“Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.”

-Napoleon Bonaparte

Encore Finale

Mythology is the art of investigating lies until a story is agreed upon. How true the story is doesn’t matter in the end. Only that everyone agrees on it, and often lies are preferred over truth. Greek mythology is famous in its settling on such preferred accounts. The Olympians are famous for their minimal care of their domains. Acting only when they want or when forced by higher agreements. But can you blame them? The opening story of the gods is being eaten by their insane father. Followed by a war that lasted over a decade. That was then followed by them having the responsibility of everything dropped on their shoulders.

People cry when teenagers have to chip in with the bills because kids should have a childhood. Well imagine going from birth, to meal, to warrior, to ruler of the world. Not even Zeus got to have a childhood. So can you blame them? I can’t. Not even after fourteen years of no contact except for a list of enemies that want to kill me. Not even my own mother Aphrodite who just dropped me off and bailed. Of course that might be the result of having an amazing dad. I knew a lot of demigods who didn’t have much family support. I went to summer camp with them every year.

My name is Francis Paris. Called me Frank. I’m a demigod of Aphrodite. Goddess of all the stuff you know she’s the goddess of. My dad was an artist who caught her eye and then dumped him high and dry after I was born. I’ve seen my mother a grand total of seven times. Six were during my summer camp’s yearly trip to Greece to visit Olympia. The seventh was the day I got home from summer camp this year. She showed up and told us she wanted me to attend High School in Progress City which was strange because we lived in Louisiana and was already planning on attending High School in Paris, Louisiana. The city with the highest count of demihumans in the nation, but she had everything set up and ready to go. In the end, we agreed and soon I was getting into a fistfight on the first day with my best friend Harrick Ishtar. Forgot what it was we fought over. I think we insulted each other’s mothers.

Regardless, we made up and have been confidants ever since. We could count on each other for anything. Trust each other with everything, and just know when each other needed something. Just like today. Started like the rest. Woke up, got ready, headed out with a quick later to Pops, and knew something was on Harrick’s mind when I saw him at the bus stop.

“Salut frere.” I slapped Harrick on the back, “What’s up?”

He huffed in annoyance, “My grandmother is bothering me again.”

“Oof. Sorry.” I grimaced. After my visit to Harrick’s home a week ago Granny Ishtar started pestering Harrick to bring me over more. Apparently I made a damn good first impression. “I can come over and go swamp mode on them if you want.”

I started doing a half jig while belting a Cajun folk song off-key. Harrick laughed, “Oh no. Please. They would either throw you over the wall or demand you marry Isabella on the spot.”

“You think?” The bus came and stopped for us and we took our seats, “I wouldn’t mind too much. Your cousin seems pretty cool.”

“Yes, that’s good, because you just reminded me of something I need your help with.” Harrick smoothed down his mustache. “You remember Luke, the fairy-kin I dueled.”

“Yeah, he giving you trouble?”

“No. We are in an understanding of civility.”

“Yo! You got a rival? Lucky!” I drew the word out. Rivalry was one of those things that everyone wanted to have. The kind of thing that Saturday cartoons taught little kids and classic literature taught teenagers. “Find a lover and you’ll be a full-on classic hero.”

I chuckled until I saw Harrick was keeping his stoic stare forward. He coughed once, “So… About that.”

“Boyo! Vraiment?” I was shocked. Totally happy for him, but shocked, “Who?”

“That’s what I was getting too. Apparently Luke has a cousin and she asked me out.”

“I see.” I nodded. I could tell he was annoyed by this. Not angry or scared. Just annoyed. There was a twist coming to this. “And you said…?”

“I said no, but she weaseled something about family dishonor and peace between nations and building trust. Which was when I quipped something about a mongoose trusting a cobra and got trapped into a double date.”

“Trapped? Like for real trapped, or double dared trapped?” This was an actual concern. Luke, and assumingly his cousin, were fairy kin, which met they literally could trap you through spoken words.

“Oh no, honor bounded. It was my own fault.” Harrick assured me and I sighed in relief, “But I’m still honor bounded, and this is the part where I must apologize.”

“For?”

“You’re the other mongoose.”

It took a whole second to understand what that meant and another to try to understand the issue before giving up and just asking, “Why are you apologizing for that? I’m your confidant. I got your back through anything. From a tag-team brawl to a double date.”

