Hold My Hand Tight
Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Nineteen
A JSE Fanfic
Forgive me if the title seems unfitting, I almost forgot to queue this so it's super late as I'm titling it and writing this author's note. I'll get straight to the summary. Chase realizes that he made a mistake earlier, and so tries to make up for it by hanging out with Marvin, just the two of them. There's also a brief discussion about what to do about the thing in the school basement, and a scene where JJ gets an unexpected visitor. Enjoy reading :)
More of this AU
++++++++++++++++++++
The school week passed uneventfully, but still, Chase couldn’t help but feel like something was off. And it wasn’t because of the “paperpillar” in the basement. He hadn’t heard anything about that. No strange sounds or sights, and no rumors about a paper monster in the school. No, this was something else.
It took him until Thursday afternoon to realize what it was. He was watching TV in the living room. Schneep was there, too, but he was curled up reading instead of paying attention to the show (he wasn’t into this show.) The commercials had just started, allowing Chase’s mind to wander—and then it hit him. “Oh my god, I’m an idiot,” he whispered.
Schneep looked over at him. “What? Why?”
“I called Marvin ‘weird’ again.” Chase hit his forehead. “Dumb! Dumb dumb dumb! I didn’t mean it like that! I should’ve used a different word!”
“Chase.” Schneep lowered his book and stared at him.
“Don’t sound so disappointed! You didn’t say anything when it happened!”
“I was busy thinking about how Marvin suddenly had powers. And... a-and I should not have to say something every time you make a mistake.”
Chase slumped back against the sofa. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he repeated, mumbling.
“What did you mean it like, then?” Schneep asked.
“I dunno. Uh... strange, but cool. Because it is cool.” Chase shook his head. “I just... I use that word all the time. Everyone does. Even Marvin does, I’ve heard him say it. But I should’ve thought about what happened. And the, uh... the... surroundings. Of the word. There’s a word for that, um... the context. I should’ve thought about the context.”
“And you should have realized what you did before now,” Schneep muttered.
“I know! But we’ve been kinda busy!” Schoolwork was really starting to get intense, which wasn’t fair, because the end-of-term exams were still at least a month away. And besides that, there was, you know, a giant paper caterpillar in the basement of the school. And that weird Circle group, which everyone was convinced was watching them. And that guy who looked like Anti—Jackie had called him Jack McLoughlin. Chase had tried asking around about him, but he was too old for any of the kids in his year to have known. “And I’ll say again, you didn’t say anything, either. And neither did Stacy!”
“Well maybe she thought you would’ve realized on your own much faster,” Schneep pointed out.
Chase sighed, slumping further. “I should’ve.” He paused. “Uh... what do I do now? I should say sorry, right? Or has it been too long?”
“You should say sorry.”
“Yeah.” Another pause. Chase stared blankly at the commercials on TV. Some toy ad was playing. He didn’t really care about it. “But like... I wanna do more than that, too. Cause like... I don’t want Marvin to hate me. Or think I hate him. I want to do something to make up for... um... being a butt.”
Schneep laughed a little. “Maybe you two can do something together. Ah, ‘hang out’ somewhere.”
“You don’t think that’s too much?”
“You just said you wanted to do more than just say sorry. I think hanging out together could be that.” Schneep shrugged. “Marvin might not want to, of course. In which case, you still say sorry. There is nothing to lose in asking. You should not be so, ah, unsure about yourself.”
“...yeah, I guess you’re right.” Chase nodded. “I don’t know what he’d want to do, though. I guess he could choose. That’d be easier, and show that I, uh... wanna hear about stuff he likes to do.”
Schneep grinned. “That seems good to me. We will see everyone tomorrow after school to talk about everything, ja? You can talk to him after all that about this.”
“That’s a good plan. Thanks, Schneep.”
“You are welcome.”
At that moment, Mom walked into the room. She glanced over at the sofa on her way to the kitchen. “Chase, do you want to break your spine? Stop sitting like that.”
Chase groaned. “It’s fine, Mom!” he said, but sat up straight anyway.
Schneep laughed.
++++++++++++++++++++
The whole group had agreed to meet up at Zelly’s on Friday. Mom dropped Chase and Schneep off, promising to pick them up when they texted her. Everyone else was already there. Jackie, Stacy, and of course, the Jacksons. Chase stared at Marvin for a little longer than he probably should have. But Marvin didn’t notice. He was too busy methodically shredding a napkin.
