Who: Bash and Phee When: evening, Thursday, July 12th Where: Dino's Status: complete
Bash had been moved in with Theo for a little while now, and it was weird for Phee. She knew he’d needed to do it, and he was eighteen now, so nobody could stop him -- not that their parents tried very hard at all. Phee hadn’t either, though she’d shed some tears when he’d left. She just missed him, and it was strange being the only kid left in the house. Not a lot had changed on the surface, there was just this sense of being alone that she wasn’t used to. James was as into working as ever, so he was barely around, and Brianna ... well Phee still didn’t really know what was going on with their mom. Sometimes she seemed normal, sometimes she seemed like she was just drifting around like a ghost. At least she wasn’t bringing her boyfriend home anymore, or whoever he was.
Phee had been trying to spend a lot of time with Greg and Jen so she wouldn’t feel so isolated, but neither of them was her brother. So late Thursday afternoon, while she was flopping around listlessly in her room, Phee sent Bash a text. sooooo bored ... want to get pizza w/ me?
Bash was thrilled to be living with Theo for the duration of the summer, but it was weird being away from home. The money he got from doing yard work and pool cleanings no longer seemed like enough to pay his way, but he wouldn’t be around long enough to get a part time job. He had more free time than Theo did, but now had a lot smaller space to spend it in, and he didn’t feel like he could just go hang out back home. His parents' reaction to him moving out left him with mixed feelings—he didn’t want to fight with them about it, but he did want them to care. Both of them seemed over the whole parenting gig, except for Brianna’s request that he bring Theo over for dinner. He had no idea what to make of that, but had agreed, hoping it might create some form of a bridge.
The person he missed the most after moving out was Phee. For all the time they spent moving in opposite directions when he’d been at home, he’d still been able to knock on her door most nights and find her there. Now he had to actually pick up the phone and make plans to talk to her. He’d been thinking of doing so, but hadn’t quite gotten around to it when she texted him. He smiled, texting her back. YES! Meet you at Dino’s?
Phee had let her phone drop, not sure she would get an immediate answer. Since they were living together now, she was sure her brother and Theo were staying busy with each other a lot. Not something Phee wanted to think too much about, because ew, but now that she’d had a little preview of living with someone, she knew how it could be. But her phone buzzed almost immediately, and Phee grinned as she picked it up and looked at her brother’s reply. Maybe Theo was at work or something, so that was good timing. Or maybe they needed some space -- semi-living in Greg’s basement rooms with him had felt small, a houseboat had to feel even smaller. She stood up to go to her closet, thumbing in her answer. be there in 20, gotta see if I can borrow the car
Bash was already up and looking for his shoes when Phee texted him back. It was so easy to forget what she had to deal with at home, now that he wasn’t there himself, and he shot back another reply. Let me know if you need me to pick you up, followed by a little smiley face, because it wasn’t an inconvenience, even if Overlook wasn’t on the way. He hoped their parents would get her a car once he left for college, but they could be difficult when they wanted to be, and Bash knew their father liked having an element of control over them. Phee might be his little girl, but it wouldn’t surprise Bash at all if their father wanted her to have to ask every time she went out. Greg would probably take her anywhere she wanted, but he kind of wanted dinner with just his sister tonight. The dynamic shifted when it was the three of them, whether he liked it or not.
If her mom tried to argue about the car, Phee already knew she would threaten to ride her bike, and it would be dark soon, so the car was the safer option. All parents in Point Pleasant knew that, or at least they ought to. She didn’t want to make her brother have to stop by to get her, she knew it was awkward for him sometimes to even swing by briefly. Besides that, she loved the free feeling that came with driving herself around anywhere. She wanted a car of her own in a vague way, but it usually wasn’t a problem, so she hadn’t whined too hard about it yet. Phee tossed her phone aside to change clothes and freshen up a bit, and after a brief conversation with their mom, she had keys in hand and was climbing into the car. omw!! she texted Bash, grinning as she turned the engine on. She was excited to see just him too, which was a little weird since he was her brother, but things felt different now that he lived somewhere else. Phee turned the music up and pulled out of the driveway to head to Dino’s.
When Bash didn’t hear back from her, he assumed that meant she’d gotten the car, and headed on out to Dino’s. He beat her there by a good five minutes, but that was fine; he went ahead and got them a booth, then played around on his phone, glancing up at the door every time it opened. It was weird to think he’d be leaving Point Pleasant in a month, that he’d have to leave behind all the people and places that were so familiar to him. He knew he should be excited, but if he thought too long about it anxiety always took hold, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. One day he’d wake up and it would be time to go—then he’d have to deal with it. But not yet. Not now. Bash’s face lit up and he waved as Phee walked into Dino’s. “Hey!” he smiled, rising to hug her when she made it to the table. Was that weird? It felt like he hadn’t seen her in weeks. “Thanks for texting. I can always go for pizza.”
Maybe it was a little weird, but Phee was more than happy to bounce into the hug and returned it with enthusiasm. “Hey! I figured as much,” she answered with a laugh. Phee pulled back to shed her purse and slide into her side of the booth. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever. How’s it going?” She gave him a little grin and lifted her eyebrow, ready to be filled in on all of the fun details about what it was like to really live with a boyfriend. She’d had a taste of it while their mother had been missing, staying the night in Greg’s basement so often, but that seemed different than actually moving out and no parents being mad about it.
