If it wasn't bad enough that it was my first day at a new school, it was harder knowing that if I wasn't careful my brother would shoot an arrow at me. This arrow is full of a bunch of dumb love magic. He claims its his "first day at school gift." But there is nothing more annoying then having a huge crush that isn't even real.
I had avoided him so far, and as far as I was concerned he was still asleep. Then I heard a "Hey Todd," from behind me.
"Don't you dare!" I said turning around as quick as possible. He stood there with his bow on his side. "Look Chase, remember how we had to move because I loved Rebecah, Halie, Lizzie, Emily, Veronica, and Raquel. Let's not start this again."
"You're absolutely right," he said, but while saying "right" he hit me.
"Chase!" I exclaimed though it didn't hurt.
"Hey, that's what brothers do, right? They tease," he said running away from me.
"I don't know a lot of guys who brother is Cupid." I caught him and put him in a head lock. For even though he's my older brother he's a wimp. Truth was I could see the pain that I was causing him. "Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!" I yelled.
"Let me go," he choked.
"Will you take it off?" I asked.
"No, it's a joke."
"Take it off!"
"Let me go!"
"I'll let you go if you take it off," I said.
"Your shoe's untied," he said.
I looked down, it was untied. But when I looked down I loosened my grip and he got away. I growled. "You'll pay for this Chase."
I chased him down and started looking for him. When I couldn't find him and I had ran out of time, I went to school. You may think this is a stupid idea, going to school when you have all sorts of dumb love magic on you, and I used to think that too. But after getting hit with the arrow so many times and realizing that sooner or later you're going to have to fall in love you learn that you just have to live with it.
The way I figured it, was as long as I didn't look into any girl's eyes I wouldn't fall in love. I've done this before and it's worked. And even if I did fall in love I would just make my brother pull the spell off of me as soon as I got home. This has happened before too.
So I focused on the ground as I walked to school. When I got there, I checked in the office and focused on the lady's hands. So far it was going pretty well.
I stepped into the halls and went to look for my first class. I stared high at the walls, well above eye level. If I did see eyes they were in my peripheral vision and that didn't count. I shuffled through the masses of people avoiding them.
Then I hit her. I mean I physically hit her. We both landed on the floor with a thud and her stuff went flying everywhere. I went to go help her pick it up, but when I gave it to her I made eye contact. Big mistake.
I could feel the sparks flying like I had many times before. I knew they weren't real but still felt my lips open and one simple sentence flew out, "You're really pretty, I'm glad I ran into you."
She looked shocked. Then she looked confused. Then a few kids who had over heard started snickering. She looked at me and said, "Um, thanks."
"No problem, beautiful. Anytime. I would do anything for a look into those eyes," I said trying my hardest not to say anything.
"A little creepy," she mumbled and quickly walked away into the audience of snickers. I could hear people whispering about me, mocking me, and laughing at me.
"Chase better start counting his days," I growled. Then I left to hurry to my class.
I immediately regretted this, because she was in my first class. I had to sit by her, force of the arrow. She turned away, hoping I wouldn't talk to her. But of course I did. I said, "What's your name?"
She frowned at me but said, "Haley."
"I'm Todd," I said.
"Um, okay." And then she moved away.
A few hours later I arrived at home. The quicker Chase pulled this spell off me the better. I walked inside and started to yell, "Chase! Chase!"
A heard a zip of wings and saw my brother fly in. He was a baby with a pair of white wings on his back, a quiver on his back where his arrows and bow laid, and a diaper. "Can't talk now. Council of Holidays meeting right now."
"You have to pull the spell off of me. Everyone's already making fun of me," I said.
"Why? Is she ugly?" he asked opening the portal to where ever he was going.
"No, but she does think I'm a creep."
"Well, I can't do it now. I'm going to be late. Mother Day called the meeting and you know Mother," he said.
"You have to pull it off," I said.
He ignored me and started to go through the portal. I grabbed his tiny foot and hung on as he pulled as both to where ever he had to go.
We got to the other side and he zipped off while I found myself a heap on the cold stone floor. I looked up to see five elves looking at me. The meeting was, apparently, at the North Pole. I nodded at these confused creatures and they got back to work.
This left the door completely unguarded. This meant that if I wanted to, I could just walk inside the meeting and get my brother to take the dumb spell off of me. But I knew this wouldn't make the elves happy or the Holidays happy so I grabbed a plate of cookies to take with me. Then I walked inside and closed the door behind me.
“Mother, we've told why we can't make Mother's Day a week long holiday,” Santa Claus was saying as I came in.
“I'm just thinking about all those poor mothers who work all year long, and need a week long holiday,” Mother Day responded.
“There is no vay that the children vould be able to stand it for one veek,” Dracula said.
“That's right, it's hard enough to get kids to behave and serve their moms one day but by one week the kids will be misbehaving left and right and mothers will be pulling out their hair,” Santa said.
