She walked into her next class before the bell rang, the chairs completely empty. As she entered, her father glanced up from his desk, a deep frown on his face.

He looked old, gray hair at his temple. His long hair pulled back into a half up ponytail with the rest of his hair hanging free. A stubble lined his chin, gray hairs flecking the dark brown hair.

“Did you skip class again?” He asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair. His cloak wrapped around his shoulders and cast a dark shadow over his face. He didn’t look happy.

“No…? Why do you ask?” She tilted her head, watching him. His green eyes narrowed at her, watching as she dropped her black bookbag onto his desk.

“Chalice called me, said you weren’t in class for the last half of the class. Where were you?” He pressed, now rising from his chair to place cards on the lab tables in his classroom. She raised a brow in surprise.

“Did he fail to mention what he was discussing?” She thought aloud, reaching behind her to grab her buzzing phone from her pocket. Alistair turned to look at her, eyebrows raised.

“What was he teaching?” He grilled, continuing to put pieces of paper on each desk. Willow scowled, staring at him.

“He was discussing No-Face’s tactics and mannerisms, and specifically bringing up what he does to families.” Alistair’s eyes went wide, mouth wide open.

“Red’s in that class with you.” He murmured, realization washing over him.

“Yeah.” She clicked her home screen, distractedly skimming her texts. Nothing important. She looked back up to her father.

“Is she okay now?” He asked, seeming to finish his task. He walked back up to the front of the room, leaning against the table he kept in front of the whiteboard. He mainly used this table for throwing shadow balls at or experiments in general.

“Yeah, we did our little exercise around the school.” She explained, shoving her hands into her pockets. He raised a brow at her.

“Everytime you say ‘little exercise’ to me I get worried you two are having...relations on school property.” He grinned, watching as she flushed red.

“I’M NOT GAY, DAMMIT!” She yelled, right as someone walked into the room. She and Alistair both looked over in surprise.

The first thing that crossed her mind was that he looked sick. He narrowed his dark eyes at her, watching her carefully. Dark curly hair was all over the place, it curled around his ears and framed his face. He towered over her, and when he spoke small fangs flashed in the light. He didn’t smell like a vampire though.

“Congratulations…?” He asked, and raised his hand up to wave awkwardly. Alistair smiled, and held his hand out for him to shake. The guy took his hand and Willow watched as they greeted each other.

“You must be Shadow, right?” Alistair guessed, quirking a brow in question. The guy- Shadow nodded. Alistair gestured to her, and continued.

“This is my daughter, Willow. Willow, this is Shadow. He’s just transferred to our school.” She nodded in acknowledgement, and held out her hand for him to shake. He gingerly took her hand, and she tried to ignore how warm he was.

“So, uh, this is a coincidence, but because the rest of the class is shadow users who have shadow demon partners, you two sit together.” Alistair explained, wringing his hands together. She nodded, and Shadow did the same.

“Where do we sit, then?” Shadow asked. Alistair wordlessly led them to the back of the classroom, at the lone table in the back.

“You two sit here, and then our other eight will fill in the rest.” Alistair explained, walking back over towards his desk. She plopped down on the right, and Shadow sat on her left.

The other eight tables were in front of them and slightly to the side, two on the right and two on the left. It formed a ‘U’ shape where Alistair could walk into the middle, and just talk or demonstrate something.

“Were you the maniac who was sprinting around the school earlier today?” Shadow suddenly asked, pulling at the cuff of his black turtleneck sweater. She tilted her head in thought, and nodded.

“Yeah, that was me. Why?” He laughed a bit at her response. She frowned, and watched him curiously.

“Just wondering. You almost bulldozed me down in the stairwell.” Her eyes went wide, and he flashed a grin at her.

“I’m so sorry. If it makes you feel better I ran right into someone not soon after.” She explained, checking her phone. He huffed, crossing his arms.

“It’s cool, the person chasing you was closer to hitting me than you were.” He replied, pulling out his phone as well. The conversation died from there.