“It’s good!” Bash said, since overall it was wonderful. The best part was falling asleep with Theo every night and waking up with him the next morning, and everything that came with it. But he knew his sister didn’t want to hear that part, so his brain moved on. “It’s a little weird, ‘cause Theo goes to work and I’m just, like, fucking around all day. I thought about getting a real job, but I’m not here long enough to justify it. I think if I was staying I would want us to save a little and then get a real apartment, ‘cause I like the boat, but it’s sometimes really, really small. And if we have a big storm or something—I dunno. We haven’t figured that out.” He assumed they’d go to one of their parents’ houses, but that also kind of felt like running home and he wanted to avoid that. The last thing he needed was his parents thinking he couldn’t cut it on his own.
Phee felt the bubble of sadness she always did when she thought about Sebastian leaving town to go to college. She knew in her head it was a good thing, he needed to stretch his wings and all that, and going to school would be good for him long term ... but it made her sad for herself. Trip leaving home had been similar, but she and Bash had always been closest, and she would miss him a lot. She knew their parents expected her to follow suit next year, of course, but Phee was still undecided about that. A lot depended on Greg, even if Brianna thought that was foolish. “Ew yeah, storms would be scary on a houseboat,” she said, cringing with sympathy before she grinned a little. “If you need to sneak in for shelter one night or something, just text me.” She would be happy to let him come and go under their parents’ noses -- it was a big house and it wasn’t like James was ever around anyway. “Or if you’re just bored during the day ... I’m not doing a lot either, except working in the Castells’ greenhouse and the shop ... you should come with me one day! You can do the watering for me.”
“You shouldn’t have to sneak me in,” Bash laughed as he imagined it. For some reason they needed flashlights in this imaginary scenario, and were tip-toeing around so they wouldn’t get caught, like little kids. “Maybe we can all crash at Greg’s and call it a slumber party.” He doubted Greg would mind and it might be fun, weather be damned. “I don’t know if I can magically water everything without watering us too, but I could try,” he smiled. “What kind of stuff do they have out there?” He tried not to be jealous of Phee’s job at the Castell’s shop because he knew she was doing stuff he could never do, not even with practice, but he wished there was something similar for him, a way to use magic daily. Unfortunately, he didn’t really know enough to do much and, with so little time left before he left, that wasn’t likely to change.
“I’ll bring an umbrella,” Phee said with a grin. Then she happily launched into a descriptive list of all her favorite plants and herbs in Zania’s greenhouse, rattling off the scientific and magical names with ease. Even if Bash had no idea what she was talking about, Phee’s passion was obvious. She’d been learning so much from Zan, and getting to escape into her own little green world a few times a week was bliss. “She grows plenty of weed too, so if you want some, let me know,” she ended with, amused. “I’ve been kinda playing with it to see if I can make it stronger.” Phee was going to try not to get too far into dealing drugs, but with the potential tricks she could learn, she could probably be a kingpin -- queenpin? -- some day. So many things came from plants.
Bash listened to everything Phee said, even if he didn’t get half of it. She’d learned so much and Bash couldn’t tell if it was because of the time she spent with the Castells or because the topic was clearly a passion of hers. He knew she was good with plants, but her knowledge really shined when she got to talking about them. “Um, I will always take some weed,” Bash laughed. “Especially from a reliable source. What exactly does stronger weed do? Like, last longer? Get you higher?” It was crazy to think she could even mess with something like that, but it opened up a world of possibilities. There weren’t really any negative side effects to weed, at least that he knew of, but what if she could remove them from other herbs with medicinal properties?
“Both, I guess?” Phee said, wrinkling her nose as she laughed a little. “I mean it’s stronger so it gets you high faster so you don’t need as much ... but if you wanna get super blazed, it’s g--” The waitress approached to get their drink orders, so Phee quickly shut up and pressed her lips together, her eyes amused. It was legal in Maine, but she still had to be mindful that she was technically underage. Phee snickered a bit once they were alone again. “But okay, I’ll try to get some for you to try.” She still didn’t take anything out of the greenhouse without asking Zania first. It wasn’t her incredible greenhouse collection, as much as she wished it was. “Theo wouldn’t like narc on us to his mom or anything, right?”
Sebastian’s eyes got big and round as the waitress interrupted their conversation, unable to control his grin while placing his drink order. When she finally left, he snickered along with his sister, far too amused to be worried about what she might’ve overheard. “Theo wouldn’t care,” he told Phee. “Unless I refused to share with him or something. And then I still can’t imagine him telling his mom.” It didn’t even seem plausible and made him realize just how little his sister knew his boyfriend. “They’re not super close. I mean, I think they’re better than mom and I are, but that’s not saying much. Did she tell you we’re having dinner with her tomorrow night?”
It was true that she didn’t really know Theo, she’d only been around him a few times, and Phee wanted to, but she also didn’t want to butt into the limited time they had left together. She had no idea what their plan was, if they were going to the same school or trying long distance or what, but that was part of why she was here to catch up. Her brows lifted at the last part and she shook her head. She nodded at the question. “Yeah, she mentioned it. She said I didn’t have to be there, but I think she wants me to, ‘cause I doubt Dad will be,” Phee said with a little roll of her eyes. If there was one thing they were guaranteed to bond over, it was disappointment with their father. Phee was still debating on whether she wanted to join them or not -- she loved to see her brother, but sitting through a get-to-know-the-boyfriend dinner sounded kind of like torture. She would much rather bring them some weed and hang out on the boat.
“It’s up to you. I will not be offended if you bail. I’ll be jealous,” Bash sighed. He waffled between wanting her there and knowing she’d be happier missing it. Yes, he’d be home for a night, but he wasn’t looking forward to it in the least. “She told me Dad was busy, so I’ll be pissed if he shows up. I mean…” Sebastian sighed and fiddled with his fork as he tried to find the words to describe his feelings on the matter. “If things were different, I’d want him there. I’d love it if he gave a shit. But as things are, he would make an already uncomfortable dinner absolutely miserable. I don’t even know what we’re gonna talk about that’s not a downer.” He knew school would come up and he knew what she wanted to hear. It was just getting harder and harder to be excited about it knowing everything he’d have to leave behind.
