"You want the fire lit, baby?" I asked Leon, fumbling for the lighter that lay on top of the fireplace.
"Sure thing, kiddo," he said. I cringed. Why the hell was he calling me 'kiddo?' Leon had started to get on my nerves. All of the things which I had thought were cute were now annoying. Like calling me 'kiddo.' I wasn't a kid. The day after Halloween, we were having my age up party. I was already done high school, but I couldn't get all of my official graduation things until I was an adult.
The crackling of the fire relaxed me a little as I sat on the couch next to Leon.
I leaned over and we started making out. My irritations about Leon eased away as I fell into passionate kiss. It wasn't long before I felt his hand working its way up my leg and slowly into my pants. I groaned involuntarily and hoped that no one else was around.
Just before I... just before it... well, just before Leon finished up, he pulled away. I tried to keep my frustration to myself. "Don't stop," I whispered, pulling his hand back.
"No, Andy, cut it out," he muttered, taking his hand back. I had to finish up myself while Leon sat there, all content. He didn't make any sense.
"Why did you stop?" I said, wrapping my arm over his shoulder again to make it look like I wasn't mad at him.
"I didn't feel like continuing," he said, leaning all of his weight on me. He was really bugging me now. We weren't thirteen year olds anymore. I kept asking Leon about sex, and though I didn't want to push it, it infuriated me how Leon said that he wanted to do it, but he was never in the mood. I was cool with it at first, but by the thirtieth time I confronted him and asked if he wanted to wait. "No, I'm ready," he had said. "I just don't feel like it right now." I had retorted, "You're ready, but with me?" He had decided not to talk to me for over two weeks.
"Alright, I can see you don't want to talk," I said. When he didn't protest, I went upstairs. He was so difficult sometimes. "His sissy, how's it going?" I asked Sandy. She was almost done painting dad's portrait. Her hair was still dyed and she still had piercings in her face.
"Pretty good, Dee, pretty good. Not much to say, I guess. What're you going to be for Halloween?"
"I'm thinking pirate."
"What's Leon going to be?"
I rolled my eyes. "I dunno." And why would I? At this point, I didn't really care.
She turned to me. "Are you guys having issues?"
I shook my head. She narrowed her eyes at me. "We're not talking about this right now..." I muttered, and scampered off to see Buzz instead. Sandy threw a paintbrush at my head.
"Hey Buzz-y boy," I chuckled, slapping Buzz on the back.
"Bloody hell! Andy, you almost messed this up for me! I just made my last original potion... I'm done after this. Ingredients are too expensive, and this potion was my last lead. I don't want to get myself killed," Buzz said, motioning towards the potion.
"What does it do?"
"I'm calling it the 'Young Again' potion. It breaks the rules of physics-just like basically everything in this whacked town-it turns the user, uh, young, again."
"What the hell does that mean?"
Buzz ran his fingers through his hair. "If you really wanted me to explain it to you, Andy, you'd have to have a doctorate in Science and Math."
"How do you understand it?"
Buzz winked at me. "Mom's fairy-godmother-"
"She's still alive?"
"Andy! Her fairy-godmother told me that she cast a spell on me when I was a baby to make me gifted in certain skills. She did the same with Sandy," Buzz said.
"And what about me?"
Buzz coughed. "Something about... Jessie... and... it doesn't matter, okay? As I was saying, the potion reverts the person's age, health, and appearance back to the day when they turned eighteen. It turns back the biological clock. You can only use it if you're over eighteen, of course. Otherwise it'd screw up your body." Buzz pocketed the potion (stored in a vial) and removed his lab coat, goggles, and gloves. He ran his fingers over his face. "It'll be a long while before I get the 'mark of Science' on my face again," he laughed, referring to the indent that the goggles had left.
"But wait, what's that about Jessie?" I asked, following Buzz as he lay down on the weight machine and started working out.
"I want to be fit, like you," Buzz said, pointing at his noodle arms. Upon seeing the look I gave him, he sighed. "I'm not going to tell you the full story... But Leon is not the right one for you."
What did that mean? And how did it have anything to do with Jessie? Before I could ask, I heard someone climbing up the stairs. "I hope he didn't hear," I muttered to Buzz as Leon's head emerged at the top of the stairs.
"Look, pumpkin pie, sugar muffin, honey drizzled pop-tart, I'm so sorry about before," Leon said, wrapping me in his muscular arms for a kiss. I tried to ignore Buzz guffawing at Leon's ridiculous nicknames for me. I was getting tired of Leon's little games. I pulled out of his hug and faked a yawn.
"I'm kind of tired, so... see you on Halloween, alright?"
Leon smacked my butt, which sent Buzz into snorts of laughter so great that he got hiccups. "See you then, sweet cheeks." I sucked in my breath and faked a smile.
"You're right," I said to Buzz when Leon was gone. "Something needs to be done."
"Told you," he said, quivering beneath the weights.