“I agree. When my mom has mother's day or her birthday by the end of the day she was sick of us doing things for her and always starts doing them herself. There is no way she would like one week,” my brother said.
“Cupid, when was the last time you talked to your mother?” Mother Day asked.
“That's off subject, Mrs. Day,” he said but she looked at him so concerned he added, “Last week my brother, who is standing right there -
“What are you doing here, Todd?” he interrupted himself. All the holidays, who didn't notice me before, looked my direction.
“Hi,” I placed the cookies on the table, “Can I barrow Cupid for like ten seconds?” I asked.
“Why?” Mother Day asked.
“He put one of his love spells on me, and I need him to take it off,” I said.
Immediately all the holidays attention was on my brother, “It was a joke. That's what brothers do, they play jokes on each other.”
“I like it,” April's Fool said.
“You're mother would be especially disappointed in you, Cupid,” Mother said.
“I agree with Mrs. Day, that was really mean of you. Not nice at all,” Santa Claus said.
“It was a joke. We all need a few jokes in our life,” April's Fool said.
“A joke is only funny when both sides are amused. Does Todd look very amused?” the turkey, who I never talk to because he freaks me out, said.
Most of the Holidays mumbled in agreement.
“Fine. Fine. I'll take it off,” Chase mumbled. Most of the holidays smiled at this action. He came up to me and waved his hand over where he shot the arrow. This makes the invisible arrow visible to everyone. That's when I heard a gasp from the audience. I didn't understand it until Chase said, “It's gone.”
“The arrow's gone!” I yelled. “What do you mean it's gone?”
“Well, the arrows like a shot-”
“I know, you've already explained it to me,” I said. “So I'm in love with Haley forever now!”
“Pretty much.”
I let out a loud groan.
“Um, I'm going to finish this meeting and then I'll talk to you later. Okay?” Cupid said looking around obviously embarrassed that I was still there.
“Whatever,” I said leaving, my head facing downwards.
It was a few minutes later when the meeting was let out, I didn't really care though. What more could Chase do then what had already been done. Then it was time for the after meeting party where all the holidays sat around and talked to each other.
An old man sat next to me and smiled. He said, “I'm sorry.”
I looked up. I knew all the holidays, from our annual Valentine's Party, but this one didn't look familiar to me. “I'm sorry, who are you?” I asked.
“Don't you recognize me?” he asked.
I looked at him for a few seconds then shook my head, “Sorry, no”
“New Years,” was his response.
Then I took another look at him, it was New Years. “Oh, wow,” I said, “You've grown a ton.” Last time I had seen New Years, he had only looked a few years younger then me. Now he looked like an old man. I then remembered that every year New Years goes through an average life cycle. Chase told me that New Years is like an infant at the beginning of the year and a 100-year-old man at the end.
“You've grown as well, young man,” he said.
“Not compared to you,” I said.
“We've grown the same, age wise,” he said.
“But not look wise,” I said, “How old are you?”
“Not even a year,” he said, “About nine months.”
“I mean look wise,” I said.
“About 65 years,” he said.
"Wow," I said.
"Todd," said Chase walking up. "Look, we can go now if you'd like."
"Yeah, I guess so," I said, "It was nice seeing you again New Years.”
“Same, it's nice to see some kids at these dumb parties,” he said quoting me from the Valentine's Day Party.
I waved as I followed my brother out.
Unlike my brother, walking through that portal always scared me. For a few seconds you find yourself stranded in midair going lightning speed through flashes of light and color. And then it's over and you realize you've traveled miles in the time of a few seconds.
“What were you thinking?” Chase yelled as we wandered into out living room, “Interrupting a meeting like that. You do realize that the results would have been the same after the meeting, right? The arrow still would have been gone.”
“You know what. Chase? It wasn't gone this morning, you could have taken it off then. Or even better yet not shot me at all,” I said.
“It was a harmless prank. Look I'm sorry. But it's not like I haven't done this before, what's so different about this time?” he said.
“I didn't like then either. But this time was different because I was starting out with a new slate. I could have been someone, just because you were a loser in school doesn't mean that you have to make me one too.”
“For the last time, I wasn't a loser,” Chase said, “I got a ton of girls.”
“Right, I highly doubt that you just started being a loser when you grew up. I mean even Mom thinks you're weird,” I said picking up a red rose from one of his vases, reminding him of her reaction when she first saw his house.
“I'm not a loser now either,” he said. “Look, I think we're done with this conversation now. Sorry about the whole arrow, falling in love, clean slate thing.” Then he started to fly away.
“You don't even care, do you?” I said. He ignored me.
As much as I love my brother, he may just be the most annoying person who ever lived.
That next morning wasn't the greatest either. It was hard to go back to school once I knew that I was going to have to face Haley with a huge crush on her. As much as I hated to admit it, I liked her, and I didn't want her to think I was some kind of creep. I also realized that I probably wouldn't like her if it wasn't the affect of the arrow.