“Hey guys!” Jackie grinned as Chase and Schneep sat down. “We’re probably not gonna have a lot of time. I have to work in like, half an hour. But I think that’ll be long enough.”
“I didn’t know these guys sold hot chocolate,” Stacy said as she read a menu.
“Yeah, they sell it in winter,” Chase said. “Did they put it on the menu already? It’s not that cold.”
I’m going to disagree, JJ said. He was wearing a blue jacket over his normal shirt.
“Well, let us decide what to get and then talk about the past week,” Schneep said.
They decided on their drinks—Jackie, Stacy, and JJ would get hot chocolate while Chase, Schneep, and Marvin stuck with soda. A server came over and they ordered, adding on a couple baskets of fries for the table. As soon as the server was out of sight, Stacy leaned forward. “So, like, how does this work? Do we just start talking about how to deal with the paper thing in the basement right away?”
“The paperpillar,” Marvin said, his eyes brightening a little. “It’s a paperpillar. Paperpillar!” Clearly, he really liked the word and/or the concept of a paperpillar.
“Yeah, that,” Stacy said. “What’re we gonna do about it?”
“Do we need to do anything about it?” Schneep asked. “It has not come up into the school since we saw it. And I have not heard about any trouble.”
“But like... it tried to eat Jackie, sooo...” Chase pointed out.
“It wasn’t eating me, it was just like... wrapping around me,” Jackie said. “It didn’t hurt or anything. And I don’t think something made of paper can ‘eat’ things in the first place.”
Chase has a good point, though, JJ said. It ran at us the moment it saw us. It will probably do the same thing to anyone who goes into the basement.
“Hmm. Yes, you are right.” Schneep nodded. “Even if most people do not go down there, it looked like there was a lot of, ah, maintenance things there. Someone will go in the basement one day to mess with those things. That is how maintenance works.”
“Alright, so we agree we gotta stop it, then,” Jackie said. “How?”
“Uh... we can, like, burn it or something,” Stacy suggested.
“Whoa!” Chase laughed. “I-I didn’t think you’d say that.”
“What? Cause I’m a girl? Girls can burn things down if they wanna.” Stacy pushed her glasses into place. “And if it’s made of paper, fire is probably the best thing to use. Have you ever seen paper burn? It goes up immediately.”
JJ nodded. We can find lighters easily enough. Maybe we could throw one at it. Maybe a couple, just to be sure it will catch—
“Maybe let’s not set a fire in the school?” Jackie said delicately. “If it spreads to the rest of the building, uh... there’ll be a lot of people in there. So... that’s bad.”
“Oh.” Stacy blinked. “Right.”
Will it spread so easily? JJ wondered.
“Yes,” Jackie emphasized. “If the thing on fire is a big paperpillar that can run really fast, then yes.”
JJ frowned. Probably a bad idea, then.
“There could also be gas things in the basement,” Schneep added.
“Okay, so no fire,” Chase said. “But what do we do, then? We can’t banish it like the ghost, we can’t pop it like the bubble monster, we can’t cut it up like the mushrooms, we can’t... uh... what did we do with the monster dog?”
Marvin, previously rather quiet, straightened. “I was thinking about that, actually. Uh, so, you know, we managed to like, pull all the greenlight out of the monster dog and turn it back to normal, right? Using a bunch of crystals. But, like, uh... I have this now.” He held out his hands, palms up. A tiny ball of green light appeared hovering over each of them. He quickly closed his hands into fists, making the lights disappear, and continued. “Maybe I can just pull the greenlight out of the paperpillar by myself. I mean, if that’s a good idea. Do you guys think it is?”
Chase squirmed in his seat a little, but no one was looking at him to notice.
“Do you think you can do that?” Stacy asked. “I mean, in movies and stuff people always have to learn magic and get better and stuff through practice. Pulling out the greenlight seems hard.”
“I, uh, I have been practicing,” Marvin admitted, sounding a bit embarrassed.
JJ nodded excitedly. He can make shapes!
“Make shapes?” Schneep repeated. He leaned closer, intrigued. “How? Can we see?”
