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'We're larpers!'
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"Whoo! C-minus!" Toby cheers as we ride our bikes to Jim's house, having just finished school.
"C-plus" Claire sighs in disappointment before looking towards me. "Y/n?"
"B-minus. My best score for Spanish so far" I laugh before looking to Jim curiously. "What did you get Jimbo?"
"D, and probably summer school" Jim sighs as I shake my head at the boy.
"This is why we should've actually studied last night instead of watching movies" I say to the boy with a pointed look as Jim laughs.
"Sorry that I want to watch movies with my girlfriend instead of studying" Jim says with a smirk as I roll my eyes.
"Well you must be regretting that decision now" I laugh.
After getting my powers back, I've felt so optimistic and happy. I study for tests, I clean my room, I smile at Senor Uhl, it's all a miracle really.
"It's fine guys, Senor Uhl said that next weeks Spanish final counts for twenty percent of our grade, if you ace that you'll be fine" Claire explains as we stop our bikes infront of Jim's house, taking our helmets off before making our way to the door.
"Yeah Jimbo, twenty percent is the difference between life and death" Toby jokes. "I mean, academically speaking"
"Yeah, let's bring our books to training" Jim says as he opens the door to his house. "Cramming couldn't hurt"
"That isn't what you were saying last night" I shrug with a smirk as Jim rolls his eyes once again.
A confused expression suddenly appears on Jim's face as he catches sight of Barbara's handbag hanging on the stairs.
Barbara is never home this early.
"Mum?" Jim calls out. "Are you home?"
"In here kids" Barbara calls out as we follow the sound of her voice towards the living room, but stop short at the sight infront of us.
"M-mum?" I stumble out with wide eyes as I see her, along with Claire's parents and Toby's grandma, all sitting on the couch eating cookies.
"Y/n" My mum nods to me with a blank expression on her face.
"Oh, hello" Toby's grandma waves with a sweet smile as we all nervously wave at her.
"We need to talk" Barbara says with her arms crossed and a glare on her face.
"Those four words are never good" Toby says with a nervous chuckle.
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"Barbara what is going on?" Ophelia (Claire's mum) asks in a trembling voice.
The four of us sat in chairs infront of our parents/guardians, nervous looks on our faces as we watch the adults panic.
"I'd like to know the same" My mother says in a stern tone as she side glances to me.
"You said our children's lives were in trouble" Ophelia says as we all look down in guilt.
"My Toby-Pie would never be in trouble" Toby's grandma says in certainty as she eats a cookie. "He's an angel"
"Actually Mrs Domzalski, I'm afraid they're in serious danger, but it'd be best if they explain" Barbara says with her arms crossed as she glared at the four of us. "Kids?"
We all look at the adults with innocent grins on our faces, attempting to hide our nerves.
"Uh...I don't know what she's talking about" Claire says with a nervous smile as she glances to me. "Y/n?"
"Beats me, this is all very confusing, right Toby?" I ask the boy with a nervous chuckle.
"No clue" Toby stumbles out as he elbows Jim in the ribs. "Jimbo? Maybe you could help us out?"
"Umm..." Jim stutters, glancing to my mum who's glaring at him. "Uh..."
I internally roll my eyes at the boys wide vocabulary.
"It's the drugs, isn't it?" Javier (Claire's dad) asks as he stands up from his seat.
Yep, he's got us.
"I-it's not drugs, it's trolls" Barbara explains as the four of us let out small gasps.
She knows.
"The internet! I knew it" Javier says as I fight back the small smile on my face.
"Not internet trolls, real trolls" Barbara explains in frustration.
A moment of silence passed before all the adults burst into laughter, I don't think I've seen my mum laugh this hard in ages.
The four of us share a glance before we all force laughter, joining in with the adults.
"Trolls? Barbara..." Toby's Grandma says in a soft voice as she takes a sip of her tea before looking at Barbara worriedly. "Are you on the drugs?"
