- Brother? -
Oh sweet lord Jesus, I can't believe I just did that. I'm sitting in the passenger seat of Elizabeth's car, touching my lips because I'm still shocked while she laughs at me, shaking her head. She dropped off both Gregory and Mey-Rin over twenty minutes ago, and I was going to go home as well, but then I remembered that I had left all of my stuff back at her house. So now, she's taking me back to her home, where I will spend the night.
It took absolutely no convincing whatsoever when I told my aunt, and when I asked her why she wasn't questioning me she laughed and said some very colorful things about my sexuality.
She's under the impression that I couldn't get a girlfriend, but I bet I could - if I tried hard enough.
...Maybe.
Probably not.
"Hey, thanks again for letting me stay here, I'm sorry to bother you."
As we pull up in her driveway, I take notice of another car occupying some space that was most definitely not there before. However, I don't say anything because it's none of my business and I'm also a little afraid of how excited the blonde sitting next to me seems.
"Oh, he's back! I had no idea he was coming down from college - hurry up, Ciel! I have someone I want you to meet!"
My god, I've had more than enough socializing for one night.
Not really in the mood to talk to anyone else, I remove myself from the car at a snails pace, walking hunched over as if I have no bones.
I think I'd like to be a jellyfish in my next life.
Making my way towards her door, I follow behind her and let out a series of sighs.
Why must I have to interact with other human beings?
Then again...I interacted with Sebastian.
That was fun.
Heh.
"Eddy!"
I'm pulled from my thoughts when I see Elizabeth lifted up off the ground by a very tall blonde boy who swings her around in a circle, her laughing like a child the entire time.
Disgusting.
"Lizzy, I missed you - thought I'd take the weekend to drive down and see how you were doing. And based on the vaguely pissed off looking boy behind you, I'd say you're having relationship problems."
Blushing, I open my mouth to quickly correct him when Elizabeth beats me to it.
"Oh, he's not my boyfriend, although I can't say I wouldn't like him to be. Unfortunately, he doesn't find girls all that appealing, which is really too bad isn't it?" She turns back to smile at me and I send her a death glare.
The older boy raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything, instead choosing to put Elizabeth back down on the ground and walk around her and over to me. Taking my hand in his own, he raises it to his mouth and presses a kiss on the inside of my palm.
Oh.
"That may be bad for you, Lizzy - but not necessarily for me." He winks at me and I'm appalled when my face heats up even more.
"Hi, I'm Edward - her brother. It's nice to meet someone as cute as you, especially since we both apparently bat for the same team." His tongue flicks out for a split second to lick a spot on my wrist and I stare into his bright green eyes, my mouth opening and closing while I struggle to come up with something to say.
What's happening?
"Ah, I'm afraid you can't flirt with this one, he already has his sights set on someone else. You two would make a cute couple though, I'll give you that much."
"Wh - hey! Excuse me, Elizabeth's brother - please unhand me."
With a chuckle, he drops my hand and my arm falls to my side. Avoiding eye contact with the boy, I maneuver my way around him and follow the girl back into her house. I try to ignore Edward - I really do - but do you know how hard that is when I can feel his eyes on the back of my head? Walking faster, I make my way up the stairs and run into the guest bedroom she pointed me to, closing and locking the door behind me.
I can grab my things in the morning.
"You know, I'm in possession of every key to every door in this house, just for future reference."
...Or, I could collect my stuff now and try to find my way home in the dark, at one in the morning.
Decisions, decisions.
"Edward, leave him alone. Ciel, I was thinking about eating some of the cake I have in the fridge downstairs, would you like to join me? I was only joking about me wanting you to be my boyfriend, if that's what's making you uncomfortable."
...That's not fair, bribing me with food. Especially sweets.
Rolling my eyes, I unlock the door and forcefully swing it open, staring at the two siblings watching me.
"That's hardly the reason for my discomfort, Elizabeth."
I send a pointed look at her brother, but he just grins at me. Taking a closer look, I won't deny the fact that he is rather attractive, but as it was said earlier - I already like someone else.
Like being an understatement, but let's not focus on that. I'm infatuated with Sebastian, and though her brother may have good looks, there's no way he comes close to a certain black haired male.
Not naming names, but I'm sure you can guess.
After an awkward moment of silence, with Edward's eyes on me the entire time, I clear my throat and look at Elizabeth.
"I heard you say something about cake, so take me to my food, woman."
Both of them laugh, and just like that an easy-going atmosphere replaces the previous one. I still make sure to walk a little further ahead of the boy though as we make our way into the kitchen, just in case.
"So then," He starts as he sits down on the stool next to me, a curious expression on his face. "What's a kid like you doing hanging around with my weird and annoying sister?"
I let out a small laugh at Elizabeth's obvious offense, settling down when she hands me a slice of cake.
"Well, she's sort of helping me out with...something? She's teaching me how to act like...you, I suppose."
