DISCLAIMER This story may eventually contain depictions of male on male, graphic sexual interactions. PSA TO ALWAYS USE A CONDOM! The characters are highschool aged and sometimes have sex, if this offends you, why are you here? This is a complete work of fiction and any similarities to persons or events is purely coincidental. Enjoy the story and any feedback is welcome.
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CHAPTER 9
ASPEN
Samhain started out as an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival celebrating the dead. Celts divided the year up with four major holidays and four minor ones. It was held on a day that matches up with November first on today's calendar but the festival began at sundown on October 31st. This date marked the beginning of winter as well as the new year. Since they were pastoral people, it was also the time when cattle and sheep had to be moved closer and all the rest of the livestock had to be secured for the coming winter months. Crops were harvested. This date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle.
At sunset, we light a huge fire to represent the sun and keeping it lit in the dark days to come. We also use it for divination. The elders would throw herbs on the fire and see what the smoke would tell them. The younger people laid out a circle of stones, one stone for each person. Then everyone would run around the fire in a circle, holding a torch. When morning came, if your stone was mislaid or moved in anyway, it was rumored you wouldn't survive the year.
We also used the day to commemorate and celebrate the dead. We would do spells to contact them and thank them and invite them to join us (family members only, obviously). Then we would eat a huge feast of the harvested goods we brought and spend the rest of the night dancing under the moon and being with family. It was always one of my favorite holidays besides Yule.
"Happy new year!" Cypress exclaimed as he came bounding into my bedroom. Leon and I were asleep, don't worry, the clothes that counted were on.
"Oh! I didn't realize," Cy said, pointing out that Leon was shirtless and raising his eyebrows in a suggestive way.
"Ew," I tossed back the blanket revealing that I was in shorts and a tank top, "Happy new year."
"I made you this Wicker Man," he said excitedly and handed me a little doll made of dried grass and herbs. The Wicker Man was an old tradition. Originally, (or so they say) a Wicker Man was a type of cage that Druids would put their human sacrifices in before burning them. Well, obviously, human sacrifice is icky so they changed it to a doll of a man that would sit on your altar and protect you until spring. Then at Beltane, you would burn him to ensure fertility in the coming year.
At this point, Leon opened his eyes and sat up in bed.
"Happy new year, guys," he said through a yawn as he stretched.
"Thanks!" we said in unison.
"Cy, here's your wicker man," I said as I went to my dresser and pulled out the one I made for him, "I made it with cypress branches and rosemary for protection."
"Yours is made from aspen and chamomile, so you can learn to chill," he teased and tousled my hair, "when you two love birds are ready, Paps and Grams are here!"
"Paps is my favorite!" Leon said excitedly as he stooped to his drawer and pulled out a nice shirt he kept in there for moments like these.
"He was asking if you were gonna be here today. They will be happy to see you," Cypress said as he sat down on my bed. I went to my closet and pulled on a pretty velvet crop top I'd been saving for today. Then I pulled on high waisted pants, a small section of my stomach revealed, and then I pulled on my ritual robes and my witch's hat.
"I'm enchanted," Leon said as I emerged from the closet, "I love seeing your sexy stomach. That shade of deep orange really suits you."
"You guys are too gay sometimes," Cypress laughed. Then he got up and left to go put on his robes and hat.
"I'm glad you like it," I said walking toward him and throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss.
"I love it," he responded between kisses.
"I'm happy you're here," I told him, "Samhain wouldn't be the same without you." I got off the bed and put my Wicker Man on my altar next to the statue of Selene I had.
"I'm glad I'm here too," he said, "When is Kennedy going to be here?"
"I don't know. We haven't talked since...well you know. He may not show up at all," I shrugged and felt a ping of sadness shake my heart.
"Well, I hope he shows...for you," Leon insisted.
"Me too," I went back to the bed and pulled out a little drawer I kept full of Leon's stuff. I pulled out the robe I'd made him when for our first Samhain.
"I brought my hat too!" he said excitedly as he pulled it out of his duffle bag that was laying on the floor by the bed. He grabbed a sweater and jeans from the bag to finish off his look, and pulled on the robe and hat, "how do I look?" He spun around and posed like he was in Harry Potter and about to cast the disarming spell.
"You look perfect," I laughed. I grabbed his hand and we hurried down to see Paps and Grams. I stopped dead in the doorway. Kennedy was at the stove with my father. He had on Daddy's old robes and was stirring Witches Brew.