Phee felt a vague sense of guilt, like she should be there to help support Bash through the whole process. Greg had been over for dinner a few times since they’d started dating, but that was different since their parents had known Greg for almost his entire life. Theo was different, and she was positive it was going to be awkward. Phee just didn’t feel equipped to dispel that sort of awkwardness. She listened to Bash, her pale brows knotted and her expression full of understanding and concern. “Yeah,” she murmured, wishing she had any answers at all about their father. “I’d love it if he gave a shit about a lot of things, but he doesn’t, so ... I get it. I wouldn’t want him there either.” Phee trailed off for a beat, then wrinkled her nose a little. “You’re not feeling good about stuff, huh? Like ... the future?”
Sebastian could easily spend the next hour talking about all the ways his father disappointed him, but that wouldn’t be enjoyable for either of them. It was another one of those things that he and Phee shared that he wished they didn’t, but was also glad they did. At least neither one of them were alone in it. “It’s like… when the year started, I thought this would look different. I thought Greg would be going with me, and then maybe even Hunter, which I realize now was just insane on my part, but it didn’t feel like I’d be leaving as much behind. I mean, I knew you’d be here, but that was always the case,” he said, giving her a small smile. He didn’t want her to think that insignificant, but the fact remained that she had a year left of school when he didn’t and there was nothing he could do about that. “And then it was like, everything changed. Mom disappeared and nothing seemed to matter for months. Our family shrunk to us and leaving you sucks. And Theo… he was supposed to be a fucking fling. And he’s not. Not at all. So it’s hard to suddenly say I want to leave for something I don’t even know I want, you know?”
She listened, nodding slightly here and there. Phee was selfishly glad to be on the list of reasons Bash didn’t want to leave, even though she knew she wouldn’t be enough to keep him there -- nor should she be. She still had to go through her senior year, he was right, and then figure out her own future. Phee didn’t envy his position at all. When it was her turn to maybe go to college, would she be able to leave Greg? Or would he want to come with her? Maybe they wouldn’t even be together anymore. Ugh, the uncertainty of the future really sucked. “Yeah, I get that,” Phee said slowly, trying to think of something more helpful to add. “Could you maybe ... I dunno, take a gap year? A lot of people do that, right? Mom might not like it, but like, honestly, who is she to tell us how to live anymore, you know? It should be your choice. And if you go to college not wanting to be there, how well are you really gonna do?”
“Yeah, but I also worry that if I don’t go now, then I might not ever, you know?” Sebastian sighed, frustrated with the situation, but not really expecting his sister to have a solution for him. There was no right way to do things; it all came down to what he wanted. “I wish I was one of those people who knew exactly what they wanted to do with their life. Like, maybe that would help. I know I want to help people, and I really like the idea of going into healthcare, but… I don’t know. I feel like mom and dad are always in my head, influencing my decisions even when I don’t want them to.” It was so mixed up that he couldn’t tell if what he wanted was really what he wanted or just to spite his parents. Maybe if he got away from them it would be more clear, but he wouldn’t know until he left. “Sorry, I’ve been over this a hundred times in my head and I never get anywhere. You don’t need to hear me whine. What’s new with you?”
“Ugh shut up, you’re not whining, you’re having like, real life problems,” Phee said, rolling her eyes at him with sisterly affection. “You can talk to me about stuff, even if I have no answers for you.” She knew he didn’t expect her to solve his problems, but Phee wanted to be there to support him, or at least listen. Sometimes conflicting thoughts started to make more sense when you talked through them. Phee paused as the waitress returned with their drinks, and took down their food orders. “Nothing’s new with me that you don’t already know about,” she went on with a shrug. “Just working, studying, hanging out with Je-- ohmygod! That actually reminds me, the craziest shit happened last time Jen spent the night.” Phee leaned forward and lowered her voice, her eyes a little wide. “Have you ever heard of the Dark Man? Like really tall, skinny, freaky guy in a bowler hat?”
If Bash had known where the conversation was going to turn, he might’ve kept whining about his mom, or college, or how impossible it was going to be to say goodbye to Theo. He would have latched onto anything else to talk about because anything and everything was better than the Dark Man. Bash instantly went pale, an impressive feat for a ginger, and tucked his hands into the sleeves of his hoodie, hiding what little damage remained on his hands. “Yeah… I… I’ve seen him. Theo and I. Both. You haven’t seen him, have you? If you do, run. Just run.” He wished he could offer better advice, but that thing seemed inescapable. He’d thought they’d been rid of it. He’d thought they were safe. But then it had found them in their dreams. “What happened with Jen?”
It hadn’t even occurred to Phee that her brother might have seen the same entity Jen had ... and her dad, apparently. Her expression turned shocked, brows shooting up toward her hair. He looked like he wanted to throw up. “Ohmygod, Bash, you’ve seen him?” she echoed, her voice hushed but urgent. “Holy shit, you never told me -- Theo too? So did you -- Jen had this dream about him and she woke up all scratched up, like -- like he attacked her in her sleep. Did that happen to you?” She looked down at where he’d hidden his hands and had to stop herself from snatching at his jacket sleeves to make him show her. How could he have not told her? It had been days. “How bad was it, are you okay?”
“It was, um, right before we hooked up. I practically hit him with my car. Theo, not—not the Dark Man,” Sebastian shuddered. “He was running from him, and then we were running from him. And—and then we got away, and I told myself it was nothing.” He closed his eyes for a second and gave a little shake of his head, well aware now of how foolish that all had been. He should have known things like that didn’t just go away, but telling anyone else about it felt like crying about the boogeyman. What could anyone really do? “Then, last week, he came after us in our dreams. Both of us, like you said with Jen. Anything that happened in our dream seemed to happen to us, like, in real life. It was—I’m okay,” he said, more to reassure himself than Phee. His heart was racing just from thinking about it, and he had to remind himself that he was awake. He was safe.
