Who: Jen & Sebastian What: Chat at school Where: High School When: Lunch, Monday 10/16
Jen had been tempted to stay home today. Hunter was still pale and listless and she worried about him. She'd only left him alone because he'd told her Mak was going to come over and they were going to skip together and work things out. She would have taken the excuse to stay home though and she did end up skipping first period. She was looking for a nice, secluded spot to eat her lunch when she spotted Sebastian and stopped walking, unsure if she should say hi or not. The guy was dating her brother but it was all hush hush and she didn't want to put him on the spot. So she just stood there for a moment and fixed the strap of her backpack, looking around as if looking for someone else. If he wanted to talk, he could come to her, if he didn't, she wasn't going to force it. She had a feeling he might ask about Hunter, but then maybe they'd been texting all night, what did she know.
Sebastian had been watching for Hunter all morning, still worried about him and hoping to at least catch him and make sure everything was okay. He expected to see him and Mak at some point, but hadn’t seen either of them. At first he thought it was just chance. They didn’t have any classes together, so it would’ve been easy to miss each other. But by lunch time, he thought maybe Hunter wasn’t at school. When he spotted Jen, he looked around for Hunter again, but not seeing him he decided to go over and ask. He was still a little worried about her telling people about him and Hunter, even though Hunter had said she was cool. It always made him feel better to confirm in person. “Hey,” he said, pulling his backpack up on his shoulder. “Is Hunter here today? I haven’t seen him.”
"Walk with me," Jen said since she was determined to have enough time to eat this lunch hour. She started walking before he could protest, yawning softly before actually answering his question. "He stayed home today, he's still feeling crappy. He said he'd be here tomorrow though, in case anyone asked." She looked up at Sebastian with a little telling smile that Hunter might have specifically mentioned him in that scenario. Okay so it was kind of cute that her brother was seeing someone, she'd just expected it to be under happier circumstances and - if she was honest - with someone a lot more shallow than Sebastian seemed to be.
Sebastian took a few quick steps to catch up with her, seeing no reason to argue. It was a little weird talking to Jen and just Jen, but only because they’d never really spoken until recently, and both times Hunter was around. He did smile a little though, as she relayed the message from Hunter, and was glad he didn’t outright blush. “Kay,” he said. “I’m just… just worried about him. Does he seem any better? Or, like… can I bring him something?” It seemed like a silly question, now that he’d asked it. He didn’t have the flu. Chicken soup wasn’t going to help.
"I don't know," Jen said with a little shrug. She wasn't about to tell a boy how to conduct himself in a relationship, like she even knew. "Just talk to him, he'll tell you." She had a sudden impulse to tell Sebastian that if he broke Hunter's heart, she would break his neck but it seemed lame and these things tended to just develop however the hell they wanted anyway. "He never believed in any of this stuff so he's in shock," she said instead and there was definitely a part of her that felt like she was better equipped to deal with that stuff. At least she knew it was real and she was way stronger than Hunter emotionally.
“Yeah. Yeah, of course,” Sebastian nodded. He needed to text Hunter, but wanted to do it when he’d have some time to respond. He didn’t want to get into a conversation and then leave him hanging because the bell rang. Quiet for a beat, Sebastian looked over at Jen. “So you believe in this stuff? The...everything?” He didn’t know if Hunter had told her everything, but it was a lot-- the real Ouija board, the hauntings, and then the demon possession. “Anyone who went through what he went through would be hurting,” he said softly. This wasn’t because Hunter was weak or soft. At least, Sebastian didn’t think he was.
Jen had found a quiet spot to sit and eat and dropped her backpack and plopped down next to it, fully expecting Sebastian to join her if he wanted to keep talking. If not then he could leave just as easily and go eat lunch with his popular friends. "It could have been a lot worse," she said as she unwrapped her sandwich. She had no idea how much Hunter had told Sebastian and she wasn't about to go spill details to him that Hunter might not want him to know. It was all pretty gross and she could understand if her brother didn't want anyone to know about any of it ever. "The way it went down he can at least heal from it."
