hour just to touch me. But you can suck my blood in an instant!”

Brian wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be offended, but at this point, he didn’t care. It was better to agree with her and live than to prove her wrong and die. Liam seemed more offended than he was although. “As if! I prefer blood of higher quality and less annoying than yours would be.”

“See! You prove my point that you could take my blood, which is why you’re the bigger threat!” She loaded up her armor and weaponry with a sinister smile, “I can deal with Damien later. I’ll deal with you right now!”

“Can you wait until I finish taking my food pic?” Liam nonchalantly asked. “As like… a final wish or something?”

The Slayer faltered. Her face was very reluctant, but she decided to be merciful. “Okay, I’ll wait.”

Liam held up his phone, but his thumbs were quickly typing. Brian got a message from his phone and he was surprised that it was Liam. He pleaded Brian to do something about the situation.

Brian looked around for anything or anybody he could use. He didn’t want to drag his friends nor his mutual classmates into this. His eyes scanned around until it fell on the Wolfpack. They looked like they were in the middle of something, but Brian didn’t particularly care about them, finding they were just the people he could use and feel less guilty about. He was also sure that Vicky wouldn’t mind; her attention was mainly on Scott.

The Slayer was mostly focused on Liam, so Brian managed to take the large bone from his plate and slipped away. He whistled towards the Wolfpack's direction and was able to get one of the wolves’ attention. The single lone wolf perked up and saw the bone Brian was waving in his hand. The wolf’s eyes were following it as his tongue was peeking out. His tail was wagging frantically, growing more excited. The bait was caught. Brian started edging the wolf away from the pudding table. He took slow steps backwards, leading the wolf back to his own table with Liam.

The Slayer was tapping her boot impatiently. “How long is this going to take? You haven’t even snap one pic yet!”

“You can’t rush art,” Liam retorted. “Oh, that’s great, you made me lose the lighting.”

“JUST TAKE IT!” she furiously yelled. “Just take it already! It’s not that - what?” Her anger subdued when a bone flashed in her vision. On instincts, she fumbled with it and caught it in her hands. She eyed at it questionably. “What the hell? A frickin’ bone?” Liam scooted his chair way far back. Before the Slayer questioned more, she heard a loud bark as her only warning. The large wolf barreled towards her, almost even tackling and body slamming her on the table. Because of two heavy weights crashing down, the table broke in half as soon as they made contact. Brian and Liam’s lunch flew everywhere.

As the small cloud of debris cleared, Brian and Liam stepped forward to see the wolf happily slobbering all over the bone while his whole body was pining the Slayer. She was knocked out from the impact; her eyes were spinning as illusions of bones were flying around her head. Brian felt slightly bad that he might have overdid it. He whistled the wolf to get off of her and join back the Wolfpack. Nobody in the cafeteria paid attention to the crash; it was a normal lunch period at Spooky High.

Liam let out a long breath, “thank goodness.” He glimpsed over at the Slayer. He was confident that she would be fine later. She might suffer memory loss of this day, but it wasn’t his problem. He turned to Brian. “Thank you by the way. Sure I lost a good potential food pic, but at least I didn’t lose my life, I guess.”

Brian placed his hands casually in his pockets. “No problem.”

“Well, um as thanks,” Liam started blushing, “would you like to uh come watch my audition after lunch? It’s not like I need any moral support. I’ve done this many times.” He tried to sound confident. “My audition will be a splendid show to watch and it’s not even the actual play. I guarantee you’ll might learn something from it.”

Although his tone sounded different from his words, Brian found Liam’s reaction oddly cute. He smiled, but fought the urge to resist ruffling Liam’s head. He assumed Liam wouldn’t want to be touch without his permission.

“Sure, Liam.”

Brian took a seat in the back rows near the exit doors. He felt a lot more comfortable here than sitting in the front row where the theater teacher was judging the auditions of his classmates and surprisingly his friends here too.

