16. Horned Serpent.

“Why does life suck so much?”

@shawnnorman

"It is what it is." Shawn sighed, flicking his eyes up as the other boy neared. "What happened?"

“I have your Christmas present in my trunk. I’ll give it to you after lunch.”

@shawnnorman

"Why am I not surprised you ignored me when I said not to get me anything?"

“Oh please, I don’t follow you around,” Alec replied. “And I’m not a puppy.”

"You're right. A puppy would be less annoying." Shawn sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he was going to spend the afternoon, or the better part of it it seemed, with Alec. "Alright, fine. Want to help me figure out what to get Julia for Christmas?"

“Well, now you’ve got three.”

"Awfully presumptuous of you." He drawled, although the usual bite was gone from his words, and he felt the edges of his lips twitch.

“No,” said Julia, just as softly. “I do see some good things every now and then. It’s just…the bad things are so terrible it’s like they drown out everything else. I try to hold onto and remember the good ones, but they seem to fade in my memory faster. I guess that’s why I try to look for the good things in the day to day, the here and now. If I didn’t…I focused solely on the bad, I don’t think I could go on.”

Shawn nodded, sighing slightly as he considered her words. He could see what she meant - after all, hadn’t he turned out the way he had because of all the years he didn’t have anything good in his life to focus on? He wouldn’t ever want her to turn into someone like him. “What good things have you seen?”

“More like your whole being, you’re like one of the seven dwarfs from Snow White,” Alec replied. “Honestly it’s kind of a quick than a flaw though.”

“Yeah, except Grumpy didn’t have an annoying friend of a friend who followed him around like a puppy and wouldn’t leave him alone.” He sighed, looking pointedly at the other boy. “I would say I don’t want you to explain that, but I have a feeling you’re going to, regardless.”

Cameron frowned. “So you don’t have any friends?”

With a heavy sigh, Shawn considered the question. “I’ve got like, two.”

“Stairs are hard, though.” She frowned. “Show me where they are because I dunno.”

“If I need to piggyback you all the way back upstairs, I’m gonna be so mad.” He warned her, shaking his head with a roll of his eyes. “I’ll do it, but I’ll be pissed.”

“Yeah, it tastes like shit. Where the hell did you get moonshine?” She asked before taking another sip. “I thought they only had that in, like, Kentucky.”

“Can’t divulge all my secrets, Ken.” He answered flippantly, smirking as he took his flask back from her and took a sip. “They have it everywhere.” Shawn rolled his eyes, sighing harshly at the taste. “You just need to know where to look.”

“I’m not a loser.” Kendall giggled. “I’m taking us out of the dungeons. I think. I dunno I forgot how I got in here.”

“Literally find any staircase and go up.” Shawn sighed, rolling his eyes. 

Kendall took his jacket and pulled it over her shoulders. “Thanks,” she was much warmer. She reached into the pocket and took out his flask, taking a discreet sip before putting it back. “Eugh, what is that?”

Nodding, he stayed quiet as he watched her take a swig. He chuckled. “Moonshine, actually. The real stuff, not the shit you get in the stores.” He shrugged. “Tastes like shit, but gets the job done.”

“Yes,” said Julia simply. She slowed down as she talked. “It’s…it’s hard to explain, but people seemed to be on their best behave at this time of year. It’s like it brings out the best in them. It reminds me that there is some good in the world and not just the horrible things that I…that I see in the future.”

“Huh.” Shawn huffed, furrowing his brow. He supposed he got the sentiment of her explanation, but he still didn’t really understand. People didn’t seem all that much warmer to him around the holidays. “Do you only see bad things?” He asked softly.

“Really? No one at all?”

“Practically.” He shrugged. Only a few names came to mind, but it never really bothered him.

“There’s gotta be some reason. No one is just grumpy for no reason.”

“I don’t need a reason. Grumpy is one of my tragic character flaws.”

Evelyn watched Shawn with a piqued curiosity, trying to read his emotions through the expressions on his face. Unfortunately for her, he was a lot harder to read than she could have imagined. “Right, of course,” Evelyn nodded her head softly, mentally kicking herself over how badly she handled that situation. Why was it so hard for her to just keep her mouth shut sometimes? “Well, I didn’t want her to think I was waiting all by myself. And two just seemed cliche, so,” She shrugged. “Three.” The sound of Shawn Norman laughing was new to Evelyn, but how contagious that sound was. She couldn’t help herself but match his laughter with her own, even if it was at her own expense. “Yeah,” She admitted, pausing to tuck a piece of her hair behind one of her ears. “Speaking of, did you– were you planning on sitting with someone? Or did you want to–” It felt as if her chest were going to beat out of her chest. “Did you want to share with me?” 

“You should have called me, I would have come earlier if I’d known.” Shawn shrugged, not liking the idea of her waiting by herself any more than she apparently seemed to. “I’m almost always on my own, so I tend to scrape through just in time.” He chuckled, although the reality was no one ever wanted to meet up with him on the way, and his parents surely never wanted to stick around to see him off. He figured they were hoping he’d ride the train one way and not come back at the end of the year. Shawn’s chest tightened as she started  speaking again - was she really asking him to sit with her? She paused, and his breath caught in his throat, stomach dropping. He’d gotten too ahead of himself, there was no way she - “Yes.” He heard himself say, instincts kicking in faster than his brain could. “I’d love to, actually.”

“What? Getting kernels thrown at me?” Julia teased.

“No.” Shawn countered with a roll of his eyes, although her words made him laugh. “This whole like, end of the year holidays thing. Getting into the spirit of the season.”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Cameron. He shrugged. “I should have known you’d gone to Ilvermorny, but I wasn’t thinking, and didn’t. That’s what I meant.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I get it.” He assured him, nodding. “I usually just keep to myself, no one knows who I am.”