#Get behind me princess: Daisy & Allison | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

popculturebuffet · 5 years

Text

Giant Days (Boom) #1 “Like A Sexy Moon”

In honor of Giant Days grand finale one-shot this week, we go all the way back to the beginning of it’s long and storied ongoing where three first year university students consisting of a flighty energetic goth, a hardboiled detective metaphorically in the body of a med student, and a cheerful and naive small town girl whose mostly hair try to make it through lunch without chaos ensuing. Spoilers: Chaos ensues. Class, and a heartfelt mega-paragraph about my love of the series, is under the cut.

A few years ago, i’d say about 2016, my mom had her annual oscar party. This isn’t all that relevant to the story, and reveals that even at 27 (I kept forgetting to correct my age on my blog), soon to be 28, I still live at home, but it’s important because it’s where I first read giant days. Buying the first volume during a comixology sale that had it for all of three bucks, I lapped up the series almost immediately, then when I got home got my hands on every issue that had been out at the time and caught up asap, following the series since then to it’s conclusion this week. , only missing the “Where women blow and men plunder” special. For the past few years, in an ever changing comic book landscape where titles come and go, start strong and peter out or are just plain great or foul from the start but leave all the same , i’ts been my rock. My mountain in a sea of ever changing titles... and Wednesday said mountain breaks off and floats off into the either, maybe to become a new campus for the university of north carolina in the sky I dunno. The point is the series means a lot to me and it’s sad to see it go, even if it’s writer John Allison probably won’t leave my life and knowing him our heroes probably will return, or at least one or two of them will, someday, it’s still a sad end to a heartfelt, ungodly hilarious, sometimes rediculous but always intresting journey. My intrest may of waxed and waned, as is expected when a book runs 4 years, but it never left my heart. So join me won’t you as I go back to where it all began.. not with the whole volume, but with the first monthly issue of giant days.

------------------------- Giant Day is the creation of John Allison, who before creating this and other print works By Night and Steeple, which having not read past issue 1 or read it yet respectively will certainly pop up here eventually, was the creator of a large number of web comics, all of which I discovered thanks to Giant Days, in part because Giant Days itself is a Spin-Off from Allison’s second comic strip, and his most famous work pre-Giant Days: Scary Go Round

Scary Go Round itself was a spinoff/sequel to Allison’s previous comic strip Bobbins, originally following two minor characters from that strip before they were slowly shoved out of the strip in favor of Shelley Winters... and yes the name i intentional, not the actress from Cheers but a bubbly red head with a skewed sense of reality and a can do spirit and her two best friends: local layabout with a heart of gold Ryan, one of shelly’s old friends and Amy, the daughter of Shelley’s ex-boss, a sharp tounged young woman with a healthy libidio who grows from a spoiled princess to a responsible buisness owner. The three deal with relationship issues, wacky shenanigans.. and the supernatural stuff that happens in their town of Tackleford because it’s a hub of spoopy shit Just in case you thought it was just his other print works that were kinda weird in comparison to the mostly grounded Giant Days, nope. While his stuff post the original bobbins is well grounded in character work, it’s all got a tinge of weird to it. If you have the time check it out. While some things may fly over your head unless you read the original bobbins, and I strongly suggest you don’t, it’s otherwise a very good read and very much the blue print for his stronger later stuff.

And as noted it’s from this weird and wonderful early goop we get the protaganist of this book: Esther DeGroot, a perky goth girl who intitally showed up with her best friend Sarah and their muscle Big Lindsay to have LIndsay beat amy into the ground for chatting up a singer they liked. Thankfully she quickly grew out of having her friends beat up college drop outs and instead became a weird, snarky goth and rival to Shelley’s snarky buttoned up sister Erin for the heart of local shy awkard lab assitant Eustace “The Boy” Boyce, himself introduced as fumbling assitant to local inventor and longtime pal of Shelley’s Tim. And you can now see why I had to get into everyone else as SGR’s characters tend to intersect and that web only widens.

Esther would eventually win, and Erin would eventually end up in hell then forgotten from everyone’s memories shortly after, with Esther and Eustace staying together for the duration of the strip and through many shenanigans and were actually a rather adorable couple. By this time Esther and Eustace were just as much leads as the main three and Esther was a close friend of Ryan’s to the point he and Sarah went out briefly in their Senior Year.. when Sarah was 18 thankfully. Though Ryan did get punched over it by a drunken awkard teenager so things sorted themself out. Big Lindsay quitely disappeared and was revealed to have gottten pregnant. Both would later show up in Giant Days. The strip ended, after a soft launch for the next strip which we’ll get to in a second, with Esther and freinds graduating, Ryan and Sarah breaking up, Shelley leaving town (She’d later return but story for another time), and Ryan and Amy, who had a whole will they or won’t they thing, getting together.

Allison did this for a reason: He felt Scary Go Round was collapsing under it’s mound of Continuity and thus decided to switch to a fresh cast. Same continuity but with less ties to the old so new readers wouldn’t be turned off. Thus came Bad Machinery. Set up during the waning days of SGR, it followed Sarah’s weird sister Lottie, her sluthy best friend Shauna and a bunch of other bright young kids i’m only not getting into because i’ve introduced enough characters and most of the ones i’ve introduced are either vital to SGR or show up in Giant Days , but are all fantastic, focusing more on the mystery while also having some coming of age stuff of it’s own as by the series end years later, the characters all grew into their late teens. It’s an excellent read and again worth checking out if you haven’t and unlike SGR is in print with the print versions adding more pages to the story and revising bits. I haven’t read them but I intend to eventually because of the revisal, but if you can’t afford them the entire originals are online free.

Bad Machinery would later be a hit in it’s own right, as the print collections show, but in it’s first years it was actually a shaky proposition to uproot everything, replace almost the entire cast (Though Ryan and Amy, now married, stayed around as supporting cast, with Ryan being the kids teacher and Amy eventually mentoring Shauna), and change the genre from 20 somethings and teens slice of life to a bunch of 11-12 year olds coming of age and solving mysteries. And at first things dipped a bit apparently and Allison panicked and started working on a backup plan. And that backup plan was where Giant Days comes in: A Spinoff following esther and two new characters as they navigate college. He did three self published issues of it, the first put online, before focusing back on bad machinery as it picked up, and many other projects we’ll cover some day. Esther as a result was kinda left in limbo while Erin and Eustace’s stories moved forward. It seemed Esther and her new pals Daisy and Susan were lost to time...

Until 2015 when Allison agreed to do a mini-series for Boom! Studios that picked up where the original series left off, eventually getting picked up as an ongoing that lasted all the way to last month, with 2 winter specials, a one shot trip to Australia, and a final one shot finishing the series Wednesday. As for said series I do own it, Boom has since republished it, and we will get to it.. but I felt given this is where I and probably most other fans of the series came in, it was the best place to start and issue #1 of the boom series recaps what’s come so far and re-introduces the cast well. Kinda like the second episode of a series after the pilot: some things have changed, including the series now having Artist Lisa Tremain on board to draw instead of Allison himself, some new characters have been added, but it’s still the same show and still a good point to start. And with ALLL that exposition out of the way, including exposition to set up characters for ISSUES down the line, and a little more to go, let’s dig in. As seen at the top, the first cover is great. The yellow and red works well, as does the simple image of a morose Esther fiddling with her phone, boxing gloves on the back for reasons we’ll see shortly. A good genre setter and an excellent cover, something the series always delivers with.

We open on our three Heroines, on their third week of college, with a helpful narration that does a good job summing each up, so I don’t have to and you know how I like to jabber, the giant barrage of paragraphs before should be proof: Naive cheerful Daisy, dramatic and funloving esther, and serious and sardonic Susan. There will be, and already is, more to each as they grow and we learn more, and Esther of course has a few years of comics behind her to start, Giant Days even being named after a Esther and Eustace centric arc from Scary Go Round, but not something I could fit into the exposition wall.

As you can see the ladies are having a nice talk about if they would be friends without living in the same hall, with Susan bursting Daisy and Esther’s bubble.. but it fits her personality. Susan is a realist, she sees the world how it is. Daisy is an optimist seeing the world how it SHOULD be and Esther navigates the space between, as she can be realistic once in a while but mostly tries to avoid reality like the plauge in this series. She had a tad of this in Scary Go Round but it’s really dialed up here, but there’s a good reason for why i’ll get to after Susan helpfully outlines the indie issues for me and new readers.

See this is why I went here first: while I will cover these issues, themselves covering their first three weeks of college, eventually, it covers most of what happened pretty well and makes it easy to fill in the blanks that it glossed over. The first issue did indeed turn into a scott pilgrim style brawl where Esther boxed her way to victory, Susan set someone on fire and Daisy tried to use meditation to fight but Paul Mcartney’s ghost said no. It’s not a bad issue but tone wise the series would be something much more diffrent.

Issue 2 is where I need to go into more detail: Esther cheated on Eustace with the douchebag you rightfully see in a heap above, who then spread their night around and got his commupance. Esther told Eustace.. who dumped her over it and drove her into a depressive state, a weird heavy metal society, and booze, which she can drink because you can drink at 18 in England. She was saved from it by her new galpals.. and Erin, who was supposed to likely be a recurring character, possibly on the same level as two we’ll get to soon, and definitely figured into a major plot with Daisy, as Allison admitted. But with the gap between issues and having other plans for Erin, he decided to write her out. Susan pegs Esther as a drama queen soon after, a “sodding drama magnet”, attracting attention like I attract X-Men comics and Kirk Cameron attracts terrible Christian movies designed to stroke his own ego. She proves this by handing her a piece of paper and well....

Well look on the bright side Esther, you have a good career as the bride of dr.doom with those skills. I mean he’s single, has a spooky castle, does magic.. he’s basically a goth’s wet dream he just needs to black up his uniform a bit. Or put on that awful leather made out of a human armor he had. Yes that was a thing. Comics are weird.