She felt her phone buzz again. She squinted at her phone, clicking it on and opening her texts.

Red> No-Face killed again.

Red has sent a link

She clicked on the link, curiosity getting the best of her, and instantly regretted it. She was met with news of a family. All murdered. Including the kids. She gasped in shock, the poor children’s chests were ripped open, as were their parents.

Shadow looked over at her, and looked at her phone. His eyes went wide as he read the news article.

“Holy shit.” He exclaimed, looking back to her. Alistair’s head shot up, eyes narrowing. He crossed his arms to look intimidating. The effect was lost on Willow, considering she’s seen the man put a banana in a microwave.

“Language.” clearly Alistair’s stern tone scared the shit out of Shadow. He tensed up, arm slightly trembling. She bumped her wrist against his, smiling at him.

“Dad, there’s another No-Face article.” Alistair’s face went serious, and he walked over. Willow turned the phone around so he could read.

“Shit, five dead, two parents and three kids?” He murmured, eyes wide. He read through the rest of the page and shook his head.

“Why the kids though? He’s left them to survive before…” Willow asked, nervously tapping her fingers against the hard table. Alistair shrugged, and turned as another pair came into the room.

“Hey hey hey! What’s up?” A bright voice called out, her ginger hair slipping out of the hood of her cloak. Alistair flashed a grin, waving to the cloaked girl and the shadow demon that stood behind her narrowed her eyes at Willow suspiciously.

“Hey Cherry, hello Amber.” giving them a curt nod and walked away from Willow and Shallow to direct them to their seats.

Cherry was short and thin, with a black line across her nose. Her arms were decorated with spiraling black lines, and Amber matched. That showed they were bonded.

Shadow users and shadow demons have a ritual. A very specific one, at that. Shadow users are unstable, most die from being unable to regulate their powers. Bonding with a shadow demon fixes that. A shadow demon can control the shadow user’s powers, and turn it into usable power. A shadow user’s cloak also helps with this.

“Why’s there a wolf in our class?” Amber drawled, leaning back in her chair. Willow’s eyes flickered to her. Amber’s broad frame made her look huge next to Cherry.

“Because I’m smart enough to be here.” She bit back, tensing her shoulders. She rose from her seat, as did Amber.

“Girls! That’s enough! You don’t need to compete for who’s prettier, considering it’s me!” They turned, looking over at the door. Another shadow user stood in the doorway, his blonde hair cut short (which is a bold statement) and hood down (another bold statement). Two thick black lines wrapped around his neck and the second one curved just under his collarbone. Two triangles went from his temples and met in the middle of his forehead.

A tiny shadow demon with short, straight hair stood behind him. The two curves around her neck proved she had been unfortunate enough to be bonded with this guy.

Shadow and Amber barely stifled a snicker. Her face warmed as she suddenly remembered a very important fact about shadow demons. Mind reading. And she was most likely broadcasting like at idiot, considering the very displeased look on the new shadow demon’s face.

“Jasper...just take your seat.” Alistair sighed exasperatedly, pointing at the table to the right of Cherry and Amber. Jasper gave Alistair finger guns and plopped himself into his seat. Willow slowly lowered herself into her seat, face probably still red.

“Jasper, care to introduce me to your shadow demon?” Alistair asked, waiting patiently for the shadow user to remember common courtesy. Shadow and Amber let out another laugh.

“I take back what I said, the wolf is hilarious.” Amber chuckled out, earning a glare from the small shadow demon. Willow’s face flushed again and she looked down to avoid everyone’s gaze. She vaguely heard Jasper say the shadow demon’s name but she couldn’t be bothered to listen.

A hand nudged her. She peeked over to her left, green eyes interlocking gazes with red. Shadow flashed her a gentle smile.

“Just make a mind wall. It’s easy.” She glared at him, watching as he flinched in surprise. She looked away angrily, crossing her arms with a huff.