“Thank you, but there’s more.” Harrick said, “See I tried to weasel my way out with one last gambit. In short, I said two snakes are thrice as bad as one, and she agreed but three against one was unfair. This somehow resulting in a non-neutral, but non-combatant, agreement. To which I was only able to name Isabella.”

My head was starting to hurt. Demihuman politics was a head-scratcher on the best of days. I tried to imagine the argument that resulted in this trash fire of a setup, but stopped after trying to work out the mongoose metaphor. Skipping to the end I asked, “Did Isabella agree to this?”

Harrick groaned at that, “With glee.”

“Oof.” Was all I could think to say to that. “Okay, so what’s the date plan?”

“Tessa has that covered.” Harrick said, “You ever heard of K-Kay Blush?”

I had most definitely heard of K-Kay Blush. One of the most popular pop stars in the world. She had been an icon of teenage rebellion for the past decade. With hits songs like Hooligan Heritage and Black Sheep White Sheep, she was the inspiration for thousands of teenagers, boys and girls alike, to swear at their parents and teachers. She was also an advocate of self-awareness to the fact that mistakes have consequences and all the bossy adults were ultimately just looking out for you. She was also the inspiration for thousands of young adults to really connect to their parents as they in turn started their own families. Readying themselves to deal with the same trash they dealt to their parents.

Needlessly to say I owned all her albums. So did Isabella apparently. We karaoked lines between us as we made our way to the concert later that evening. Tessa Green snapped along. She had a striking charm to her that marked her as a demihuman. Her eyes were an almost glowing green that popped out around her dark skin and her course hair was braided up to lead into two big puffs that were all interlaced with a weave of bright orange flowers. Her outfit on the other hand was perfectly mundane. All of us wore simple jeans, except Harrick who wore slacks. We all wore t-shirts with various K-Kay Blush art, except Harrick who wore a button down. We all wore expressions of fun and delight, except Harrick who wore a stoic face of contempt. It was going to be a great night.

“I can’t believe this!” Isabella cheered, “I’m going to see K-Kay Blush in person.”

“Settle down, half pint.” Tessa said, “It’s not like we’re going to get the chance to meet her. It’s a show. Not a party.”

“I know that.” Isabella snapped back, “And don’t call me half pint. I’m a full pint.”

Tessa chuckled, “No you’re not.”

Isabella tried to kill her with a mean look. “Why are you coming with us again?”

“Because your brother is an honorable gentleman.” Tessa hooked an arm around Harrick’s and pulled him in, “And I have the tickets.”

Isabella just continued staring before saying, “Cousin. We’re cousins.”

The mood stayed in that mix of cheer and jeer with Harrick being the stoic contrast turning it into a comedy piece. Tessa didn’t seem bothered by Harrick’s stony expression. Which made sense. She had dealt with his rough and course personality to rope him into this date. There had to be something she liked about it. Why else would she stay in good spirits as we arrived at the park where the concert was being held and presented our tickets?

The ticket taker looked over the tickets and then over us narrowing his eyes, “Demihumans are ya? Don’t cause any trouble and keep the funny business to a minimum.”

“Of course,” Tessa said as she extended a hand for a UV stamp. After the rest of us followed suit and we made our way into the park.

“The fuck was that about?” Isabella nearly screamed after we got out of earshot. “How did he even know you were demihumans?”

“The eyes,” I answered. “There’s always something in the eyes that you can tell after a while. Even for guys like Harrick.”

“That’s bullshit. Okay, Tessa’s eyes are literally glowing, but you and Harrick?”

“Frank has the eyes of his mother, Aphrodite,” Tessa explained. I hadn’t even shared my demitype with her and she correctly guessed who my mother was. “And Harrick has that knowing look you see in a chess master.”

“Okay, whatever.” Isabella rolled her eyes, “But what about the funny business stuff? Does he think you guys are going to start something?”

None of us had an immediate response to that. I saw the look on Isabella’s face go from anger to confused worry. Harrick was the one to finally speak up.

“It isn’t that he believes we will cause trouble,” Harrick said in a thoughtful meter, “But that any trouble will be caused by us.”

“What?” Isabella asked in a whisper.

“Shit happens.” I grabbed her shoulder and shook her, “For demihumans, demihuman shit happens. It’s just that simple.”

“Yeah, Issy.” Tessa joined in, “It’s just how things are. Now come on. We don’t want to be in the nosebleeds.”

With that Tessa led us deeper into the well-tended grassland where a crowd of people had amassed around a stage set up. We were early, but we all decided to keep a distance from the stage and instead found a decent spot near one of the industrial speakers that had a good view.