"Fine dad, I'll do it after Halloween, alright?! Great!" Sandy screamed at her cellphone. "GOD!" she cried, shoving it back into her pocket.
"What was that?"
"Dad," she said angrily. Sandy took down the portrait of dad and dropped it unceremoniously to the ground and picked up a canvas of mom's portrait, which was almost complete as well. "He said that if I don't dye my hair back to its original colour then I'll be grounded until I do, which means no driving, no cell phone, no friends over, no going over to friends house, no club, no guitar, and no painting!"
"Harsh," I said, but I didn't really mean it. Sandy's natural hair colour looked better on her anyway.
"Also I need to change my makeup back to usual," Sandy fumed.
"What about your piercings?"
"Don't get your hopes up. I am getting them out, but only after my appointment with the doctor to check about infections and how to let the skin grow over properly," Sandy said with a sigh.
"Dee, anyone can see that you just aren't into Leon like you used to be," Sandy said, changing topics. "I think it's time that you end the relationship and move on."
"What if it's because we haven't been connecting like we used to? Do you think that sex would fix that?" I suggested hopelessly.
"No. A relationship should never be just about sex. If you're having problems, having sex is just going to confuse you and make it worse. Your relationship is just too physical, not emotional enough," Sandy sighed.
I bit my tongue, but it was slightly difficult for me to understand how Sandy knew all of this even though she had never been in a serious relationship. She had kissed a few guys here and there, had a good time with them (my mind would never be the same after she told me some of the going ons that happened at some of the parties she went to), but ultimately was still looking for a guy she could be committed to.
"Dee, could you go get some pumpkins? We're going to be carving them for Halloween," Sandy said, picking up her guitar and walking down the stairs.
"What're you doing?" I said, chasing after her.
"Can't a girl play a little guitar in the rain? It's on my bucket list," she said with a wink. I just shook my head.
I grabbed the keys and drove down to the festival in the park, where we could pick pumpkins for free. Technically, it was one per family, but being a prince and everything, I added an exception to every rule.
"Andy! What a coincidence! Get your hot little ass over here!" I can't help but groan. I had enough of Leon for one day. I couldn't escape him though, and the next thing I knew, Leon had me by the arm and was dragging me over to the food eating table. "C'mon Andy, we'll do this contest together! We'll see how good you are at swallowing, eh?" Leon said with a wink. In the blink of an eye, a pie was set in front of me and someone dinged a bell.
I sighed and dug in. No hands allowed, apparently. I shuddered as the cold berries mushed into my face. After a minute of eating, my face warmed up the pie considerably and it felt a little bit like a mud facial-not that I ever had one of those, of course...
"I won!" I cried foolishly, and quickly composed myself. Leon looked up, his face covered in red and blue berry juice, and I burst into laughter. Leon laughed as well. Why couldn't he be like that all the time? Fun loving and nice to be around? I missed that Leon. He reverted back into his annoying self a moment later, though.
"Having red juice on your face sucks, doesn't it? Good thing us homos don't have to deal with that!" I frowned. That was wrong on multiple levels. Impolite, inappropriate, slightly graphic and what was that? Homos? I wasn't even sure I was gay. Leon knew that I was having a difficult time trying to figure out my sexuality, but he refused to believe it, saying that if I couldn't be attracted to guys or girls while I was with him, which didn't make any sense.
"Leon, like I said before, I'm really tired. I only came here to get the pumpkins and leave. See you on Halloween. I'm dressing as a pirate," I said, and gave Leon a hug. He tried to kiss me but I looked away and pretended I didn't notice. I went home quickly. "How was your day?" I said, feeling depressed as I stirred sugar into my tea.
"It was pretty good," mom said, patting me on the back. "Auditioned for two singer gigs. I was turned down both times. Still, I'm getting there, eh?"
I nodded slowly. "I had Leon over..."
Mom kissed my cheek and ruffled my hair like I was a child, but in a comforting way. "Hey. It's okay. But do it before Christmas, alright? Otherwise everyone being happy will make you sick to your stomach. I know that when I was kid it did."
"Were you depressed when you went through your rough patches?"
"Kid, my whole childhood was a rough patch. I wouldn't say depressed, but I was hopeless. Until I met your dad," mom said. I smiled. My mom and dad really did love each other. I couldn't say the same for Leon.
"Don't cut yourselves," I warned as Sandy, Buzz, Jessie and I dug into our pumpkins. It was finally Halloween and the four of us were all dressed up in our costumes.
"I'm too purr-fect for that," Sandy kidded. She was dressed as a cat.
"When you're a wiener, you're used to getting cut up," Buzz chortled. He was dressed as a hot dog. "Especially when the size of your costume is the size of your-"
"That's, good, thanks Buzz," Jessie said, smiling as she carved her pumpkin. Jessie was dressed as a mermaid, with seashells in her hair and a revealing seashell bikini top. I really liked her costume.
"Ar matey, don't act like what yer dressed as!" I crowed in a pirate voice to match my outfit.