Sebastian looked down at Jen for a moment before taking a seat beside her, pulling out his phone to shoot a quick text to Greg. He wasn’t sure if he’d miss the whole lunch hour, but thought he should at least give him a head’s up since they normally ate together. Or, well, with the same group. It was rarely just the two of them. “It could have been,” he agreed, pulling his lunch bag out of his backpack. “But everyone’s alive, and I don’t think there’s any irreparable damage.” Unless Hunter had left out something huge, he thought that most of it was psychological, which sounded better, but he thought was sometimes worse. People knew how to make their bodies heal. Minds were so much more complicated. They seemed to be thinking on the same track, so he nodded in agreement. “Did you know about this stuff before?”
Admittedly she was a bit surprised when he sat down next to her, but she didn't let it show, just nodded softly at his assessment and chewed on her food in silence. Until he asked her a question that is, then she nodded again and dusted some crumbs off her jeans. "I didn't have proof or anything, but yeah, I knew. Or believed, anyway. I knew there were witches in town. I just didn't know who they were, my friend was protective of his sources." She looked at Sebastian, curiously studying his face. "Did you?"
His lips turned up just slightly and he nodded. “Yeah. I’ve had some experience with them.” It was the truth, even if it was a huge understatement. Even though his family didn’t actively practice magic, he’d been warned about what was out there and what to stay away from. Knowledge was power and protection in a town like Point Pleasant, and ignorance was flat out dangerous. “It’s more than just witches though. Ghosts, demons, all kinds of things.” Enough that he should probably be scared to go out at night, but he wasn’t. “Who’s your friend?”
She hesitated in telling him, mainly because she did not need word to get back to her father about her having a friend who was decades older than her. Then she shrugged. "His name's Rost, he takes care of the cemetery so he's seen some things." Sebastian might know him, then again he might not. Jen wasn't sure her type of weirdo's would ping Sebastian's radar on a normal day, but then he seemed to be full of surprises. "Have you seen things?"
“Yeah, working in a cemetery would do that,” Sebastian nodded, tucking that bit of knowledge away. He didn’t know Rost, and from what she said he wasn’t a witch himself, but he knew witches, which was always valuable information. He wondered if he knew his family, if that was common knowledge in the right circles. “Um… yeah,” he said, trying to decide how to answer. He hadn’t seen so much, but he didn’t have to. He knew. “My brother had some issues with a poltergeist a while ago. Not as bad as a demon. More like a pain in the ass, but they can get mean.”
Jen knew she should be wary of all those things, especially after what had happened to Hunter, but she still felt that spark of something like joy just talking about it. "I found a hex bag in the tunnels," she said. "It was hidden in the wall. Rost said there was no way of knowing what it was meant for but he got rid of it just in case. Only the witch who made it would know. Makes you wonder, that place is cursed so was it that witch? Or were they trying to make it better..."
“Why did you remove it?” Sebastian asked with a little frown. He didn’t know that the Cooperdale Tunnel was cursed for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise him in the least. Too much had happened around it for it not to be linked to something. “Hex bags are for protection. Usually for a person, not a place. I mean, they only last so long, but-- what witch?” Was there a witch tied to the tunnels? Or did she mean the one that meant the hex bag? “I wonder what it would take to protect a place like that.”
"I took it because if it was bad it's better to get rid of it the right way," Jen said, matching his frown with her own. "I didn't want it to end up with someone who didn't know what it was. It might not have been protective." She shrugged then at his question. "I don't know who put it there, probably takes a lot more than one bag to protect a place like that - if that's what it was meant for - and it looked really old."
“Okay,” Sebastian said, belatedly realizing that not everyone knew that hex bags were a good thing like he did. They were one of the few things in the witching world that he was familiar with, like the salt, and he’d never considered them dangerous. “Yeah, a place like that it’s probably just better to avoid. I’m not sure even a cleansing would help it, let alone a hex bag. Or ten. What were you doing down there?”