“Oh, uh... s-sure.” Looking uncharacteristically nervous, Marvin cupped his hands together, holding them over the table palms-down. A translucent green golf ball appeared on the table under his hands. Then it shifted to a cube. Then a pyramid. Then a squiggly sort of cylinder. Then Marvin lowered his cupped hands over the shape and it disappeared.
“Cool,” Chase breathed.
Very cool! JJ signed. He can also make glowing stars, like the kind that goes on ceilings, they look so nice at night. And he can make tiny hands and ropes to move and grab stuff.
Marvin laughed. “Y-yeah.”
“Wow.” Jackie grinned. “So, you’re kinda like Green Lantern, then.”
“Who?” Marvin asked.
“He’s a superhero.”
“Oh. Well, I’m a witch.”
“We are getting off topic,” Schneep said, shaking his head. “The point is, do you think you can do that? Pull the greenlight out?”
“Uh... I mean, I don’t think I can really practice that,” Marvin said slowly. “Not without something that has greenlight in it. And the only thing we know about like that right now is the paperpillar. So... we kinda just have to try.”
“If crystals can make greenlight more powerful, maybe we can bring some to try and help you out?” Stacy suggested.
“That’s a great idea!” Jackie said, grinning. “Okay, I think we have a plan. We meet after school one day—oh.” They paused for a moment as the server returned with their fries and drinks. “Thanks.” After everyone had their order, small talk with the server was done, and the server had walked out of earshot, Jackie continued. “We’ll meet after school one day. Go into the basement to find the paperpillar. Most of us will try to distract it as Marvin tries draining the greenlight. If he can’t do it, we’ll run and try again some other day.”
“We’ll need somewhere we can defend, then,” Chase said. “A fort of some kind.”
If we’re doing it after school, maybe we can lure it out of the basement and into one of the classrooms? JJ said. There are sets up in one of the Theatre rooms we can hide behind.
“That sounds perfect,” Stacy said.
“Okay, but before we start talking about more details and stuff, can I ask something?” Chase said. “Has anyone found out anything new about the Circle? Or that Jack guy who looks like Anti?”
A chorus of various ‘no’s rang out around the table. “The same teachers are being weird, but nothing actually happened all week,” Marvin said.
“Maybe they’re not going to do anything,” Stacy said optimistically. “Maybe they’re just going to keep an eye on us to make sure we don’t say anything.”
Schneep frowned. “I do not trust grown-ups like that to not do anything. Just because nothing has happened yet does not mean nothing will happen ever. They are probably just waiting for a good time to... to...” He looked down into his soda glass and went quiet. Chase leaned a bit closer, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. Schneep squeezed back.
“We still have to be careful,” Jackie said. “Try not to go anywhere in school alone. And definitely don’t trust strangers.” He paused. “You also asked about Jack, right, Chase?”
“Mm-hmm.” Chase nodded. “Did you find anything? I didn’t.”
Jackie shrugged. “Got confirmation from some Band kids that Jack moved back to Ireland right after the school year ended. But they didn’t know anything else about where he’d go. One of them knew his parents’ names, I guess... guess I’ll try looking online or in phone books for their names? Gonna be hard covering all of Ireland, though. So it’ll take a while. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Anti would look like that guy.”
“Maybe it’s random,” Stacy guessed. “Maybe Anti just started looking like the first person he saw when he came out of the dark place.”
JJ frowned. Maybe. But I think there’s a connection. It’s just not clear why.
“Yeah.” Chase paused. “Well... back to the paperpillar, then.”
The group talked some more, hashing out the specifics, and agreed to try fighting the paperpillar after school that Monday. After that, they talked some more about school. Mostly complaining about tests and homework. JJ and Schneep insisted it wasn’t that bad, while everyone else universally agreed it sucked. Even Stacy, which surprised Chase, since she seemed like the smart type. Jackie did point out that school was important, but he was probably only doing that because he felt like he had to, as the oldest one in the group. After the school discussion, they talked about games and movies and books for a while before it was time for them to all go. Mostly because Jackie’s shift was about to start and it would’ve been awkward for the kids to stay there while he was working.
But, as Schneep suggested, Chase hung back, waiting. When everyone was gone but him and the twins (Schneep agreed to wait outside) he tapped Marvin on the shoulder and said, “Hey. Can I, uh... talk to you?”