Had she ever asked Bash how he and Theo even met? Phee couldn’t remember, but she was sure she hadn’t gotten that story. Her brother looked traumatized just talking about it, and the dream. Was this asshole monster coming after everyone who’d ever set eyes on him? “Fuck,” she breathed, sitting back in her booth seat as she stared at Bash. Phee had no idea what to say to any of that, because he was right -- what could they do about it? “Is it -- I mean, shit ... is the boat warded at all? Like, the ones at our house didn’t help Jen, but there’s got to be better ones out there, right? Maybe I can talk to Zania ... I don’t like thinking you guys are just floating out there with no protection at all.”
“I don’t really know how to set up wards,” Bash sighed. Being a witch without proper magical knowledge was a sore spot for both of them, but Bash was short on ways to change it. Maybe their dad would eventually teach Phee and she could pass on the knowledge to him, but that wouldn’t help them now. “If the ones at our house weren’t good enough, I’m not sure it matters for this, but it’d be good to have something. Ask Zania if there’s something stronger? I don’t know what to do. We’re both exhausted, afraid to go to sleep. Nothing else has happened, but that doesn’t mean anything. How’s… How’s Jen holding up?”
Phee didn’t expect Bash to do his own wards, she knew how crippled they were when it came to magic, thanks to their parents withholding stuff from them. But now they knew other powerful witches, people who would probably do them favors if they asked. “She told me her dad heard that one of the witch families in the woods could help, the O’-somethings? I think I’ve heard Zania mention them, one of them is an awesome plant witch like me,” Phee told him. That wasn’t the point though. “I dunno how it went though, but I’ll call her and let you know, okay? Maybe they figured something out. And I’ll ask Zania about wards. Her and Nic do some amazing stuff, and I bet they would ward the boat. You and Theo should have something, at least, you know?”
“The O’Reillys?” Bash asked, brows raising. He only knew the name because they were one of the Six that still remained in town, and because they’d helped save his life, but he couldn’t have picked them out of a lineup, or even given you one of their first names. He’d heard rumors, though. Living out in the woods, away from everyone else, made people think weird things. “Ask Jen, or Zan. Even Liam. Fuck, I’ll take help from almost anyone.” Almost, because there were a few people he couldn’t imagine asking for help ever again. There was some shame Bash didn’t think he’d ever shake. The Castells seemed accessible though, and if they were willing to help Phee learn magic, maybe putting up wards around the boat for him wouldn’t be too big a stretch. “Sorry I didn’t mention it before. I’ve been trying not to think about it.”
O’Reillys, that was it. Phee felt so out of her depth and lost whenever she thought about the rest of the Point Pleasant witch community, since they’d been cut off from it all from a young age. She really felt like they should know everyone and have so many people to fall back on -- that’s what community was all about, right? Ugh, it sucked so bad. “Yeah, I’ll ask around,” she promised Bash, really wishing there was more she could do to help him. Jen had been so traumatized and scared, she hated to think her brother had been going through the exact same stuff. At least he had Theo with him, but still. Frowning with sympathy, she reached over to pat Bash’s hands where they were all tucked into his sweatshirt sleeves. “It’s okay,” she murmured. “I know stuff like that is hard to talk about. And I’m glad you’ve got Theo, but we’ll try to make sure it never happens to you guys again, you know? It’ll be okay.”
Bash’s fingers slid out of the ends of his hoodie to link with hers, refusing to look at the state of his hands. He couldn’t eat pizza with them tucked inside, so it was only a matter of time since she saw them anyways. They looked better than they had, but the knuckles were still bruised, beginning to fade to a sickly yellow color from the deep purple they were before. As bad as it was, he kept thinking it could have been worse and that was what kept him up at night. “Thanks,” he said, giving her a small smile of appreciation. “I hate this kind of stuff. I never know what to do, and I feel like I should, but then no one really does. And it seems like the norm around here. It’s the only thing I won’t miss. I just can’t imagine this happens everywhere else.” Maybe he was wrong and this stuff did happen other places and it just wasn’t talked about, but it was hard to believe.
“I feel like we would hear about it more if it did,” Phee agreed, briefly pursing her lips to the side. A lot of the stuff that happened in Point Pleasant was viewed as impossible and even crazy in the outside world, it seemed. Some of it was regarded as ‘crazy’ here too, depending on who you talked to. Phee had no idea how they could stay so blind to huge stuff that affected the whole town, but brains were weird. “It’ll probably be like, a boring relief to get away from it all.” She gave him a wan smile, pushing back that feeling of being left behind again. That was hers to deal with, the last thing she wanted was to make her brother feel guilty for moving on with his life. He deserved that. “We’ll figure out something though.” She sat back as the waitress returned with their drinks and to take their food order.
Bash was glad for the distraction of ordering food, hoping not to focus on his horrible nightmare the whole way through dinner. He probably should have told Phee immediately, or at least his parents, but he kept thinking this was bigger than anything they could handle. Maybe he was wrong and there were witches in this town who could help him and Theo; he’d just have to wait and see, hoping in the meantime that there wouldn’t be another attack. Once the waitress was gone, he took a sip of his drink and used the opportunity to change the subject. “So, I heard there’s going to be a bonfire down on the beach early next week. You and Greg going? I haven’t caught up with him yet.” The downside to moving out was that his best friend was no longer next door. It made it harder to live on his couch all summer, especially since it infringed on Phee’s time with him.