Witches Brew was a drink that we made every year for Samhain Breakfast. It consisted of tea brewed with cloves, cinnamon, orange juice, lemons, sugar and brandy. For obvious reasons, only the older people got to consume it. Until our sixteenth Samhain, then we could finally have a singular cup every year until twenty-one. This was Cy and my first time trying it.
"Kennedy!" I exclaimed. He turned around and a huge smile came over his face. We both moved like we were gonna run to each other but he looked at Cy's annoyed expression and I remembered Leon's hand in mine and we both stopped.
"What am I? Chopped liver?" Grams asked, stepping around the counter in her pretty black dress. Grams had never worn pants a day in her life and you better believe that everywhere she went, you'd hear the sound of kitten heels clicking along with her. Her silver hair was tucked up in an elegant bun under her hat. Her robes were pale orange and flowed around her like a chiffon gown.
Paps was a goofy old man who always dressed as nicely as his wife. He had on black slacks and a pale orange button up under a black cardigan sweater. His tie was hand painted with pentacles and his robes were to his knees and plain black with a hood.
"Merry meet, Grams and Paps," I said as I crossed the room and hugged them both.
"Merry meet!" Leon said with a huge smile as he followed me and shook Paps' hand.
"I want to show you something, boy!" Paps said to Leon as he pulled him away and into the living room.
"I'm gonna go check that out," Cy said, giving Kennedy a grimace and then leaving.
"Joe, Sweetie, I need some help getting the last of my bags from the car," Grams said. She grabbed Daddy's hand and they left together leaving Kennedy and I alone.
"I didn't think you'd show," I said slowly. I bit my lip nervously and started twiddling my thumbs behind my back.
"I told you I would," he replied, "besides, your dad found me at the shop at two a.m. and asked if I was still coming to the festivities."
"What in Sam Hell were you doing at the shop that early in the morning?" I asked, raising my brow at him.
"I needed to clear my head and working on cars helps me do that," he shrugged.
"That makes sense," I said with a nod. Did I bring up the kiss? Or did I just let it go? Gods, seeing his handsome face, seeing him in those ritual clothes confused me all over again.
KENNEDY
I stared across the kitchen island at Aspen. He looked so good in the deep red velvet top he had on. His tan stomach exposed- it sent a pleasant shiver down my back. His moon blonde hair curled around his pretty face under his pointy hat. I stood there, wondering if I should bring up the kiss but decided it was better if I didn't. He probably wanted to forget about it. I know I did. I just wanted to go back to living my cute, drama free, heterosexual life.
But seeing him there, looking like that...it drove me wild. A hunger had been unleashed when I first kissed him, and now I feared that I wouldn't be able to stop it. I wanted to touch him, hold him, kiss him. I wanted to feel his hands in mine. I hadn't realized it, but Kira might have been right. Maybe I did love him. I was just so hard not to. He understood me like no one else did.
"Well I'm glad you came," he said, sitting down on a bar stool. I turned back around and stirred the Witches Brew. I could feel his beautiful green eyes on my back and I stood up a little straighter.
"Same, I've already learned so much from what your dad has been telling me. Your religion is so fascinating. I've never been the spiritual type, but I think I really wanna try this all out," I told Aspen. I turned around and his eyes were bright with excitement.
"I can teach you everything I know! I've been doing this for a while! But...only if you want," he said as he reined in his excitement. We went quiet and the air grew tense and silent.
"Oh, before I forget," I said, "Kira wanted you to have these." I pulled out the pink heart-shaped sunglasses and he looked excited again. He grabbed them and went to hug me but then pulled back quickly and sort of curled into himself.
"Do we have to talk about it or can we just forget it and stop letting it make our friendship so awkward?" I blurted. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goddess you said something. I was going insane wondering if we should talk about it or not...what do you think?" Aspen asked as he ran his finger around the rim of an empty tea cup.
"I think I wanna forget all about it and pretend it never happened," I lied.
"Same," he said with another sigh of relief. He smiled and stood up, "I think the brew is ready."
I agreed and pulled it off the stove. The air in the room felt much more comfortable now. It felt warm and safe like it usually did when I was with Aspen.
"So, it's official then? You took Leon back?" I asked as I dumped the cauldron-full of tea into a special pumpkin shaped teapot.
"That's right," Leon said from the doorway. He grinned before coming in and hugging Aspen from behind, "I think he's a fool for letting me come back."