Marvin looked at him. Then he looked at JJ. Then back at him. “Yeah. Do you mean alone? Should JJ leave?”
“Uh... I guess not,” Chase said. “I was just wondering if you wanna... hang out? Sometime this weekend? Not like, the whole group, I mean. Just you and me?”
“Um...” Marvin looked confused. “Sure, but why?”
“I wanna hang out with you,” Chase said. “I don’t think I’ve done stuff with just you before. Or, uh, just you,” he added, looking at JJ. “If you and me wanna do something after this, we can.”
JJ smiled a bit. That’d be great, but I don’t think I’d have the time. I have a lot of classwork to do. But you and Marvin can do stuff together. I don’t mind.
“You sure?” Marvin asked.
I’m sure.
“Alright, then.” Marvin looked back at Chase. “What were you thinking?”
Chase shrugged, trying to look casual. “Whatever you want to do.”
Marvin stared at him. “...shit. What do I like to do?”
JJ laughed, seeing the blank look on his twin’s face.
“Oh shut up.” Marvin shoved him. JJ shoved back. The two of them were distracted by a shoving contest for a couple seconds before Marvin suddenly went “Oh!” and looked back at Chase. “I got it. Do you wanna go watch a movie?”
“A movie?” Chase repeated. “Uh, yeah. Sounds fun. The theater’s closed on Sundays so we’ll have to go tomorrow—”
“Oh, not at the big cinema,” Mavin interrupted. “Have you seen the small one on Everson Street? It’s just called ‘Hollewych Motion Picture Cinema.’ It’s kinda old.”
“Uhhh... I think I’ve seen that?” Chase hadn’t really thought much about it, though. It was just part of the background of that street. “You want to go there?”
“Yeah, we go there all the time during school holidays,” Marvin said, gesturing to him and JJ, who nodded. “They don’t usually show new movies that just came out, instead they screen a lot of ones that are already out. Some of them are kinda old, too, but they can do anything that’s on DVD. We can go tomorrow or Sunday, they’re open all the time. And nobody usually goes there so it’s not as crowded. Which is great.”
“Okay. Sure.” Chase nodded slowly. “I don’t know if Mom will let me go see a movie by myself.”
“Why not? Doesn’t she let you go to the library and park and stuff alone?”
“Yeah, but I dunno. Something about a movie seems different. But, uh, maybe if I say Jackie is going too, that’ll work out. He can... watch a different movie. While we watch ours. If he’s cool with that.” Chase glanced towards the kitchen doors. Jackie had disappeared through them a couple minutes ago. “I’ll ask him. Does that work?”
“Yeah, fucking perfect.” Marvin smiled a little. “So... talk to your mom and Jackie about times and stuff. Then call JJ.” JJ waved. “And I’ll pick up.”
“Got it.” Chase nodded. “I’ll see you later, then.”
“See you later.”
And with that, Chase turned and left the restaurant.
++++++++++++++++++++
Chase was correct; Mom would not let him go to the movies without someone else. When he asked why, she said it would be dark so anything could happen. But she agreed to it when he said Jackei would come. And thankfully, Jackie agreed, too. He picked up Chase Sunday morning, and together the two of them picked up Marvin and drove down to Emerson Street.
This was in the center of the city, where a lot of the older buildings were. Hollewych Motion Picture Cinema sat right on the street. That was a bit weird, since the other theater in town, the Cineworld, was a bit off the street, surrounded by parking lots. Posters were plastered on the sides of its concrete building. There were no posters outside HMPC, only a couple of those signs with the removable letters hanging on the side of the brick building. Marvin, Chase, and Jackie walked up to these signs. They listed the prices for tickets and the movies that were currently playing, times included.
“I brought extra money if you guys need help covering your tickets,” Jackie said.
“No, I got it,” Marvin said. “JJ and I know how much it costs. We use his allowance money for it. I got just enough right here.” He put a hand in his pocket. “But all of this looks boring.”
“Uhhh I wouldn’t mind watching a couple of these,” Chase said. “But, um, yeah. You can choose. I dunno what you’ll want to see if it’s all boring to you, though.”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
There was a ticket booth next to the theater’s entrance. Marvin walked right up to it, leaving Chase and Jackie to follow. A man sat behind the glass in the booth—a boy, really, not that much older than Jackie. He wore a nametag pinned to his shirt that read ‘Nick.’ He wasn’t really paying attention to them, instead reading a thick-looking textbook propped up on the counter. “Hey,” Marvin said.
