Chapter 3.20 - Shock Value

Jenny frowned as she paced the length of her small bedroom. “I can’t believe we’re only a few weeks out from graduation and I still don’t know what I want to do with my life.”

Jonah spoke softly. “Calm down. You don’t have to know yet.”

“That’s easy for you to say! You’ve wanted to be a doctor since you were in diapers!”

“That’s an extreme exaggeration.”

She sighed. “Of course, you’re right. It’s just really stressful, this uncertainty.”

“Well, we’re definitely going off to college together, right? You still have four more years to figure out a career path.”

“Of course we’re going to college together! I couldn’t let you go alone. You might meet some glamorous pre-med girl and forget all about me.”

“That would never happen, not least because I could never leave you alone for that long. What if some man moved in and swept you off your feet?”

“That wouldn’t happen.” Jenny moved in to embrace her boyfriend. “You know you’re it for me.”

He smiled down at her. “Care to prove it?”

She stepped away from him. “What do you mean?”

To her shock, he got down on one knee. “Jennifer Doe, you are everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I think I’ve known you were the one ever since you started rambling about vampires when we were in elementary school. We’ve had our rough patches, but we’ve always gotten through them because we love and understand each other more than anyone else ever could. You soothe my worries, and I calm you during your freak-outs. You are my past, present, and future, and I love you more than anything in the world. So, Jennifer Doe… will you marry me?”

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Amanda stood in her room, feeling simultaneously scared and determined. She knew what she needed to do.

“Maxwell?”

He appeared instantly. “Have you made your decision?”

“I have.”

“I know I can’t do anything more to persuade you, but…”

“You don’t have to.”

She closed her eyes and felt his true name rise to her tongue. 

Then she spoke it, and said, “I free you.”

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Willow wasn’t usually a nervous sort of person, but there was something strange in the air tonight. Something that made her want to spend as little time taking out the trash as possible.

Maybe it was the moon. It was very full, and hung low in the sky. A harvest moon, Willow recalled. Her mother always liked to recount that she’d been born on a night much like this one. There was something unsettling about that moon. Something that made her come out in goosebumps all over.

And that was before she heard the howl. At that point, Willow froze. It was a close howl, and even with the moon, it was dark enough that she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her face. Nighttime in Midnight Hollow was pitch black.

Then she saw something glowing in the darkness. It was a pair of eyes - a shockingly familiar pair of eyes.

Hesitantly, Willow called out. "Conor? Is that you?" She didn't know why his eyes would be glowing, but there was no denying that they were his.

"Willow, don't… don't come any closer." His voice was hoarse, and he almost sounded pained.

She stopped. "Are you alright?”

“Not really. It’s hard when the moon’s like this.”

She stepped a little closer. “What’s hard?”

“I keep forgetting you don’t know… I can’t really seem to remember much of anything at the moment. Right now, it’s hard to stay away from you.” He was almost growling, but Willow wasn’t scared. This was Conor, and even on a night like this one, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.

She kept walking. “What do I not know?”

He stepped into the light and she stopped in her tracks.

“Conor? Are you…”

“I’m trying so hard to keep myself from shifting fully right now, I just can’t… and you smell so good, Willow, why do you always have to smell so good?”

She was frozen, staring at the boy she wasn’t sure she really knew anymore. Then he lunged at her, and for a moment she was almost scared…

But when he kissed her, she just embraced him back, reassured. This was definitely still Conor. He was just a little… hairier.

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Serena was swinging in the park when someone came up behind her.

“Serena?”

“Alphonse? You scared the life out of me!”

“Serena, I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be, but please hear me out.”

She blinked. She hadn’t expected it to be this easy. “I -”

He cut her off. “Please believe me when I say that I’ve wanted to tell you everything for ages. Maybe not since I first met you, but pretty close. But you have to understand, I’ve been hiding this for my entire life.”

“What -”

“I didn’t realize how much it hurt you. That sounds so stupid, but it’s true. I guess I didn’t realize you cared enough for it to hurt you, but you really had to yell at me for me to be able to wrap my head around it. I know I can’t offer you enough excuses. What I did was wrong, and you would be completely in the right not to forgive me for it. I should have trusted you. You’re my best friend, and I should have known that you would never tell -”

Serena couldn’t stand it anymore. “Alphonse, can you please just tell me this deep dark secret and get it over with?”