Phee knew that the Dark Man stuff was way out of her depth. It had terrified the shit out of her when it had happened to Jen, she was pretty sure if Bash had been home and going through the same thing, she really would have freaked out. She couldn’t help them personally, but now she had connections, and Phee was going to use them. She often wished she’d known Zania better back when Bash had been possessed -- going through that other hell. Gods, when would this town leave them alone? They had to get better at protecting themselves. Phee let him change the subject, aware it was a bummer to beat that particular dead horse, and she smiled. “I think so, yeah,” she answered. “He mentioned it, at least. You know Greg, everything’s casual until the moment it’s time to leave. But I think Jen’s going too, so I’ll definitely be there. Are you and Theo?”
Bash briefly wondered if Jen would see her brother over the summer, then immediately pushed the thought from his mind. He didn’t want to think about Hunter or where he was or what he was doing. In fact, he’d like to disassociate him from Jen completely. She wasn’t his friend, but she was cool, and he’d rather think of her as his sister’s best friend and nothing else. “Yeah, we’ll be there,” he smiled. “Drag Jen along. Maybe bring some of that super weed,” he teased her. “We’re gonna get some beer at the very least. Let me know if you want me to grab something for you.” He wanted to keep the shopping list short, since they were buying with fake IDs, but he would always offer to Phee. “I hope there's a good turn out. I’ve kind of missed seeing everyone on a regular basis.” It was still weird to think that that part of his life was over, that the people he’d grown up with would likely scatter and never all be in the same place again after this summer.
Phee had long since stopped associating Jen with Hunter, and honestly she mostly forgot about him until Jen mentioned him in passing. She hadn’t been the one to date and get heartbroken over him though, so maybe that made sense. “I love those hard cider things if you can get one or two,” she said to Bash with a wicked sort of grin. Phee had never thought she would be the type of girl to drink underage or even party much, but she’d been really enjoying all of this adult-feeling freedom. She would definitely try to get some super weed to bring along to make the party even more fun. And hopefully Jen. “Yeah I think there will be,” Phee said, like she had any idea. “What else does anybody have going on anyway? Just like ... getting ready to go to college, I guess. But yeah, it should be fun. I’ll try to get some stuff to bring.”
“Could be fun,” Bash smiled. “No stress if you can’t.” He knew it was technically Zania’s greenhouse, making it Zania’s stash, but for some reason she seemed like the sort to enable teens at parties, especially since Phee had done the hard work. “I hope Jules can make it. I went to see her the other day and she was pretty beat up.” Of all his friends, she deserved a break more than anyone else. Life just kept throwing shit at her and it was a shame she wasn’t planning to leave, since getting out of Point Pleasant would probably have helped. She’d still have her abilities, so things could still happen anywhere, but Bash had to believe life would be more normal elsewhere. His only worry was that it might actually be boring.
It was Zania’s greenhouse, yes, but she never said no when Phee asked if she could take something home, and that had included some weed once or twice. Phee wasn’t trying to make a habit of it, but she definitely enjoyed smoking now. Especially with Greg. But Phee didn’t want to think about what tended to happen after that when she was hanging out with her brother. She felt a little cringy inside when he brought up Jules, like she felt guilty by proxy, Greg had mentioned them not really being friends anymore. It just sounded crappy and sad. So Phee wasn’t sure if she hoped Jules would come or not. It could be good, give them a chance to talk, or it could be drama, it was hard to say. “I heard about her accident, yeah,” she said, making a pained face. “Hope she heals up okay and all. And gets to come out, I bet she needs it. ... did she say anything about Greg?”
“No, but I didn’t bring him up,” Bash said with a cringe. Their falling out had been a sore spot even before Jules’s accident, but he imagined it would be even worse now. He could just hear Greg saying “I told you so!” if he ever found out the full truth of what had happened to her. Bash knew her abilities were dangerous, he didn’t disagree with him there, but so were his. Control was what mattered, and making good judgment calls. It was something both he and Jules had struggled with. Maybe that’s why he was so inclined to sympathize with her. “I said something to Jules before her accident and it didn’t really go well. They’re both stubborn; I think they’ll both hold their ground. I get where they’re both coming from, but… I wish they’d make up, or something.”
Phee sighed, not very surprised by that, but still disappointed. Greg and Jules had been friends, and while losing friends at this point in their lives was pretty common, it still sucked. In her opinion it was a dumb thing to fight about anyway -- Jules couldn’t help what she was, any more than Phee could, and just like Bash, she knew her own power could be dangerous if she had no control. Instead of building her power and learning control at the same time like they were doing, it seemed that Jules had just had incredible powers dumped in her lap, with even less guidance. Their parents might have been useless for teaching magic, but at least she and Bash had other witches around to ask questions of. Who did Jules have? “Yeah me too, I wish they’d both get over it,” she said, though she knew the issue was more complex than that. “Maybe they’ll come around?” Phee gave Bash a nose wrinkle, her tone both hopeful and doubtful. “Was that accident she had ... was it related?”
Bash’s lips twisted at the question, trying to decide how to answer. He knew that was probably a give away that the answer was yes, and he trusted Phee, but whatever he told her was likely to get back to Greg. If he kept his mouth shut, she at least had plausible deniability to fall back on. “I don’t want to tell you something you’d have to keep from Greg,” he said. “The accident was really just a car accident though. It happened the last day of the carnival, when we had that bad storm. The visibility was just shit. They probably shouldn’t have been out in it.” From what he understood though, the accident had probably saved their lives. Otherwise they’d have both gone home, crawled into bed, and been eaten alive by weird black worms.