The rest of the group chase after an angry Esther who after this immortal line, challenges Susan to a bet: if Susan wins she gets a nice massage, if Esther wins she gets to dress Susan up however she likes to torment her.

And somehow DAISY is the one who has a coming out story in a few issues. Jokes aside I do like the friendship here: They’ll razz each other, give Daisy time, and poke at their flaws gently, or be brutally honest, but their truly and honestly friends and it shows. It feels real and it’s one of the series big draws. The girls run into Esther’s friend Ed. Ed has a huge crush on Esther, even when she had a boyfriend something to the series credit he was called out on, but not the nerves or charisma to actually try and ask her out. Shockingly, I liked, and still liked, Ed a lot as he reminded me of well.. myself in college. Pining after girls or starring without actually going anywhere and the series will deconstruct this as we go. He’s also basically the fourth main character, getting issues focusing entirely on him and arcs of his own, but the girls are still the main focus. Susan freezes however upon seeing his friend...

This is our fifth lead, McGraw. Basically a more emotive and british Ron Swanson who as you can see clearly has a history with Susan and Susan splits before they can say more. While McGraw falls back on the old men streotype of “We don’t have to talk about it”, though unlike say Tim Taylor it’s less “I genuinely believe this nonsense, as well as that men are incapable of commuincating unless my neighbor tells me otherwise and all loves sports. I unsuprsingly got divorced once the kids all left the house, aug aug aug” and more “I don’t want to talk about this nor do I want to force my new friend to talk about a touchy subject yet. “ Susan is likewise closed off but in her own special Susan way and Esther reveling in Susan having drama after accusing her of being a drama queen. This ends about as well as you’d expect.

Daisy has had best friends for all of three weeks and she’s already figured out lies are a key part of friendship. Good for her. Esther heads off for the Gym, and while Daisy declines due to, and i’m not making this up this is a genuinely good joke of john’s, worrying she’ll become a killing machine. Esther however needs it to work out her feelings over Eustace because punching shit is better than wallowing in her misery over loosing the love of her, at this point, short life.

That panel on the right... that’s a blessed image. And really this image showcases the true heart of the series: as I said the girls are there for each other but it dosen’t feels schmaltzy or forced, it feels real and has plenty of great lines to add to that. Daisy goes back to try talking to Susan, but Susan takes a bit and when she finally works up the energy to visit daisy.

I I understand that feeling. It’s like the realization Mr. Rogers had sex at least once. You don’t WANT to know something that pure and innocent is capable of fucking, but you do now and it will haunt you like that ghost that won’t stop stealing my soap. BUY YOUR OWN SOAP JEREMY I’M BROKE SON. Of course this wasn’t actually sex stuff as Susan soon relays to Esther as she fears she upset the poor humanoid afro lesbian.

Side note I love the phrase having a fiddle and will save it for future use. But yeah with Susan somehow spooked, she suggests Esther change the subject as soon as they get in there.

Susan.. ya brought this on yourself. Naturally she tries to avoid getting into the subject until eventually this happens.

I’ll be saving this for future reference of course. And Susan gives us a LITTLE to go on... about two panels worth of ominus foreshadowing to the eventual reveal without any actual info about what in the bloody hell actually happened.

Of course Susan calls for dinner time and says they’ll have to earn the rest later. Naturaly McGraw is also going in for dinner and Susan once again tries to deflect as her friends bascially call him a snack. I mean he is ron swanson crossbred with berkely brethead. who wouldn’t?

I love the line above.. especially since really the comic DOES pass. While there is boy drama, and girl drama for Daisy, this issue has plenty else going on besides wanting to bang someone, though given Esther won’t shut up about McGraw while talking to the human equilveant of an active volcano..

She’s lucky she didn’t instead bash her face in with a tray, but she’s a friend after all. Susan saves the savage beatings for her enemies and McGraw is wise enough to not let his tray anywhere near her and to duck if she tried her own. Natrually given her Drama Magnet powers Esther somehow finds the one cowboy in all of England.

His chivlary, genuine or dudebro wise unfortunately causes a chain reaction.

Naturally Susan was hoping for something like this, loudly gloating at activating the drama field and at having won the bet and tries to use the high that being right gives a person to run McGraw out of town.

Unfortunatley for her, while her speech is awesome i’ll admit, it’s also entirely unfair: She expects him to change schools, and given his focus on architecture and general no nonsense nature he choose this one for a reason. Just because you two have a history dosen’t mean you can just make him leave and McGraw, as seen above, isn’t taking it. And he responds just as badassly.

Gross? A little. But worth it to basically win the argument without even invoking the fact you have the moral highground. Yeah he had to know she was going here too, but again he came her for a reason and has no reason to leave. She can be an adult about this and work past it or just avoid him, also like an adult. Esther, not wanting to deal with Susan’s smug or her rage both of which are probably ping ponging back and forth, sits with Ed and talks about her dramatic nature. She really dosen’t intend to call it on herself, but does like not knowing what will happen every day.

This really sums up Esther’s character to start: She enjoys life, loves the hell out of it, but often fails to see the consequences of her actions. The drama field sometimes is just shit happening to her because she happens to be young, attractive and entergetic, but other times it happens, like with the blow up of her relationship, because she does something impulsive and it blows up in her face. Speaking of character insight we get a character defening inner monologue from ed.

And that’s Ed’s pain: To Esther she sees it genuinely as him just being her friend. And I do think even with his massive crush he genuinely cares about her more than just wanting to be with her, but worried she’ll reject him, as I can again relate. And even worse is the worry of not wanting to make their friendship weird. And i’ve had crushes on female friends that have gone both ways: it’s made things toow eird to continue, but i’ve also had plenty where I was gently turned down and we’re still on good terms to this day. One of my best friends was a result of this. What makes it work, when we’ve seen this plot a thousand times before, is that both the narrative and Ed don’t think he’s ENTITLED to Esther. Yes the above has him asking god to make her love him.. but it’s not in a forceful sense.. it comes off more as a desperate want for them to end up together or for him to be able to move on. It’s what seperates ed from a “nice guy”: Sure he’s into Esther, but he dosen’t think he deserves her, or that because their friends he’s earned her or any such nonsensical bullshit. He’s just hopelesly infatuated with the first girl he met in college and wants to either see where it goes, or have the feelings end so he can move on with someone he does have a future with. I”ve been there. Shit sucks and Allison handles it well without falling into entitlement territory, and given just HOW many geek gets the girl storylines have been written, having it treated realistically with it being treated with him having to get over her instead of her just being oblvious is refreshing and I wish i’d had a narrative like this when I was Ed’s age to smack me in the face and tell me “No it dosen’t work that way, say something or move on man. “ With that monster of a pargraph done let’s check back with the girls.

Again, I love the character interactions and how that’s the focus here over anything else, even my word sandwitch up there. But speaking of things, Esther just up and asks Daisy what she was watching. Turns out...

Yup, Daisy just likes ASMR, which I now know just what it is, just a static reflex people get. Susan tests it to prove Daisy is normal and it’s just good clean fun. Esther tries to put nosepicking under the same, Elbow’s susan over it and we get this to close out our main trio for the issue.

I am glad he showed off more lady friendships, but they would’ve been a hell of a couple had Allison went that way. Could be an intresting AU, especailly if you keep Daisy gay and have their being bi or pan, dealers choice, affect things. HOw would that effect their relationshpis, how long would it last, would the McGraw thing impact stuff.. it’s some food for thought is all i[’m saying. We close however on Ed and McGraw as Ron Jr. unpacks his stuff and helps ed with his key sticking by rubbing a pencil on it because Graphite is a lubricant. Huh. Neat. And then we end on this.

And on that note, we end issue 1. No write in contests though i’m damn sure given he’s mentioned he’d want a ROM/Giant Days crossover for the absurdity John Allison would love that.

Final Thoughts; An excellent start to the BOOM! series and a good second pilot. It’s clear stuff happened but the series helps you get the gist well enough to not have to buy the collection of the first three issues, and the characters are all dynamic with plenty of laughs as well as genuine moments. Susan and Esther’s banter is hilarious and both Esther and Susan are given plenty of layers: Esther’s grappling with her sorrow over her nuking her first romance and Susan being sharp witted, quick to be smug with Esther, but still gentle with Daisy and trying to careful with her given her sheltered life before College. Daisy isn’t given much layers in this issue, but is sitll shown to be incredibly sweet and realstically naive. McGraw is a welcome addition, his past with susan providing an intresting mystery for what was intended to be just 6 issues and solved by the end, while also having some intresting swagger to him enough to not make him JUST her love intrest or Ed’s best friend. Tremain’s art is also great, diffrent than what most of the series would end up being, a bit sketchier with more dot eye, but still nice and stylish. I’ll also confess the cafeteria scene is what let me know the book existed as I read it in the back of another boom title, I can’t remember which honestly, wher eit was featured as a preview and was intstantly intrigued. Overall a strong start. There’s a reason the series both caught on and lasted as long as it did and i’ll miss it terribly. I won’t be reviewing as time goes by this week, though I may post some quick thoughts on it, but I intend to review the full series, including the 3 indie issues and specials, so i’ll probably get to it at some point. An excellent series that I can’t recommend enough.

If you liked this review, feel free to reblog it, follow me for more, or comisson one for a comic of your choice for just 5 bucks. Until then, have some giant days of your own.

#Giant Days #john allison #slice of life #esther de groot #susan ptolemy #daisy wooton #ed gimmel #McGraw #scary go round #bad machinery

10 notes · View notes

beaniesandmilkshakes · 7 years

Text

you and me (the lucky ones this time) - oneshot

Summary: In which Jughead and Betty are just as in love as young adults as they were when they were teens. (bughead, fluff)

author’s note: I was listening to Lana Del Rey’s American and an hour later I had written this baby. Fair warning, it’s incredibly fluffy and cliche. enjoy xo!