"No. There are these creatures that live beneath us" Barbara explains as she rubs her forehead. "It's not entirely clear in my head, but our kids are helping them and fighting them"
"Oh, no" Javier gasps in a shock that would make me feel like he's mocking her, but knowing Claire's dad, he's completely serious. "It is the drugs"
"Barbara, sweetie, are you getting enough sleep?" My mum asks in a worried voice as she stands up and walks over to Barbara, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You look tired"
"I-I'm not tired! Well maybe a little, but it's true!" Barbara explains in a frustrated voice.
"I believe you Barbara" Ophelia says as she stands up and walks over to Barbara. "I, too, have dealt with stress and anxiety and have the number to an excellent therapist"
"It's not stress Ophelia" Barbara says dryly as she pushes the woman away.
"Trolls living beneath us?" Toby suddenly blurted out with a strained laugh. "What? That's crazy town banana pants fosters"
"With extra nuts" Claire laughs as I just sit still with an awkward smile, sharing a look with Jim.
"Jim, tell them. Please" Barbara asks desperately, clearly embarrassed in front of the other parents.
I look over to Jim nervously as the boy shuffles around in his seat, avoiding eye contact with his mum. I look over to my own mum to find her watching me with a curious expression on her face, making me immediately look away.
I cant tell if my mother can see through my act. She knows there's magic and enchantresses around but trolls? I don't know if she'd be able to handle it. Not to mention the betrayal she'd feel after I've lied to her face countless times about giving up my powers, now only being a 'normal kid'. Like that was ever going to happen.
"Um...uh..." Jim says nervously as all the parents watch him with curious eyes.
Jim seems to avoid eye contact with Barbara as he lets out a defeated sigh, looking down to his lap in shame.
"The hospital asked her to take some time off" Jim explains as he stares at his lap.
I stare at his hand, hesitant to grab it in front of the parents before rolling my eyes at myself and grabbing it, knowing Jim needs some support right now.
"Oh dear"
"Oh no"
"What?" Barbara says in shock, betrayal written all over her face before an angry glare replaces that. "Look in their bags. Search them"
The four of us jump out of our chairs in shock as Barbara jumps forward, grabbing all of our bags and throwing them to our parents with a determined look on her face.
"I'm sure you'll find some surprises" Barbara says as she opens Jim's bag, grabbing his amulet before throwing it to the table with a dismissive look on her face.
"Mum!" Jim says with wide eyes.
"That's an invasion of my privacy" Claire says as she watches her parents look through her bag.
"Mum, there's really nothing in there!" I say with a slight stutter in my voice, knowing full well that there are some questionable items in my bag.
"Oh my" Toby's grandma says as she pulls out the handle of Toby's warhammer, not really knowing what it is.
"I don't know what's going on, but what do you call this?" Javier asks as he pulls out a protractor from Claire's bag.
"That's a protractor dad" Claire says in an annoyed voice as she puts a hand to her hip.
"I think he meant this?" Ophelia says as she holds out the handle to her staff.
"Uh..." Claire stutters out as she stares at her mum awkwardly.
"Isn't it clear? Your son stole these artefacts from the museum" Ophelia explains with a glare towards Jim.
"They were in your daughters bag" Barbara says in defence of Jim.
"How dare you" Javier says, offended that she'd blame his daughter for this.
"Our kids are clearly in some kind of cult Barbara" My mum suddenly says as she pulls out a ton of books that Blinky let me borrow, dropping them to the table with a bang. "My daughter never looked at...how to perform an exorcism? Or books on corrupted magic...?"
My mother looks to me with a confused look on her face as I stand there dumb folded, scared she'd see right through me.
"How can you be blaming Jim for this?" Barbara asks with a glare on her face.
"I'm simply saying that my daughter has had some bad friends, but she's never been friends with kids who have been arrested!" My mother shrieks making me slowly back away to stand next to Jim and Claire.
I share a panicked look with Jim and Claire as we watch all our parents fight, arguing about who's kid is the worst.