We found a few snack stops and got drinks. Tessa tried to charm some booze, but the vendor gave a hard no to her chagrin. So there we were, with sodas and a bottle water(guess who) in hand, with the crowd growing around us. We chatted with other concertgoers and even met a few demihumans from the other schools. The rumbling of the masses became a roar as the crowd waited. Then the stages went dark, the crowd went silent, and the show began.

A single spotlight was turned on a man who walked from backstage to center mic. Nearly everyone knew him. J-Jay Cash was K-Kay’s manager and often joined in performances. So no one was shocked went he came to mic and started to speak.

“Attention ladies and gentlemen. I am sorry to say that K-Kay Blush will not be performing tonight.” The crowd cheered at that, and I saw Harrick become visibly confused. I gestured to him to wait a second and J-Jay continued, “She was not invited.”

“Good thing too.” A cheery voice rang through the speakers as a dazzling light came from the stage sending the crowd into a wave of cheers as a woman in a hoodie appeared out of a smoke effect. She spoke into a mic in hand, “Cause I only go to parties I’m not invited to!”

The beat line started and K-Kay Blush started the first song of the show. Not every show started with a fake out, but in the ten years of K-Kay’s career, it was known well enough to bring more cheers than a standard start. And cheers there were. Tessa and Isabella danced and grooved in full swing as I held back next to Harrick who bobbed his head to the beat despite trying not to. The song was about never giving up and pushing back against the rules of the adults. Not to a criminal point and the song ends with Kay getting grounded by Mama Dear, a character of her songs more than a direct reference. The following song she sang was about breaking out of her room as Mama Dear continued to thwart each attempt ending a final plan where she simply asks to be allowed to go which works.

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As the next song started Harrick said he needed the restroom and I joined him leaving Tessa with Isabella. We weren’t worried about leaving them alone. Tessa wasn’t going to do anything and Isabella could handle herself fine. So we headed down and around the park to find the public restroom. After using them we were at the sinks.

“So how has it been so far?” I asked drying my hands.

“It’s interesting.” Harrick rubbed his mustache in the mirror, “I thought her works were more… disrespectful.”

“How so?” I asked keeping my groove in check.

“I always thought her songs were about disobeying and breaking rules and being a brat, but so far she’s been on the losing end in her own songs.”

“Yeah, they’re about being a kid, and kids often lose to adults.” I explained, “One of my sisters from demigod camp told me that K-Kay Blush is about breaking small rules to understand why the big rules are there.”

“I see,” Harrick said as he stared into the mirror. I looked him over. Something was off. I could feel it the whole night. There was some kind of vibe that didn’t sit right.

“Hey, you want to bail?” I asked hooking a thumb towards outside.

“I can’t just go. That as stupid as it is, I’m honor bound to finish the night.” Harrick said rubbing his eyes.

“Not what I asked.” I reiterated, “Do you want to bail? Because I don’t know what it is, but I got a bad vibe.”

This made Harrick concerned. “What kind of bad vibe?”

“Don’t know, but if you want to get Isabella out of here I’ll uphold your honor.”

“What? Surely you jest.” Harrick was taken aback, “You would really do that?”

“Yeah, man.” I extended a hand up to him, “I’m your confidant.”

Harrick smiled and slapped his hand in mine interlocking our thumbs, “Thank you, Frank. I will accept your offer in reserve. In case something goes down.”

That was when something went down. An explosion sounded outside and the booming bass was replaced with silence. We looked from the door out to each other and bolted out just as the screaming started.

The crowd was falling into panic as some older concertgoers, either in or passed cadet school, barked out military calls to try and hold order. For my part, I readied my weapon. Pulling a small metal stick the size of an ink pen and clicking the little switch at one end I stood there with a greco-roman broadsword. Harrick next to me started calling his jinn magic and that’s when I saw the first monster about thirty yards away. A large canine the size of a warhorse with blood red fur sticking out between obsidian scales.

“Is that a hellhound?” I asked nobody as I recognized the beast from personal experience. I don’t know if anyone tried to answer me because I was already heading into action shouting, “Launch me.”