His face became serious. “Serena, I’m a witch.”

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Felix was having a pretty good day. As usual, his siblings were wrapped up in their own personal drama, but he had spent the morning hanging out with Jasmin, so that had been good.

The only dark spot on his day so far was the fact that he hadn’t seen Marissa. She’d been sick for the past week, so she hadn’t been at school, and now she was ignoring his texts. He was starting to have a bad feeling. They were already a few weeks past the usual expiration date of her relationships, but he had thought things were going well.

So when he came home that afternoon and found her waiting on the porch, he was thrilled.

“Marissa! I’m so glad to see you, did you get my texts?”

“Yeah, I did… I just didn’t really know how to respond.”

The sinking feeling was back. He now knew that she had just wanted to break up with him in person. “Oh? Why?”

“I tried to respond, I really did, but eventually… I knew I just needed to tell you in person.”

Felix braced himself. “Tell me what?”

She winced. “Felix… I’m pregnant.”

Author's Note: And there you go! One last chapter, in birth order. I hope I surprised you at least once. I put in that picture of wolf Conor just to show off the time I spent in Create-A-Pet making him, in case he doesn't make another appearance. I'm proud of how he turned out.

Anyway, on to the important part! The heir poll is right here: Generation 3 Heir Poll. Please go and vote! The five epistolary stories will be out over the course of the next week, and the poll will close on July 31.

Chapter 3.19 - Supportive Siblings

“So she really just wants to get to know me!” Serena smiled at Alphonse, hoping that he would echo her happiness and relief.

Instead he was shaking his head. “I can’t believe you lied to me.”

“Alphonse, come on. Aren’t you happy for me?”

“No, because you lied about it! I thought we were friends! I thought you would at least tell me the truth when you made bad decisions, not just lie to my face to appease me!”

Serena looked at Alphonse incredulously. “Oh, like you’re a paragon of honesty. Was it your cat that got sick last week when you couldn’t go to that concert with me? Or how about the time your nonexistent aunt broke her leg? And when was it that you had to go out for your mom’s birthday? Because that one definitely got suspicious when you used it three times this year. What’ll it be next time? Will you have to wash your hair?”

He stared at her, shocked and a little sad. “Serena, that’s… I’d tell you if I could, but I really can’t.”

She was surprised and angry to find herself tearing up. “Why not? Despite what you seem to think, I tell you everything. Everything! And you still can’t bring yourself to tell me the truth, even when I directly confront you about it.”

“Serena…”

“No, Alphonse. I’m done.”

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“Hey, Will.”

“Hey, Felix. What’s up?”

“So, I’m going to this party tonight…”

“Okay…”

“And the girl I like is going to be there…”

“Okay…”

“And I want your advice on how to approach her.”

Willow grinned. “I don’t know why you’re coming to me about this, but I’ll do my best.”

Felix tried to look innocent. “Well, you’re a girl, aren’t you? And if I talked to Serena, every teenager in Midnight Hollow would know by this evening.”

Willow laughed a little. “That’s probably true. Okay, so if you really want to charm her, go for the slow approach.”

“I only have a few hours!”

“Not that slow, but you can’t just go straight up to her and ask her to go out with you, especially not at a party. Start out by paying particular attention to her. Be respectful, but flirt a little bit. Flash her that smile of yours. If she’s receptive-”

“How do I know if she’s receptive?”

“If she’s smiling at you, if she flirts back. You can tell the difference between flirting and being nice, can’t you?”

“I think so.”

“Look, if she isn’t into it, you’ll know as long as you’re paying attention. If she’s receptive, ask her to dance. If it flows right, you can confess your feelings. You probably don’t want to do it in a crowded room, though, just in case she rejects you. If that happens, don’t push it. You don’t want to be that person who tries too hard to get with someone who isn’t into them.”

“You’re… kind of a romance guru, you know that?”

Willow rolled her eyes. “I’m a girl, doofus. I was just thinking about what I’d want to happen, and what I’ve overheard girls at the training center talking about. I would hope that you would do things the right way anyway, but there’s no shame in asking for advice.”

Felix groaned. “I should have told you I was asking for a friend.”

“I wouldn’t have believed you.”

“No, but it would have been a little less humiliating.”