The air was warm and the sounds of cicadas screeched around them, but to Jughead Jones, Sweetwater River was officially his new favorite place, especially with her.

Betty Cooper was sprawled out on the picnic blanket the couple had packed, latest James Patterson novel, sunglasses propped up on her head. Due to the mid-July heat, she wore a light violet dress that barely touched her knees (which was practically sinful for a Cooper girl), her blonde hair up in its usual ponytail. She was absolutely stunning in Jughead’s head.

While his girlfriend read, Jughead had begun to take pictures with his new Canon camera, a gift from his new foster family. He had always been interested in photography, but considering the fact that his father could barely afford to rent their trailer, Jughead never bothered to ask for a camera. Now that he had one of his own though, there was no stopping the boy, he shot everything from the kitchen table to candids of his friends at Pop’s. But even with all the pictures he’d taken over the past month, most of the pictures on his camera were on Betty.

She hated when Jughead took candids of her, always pointing out the flaws in her profile, while her boyfriend beamed proudly and kissed her on the cheek, still unable to process that he was lucky enough to call Betty Cooper his.

It was that day in mid-July, as he sat back down on the blanket next to his girlfriend when he realized how much Jughead really did love her. Betty glanced up from her novel, catching him staring.

“What?” She giggles, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend. Jughead shot her a goofy grin and shook his head.

“Nothing, just thinking…” He ran a hand through his thick dark hair, his beanie long abandoned in early June when the temperature started rising up to the nineties. Betty marked her page with a bookmark and sighed, leaning her head again Jughead’s shoulder, which he responded to by laying his arm across her shoulders.

“Can you believe that in a little over a month we’ll be starting our senior year in high school?” Betty sighed, looking up at Jughead through her thick lashes. God, she’s so beautiful, Jughead thought.

“I know, and only ten years ago we were doing our times tables and had snack time, which we should totally petition Wetherbee to add to the schedule by the way.” The blonde giggled, rolling her eyes.

“Wow, those ten years totally flew by, imagine how fast the next ten years will fly by…”

“What do you think you’ll be doing in ten years,” Jughead asked, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. They’d had this conversation before, the ‘Where do you see your future going?’ one, and for the past three years, they still managed to include each other in their futures. He just wanted to make sure that hadn’t changed.

“Well, in ten years I hope to be a very successful journalist in New York,” Betty started, nudging Jughead in the side as she continued. “And I’ll have this wildly handsome boyfriend who wears suspenders and beanies and takes me to indy coffee shops,”

“Wow, that boyfriend of yours sounds like a loser,” He smirked, and Betty leaned up to give him a soft kiss.

“Trust me, he is.” She smiled, pulling away only for Jughead to pull her back into a kiss, lasting longer than the first. The two sighed as they parted, Jughead rubbing his thumb along Betty’s cheekbone.

“Let’s come back here, to this very spot, in ten years,” He whispers, their lips still centimeters apart.

“The last thing I want is to be stuck in Riverdale for the next ten years,” Betty closed her eyes, her warm breath tickling Jughead’s cheek.

“You won’t, we’ll come back and visit. Deal?”

“Fine Jughead Jones, it’s a deal.”

It would add an extra hour to their travel time, but Jughead insisted they take advantage of the beautiful weather and spend some time relaxing before going back to the stress of New York. Betty reluctantly agreed, only because she had brought a new thriller that she was dying to read, but never found time to.

So the two sat along the banks of Sweetwater River, just like they had when they were teenagers, Betty reading her book and Jughead taking pictures of the beauty around him (meaning he was mostly sneaking photos of Betty when she wasn’t looking). He felt a fond wave of nostalgia wash over him as he glanced down at his girlfriend, the weight in his short’s pocket somehow getting heavier.

After getting the warning that his SD card was almost full (his third one this month), Jughead took a seat next to his girlfriend, laying his head fondly on her shoulder.

“Hey,” He whispered. Betty marked her page and bit her lip, turning her head slightly.

“Hey,” She smiled, the couple sharing a chaste kiss before the two rolled over onto their backs, gazing up at the clouds above.

“You think the twins really liked their gift? I know how much Cheryl loves to upstage us at these events,” Jughead asked. The main reason the couple had taken the five-hour drive back to Riverdale from New York City was that it was Betty’s niece and nephew, JJ and Beth Blossom’s eighth birthday. The weekend had been filled with awkward Blossom family meals and snide comments about the couple taking up residence in Brooklyn, but it was worth it to see the twins, who Jughead and Betty both loved as if they were their own children.

Jughead never really thought about having kids until he met Betty, but he definitely knew he wanted them after bonding with the twins. Beth loved to dress up and thick storybooks that she always had Jughead read to her whenever she saw him, and JJ spent his time outside, inspecting every little plant and bug in the massive Blossom backyard. Jughead remembered how excited JJ had been when he let him use his old Canon to take pictures of the ladybugs and daisies the two had found in the backwoods of Thornhill. Spending time with JJ and Beth made Jughead long for a little Betty and Jughead toddling around, probably going off on secret sleuthing missions just like their parents had when they were younger.

“Cheryl may have us beat with the number of gifts, but I saw the look on JJ’s face when he opened up his own junior adventure’s camera and did you notice how big Beth’s smile was when she saw that we gave her that personalized princess storybook? Trust me, we’re definitely their favorite aunt and uncle,” Betty smiled, lacing her fingers with her boyfriend’s.

They’d been together for about thirteen years now, since that fateful October afternoon when Jughead finally got the nerves to kiss the girl he’d been crushing on since he was ten. Sure, they’d had their ups and downs, even spit up once or twice, but those estrangements never lasted more than a few weeks until the two realized how much they really needed each other. Back in high school, Jughead had been so worried that as soon as they graduated that Betty would move on to bigger and better things, leaving him behind; now, Jughead couldn’t imagine a life without the giggly blonde. He reached into his shorts pocket and smoothed his finger over the velvet box that seemed to weigh a ton, but in reality was practically lighter than a feather.

“Remember ten years ago? When we came here before senior year started?” He asked her, feeling a lump in his throat form. Betty didn’t notice as realization dawned on her.

“Oh yeah, and we talked about where we’d be in ten years? Wow, we were so young and innocent back then…”

“Well … not totally innocent. I see to remember a certain blonde and I doing some sinful things in the janitor's closet, the Blue and Gold room, your frilly bedroom, the Whyte Wy-” Betty smacked his shoulder.

“Oh shut up Juggie,” She laughed. “I meant that we were teenagers, we had no idea where our lives were headed.” Betty turned and snuggled closer to her boyfriend, inhaling his scent of old books and coffee. “I had no idea I would end up working as a children’s book editor, and you certainly didn’t predict you’d be taking photographs of celebrities for magazines. We obviously didn’t know how expensive rent was in the city because trust me, if I knew that a studio could cost up to fifty grand a month, I would never–”

“Betts,” Jughead chuckled, his palms becoming a bit more clammy. “I get what you mean,”

“Sorry,” The blonde blushed, her tendency to ramble became more and more regular as she grew older, especially in telling authors where to fix things in their text. To say that people would get mildly annoyed with her on the regular would be an understatement.

“It’s fine babe,” Jughead murmured, kissing her forehead, slowly pulling out the velvet box. “I was just going to say how ten years ago, I sat in this very spot and decided that I was officially the luckiest man to have ever walked the earth because I’ve never known such beauty as Betty Cooper,” He starts, his voice cracking a bit. Betty looks up at him through her thick lashes, just as she had ten years ago, her pupils blown with a mixture of love and lust.

“Oh Juggie,” She whispered.

“It was also ten years ago that I decided I shouldn’t let that beauty go, ever. That I need to spend the rest of my life with her, if she’ll have me,” Tears welled in Betty’s eyes as Jughead opened the small box, revealing a simple diamond engagement ring. “So, Elizabeth Allison Cooper, will you–”

Betty threw her arms around her boyfriend and kissed him passionately, almost causing Jughead to drop the ring.

“So is that a yes or…” He laughed as the pulled away, earning another playful smack.

“Of course I’ll marry you, you big sap!” He slid the ring onto her left hand with delicacy, having spent the past ten years imagining this moment, it almost seemed like a dream. Betty held her hand up to the sun to examine the ring further, and Jughead felt a tad bit of embarrassment at the size of it.

“Sorry the diamonds kinda small, I figured you don’t like flashy things and we could use the extra money for the wedding so…” Jug rubbed the back of his neck and Betty looked up at him with so much love it was almost overwhelming.

“It’s perfect Jughead, you picked out the perfect ring for me and I love it,” She pulled him in for another long kiss.

“Actually, Veronica tried to help me, but she kept picking ones a couple thousand dollars out of my price range,” He smirked, and Betty laughed, picturing her best friend and fiancé arguing over engagement rings of all things.

The newly engaged couple lay in silence until the sun began to set, Betty admiring her ring and pulling Jughead into a kiss every few minutes. When the sky turned a dusty shade of orange, they packed up the blanket and got back into the car, driving off towards their future, together.

#bughead fanfiction #riverdale fanfiction #fluff #you and me (the lucky ones this time)#oneshot #betty cooper #jughead jones #betty and jughead

72 notes · View notes

femmesfollesnebraska · 5 years

Text

What being a womxn means to me: Cynthia Rovero

Fiction writer Cynthia Rovero shares what being a womxn means to her:

I have found the many roles of being a versatile woman to be challenging, joyful, and confusing during my 62 years. Writing over many of these years has helped me to transition through the many changes family life offers. At this stage of life I still want some challenges, but try to be more selective as to which ones I will take on.