I slipped into my first class and sat down in the nearest desk I could find. I was here before Haley was, so it didn't matter where I sat yet. Then Haley walked in. I felt my heart race as I waved at her and yelled, "Haley!"
She looked embarrassed as her friends started to giggle. "Um, hi," she said, in her always polite way.
"You look gorgeous as always," I said.
She didn't even answer that and walked briskly to a different desk. Her friends that she had walked in, lingered a few seconds to stare at me. Then they both ran over to her snickering.
The next few days that followed seemed to have a similar pattern. I could see in her face that she hated the attention she was getting from me. Unfortunately she couldn't see that I suffering as well. Normally I only saw her once in a while, but eventually I did see her at lunch.
I walked over to her table, holding my tray in my hands. I was determined to sit with her, actually the stupid love spell was determined that I was going to sit with her. "Can I sit here?" I asked referring to an empty chair.
"Sure," one of her friends said snickering.
Haley looked at her terrified. "Um, can I talk to you?" she asked me.
"Of course," I said putting my tray down. I followed her over by a wall.
She briskly smiled at a few passerbyers and turned to face me, a very serious expression on her face. "Look, uh, it's Tom, right?" she asked.
Close enough to satisfy me. "Actually it's Todd."
"Right," she said, "Todd. Look, I know you like me. And, well, I don't like you. Actually you kind of scare me. Look, I'm sorry. It's just . . ."
Ouch. "I understand," I said. And I did understand, it's just my dorky hormones didn't. Suddenly I felt very upset, not at Haley, this wasn't her fault, but at my idiot of brother, Chase.
She watched me for a few seconds to see if I was okay, and then went to join her friends. I followed her absent minded. She turned around obviously to tell me to stop following her. "Need my food," I said pointing.
She turned red, "Oh, right."
I grabbed my tray and wandered to my normal spot. But as I bit down on my food my mind was only on how I would get my brother back.
"Chase!" I yelled as I walked into the house and threw my stuff to the side.
He walked downstairs. "'Sup little bro," he said attempting to be cool.
I rolled my eyes. "I'll tell you what's up, Haley told me off today."
"Who's Haley?" he asked.
"My arrows victim," I said.
"The girl you like?" he guessed.
"Yes," I said.
Chase actually looked sorry. "Wow, I'm sorry, dude. That sucks," he said.
"Yeah, and it's your fault," I said. "She thinks I'm some creep because of your stupid love spell."
"Oh," Chase said. Then he perked up, "You know I could just-"
"No, don't hit her with an arrow," I said. I stomped off to my room saying, "I'm sick and tired of your stupid arrows."
"I'll make this up to you," he yelled after me, "Trust me, I'll make this up to you."
I had a hard time going to school the next day, without Haley I didn't see the point of going back. But still I managed to crawl out of bed and pull myself to school.
I hadn't talked to my brother at all since I yelled at him, but that didn't mean he didn't try talking to me. I mostly just ignored him.
Well tried to ignore him. I was walking to school when he pulled up in his red car. "Hey," he said. "I hate seeing you this way, Todd. Let me drive you to school."
I didn't respond.
"C'mon, I know you're mad but talk to me, please," he said, "C'mon, let me drive you to school."
"No," I said. "I can walk."
"Yeah, but . . . Look, I know you're upset but you're making it really hard for me to make it up to you."
"Don't care."
"I've tried sorry, I've tried everything, what more do you want me to do?" he said.
"Nothing. Go away," I said.
"I could -"
"I said go away," I said finally loosing my temper.
"Got it." And he drove off, just like that.
I shook my head and stumbled the rest of the way to school and my first class, then fell into a chair waiting for the class to start.
That's when Haley walked in obviously mad. Her friends were holding a box of chocolates and stuffing our face. "I thought I told you to leave me alone," she said.
"I did," I said.
"I don't call sending me a box of chocolates leaving me alone," she said grabbing the box from her friends.
I glared at the front it said, "Cupid's Chocolate." My brother's chocolate company. "Chase," I mumbled.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing," I said. "Uh, sorry about the chocolate."
"Well, I'm not eating them. I told you to leave me alone, so I'm not even going to touch them," she said.
My teacher who was eavesdropping interrupted her, "Maybe you'd like to share them with the class." Haley's friends groaned.
"Sure, whatever," she said.
The teacher opened the box Haley left in her hands and took out of one of the chocolates. She bit in and then froze suddenly a large smile spread across her face, "These are the most delicious candies I've ever tasted."
The students ran to the front of the room, who couldn't resist free chocolate. They would shove it in their mouths and then pause for a few moments to realize they had just tasted a small piece of heaven.
It's the love magic in the chocolate, I think. Hadn't I just specifically asked Chase not to do this exact thing? Why doesn't he ever listen?
"Chase!" I yell.
"Did she like them?" he asks running down the stairs.
"No, she wouldn't even eat them," I say.