“Fuck off.” she made eye contact with her disapproving father, who was shaking his head at her. Oh great, I’m gonna get in trouble for cussing out my desk partner. Whoopee! She didn’t miss how Shadow’s brows furrowed and he turned away, mouth pulled into a tight scowl.

“Just trying to be helpful. Sorry.” He bit out, pulling out his phone to negate further conversation. She gave another glare, just for good measure.

“You’re Mr. Crescent’s daughter, right?” A shadow demon stood in front of her, his bright red eyes alight with mirth. The mole under his left eye crinkled as his grin grew wider.

“Who’s asking?” he rested his elbows onto the desk, red eyes watching her. Shadow demon. She felt so utterly grateful for her deduction abilities. Truly, she did. Because watching someone get a smug grin on their face because they can read your mind is something to be grateful about.

“Aaron Larsen. Shadow demon bonded to Smith Stevens. Who should be coming into the room right about now.” As he finished his sentence, two shadow throwers burst into the room, almost comically.

“I won!” The girl, who had dyed a pink streak in her chocolate brown hair, yelled out. The boy was struggling to get his breath back. Both of their shadow cloaks were slipping off, probably because they ran here. Willow felt a pang of familiarity. Why couldn’t she remember who they were?

“The shadow thrower twins?” Shadow asked, staring at Aaron with mild curiosity. So that's who they were. She had been racking her brain for where or how she knew these two. Why was it a big deal that they’re twins..? Shit I can’t remember.

“Yea, Bonnie wanted a race, Smith can’t turn down a challenge. Something about seeing two girls run across campus.” Willow shrunk back in her seat when Aaron and Shadow both gave her pointed looks. She promptly flipped them off, not liking the red eyes staring her down. It’s something about shadow users. Shadow users and twins.

“Bonnie and Smith Stevens?” Alistair asked, crossing his arms. Bonnie glanced up, grinning wildly. She was going to kick herself later when she remembered.

“I won right?” Alistair sighed, shaking his head. Bonnie let out a groan and Smith tried to laugh victoriously but just wheezed like a squeaky toy. Another shadow demon with long, straight black hair burst in, clearly angry. A thick spiral curled down the entire expanse of her arm, and she was glaring at Bonnie.

“Did you seriously just jump out of a window to win?!” Everyone looked at Bonnie in alarm, though Smith had more so the face of suffering. Willow was slightly worried at this point. Alistair rolled his eyes.

“You better not have caused body or property damage, Stevens. Both of you.” Bonnie gave him finger guns, and waltzed over to her seat, with the angry shadow demon following her. Aaron walked over to Smith, guiding him to the last empty seat, and handed him water.

“It’s because most shadow user twins don’t live this long.” Shadow muttered, not looking at her. She looked at him, tilting her head.

“Explain?” His red eyes slid over to her, and ran a pale hand through his dark hair. He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“Most of the time, the weaker or youngest die from shadow poisoning. So, both of them surviving for this long is considered a miracle.” oh. Yea she needed to kick herself. She looked back over to Smith, who was leaning on Aaron’s shoulder and steadily breathing. Aaron looked up at her, a small smile on his face, and waved. She waved back. Alistair started walking towards the middle of the room, his dark cloak billowing around him as he moved.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Alistair clapped his hands together, gaining everyone’s attention. Her father pulled his hood down, and everyone waited as Jasper slowly pulled his hood up.

She should probably explain this, shouldn’t she? Shadow users have a strict way to show respect. Only leaders or people in places of authority have their hoods down. As well as have their hair short. Most shadow users have long hair, either shoulder length or longer. Jasper has buzzed hair and some shaggy bangs that fell in his face, whereas literally all the shadow users in the room (with the exception of the shadow demons, the rule doesn’t apply to them apparently. Willow doesn’t understand it) had long hair.

So that’s why Alistair pulled his hood down, and Jasper needed to humble himself.