"Snooping," Jen said with a little shrug. "They found a body up there and everyone kept saying it looked like it was run over by a train. Weird, right? My dad says it was an animal attack but I don't know, he doesn't believe in anything that's not thoroughly investigated and documented by real scentists." She made little airquotes for 'real' and rolled her eyes.
“Most people don’t believe in the supernatural. It doesn’t follow the rules of science, so it can’t be easily explained. And those that do believe have been taught to hide it through persecution,” Sebastian said, unwrapping his own sandwich since it didn’t look like he was going anywhere. “It used to be that having some insight or connection into the supernatural would get you killed. These days, people just think you’re crazy. So I guess that’s an improvement. But it does mean, when normal people run up against it, they’re not prepared.”
Jen nodded and ate a little more before she spoke again. "Even when you know what you're dealing with it's hard to find the facts. I think most people aren't prepared for anything, there's only so much you can do to be ready." She hoped she'd know more in the future, as of now she knew precious little but that wasn't her fault. It wasn't like she wasn't searching. "Do you feel prepared?"
“Prepared for what?” Sebastian asked slowly. “To deal with the supernatural? No, but I’m working on it. I intend to be.” He had the feeling it would take years to learn everything he needed to learn, but he was willing to put in the time and effort. Anything to make sure there were no more demon possessions in his circle of friends. “Or… were you asking about something else?” She’d spoken so generally, it made him wonder if she’d been talking about a different subject completely.
"How are you preparing?" Jen asked, shooting him a curious glance. Maybe he knew something she didn't and she absolutely thought he should share if that was the case. Especially if he was going to be dating her brother, though it was probably a little too early to use that in her favor.
The question tripped him up a little and he stared at her, taking a bite of his sandwich to figure out a suitable answer. “Gathering knowledge from reliable sources. Aligning myself with--” He almost said ‘people he could trust’, but he had no idea if he could trust Reagan. “--with people who have the skills to protect me and those I care about. And learning what I can to do it myself.” He felt like he’d successfully fudged his way through it, but it was so hard to tell. Jen was hard to read.
"We should compare books sometimes," Jen said and gave him a little smile. He wasn't really the type she'd expected to talk to about these things but he was friendly and she had to admit that not eating lunch by herself was kind of nice for a change. "Make sure we keep safe."
“We should,” Sebastian said, laughing softly. “That would be my goal. This one got away from me. I knew the hex bags were more of a bandaid than a solution, but I didn’t realize how it could all blow up. It’s been a while since this kind of stuff really mattered in my life and I wasn’t prepared.” It made him wonder if or when he’d hear from Reagan, or if he needed to go see her. She might even be expecting him after his friends had turned up on her doorstep, or maybe she’d changed her mind. But if she wouldn’t teach him, he wanted to know who else could.
Jen watched him curiously, puzzling together what he was saying. "You're the one who got them the hex bags," she concluded with a little smile. She'd known they'd gotten magical protection but Hunter had been terribly vague about it all and she hadn't felt right interrogating him when he didn't seem to be able to stop crying for more than a few minutes at a time. "When did it last matter in your life?"
Sebastian bit his lip, smiling a little as he nodded. “Yeah,” he answered, not all that worried about having given that away. So he knew a witch. He was starting to realize a lot of people in this town probably did. “Um, probably when I was thirteen.” He knew he was being vague as all hell, but he wasn’t just going to tell her. And he wondered how long it would take her to figure it out if he kept answering her questions.
"No details, huh?" Jen murmured. "You're very cagey, Sebastian McCarthy." She didn't sound put off by it, nor amused. It just was what it was and if he didn't want to tell her, she'd live. For now she just ate her sandwich, giving him a sidelong glance every so often.
“Sometimes,” Sebastian admitted. “But you already know one of my biggest secrets. Can’t hand you everything at once. You’ve gotta work for it,” he said with a smile and a shrug. She knew what she did because of Hunter. He was the reason for Sebastian’s trust, but she hadn’t really given him a reason herself.