"What?! Is she allergic?" he asks.
I ignore that last question. "Didn't I ask you not to use any love magic?"
"Nope. You told me not to use arrows."
"Because of the love magic, Chase! I didn't want Haley to fall in love with me!"
"Are you crazy? Why not?"
"Because I knew it would be fake!" I yell, "If she falls in love with me, I want it to be on her own terms not yours!"
"Oh. I don't understand."
"No of course you don't. You're an idiot," I say.
"Hey. C'mon be nice," he says.
"Forget it. I'm through being nice. I'm sick of you. You've gone way too far." Then I went to far when I yelled, "Sometimes I hate you!" I immediately regretted it.
Hate was my brother's number one no-no word. He wouldn't let me use it to describe anything: food, tv shows, situations, and especially not people. Ever since he became Cupid and decided that love was the source of all happiness and all things good in life he decided that hate was the devil. He even got mad at my mom once when she used it.
So needless to say I knew I was in trouble. I wasn't sure what he was going to do. "Hate?" he squeaked, "You hate me?" That wasn't what I expecting.
I was about to apologize, but I was still too upset to act on this notion. Instead I went along with the whole hate thing. "Yes," was my answer, true or not. "I do. You're way annoying, and super weird, and-"
I was about to go on but he started to sway back and forth and started to whimper and I knew I had to finish fast.
"And . . . I can't stay here with you anymore," I say as my big finale.
He looks like he's just seen a ghost and doesn't answer. A small part of me tells me that what I'm doing is tearing him up and I should stop but another part of me is enjoying the revenge. To make my point clear I stomp out of the house. He doesn't even try coming after me.
Then to make my point extra clear I make my way to my brother's worst enemy's house.
A few minutes later I arrived at a large house looming over a large threatening yard. It was quite frighting house. I ring the doorbell which sounds like a short song you'd hear in a horror movie.
He finally arrives, he opens the door and glares at me. "May I help you?" he asks.
"Hey, Dewey," I say. "I'm a little annoyed with Chase, can I stay here for a few days?"
"Of course," he says. He opens the door more so I can get in. Then he turns to yell down the stairs. "Victoria! I don't hear anything!" That's when I hear a few simplistic notes on his piano.
"Thanks," I say.
"Don't be a nuisance," he says, leaving to go downstairs.
Absent minded I follow him. He sits behind a small girl playing the piano who looks terrified out of her wits. She quickly finishes the song she's playing jumping every time she makes a mistake. She can't be older then eight, her hair is put up in a pony tail with a small flower on top of it, and she wears a yellow dress. She looks very out of place in this haunted house.
"Very good, Veronica. I think I'm going to have you practice that one a little bit more this week," he says making a few marks in a folder.
I turn to Victoria. I lean in and say, "I'm Todd." I hold out my hand for her to shake.
She jumps and screams. She wasn't expecting me to talk to her. Dewey laughs a little. "Sorry, I'm Veronica. Do you have a piano lesson after me?" she asks still catching her breath.
"No, Dewey's a family friend of ours. I'm going to stay here for a few days," I say.
Her eyes grow wide as she looks around. I can tell that she's thinking how awful it would be to stay in this house for more then an hour, which is probably the length of her piano lesson. "I'm so sorry," she says.
"I'm not," I say. "Want to know a secret?"
She nods leaning in.
"Dewey's not really as scary as you think he is," I whisper loud enough that he can hear me.
"Darn it, Todd, you've ruined my image," he says laughing. "Didn't I say not to be nuisance?"
"Sorry," I say also laughing.
Then the doorbell rings again. Dewey gets up to go it. A few minutes pass and he yells, "Victoria, your mother is here."
She grabs her stuff and practically trips herself trying to get out of the house.
Dewey joins me once again. "You're not really mad, are you?" I ask.
"Of course not, the way I loose most of my customers is because they're terrified of me. Sometimes, I just can't help myself though," he says.
"So I don't blame you for being annoyed with Chase. But why are you exactly?" Dewey asks.
"He shot me with an arrow," I say.
"Right," Dewey says, "I knew that. You told the entire Holiday Council." Dewey also is on the holiday council. He represents the holiday of Halloween as Dracula.
I nod. "So yeah, that's basically it."
"It must be more then that, or you would have come here soon-"
He was cut off by his doorbell. He rose to go get it. I waited on the couch, he soon came down with two identical twin boys. They looked at me confused.
"I'm Todd," I say.
The boys don't respond. Instead one sits as far away as he can from me on the couch and the other sits on the piano bench.
"Todd," Dewey says taking a seat in his chair. "You can use the guest room, second floor third door to the right. Why don't you go make yourself at home."
"Thanks," I say. I make my way upstairs to the guest room and open the door. The room has the same eerie feeling the rest of the house has. There's a phone next to the bed. I realize I should call my mom and tell her where I am.
After a few rings, she picks up the phone. "Hello?" she says.