Harrick was already going into action himself as he formed a ring of power a few feet ahead of me and sent a wave of power out when I stepped in it to send me across the gap. I aimed and plunged my sword right between two scales to where I knew its heart was beating. The hellhound snarled and tried to snap its jaws on me only for me to swiftly slash across its neck. Heart stabbed and throat cut the beast was still alive and tried to jump on me. I lifted my blade and stepped in to slide it into its chest. It went limp and fell to the ground already decaying into ash and smoke. I huffed watching it. Hellhounds weren’t easy to kill, but this one was concerning. Hopefully, I had lucked into killing the biggest one first and the rest would be easier, but I already knew that relying on luck was no better than just stabbing yourself.

“Frank, I’m signaling for help,” Harrick shouted and I watched as he focused power into a blast straight up into the sky exploding into a tri-layered triangle. Seconds later another signal came up in the distance followed by even more. Anyone who could was throwing out the International SOS. Help was coming. We just needed to survive now.

“Thank you.” A meek voice said. I looked to see a man with a goatee likely in his mid-twenties. “You saved me.”

“Oh, cool.” I said before I remembered he was likely mundane and ready to wet himself, “I mean, no problem. Are you a cadet?”

“No. I’m training to be a medic.” He answered.

“Even better.” I pointed out into the park, “There’s a gazebo not far. Easy to hold. People will gather. They’ll need medical attention. Go.”

He nodded and went. Harrick joined me and together we returned to where we had left Tessa and Isabella. We scanned the area and called their names only to be answered by another hellhound attack. It was only slightly smaller, but with the two of us it fell much faster as Harrick bound it midair and I sliced straight down its belly. We tried to scan the area again, but saw nothing except pandemonium.

“Where are they?” Harrick asked near panic.

“Tessa is fairy kin. They move fast. She may have taken Isabella to safety already.” I offered. The best place to hold out was the gazebo I told the guy earlier to go and I was about to suggest heading there when I heard my name being called.

“Frank! Harrick!” Came the voice of Samantha VonBec from our class. She glided in under on stream of water with Amanda Susu behind her, “Are you two okay?”

“We’re fine, but what happened?”

Amanda answered, “You didn’t see? Some guy just showed up into a column of fire and said something about the show must go on before grabbing K-Kay and unleashing hell.”

“A guy? What kind of guy? Demihuman?” I asked snapped-off questions.

“No clue.” Samantha said disappointed, “Neither of us can detect power levels so we have no information on him. He was wrapped in a cape with a helmet and had a super deep voice.”

“He is not a demihuman,” Harrick said behind me. His eyes were closed in concentration. “I’m sensing a few high power levels, but there’s one that’s in another league entirely. Coming from the stage.”

A thought came to my mind, but I discarded it immediately. Instead, I reexamined the score. Hellhounds attacking. Mysterious guy showed up right before. K-Kay was captured by him. “Okay, I think the guy is causing this. Hellhounds need extra power to survive in the overworld so it’s likely this guy is powering them. If we down him this all should end.”

“What?” Samantha nearly screamed, “Frank! He could kill us! We could die!”

“I know. Anyone can die.” I recited the motto of the more heroic demigods from camp, “But easier for some than for others. But if you’re scared, then don’t be. You’re not coming.”

“What? Why?” Samantha, Amanda, and Harrick asked in unison.

“There’s a foundation near the gazebo. Your water powers would be better there. Amanda, I want to ask something of you.”

Amanda pointed to herself, “Me? What the hell do you want from me?”

“Your powers let you stay undetected, right?”

“Close enough I guess.”

“Well me and Harrick came will two girls. Tessa Green and his cousin Isabella. Could you please find them and get them to safety?”

“Um… Frank,” Samantha started, “Her power doesn’t-”

“Will do!” Amanda shouted with a salute, “Don’t worry. I got you pretty boy.”

“That’s Mister Pretty Boy to you girlie.” I snapped back with a grin. I nodded to both of them, “Okay, we got a plan. You ready Harrick?”

“Allah be with us.” He said before nodding and we started to the stage.

“Good luck boys!” Amanda yelled and blew a kiss at us.

We made our way through the crowd helping out a few other demihumans who had taken up the fight. For the most part things weren’t that bad. Most of the hellhounds were plus sized and tougher than nine inch nails, but they were rather few and didn’t seem to be mauling anyone. Bites and scratches were everywhere, some pretty bad, but nobody had been ripped apart. I had never seen a hellhound mauling, and I was glad I still hadn’t, but I’ve been told that hellhounds could rip entire limbs off and eat them. Something was up.