“You’re still projecting.” Shadow leaned down to whisper, and she turned, giving him a blank stare.

“Then stop listening.” She vaguely registered Amber doing a spit-take across the room.

The class went by quick, with her father discussing with the class about safety measures in their class. Well, okay, it went fast for her because she’s heard the safety speech probably hundreds of times now, considering he rambles it in the car when he’s driving. She timed who would be the first to fall asleep, because someone always gives in. Turns out, it was her own desk buddy. It took him approximately ten minutes into Alistair’s forty minute lecture to pass out. She didn’t know if he was confident in his abilities or if he was just stupid. She was leaning more towards the latter though.

Now that she was heading into her last class of the day, she prayed to all the possible deities above and beyond to please put her in a class with someone she knew.

“Is that Willow Crescent?” A particularly familiar annoying voice called out. She let out a curse under her breath. She knew that voice. She looked up, seeing Vladimir sitting in a seat in the middle of the classroom. Nope. He waved at her, a wide grin stretched across his face. She squinted at him, while he had been enthusiastically pointing at the seat next to him. She sat in an empty seat in the back row, practically hearing Savvy calling her an emo in the back of her head.

She should really stop praying. Or start being more specific. Placing her bag onto her desk, she plopped down into the chair.

“Aw, did me teasing you in the hallway earlier make you embarrassed?” Vladimir sat down in the seat in front of her, which she was pretty sure someone had already been sitting in. he flashed her a toothy grin, and leaned into her space.

“What do you want?” She asked, crossing her arms. His ice blue eyes stared into her core, like he was searching for something. His dark black hair fell into his face as he let out a laugh.

“You.” He purred, placing his phone on her desk. He had a contact page made, with her name but no phone number.

“You mean you want my phone number so you can cheat for this class?” He gave a non committal shrug, giving her a sly grin.

“Something like that.” She handed the phone back to him. His grin fell, and he gave her a confused glance.

“I’m not up for blood orgies at the moment, sorry.” he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. She gave him a smirk this time, enjoying how annoyed he looked for once.

“That was one time.” he bit out, averting his gaze. She watched him turn fully around before she said anything.

“That’s what they all say.” He whipped around, eyes ablaze with anger. At least she thought it was anger. She wasn’t sure. Maybe mild annoyance.

“You should watch how you talk to people, Willow. You never know what they might do.” Vladimir leaned towards her, flashing his fangs in the light. She decided to ignore the chill that shot down her spine.

“Is that a threat, or a promise?” She whispered, watching him carefully. Vladimir chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

“You’re something else, Willow Crescent.” She pressed her lips together tightly, and kicked his chair, hard. He yelped and dramatically placed his hand on his chest.

“Be careful, you almost gave me a heart attack!” He smiled, and she almost missed how his eyes flickered down to her lips then back to her eyes.

“You’d have to have a heart for that to happen.” She deflected, looking away from him. He turned fully around in his seat, a smug grin on his face.

“Are you just going to pretend that your heart rate didn’t just speed up?” she pointedly was not looking at him, crossing her arms and scowling.

“Yes.” He opened his mouth to say something, but was ultimately stopped when the teacher decided enough was enough.

“Either you two can stop flirting or I can write you both a hall pass for you to work out the sexual tension.” Vladimir grinned, loving the attention. Their teacher rose a brow, waiting for an answer.

“We’ll take option two, please.” She smacked him on the back of the head, face burning. He laughed lightly, cold hand grabbing her wrist to keep her from hitting him a second time.

“Please, just...be quiet so I can teach.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. Vladimir blew a kiss at Willow and turned around. She kicked his chair again, getting a tiny yelp, feeling a tiny flare of satisfaction.

As far as she knew, Vladimir could just be teasing her because she didn’t know how to react. But that didn’t stop her from writing her number on a slip of paper and passing it to him by the end of class.

