Monday, July 18, 2011

Chapter 6: Devon



Devon looked at his new house; it was huge.


"Adrian..." his mother exclaimed, mouth agape. "This is practically a mansion! I mean, it has a two-car garage. Two-car! We don't even have one car."


Adrian chuckled, "Well we're going to need one at some point. And the house still needs some work. Our combined funds were just enough to supply the construction materials and a few pieces of furniture."


"Adrian, it's wonderful!" Shae said as she gave him a quick kiss.




"Eww!" Devon made a face; grown-ups could be so gross sometimes. At least his mom looked happy with Adrian. Devon wasn't sure what to think of him. He'd only met Adrian a few weeks ago when his mom had told him he'd soon be getting a new baby brother or sister. She explained that Adrian would be staying with them to help take care of his new sibling since it was also his baby.


"Does that mean he's going to be my Dad, too?" Devon had asked. He'd always wanted a father. All his friends had one, even if their parents weren't living together. But his mom had always refused to tell him anything about who or where his father was. All she would say was that they were better off without him, and that she'd tell him more when he was old enough.


Devon looked at Adrian who was teasing his mom about having to design an extra room just to house her shoes. Devon still wasn't sure what to make of him. He hoped his mom was right when she said Adrian would treat him like a son.


Adrian finally became aware of Devon's gaze. "Hey kiddo," he said with a grin. "Why don't you go check out the back yard? There might be a surprise back there."


Devon ran off as fast his he could, the sound of laughter trailing behind him. When he saw what was in the back yard, he gasped.




It was a tree house, just for him. His mind racing with possibilities, Devon wasted no time in checking it out.


----------



Devon stared at the algebra equations in his notebook. English he could handle, but math just made his head hurt. It was a good thing Adrian was there to help him.


"No problem, Dev," Adrian replied when Devon thanked him. "Anytime." 


Hungry, Devon wandered into the kitchen for an after-school snack—and almost barreled into Cosmo.




Devon looked around to make sure Adrian wasn't nearby before speaking, "What's up, Cosmo?"


While Devon was fond of his imaginary friend, he'd noticed the adults around him gave each other funny looks whenever he interacted with Cosmo in front of them so he tried not to do so when they were around. Sometimes it was difficult. Especially since Cosmo liked to follow him around.




 Even while he was eating breakfast.


"Devon? Are you listening?" Cosmo asked, interrupting his thoughts.


"Sorry, what did you say?"


"I asked if your mom was out playing for tips in the subway again."




"Yeah, I hardly ever see her anymore," Devon grimaced. His mom had been working more since Adrian had moved in and was helping around the house. She'd told Devon it was because they needed money for when the baby came, and Adrian still wasn't getting very many jobs.


"Well, at least her guitar playing's getting better," Cosmo remarked.


"I guess. Hey, I finished my homework so why don't we go play pirates in Fort Fear?" Devon asked, referring to his tree house.


"Yeah!" Cosmo agreed. "Race you!" he added before running off.


----------



"When my baby sister was born," Lily Stark was telling Devon, "my parents stopped spending time with me." She paused. "Not that Mom ever did before," she sighed, referring to Ophelia Stark. The whole town new Ophelia wasn't quite right in the head, and her crazy antics were often the subject of town gossip.

"My mom wouldn't do that," Devon said but he wasn't so sure. Lily was his best friend and he knew she wouldn't lie to him.



"Maybe," she said. "Hey, how do you like your new dad?"

"You mean Adrian? He's not really my dad, but he's been pretty okay. Let me show you the new tree house he got me," Devon said as he dragged Lily to the backyard.

---------



"Devon! Devon, wake up!" Devon's dreams of pirates were interrupted by someone shaking him awake. He opened his eyes. It was Cosmo.

"Why'd you wake me up?" Devon asked, sitting up.

"Your parents just got back from the hospital."

"The hospital?! What happened?" Devon asked, scared.

"No one's hurt, doofus. Your mom had the baby."

"So then..." Devon hopped out of bed, and ran to the door not waiting to see if Cosmo was following. His new baby brother or sister was here!

He opened the door. There stood his mom with a pink bundle in her arms. He had a sister!



"Hey, sweetie," his mother said softly. "Come meet your new sister, Clementine."

Devon took her hand. It was so tiny! He watched in awe as his mother put her in the crib. Then everything Lily said earlier came flooding back.



"What's wrong Devon?" his mother asked, seeing the frown on his face.

"Lily...Lily said that you and Adrian wouldn't want to spend time with me anymore now that you have a baby." Devon said slowly.

"Oh, Devon... That's not going to happen. You're my son and you're important to me no matter how many brothers or sisters you have," Shae comforted him. "I know it's going to be difficult adjusting to having a sister. Adrian and I are going to have to work extra hard to make sure she grows up as well as you did. That means we'll be spending a lot of time taking care of her." Devon's face fell. "But," continued his mother, "that doesn't mean we won't have time for you. Things will just be a little crazier for a while. Do you understand?"



"I guess so," replied Devon. "I mean, I want Clementine to grow up happy like I did."

"That's a very mature attitude, Devon. I'm proud of you," his mother said as she swept him into a hug.



Devon thought having a baby sister might not be so bad after all.

---------



The doorbell rang. Devon was so excited; the first party guest had arrived! As he navigated through the many rooms of his house, he passed his mother who was on the phone.

"Luc, you made your choice years ago! Don't you dare try to change your mind now!" she paused. "He's doing fine. Great actually," her voice softened.