However, Brian was more surprise with Liam choosing to be a prince. He thought the other would never choose such a ‘mainstream’ role. He wondered if Miranda had something to do with it or maybe Liam chose it to be ironic. And then, he saw Amira being very extravagant with her fire to add a little more spice to her costume. Vicky was being a little goofy with her character; half of the time she was actually being serious and then breaking out of character from smiling or giggling too much. Oz, however, seemed obviously very confused with their own character. Brian could tell something went wrong with their lines in the script they were holding, probably having to do with the girls. He wondered if the teacher noticed or even if the teacher did, they probably didn’t care. And lastly, Miranda had a wonderful singing voice; it fitted perfectly with her role as a princess which is ironically what she already was. But, honestly, he thought everyone was pretty impressive. Unlike him who wouldn’t take this seriously, he admired everyone’s dedication for their roles.

However, he noticed something suspicious that happened during Oz’s audition. He saw the girls coming up to theater teacher and talking with them for a bit. Oz seemed too busy on their lines and something off stage to notice. Whatever the girls were talking about, it succeeded in their favor since they high five each other. And then suddenly, he had an uncomfortable feeling stirring inside him. This was not a good sign.

After the auditions were over, the teacher packed up their stuff and was the first one to leave. Brian decided to wait for his friends so they can go to the party Amira mentioned. They came out, the girls patting a sulken Oz, and was mildly surprised to see Brian. They all talked for a bit about why Brian was here and their performances, mostly comforting Oz about theirs. Brian caught a glimpse of Liam walking besides Miranda and chatting with her. Their eyes met. Liam noticed Brian was with his friends and formed his mouth in a thin line. He knew he couldn’t disrupt that flow. So, instead, he waved at Brian and walked out with Miranda.

Brian gave a small wave back, but he wondered why Liam seemed disappointed.

The next day, Brian was thankfully able to catch up with Miranda and Liam before lunch. They weren't talking about yesterday's audition, so he never had the chance to bring it up. Liam mentioned something about witnessing an embarrassing moment between two classmates, but never specify who. He kept it really vague as he was eyeing Brian. He warned Miranda not to get involved. But then, Brian received a warning from Oz in the group chat about lunch. He gave the same warning to Miranda and Liam. Miranda was cautiously curious as to why before Liam brought up that it was the dreaded steak day. Fortunately, Miranda and Liam didn’t eat in general so they had nothing to worry about. Brian would like to get a good piece of steak, but he heeded Oz’s warning and decided to wait it out.

It went rewarded as Brian, Miranda, and Liam walked in to the aftermath of a successful and gruesome prank. They didn’t questioned the huge burnt marks on the floor with black flesh and rubber substances scattered around, the smell of gasoline, and missing hungry students; and mostly focused on being one of the first ones to get some really good steak. When each of them got their own trays, Brian volunteered to pick up a table and set it right side up.

“Wow! You’re really strong!” Miranda praised as her serfs grabbed a chair for her to sit and set her tray down. Brian shrugged. He wasn’t as buff as Scott or the Wolfpack, but he considered himself a close second behind. “I hope you don’t mind, but may I see your muscles, Brian?” He had no objections since she asked politely. So, he took off his jacket and leaned his arms towards Miranda. She squeezed them and was astonished. “It’s so amazing! They are actually really firm. Would you like to touch, Liam?”

“Uh no,” Liam said and turned away very quickly. By the way he kept glancing at their direction made it seemed like he did.

“Oh!” Miranda noticed the stitching on one of Brian’s arm. “Is that from yesterday?”

“Huh? Oh yeah.” He had forgotten about it.

Liam turned back and looked concern at the stitching. “Will you be okay-”

Before he could finish, Brian took back his arm and started to hastily pulled the stitches out. Miranda and Liam could only watch in curiosity. Once Brian took out the strings, the holes from the stitching were beginning to stick together and close up. He kept moving his arm and feeling it to make sure it was intact. When he deemed it was good enough, he went back to eating. He finally looked up to see Miranda and Liam’s stares in wonderment.

“What?”