It was pretty obvious that there was more to the story that had to do with the portal stuff, and for a moment Phee was torn. She was pretty nosy by nature, and it all felt like Big Weird Stuff she wasn’t directly involved in, but still wanted to know about. Bash had a point though -- if more conversation came up about Jules, Phee didn’t want to keep secrets from him. So she just sighed and nodded after a moment’s thought. “Okay,” she said. “I understand. It sucks, but I get it. I’m not gonna bring it up to him, I dunno if he even knows Jules had an accident yet. I’m just glad it wasn’t worse.” She sipped on her drink and stirred the ice around with her straw for a moment, then decided to change the subject. “Oh hey, I dunno if Dad told you ... have you seen Victor in town yet? Our cousin?”
“I’m sure he heard about the accident. If not, I guess he’ll find out at the party,” Bash said. Even if Jules couldn’t make it, there would be talk about the fact that she wasn’t there and why. In the past it would’ve centered around her, but she’d been out of the spotlight for so long that he was sure Victoria had climbed her way to the top. Or maybe there was a junior already clamoring to take her place. The never ending popularity contest was one of the things Bash would be glad to be rid of, though he realized it never really stopped. It just continued under different circumstances. “Victor’s in town?” he asked, brows raising in surprise. “No, I didn’t realize he was visiting. Is he staying at the house? How long is he here for?”
Phee shook her head, her expression turning a bit amused. “No, like ... apparently he’s moving here? Or has moved? Dad didn’t say much about it, but that he was moving into the neighborhood soon ... I think he took the house on the corner, I saw a moving truck at some point,” she explained. “Haven’t heard from him though, like he hasn’t come to dinner or anything. So I dunno, kind of tempted to go knock on the door. I think I was like nine when I saw him last?” She wrinkled her nose. They had kept in touch, very loosely, but there had been a big enough age gap to make it hard to relate over email or Facebook, so there hadn’t been much contact since that side of the family had stopped coming around.
“Yeah, something like that,” Bash said. “It was before I had magic, that’s for sure. Might be around the time he got it? Or maybe Trip? I don’t know.” He couldn’t remember the timing of it all, just that his cousin’s visits had come to a sudden halt and any arguments against it had been cut off at the head by their mom. He supposed she couldn’t stop him from visiting now, though moving there was a bigger deal. “Why the fuck would he move here?” he asked with an amused laugh. “I mean, Overlook’s nice. Like, he’s gotta be loaded to buy a house there. But he knows what happens around here, right?” It felt like one of those things that Victor should just know, but then who would have told him? Like Phee, Bash had probably been eleven the last time he saw him, so it wouldn’t have been him, and he didn’t get the impression that his father was in contact with his side of the family all that much. Then again, his grandmother had lived with them last spring. She’d have reported back if no one else had.
It seemed like their family had always been well off and she was still a teenager, so it was difficult for her to really assess how much money other people had, but no one in their family seemed to be struggling. Victor obviously wasn’t, if he was buying a home in Overlook, Bash was right. It kind of irked Phee that he was only two doors down from them and hadn’t come around yet, but maybe he was trying to avoid their parents. He was an adult now, and that always seemed to reduce the pressure of family obligations somehow. Phee shrugged at Bash’s questions -- she naturally had no idea what was going through Victor’s mind. “I would think he’s got to, right? Maybe that’s part of the appeal? I dunno. But if he doesn’t turn up soon I’m gonna Facebook message him and ask him what the fuck,” she said with a little laugh.
Bash didn’t expect Phee to know how Victor made his money, but he did wonder sometimes how so many of the witches in town had come out on top. He could guess that many of them were using their powers, but he didn’t actually know how, other than if they were selling their services. That didn’t seem to be the case with his father, but the older he got, the less he felt like he knew the man. “I may just show up on his doorstep,” Bash snickered. “It’s been so long… but it could be nice to have more family in the area.” Sometimes it felt like it was just the two of them with the way one parent or the other always seemed to be checked out, and their brother who’d practically disowned them. Bash still couldn’t believe he hadn’t come home for the summer. He’d looked up to him so much when he was younger, but lately he just seemed like another familial disappointment.
Their little family had been through so much in the past year, it made Phee’s head spin to think about it all sometimes. On the rare occasions she could remove her emotions from the equation, she could kind of understand why their parents seemed like they were falling down on the job with everything. Their mom especially had been traumatized too. But it was hard to keep that perspective when she felt so abandoned by both of them. And then Bash would be leaving town too ... but Phee tried not to think about that too much yet. They still had a month or two. “Yeah, I hope so, hope he didn’t like, turn into an asshole or anything,” she said with a little snort. Assholishness seemed to run in the blood on that side of the family. “And hey if he’s like, an accomplished witch now, maybe he’ll teach us some stuff,” she added with a little smile. She’d been learning so much from Zan, but something really appealed to her about being taught by family. Like that was how it should’ve been all along.
It had been so long since Bash had been around his cousin that he had no idea who he really was now. Was his uncle anything like his father? Would Victor be like his dad? God, he hoped not. He couldn’t deal with him if that was the case. “If he could teach us, I might just have to stick around,” Bash smiled, though he knew his parents wouldn’t see that as a good enough reason. “I’d love to get regular lessons. Maybe even find a way to use magic in whatever I want to do.” He thought about how effective magic would be in the field of medicine, something he kept coming back to, despite not wanting to go to school forever. He could possibly save lives, especially in a town like Point Pleasant. It was such a confusing thought—he would have to stay to learn magic, but he’d have to leave to learn medicine. He couldn’t have it both ways. “You think you’ll go to college?” He knew it was expected of her, but with all the doubts he’d been having he knew expectations didn’t always pan out.