I continued to think as we cut our way through. Some helped us push forward while some helped others retreat. Eventually, we made it to the stage. It was empty except for two hellhounds that thankfully were taken by a pair of demon kin who had joined us and allowed us to head straight backstage. Now I wasn’t able to normally detect power levels, but when we crossed over into the backstage the excess power tickled my skin, and it was familiar. The thought I had earlier came back up and didn’t go back down. We were about to face an Olympian god, and I had a good guess to who. Though the question that worried me was why. Guess we were about to find out.

Harrick took the led. I was the melee of the pair, but he was the trap detector. It was better if I got snuck up on while he disarmed a magic mine instead of him getting sucker punched while I blew up from the magic mine. Additionally, with the narrow walls limiting my sword swings, I clicked my sword back to the pen shape and flipped it over clicking the other end to form a six foot spear that was better for stabbing.

“Yo, you sensing anything?” I asked checking our six.

“Yes, one high power level that way.” Harrick pointed to the dressing rooms.

“Alright, I’ll go in first. You ready a sucker punch.” My danger sense wasn’t tingling, but that didn’t mean much with such an unpredictable opponent. We made our way across and found a door labeled K-Kay. There were voices coming from inside. I counted to three with Harrick and slammed my shoulder into the door and bounced off. I rushed it again and busted through thanks to Harrick turning the knob in time.

The scene wasn’t too bad. The room was mostly intact with makeup piled on a vanity mirror and a rack with a simple wardrobe. On the far wall stood two mundane humans, K-Kay and J-Jay, staring down the figure Amanda describe. A massive seven foot man wrapped in a cloak with a helm on top. An aura of smoke and heat hovered around him.

“Alright, that’s enough!” I pointed my spear straight on and ordered, “Back away from the pop star, Hades!”

“Hades?” Said Hades in a confused tone. He cocked his head and turned to face us, “What makes you think I’m Hades?”

As the man I thought to be Hades turned I saw past the cloak in full and I noted a few details. First was his armor which was more thick industrial fabric than anything Greek or Roman. Next was his helm. It wasn’t a helm at all. It was a helmet and a welder’s helmet. It covered his whole head, but the small near black viewport was obvious. Last were his legs that were just a piece of curved metal from the knee down. I recognized the figure well.

“Hephaestus?” I lowered my spear. I knew Hephaestus from my trips to Olympus. He was married to my mom, which made him my stepdad kind of. In a weird demihuman way. Point was we were on good terms, or rather not bad terms. So it was I was honestly confused when I asked, “What are you doing here?”

“He’s harassing Kay with demands and threats!” J-Jay shouted out, “And he can go on for as long as he wants, the answer is the same!”

“What is this about?” Harrick asked scratching his head, “You are an Olympian. What can you want from a simple musician?”

“Simple?” Hephaestus jerked back, “There’s nothing simple about her. She is one of the greatest performers of the time. Beloved by all who hear her. Her voice brings light to the hearts of those around her. Her songs are a beacon through the darkness of the world. But now she wants to sink into the darkness herself. Then who will carry the flame of humanity.”

“Some other young punk or punkette!” K-Kay answered in a roar, “I’ll sign whatever you want, but I am retiring and that’s that!”

“You must continue!” Hephaestus responded in a roar of actual fire, “You are my muse. You do not know the invention you inspired. The crafts from under your lyrics. You must continue!”

“K-Kay is retiring?” I asked not noticing the broken heart in my tone, “Why?”

She sighed at that, “Because I’m old! I’m not the young punk I used to be! It’s just time for me to step down.”

“No!” Hephaestus shouted causing the room to shake, “I won’t allow that!”

“No one cares!” J-Jay stepped up. “Kay makes her own decisions. Not you!”

“I don’t get it.” Harrick said, “Her retiring doesn’t undo her music. The songs will still exist.”

“It won’t be the same!” Hephaestus explained, “If she stops performing then her music goes from a rallying cry to just another folk song. It changes everything!”

“That doesn’t…” Harrick started to say a thought before I leaned over whispering.

“He’s an Olympian God. There just weird like that.” I straightened up and addressed my kinda stepdad, “Hephaestus! I get it, but you can’t just pop up with a pack of hellhounds and terrorize people. People are getting hurt out there.”

“Ba!” Was his response, “Nothing the population of this city can’t handle. I can sense the police are already moving in force and the DDH right behind them. In fact, I should be taking my leave, but don’t think this is over.”

And just like that. The god of fire and crafts raised his arms before vanishing in a column of fire. In the silence after the wail of police sirens came through.

“Well.” I clicked my spear back down and pocketed it. “That was easy.”