I finished up my Jack-O'-Lantern styled pumpkin and set it in front of the front window that dad could be seen through, working on his novel. When I came back, Sandy was finished hers as well. "Nice, a cat pumpkin to match your costume! Cute!"
Sandy laughed and tugged on my pant leg. "You set up my pumpkin and I'll get the candles and lighter?"
"Deal."
"This sucks," Jessie said as I came back.
"What?"
"Well, I didn't realize that I was going to end up making the same pumpkin as Sandy," she said with a sad sigh.
"What's that?" Buzz said, standing up. His pumpkin was all done as well. It held an mischievous, almost evil smile.
"Jessie, can I smash it?" Buzz asked excitedly.
"That'd be such a waste!" I protested.
"Oh, come off it Andy, it's just a pumpkin. Let Buzz have a little fun," she said with a wink in Buzz's direction. I frowned as Buzz smashed his foot through the pumpkin. When he was done, he turned to Jessie and the two giggled about something, looking in my direction as they whispered to each other. Annoyance bubbled up inside of me.
I moved wiener boy's pumpkin next to mine and watched as Sandy put a lit candle inside each one. I knocked on the window and dad swiveled around on his chair. I pointed down at the pumpkins. He flashed me a quick smile and then returned to his work.
I loved my dad, but it was becoming impossible to communicate with him, let alone having a family outing with him.
"Uh oh, don't look now, but Leon is coming," Sandy whispered to me, "And he's wearing a pirate costume just like yours."
"That little bugger! He probably wanted to match like a cutesy little couple... Well, I'm not going to have any of it. I'm going to go change before he sees me," I growled.
"Andy be nimble, Andy be quick, Andy jump over the candlestick!" Sandy laughed, and I flipped her the bird as I went inside. Funny enough, I had expected Leon to pull something like this, so I had prepared another costume-the cowplant costume!
"Nice costume," I muttered to Leon as the five of us grouped together to go trick-or-treating. Perhaps it was way too young for our age, but who cared, really?
"Thanks. Too bad our costumes don't go together," he said wistfully, staring up and down at my large cowplant head.
We headed over to our next door neighbour's house. "Trick or treat!" I trilled like a five year old as Courtney Foster, dressed as what may have been a witch... or a vampire, which would be ironic considering she already was a vampire.
"Hey, what a surprise to see you guys here!" she said, filling up our little baskets with candy. "You can come to my costume party later on if you want."
"Actually, I think my mom is preparing our own party, but thanks anyway," I said, smiling innocently. After she closed the door, I turned to Sandy, feeling utterly humiliated. "Sandy, do you really want to do this?"
She shook her head, laughing. Buzz was bright red, though it was difficult to tell if it was because of embarrassment or because his suit was stuffy. "I think it's fun," Leon said. I looked at Sandy and we rolled our eyes in unison.
"You can go on without us, then," I said, "And take our candy too." I dumped my candy into Leon's basket, and Sandy and Jessie did the same. Buzz quickly picked through his candy and put his least favourites into Leon's basket.
"I thought this would be like a date, though..." Leon said sadly, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him.
"Then come back to our house," I said with a sigh, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the house.
He wrenched his hand away from mine. "Happy early birthday, Andy," he snorted angrily.
"But... you're going to be at my party tomorrow, right?"
"Not anymore."
"Ouch, dude," Buzz whispered to me once Leon had walked away.
"Shut up," I muttered, shoving him. We continued to push each other on the way home.
"It's all served," mom announced cheerily as we trudged home, presenting the buffet table.
"Why are there only five sushi rolls on the plate?" I asked. Mom shrugged.
"Do you guys want to go to the park?" Jessie whispered to us, "Because I dunno about you, but I'm not sure I want to hang around mom's old friends." Mom had told Jessie to call her and dad "mom" and "dad" so she did. The words sounded awkward and heavy on her tongue at first, but she told me that she liked the idea of having a mom and dad.
"Sure," Buzz and I said in unison.
Sandy shook her head. "You guys go on ahead. I'm going to dye my hair back and take off my makeup. I've had enough of this silliness. Plus, all the makeup is way too much work." Buzz and I nodded slowly but high-fived each other when Sandy was out of view. Buzz, Jessie and I changed into our normal clothes and then dashed over to the park. We took a few pictures together, bought some souvenirs, ate some food, and tried our hand-or mouth-at the apple bobbing contest. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as Buzz was directly across from Jessie during it. Buzz won, of course.
The following evening, mom prepared a stew for my birthday supper. "No spaghetti with veggie sauce?" I said with dismay.
"Sorry Andy. I hope the cake will make up for it though," she said. "Take a peek in the fridge."
My birthday cake was really cool, with designs running up the sides and leaf styled icing near the center. "What's with the two other cakes? I'm not a triplet!"
"One is for you. One is for Jessie, since you two are the same age, and one is for me, because I don't want to have to live fifteen years of my life without your father," mom said, taking a sip of the soup.
