My mother"s spell let me split myself in two. Both halves were perfect copies of myself because both were me. Using the spell, I was able to go with Wes to STR while also being with BJ at the internship. As long as nothing happened to either of my halves, I"d be able to merge back into my whole at the end of the summer and retain any memories that either of myselves created. On Tuesday, June 2nd, I woke up at 9 in the morning still together as a whole, and by 9:30, I did the split. By ten, my other half, let"s call him Pitch 2, went to the internship, while I, let"s call me Pitch 1, left the house around 10:30.
I was on my way to Wesson"s house. I felt dirty for using my mother"s spell, knowing where it likely came from, but "choice" was becoming a growing enemy. I just wanted to make the best decision that would let me be with my friends.
Wes and I weren"t leaving for STR for another couple of days, but only one of my halves could continue to live at home without my dad realizing what I"d done. That meant I had to stay with Wesson"s family until we left for the festival, but it also meant I wouldn"t be able to see my dad until the end of the summer break after I merged back together with my other half.
I thought I might have had a hard time explaining why I needed to live with Wes until our departure basically, but he didn"t have an issue. He was a friend if ever I had one. It seemed he was just happy to have me around. When I showed up at his door that morning with packed bags on my back, he only had one question.
"You want breakfast?"
He invited me inside. His mom was home and cooking in the kitchen. I didn"t want to get caught glancing over at her. She never wore clothes or tried to cover up, so I suggested Wes and I kill time in his room while we waited to eat. He thought I was being shy, and tried to convince me she wouldn"t care if I stole a few looks, but it didn"t feel right. Eventually, we went upstairs.
"So then I climbed down, and she was just standing there like I did something wrong," Wes said as we entered his bedroom.
"You peed in her sink," I said
"Well, I couldn"t get in the bathroom, and people lose their s.h.i.t when you pee on a tree."
I laughed, and so did Wes. He was still packing his things getting ready for the trip. There was no rush, but I tried to help since I was there.
"When is your cousin supposed to make it here?" I asked.
"By tomorrow, I already asked if he"d go with us," Wes said
"And?"
"And he said yes."
"Great, I can"t wait to spend the next eight weeks out in the desert."
I didn"t mean to sound sarcastic, but it came out that way.
"I can"t tell if you mean that or you don"t want to go anymore," Wes said somewhat confused it seemed.
"Sorry, sarcasm has been my default for a while."
"Well, the festival is only four weeks, so we should make it back before the end of break."
"It"s only four weeks?" I asked.
"Didn"t you look at any of the stuff I sent you," Wes said as he took out his phone to show me an online flyer he texted me days ago.
"My phone was wrecked in that troll orc fight that happened last week."
"Oh. Well, yea, its only four weeks, and they"re supposed to have a different band headlining each couple days."
"I"ve never even been to a concert before."
My dad and I could never afford to buy tickets, but even if we could, I doubt I would have gone. I"d been a hybrid for years, but I still wasn"t comfortable enough with my transformation to leave the house unless necessary. The only exception being the time I spent with Wes and BJ. Even when I hung out with them, it was away from other people.
"Trust me. You"ll have fun. I heard Fire Bird is supposed to be there by the second week, so that"ll be reason enough to go," Wes said as if trying to convince me.
"Whose Fire Bird?"
"They"re a band of guys who used to live in Daybreak. They even went to our school for a little while. After they graduated, they went to Europe and blew up, now everyone knows who they are."
"Everyone but me," I said.
"Well, yea, but that"s because they"re more popular in the creature community. You still see yourself as human, so you probably haven"t looked into them."
"I am human," I said with a definitive tone.
"Dude, you"re a talking rabbit, with the worst luck in the universe. I"m more human than you are... literally in some ways," he said jokingly.
"Whatever, about the band, though, you know a lot about them, you must be a pretty big fan?"
"Dude, if I get anywhere near them, I"ll," he said before pausing.
I think he was playing out the scenario in his mind.
"You"ll what," I asked, teasing him further.
"If we"re lucky, we"ll both get lucky while we"re there."
"Come on, Wes, I know it won"t be anything special for you."
I had a hard time believing my friend needed to leave town just to get some tail.
"What"s that supposed to mean," he asked as if he didn"t know.
"A few weeks at a festival won"t be anything different from a Monday for you," I said.
"Well, thanks, buddy, that"s some high praise, but I"ll have you know I"m still waiting for the right dude."
It might have been nothing, but what he said caught me off guard.
"What?" He asked.
I suppose it visibly caught me off guard too.
"Its nothing," I said.
"You gave me a look there, what was it," he didn"t seem offended, but he continued to push.
"The way you said that," I paused before I continued, "it"s just you made it sound like you were saying... you"re gay?"
"Bi actually."
"Oh..."
Oh, s.h.i.t was more like it.
"Yea?" He said.
There was that awkward air in the room again, but he wasn"t even naked that time around.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"No, nothing"s wrong," I said, attempting to rea.s.sure him.
"It feels like something"s wrong."
"I didn"t realize you were..."
I couldn"t say the words for some reason.
"Most of my kind are," he added.
"I thought that was a stereotype, like how you"re all supposed to be pacifists."
"To be fair, we only know the difference between gay or straight because of humans. It"s not important to us, or most of the creature community come to think of it."
I was beginning to feel like an a.s.shole, so I cut him off before he could continue.
"It"s not important to me either. I get it. I just... I guess I never thought...because you don"t seem like... I mean, you never said," I stumbled.
"If it"s a problem?"
"No! It"s not a problem. Its just...new," I said.
"But it"s not a problem?"
"Wes, it"s not a problem. I promise. "
Wes came out to me, but somehow I made things awkward. Thank G.o.d his mom called us downstairs to eat when she did; otherwise, I might have made a bigger a.s.s of myself.