Enjoy her short story:

Seekers

Another chilly night at home, watching Dancing with the Stars, a vodka gimlet in hand, and a silent phone at 34 Market Lane, Arcata, California. The trailer park had been overrun with families years ago, but now many trailers were in unsightly disrepair, including Jamine’s. She reached for a Marlboro, inhaled deeply, and took out her thick gray braids one by one. No mail had come for a week of Sundays, and the internet had been down for months too. Her brother Lamar had become more distant since his art work took off in the elitist community. Now his rare out of the blue phone calls became non-existent, leaving her nobody to confide her comings and goings with. But, what really became a bitter blow, is when her open invitation for Lamar to visit never amounted to anything.

After, putting out her cigarette, Jamine leafed through her tattered phone book to retrieve the Pastor’s name she jotted down at church last Sunday. Hesitant to give him a call, she took a big swig of her drink, then slowly dialed the local number on her faded pink princess phone.

“Ring, ring, ring” “Hello, this is Pastor O’Gorman, may I ask who is calling?” his cheerful voice rang out loud and clear.

“Hello this is Jamine, sorry to call you at this late hour, but I am in need of some cheering up” sobbed Jamine, while trying to hold back the barrage of tears, which welled up in her eyes.

“I am sorry you are having difficulty with today’s heavy load. Is there something I can do? I want to offer you help” Pastor O’ Gorman easily replied.

“Well, it has been a long time since I reached out to any of my relatives, for fear of causing them grief. I seem to get long stretches of silence, which cause me to want to talk with just about anybody” she continued on, while trying to catch her breath between sobs. Jamine reached for another tissue to blow her petite nose, while holding onto the receiver as if it contained her last breath.

“I see, yes silence can be alarmingly daunting on a person’s life”. “It also confuses life to have to go it alone.” He gently answered

“Yes, and when there is nobody to reach out to regularly, well I become dead inside” she spewed out uncontrollably.

“Yes, most certainly that can be a heartache” said the young Pastor, as he began to jot down notes relating to Jamines’ distress in his daily parishioner’s journal.

As she began to come to her senses, slowly letting the Pastors voice, calm her deflated ego, Jamine questioned. “Well, can you recommend anyone, with a need to comfort an old woman way past her prime?”

“Yes, Mam, we do have a group of young ladies, willing to take on this kind of endeavor” “It may take a bit of time, for us to set up a meeting. Nevertheless, as Saint Mary’s communicator, I can attest to making the best match for you.”

“If you can get to our chapel tomorrow, I will be there from eleven to three, after I have given the morning sermon.” he assured.

“Sure, that would be nice, I will get a good night’s sleep, and see you tomorrow morning. I look forward, to meeting with you to talk over the young people available.”

After carefully hanging up the phone, Jamine finished watching her favorite show, gulped down the rest of her potent drink, brushed, and braided her long tresses, set her alarm for nine, and slowly got into her simple twin bed to rest.

In the morning, heavy equipment roared outside at eight, so she sleepily opened her eyes, to turn back the covers, and rose to make her morning cup, of strong black coffee. Getting dressed had become more of a chore, now that she was quickly approaching eighty-three. Still able to wear a size ten, she put on her tight jeans, a light flowery blouse, and the usual amount of pink lipstick, which had a way of cheering her up. Because her feet were incredibly worn out from weekly dance classes, Jamine decided to put on her Hoka work out shoes, to make the mile bike ride to Saint Mary’s Church easier.

Trying to block out the loud noises of the equipment, while daintily eating her daily poached egg, on an English muffin; she noticed a stray dog wandering around her roses. Not liking to encourage strays, she loudly clanged her pots and pans, to scare the mangy stray away. Then she put on some Chopin to ease into repeating her morning mantra “I am capable, loved, and worthy of God’s love every day” five times before heading out the door.

While unlocking her rusted blue, and white Schwinn bike, Delilah, a nosy neighbor popped her head out of the window to remark “Say Jamine, where you heading off to this early in the morning” “Dressed mighty nice too” “Think you can bring me back a pack of Marlboros?”

Annoyed, but still wanting to keep neighborly, Jamine answered “Sure thing, may not be back until this afternoon though, if you don’t mind” Jamine hurriedly answered.

“Thanks sweet pea, I will mow your lawn for you next time it

gets too high” Delilah cheerily bellowed.

“Okay, in that case I will pick up two packs for you” Jamine shouted as she began to ride off at an easy pace.

Traffic was much more congested, on this delightful spring day, where daisies, gladiolas, jasmine, and forget me-not flowers were popping up everywhere. Yet, when Jamine would often stop to admire a garden, or two, on her way to town, the thought of the Priest helping her, caused her to maintain the slow pace to Saint Mary’s.

She could finally see the golden steeple of the church in the distance, when a faint smile graced her weathered face.

Upon, entering the church, she saw that most of the parishioners, had left the morning mass. Blessing herself with holy water, before kneeling, to say a few prayers, she caught sight of the time. Luckily she got her there with enough time to light some candles, for her estranged family.

Pastor O’ Gorman’s’ office was sparsely furnished with dated seventies

Style furniture, and a large oak desk, that he was patiently sitting behind, while reading a bible. “Hello Jamine, I am glad you made it. I was just trying to get ahead with my sermon for tonight’s service. It seems my talk this morning was somewhat lacking in humor, as several of the parishioners in the front row, were rolling their eyes, and yawning a lot” chuckled the handsome young Irish Pastor. “Well Father I always find your sermons guide me to having a wonderful connection with our Lord and Savior” Jamine easily spoke, while settling into the rose colored cushioned velvet chair, directly in front of him.

“Thank you ever, so much” he blushed, and proceeded to take out and open up a medium brown binder. “Here are some nice young ladies, you can choose from, to meet during donut time, after mass Sunday, or out to lunch at a restaurant nearby. Surely one of the young ladies, will be happy to share stories, go to lunch, get exercise, and help you in other ways too ok?” Pastor O’Gorman explained, now showing an increasing amount of concern.

“Thank you ever so much, the loneliness that has overcome me has been way too much for my weak heart to bear lately” “Especially with family so far away, who rarely pick up the phone to acknowledge I exist. One of these darling ladies, could really give my health a quick pick me up” she exclaimed. “Is there a special young lady you recommend I call first?” Jamine curiously inquired.

“Well, come to think of it Molly is highly thought of by some of our elder parishioners” “We have never had one complaint about her sweet demeanor” he smiled broadly, his gleaming perfect white teeth shining nicely.

“Thank you ever, so much Father, I will give her a call tomorrow morning” “I look forward to having lunch and mulling over some interesting memories, of my travels to Paris with her” “I can go on, and on, about all the lovely people I met there”

“I am sure you can, and that is exactly the kind of lunch date Molly enjoys” he calmly spoke, while walking Jamine out the

door.

The rest of the day Jamine went over her travel logs, old photos, and postcards; putting together a folder to share with her new young friend Molly. Even though some were tattered and torn, photos had yellowed, and postcards were bent, these cherished memories were going to bring to life a well lived journey. She made sure to pack up her seventies French vacation memoir to offer Molly to read.” Jamine mumbled under her breath “Now my Parisian rendezvous can go down in history amongst the younger set.”

So, they met at The Big Blue Café for lunch, and sips of ice tea that was incredibly sweet. “Why Cheryl, I mean Allison or whatever your name is, Jamine stammered , paused and took a sip from her flask before continuing on. “Can you say that a Parisian rendezvous is the thing to do?”

“Well Mam if you ask me a rendezvous is always guaranteed

satisfaction” Molly cheerfully replied, as she looked at Jamine

quizzically and added “You can call me Molly anytime” while smiling from ear to ear.

“Here is my collection of treasured memories to share with you” “Look over a magnificent time of my life and please read as much of my detailed memoir as you can before we meet again.” Jamine proudly offered.

“Well, sweetie if there is another drop of vodka in this flask, will you join me in celebrating the Holy Spirit today?” Jamine jokingly slurred, while trying to put some of her faded photographs back into the tattered pink folder.

“Now Mam, I try to steer clear of communing this early in the day” Molly replied apologetically.

“Surely you haven’t undergone as many surgeries as me, so I hope you don’t mind me taking one more nip before I head on home?” Jamine challenged while trying to maintain some sense

of dignity.

“Mam are you sure you can ride home alright?” “After all you might want to avoid falling right?” Molly conscientiously said while pulling out her iPhone to call for help. “I will just call you a senior van ride home, and you can pick up your bike tomorrow ok?” the young girl pleaded, while putting her arm gently over Jamine’s shoulder.

“Well sweetie, I don’t mind if I do” Jamine calmly replied while sitting down to ease her wobbly legs.

“How about we meet at your place next Wednesday?” said the helper

“I will make us a batch of Margarita’s, and you can come after supper alright?” Jamine cheerfully spoke, while batting her tired eyes. “Sure Jamine just between you and me” Molly giggled.

As Molly watched Jamine ride off with the seniors, she wondered whether she should bring up any of the days

conversation with Father. Giving Jamine the benefit of the doubt, she decided for now to keep her word with Jamine. Molly had always been up front with acquaintances she met through Saint Mary’s outreach program, but Jamine’s likewise forwardness was a bit of a shock. Memories of her own mother

nursing a broken marriage by drowning sorrows, filled her heart with sympathy for Jamine. She felt that open communication instead of isolation is what aided her mother to come back to reality. After months of Molly phoning and visiting many times with her Mom the hard core alcoholism stopped. But, she could not forget all the heartache the disease caused with their family and friendships. Some family members vowed to not be bothered anymore as they had more important things to do than nurse old wounds. Having this under her belt, Molly felt ready to use her method of patience, kindness, and respect to pull Jamine into a healthier lifestyle.

When Jamine arrived back at the run down trailer park with

Marlboros in hand, Delilah was outside watering her magnificent garden. Every year of the twenty that Delilah lived across from Jamine, she planted loads of varieties of exotic flowers, like Peruvian Lilies, Towers of Jewels, and Birds of Paradise.