"What? Mom! That's fifteen years that we get less with you!" I cried in shock.
She ruffled my hair. "Your dad is really old and crinkly right now, Dee. It just doesn't feel right for me to kiss him when I look so much younger than him."
"You'll always look younger than him."
Mom smiled. "You always say the right things, don't you? Go sit at the dining table for supper and call your dad, brother and sister, please. Dinner's just about ready."
After dinner, I went to go see Sandy. "How're you holding up?" I said as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror.
"I dunno... I think I prefer my hair natural. I like having less makeup. But I like my piercings," she sighed.
"It's not the end of the world, Sandy," I said, giving her shoulder a squeeze, "Besides, you can always get them redone once you're an adult."
"You're right," she said, brightening up, "I can!" Oops. I deserved a medal for stupidity.
I joined mom on the wooden couch where she was watching TV. "I made a mistake," I announced, flipping open a book I was in the middle of reading.
"Uh-oh," mom said, keeping her eyes trained on the screen ahead of her.
"What'd you do?" dad asked calmly, tapping away at his computer.
"I put the idea in Sandy's head that she could get her piercings redone when she turned eighteen," I said nervously.
"Oh well. She was bound to get the idea in her head anyway," mom said with a shrug.
"Andy," Buzz said breathlessly, making me scoot over on the couch and sitting down next to me, "Guess what!"
"You're pregnant!"
"How'd you know? But seriously, Char is over right, so I finally told her.."
"What?"
"I took by the hand and I looked into her eyes-"
"Buzz, just tell me," I said, though I had an inkling of what he was trying to say.
"Well dude, I told her that I loved her."
"I thought you had already done that?"
"No, not officially."
"So, what she say?" I asked excitedly.
Buzz grinned, "She went, 'Oh Buzz... I love you too.' And that's when our make-out session got pretty intense." Buzz waggled his eyebrows.
"You dog!" I joked and we burst out laughing.
"Boys! Ssh!" mom said, lifting one finger to her mouth. "Do I really want to hear that? No!"
Dad stood up. "Someone's at the door," he said, and made his way over to the door, slowly.
"Mom, did you invite your werewolf friends?" I asked incredulously as I peered through the window.
"I felt bad for them! Just one or two. Sorry. You won't even notice them," mom said desperately. I sighed. I could cut her some slack-after all, she didn't have any friends until she started high school.
"Cake time," mom said, whipping her video camera out. I rolled my eyes and Buzz gave me a playful punch and then went to fetch Sandy.
"It's the last time you're going to see me as your 'baby boy' mom," I said sarcastically.
"Yeah," she said, tears coming to her eyes. I bit my lip. "And it's going to be the last time you see your old mum young! I'll look like a grandma soon," she continued with a fake laugh.
"Baby, how'd you change your clothes?" Buzz asked Charmaine, who was standing behind me.
"I leave some of my clothes here, remember Buzz?" Char replied, and I tried not to think about why she left some of her clothes here.
I leaned down to my cake, closed my eyes, and blew the candles out. I could feel the tingling in my arms and they shot down through my torso, uncomfortably across my crotch, and pleasantly down my legs, like a flowing river. I hoped that I hadn't peed myself. When I opened my eyes, the sparkles were fading. I felt... disappointed. I was taller, my body felt better built, but my hair felt the same and my hands still held the same lines.
"Well, I guess I'm old." I turned to see mom standing rolling her eyes. She had already blown out her candles. I was speechless. Her beautiful blonde hair was grey, her age lines were quite prominent, and she was slightly stooped over.
"Mom, I-" I tried, but my voice broke.
"Happy birthday son," she said, patting my shoulder and giving me a kiss on the cheek. I was taller than her.
Before I could grasp that mom was old, my cake was taken away and replaced with one that looked exactly like it for Jessie. I was shuffled out of the way and Jessie took my place. "What is the boy going to do about university?" I heard a voice behind me say. My mom shushed the voice, but the words still dug their way into my mind.
I could go to university. To take my mind of... things. And then I could... no, it was horrible to think that... but I could... I could break it off with Leon.
Jessie smiled excitedly as she blew the remaining candles. If I went to university, then I would have to leave Jessie behind. Unless I could convince her to come with me... but no, Jessie had never had an education before; it would all be foreign to her.
Jessie's age up was a lot more eventful than mine had been. In the way that she changed a lot. Her cute, shy smile had turned confident and stunning. Her big brown eyes were the type that you couldn't say no to, and at the same time easily get lost in them.
I stumbled upstairs and threw on the clothes I had bought beforehand. I gave myself a long, hard stare in the mirror and at the room around me. I was an adult now. I had responsibilities. I had choices that needed to be made.
There was just one question I needed to answer, but that was so difficult to answer. Something inside me was pushing at me, telling me the answer, telling me what was right and loyalty and love and everything was jumbled up inside of me.
I needed to get it out.
And so, very softly, I whispered the one question that had been on my mind since I gave Jessie the potion.