The guy—Nick quickly closed the textbook. “Hi, what can I do for you toda—Oh hey, Marvin.” He looked at Chase. “Did Jameson get shorter?” Then at Jackie. “Or... taller?”
Marvin grinned. “No, this is my friend Chase, and the beanie boy is my friend Jackie.”
“Oh, nice to meet you two.” He stared at Jackie for a minute. “Aren’t you that kid with the name change?”
Jackie looked a bit nervous, but smiled. “Uh, yeah, that’s me.”
“Alright.” Nick looked back at Marvin. “What can I get for you today?”
“Do you have an empty theater?” Marvin asked. “Your listings are boring.”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, one’s empty right now. What d’you want to play?”
“Can we watch, uh... that bridge movie? The sad one?”
Nick’s eyes widened slightly. “That’s, uh... probably a bit too sad for your friends’ first visit here. Don’t want to make a bad impression.” He laughed again, just to clear the tension. “How about The Princess Bride? Or maybe Narnia? We’ll be getting the sequel to that soon, y’know.”
“Narnia is good,” Marvin said, looking a bit disappointed but getting over it quickly. “Two for that.”
“Um, what’s playing in the theaters next to the empty one?” Jackie asked.
“We have The Godfather and Spider-Man 2.”
“Oh hell yeah. I’ll have a ticket for Spider-Man 2. Can I just walk in?”
“Yep, go ahead. I think it just barely started.” Nick bent over, fiddling with something under the counter, and reappeared with three yellow tickets. Marvin and Jackie paid for their respective tickets and Nick passed them over, along with some change. “Alright, you two head to Theater 2, it’ll be a moment to get it started. Jackie, right? Yours is Theater 3, it’s to the right of 2. Enjoy your movies.”
The three of them said their thanks and headed inside, Marvin in front. The interior of the small theater was done in shades of warm yellows and oranges against contrasting black. There wasn’t much in the main entrance, just a small counter for concessions manned by a woman with curly blond hair. She was also familiar with Marvin, handing him two small bags of buttered popcorn. Chase watched this and wondered how often the twins came here if the staff knew them on sight. Or maybe not many people worked here. Maybe both.
They walked down the one hallway, with Marvin talking as they went. “This style of, uh, interior design is called ‘art deco,’ JJ really likes it, and I can get where he’s coming from but I think I like ‘art nouveau' more, it’s much more swirly while this one is all angles. And here we are!” He stopped in front of a pair of theater doors.
“You guys have fun,” Jackie said, continuing down the hall. “Text me if anything happens. I’m not gonna silence my phone.” He laughed. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t!” Chase said. “You have fun too!” And he followed Marvin into the room.
There were only five rows of seats in here, and the screen, while much bigger than any TV Chase had ever seen, was way smaller than regular movie screens. The chairs in here looked a bit old, their red fabric cushions faded, but there was something nice about it. “You gotta sit in the middle,” Marvin said, inching his way into the third row. “That way you’re not too close or too far away. But if there’s a lot of people they always go for the middle, too, so if it’s full, I prefer the back. But it’s not full now.” He sat down in the exact middle of the row. Chase sat next to him, and Marvin passed him one of the popcorn bags. “Cool, huh?”
“Yeah.” Chase nodded. “Um... so... I wanna watch the movie, but I... also want to... talk to you about something.”
Marvin stared at him. He nodded slowly. “Okay. Let’s wait for a bit. Watch the start of the movie.”
“Okay.” Chase nodded back. “Um... I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this one. What’s it about?”
“Oh, you haven’t?! Okay, so...”
Marvin had just enough time to explain the basic plot before the lights dimmed and the film started. Chase tried to relax, but he couldn’t. He was busy mentally preparing what to say. And then... well, he was a bit confused. “I thought you said this was a fantasy movie,” he whispered to Marvin.
“I said that they went into the fantasy world,” Marvin replied in a normal volume. “They have to start in the real world first. You’ll see. The beginning is, like, ‘oh my god,’ but then they go out to the country and find stuff there.” He paused. “Also you don’t have to whisper. It’s just us in here.”