That was one consolation to remaining in the declining trailer park.

“Hola, Jamine did you stop by the ‘seven eleven for me honey?” Delilah said while turning around to show off her new peasant blouse, with vibrant red, yellow, and pink hand embroidered flowers. As Jamine slowly put her bike in the shed amongst the boxes, she thought about grabbing a bottle of her best tequila to share with Molly. Then, gently walked over to Delilah, to hand her two packs of smokes.

“Where did you get that charming, colorful, native blouse” she said admiringly, while smelling a gorgeous fragrant yellow rose.

“Thank you honey, I picked it up for next to nothing at Bang Bang Vintage shop last week” “I can help you to put away your groceries if you need help?” Delilah implored.

“No, I did not pick up any groceries, because I just went to North Coast Co-Op with the Pace helper yesterday.

“Here are your smokes Delilah, may I cut one of these yellow roses to put by my bed?”

“Sure thing honey” Delilah said as she handed her clippers.

“That evening while watching a re-run of Dancing with the Stars, Jamine heard her phone loudly ring. She quickly turned down the televisions volume and talked into the phone “Hello, who is calling?”

“Hello Mam, this is Pastor O’Gorman.” “How did your meeting go today?” he asked inquisitively.

“I absolutely adore Miss Molly, and I am really looking forward to meeting with her again soon.” Jamine drowsily answered.

“Well, I would like to make an appointment, to go over in more

detail, whether this is a good match for you two okay? He offered.

“Well, that can work for me next Wednesday after my dental cleaning downtown alright?”

“Yes Mam that will be good for you to come after mass, say around 11?”

“In that case I will see you before my dental appointment” Jamine agreed.

On the evening Molly arrived at Jamines’, the modest trailer living room was decorated tastefully quaint. Jamine had put out her favorite colorful floral antique lace table cloth, arranged some daffodils in a blue ceramic vase, hung up a string of red heart lights, dusted, vacuumed, and wiped everything down to welcome her much needed newfound friend. The full margarita pitcher and glasses were ready to go. “Molly, I am thrilled you made it for my impromptu party.”

Jamine happily exclaimed.

“I love how you have decorated your humble home.” Molly said enthusiastically.

“Well let’s get this party started with our yummy Margarida’s sweetie.

“I must say you look adorable in that bright yellow top with matching shoes”

“I really want to say how much I adored your vividly detailed memoir of your hot and heavy rendezvous with your handsome French paramour” “To have enjoyed the pleasures of a talented artist as he, and to have been painted by him, must have been thrilling to say the least. “Do you have any of the art he did of you? Molly inquired curiously.

“Why yes I was lucky enough to bring home one of his beautiful paintings of me” “Let me show you” Jamine said as she slowly got up to retrieve the painting, hung up in the tiny hallway,

leading to her bedroom.

“Your elegant figure and phenomenal couture blue flowing nightie, along with the steamy expression of your magnificent face are all, so sultry.

“Well, let me tell you he was not only a magnificent artist, but he was also a passionate lover” Jamine vividly recalled as she began to blush a bright red.

Both Molly and Jamine slowly sipped their luke warm margaritas’ in silence for quite a while. Outside the scrounge dog began to howl close to Jamine’s trailer, which caused each lady to become somewhat flustered. “Well, Jamine, I am going to have to take off now” “I have to study for my upcoming psychology test if I want to make a passing grade” Molly said while placing the margarita glasses in the metal sink, and gathering up her brown leather handbag.

“I hope I did not shock you too much dear as I tend to be forthright in my dealings with people.” Jamine exclaimed.

Molly reached out to hug Jamine.

“Thank you for allowing me a window into your interesting past. “

Jamine grabbed her handy pot and pan to scare the mutt away yet again. “Molly, can I phone you to make a date to take you out to Rita’s Mexican Grill for lunch soon?”

“Sure Jamine, I will have some free time next week, plus I will have your Parisian rendezvous story totally finished by then.” “That sounds perfect” “Big hugs to you dear, I wish you all the best” Jamine said while blowing kisses in Molly’s direction.

On Wednesday Jamine got up bright and early to coordinate her wardrobe outfit and apply just the right amount of make-up to highlight her light blue eyes. She found herself smiling into the faded cracked mirror as she truly wanted to impress the popular Pastor Sykes. She thought of mailing the long emotional letter she wrote after her last phone call with her brother last Christmas, but left the letter there for another day.

After, parking her bike next to the beautifully bloom filled church garden, and straightening out her silken yellow blouse, Jamine slowly walked up to Pastor Sykes office.

“Knock, Knock”

“Come In Jamine, please have a seat.” motioned Pastor O’Gorman “ “Thank you Pastor the ride over here was exhausting” she said with a huff as she sat down to focus on the Pastor.

“First of all I want to thoroughly thank you for helping me to meet such a lovely young lady as Molly” ”We are still in the beginnings of having any kind of lasting friendship, but her compassionate stirrings are a mark of a sweet young lady” stated Jamine while beaming with a new brighter energy than the Pastor remembered seeing before.

“You’re welcome Jamine, all the years of your membership in our church and standing in our community, swayed me into making sure you have the best of our young ladies for company.

“I just wouldn’t have it any other way” “Seeing your colorfully dressed attire more often in church would be even better. But, all kidding aside, I am very thrilled you are happier now”

About Cynthia: Born in San Francisco in the mid fifties to live an interesting life in this beautiful bay area. My story "Rhythms of life" was published in 2016 in the book "Untamed Dreams." Writing about people and experiences both real and fiction, has been a big part of my life for many years. I enjoy sharing my interest in writing with a wider audience with the help of the internet connections available.

Les Femmes Folles is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art from around the world with the online journal, print annuals, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Deskins. LFF Booksis a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including the award-winning Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014) , The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales (Laura Madeline Wiseman/Lauren Rinaldi, 2015 and Mes Predices (catalog of art/writing by Marie Peter Toltz, 2017).Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 available on blurb.com, including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. A portion of the proceeds from LFF books and products benefit the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Wanda Ewing Scholarship Fund.

Current call for collaborative art-writing: http://femmesfollesnebraska.tumblr.com/post/181376606692/lff-2019-artistpoet-collaborations

Current call: What does being a womxn mean to you? http://femmesfollesnebraska.tumblr.com/post/183697785757/what-does-being-a-womxn-today-mean-to-youyour

0 notes

numbersevcn-blog · 5 years

Note

What was your favorite thing to do with each sibling when you were younger?

ask my muse questions about their relationship with another character

“My favorite thing to do?” Vanya smiled, thinking back on her past. Sure, her childhood was full of trauma and nightmares, but there were also moments of pure happiness spent with her siblings. Sometimes.

“I didn’t really do a lot with Luther. He was always too busy and we were just… so different. But I remember when we used to play hide-and-seek - all of us - and I was never really that great at it. Luther used to help me out, pulling me into a hiding spot or shushing me when the seeker came. Sometimes when he was the seeker, he’d see me hiding behind a curtain or something stupid, and he’d pretend he didn’t see me. He’d go and find Diego or someone, and I guess that’s the only time I’ve ever felt like we were…close.

I never really thought Diego liked me when we were kids, but when we grew up a bit - we were, I don’t know, fourteen? - we both kind of…rebelled, I guess? At the same time. And I’d go into his room and we’d hang out and listen to his CDs. Dad hated it because it was all punk music but we thought it was the coolest thing.

I always loved Allison’s hair, and even when we were really little, I’d beg her to let me play with it. I remember making daisy chains out in the yard during the spring and we’d pretend they were crowns and we were princesses. The guys always made fun of us, but we didn’t really care.

I remember when Klaus figured out how to make paper airplanes when we were nine and they were flying all around the house. He taught me how to make them and we’d have paper plane fights, throwing them from one end of the room to another, or racing them down the stairs.

Sometimes when I used to practise the violin, Five would sit with me and read or do his studies. Sometimes we’d stop and just start talking instead, but Dad always got mad if he caught us so we tried not to. And then there were always our kitchen snacks that we’d make, raiding the refrigerator and the pantry, and they always looked and tasted disgusting. But we’d always make the others eat them, even if they ran away from us.

And Ben… Ben and I used to read together. We’d get a book from the library and sit together, back to back, or on the couch, or laying on the rug. And sometimes we’d read the funny bits out to each other and we’d just laugh until our sides hurt.”

A smile. A shake of the head.

“Yeah, there were some good times back then.”

#perfectdisastcr #; (replies)#;heard a rumour (about)#;haunted by what might have been (the academy)

0 notes

texting-an-alien · 7 years

Text

The Welders: Chapter Ten (second half)

Chapter Ten: Sick Now, Sick Later

*You know how I said I was splitting this chapter in half? This was not even close to half. This part is still really long, enjoy!*

It was growing dark by the time we had gotten everything in order. After getting everything prepared in less than 12 hours, I worried about the whole “It takes weeks to get everything ready”. Had we forgotten something? Was something going to go wrong and I was going to end up with a tail or a pig snout? The ritual had been vaguely explained to me, so vague in fact, that I couldn’t stop my leg from bouncing up and down as I sat in Patrick’s trailer. Patrick had, however, informed me that it was more of a binding spell than anything.

“You have to wear it,” Patrick groaned again.

“Why!? It makes no sense,” I replied.

“Because culture or whatever. Everyone has to wear it, every girl that is. Boys get a cloak and a scratchy white tunic,” My cousin explained.

The item in question was a long white dress that poofed up around the midsection. The sleeves were long and flowing, the kind you would see a medieval princess wearing while riding into the sunset. The top part of the dress was cinched tight, almost like a corset, and was adorned with embroidered braids of gold and green. The dress was beautiful, to say the least, just not on me.

“Please, Amy, they won’t let you go through with the ceremony if you don’t wear it,” Patrick pleaded.