"Sure thing, kiddo," he said. I cringed. Why the hell was he calling me 'kiddo?' Leon had started to get on my nerves. All of the things which I had thought were cute were now annoying. Like calling me 'kiddo.' I wasn't a kid. The day after Halloween, we were having my age up party. I was already done high school, but I couldn't get all of my official graduation things until I was an adult.
The crackling of the fire relaxed me a little as I sat on the couch next to Leon.
I leaned over and we started making out. My irritations about Leon eased away as I fell into passionate kiss. It wasn't long before I felt his hand working its way up my leg and slowly into my pants. I groaned involuntarily and hoped that no one else was around.
Just before I... just before it... well, just before Leon finished up, he pulled away. I tried to keep my frustration to myself. "Don't stop," I whispered, pulling his hand back.
"No, Andy, cut it out," he muttered, taking his hand back. I had to finish up myself while Leon sat there, all content. He didn't make any sense.
"Why did you stop?" I said, wrapping my arm over his shoulder again to make it look like I wasn't mad at him.
"I didn't feel like continuing," he said, leaning all of his weight on me. He was really bugging me now. We weren't thirteen year olds anymore. I kept asking Leon about sex, and though I didn't want to push it, it infuriated me how Leon said that he wanted to do it, but he was never in the mood. I was cool with it at first, but by the thirtieth time I confronted him and asked if he wanted to wait. "No, I'm ready," he had said. "I just don't feel like it right now." I had retorted, "You're ready, but with me?" He had decided not to talk to me for over two weeks.
"Alright, I can see you don't want to talk," I said. When he didn't protest, I went upstairs. He was so difficult sometimes. "His sissy, how's it going?" I asked Sandy. She was almost done painting dad's portrait. Her hair was still dyed and she still had piercings in her face.
"Pretty good, Dee, pretty good. Not much to say, I guess. What're you going to be for Halloween?"
"I'm thinking pirate."
"What's Leon going to be?"
I rolled my eyes. "I dunno." And why would I? At this point, I didn't really care.
She turned to me. "Are you guys having issues?"
I shook my head. She narrowed her eyes at me. "We're not talking about this right now..." I muttered, and scampered off to see Buzz instead. Sandy threw a paintbrush at my head.
"Hey Buzz-y boy," I chuckled, slapping Buzz on the back.
"Bloody hell! Andy, you almost messed this up for me! I just made my last original potion... I'm done after this. Ingredients are too expensive, and this potion was my last lead. I don't want to get myself killed," Buzz said, motioning towards the potion.
"What does it do?"
"I'm calling it the 'Young Again' potion. It breaks the rules of physics-just like basically everything in this whacked town-it turns the user, uh, young, again."
"What the hell does that mean?"
Buzz ran his fingers through his hair. "If you really wanted me to explain it to you, Andy, you'd have to have a doctorate in Science and Math."
"How do you understand it?"
Buzz winked at me. "Mom's fairy-godmother-"
"She's still alive?"
"Andy! Her fairy-godmother told me that she cast a spell on me when I was a baby to make me gifted in certain skills. She did the same with Sandy," Buzz said.
"And what about me?"
Buzz coughed. "Something about... Jessie... and... it doesn't matter, okay? As I was saying, the potion reverts the person's age, health, and appearance back to the day when they turned eighteen. It turns back the biological clock. You can only use it if you're over eighteen, of course. Otherwise it'd screw up your body." Buzz pocketed the potion (stored in a vial) and removed his lab coat, goggles, and gloves. He ran his fingers over his face. "It'll be a long while before I get the 'mark of Science' on my face again," he laughed, referring to the indent that the goggles had left.
"But wait, what's that about Jessie?" I asked, following Buzz as he lay down on the weight machine and started working out.
"I want to be fit, like you," Buzz said, pointing at his noodle arms. Upon seeing the look I gave him, he sighed. "I'm not going to tell you the full story... But Leon is not the right one for you."
What did that mean? And how did it have anything to do with Jessie? Before I could ask, I heard someone climbing up the stairs. "I hope he didn't hear," I muttered to Buzz as Leon's head emerged at the top of the stairs.
"Look, pumpkin pie, sugar muffin, honey drizzled pop-tart, I'm so sorry about before," Leon said, wrapping me in his muscular arms for a kiss. I tried to ignore Buzz guffawing at Leon's ridiculous nicknames for me. I was getting tired of Leon's little games. I pulled out of his hug and faked a yawn.
"I'm kind of tired, so... see you on Halloween, alright?"
Leon smacked my butt, which sent Buzz into snorts of laughter so great that he got hiccups. "See you then, sweet cheeks." I sucked in my breath and faked a smile.
"You're right," I said to Buzz when Leon was gone. "Something needs to be done."
"Told you," he said, quivering beneath the weights.
"Fine dad, I'll do it after Halloween, alright?! Great!" Sandy screamed at her cellphone. "GOD!" she cried, shoving it back into her pocket.