"Hi Mom," I say.
"Oh, Todd. How are you? Where are you? My cellphone didn't recognize the number."
"That's actually what I called about," I say, "Is it okay if I stay at Chase's friend Dewey's house for a few days? It okay with him."
"Well . . . I don't know. I don't know Dewey. Can he be trusted?" she said with hesitation in her voice.
"Yeah, he's Chase's friend. And he teaches piano. And he loves kids."
"Can I talk to him?"
"Well, he's actually teaching piano right now. But I'll have him call you back later, kay mom?" I say bringing my ear away from the phone for a few second.
She sighs. "Okay."
"Love you, mom."
"Love you too."
"Bye."
"Bye."
A few minutes later when I heard the eerie ringing of the doorbell, I jumped up and went downstairs. A lady was picking up the twins I had seen earlier. The boys slipped on their shoes and walked downstairs.
Dewey yelled after them saying, "Good-bye boys, don't forget to practice."
I heard the ladies voice say, "Say good-bye boys."
They didn't of course and Dewey shut the door. I made my way down the rest of the steps. "So adults trust you, don't they?" I said casually as possible.
"Depends on the adult. Most adults trust me as a professional. Others trust me as far as they can throw me. And the ones in denial trust me completely," he said. "Why?"
"I just called my mom and told her that I was staying here. She wants you to call her back to see if you're trustworthy."
"How sweet. You thought about your mom. Mary would love you. Of course she loves kids anyway, but still," he said walking over to the phone. Mary is Mother Day's name.
I nodded. He picked up the phone and I said, "340-5891."
He dialed the numbers and waited for a few seconds. Then I hear him say, "Hello. This is Dewey. I'm the man who is taking responsibility for your son for the few days. I assure you, he's in good hands.
"Yes, I know Chase. Us two are very close. We practically see each other every day.
"Yes, of course, I'll make sure Todd makes it to school.
"Yes.
"Yes.
"Yes.
"Okay, thank you. Hopefully I'll meet you soon. Okay, bye."
He hangs up the phone and smiles at me. "It is done," he says. "Are you going to call Chase?"
"He doesn't need to know where I am," I said.
"Gotch'ya. Well, your free to stay here until Chase sues me for kidnapping you," he says jokingly.
"Thanks," I said.
I stayed with Dewey over the weekend. It was like spending the weekend in a haunted house. At night the house was a lot worse then during the day you could hear the it literally creep. I'm surprised I got a wink of sleep. On Monday I went back to school. It was a little far from Dewey's house so he drove me there. I braced myself for another run-in with Haley.
As I walked into my first class I looked at her and couldn't help smiling. I, luckily, avoided saying anything to her. This smile made her melt downwards into her chair as if she was trying to get away. I felt the same way. Unfortunately I couldn't get away from the stupid love magic.
A whole week went by. My mom called almost every day, no one really trusts Dewey, even if they've only heard his voice. Dewey was a great host, he fed me, gave me a ton of candy (it's kinda his thing), and even did the normal fatherly things. Chase didn't ever find me. And Haley and I managed to avoid all contact.
That was until I came home one day to a house smelling like despair and blood. Dracula came into the living room as he quickly addressed me. "Ve quick. I have a Holiday meeting very soon," he said.
"Wait! A Holiday meeting? Do you remember that I'm trying to avoid my brother? Why would you invite him to the very place where I'm hiding?" I said.
"I vemember. I try to avoid everyone, see how vell that works," he said, but seeing the panic on my face he said, "Relax. He's not even coming. He's very very sick." This was followed by an evil laugh.
"He's sick?" I asked.
"I don't sink so. I sink he is incapable of becoming Cupid because he's so vorried about you," Dracula said. He then turned around and said, "You are vree to join us in the meeting, if you dare. I don't know what's its avout."
"Really? Chase, I mean Cupid, never lets me join in on the meetings," I said.
"I'm not supposed too either," he said leaving. I decided to join him and I followed him to his meeting room.
"Dracula, you are always late to the meetings in your own house," I heard Santa say as he walked into the room.
"I don't even know vat the meeting is about," was Dracula's response.
"I thought it was obvious," Santa said with a sigh, "Hasn't Cupid been calling all week? We have to find-" The room fell silent as I entered. All eyes turned to me.
"Him," the turkey said finishing Santa's sentence.
All the Holidays rushed over to me.
"Todd, have you been here all week?" New Year asked me.
"Yeah. I've been staying with Dewey," I said.
"Dracula! What kind of Holiday are you? You've had Cupid's brother here the whole time?!? Have you just been ignoring him?" Mother Day yelled.
"His mother knew vere his vas, so I vasn't worried. Todd asked for my help avoiding his brother virst," Dracula responded.
"So this whole week when Cupid wouldn't stop emailing us or calling us you just said . . ." April Fool said.
"I don't know vere your brother is," Dracula said.
