riptide

“have you seen the general population of this school?  i’m 25, which is approximately three weeks away from me retiring whenever alaric does.”  sometimes ethan felt a little twinge of guilt, referring to alaric by first name in front of the students.  he hoped ric didn’t see it as a disrespect thing, but he also kind of didn’t care.  his actions said enough, right?  “i’m ancient compared to you youths.”  ethan listened to xavier and simply offered him a large shrug.  “i feel like i’ve talked to more people in the past week than i ever have, trying to find stuff out.  a big ol’ nada.”

“absolutely, man.  there has to be some good out of all of this.”  he wasn’t really big on the whole talking about feelings thing.  but jamie was a good dude.  one of the best ethan knew.  and he’d never had any trouble talking to him before, so he was forcing himself not to let this be any different.  even if the lump in his throat said otherwise.  “clearly, i love you, otherwise i wouldn’t have subjected you to my horrifying excuse for a man cave.  and yeah, fine.  i do miss wickery.  like, way more than i’m proud to admit.”

“this is bullshit.  i mean, all of it, but.  i’m so good at clue.  i’ve always hated losing.”  ethan snickered, mostly to himself.  at the very least, hope was easy to talk to.  she understood better than anyone else how absolutely batshit their lives were.  even if she was usually at the center of it all.  or maybe because of that?  he didn’t know.  “unfortunately, my thirst traps do not give a solid timeline of anything.”

“not to call your dad a boomer, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he thought using an iPad for research meant that  the enemy  could see it too.”  who was the enemy?  ethan didn’t know.  it usually varied from week to week.  “yeah.  you get a chance to, like.  control your narrative, or whatever?  those same kids don’t even know how awesome i used to be at magic, so.  sucks for them.”

“yeah, i had everything once upon a time.  but now i’m old and don’t understand kids and their apps and their slang.  oh god, i’m turning into my parents.  great.”  ethan ran a hand through his hair.  “nothing’s coming across as super useful right now, though.”  he assumed deleting stuff was just, like.  a part of life.  or maybe reinventing himself when he got turned?  ethan had no idea.  but it didn’t really matter.  it’s not like he would have made a status about bloodlust.  “i need to go through texts, but it seems like a lot of those are pointless too.”  ethan, be less vapid challenge.

“that’s fair.  who amongst us hasn’t shown him how to do something every major iOS update?”  ethan managed a smile, thankful that — if nothing else — alaric’s total technologic illiteracy was enough to save him from spiraling right now.  “i mean, yeah.  at some point, i’m sure i will.  but with the expansion and everything, it seems like there’s about a billion more students here.  and i’m basically getting to know an entire new faction.  super cool times.”  

“you’re right.  maybe someone did spell it.  hell, maybe it was me,”  he muttered under his breath, looking back at the date on the photo.  if only ethan had any idea when he became a vampire.  jesus, how morbid.  he didn’t even know when he died.  fuckin’ a.  “no one would suspect the person guilty to selfie it out, right?”  he didn’t know why he would have even bothered to spell the girl’s hair, if it was him, but hey.  he’d done dumber things for no reason.  but now he was a responsible adult who also couldn’t practice magic, so.  who fucking knew?  “okay, yeah.  sure.  maybe.  but where’s the fun in that?”  also, ethan hadn’t even thought that far ahead, but whatever.

“isn’t beer already scienced just to exist?  i feel like i distinctly remember that being the thing that caught fourteen year old me’s attention in biology class.  something something, this cycle is how beer is made.  oh, watch this.”  ethan grinned and vamped to the kitchen and back with plates, napkins, utensils.  he posed for jamie when he was back.  “ah?  cool, right?”  as though a third of the school couldn’t do the same trick.  he was just trying to find the silver lining.  “if you’re trying to get me drunk, all you had to do was ask.”  ethan playfully hit his shoulder, his mouth forming an over-exaggerated surprise.  “oh, bribery.  got it.  you’re lucky i like you.”

ethan glanced at the boy in front of him.  he’d woken up next to him when they realized that everyone had collectively forgotten a year, but ever since then, it seemed like elliot had been avoiding him.  two could play at that game.  “weird.”  a part of him was just goin to leave well enough alone, but something told him to keep prodding.  “you know what else i found on my phone?  i’ll give you a hint, i’m staring right at him.”  his lips pressed in a tight line.  “like, a lot.  selfies, pictures of just you — i’m an awesome photographer, by the way — dumb snapchat memories antics.”

“you’re right.”  he watched the kid smack his face, and ethan was about to voice his concern when the younger male spoke up.  “hm?  oh.  i mean, just a lot of selfies.  a couple instagram thirst traps,  whoopsies,  some tweets that mean absolutely nothing out of context.”  ethan clicked through apps.  he’d checked it all before, but it didn’t hurt to skim again.  “apparently deleted facebook in that time.  which, honestly?  good for past me.”

“that’s a valid point,”  he admitted.  ethan stopped to think for a second.  “i’m pretty sure i had to teach him the iphone a few years back, or . . . reteach?  it’s hard to tell.”  he grinned, going back to his camera roll to see if there were any other faces that little josie could help him with.  well — little josie was basically an adult now.  weird how time worked.  “what about . . . ”  ethan glanced from his phone, back to josie.  “nevermind.  this is pointless.”

“brenna,”  he repeated, as if saying the name out loud was going to magically make him remember her.  or anything.  nope.  no dice.  “i mean, i know that i didn’t chill with the vampires when i was a student here, but she definitely doesn’t ring a bell.”  ethan zoomed in on the picture, then zoomed back out.  “yeah, what’s up with the hair color?  isn’t that what happens when you go swimming with blonde hair?”

ethan was still navigating this misery, new and improved and suddenly immortal.  he didn’t understand in what world he would have become a vampire, let alone accept the transition.  but apparently some weird shit went down in that year that led him here.  fucking a.  the one perk he’d found so far?  vamp speed.  which he used to go from his bed to the door as soon as jamie knocked.  or — “did you use your head?”  he asked, laughing as he noticed the wolf’s arms were full.  “what the hell is artisanal beer?”  ethan stepped aside to let jamie in.

“awesome,”  ethan mumbled under his breath.  his thumb was sliding through his phone, mindlessly scrolling to keep himself from going off the deep end.  “nice to know ric didn’t bother to update the wifi in the past year.”  he was still trying to make sense of it all.  the not knowing frustrated him to no end, but ethan was doing what he did best:  deflect with humor.  “hey.  any idea who this is?”  he asked the nearest student, pointing to the other person in a selfie on his phone.