I paused for a moment, trying to see if there was anything I could get out of him if I was to put on the dress. It was always like that between us- do this for me and I will do whatever you want.

“Tell me why everyone is afraid of the Texas camp,” I said. Patrick quickly sat up from his position on the couch, his blue eyes staring meeting mine with almost desperation.

“I… I can’t… not… it’s a lot okay? We should really just do it after the whole-” Patrick started but I quickly butted in.

“No, no, no. None of that. Everything I seem to question is always ‘We will talk later, Amy’. If I did something that is more than just breaking a rule I need to know. Lee said something about stirring up a lot of drama and I’m getting the feeling that he doesn’t mean drama between two best friends. And then there was the whole thing with Rob, whoever that is. Barney, and everyone, got mad really fast,” I argued.

Patrick sighed, sat down across from me, and began, “Okay, okay. I guess you have to know if you’re going to live in the Oregon Camp. You know how before I was telling you that there is a camp in almost every part of the world? Well America has a lot of them. One of the biggest ones is the one in Texas. Do you remember where I used to live?”

I thought for a moment before the realisation dawned on me, “Texas.”

“Exactly," he continued, “You also know the reason I got kicked out was because I was gay and dating a boy. The boy, Timothy Rutherford, just happened to be the son of the Texas Camp leader, Robert Rutherford. Turns out, both our parents weren’t very accepting. While I got kicked out of my home, Timothy’s father decided that there was no way his son was gay and was convinced I had done something and ruined his sweet angel child forever. Timothy went along with this. Instead of just being kicked out of my home, Mr. Rutherford kicked me out of the entire camp. I had no options, nothing left, but then grams took me in and luckily enough so did the Oregon Camp.”

“So, why is everyone so stiff about the Texas Camp? Is it just because it’s like a disgrace to get kicked out of a camp?” I shifted in my seat.

“Not exactly. Our camp has always gotten weird looks, we were criticized for being too small and for the longest time we weren’t even considered a camp. Most people didn’t see why we couldn’t just move to the California camp. The Convocation hadn’t officially made us a camp until about 20 years ago. When I did move up here, Rob decided me leaving wasn’t enough. He brought up the whole topic of being too small to the Convocation and nearly had the camp taken off the map. We fought and fought and we eventually won, obviously, but Rob has been keeping a watchful eye on us since then. Anything goes wrong and he plans to give the Convocation another reason as to why the Oregon Camp shouldn’t exist,” Patrick explained breathlessly.

I went silent for a moment, processing everything. “So, me breaking the rules could possibly start up the war between Oregon and Texas again?”

“I doubt it. While the Convocation can see all uses of magic, they don’t like indiscretions getting out. We can only hope that they’ll keep it quiet. It’s like Barney said, that rule has been up in the air almost as long as the Oregon Camp’s official title has,” My cousin replied.

“I’m sorry, Patrick.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.

“It’s been difficult, but everything will be okay. Being a Welder isn’t easy and we all have to go through things but eventually we all learn that yeah everything sucks, yeah this camp may not always be our home, but we are always going to be family,” Patrick comforted.

I smiled at him but the warm fuzzy moment was soon ruined by him saying, “Now, will you please put on the freaking dress.”

“Fine,” I grumbled and snatched the dress from his bed, heading for the back area before closing the curtain behind me. It was difficult enough to get into a dress, let alone trying to get into a dress while being crammed in the only private room that had a very large bed.

“Besides, you only have to wear it for like 3 minutes during the ritual. After that you can go change back into your nasty sweatpants,” Patrick said from the front. I could hear a small clicking noise as he replied but I wasn’t sure what it was.

“Can you explain exactly what is going to happen? I heard something about blood and that freaked me out enough as it is,” I questioned.

“Chill out. All you gotta do is walk down the aisle, cut you hand and bleed into what looks like a really watery soup, listen to Barney say some chants, and say “I do,”. Boom, bang, you’re married to the Welders," he summed up. His voice was slightly muffled as I pulled the dress over my head.

Satin was everywhere and I saw flashes of green and gold before finally breathing fresh air. Well as fresh as it could be because I could smell the unmistakable stench of cigarette smoke.

“Patrick,” I warned as I pulled back the curtain and saw him quickly hide the cigarette behind his back.

I could only look disappointed as he gave me a very toothy smile, put the cigarette out on an ashtray that I hadn't realized was an ash tray, and held out his elbow.

“You look lovely,” Patrick coughed slightly. I smoothed my dark hair out at the top of my head and prayed that there was no frizz that was highly visible. I begrudgingly took his elbow and allowed him to walk me out of his trailer and through the camp.

The camp, however, was pitch black. There wasn’t a single camp fire lit, not a single candle or lantern. Nothing. I gripped Patrick’s elbow tighter as a cold wind brushed against my spine. The dress was a bit snug and stuck to my sides, giving me the illusion of warmth. The sleeves were made of a thin fabric that fluttered slightly in the breeze. If an innocent hiker were to stumble upon the camp and see Patrick and I walking in the dark, they’d probably think I was a ghost and go running to the hills.

“You shouldn’t smoke,” I offered and Patrick moved his arm from my hand to around my shoulders.

“I know," he whispered.

I was lead to one of the parts of the camp that I had not been to before. The ritual was to the left of Barney’s mansion, behind some tents and trees, and near what appeared to be, in the dark, a small wood and metal formation that I didn’t know existed. Small candles were planted on the ground leading up to a wooden arch. I then found where everyone in the camp was. Surrounding the wood arch, was the entire camp including Lee, Delia, Ferris, the triplets, and surprisingly Allison, Felicity, and Daisy. Barney stood underneath the arch with a large bowl that resembled silver and a plethora of candles on a oak pedestal.

My jaw clenched at the menacing sight and I almost resorted to being the innocent hiker and running for my life.

“I’ll try and get as close a possible, but remember,” Patrick said and turned my slightly so I was looking directly at him. “Keep breathing. In and out, in and out. Stay calm, it’ll be alright. Just imagine all the mischief we’ll get into when you get your magic.”

I nodded and took a deep breath. My breath went out every time that my left foot hit the ground. It was a little trick that Patrick had taught me that somehow stopped your legs from cramping. It was great for when I had to run the mile but it had eventually become the beginnings of a breathing technique that Patrick would use on me every time I was panicking. All it took was for him to remind me to breath the the world would calm down for a few seconds.

As I walked, my concern was growing for the princess-like dress. The candles were awfully close to dress that didn’t belong to me nor did I want to own. I suppose freaking out about little things was just my brain trying to distract me from the actual idea of a blood ritual that was slowly getting closer.

Everybody had turned to look at me, their eyes unwavering and unblinking. I suddenly felt like I was about to get married and Patrick’s explanation of the ritual had never seemed so fitting. When I passed little Felicity, she quickly tugged on Allison’s now long blue sundress and whispered something. Allison nodded happily and smiled when she caught my eye. I gulped a little too loudly and continued to walk towards Barney.

When I finally did reach the tattooed man, he reached out for my hand and did something that resembled a smile under his thick beard and moustache. My hand was small and thin compared to his, also smooth and nearly dainty. His hands were littered with scars and callouses. They were dry and more tan than the rest of his body. Barney had suited for rolling down his sleeves for the ritual rather than exposing his “inappropriate” art. Perhaps the ritual was only formal for everyone who was participating. I was vaguely aware that Patrick was wearing a plaid flannel and I had noticed Lee was wearing a sweatshirt.

It was only then, when I was studying my hand in his, that I noticed the soupy mixture in the bowl and the long, silver, glimmering in the evil candle light, dagger on the pedestal next to him.

My heart stopped when Barney went straight for the dagger and held my hand palm up. He pressed the cold silver to my hand, glanced up to me, and slowly dragged it across my hand. My jaw clenched harshly as the burning pain made its way to my fingertips and up to my elbow. Every reflex in my body was telling me that I should pull back, but Barney was holding on tightly. He twisted my hand so the cut was facing the bowl and I watched as drops of blood hit the surface of the water.

He then began to speak, “I call upon the Priestess to take witness upon this binding. This child wishes to join, praise, and worship our highest Priestess. Allow this individual to be bound, forever, to the land," he reached for a the green candle with his unoccupied hand and poured the melted wax into the bowl. “The water," he then poured the blue candle wax carefully.

The color mixed together as my blood continued to fall gracefully into the bowl. The smell of something burning hit my nose as Griffin appeared dressed in a large leather apron holding a glowing red ball in a pair of wrought iron pincers. He only barely looked at me as he gently placed the ball into the water. Steam immediately filled the air with an angry hiss.

“And the fire.” Barney watched as the steam filled up the space between us. I took this moment, while being hidden in the steam, to glance to the side and find Patrick who was watching with an almost grim expression. His curly hair flopped into his face but he didn’t seem too worried. Griffin slowly appeared next to him and placed a hand on my cousin's shoulder, making Patrick slightly jump.

As soon as the steam had fully cleared, Barney quickly turned my hand back so no more blood could fall into the bowl and continued, “Allow this child to use the power that the Priestess has gifted them. Allow this child to be protected, cherished, and powerful. As this talisman is brought out of the darkness, the same as this child is, let it measure and hold the true power of the Priestess. I shall name this child cailleach feasa, let the name be a proud one that they shall honor.”

Barney nodded to me and it was clear that I was the one who had to reach into the water and retrieve my ampoule. With my hand still cut open and slightly bleeding, I dipped my hands into the cold water and found the solid glass orb. My hand stung as I brought it back up and looked nervously to Barney.

“Amethyst Cecilia Preston, do you accept the name of cailleach feasa?” Barney placed his hands under my own and lifted them slightly higher.

The only right answer, as of now, was yes so I whispered, quieter than I meant, “Yes.”