None of the Holidays looked to happy at this response. "Of course you did," Santa said. "While the rest of us were looking for Todd you were busy lying. Listen, Todd, you need to go back to your house."
"Your brother has been worried sick about you," Father Day said.
"He's been calling us and emailing us nonstop," the Easter Bunny said sounding a little annoyed.
"He said he'd be willing to do anything to get you back to the house," Mother Day said.
"Even give up being Cupid," Tom said.
"He said that he would give up being Cupid . . . for me? But he loves being a Holiday. He loves being Cupid," I said.
"Not as much as he loves you," Santa Claus said.
This was a lot to take in. My mind went back to the day when Chase first told me that he was Cupid, he seemed so sure of himself. He must of used the word love a thousand time. He had told me he didn't even want to take me in because he was worried that he might loose his job. It had been pretty obvious that he loved being Cupid more then me. But now I wasn't so sure.
"You have to understand what's like to be a Holiday, Todd. It's hard. There's no normalcy. Everyday to us is the holiday that we represent. You've seen your brother's house," Lucky the Leprechaun said.
"Besides Santa and New Year we all started as normal people. We had to give up a lot when we became Holidays," Mother Day said.
"Even Tom and I have human forms," said the Easter Bunny.
"Your brother, like the rest of us, is controlled by the Holiday. His holiday is all about love. No, not love, infatuation. He's controlled by the force of infatuation, is it any wonder that he wants you involved in his life," Father Day said.
They all started talking at once about how hard it was to be a holiday. Something along the lines of how New Year could never make any friends because he always matured way faster then them and how Dracula could never give out enough candy at Halloween and how Father Day never seemed to do enough to make Mother Day happy. If I was confused before, I was even more confused now.
"Enough!" I yelled. "I understand. I just need to think for a couple of minutes to think about this."
They nodded their heads and I left. I went and sat down on one of Dewey's couches. I started to think. I went back to when I was six and Chase was twelve:
"Didn't mom tell you not to climb on the banister?" Chase asked me giving me a tissue for my bloody nose.
"Are you going to tell her?" I asked still crying. My mom had gone to some sort of charity thing and had left Chase in charge.
"Even if I didn't your nose might give her the hint," he said helping adjust the tissue.
I started to cry even louder.
"Okay. Okay. Listen, we'll just tell mom that you fell of your bike and hit your nose, okay?" he said.
"Really? You'd lie for me?" I said.
"If you really needed me to, I'd do anything for you, Todd. That's what brothers do," he said.
He was always doing things for me. That's when I realized something. He never told on me but I was always telling on him. He was a pest, but I could be a pest at times too. He had even taken me in to live with him when I had no where else to go, he didn't have to do that. He was a true brother. And I was just the ungrateful kid who lived with him.
I knew at that point I had to go back to him and tell him how I really felt.
I shut the door to my house. I have to admit after spending a week in a haunted house that coming back to my brother's romantic house was a bit of a relief. But when I looked around the house wasn't up to Chase's normal standards. In fact it was quite messy.
"Who's there?" I heard Chase yell.
"It's me, Todd," I said. I turned around to put my shoes away when I got hit by a 21-year-old romantic.
"I've been worried sick about you. Where have you been?" he said.
I was going to answer. I was, honestly, but I got distracted. "I was . . . Aw, Man, you look awful." And he did. His normally curly cherub hair was stick straight and all out of place. His blue eyes were in company with huge bags right under them. He was still wearing a pair of heart pajamas even though it past noon. And he stunk.
"I've been worried about you," he said. "That's not important now. I figured it out."
"What? What did you figure out?"
"How to make things right between you and Haley," he said.
"What?" I said.
"That's why you were mad right? Well I figured it out. A way to solve your problem with Haley without using love magic," he said.
"I'm listening."
"You need to tell her the truth."
"You mean -"
"You need to tell her that I'm Cupid."
"Wait. What? Are you serious? Why?" I said.
"Because you were really upset about it. And that's what brothers do for each other," he said.
Here was making another sacrifice for me. "No. You could loose your place on the Council of Holidays. I can't let you do that," I said. "They weren't to happy when you told me, and they were only okay with it because they agreed that if I lived with you then you'd probably have a hard time hiding it from me."
"It's worth it," he said. "For you."
"No, it's not," I said.
"Todd, invite her over tomorrow. Tell her that you have a secret that she needs to know. Trust me, everything will be okay," he said.
"No. I get to do things for you too," I said.
"What are you talking about? Do this for me," he said.
"Haley! Haley!" I called. She was pretending that she couldn't hear me. I didn't actually get her attention until we were in class. "Haley!"
"Um, didn't I ask you to leave me alone?" she said.
"Listen, Haley, I have something I need to show you. It's about my brother," I said.
"Huh?"
"I know you think I'm a creep. But just hear me out. There's a reason that I'm acting like this. But I have to show you. I need you to come over to my house to see it," I said.
"When?"
"After school today."