“Riiiight.” Chase nodded, going quiet for a moment and trying to pay attention for a bit. Marvin didn’t have any problem with that. He was immediately sucked into the movie, eyes glued to the screen even as he ate popcorn. Chase almost hated to interrupt him. But he had to. So, when the movie seemed to be slowing down, he spoke up again. “Um... can we talk now?”
Marvin glanced at him. “They’re not even in Narnia yet.”
“Yeah, but... but I-I wanna talk before we get too into it.”
Marvin sighed. “I guess that makes sense.” He put the popcorn bag on the seat next to him and looked at Chase. “What is it?”
“I, uh...” Chase’s mind went blank. He fidgeted with his own popcorn bag for a moment before putting it aside and blurting out, “I’m an idiot.”
“Okay.”
“Wha—You’re not gonna, like, say that I’m not?”
“A lot of people are idiots,” Marvin said. “I’m an idiot. But we’re smart in other ways. I thought you were establishing a rapport.”
“A what?” Chase repeated, confused. “What the heck is that?”
“It’s uh... You know, I don’t actually know how to explain it.”
Chase shook his head. “Well, I wasn’t doing that. I was, um, opening up to something. I’m an idiot because... because I didn’t realize I’d made you upset again. When we figured out you had greenlight powers, I said they were weird. I, uh... i-it took me a while to realize you, uh... got... your feelings hurt.”
“...oh.” Marvin stared at him, then looked back at the movie. “That’s fine.”
“No it’s not!” Chase protested. “I didn’t want to upset you! I... I’m sorry I did. I wasn’t really thinking. I was just... using the same word I always would’ve and didn’t think about the context. I’m really sorry. You’re not weird.”
“Yeah, I am.” Marvin didn’t look back at Chase. “I’m an idiot, but I’m not fucking stupid. I like wearing capes and others don’t. I talk a lot and others don’t. I get upset when the lights in the school are too loud and others don’t. I’m a fucking weirdo, Chase. And you don’t have to pretend I’m not. I know. People think I don’t know, but I do. I mean, I didn’t used to know, like when I was really little, but by now, I’ve figured it out. I’m not normal. I’m weird. Fucking... deal with it.”
“...oh.” Chase wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “I, um... It’s not a bad thing. To, uh... not be normal.”
“People always say that,” Marvin sighed. “But like... even though I don’t get made fun of or anything, the difference feels bad sometimes. Like—like—” He gestured vaguely. “Like, everyone is painting a picture, but my paints are different colors. And I can mix colors and stuff to get something that’s sort of close to what everyone else is using, but it’s not right, and everyone can tell. So, like, fuck it, right? Might as well use my own colors. At least then everyone’s looking at my painting. Even though they like everyone else’s better.”
Chase nodded slowly. “Um... I like your painting, though.”
“Uh... I don’t actually have a painting. It’s a metaphor.”
“No, I know. I know what a metaphor is, I’m okay at English class. And I’m keeping going with this one. I like your painting. I like how you use different colors.”
Marvin finally turned to look at him, surprised. “But... you...” He paused, struggling for words. “You keep... It’s... I’m a magic weirdo, though.” He raised one hand, a little baseball-sized sphere of greenlight forming in his palm.
“I like that you’re a magic weirdo,” Chase explained, grinning. “Look at that! That’s so cool. You can just, like, make stuff. Freaking amazing, bro.”
“And... the cape and stuff?”
“I’m not gonna lie, it was, uh, strange at first, but now I know you and it’s also cool.”
Marvin blinked. “I’m... confused.”
“Uh... how do I say this...” Chase looked up at the ceiling, thinking. “If we talk about it like paintings again, I think... I think a lot of people want their paintings to look just like what everyone else wants to see. Maybe they’re drawing a bowl full of apples, but they wanna draw a bowl full of oranges, but people like apples more than oranges so they don't. For me... I’m looking at what everyone else is painting. A-and I’m trying to do the same thing.”
“Why do you want to make the same thing everyone else is making?” Marvin asked quietly.
Chase shrugged. “I think everyone does. But that’s impossible. Everyone paints differently. Why don’t you want to make the same thing?”