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“I just don’t know what to do!”

Amanda snorted. “And you think I do?”

“Look, you’re supposed to be my wise older sister, who gives me useful, sagely advice.”

“Sagely?”

“It was a PSAT word, but you’re missing the point!”

“I get it, but how am I supposed to give you good advice when I’m mired up in my own problems?”

“How about we take turns?”

“In that case, I’ll go first. Maxwell is saying that the only way to save myself from a life as a slave to the fairy court is to turn him human, which means effectively sentencing him to death. I don’t want to do that to him, but I also don’t want to be a slave to the fairies for the rest of my life.”

Serena blinked. “Okay, I don’t understand half of what you just said, but from what I did get is: if he wants to be human, who are you to stop him? I admit I don’t know the whole story here, but it seems to me that immortality would really start to suck after a while. If he wants to be human, let him be human. Of course, you don’t have to take my advice…”

“But it does help. So give me your problems.”

“Well, Alphonse really hates the idea of me talking to my mom, but he hates that I kept it from him even more. But at the same time, he’s definitely keeping secrets from me, so I think that he’s being a hypocrite.”

“I think you need to lay down an ultimatum. Say that if he can’t be honest with you, he doesn’t have any right to give you advice or be your friend.”

“See? We can give each other advice!”

Amanda laughed. “I think we both have a lot to think about…”

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“We’re Nine Lives, thank you all for listening!”

As Felix walked off of the makeshift stage, he felt the adrenaline rush that he always got after gigs. Tonight, though, it was particularly strong. Tonight he was going to talk to Marissa.

He’d been harboring a crush on her for years, but lately he’d been feeling brave. He had to know if she felt the same way about him. He hadn’t quite figured out what he’d do if she didn’t, but no one had ever accused Felix of being a great long-term planner. 

He thought about what Willow had said as he walked towards Marissa and her gaggle of friends.

“Hey Marissa, what did you think of our show?” He gave her his most dazzling grin, knowing it was his best feature.

“It was great. You looked awesome up there on stage. I felt like I could almost see into the future where you’re a rock star.” She smiled, bit her lip a little, and leaned towards him.

“That’s quite a compliment.”

“You deserve it.” She then did that thing where she looked up at Felix through her eyelashes, and he was almost positive that she was flirting with him. He decided to take a gamble.

“Now that I’m not playing anymore, do you want to dance with me?”

“I’d love that.”

She was a good dancer. Felix definitely preferred playing in the band to being out on the dance floor, but he thought he was okay.

“This is really nice.” He almost had to shout to be heard over the pounding bass of the stereo. Someone’s parents had shelled out for surround-sound, and someone had turned it up way too loud.

“It is, isn’t it?”

“Do you want to go somewhere a little quieter?” Felix held his breath, waiting for the answer and hoping he hadn’t sounded like a creep asking the question.

To his relief, Marissa smiled. “I know the perfect place.”

When he’d imagined this moment, he’d pictured them going outside to confess their feelings. He’d envisioned a first kiss under the stars. But instead, Marissa led him upstairs, to what looked like a guest bedroom.

“This is much better, isn’t it?”

He nodded, because it was better. It was quieter and more private, if not the romantic setting of his dreams. “This is great. Listen, Marissa, I wanted to ask you something.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“I… really like you. And, if you like me back… I was wondering if you’d be my girlfriend?” He sped through the last part in a nervous rush, wanting to hear her answer and terrified of it at the same time.

“You… want me to be your girlfriend? You, Felix ‘Lucky’ Doe, are asking me to be your girlfriend?”

“Um… yes? Why are you so surprised? I’ve had a crush on you for ages.”

She continued to look shocked. “Of course I’ll be your girlfriend! You’re easily the hottest guy at school, you should know that.”

“I really didn’t. And anyway, I wouldn’t think…” that mattered that much, was how he intended to finish the sentence, but Marissa had stepped far enough into his personal space that he couldn’t really think anymore.

“Aw… you’re so modest.” She put her hands on his shoulders, and he thought he might be able to get high on her perfume.

“How about I show you how I feel.”

Felix didn’t do much more thinking at all that night.

Author's Note: I really hate the way Marissa's hair clips through her face when she smiles, but whatever. Just one more chapter, which is just a click away!