"Pssst" I suddenly hear a voice say as I look to Jim confused, only to see the boy looking around as well. "Psst. Master Jim"
Jim and I look back to find Blinky hiding behind a wall in Jim's house. My eyes widen as I quickly elbow Claire, pointing to Blinky as the girls face turns to panic, knowing our parents could see Blinky at any moment.
"We confess!" Claire suddenly blurts as she jumps infront of our parents faces.
"We what?" I mumble confused.
"We confess. We're...." Claire says as she struggles to come up with anything as an idea appears in my brain.
"We're larpers!" I blurt out without thinking as Claire quickly nods her head.
"Yep! We're larpers! Live Action Role Players" Claire nods her head as I look back to Toby who's watching confused, giving him a look as the boy starts nodding his head with a smile.
"We play a fantasy game during lunchtime. Hence the weird objects and books!" I say with a nervous smile as the parents watch us horrified.
"Yeah!" Toby chuckles as he walks over to us. "She's a sorceress, that's her wand. And I'm a war king! That's a thing, right? Y/n's a...cleric...a magic cleric! And Jim has a metal...he's a metalizer!"
I cringe at the explanation but nod my head along with it.
"It's worse than we thought" Ophelia whispers in shock as she lays a hand on her husbands shoulder.
"My daughter...is a full on nerd" My mum whispers to herself as I internally roll my eyes.
"They're lying!" Barbara scoffs at the obliviousness of the parents. "This is not make-believe!"
I cringe at Barbara's desperate attempts to persuade the parents, only for her to look like a crazy person. I quickly look to Jim to find the boy still hasn't left, making me wave my hand for the boy to run as he nods and quickly runs off.
The parents continue to argue before Barbara looks around and finally realised Jim is gone. She quickly turns to me with a raised eyebrow as I try to avoid eye contact.
"Y/n...where's Jim gone?" Barbara asks with a stern look on her face making me awkwardly laugh.
"Uh...Jim? I-I don't know! Maybe he went to grab food?" I stumble out making Barbara huff before walking away as I cringe at myself.
Great, Barbara definitely hates me now.
"Oh, look at her leaving! Clearly she's in denial of her kids criminal nature!" Ophelia snaps in annoyance as my mum rolls her eyes.
"You seem eager to place the blame on Jim, how do we know it's not your kid, huh?" My mum asks with an annoyed look on her face.
"Well how do we know it's not yours! How do we know it's not the ginger kid over there!" Javier exclaims as he points to a nervous looking Toby.
"How dare you accuse my Toby-Pie!" Toby grandma yells as she slams the plate of cookies on the table.
This might be the first time I've ever seen Toby's granny mad.
"Well there's something going on" Javier says. "We used to have living room furniture, and now we do not"
In our defence, that technically wasn't our fault.
"I have something to say" Jim's voice suddenly says, gaining our attention as he walks back into the living room with his mum behind him.
"Jim...what are you doing?" I whisper as I walk over to him.
"We're not really gonna, you know..." Toby says as he also walks over to Jim, clearly having the same thought process as me.
He's not actually gonna tell our parents...is he?
"We doubling down on the Larping?" Claire asks nervously. "I'm good if you guys are?"
"We're doubling down on the truth" Jim says as my eyes widen in horror. "Our parents deserve to know what we do at night"
"Speak for yourself, my mother isn't even there at night" I grumble in annoyance.
"Sorry, did I mishear your. What are you doing at night with my daughter?" My mother asks as she stands to her full height (which is actually quite tall) with her arms crossed.
"We fight trolls" Jim says plainly.
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Authors note:
Cliff hanger! Lol sorry the chapter was going to be too long otherwise.
Anyway, the adult jokes in the episode actually sent me.
Like they made sex jokes and drug jokes in a kids show??? Whattttt
Javier is pronounced like Harvier if you didn't know
Also I just watched rogue one and I cried my eyes out. I also fell in love with a Cassian Andor so if anyone has any good fics on any platforms, please let me know HAHA
Anyway, this chapter was fun, next chapter will be very interesting so look out for the next update
Make sure to comment and vote! Hope you enjoyed this episode!