"That's your biggest secret?" Jen asked, eyebrows raising curiously. "You must be pretty boring then," she teased. Being gay was so not a big deal where she came from, it was hard to think of it as a big secret, even if logically she knew not everyone saw it that way. "Not having secrets is the way to go, secrets can hurt you."
“One of them,” Sebastian said. He had two. He suspect that, to some people, being gay was nothing. She barely knew him, so it probably didn’t seem like a big deal. But it was to him, and he knew it would be to his family, and it would be a change for everyone that knew him. “I am incredibly boring,” he grinned, but then sighed. “So can the truth. Sometimes you’re not ready. Sometimes the world isn’t. Sometimes it never will be. Secrets can protect you, too.”
She disagreed but she also understood where he was coming from. Keeping secrets could protect him, until someone found out. Maybe the right thing to say was that people could use your secrets against you but the truth was your own weapon. She contemplated that as she chewed. "You're not so bad," she told him once she'd swallowed the last bite. "I know at least one person who thinks you're terribly interesting."
“Well, thanks,” Sebastian huffed a little laugh. “You’re not either.” Different, but he’d never minded different. But he knew not everyone thought like that. “I think he is, too,” he said with a softer smile. “And I know you might not agree with it, but… could you please not tell anyone? I really want to get there, but I have some stuff I need to figure out first.” And if anyone was going to out him, he wanted it to be him.
"It's not my secret to share," Jen told him and she wasn't even sure who she'd tell if she wanted to go babbling it to people. The only person she might want to tell was Hunter and he already knew. "You don't have to worry about me." She might not want to keep secrets but she understood the weight of them and how they could hurt you if you weren't ready for them to see the light of day. "You don't have to worry about Hunter either, he can be clueless but he'd never break your confidence."
Sebastian hadn’t been worried about Hunter since that day at Moxie’s. He knew Hunter understood, even if coming out had gone well for him. He knew he got the fear. He hadn’t been sure about Jen, partially because he didn’t know her, but also because she didn’t seem to think it was a big deal. And it was to him. Very much so. “I’m not worried about Hunter. But you’re harder for me to read,” he said with a little smile.
Maybe hearing that shouldn't have made her feel good but it did, like she was mysterious or something. "You'll just have to take my word for it then and find out in time." She tilted her head as she looked at him. "Think about it though. What do you know about me?" There was a point to the question, one that she didn't really share much with people, not her own stuff and especially not somebody else's.
Sebastian thought for a minute, not entirely sure what she was getting at, and also realizing he really knew very little about her. “You’re Hunter’s twin sister. You’re… protective of him,” he said, thinking of her answering the door, then having it shut in his face. “You aren’t a party person. Or maybe the example I have just wasn’t your crowd. You believe in the supernatural, probably even before you had any evidence of it. And… you want to keep people safe.” The last was the one that mattered most to him, after her connection to Hunter. It spoke of her character and would have won his approval even if she wasn’t Hunter’s sister.
She winked and pointed at him. "There you go," she said and honestly, that was more than she expected him to know. "Not just a hat rack, huh?" Telling him he was smarter than he looked probably wouldn't sound much like a compliment but he did look like a dumb jock, or maybe that was just her bias against sporty boys her brother swooned over.
“Thanks,” Sebastian snorted, though he continued to smile. He knew what people tended to think of him if they didn’t really know him-- he was probably just a dumb jock. He had the letter jacket and all to prove it. He dated cheerleaders, played football, and pretty much stayed within the lines of the stereotype, at least to the casual observer. The bell rang and he finished off his soda real quick, piling his trash in the paper lunch bag. “I’ve gotta run, but you’ll tell Hunter I said hi?”
"I will," Jen said as she got up too. "You might talk to him before I do though, who knows." Hunter knew, he was probably sending him little messages all of the time if he was as into him as he seemed to be. It was cute, she guessed. "See you around, Bastian."
“Maybe. Hopefully,” Sebastian said, trying to keep his smile reigned in. If he wandered away from Jen with his mind on Hunter, people might really get the wrong idea. “See ya, Jen.”