“This time.” J-Jay said as he walked up to us, “But you heard what he said. This isn’t over.”

“Thanks for coming to the rescue.” K-Kay said joining him, “We weren’t in any real danger, but still. I appreciate it.”

“It’s cool.” I said waving her off, “What are you going to do? Are you really retiring?”

She sighed at that again, “Yes. I’m retiring. In fact, this is likely going to be my last show. I had wanted to do a whole tour, but after tonight.”

“We can’t do that,” J-Jay said. “Kay, we designed this tour to be an epic farewell. The cost of dropping it would be devastating. Refunds alone could wipe us out.”

“I know,” K-Kay muttered, “But if Hephaestus keeps escalating like he is.”

They were both quiet. I guess this wasn’t the first contact they had with him. I thought about the situation. Hephaestus was upset that K-Kay wasn’t going to perform after the tour. K-Kay didn’t want to perform because she wanted a new generation to rise up. The two goals were seemingly counter to each other. Except.

I snapped my fingers, “Private shows!”

Everyone looked at me with confusion. Harrick asked, “Care to elaborate?”

“Why not offer private shows?” I said, “Set up a small concert for VIPs like Hephaestus. You could even charge beaucoup bucks. Maybe even get a boon or two. That way Hephaestus gets his rally cry and you get out of the spotlight.”

“I don’t know.” K-Kay winced at the idea. “That’s a lot like working for the man.”

“You don’t have to kowtow to him. It would still be your show after all.” I explained, “Especially with J-Jay backing you up. And I could even give you a list of references for a babysitter.”

“Babysitter?” J-Jay cocked an eyebrow, “Why do you think she would need a babysitter?”

“And do you think Jay is just going to be able to just drop whatever to come set up a show for me at random?” Kay asked.

“Well, I guess I don’t know. What is he going to be doing in retirement?” I asked.

“I’m not retiring,” Jay said.

“You’re not? Oh, I thought you were retiring together.”

They were both silent at that. J-Jay was about to say something when K-Kay spoke up.

“We could. We have more than enough to just move out to a village and…” She choked on the next words, “Settle down.”

“I… never…” Jay stumbled and shuttered, “I mean… we…”

“Jay, do you really want to keep doing this? You’re getting old too after all.”

Jay did not respond.

“I would like it if you did. Retire with me.”

Jay nodded, “Okay.”

Harrick and I just stood there mildly confused until I remembered. “Isabella!”

“She’s fine.” Harrick said, “I can detect her now that the chaos is over.”

This seemed to remind the adults of our present as they started to blush. Jay spoke, “Right. Thank you again. We’ll think about the private show idea. If there anything we can…”

I pulled out a Star Card trading card of K-Kay and a marker. She smiled and signed her autograph.

Back outside everything was winding down as police secured the park. Medics patrolled the area and DDH agents could be spotted around. All in all, it wasn’t too bad. A few hundred injuries with the worst being demihumans who joined in the fight, and no deaths. The police declared it a disturbance and that was that. So Harrick and I just chilled by the stage.

“What a night,” I said looking up at the stars. Progress City was an amazing city for managing to not block the stars with light pollution. The Milky Way was in full display.

“Indeed.” Harrick also watched the stars, but I don’t think he appreciated the city like that. He never lived in a mundane city where the night was darkened by light itself. A tragedy worthy of Homer. Or maybe Plato.

“Hey,” Isabella called out as she walked up to us unharmed with a lit cigarette in her mouth. “You guys okay?”

“Sure are.” I gave a thumbs up, “Where’s Tessa?”

Isabella winced at that, “Yeah… Tessa is…”

We looked at her confused.

“She’s making out with another guy.” She hissed out, “Sorry cuz.”

“What?” We both said in unison. I then asked, “What happened?”

“Well, long story short,” Isabella tapped off her ash on the ground, “After you left some punk showed up with some mooks. Tessa told them off and then chaos. Tessa protected me and the punk with his mooks protected us. We wound up at the gazebo and after a while Tessa and punk were locked into each other.”

“Wow.” I said. “What a bitch. Sorry about that Harrick.”

He shrugged, “I don’t mind. I was never into her. Remember?”

“Still though,” Isabella said.

“Still nothing. I am glad she is happy. I hope whoever this punk is treats her good and she treats him good in turn. Alhamdulillah.”

“All hum do lee lull.” I tried to mimic. We looked to Isabella.

She smirked and ashed again, “Alhamdulillah.”