Marvin paused. He shrugged. “It’s hard. And it’s not fun. And it’s not... it’s not me.”
“Yeah.” Chase smiled at him. “And I like that. I like that you’re... that you’re so you all the time. I-I wish I could be as much me as I wanna be. But... when my painting starts looking a bit different than everyone else’s, I get nervous. I-I don’t want people to look at it and think ‘I don’t like that because it’s not like mine.’ So, even if it’s hard and not fun and not me, I try to change it. But you don’t. And I think you’re really... I think you’re really brave and cool for that.”
Marvin blinked. His eyes were looking watery. “I... I-I get nervous, too, you know.”
“Yeah, but you do it anyway, and I don’t. In fact, I...” Chase lowered his head, ashamed. “I get so nervous that I don’t even want my painting to be near different ones sometimes. B-but I shouldn’t want that! It’s not fair and it’s mean and it’s not what I really want. I want to hang our paintings together.” He raised his head again. “I want to keep being friends. Screw what other people think. But I-I might make mistakes sometimes. Because I’m not used to it. So... I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
A moment passed. Marvin looked away. It took Chase a moment to realize he was wiping his face on his cape. When Marvin looked back again, his eyes were red, but clear. “It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I... I want to keep being friends, too. I’m not... good at making them. So, a couple mistakes aren’t gonna make me hate you or anything.” He smiled a bit. “But I think you should’ve said this earlier.”
Chase slumped with relief and smiled back. “Yeah. I know now. But I’m an idiot when it comes to other people’s feelings and stuff. Don’t know how to deal with it.”
“Fuck, I don’t know, either. Let’s just agree to talk about stuff right away in the future. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Marvin smiled wider. He leaned over and bumped his shoulder against Chase’s.
Chase laughed. “Oh, man. I have not been watching the movie at all. What’s even going on?”
“Oh shit, I think we missed the first moment! Alright, it’s okay, I remember what happened. So basically...”
As they grabbed their popcorn again and settled down to finish the movie, Chase felt like a weight was lifted from his chest. Huh. He didn’t even realize that was there.
++++++++++++++++++++
JJ closed the textbook, relieved to finally be done with his history notes. Carefully, he slid the sheets of lined paper into his binder, preparing them to be turned in on Monday. God, he hated taking notes. He was already good at remembering stuff. He didn’t need notes. Especially Cornell notes, ugh. They didn’t help at all! Why was his World History teacher so obsessed with them? Why did he need to prove that he’d done them?
He’d do it anyway, of course. They got graded on their notes. It’d look bad if he skipped them and got a bad grade as a result.
Well... now what?
He sighed, leaning back in the kitchen chair. He wished there was room for a desk in his and Marvin’s bedroom. It’d be nice. Doing his homework in the kitchen wasn’t too annoying, but it did mean Mam and Dad sometimes poked their heads in to ask if he was working. Which... obviously he was. And... obviously they were interrupting him. Obviously.
JJ stood up and put his binder back in his bag. Then he headed out. He could hear the TV playing from the living room. Sounded like one of Granmam’s shows. Maybe after he put his bag back in his room, he’d come back down and sit with her. She didn’t mind it when he was there.
Sometimes he and Marvin wished that their grandmother could stay with them all year. Everything seemed... somehow better when she was there. But they knew they couldn’t ask her to do that. They were lucky that she stayed with them through Christmas every year. Grandparents didn’t usually do that.
He headed up the stairs. There was more TV noise coming from Mam and Dad’s room (totally wasn’t fair that they got a second, personal TV and he and Marvin didn’t even have a desk) but he ignored that and headed straight to his room. He walked in, turned on the lights, put his bag in its usual place in the corner by the door—
“Hey.”
—and then spun around when hearing the sudden voice.
Anti was sitting on the windowsill. It was narrow, probably a tough place to sit, but Anti could float so it didn’t really matter to him. He grinned when he saw JJ and gave a little wave.
JJ grabbed the nearest thing he could find—one of Marvin’s shoes—and threw it at Anti. It passed right through him and thudded against the window’s glass.
Anti’s grin disappeared. “You really like throwing things, huh? Rude. You’re so... so fucking rude.” Then he giggled, as if amused by his own swearing.
What are you doing here? JJ demanded.