Elizabeth snorts loudly and snickers at her brother's confused look, not bothering to tell him for the time being. I chuckle a little bit too, taking a few bites of the sweet food.
"And I'm not a kid," I add as an afterthought. "I'm almost eighteen."
"Oh yeah? Well I'm twenty two, so you're certainly a kid to me."
"You're right - you're practically a fossil."
He only hums in response, eating his own serving as Elizabeth tells him about her new 'friendship' with me. Edward laughs here and there and listens rather intensely at other times, like he's genuinely interested in what she's saying. At the end, he looks at me like I'm crazy for doing this, and I can't say that I don't agree with him.
"So....you're a nerdy noodle on the inside, but in order to get with this boy my sister's turning you into a bowl of popular pasta on the outside?"
...
"Yes?"
Edward nods, taking it in stride. "I see. Well to me, it sounds like this boy of yours is quite the...he gets around, and you don't I take it. I'm also going to go ahead and assume that even though you knocked his socks off at his birthday party, he was probably surrounded by possible conquests the moment you stepped out the door."
I stare blankly at him, blinking once or twice.
"You're kinda ruining my mood here, sir."
He holds his hands up in defense, looking at his sister for help. To my surprise, she too nods with a thoughtful look on her face.
"He's right, Ciel, I didn't think about it like that. He's constantly surrounded by both girls and boys who want to hop into bed with him, and he takes advantage of that most of the time. How does it make you feel when you see him with another person all over him?"
"I want to punch whoever he's with in the face, obviously."
"Exactly," She says, pointing a finger at me with a smirk. "So that's what we need to do. In order for you to look like a player, you need the high school equivalent of groupies, like Sebastian. But you don't have those because you are indeed a very nerdy noodle and even though you may have gained quite a few admirers earlier, I'd rather not have you whoring yourself out to them because the people at our school are nasty and you're too innocent. Looks like we'll have to settle for a fake boyfriend or at least a false friend with benefits."
I continue to shove cake in my mouth, looking at her like she's insane.
Which she is.
"Um, the only person I would be comfortable doing that with is Greg, and he's straight as a line. Actually, no - I take that back. I would not be comfortable with that."
"Even lines can bend." Edward chimes in and I flick some icing at him with my fork.
She takes my plate away when I'm done and puts it in the sink. With her back to me, she resumes talking.
Yay.
"You do have a point, but I wasn't talking about him. You know who would make a good fake sex friend for you? That boy you sit with at lunch, the one with the hideous white stripe in his hair."
I choke on my spit and sputter out a broken - "Ch-Cheslock?"
"Yep, that's the one."
I slap my hands on the counter, leaning back and laughing out loud at the thought of walking around school while flirting with Cheslock. Sure, we're friends and all, and I'm sure that he wouldn't mind pretending because he's very adventurous, but if the very idea makes me cackle then I don't know how I would handle myself if we actually went through with it. I can't imagine either one of us acting like that without cracking up in the middle of it, which would for sure ruin any impression that we were an 'item'.
"Why are you laughing, I think it's a good idea! It would be even better if you could get your whole table to hang on you, making it look like they're totally enraptured by you. They're all quite eye-catching, and with your good looks it wouldn't be that hard to believe."
By this point I'm screeching with laughter, repeatedly smacking the cool surface of the counter with one hand and clutching my stomach with the other. Elizabeth looks like she wants to hit me and Edward just looks amused, but I could care less. It's hilarious, the very thought of any of them - Edgar, Lawrence, Herman, Maurice, and Clayton - acting like my groupies makes me cackle. They're all such...such dweebs - and that's why the eight of us - myself, Cheslock, and Gregory included - formed such a close circle of friends.
"Li-listen, Elizabeth. Let me tell you what's not gonna happen -"
"No," She interrupts me, eyebrows raised. "Let me tell you what is gonna happen. Since you seem to think that your friends are a bunch of noobs, let me and Mey talk to them. If we managed to convince you to do what you just did with Sebastian, I'm positive that I can talk your lunch table into playing along."
I look at her with wide eyes - she's serious about this.
"B-but...none of them are, you know, not heterosexual. Except for maybe Cheslock, which is why just him would be okay, but not the rest -"
"If most of your friends are straight, then that's fine - it doesn't matter. All you need is someone who acts like your current fling - also known as skunk boy - and the rest just need to follow you around. Exactly like Sebastian's 'pals'."
I snort, shaking my head at her and crossing my arms over my chest. Even her brother looks like he doesn't think it'll work, and he couldn't be more right.
"Yeah, okay. I support your decision, but don't say I didn't warn you when it doesn't work out like you thought it would."
An eerie smile forms on the girl's face as she stares at me, making me feel uneasy, to say the least.
"Oh, it'll work. And when it does - when we go back on Monday - the eight of you are going to take the fucking school by storm, Ciel Phantomhive."