Phee tried not to latch onto the idea that Bash might stay in town, not wanting to get her hopes up. It was just a casual comment, she knew he had Plans and everything, even if his enthusiasm for them was waning. They both seemed more adrift these days, not sure what direction they really wanted to take, and Phee wished their parents had a bit more sympathy for that. They acted like their kids would turn out total failures if they didn’t go to college, excel there, get jobs, all that cookie-cutter crap. What if that wasn’t what would make them happy? What if their lives were supposed to take different paths? She gave an exaggerated shrug at her brother’s question and sighed. “I don’t know,” Phee said honestly. “I know mom will like, flip her shit if I don’t, but with everything I’m learning from Zan ... maybe I don’t even need to, you know? I like magic way better than I like school, and I don’t like, have a complicated career in mind or anything yet ... I dunno. You should though -- use your magic, I mean. Learn enough to be better at whatever you wanna do.”
“I like the idea of it, merging the two to make it more effective. I kind of feel like we're made with these abilities. It’d be a shame not to use them,” Bash said, aware this was a conversation the two of them had had before. They both wanted to learn, more than their parents would teach them and more than Zania could be expected to. They were years behind and it felt like they’d never catch up. Bash had thought himself in circles around it, trying to mesh together what he wanted to do and how he might enhance it. He had some ideas, but nothing felt concrete. He couldn’t plan for his future when he didn’t even know how successful he might be at what he wanted to pursue, or if the plans he was making were even possible. “You could take online classes here, if you wanted. I’ve looked into it and there’s a lot out there. Mom and Dad won’t like it, but I feel like it’s a compromise, especially if you don’t know what you want to do. I’m not totally sold on anything myself and it’s weird to think I have to make that decision up front, like, pick a path and stick to it, unless I find I suck at it. Or hate it. This sounds weird, but I don’t feel like I have enough experience in anything to make that kind of decision.”
“It doesn’t sound weird to me,” Phee told him. “It sounds like, reasonable, honestly. We’re still practically kids, dude! Who ever thought kids should make those kinds of decisions? It’s such a dumb system.” The whole concept of deciding one’s entire future before you were even twenty seemed so insane to her, it was hard to believe it was the reality everybody just sort of accepted. Phee sat forward a bit and looked at her brother intently. “Bash, really though ... if you don’t want to go away to go to school, you shouldn’t do it. And like, of course I want you to stay, but I’m not saying that for me. We should be using our magic and learning everything we can, especially because we’re so behind, you know? And if you can fold that into what you wanna do with your life ... you should do that. Fuck what Mom and Dad say, it’s your life. They did all that expected ‘right’ stuff and look at how happy they are now, you know?” Maybe it was a naive pep talk on her part, but Phee was completely genuine.
“They’re two of the most unhappy people I know,” Bash said, then sighed. He knew that pursuing a future based on what his parents wanted for him wasn’t likely to make him happy, but he knew there was some merit to leaving for school. For one, he’d get a chance to see what it was like somewhere else. Different life experiences allowed for different perspectives and it was harder to get that if he stayed behind. He knew that staying for Theo wasn’t the best decision either, because high school relationships rarely lasted. He loved him now, but they were young, and neither one of them seemed to know exactly what they wanted in life. He just hated to lose the person who made him happiest for a chance at something he might not even want. “I kind of wish I could have it all, you know? I guess I know that if I don’t leave now, I probably never will, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. I mean, I kind of like it here, when the place isn’t trying to kill us.”
Phee nodded along with what he said, able to understand that in an objective sort of way. There weren’t a lot of opportunities here in their tiny, fucked up town, and Bash deserved to get to go out into the world and figure himself out. She just hated it, selfishly, but she tried to keep that off of her face. He needed her support, not more people trying to make decisions for him. “Yeah, me too,” she admitted with a small smile. “But I dunno, you know ... maybe you’ll get out there and find something super awesome you wanna do that you’re not even thinking about yet. You know what’s here, not what’s out there.” Phee gave a helpless shrug. She didn’t know the right answer for him, as much as she wished she did. She just loved him and wanted the best for him in the end, and staying in Point Pleasant might not be it.
“That’s what I worry about,” Bash said with a little shrug and a sigh. No matter what he did, he was going to miss one opportunity or another, something or someone. While most of his friends were excited to leave for college, he felt like the most indecisive person alive. He knew eventually that his hand would be forced, that he’d leave and find out what it was like because that was the best decision, but it still felt a bit like he was amping up to lose a limb or some vital part of himself. Unfortunately, thinking about it just wound him in circles. “Anyways,” he said, deciding they’d had enough about him. “You’ve got, like, a little more than a month until school starts, right? Excited about your senior year?”
Phee made a bit of a face as he turned the subject around on her. She didn’t want to think about going back to school, especially since most of her friends wouldn’t be coming back with her. She did have Liam and she was grateful for that, and some of her band friends -- and considering what a boost her confidence had gotten in the past year, maybe she would make new friends, but it wouldn’t be the same. She knew things had to change in life, all the time, but that didn’t mean she liked it. “I guess,” Phee answered with a little shrug and a sigh. “I’m gonna miss you and Greg and Jen a lot, that’s like ... almost all I can think of right now.” She rolled her eyes at herself and pulled her drink in closer for another sip. “I’d better get first chair flute in band this year though, or I’m gonna curse Mr. Wilkins with toe fungus.”
“I keep forgetting that Jen graduated,” Bash said with a little laugh because how stupid was that? Hunter had been a senior with him and he never forgot that part. Of course his twin sister had graduated. “Is she sticking around?” He kind of hoped so, for Phee’s sake. He knew she had a few more friends that she’d see at school, but it probably would be weird without Greg and Jen there, after having them there all of last year. Bash didn’t know all that much about band, but he had faith in his sister’s abilities, especially when it was something she put her mind to. “You’ll get it,” he grinned. “If not, toe fungus is too nice. He’d deserve something like a curse that makes all his food taste bland. Or his drinks only luke warm, never cold, never hot.” Spells like that might not even exist, but they should. They’d make effective petty revenge.