"What was that?"
"Dad," she said angrily. Sandy took down the portrait of dad and dropped it unceremoniously to the ground and picked up a canvas of mom's portrait, which was almost complete as well. "He said that if I don't dye my hair back to its original colour then I'll be grounded until I do, which means no driving, no cell phone, no friends over, no going over to friends house, no club, no guitar, and no painting!"
"Harsh," I said, but I didn't really mean it. Sandy's natural hair colour looked better on her anyway.
"Also I need to change my makeup back to usual," Sandy fumed.
"What about your piercings?"
"Don't get your hopes up. I am getting them out, but only after my appointment with the doctor to check about infections and how to let the skin grow over properly," Sandy said with a sigh.
"Dee, anyone can see that you just aren't into Leon like you used to be," Sandy said, changing topics. "I think it's time that you end the relationship and move on."
"What if it's because we haven't been connecting like we used to? Do you think that sex would fix that?" I suggested hopelessly.
"No. A relationship should never be just about sex. If you're having problems, having sex is just going to confuse you and make it worse. Your relationship is just too physical, not emotional enough," Sandy sighed.
I bit my tongue, but it was slightly difficult for me to understand how Sandy knew all of this even though she had never been in a serious relationship. She had kissed a few guys here and there, had a good time with them (my mind would never be the same after she told me some of the going ons that happened at some of the parties she went to), but ultimately was still looking for a guy she could be committed to.
"Dee, could you go get some pumpkins? We're going to be carving them for Halloween," Sandy said, picking up her guitar and walking down the stairs.
"What're you doing?" I said, chasing after her.
"Can't a girl play a little guitar in the rain? It's on my bucket list," she said with a wink. I just shook my head.
I grabbed the keys and drove down to the festival in the park, where we could pick pumpkins for free. Technically, it was one per family, but being a prince and everything, I added an exception to every rule.
"Andy! What a coincidence! Get your hot little ass over here!" I can't help but groan. I had enough of Leon for one day. I couldn't escape him though, and the next thing I knew, Leon had me by the arm and was dragging me over to the food eating table. "C'mon Andy, we'll do this contest together! We'll see how good you are at swallowing, eh?" Leon said with a wink. In the blink of an eye, a pie was set in front of me and someone dinged a bell.
I sighed and dug in. No hands allowed, apparently. I shuddered as the cold berries mushed into my face. After a minute of eating, my face warmed up the pie considerably and it felt a little bit like a mud facial-not that I ever had one of those, of course...
"I won!" I cried foolishly, and quickly composed myself. Leon looked up, his face covered in red and blue berry juice, and I burst into laughter. Leon laughed as well. Why couldn't he be like that all the time? Fun loving and nice to be around? I missed that Leon. He reverted back into his annoying self a moment later, though.
"Having red juice on your face sucks, doesn't it? Good thing us homos don't have to deal with that!" I frowned. That was wrong on multiple levels. Impolite, inappropriate, slightly graphic and what was that? Homos? I wasn't even sure I was gay. Leon knew that I was having a difficult time trying to figure out my sexuality, but he refused to believe it, saying that if I couldn't be attracted to guys or girls while I was with him, which didn't make any sense.
"Leon, like I said before, I'm really tired. I only came here to get the pumpkins and leave. See you on Halloween. I'm dressing as a pirate," I said, and gave Leon a hug. He tried to kiss me but I looked away and pretended I didn't notice. I went home quickly. "How was your day?" I said, feeling depressed as I stirred sugar into my tea.
"It was pretty good," mom said, patting me on the back. "Auditioned for two singer gigs. I was turned down both times. Still, I'm getting there, eh?"
I nodded slowly. "I had Leon over..."
Mom kissed my cheek and ruffled my hair like I was a child, but in a comforting way. "Hey. It's okay. But do it before Christmas, alright? Otherwise everyone being happy will make you sick to your stomach. I know that when I was kid it did."
"Were you depressed when you went through your rough patches?"
"Kid, my whole childhood was a rough patch. I wouldn't say depressed, but I was hopeless. Until I met your dad," mom said. I smiled. My mom and dad really did love each other. I couldn't say the same for Leon.
"Don't cut yourselves," I warned as Sandy, Buzz, Jessie and I dug into our pumpkins. It was finally Halloween and the four of us were all dressed up in our costumes.
"I'm too purr-fect for that," Sandy kidded. She was dressed as a cat.
"When you're a wiener, you're used to getting cut up," Buzz chortled. He was dressed as a hot dog. "Especially when the size of your costume is the size of your-"
"That's, good, thanks Buzz," Jessie said, smiling as she carved her pumpkin. Jessie was dressed as a mermaid, with seashells in her hair and a revealing seashell bikini top. I really liked her costume.
"Ar matey, don't act like what yer dressed as!" I crowed in a pirate voice to match my outfit.