“I still don’t know what you’re saying, but you pointed at me, so you’re probably asking why I’m here.” Anti tilted his head. “Your twin is off doing something right now. With someone else. Did you know about that?”
Confused, JJ nodded. He glanced around the room, wondering if there was something he could use to get Anti out of here. Maybe if he threw enough stuff at him he’d go away. He took a couple steps forward, aiming to get to the dresser.
“You did? And you’re okay with that?”
JJ nodded again. Why wouldn’t he be okay with that?
“What if Marvin stops doing anything with you?” Anti pressed. “Would you be okay with that? Are you scared of him doing stuff by himself?”
JJ frowned. He shook his head.
“You’re not scared of that?” Anti blinked. The ceiling light flickered. “What if he’s scared of that? What if he doesn’t want you to do things without him?”
Marvin wouldn’t be like that, though. The two of them had always been together, and always will be. They’d gone through a lot, told each other things that they’d never told anyone else. JJ isn’t so... insecure... to think that Marvin doing something with Chase means he’ll stop hanging out with JJ. And the same could be said for Marvin, too. Besides, they lived together. They couldn’t ignore each other forever. JJ took a couple steps towards the dresser and shook his head again.
Anti stared at him. His eyes narrowed. He seemed somehow unhappy with JJ’s answers. “What are you scared of?” he whispered. “You don’t ever look scared. You don’t ever look upset at all. But you have to be scared of something. Don’t you?”
JJ raised his shoulders. Something about this conversation was disturbing him. Quickly, he grabbed the nearest item from the dresser and threw it.
The object hit Anti in the chest, right under his neck. “Ow!” Anti gasped, catching the object as it fell. One of Marvin’s crystals. Anti stared at it. He seemed more surprised than hurt. And soon, both those feelings were overtaken by anger. He looked up at JJ, the green in his eyes flaring brighter as the ceiling light flickered wildly. JJ started backing up. “You’re terrible, Jameson Jackson,” Anti growled. “I gave Marvin a nice birthday present. Maybe you’ll get a Christmas present that’s just... as... ni͢c͏e̡.̛”
The light went out for a few seconds. JJ looked up at it. Then he looked back at the window. Though he should have been able to see Anti’s silhouette even in the sudden darkness of the room, he only saw the dark blue square of the window. And then the light turned on again. And his suspicion was confirmed; Anti had disappeared. Marvin’s crystal was on the ledge right where he’d been sitting.
JJ shivered. He walked over and quickly grabbed the crystal—and the shoe he’d thrown first. Then he put them back where he’d found them. And he thought about what Anti meant. If he’d pushed Marvin down the stairs as a ‘present,’ what did he want to do to him? The twin he didn’t like?
...It would be fine, wouldn’t it? JJ would just have to be careful to not go near anything dangerous by himself. He could do that. No need to tell Marvin or any of the others about that. Well, he should probably tell them he saw Anti. But not about the... threat. He didn’t want to worry them. He needed to not worry them. Or anyone. Ever.
JJ headed back downstairs—gripping the bannister tightly—and walked into the living room. As he suspected, Granmam was on the sofa watching one of her ‘shows,’ as she called him. She looked back as he came in. “Hey, lad,” she said, smiling. “Everyt’ing alrigh’? You look a mite pale.”
I’m alright, JJ said.
“Hmm.” Granmam pursed her lips. “Hey, c’mere t’me. Ye want to sit with you granmam for a bit?”
JJ nodded and hurried over. He slid onto the sofa and scooted up next to her. She always smelled a bit like vanilla. It was nice.
“Your brother’s still out?”
He nodded.
“T’ink he’ll want to join in when he gets back?”
Maybe.
Granmam smiled down at him. “Well, I know your parents are up for the night, so we have some time.” She leaned a bit closer and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I love ‘em, but they can be a pair of dryshites sometimes.”
JJ burst into laughter.
Granmam grinned right back. “Not Marvin, o’course, he’s grand. He can come right in if he wants to. For now, let’s have a moment, yea?”
JJ nodded. He leaned his head on her shoulder and stared at the TV. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but that wasn’t really the point of watching shows with Granmam.
Nothing to worry about. No need to worry anyone about anything.
Neither he nor his grandmother saw the shadow walk down the stairs, stare down the hall at them, and then disappear into thin air.
12 notes
·
View notes