When the end of the day rolled around at 4 o’clock, she practically ran out of her fourth block, managing to avoid Vladimir’s curious gaze. She bounded down the stairs, walking with the movement of the hoard of high school students. Everyone either stood outside talking, or were rushing towards their cars or buses. In her case, it was her car. And she needed to get around the two freshmen who were passionately making out in front of her- oh dear that was a penis. She averted her gaze and managed to slip by without hitting the freshmen.

She somehow got outside with no more incidents, grateful that she survived. She looked up, and breathed a sigh. The crystals were pretty today. They were normally pretty, but they seemed...different today. She didn’t really notice during her run with Red, she was more focused on distracting Red. The crystals radiated a soft magenta light, painting the area around the building in a soft pink light. It would be more intense of a light the closer you got to them. There are some apartments in the city that are constantly bathed in a soft colorful light. She couldn’t remember how they worked at the moment, though she was fairly certain it was due to the seasons and temperature up on the surface.

Yea, you read that right. Surface. Supernaturals lived underground, with some living on the surface close to the mountains. They went underground roughly after the war, approximately six thousand years ago, and are now a self governing nation. Most mountain ranges have a ‘continent’ of some sort, and a teleportation system to travel between them.

In her totally unbiased opinion, their mountain range; named after their specific founder ‘Vaila’, was the prettiest. She knew the Uriela range (which was on the other side of the country) was more well known for its food and culture rather than it’s aesthetics. She knew her friend Violet was from the Quirina range, which she knew was across the Pacific ocean. She couldn’t remember the human name for the country though.

She broke out of her thoughts, realizing she just walked past her car, and turned around. Nope. She turned back around after seeing Vladimir talking with some of his friends. She was ignoring the fact that he was holding a piece of paper, probably the one with her number on it. She slipped in between two random cars and walked behind the cars until she saw her license plate, while keeping an eye on where Vladimir was looking. Jesus, you’re acting like a middle school child. She spotted Vladimir getting into his car, and driving off.

A twig snapped behind her, and she whirled around, almost about to throw a punch. Shadow was staring at her, his brows drawn together in curiosity.

“What are you doing?” He asked, crossing his arms. She gave him an awkward grin, and rolled onto the heels of her feet.

“Uh...avoiding people?” He rose a brow, and looked over to where Vladimir’s car had been. A grin spread across his face.

“Or maybe you’re just avoiding a certain someone?” She turned away from him, ears burning. He laughed, bright and clear. Another set of footsteps was approaching them.

“Shadow? What are you…oh.” A boy walked out around the cars, his curly black hair tucked under his gray beanie. His hair was obviously longer than Shadow’s, who had his just long enough for it to curl around his ears. Shadow turned to look at the kid, who swallowed nervously and waved at Willow.

“Oh, hey Zachariah.” Zachariah frowned, punching Shadow in the arm and walked forward to offer his hand to Willow. She shook it gently, and he smiled.

“Hi, I’m Zach, this idiot’s brother.” oh. That probably makes more sense. They looked like brothers, now that she thought about it. They were both tall and lean, with wild curly black hair and red eyes. Though Shadow had faint freckles and Zachariah didn’t.

“Wow, you actually do narrate in your mind.” Zachariah said, eyes watching her curiously. She jumped, eyes wide. Shadow gave his brother (she was assuming Shadow was older, she wasn’t exactly sure) a pointed glare.

“What?” she muttered, looking at the ground. Shadow elbowed Zachariah, and sighed. She kicked at a rock, and glanced between the two of them.

“You think weird. You think like a book character or something, considering you state facts in your mind or whatever.” He explained, not looking at her. She politely ignored his bright red ears.

“Oh. I have memory issues. I was in an...accident when I was little, so my childhood is practically nonexistent and I can’t remember things very well unless I either write them down for me to read later or to pretty much internalize it by thinking about it repeatedly.” She explained with a small laugh, rubbing her forearm awkwardly. Shadow hummed, nodding. Zachariah had a look of surprise, and was giving his brother a look she didn’t understand.

