wild things | wy. lykensen ✓

1.04 | homecoming disaster

Bucky watched the interaction happily. "This zombie trend will pass. They're not gonna win another football game."

Carson eyed Bucky skeptically. "Just keep telling yourself that, I guess."

"Well, until they lose, you should stay away—"

Bucky was cut off by Zed trying the same thing as he did with Addison, calling Carson's name across the cafeteria. And to his delight, she instantly got back up from her table and grabbed her tray to join him. Her brother acted quickly, grabbing her elbow and turning her back to the zombie table.

"Don't," he said sharply.

"You don't tell me what to do, Bucky," she said, narrowing her eyes.

"I will kick you off the team," he said, lowering his voice a little. He didn't want the other members of the squad to hear the threat that Carson knew was empty. "Or I'll find a way to make you stop."

In response, Carson's eyes flashed red before fading back to their normal blue color. It had Bucky loosening his hold on her. "You can't make me do anything, Bucky. No one can. Now, I will see you at practice after school, okay?"

It took him a few moments before he fully released her. Carson had never used her powers on him in a bad way — and she wasn't actually planning to, as her threats were as empty as his. But Bucky knew the things she could do, as he'd grown up watching her perform cool tricks around the house. So, if she felt so inclined, Carson could go into his head and change every single opinion he had on zombies to resolve this conflict. He was just lucky she considered that an inhumane use of her magic.

"Fine," he muttered, turning his head away. "But it better not affect your performance or take priority over the championship."

Carson scoffed lightly. "Nothing could take priority over another trophy."

She couldn't get another word out of her brother, who was clearly displeased with her. While it wasn't a full-on argument, the zombies had finally driven a permanent wedge between the siblings. Carson tried to ignore the small part of her that was upset and made her way to the zombie table.

With a smile, Carson sat next to Zed and across from Eliza, who was eying her.

"Where's Bonz?" Carson questioned, seeing the apple on her tray and thinking of him.

"He's getting fitted for a marching band uniform," Zed said with a grin. "He's super excited."

"That's awesome. I've been hearing about his musical talent, so he's got a lot of expectations to live up to," she noted.

"Why are you here?" Eliza suddenly asked very bluntly. Zed quietly hissed her name under his breath at her rudeness.

"Uh, because Zed asked me," she said, shrugging.

"No, I mean, why did Bucky let you sit down? He already stopped Addison," Eliza said, glancing at the cheer captain. "He's not happy about it, but you said something to him to get him to leave you alone. I wanna know why your brother isn't forcing you to stop talking to us like with your cousin."

Carson shrugged casually. "Maybe he just knows I want to be my own person."

Eliza narrowed her eyes, not believing it for a second. Bucky didn't want people to "be their own person" — he wanted them to be like him. "Or maybe it's that he can't stop you, for whatever reason."

"You sound crazy, Eliza," Zed said, chuckling. But Eliza and Carson didn't laugh and instead were staring each other down, which he was oblivious to. "Obviously, he just has a soft spot for his little sister."