"I don't know," she said frowning in an adorable way.
"C'mon Haley, please, if you come over to my house and just see what I have to show you. I swear I'll leave you alone," I said.
"I don't know."
I just then just looked at her for a couple of seconds. I guess I should have thought of a way to convince her to come over instead of just assuming she'd give in.
"Oh, okay," she said. "But just for a few minutes."
A smile the size of Texas must have appeared on my face. Not only because I had won and now maybe she wouldn't think I was that creepy but because she, the girl of my dreams, was coming over to my house.
Haley and I walked to my house after school. I had overheard her talking to her friends about it. One of them had said, "If he creeps you out, why are you going over there?"
"You should of seen the look he gave me. He looked so . . . so helpless," she said.
That's when I interrupted her and asked her if she was ready to go.
"I guess," she said.
The whole time we were walking she didn't make eye contact or talk to me at all. I didn't attempt to get her to do either. That was until we reached my front door. When I saw the rose wreath I remembered why I never invited anyone over. My house was a doll house with only two guys living in it. I never understood it until Chase explained that it was a Venus design. Venus, in Roman mythology, is the mother of Cupid. But still, it was weird, and I didn't want my friends to see it. But maybe this time I would actually add to my story. Either that or make Haley think that I was even creepier.
I decided it was worth it. "This way," I said, leading her in not exactly knowing what to expect.
She lingered a few minutes at the door frame, "Um, is your mom home?" she asked.
"No. My mom's in Africa serving the hungry and the sick. I live with my brother," I said with a sigh.
"Really?" she asked. I could see that she doubted this story. "Then is your brother
home?"
"Should be," I said. Then I yelled, "Chase! Chase!"
I wasn't sure what he was planning on doing, so I wasn't sure if I was going to see a baby with wings or a grown man. Haley was looking upstairs. It was obvious by the look on her face she didn't want to be anywhere near me. Finally he came downstairs. He eyebrows scrunched and he looked confused. He doesn't have a very good memory.
"Chase, this is Haley. Haley, Chase," I said.
"Is the girl you were talking about?" Chase asked. Haley shot me a disturbed look. Like a guy can't talk about the girl he likes.
"Yeah, this is her," I said.
"Haley, is it?" he said. She nodded. "Haley, I need to show you something that you need to know."
"Uh, I just barely met you," she said.
"Right. I'm doing this for my brother," he said.
She looked at me. "Um, okay."
"What I'm about to show you might shock you. The only other person who knows my secret is Todd. But we're about to let you into the circle," he said.
She just looked at him. I think he was only making her more confused.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said.
A white mist full of tiny hearts, red, pink, and white; tiny arrows; and tiny cupids started to form around him starting at his ankles in a circular motion. The higher it got the bigger the hearts and other symbols got. Until he was completely covered and you couldn't even see him then the mist started to float a little. It got about a half a foot off the ground and it started to shrink from both sides. As soon as it got pretty close to the middle it just all disappeared like a wind had blown it away. In Chase's place was Cupid.
"The reason Todd loves you is because I'm Cupid," he said.
She fainted.
"Haley," I said trying to catch her. Unfortunately I failed in this quest and she landed with a plunk on the floor. I grabbed her shoulders and tried to carry her to the couch. Chase was just sitting there flying. "Dude, you think that you can turn back to normal and help me."
"I can't just change back and forth whenever I want," he said. Then he tried to grab her legs and carry them. But it was pretty pathetic considering he had the arms of a two-year-old and he was trying to fly.
"I'll do it by myself," I said. And I dragged her onto the couch. I sat on the arm next to her head and Chase flew above her.
She started to stir. "Umph . . ." she groaned. Then she saw me. "Todd? What happened? I thought I saw your brother-" That's when she actually did see him. Her eyes started to roll up in her head.
"Woah. Don't faint on us again," I said.
"Right, sorry," she said catching herself. She then turned her attention back to Chase and she held out her hands. "Are you real?"
Chase flew over to her grabbing her hands. But she pulled him in and grabbed him and started feeling his wings. "This is so weird," she said. "Your wings feel so real." She kept on touching them.
"Ouch," he said. "Gentle."
"You really are real, aren't you? So are the one who gave me my crush on Hank?" she asked letting him go.
"No, it doesn't work that way. I mainly only shoot my arrows on Valentines Day," he said.
"Except when he shot it at me," I said. "He shot it at me on the first day of school. He was trying to be funny. But basically you're the first girl I saw and-"
"Wait, how? I saw you pass a bunch of girls," she said.
She had noticed that. That's amazing. "I had to make eye contact with the girl in order to, you know, fall in love."
"Oh, that would explain why you were looking at the ceiling," she said.
"I can't believe you noticed me doing that," I said.
"Actually that's why I ran into you. I was trying to figure out what you were looking at," she said. "Anyway, continue."