She snickered at his curse suggestions, all of them sounded deviously bad but in a fun way, and part of her kind of hoped she didn’t get first chair so she could try some things out. Phee had a love-hate relationship with her band teacher, which seemed to be fairly common, if chatter on the internet was any indication. “You’d have to help me with the water one,” she said, grinning over at her brother. “But yeah, Jen’s sticking around, thank the gods. I dunno if I could cope well without her. She’s gonna do like, community college classes, some online, some in Portland. But she’s still gonna live here.” So even though they’d graduated, she was getting to keep Jen and Greg in close proximity in her life, and that was a big relief. Phee was still going to miss her brother, but losing all of them at once would’ve been really hard to deal with. “What is Theo doing?”
The more Bash heard about people taking online college classes, the more he found himself considering them. He knew it wouldn’t fly with their parents, but it was an option he liked to have, just in case things didn’t pan out as planned. It was something he was starting to learn, either about life in Point Pleasant or just in general—that it was always good to have a backup plan. Things rarely panned out as expected. “Theo’s working at the police department,” he said. “Just a file clerk right now, but he’s been talking about becoming a cop. He’s planning to start the academy in the fall.” Bash knew he’d thought about starting it earlier, but he’d decided to wait so they could spend more time together. He would start at the policy academy when Bash left for college. At least they’d both have things to distract them from the split.
It was possible that Bash had already told her that and Phee had just forgotten, but he didn’t seem to mind, so she didn’t give it much thought. Being a cop in Point Pleasant seemed like asking for a bunch of psychological trauma, but maybe they needed more cops who knew what was what. “Hey, then you’ll be dating a cop and I’ll be dating a fireman eventually,” she said, giving Bash a wan smile. “Look at us and our sexy servicemen.” She had no idea if Bash and Theo would actually stay together after he went off to college -- if he went off to college -- but she wasn’t going to talk like she assumed they would break up, that was for sure. Phee just wanted her brother to be happy, even if she knew that was actually a pretty tall order these days.
“Oh, I’m looking forward to the uniform for sure,” Bash said with a little laugh. He didn’t know if he’d ever get to see Theo in uniform, but he could fantasize and hope for the best. He wanted to see Theo succeed, find something he enjoyed, and being a cop was a decent career choice. It might not be the safest in Point Pleasant, but nothing was really safe, and maybe it would help to have someone on the police force that actually knew what the fuck was going on. “When’s Greg planning on applying to the fire academy? He’s been working with his uncle this summer, right?” It was crazy that he didn’t know that already, but he hadn’t spent near as much time with Greg that summer, plus they didn’t really talk work when they hung out. It was typically the last thing on his mind.
“Yeah, he’s just been moving all kinds of furniture so far, I dunno when he’s applying actually,” Phee admitted. Greg hadn’t been talking about it much lately, and he really seemed to be enjoying the physical labor of being a mover. Not that she was complaining, his arms were getting rather huge and very sexy, but she did hope that he settled on a better career path than just moving bookshelves and sofas for people for the foreseeable future. Her parents were already skeptical that Greg Wheeler was a good match for her, and Phee didn’t plan on them splitting up anytime soon. “Soon, I hope, because he’s too smart to just stay as a mover, you know?” Greg hadn’t been a brilliant student or anything, but he wasn’t an idiot either, and Phee knew he could do plenty of good things with his life if he wanted to. “You should call him sometime, I know he misses you,” she added, as non-accusatory as she could.
“We’ve hung out,” Sebastian said. “Just… not as much as we used to. I’m not right next door anymore, and he’s working, and when he’s not—“ He cut himself off, not liking the truth of it all. When Greg wasn’t working, he was with Phee. Or when Greg wasn’t working, neither was Theo, and Bash wanted to spend every last second he had left with him. As bad as it sounded, Bash tended to feel like Greg would always be there, that their friendship could survive a summer where they didn’t have as much time for each other. He had no idea what would happen to he and Theo when he left for college, but most likely whatever they had would be over. And so he’d found himself choosing Theo while Theo was still a choice. It made him feel like a horrible friend. “I’ll call him,” he said. “I’ve been bad about it lately. This summer feels like it’s passing faster than the rest.”
Phee thought she understood -- she often chose Greg over Jen and her other friends too. That was just kind of what happened when you fell in love. Greg could be better at keeping in touch too, but boys were just kind of dumb that way, Phee had found. “Yeah I bet it does,” she said to her brother with sympathy, pursing her lips to the side a bit. “Hey maybe we should all four go out sometime? Like to get pizza or something. And there’s the bonfire and stuff, but a lot of people will be there.” It wasn’t the same as hanging out one on one. Or two on two, however you wanted to say it. It just sounded nice to her to spend some time with Bash and his boyfriend before he left, and she was sure Greg wanted to do some of that too.
“Yeah, I’d like to do that,” Bash smiled. “Something with just the four of us. We could go to the arcade, or try out that new ice cream place, too. It doesn’t have to be a one time thing.” If he’d been planning on staying, he would’ve picked a day and made it a thing, but time was running short. He’d have to squeeze in as much as he possibly could before it was time to leave. It felt like no matter what he did, he was going to miss someone or something. He put those thoughts out of his head as their pizza arrived, the desire for food trumping everything else at the moment. Time was short, but he’d figure it out. Besides, it wasn’t like he was going across the country. He’d only be a few hours away, able to come home pretty much whenever he wanted.