”Incredible!” Miranda clapped her hands. She poked his arm and felt the skin. It was smooth again like it never had any holes. “Is this not the arm that was hacked away by one of those ogres’ chainsaw last night?”

“Yeah, it is,” Brian answered simply, looking over at his arm.

She pulled on his arm a bit. It was really stuck to his body like super glue. “It’s fully attached like it never happened! What about your leg?”

“Oh,” Brian glanced over at it. “Yeah, I’ll do that one later.” Since the stitching was around the thigh area, he didn’t feel like pulling down his pants, especially not in front of royalty like Miranda.

“Your limbs can reattached?” Brian nodded towards Liam’s question. “I suppose that’s convenient for you since you probably lose your limbs a lot.” Brian nodded again.

“Can you explain how that works?” Miranda asked. “I heard of limbs regenerating, but never reattaching.” She referred to a starfish she once had as a friend.

“Well uh I don’t know.” Brian kept inspecting his arm, twisting and turning it. “They just stick back on if I hold it in its proper place. It needs some time to reconnect, so sewing it back on makes it easier.”

“That’s remarkable!” Her eyes trailed up his whole arm until she stopped at the open wound on his shoulder. “But does it not work with the blemishes in your skin?” Her finger circled around the missing skin on that area and his cheek.

“Oh, no, I lost those skins a long time ago. Can’t remember how.” It might be related to how he died, but it didn’t matter anymore.

“Well, this has been very fascinating! I wonder how many monsters share this rather helpful ability. Can Vicky do the same thing?”

Brian glanced over at Vicky and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Miranda, you can obviously tell, because Vicky still has her stitches on. Zombies and Frankenstein’s monsters are still completely different species. It’s like...” he pondered to try and come up with something that Miranda can understand, “...royalty and serfs basically.”

Her face lit up in understanding. “Oh my, I see! I apologize for my mistake.”

“It’s cool.”

They went back to their lunches; Liam taking his usual pictures, Miranda’s serfs eating for her, and Brian was actually eating. Brian noticed that Liam kept staring at him rather than focusing on his pictures, which Brian thought it was peculiar.

He tilted his head at Liam as his way of questioning his stare. Liam placed his phone down and blushed a little. “I found your reattaching abilities to be quite interesting. It’s like a metaphor.” Liam began to grin. “Whenever we, ourselves, seemed to fall apart, we must always try to reattach ourselves to kept us whole. It’s an inspiring concept that I believe speaks to every struggling artist.”

“Uhhh…” Brian wasn’t able to follow Liam’s logic once again, but he went along with it. “Sure.”

“For this case, do you mind if I see you remove your stitching again on your leg since I didn’t get a good look?” Liam seemed slightly shy in asking. 

“Sure.” Brian took a big bite of his lunch. “We can meet in the bathrooms later on.”

Liam paused and squinted. “Wait, why the bathrooms? Why not now?”

“Um because the sewing is right here,” Brian pointed to his thigh. “I don’t feel like pulling my pants down here and I can’t pull them up that far-”

“You have to take off your pants?!” Liam exclaimed. Luckily, Miranda didn't hear any of this. She was too busy enjoying her food as her serfs ate it. 

Brian raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

A heavy blush covered Liam’s face. “On second thought, nevermind. I need to mentally prepare myself first.”

“...Okay?” Brian wasn’t sure what happened. And he noticed that Liam kept glancing near his thighs, but turning away once their eyes met. He found this reaction to be really cute once again, but also really amusing. “You sure you don’t want to see?” He edged on while pointing to his thigh.

“N-No! I’m fine!” Liam sputtered.

Something stirred inside of Brian. He wanted to keep doing this more. This power of teasing someone made him feel really amused. It was so entertaining to see the usually calm and disinterested Liam to this right now. There was a word for it. It started with a ‘m’ but Brian couldn’t remember. The ‘m’ gape or gap or something. Maybe he would ask his friends later about it. Either way, Brian really wanted to see more of this. He just really hoped this wasn’t going to be a fetish.