I finished up my Jack-O'-Lantern styled pumpkin and set it in front of the front window that dad could be seen through, working on his novel. When I came back, Sandy was finished hers as well. "Nice, a cat pumpkin to match your costume! Cute!"
Sandy laughed and tugged on my pant leg. "You set up my pumpkin and I'll get the candles and lighter?"
"Deal."
"This sucks," Jessie said as I came back.
"What?"
"Well, I didn't realize that I was going to end up making the same pumpkin as Sandy," she said with a sad sigh.
"What's that?" Buzz said, standing up. His pumpkin was all done as well. It held an mischievous, almost evil smile.
"Jessie, can I smash it?" Buzz asked excitedly.
"That'd be such a waste!" I protested.
"Oh, come off it Andy, it's just a pumpkin. Let Buzz have a little fun," she said with a wink in Buzz's direction. I frowned as Buzz smashed his foot through the pumpkin. When he was done, he turned to Jessie and the two giggled about something, looking in my direction as they whispered to each other. Annoyance bubbled up inside of me.
I moved wiener boy's pumpkin next to mine and watched as Sandy put a lit candle inside each one. I knocked on the window and dad swiveled around on his chair. I pointed down at the pumpkins. He flashed me a quick smile and then returned to his work.
I loved my dad, but it was becoming impossible to communicate with him, let alone having a family outing with him.
"Uh oh, don't look now, but Leon is coming," Sandy whispered to me, "And he's wearing a pirate costume just like yours."
"That little bugger! He probably wanted to match like a cutesy little couple... Well, I'm not going to have any of it. I'm going to go change before he sees me," I growled.
"Andy be nimble, Andy be quick, Andy jump over the candlestick!" Sandy laughed, and I flipped her the bird as I went inside. Funny enough, I had expected Leon to pull something like this, so I had prepared another costume-the cowplant costume!
"Nice costume," I muttered to Leon as the five of us grouped together to go trick-or-treating. Perhaps it was way too young for our age, but who cared, really?
"Thanks. Too bad our costumes don't go together," he said wistfully, staring up and down at my large cowplant head.
We headed over to our next door neighbour's house. "Trick or treat!" I trilled like a five year old as Courtney Foster, dressed as what may have been a witch... or a vampire, which would be ironic considering she already was a vampire.
"Hey, what a surprise to see you guys here!" she said, filling up our little baskets with candy. "You can come to my costume party later on if you want."
"Actually, I think my mom is preparing our own party, but thanks anyway," I said, smiling innocently. After she closed the door, I turned to Sandy, feeling utterly humiliated. "Sandy, do you really want to do this?"
She shook her head, laughing. Buzz was bright red, though it was difficult to tell if it was because of embarrassment or because his suit was stuffy. "I think it's fun," Leon said. I looked at Sandy and we rolled our eyes in unison.
"You can go on without us, then," I said, "And take our candy too." I dumped my candy into Leon's basket, and Sandy and Jessie did the same. Buzz quickly picked through his candy and put his least favourites into Leon's basket.
"I thought this would be like a date, though..." Leon said sadly, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him.
"Then come back to our house," I said with a sigh, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the house.
He wrenched his hand away from mine. "Happy early birthday, Andy," he snorted angrily.
"But... you're going to be at my party tomorrow, right?"
"Not anymore."
"Ouch, dude," Buzz whispered to me once Leon had walked away.
"Shut up," I muttered, shoving him. We continued to push each other on the way home.
"It's all served," mom announced cheerily as we trudged home, presenting the buffet table.
"Why are there only five sushi rolls on the plate?" I asked. Mom shrugged.
"Do you guys want to go to the park?" Jessie whispered to us, "Because I dunno about you, but I'm not sure I want to hang around mom's old friends." Mom had told Jessie to call her and dad "mom" and "dad" so she did. The words sounded awkward and heavy on her tongue at first, but she told me that she liked the idea of having a mom and dad.
"Sure," Buzz and I said in unison.
Sandy shook her head. "You guys go on ahead. I'm going to dye my hair back and take off my makeup. I've had enough of this silliness. Plus, all the makeup is way too much work." Buzz and I nodded slowly but high-fived each other when Sandy was out of view. Buzz, Jessie and I changed into our normal clothes and then dashed over to the park. We took a few pictures together, bought some souvenirs, ate some food, and tried our hand-or mouth-at the apple bobbing contest. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as Buzz was directly across from Jessie during it. Buzz won, of course.
The following evening, mom prepared a stew for my birthday supper. "No spaghetti with veggie sauce?" I said with dismay.
"Sorry Andy. I hope the cake will make up for it though," she said. "Take a peek in the fridge."
My birthday cake was really cool, with designs running up the sides and leaf styled icing near the center. "What's with the two other cakes? I'm not a triplet!"
"One is for you. One is for Jessie, since you two are the same age, and one is for me, because I don't want to have to live fifteen years of my life without your father," mom said, taking a sip of the soup.
"What? Mom! That's fifteen years that we get less with you!" I cried in shock.