Devon didn't pay his mom much attention, he was excited to see Lily who was likely at the front door right now.

"No, I haven't told him anything..." his mother's voice faded as he entered the foyer and threw open the door. It was Lily!



"Hey, Dev!" she said excitedly, as she handed him a colorfully wrapped box.

"Thanks Lil!" he grabbed the box eagerly. "Mom said I couldn't open any presents until after the cake though."

"Oh, well then let's go play pirates before everyone else gets here." They hurried off to Fort Fear.

----------



Soon, the other guests had arrived. All the kids loved Devon's tree house.

While they played, he sat outside on the balcony with Lily.

"So what do you think it's going to be like being a teenager?" Lily, who was younger, asked.



"I don't know. I'm just glad high school ends an hour earlier."

Lily laughed, "I thought you liked school."

"I like books. And writing. But they always make us read and write boring stuff in school."

"That's for sure," Lily agreed.

"Devon!" Adrian called. "Time for cake!"



Everyone hurried inside. Soon enough, Devon was blowing out the candles as everyone cheered.



Devon was now a teenager. And a very moody looking one, at that.

----------



"What?" Devon looked at Lily incredulously. It was Saturday afternoon and they were hanging out at the park.

"I asked if you wanted to go to prom with me," she repeated.

"I was going to ask you..." Devon said slowly.

Lily laughed, "Dev, you're so clueless. If I waited any longer for you to ask, I'd have to deal with more requests from the endless supply of losers at school." 

"Oh, right," he replied lamely. Lily was pretty popular at school nowadays. Devon hadn't even thought about the fact that someone else may have already asked her. He was also well-liked but no one had asked him. 



He looked askance at Lily. Ever since he'd started high school none of the others girls wanted to talk to him. Sure they giggled at him when he walked by, but none of his old friends would speak to him. After he'd seen the new transfer student he'd had a nice conversation with run, crying down the hallway, he'd suspected Lily of interfering somehow. Her laughter had been kind of a giveaway.

Devon didn't understand girls. Nor did he really mind if Lily had been interfering. She was the only girl he was really interested in anyways.

"Earth to Devon!" Lily waved her hand in front of his face.

"Sorry," he blushed.

"So I'll come pick you up at five on Tuesday then." She told him.



"Sounds like a plan," Devon agreed as he hugged her goodbye.

----------



Devon couldn't take his eyes off Lily. In fact, he hadn't been able to all night.

He'd had an amazing time at prom. He and Lily had shared their first kiss that night on the dance floor, and she'd asked to go steady with him.

Lily wasn't quite as pleased with the night.



"I can't believe I didn't win prom queen!" she huffed as they waited outside the club. "And all because of that little bitch from Champs Les Sims! How was I supposed to know the nerd vote was worth so much?"

Devon didn't really care either way, but he wanted Lily to be happy. "Forget about it, Lil. We came here to have a good time. Who cares about some stupid high school thing when we'll be graduating in a few days anyways?"

Lily sighed, "You're right, Devon. I bet Rose couldn't get into Howl even if she was wearing her stupid crown." 



Devon groaned and tugged at her hand, "Come on, Lil. Let's go dance."

----------



Devon was having a great time at Howl. He and Lily had been dancing for a couple of hours. They'd both had a couple drinks and were a little buzzed.

"You know Dev, your really hot." Lily giggled as she pressed closer to him.


She was just about to kiss him when a dark form suddenly materialized behind her.



"Well, well, well... What do we have here?" the woman asked.

Lily whirled and Devon had to catch her elbow to keep her from falling. "Go find someone your own age, grandma!" Lily slurred.



The woman frowned and her eyes began to glow. "Run home little girl."



A blank look came over Lily's face before she raced out of the club.

"Lily!" Devon called after her but she didn't seem to hear him.



"She can't hear you," the woman said, confirming his suspicions.


"What did you do to her?" Devon asked, upset.

"I'd be more worried about what I'm going to do to you," she smiled cruelly.

Devon must have had more to drink than he thought because he could have sworn he saw a flash of fangs. "What do you want with me?" he asked.



Her nostrils flared as she inhaled deeply, "Oh yes, you're definitely his."

"What are you talking about?" Devon was seriously creeped out.

Her eyes began to glow again.



Her eyes are so blue; I feel like I could fall into them, thought Devon right before he lost consciousness.

4 comments:

  1. Author's Notes:
    Clementine was born with the hydrophobic trait so that was the inspiration for her name (i.e. it's a reference to that well-known ballad).

    Also, I did Photoshop the last pic, but only because I couldn't think of an in-game way to illustrate the scene properly. Plus I think it looks pretty cool. XD

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  2. I think the last photo is amazing! If only my photoshop would stop being such a *itch to me. ><

    Devon's a fascinating character (Okay they all are) and I'm seriously hooked on your legacy. Can't wait to see what happens to him.

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  3. Oh my goodness, what is going on???

    I don't know, but I LIKE it! D R A M A !

    I don't think there's anything wrong with a little photo manipulation now and then when it fits the story (meaning: I'm probably going to be doing it soon myself! haha).

    GREAT chapter!! Can't wait to see what happens now!!

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  4. @Cece: I'm glad you like Devon! I wasn't really sure how well the alternating POV thing would work, but my intention was that it would hopefully allow a greater insight into the characters.

    @Red: Yeah, this chapter has major tie-ins with Shae's (and by extension, Devon's) backstory. Things should become a little clearer in the next chapter or two).

    ReplyDelete