"Right. So you were the first girl I saw and so I fell in love with you. I know you think I'm a creep, but hear me out. It's all the effects of the arrow. I mean it can make me do the most bizarre things. But now it's all right, Angel, because you're here," I said. "See, I don't even know where that came from."
"You're telling me this because you want me to think you're not a creep?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's part of the effects of the arrow. You know, I really care about what you think," I said.
"Why didn't you just tell me this before? Were you afraid I wouldn't believe you?" she said.
"It's not that. It's just nobody's allowed to know. By telling you right now, my brother's probably going to loose his position on the Holiday Council as Cupid," I said.
"You mean that you two are telling me this even though he might loose his job, you're telling me this anyway?" she said. She turned to face him.
He nodded.
"Wow, I'm a jerk," she said.
"What? No you're not," I said. How could she think she was a jerk. She was the sweetest girl I had ever met.
"Yeah, I am. Because I couldn't handle a little teasing from my friends, you felt like you needed to tell me a secret that puts your brother at risk. I'm such a jerk. I didn't even really think that you were a creep. To tell you the truth I just felt intimidated by the attention," she said.
"Really?" I said.
"Actually I was flattered by you right from the start. I mean you were so nice and so direct. I just didn't like you know the stares and the laughter."
"Really?"
"Todd, I've been a jerk and I'd like to you to give me another chance. But do you think you can control yourself enough that we could just be friends? I mean I still care what people think," she said.
"Really?"
"Todd?"
"Oh, yeah, gorgeous, I wouldn't want anything more," I said. "Sorry."
"It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" she said to me. And to herself, "I'll have to tell my friends my decision."
"Oh, bye Haley. Thanks for coming over," I said.
"Sure. It was nice meeting you, Cupid," she said. "Oh, gosh, you're so dang cute." And with that she grabbed my brother from the air squeezed him and then left.
"Nice girl," he said floating over to me. "See, I told you I'd make it up to you."
"Yeah, you really did. You're always there for me when I need you," I said. "But now you'll probably loose your position on the Holiday Council as Cupid."
"Yeah, probably. I'll just get a job, you know, as a . . . a . . . you know, a . . ."
We heard a bell ring.
"Uh-oh. That's the emergency Holiday Council meeting bell. It's probably about me, no doubt. Wow, they found out fast. Curse Santa and his ability to see who's been naughty and nice," he said. He then flew out of the living room towards the meeting room. I followed him. We went into the meeting room and he checked where he was supposed to go on his portal. He turned towards me and said, "The meeting's here."
That was all he was able to say when a multitude of Holidays came rushing out of that portal.
They came out chatting and walking normal. There didn't seem to be anything abnormal about it. Nobody seemed mad.
"Can we call this meeting to order. I repeat, can we call this meeting to order," Santa Claus said. The Holidays became quiet. "We're here today because Cupid has broken the 'no tell' rule. That was very naughty of you."
Chase bowed his head and frowned.
"We're here -"
"Wait," I said. "Before you decide whether or not you keep him on the holiday council, listen to me. Haley won't tell anyone. We don't have to worry about that. And he was just trying to be a good brother. So do what you want to him but if you take him off the Holiday Council then you don't deserve to be Holidays either."
"Todd, I may look and sound like an infant right now but I can take care of myself," he said. "I can handle this."
"Too bad for you ve've already determined his fate," Dracula said.
"Yeah, we had the trial already," the April Fool said.
"And that's exactly what we were saying," Lucky the Leprechaun said.
"Huh?" Chase asked.
"What was going to say before I was interrupted," Santa said glaring at me, "Was that we're here today to tell you the result of our pre-meeting meeting where we discussed whether it was right of you or not to tell the girl that you were a Holiday."
"We decided on right," Mother Day gasped out, "Isn't that great?"
"Umph," Santa cleared his throat and looked at Mother Day.
"Sorry, I couldn't contain it," she said.
"Right, that's what we chose. Although you deliberately broke the 'no tell' rule without talking to us first we decided it was for a good cause. Besides love and happiness is what being a Holiday is all about. By telling this girl you showed love for your little brother and you made him very happy. This is what being a Holiday is all about," Santa said.
"Plus you're just so darn cute we couldn't stand to see you leave," Mother Day said.
"Mother Vay couldn't stand to see you leave. I could care less," Dracula said.
"I don't know what to say, besides thank you. Thanks for letting me stay," Chase said overjoyed.
I, too, was overjoyed. I grabbed Chase from his chair and hugged him. "Did you hear that, Chase? You can stay Cupid!"
"You're squishing my wings," he said. So I let him go. The Holidays chuckled a little.
"I know it's great. And Todd, I swear from now on, no matter what, unless you ask me to specifically I won't use my arrows on you. Not even on Valentine's Day," he said.
"Thanks," I said. "And I promise that if you break that promise I won't freak out. But you better not."
The Holidays laughed. "What are we waiting for? Let's party," New Years said.
The End
Sequel: My Boyfriend, Cupid
