Dusk.
Dusk.
Dusk.
Dusk.
In Whitechapel, that's really all that anyone was talking about. The famous vampire romance book and movie series named Dusk. The popular series was finding it's way into everyone's lives, regardless of age. For me, the only thing it seemed to bring into my life was annoyance.
I was annoyed by the movie Dusk because it consumed everyone's lives. Almost every boy and girl in Whitechapel High were too busy sticking their faces in their phones, tablets, and computers to pay attention to their teacher, or even their friends sitting right next to them. Every girl wanted to be with the dark mysterious vampire love interest, and every guy wanted to be him. Honestly, at this point, I would rather have couples making out in the hallways again.
Truth be told, I didn't mind the actual movies too much. I actually kind of liked them, at least a little bit. It was a movie about a girl just a few years older than me finding a forever true love that was willing to die (and even kill) for her. What wasn't to like?
Before I could think about the blood-sucking series any longer, my train of thought was cut off when I approached my two best friends in the middle of their conversation.
"A babysitter? For you? Classic!" The taller, dark-haired goofball known as Benny laughed. Ethan, who was a few inches shorter and a little more serious, tried his best to get him to shut up.
"Shhh, quiet down, man! Just—" Ethan looked around him in paranoia. "This kind of info could totally ruin a guy's reputation." This year, he was determined to be considered cool for once. I guess he was tired of being called a dork all of the time, and I really couldn't blame him. "And it's not for me, it's for Jane."
I tried to hold back my laugh as best I could. "Yeah, like the reputation you have is already that high up," I patted his chest and he gave me a pained frown in return. "Oh, c'mon Eth, don't take that too hard. You know I'm just messing around."
Benny tried to make the situation better, as he always did. "On the positive side, one of these hot ass chicks could totally be at your house tonight." He peered over Ethan's shoulder to check out one of the girls that was on the cheerleading squad.
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "Do you have to make everything about how hot girls are?" In reply, Benny just smiled slyly and nodded.
"All I know is that her name is Erica and she goes to this school." Ethan looked around the crowd of rushing students as if someone who looked like their name was Erica would just jump out to him. "With any luck, I can talk my parents out of it by tonight."
Before Benny and I could say anything in return, our attention shifted to the assistant principal and the students that were approaching him. I didn't know much about them, but I was pretty sure they were the Drama Club.
"Ah! Hey, Principal Hicks, let me give you a hand..." One of the boys -- who, oddly enough, looked like the shot-caller of the group -- grabbed Hicks' coffee cup out of his hands to let him finish hanging up a missing person poster. When I saw his face, my heart fluttered, and a thousand dirty thoughts danced throughout my head. He was hauntingly attractive, and sure as hell stood out from the rest of the students at my school.
"Ah, thank you, Jesse! Much better." I made a mental note of his name and silently thanked our principal in my head.
"Anything for our fearless leader." Jesse glanced at Hicks' coffee, "Do you mind?" Without a reply from him, he went ahead and took a drink and I scoffed. Mysterious, dark, and arrogant. "Ah, French roast."
Mr. Hicks glanced between Jesse and his cup. "French... roast..." He repeated the boy's words slowly and eerily, and chills ran down my spine.
"Good choice." Jesse placed the cup back in the Principal's hands.
"Good choice..." Principal Hicks looked like he was in a trance of some sort, but no one else except the boys and I seemed to notice or care.
Jesse began walking away and smiled and turned to us, which made Ethan and Benny awkwardly smile back. His eyes focused on me for a second too long before he turned away and made his way down the hallway, his entourage following in suit. His glance made my stomach tighten with a feeling I couldn't place. He nearly put me in a trance. He made it feel like the half-second he looked at me actually lasted for ten.
"Boys in the drama club, always making a scene!" Principal Hicks chuckled and shrugged it off like nothing happened. Benny, Ethan, and I awkwardly nodded and laughed in return.
I made sure the three of us moved on to our first class as quickly as possible.
= • =
I looked at my tray in disgust as the lunch lady slapped down a spoonful of what was supposed to be sloppy joe. Personally, I thought it looked a little bit too sloppy. It looked more like spaghetti sauce. But it's what you got with school lunches.
I wasn't really paying attention to the boys, but from what I could tell, Benny was being a dork and Ethan was expressing how 'un-cool' and 'embarrassing' it was. Eventually, our friend Rory came into the equation, and it was then that I just tuned out the conversation completely. I'd learned not to listen to him most of the time because usually it just ended up in me being shocked that someone could think like he does.
When I finally turned to the boys, it was just in time to watch Ethan bump into a poor girl and cause way-too-sloppy-joe sauce to spill all over her shirt. "Ahh! Dork! Thank you SO much."