“Well, we’re gonna go. Our grandmother is probably wondering where we are.” Zachariah piped up, and turned on his heel to walk away. Shadow watched him walk to the car, and turned back to her.

“See you.” She gave him a curt nod and he stalked off. She smiled warmly, seeing the two interact reminded her of her younger sisters. Though her sisters were only eight and thirteen. She sighed and walked over to her car, unlocking it.

She opened her car door (a lovely little black Chevy Cruze, thank you) and sat inside, watching for a shock of red hair. She hooked up her phone to the car’s audio system, sending a few texts and let Alistair know where they were going. She got a vague confirmation and she felt that he might be in an argument with Artemis again.

Artemis Belligrate was a royal pain in the ass. She was the current head of the council, and sucked at her job. She went to school with Alistair, and from Willow remembers, they used to be friends. But power changed Artemis to be more of a stuck up brat than an admirable person. From what she remembered, Artemis was tall, pale, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She had a daughter who was twelve? She wasn’t particularly sure, she just knew she had a daughter.

“Are you mind narrating again?” She jumped, cursing and looked over at Red. At some point Red had taken out her bun, and now her long wavy red hair tumbled down, framing her pale face. She stared at her, pursing her lips in thought.

“No…?” She tried, giving a small smile. Red rose a brow, and buckled her seatbelt. She lowered her hood, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Don’t try and bullshit me. Just drive, I need cheesecake.” Willow huffed, starting the car. She also buckled, because driving and Willow don’t get along. Red normally drives, though she doesn’t like to when she’s had a panic attack. Willow tends to get lost in her head and Red doesn’t, so Red is mostly the preferred option.

“Aye aye, captain.” She checked her left, right, and then left again and backed out of her parking spot, thankful Red took her time leaving the building, because majority of the parking lot was now empty. She turned left onto the well maintained road, watching one particular idiot speeding past them. If Red had been driving right now, even her ears would be burning from the creative curses. Red was well known for her road rage in their house, though she wasn’t allowed to do it in front of Vanessa.

They pulled to a stop behind a red car, almost blood red. Oh yea, she should probably tell Red about her poor decision making today.

“I gave Vladimir my number.” Red whipped her head to stare at Willow dumbfoundedly. Her mouth was wide open, eyes wide. She kinda looked like a fish.

“You WHAT?!” She shrieked, pulling out her phone, presumably to text their friends of this new development. She sighed, regretting this already. She took a right turn, waiting for Red to finish her freakout.

“I gave him my number. We have fourth block together. He seems pretty chill.” Red was now staring out the window in shock, covering her mouth.

“I don’t know who you are anymore.” Red said dramatically, and Willow rolled her eyes. They hit a red light, so Willow now had a moment to give Red a look.

“Why are you acting like this?” Willow asked, raising a brow. Red grinned at her, mischief in her eyes.

“Is this the year Willow Crescent breaks her vow of never dating anyone?” The light turned green, and because there were no cars in front of her, she suddenly stepped on the gas to make Red lurch forward.

“Shut up.” Willow said, watching the cars in front of her. Red laughed, bright and clear. Red brushed her bangs out of her face, cerulean eyes showing more emotion than she normally lets on. Willow gave her a questioning glance, but didn’t say anything.

“How was today?” Red murmured, just as Willow turned left. She thought about her answer before she actually responded. She knew what Red was asking, if she had forgotten anything important during the day.

“It was good, I only forgot why it was a miracle if shadow user twins survive.” she paused, debating.

“And I can’t remember if I turn here or go straight.” She glanced at Red, who was giving her an enigmatic stare.

“Straight, Willow. I know it’s hard to stay straight, but you gotta try, for poor Vladimir’s sake.” She let out a squawk, almost slamming the brakes to make Red lurch forward again. She opted to instead flip her off.

“Don’t be rude!” Red mock gasped, placing a hand on her chest. Willow, now recognizing where they were, took another left.