She ruffled my hair. "Your dad is really old and crinkly right now, Dee. It just doesn't feel right for me to kiss him when I look so much younger than him."
"You'll always look younger than him."
Mom smiled. "You always say the right things, don't you? Go sit at the dining table for supper and call your dad, brother and sister, please. Dinner's just about ready."
After dinner, I went to go see Sandy. "How're you holding up?" I said as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror.
"I dunno... I think I prefer my hair natural. I like having less makeup. But I like my piercings," she sighed.
"It's not the end of the world, Sandy," I said, giving her shoulder a squeeze, "Besides, you can always get them redone once you're an adult."
"You're right," she said, brightening up, "I can!" Oops. I deserved a medal for stupidity.
I joined mom on the wooden couch where she was watching TV. "I made a mistake," I announced, flipping open a book I was in the middle of reading.
"Uh-oh," mom said, keeping her eyes trained on the screen ahead of her.
"What'd you do?" dad asked calmly, tapping away at his computer.
"I put the idea in Sandy's head that she could get her piercings redone when she turned eighteen," I said nervously.
"Oh well. She was bound to get the idea in her head anyway," mom said with a shrug.
"Andy," Buzz said breathlessly, making me scoot over on the couch and sitting down next to me, "Guess what!"
"You're pregnant!"
"How'd you know? But seriously, Char is over right, so I finally told her.."
"What?"
"I took by the hand and I looked into her eyes-"
"Buzz, just tell me," I said, though I had an inkling of what he was trying to say.
"Well dude, I told her that I loved her."
"I thought you had already done that?"
"No, not officially."
"So, what she say?" I asked excitedly.
Buzz grinned, "She went, 'Oh Buzz... I love you too.' And that's when our make-out session got pretty intense." Buzz waggled his eyebrows.
"You dog!" I joked and we burst out laughing.
"Boys! Ssh!" mom said, lifting one finger to her mouth. "Do I really want to hear that? No!"
Dad stood up. "Someone's at the door," he said, and made his way over to the door, slowly.
"Mom, did you invite your werewolf friends?" I asked incredulously as I peered through the window.
"I felt bad for them! Just one or two. Sorry. You won't even notice them," mom said desperately. I sighed. I could cut her some slack-after all, she didn't have any friends until she started high school.
"Cake time," mom said, whipping her video camera out. I rolled my eyes and Buzz gave me a playful punch and then went to fetch Sandy.
"It's the last time you're going to see me as your 'baby boy' mom," I said sarcastically.
"Yeah," she said, tears coming to her eyes. I bit my lip. "And it's going to be the last time you see your old mum young! I'll look like a grandma soon," she continued with a fake laugh.
"Baby, how'd you change your clothes?" Buzz asked Charmaine, who was standing behind me.
"I leave some of my clothes here, remember Buzz?" Char replied, and I tried not to think about why she left some of her clothes here.
I leaned down to my cake, closed my eyes, and blew the candles out. I could feel the tingling in my arms and they shot down through my torso, uncomfortably across my crotch, and pleasantly down my legs, like a flowing river. I hoped that I hadn't peed myself. When I opened my eyes, the sparkles were fading. I felt... disappointed. I was taller, my body felt better built, but my hair felt the same and my hands still held the same lines.
"Well, I guess I'm old." I turned to see mom standing rolling her eyes. She had already blown out her candles. I was speechless. Her beautiful blonde hair was grey, her age lines were quite prominent, and she was slightly stooped over.
"Mom, I-" I tried, but my voice broke.
"Happy birthday son," she said, patting my shoulder and giving me a kiss on the cheek. I was taller than her.
Before I could grasp that mom was old, my cake was taken away and replaced with one that looked exactly like it for Jessie. I was shuffled out of the way and Jessie took my place. "What is the boy going to do about university?" I heard a voice behind me say. My mom shushed the voice, but the words still dug their way into my mind.
I could go to university. To take my mind of... things. And then I could... no, it was horrible to think that... but I could... I could break it off with Leon.
Jessie smiled excitedly as she blew the remaining candles. If I went to university, then I would have to leave Jessie behind. Unless I could convince her to come with me... but no, Jessie had never had an education before; it would all be foreign to her.
Jessie's age up was a lot more eventful than mine had been. In the way that she changed a lot. Her cute, shy smile had turned confident and stunning. Her big brown eyes were the type that you couldn't say no to, and at the same time easily get lost in them.
I stumbled upstairs and threw on the clothes I had bought beforehand. I gave myself a long, hard stare in the mirror and at the room around me. I was an adult now. I had responsibilities. I had choices that needed to be made.
There was just one question I needed to answer, but that was so difficult to answer. Something inside me was pushing at me, telling me the answer, telling me what was right and loyalty and love and everything was jumbled up inside of me.
I needed to get it out.
And so, very softly, I whispered the one question that had been on my mind since I gave Jessie the potion.
"Am I in love with Jessie?"