My answer wasn’t as quiet as I thought it was and as soon as the words left my lips, the crowd behind me exploded with excitement. Somebody was shouting, somebody was clapping, and multiple people had suddenly begun to play instruments. The image of a bunch of people with bows on fiddles just waiting for a single word made me smile.

My smile only grew as I was knocked to the side from Patrick running full force at me and wrapping his arms around me. People were cheering all around me and it was like every fire in the camp had suddenly lit itself. I glanced down to the now cool orb in my hands and sighed. Sure my hand hurt but, man, it was worth it.

“Amy, Amy, Amy, if I had a champagne bottle…” Lee spoke up from beside me.

“Awe shut up Fletcher, you say that everytime someone gets sworn in,” Griffin criticized.

“I’m guessing you’re not mad at me anymore?” I laughed and allowed myself to be lead away by the small crowd surrounding me.

“Nah, can’t be mad at anyone once they have their magic. Whether they know how to use it or not,” Lee replied.

“Yeah right, it’s because she’s wearing that dress,” Delia quickly answered only to receive a punch in the ribs from her twin brother.

We were still moving forward to the tents when we were stopped by Cameron. She was slightly shorter compared to the boys but they immediately stopped when she appeared. She smiled very happily, hugged me, then produced a small rag that was wrapped around my hand. Luckily, the only sign language I knew was “thank you”, so I quickly signed to her. It made her face light-up more than it already was and I made the assumption that not many people knew how to sign.

“Congrats, you look better in that dress than I did,” Griffin translated as Cameron quickly signed. “You know sign language?”

I had to stifle a laugh from Griffin saying he wore a dress before replying, “Only thank you. I’m sure you looked amazing. Dresses have never really been my thing.”

Cameron obviously blushed and signed, thanks to Griffin, “Thank you, and you really look amazing. I hope your cut heals quickly.”

“Don’t worry Cammy, we’ll get her healed soon enough,” Lee answered and put an arm around the young girl. She smiled again and joined our small group as we moved closer to the music.

The triplets and four other men were sitting in a semi-circle, playing various instruments. Most of the camp was currently dancing or running about and grabbing food from various tents. The music was quick, energetic, and definitely irish. Lee had already begun to do a small jig.

“Geez, was everyone hidden in the darkness like a surprise party?” I looked around at how cheery everything was compared to the 5 minutes of complete silence and seriousness during the ritual.

“Basically. So… surprise!” Patrick pulled a wood box from behind his back and shoved it into my arms.

The box was bigger than the normal size jewelry box and was beautifully engraved with celtic knots that crept up the sides and formed a tree. At the center of the trunk was a shimmering purple crystal that I immediately recognized.

“An amethyst? Really, dude,” I groaned. I opened it to find green velvet with a circular spot that was the perfect spot for my ampoule. I gladly slipped the small orb into the box.

“Yeah, figured you would never forget which box was yours. Now I know you really want to start playing with magic but…” Patrick trailed off and took the box from my hands before continuing. “Right now is the time for celebration and dancing.”

Before I could protest, Patrick had handed off the ampoule to Delia and pulled me towards the circle of dancing Welders. I shrieked loudly and glanced helplessly to my giggling friends as I was dragged away. We were in the midst of the dancers within seconds and attempted to join. It soon became clear that the dance was something cultural and had either been practiced or was just common Welder knowledge. Dancing was also not one of my strong suits, especially not in a large dress.

The dance included a lot of kicking and spinning and I eventually just allowed myself to be spun around as I was slightly forced to the very center of the dancing circle. I didn’t care how ridiculous I looked or how bad my bare feet hurt from stepping on stray rocks and sticks because this was the most fun I had had in ages.

The most obnoxious laugh was leaving my lips as I lost track of exactly where I was and spun around in circles. The laugh grew louder as I was viciously lifted into the air by someone with dark hair that I recognized as Lee. I sat on top of his shoulders and forgot to feel bad that the dress was basically covering most of his face. I also forgot to feel slightly violated that the dress was covering most of his face.

From that high up I could clearly see the dancing and enjoyed how well timed every movement was. Every kick was in perfect time and the spins were all together, no one was falling behind. My head felt airy and the only thing I could do was laugh and smile and Lee spun around, making me wobble back and forth on his shoulders.

I saw Barney sitting on a folding chair near his mansion, sipping something from tin cup. He caught my eye and raised his glass and for a moment I wished I had something to raise back. Instead, I nodded to him before being gently set back on the ground. I, for the second time that day, felt very sick from spinning around and being so high up for so long. Somebody gripped my shoulder and pulled me out of the circle, into the cool air.

“You’re disgustingly sweaty,” Delia prodded and motioned to a folding chair next to her. She was now wearing a massive orange and blue ski jacket that looked too warm.

“Oh come on now, don’t be mean. I just got my magic,” I whined and fell into the chair. “Why can’t you be more like your brother?”

“Now you sound like my parents," she joked and leaned back, watching as the others continued to dance.

I did the same, watching the green and brown colors swirl together. Every now and then there was a splash of blue that I could only assume was Allison attempting to teach Felicity how to dance. That was probably how it felt to try to teach me to dance.

“I seem to be missing out on the party.” Daisy waddled over, her hands in her overall pockets.

Delia quickly stood up and embraced Daisy before unfolding another chair. Daisy sat down and turned to me.

“I see you got home safely.” Daisy dug her large boots into the soft dirt.

“Sick, but safe,” I replied, picking at a loose thread on the chair. We went silent for a moment before I asked Delia for my ampoule. She removed the small box from her ski jacket pocket.

“May I?” Daisy held out her hand for my ampoule and I unsurely placed the orb into her hand.

The redhead placed her other hand on top of the ampoule and closed her eyes. I glanced to Delia but she was acting as if this was just another normal day. There was a lot I would have to get used to. I too looked at Daisy and for a split second I thought I saw a flash of color in my ampoule.

Daisy’s eyes opened, adjusted to the light or lack thereof, and handed my ampoule back.

I looked at her questioningly and she explained, “If you were listening to the ritual ya may have heard Barney say that your ampoule would also measure your magic. How much you had and whether it is good or bad.”

“And you can read mine?” I looked down to my ampoule and Daisy nodded. “What did you see?”

“You have a lot of magic Amy. Proper magic that could do a lot of good. I’m sure Patrick has already explained that you have been stricken with some dark magic but your ampoule only reads good. Perhaps at one time, when you were little, you had some dark magic in ya, but all that time away from your father and away from any kind of magic has turned you pure. There is not a single drop of bad magic in ya. None at all,” Daisy said, smiling all the while.

I felt Delia place a hand on my shoulder but didn’t look to her in happiness. I hadn’t really thought about the kind of magic in me. If I was being honest, I had forgotten that I had dark magic in me. Like most things that included my father, I blocked them out. It wasn’t joy I was feeling. It wasn’t much of anything.

“You alright there, lass?” Daisy placed a hand on my knee.

I realized I hadn’t spoken for a few seconds, shook my head, and said, “Yeah, yeah. Just overwhelming and… stuff.”

“You look a little too fancy for my taste, go and change back into some regular clothes, yeah? Then come back out and join the party,” Daisy instructed.

I placed my ampoule back into the small box and slowly walked back to Patrick’s trailer. The trailer stairs were cold under my bare feet and the door squeaked as it opened. The dress covered up the floor as I attempted to make my way behind the curtain but ended up stabbing my poor pinkie toe on the corner of the fridge. Why Patrick had a fridge, I didn’t know. It wasn’t like it worked or we had anything that needed to be refrigerated. It was just a mini fridge but it packed a powerful punch.

I immediately bit down on my lip and my feet stuttered across the floor. I struggled to stand and keep a good grip on my box, so I ever so gently set it on the floor as I tumbled to the same floor and nearly smacked my head on the small table. My embarrassment luckily hadn’t caused too much of a ruckus, seeing as no one had come screaming and yelling to the trailer, so I wobbled back to my feet, picked up the box, and cautiously tiptoed my way behind the curtain to Patrick’s room.

I sat on the end of his bed and waited for the pain in my toe to subside. My duffel bag was squished to one side of the bed, slightly opened, and I noticed that the framed picture of my mother and I was visible. I reached down and picked up the small object. There weren’t many pictures that I was okay with having of my family; most of them included my dad. I knew that if I were to removed the photograph, the words “Amethyst's 6th birthday- county fair” would be written in curly handwriting.

I stroked the glass near my mother’s face and wondered if she had worn a dress like this to her ceremony. Then again, Cameron had said she wore the dress so maybe my mother had worn this exact dress. How would this dress of lasted that long? How would it have been able to fit the different types of girls throughout the years? Maybe there was one room in Barney’s mansion that was dedicated to ceremonial clothes and each dress was made so it could fit any girl of any type. Perhaps I could ask Barney to see this magical closet and find my mother’s dress.

I realized I had spent far too long in the trailer when I was supposed to be out celebrating. I quickly changed, immediately taking a deep breath as the corset released my rib cage. I carefully laid the dress on the bed, making sure it wasn’t scrunched up anywhere so it wouldn’t get wrinkled.

The air felt much colder than when I had entered the trailer and I pulled my flannel tighter around my body. There was still music playing and I could see a very large bonfire had begun. I could also easily tell that all the smoke was not just from the fire. Lee was throwing his head back and laughing, smoke erupting from his nose and mouth in large puffs. Patrick was holding his cigarette close to his leg, possibly shielding it from certain people, for example, me.

My friends were gathered in their own semi-circle, a couple feet from the fire and away from everyone else. I found my seat on the ground, leaning against Patrick’s knee. He hummed quietly and placed the cigarette between his teeth.

“Gimme tonight yeah?” He spoke around the cigarette and I waved him off.

“Amy, perfect,” Lee nearly tumbled from his folding chair and kneeled, a little too close, in front of me, “I wanna show you a magic trick.” His breath smelled so strongly of smoke that I struggled not to cough.

I glanced to Delia who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “It makes him happy if you play along.”