“You’re in my passenger seat, I’m allowed to be rude!” She exclaimed, sticking her tongue out playfully. Red snorted, and went back to scrolling through her phone.

“Just drive.” Willow rolled her eyes, driving past the halfway point. Almost there. The rest of the drive was ridden in a comfortable silence, with Red casually humming to the music playing from the radio.

Vivian’s was a small, modest place. It was warm and cozy inside, with little glass blown ornaments that Vivian absolutely adored. She really liked the texture apparently. When they entered the bakery, a little bronze bell chimed above them. Vivian’s voice called out from the kitchen, quick and hasty.

“Be there in just a second!” Red grinned at Willow, and they walked up the counter, peering into the glass case featuring sweets and treats. Willow felt her phone buzz in her hand, and looked at her screen, scrunching her face. Cleo, her sister had texted her.

Baby Sis> Since ur at viv’s, get me some food.

She rolled her eyes and sent a thumbs up for affirmative. She looked up, seeing Vivian slip out of the kitchen, her blind eyes scanning the area. She stopped and her smile brightened, walking towards the counter.

Vivian was a petite, busty woman, with white hair and pale eyes. She had her long hair pulled back into a french braid, a few loose strands escaping it’s plait and framing her face delicately.

“Hello! How can I help you?” She asked, bright and cheery, completely unaware of who was in front of her.

“One special apple cheesecake please!” Red said, a big grin on her face. Vivian raised a brow, and turned her head to Willow.

“How in the hell did you lose?” Vivian asked, crossing her arms and leaning back. Willow gave a sheepish laugh, and opened her mouth to respond, but Red beat her to it.

“Willow’s got a boyfriend!” Red whisper-shouted, clearly excited to ruin Willow’s life. She gave her a sharp elbow under the ribs, though Vivian raised a suspicious brow at Red’s groan of pain.

“Literally running into someone does NOT make him my boyfriend.” Willow grumbled, crossing her arms. Vivian squinted her eyes, and tapped her fingers against the counter.

“Red, tell me about the boyfriend.” Willow groaned, dramatically stomping her foot like a child, ignoring Red’s and Vivian’s amused laughs.

“Okay so first off, he’s a vampire!” Red exclaimed, waving her hands around to exaggerate to a blind person.

“What?? Is that even possible?” Vivian asked, leaning forward on her chin. Red made a thoughtful hum.

“Maybe? And! He looks suuuper emo. He’s got straight black hair, and it falls in his face all the time. And he’s got bright blue eyes and he’s super tall so you know that’s Willow’s type,” Red took a breath from the rapid information dump she was pouring onto Vivian. “AND, he’s an asshole. He once had a blood orgy.” Even now, miles away from Vladimir, she could hear his indignant squawk. She laughed quietly to herself just imagining it, and felt her face go warm.

No. no no no no no no no. We are NOT doing that. No way in HELL! We are not crushing on Vladimir. No.

“And! And! She gave her number to him!” Vivian gasped, eyes blown wide. She looked over at Willow, a stern expression on her face.

“Willow Crescent. You better bring this boy here one day.” Willow groaned again, and plopped herself down onto the ground.

“Viv, please, just get us an apple cheesecake and a key lime pie. And Cleo’s normal order please.” Willow muttered, knowing she would hear.

“Alright, grumpy.” and with that, she heard Vivian stomp away, not angrily, it’s just how she walks. Red looked down at Willow with a teasing grin. Her face was a mixture of triumphant smugness and playfulness. Willow just crossed her arms and pouted, causing Red to roll her eyes.

“Come on, get up you big baby.”

“No.” Willow said, sticking up her chin in childish stubbornness. Red rolls her eyes again and grabs Willow by the forearms, and unsuccessfully pulling her up. Willow sighed and relented, standing up so Red wouldn’t hurt herself or embarrass herself even further.

They ended up spending the rest of the time waiting for their food by making faces at each other and sending each other stupid memes while they bickered like toddlers.