I cringed.
"That's a babe if I've ever seen one," Benny watched her walk away with a dreamy look in his eyes.
"Yeah, that's Sarah Fox, and she's at the near top of the food chain. What you just did was totally 'uncool,' Ethan." I joked. Ethan just let out frustrated sigh.
"It's not like I meant to, Ella!" He stormed off to a random table and we all followed him. I felt bad for Ethan, but at the same time, I didn't. If I had a sloppy joe stain on my shirt, I'd be upset too.
The four of us sat at the end of a cafeteria table and talked about recent games and television shows for a few minutes. I decided against eating my sloppy joe, but I gladly ate the chips that came with it.
Benny suddenly stared off to another table. "No way. That chick you branded is friends with her?"
I followed his glance and stopped when I landed on Erica Jones and Sarah, the girl Ethan had crashed into just a few minutes ago. "Who's that?" I asked mid-crunch. I knew who she was, but I wanted to know who she was to Benny.
"Her name is Erica, and she's the Princess Leia to my Han Solo." He was a total fanboy. They were perfect. Ethan struggled to contain a laugh. "And hey, maybe she's your babysitter for tonight."
"Okay, first, in no universe are you Han." Ethan laughed. Benny gave him a slightly dirty stare. "I doubt it's the same Erica."
"Eh, you're right," he shrugged. "Probably too good to be true." Benny slapped his hand on the table and stood up confidently. "I'm going to go find out."
Sometimes, I admired my best friend's ability to not be embarrassed in the most embarrassing situations possible. Even though it wasn't embarrassing to me, I knew it had to be to Ethan, and I took some pity on the guy.
Ethan yelled at Benny and tried to make him come back, but he just kept walking. Typical Benny.
He wasn't there for long, maybe thirty seconds, but he tried to introduce Ethan to Erica. Apparently, she was the babysitter.
When Benny got back, Rory and Ethan had a small argument about how Duskers are lame, and how Star Trek was better because it was based on physics, while Dusk was based on fairytale creatures.
Just an (almost) normal lunch with my best friends.
= • =
At the end of the day, Ethan and Benny and I walked out of the building together. Benny was scrolling through his phone. "Ah. They found the rest of that missing senior."
"The rest?" I asked.
"Yeah, says here that he was all shriveled up. You know, kind of like this juice box–" Benny made apple juice squirt all over Ethan's face, and I giggled so hard my backpack almost fell off of my shoulder. "I am so sorry, I didn't–"
"Dude!" Ethan laughed it off and shoved him away.
"Hey, it's payba–" Before I could finish my sentence, I looked ahead and saw Jesse with Sarah, up against a tree. It looked like they were arguing about something. I hated to admit it, but deep down, a slight pang of jealousy hit my heart. I hadn't even talked to him, he barely knew my name, and he seemed like a straight-up jerk, but there was something about him. The way he had his arm against the tree, and was looking down at Sarah with a stern glance...
No. I needed to shut up.
Benny noticed who I was looking at and sighed. "Oh, bummer. Looks like she already hooked up with Mr. Too-Cool-For-School."
Suddenly, Rory popped up behind the boys. "Did someone mention my name?" He grinned and if I wasn't currently spying on Sarah and Jesse, I would've smiled.
I watched as Sarah pushed Jesse back and stormed away. "It's ridiculous! It's too late to turn back now." He threw his hands up and stared at his girlfriend in annoyance.
Erica hopped in on the conversation. "Jesse, Sarah said you weren't a big fan of vampire movies?"
He let out a half-laugh. "I love vampires. That's exactly what I told her." Within a few seconds, Sarah stormed away from the group entirely.
"There's something not right about that drama club." Ethan shook his head and turned to Rory and Benny.
"Yeah, no shit," I said in awe. They were so weird and off... but it intrigued me.
Benny melted when he focused on Erica. "I am so going to your house tonight." He dreamily sighed.
"Calm down, lover boy." I laughed and rested my head on his shoulder. He didn't move or flinch. I did this often, and he didn't ever seem to mind too much.
"Great," Ethan mumbled. "The more mathletes the merrier."
= • =
eeek!! first chapter done!!
thank you so much for reading
💖 it's been a while since i posted something and it feels great!
i know there aren't a lot of MBAV fans anymore, and i know there are even fewer jesse fans. but that's okay :)
please comment and vote!
ily guys ♥️
-kenna
R.I.P Luke Perry. Truly a Legend.
chapter first published: march 5th 2019 @ 2:32am
first edit: september 16th 2023 @ 2:08am