I had to be honest, Lee looked extremely excited at the moment. When I had first met him, he looked very intimidating. Who wouldn’t be intimidated by a shirtless, long haired, tooth necklace wearing kid who just emerged from the forest? But, right now, he had the goofiest smile plastered on his face, his pale eyes a very crystal blue.

“Go for it,” I encouraged and he pulled a deck of cards out of his sweatshirt pocket.

Lee, placing his cigarette in his mouth, fanned them out and motioned for me to take one. I did so, feeling Patrick lean over my shoulder to view the card. 8 of diamonds. Lee collapsed all the cards back into a single deck and shuffled them.

“Now place your card on top and don’t forget it,” Lee instructed, his voice muffled, and I did so.

He began to shuffle all the cards again, glancing around mysteriously and smiling. I was beginning to wonder if underage drinking was allowed as much as smoking was.

“Now, I am going to pull your card out of this deck, your exact card,” Lee explained and I smiled. I had seen this trick a million times but had never learned how to do it.

“Lee, promise you won’t cry if you fail. Again,” Delia prodded.

“Hey! I failed twice, that’s it. There was no crying involved! Besides I’ve gotten better,” Lee glared at his sister. He returned back to what he was doing and fanned the cards out again. He looked up to me, bit the inside of his lip, and placed a pale hand over the cards.

Lee’s thin fingers glided above the cards, back and forth, searching. He continued to look directly at me as he searched. The glowing cigarette in his mouth moved back and forth as he attempted not to breath any in. I was determined to win this staring contest. Only 15 seconds in did I remember that I am terrible at staring contests and blinked. Immediately, as if it was he who made me blink, Lee placed his hand on a card.

I raised one eyebrow and looked down, waiting for him to flip the card over. Instead, the dark haired boy slowly lifted his hand, the card following his fingers. The card floated, mid air, not touching Lee’s fingers in any way, and slowly revealed itself to me.

“Is this your card?” Lee grinned.

I looked at the card and looked to Lee. It was a 6 of spades. I shook my head and the smile fell from Lee’s face, his cigarette dipping.

“I didn’t mean that card,” Lee took the cigarette from his mouth with his unoccupied hand. “This one.”

The 6 of spades suddenly sputtered into flames. I jumped back and heard Delia giggle lightly. It sizzled and snapped, a thin trail of smoke blowing into the sky. Slowly the flames died out and, still floating in mid-air, was an 8 of diamonds. I plucked the card from the air, it wasn’t even a little bit warm .

“How did you…” I drifted off flipping the card over and checking for any scorch marks.

Lee sat back, triumphant, and placed the cigarette back between his lip. He took a long breath and blew it all straight up towards the stars.

“I’m kinda good with fire.” Lee shrugged and fully laid back in the grass. His head was just barely under Delias sneaker and I wondered if she and her brother were how Patrick and I were. As in, if his face was ever that close to my shoe, I wouldn’t hesitate to slightly kick him in the face.

Griffin emerged from behind the raging bonfire, Cameron practically skipping next to him. I felt Patrick straighten up and take a deep breath. I looked behind me and saw his cigarette was nearly gone.

“Should’ve suspected you guys would be here. Everyone is dancing and celebrating and even the person of honor is hiding in a corner,” Griffin scolded but still joined us.

Cameron still stood, slightly swaying along with the fast paced music. Cameron looked younger than any of us, I would say about 13 or 14. If she was that young, who on earth had allowed her to get all those tattoos. Griffin seemed like a responsible guardian but he also had tattoos. Underage drinking, smoking, and tattoos- this place was a parents worst nightmare.

“Pass me one, yeah?” Griffin poked Lee with his foot, trying not to make eye contact with Cameron. It was easy enough to connect the dots: Cami was about as happy with the boys smoking as I was.

Lee reached into his sweatshirt pocket and produced an almost empty packet of cigarettes and a yellow lighter.

“Who goes on cigarette runs?” I picked at the grass beside me.

Patrick raised his hand lazily while Griffin explained, “We never leave the camps, like ever. I haven’t left for about 10 years, something like that. Either way, it’s been ages.”

“I don’t remember ever leaving. My mom said she let Lee and I go exploring outside the Tongass camp in Alaska when we were about 6 or 7. Neither of us remember,” Delia said and Lee confirmed her statement by offering and grunt and a thumbs up.

I looked at all of them in astonishment and asked, “Have you ever wanted to leave?”

They all simultaneously shook their heads.

“There’s no need to. We’ve got everything we need in each camp. Traveling between each camp is about as much social interaction as anybody needs. You’ve only been to Maine, you can’t even imagine how it is in Ireland or Scotland. Even Washington get’s insane at times, they’ve got the Gifford Pinchot camp,” Delia replied.

“Do even get started on the Taiga camp,” Patrick mumbled from behind me.

“Hang on, what are all these names? We are just the Oregon camp. I’ve heard you guys say the Maine camp and the Texas camp… why do the others get fancy names?” I glanced around.

“It’s the forests they’re located in. The Maine camp, isn’t actually the Maine camp, it’s the Durham camp. The Texas camp is the Caddo camp,” Patrick explained.

“So we are technically the Siuslaw camp?” I pieced together.

“Nope, just Oregon. We are the only camp in Oregon. The loneliest, the smallest, the problematic teenager,” Lee piped up.

“Welders are in nearly every forest and even some grasslands. The Caddo camp is a grassland camp. There are at least 100 camps in America alone. We are, quite literally, everywhere,” Griffin said and blew a plume of smoke into the air.

“Incredible,” I muttered, smiling up at the stars that were slightly clouded by the smoke.

Griffin continued to explain how the camps worked. Ireland and Scotland had the biggest camps that were mostly full of parents and elderly people. Patrick had already explained to me that older people went back home after a while. Each camp was severely hidden with a lot of magic and usually had some sort of wall surrounding it. This was to prevent any animals from randomly wandering into the campsites. Apparently, animals were the only exception to the ancient ancestral magic that protected us.

I was surprised when Delia added on that the Convocation didn’t live in any forest or grassland. They lived in an a massive colonial mansion that had a courtroom and possible jail cells. Nobody had seen the inside of it, just heard little whispers. This was mainly because, if the Convocation thought you were guilty of any charges, you were put on trial and you didn’t really ever come back. To make myself feel better, I chalked it up to fairy tales that Welder mothers told their kids to make them eat their vegetables.

Delia paused for a few seconds after explaining this to say, “Oh, I meant to ask earlier, what were you two and Barney talking about?”

“Just… you know… ceremony stuff,” I stuttered and pulled my knees closer to my chest.

“So, definitely not the Texas camp and Convocation getting pissed at us?” Lee slowly dragged himself into a sitting position and pulled out another cigarette.

“Nope,” Patrick quickly responded. “You never did apologize for all that stuff you were yelling about, Lee.”

“I was angry and scared. Still am. How sure-”

“Very. Barney said everything was fine. It was a minor rule. Besides, if the Convocation was pissed at us, they would have come and arrested someone by now,” Patrick quickly stopped Lee. I knew this was his attempt to calm down everyone’s paranoia. I also knew it wasn’t working and not even he believed what he was saying.

“Ah ha! You did talk to Barney about it,” Delia exclaimed.

“Of course they did, Delia. It just isn’t a super big deal,” Griffin spoke up.

“Exactly,” I finally said. “Whatever I did, I didn’t realise I was doing it. I have been here for like 30 seconds.”

“Okay, okay. Maybe everything is fine with the Convocation but what about Rob?” Lee began shuffling the deck of cards nervously.

“How would he find out? He’s in Texas,” I said.

“Yeah but you don’t understand just how much he hates us and this camp. We so much as look at Texas on the map and Rob claims we are planning on invading and taking over. Like, who would want to take over Texas? It’s freaking Texas,” Lee ranted, the card slipping out of his hands and spreading onto the grass

I slightly jumped when the cards spun out of his hands. Tension was high and nothing extremely terrible had even happened. I didn’t know the full extent of what would or could happen, but it wasn’t good.

“Guys, maybe we should stop freaking Amy out,” Griffin translated for Cameron. Everyone was looking at me and I wondered if I had jumped more than I thought.

“No, no. I’m good. It’s like Barney said, it was a minor rule and I’m new. I had no idea what was happening,” I said. All the same, Cameron came and sat next to me.

“Yeah, of course,” Lee muttered only to receive glares from Delia.

It was more than easy to say that the rest of the night went better than the entirety of that conversation. We dropped the subject, dropped worrying about Texas and the Convocation, and even ended up dancing for a least an hour. Cameron and little Felicity put all of us to shame. The two girls could have gone on dancing for hours if Alli hadn’t decided on a bed time and Cameron hadn’t nearly fallen over mid spin from lack of sleep. Griffin had help her back to her tent before saying good-night to the rest of us. Lee had slipped away at some point and returned with a bunch of blankets from his tent.

The night had never really ended, not for us anyway and we stayed next to the dying embers of the bonfire until the sun decided to peek it’s head out between the trees. Delia was rolled up in a blue blanket on the grass, snoring lightly at her brother’s feet. Lee, Patrick, and I were all sitting in fold up chairs with blankets over our legs.

We had been silent for what felt like hours, our last conversation having been on how old Barney really was, and I only then realized that the sun had in fact risen.

“Guys… should we have gone to bed?” I looked around to find the camp silent, sleeping.

Patrick shrugged and whispered, “Probably.”

My eyelids seemed to have gained 20 pounds and I groggily stood from the chair, allowing my blanket to fall to the ground.

“I’m gonna…” I pointed behind me towards the camper and Patrick waved me off. “Wake me up in a couple of hours, preferably with coffee.”

#the welders #thewelders #celtic #magic #wicca #wiccan #story #book #fictional book #fictional #fiction #fantasy #reader #read #write #writer #author

0 notes