He is, I thought. I had to admit though, they looked damn good together. Leon's dark skin complemented Aspen's moon-blonde hair. The goofy grin Leon wore when he was talking to Aspen. The way Aspen's cheeks got a little red before he'd put on a comfortable face.
"I hope we can be friends," Leon said to me, "I just don't want us to hate each other anymore. I wanna start fresh with you, just like I did with Mags."
"That sounds nice," Aspen interjected before looking at me
expectantly.
"Yeah, same," I held out my hand and Leon shook it.
Joe, Paps, and Grams came back into the kitchen.
"Is the brew ready?" Grams asked excitedly.
"I made us some delicious pumpkin bread!" Paps said, grabbing the basket off the counter and pulling out a rather large loaf of delightful looking bread. He had a container of homemade glaze to drizzle over it and my mouth started watering.
"Let's sit in the breakfast nook!" Aspen proposed.
"The adults are going to go speak in the dining room, you boys can feel free to sit in the nook though," she smiled, took her plate and rather large cup of brew into the next room. Paps and Joe followed quickly after and that left Aspen, Leon, Cypress and I in the kitchen. We sat quietly for a bit and then Aspen spoke.
"Cy, do you think Auntie Hera is going to bring her friends son Kyle this time?" he turned to Leon, "I know how much you like looking at his butt."
"C'mon! It's huge dude! You could bounce a whole bag of nickels off that thing!" he said with a chuckle. Cypress started laughing.
"It is a pretty juicy ass!" he interjected. The three of them were laughing so hard it made me want to laugh too so I did. The air was light and friendly and We had a great time having breakfast and then decorating before the rest of the family arrived.
Soon the house was full of the pagan friends and family of Aspen. A huge bonfire was started about fifty feet away from the house and some of the members were seated nearby playing traditional songs as the children danced around the flames, holding little torches.
The elders were in the kitchen, preparing an elaborate harvest feast and the teens were commissioned with setting up the tables that we were going to sit at in the barn. There were about three ten foot tables placed side by side making one big long table. Aspen and I put flowers together in pumpkins while Cy and Leon hunted down the table runners.
"I'm glad that Cypress started being nicer to you today," Aspen said as he stuck a yellow mum into his current arrangement.
"Me too, your brother is actually pretty cool when he isn't hating me," I admitted. About noon, I had brought up something about his favorite tv show and in minutes we were best buds. I guess that since Leon didn't hate me anymore, Cypress had no need to.
"Cy can be a bit abrasive, but he really does have a good heart." Aspen always saw the good in people. He saw the good in me, even when I didn't think there was any. That was one of my favorite things about him. No matter how mean someone was to him, he could always come up with something kind to say about them.
"I know, he just wanted to protect you from me," I shrugged.
"Can I ask you something?" Aspen sounded concerned. I glanced up and his expression matched his tone.
"Of course," I nodded.
"Is it true that you outed Leon?"
I felt a wave of shame come over me. Remember way back in chapter three when I told Aspen about how Leon and I stopped being friends? Well it wasn't entirely true. I had outed him.
"After he started dating the girl I liked, I got jealous and petty. So I stole his phone and printed out pictures of his browser history from his phone. He was dumb to not delete that by the way. Then I spread them anonymously through the school. They never found out who did it, but we both knew it was me," I said sheepishly. I glanced up at Aspen who had a contemplative look on.
"Please don't be mad at me, I was young and stupid," I rushed to explain myself.
"I'm not mad, I just didn't expect Cy to be right," he replied.
"Right about what?" about me?
"He said you did it and I didn't believe him. I had hoped he was wrong, but this doesn't affect how I see you. You were going through a lot. You'd lost your mom, you were...man handled by your best friend in a moment of vulnerability, and then he stole your girl. It's only natural that you would want to see him hurt. I just hope that you'd never out anyone ever again," he said sympathetically. Then he gave me a reassuring look and went back to his arrangements.
A huge black cat came out from behind the bale of hay we were sitting on and meowed loudly. Aspen reached down and patted its head and then looked over at me, "you won't, right?"
"Never again," I promised, holding up three fingers like some sort of scouts' honor.
"Good," Aspen smiled contentedly and picked up the pretty bouquet he'd been working on. He walked it over to the table and sat it town next to five others that we had made. There were only six, in varying sizes and shapes. Each one beautiful. Finally, Cypress and Leon returned with the runners.
"Ugh, would you believe that they were in the box of Yule decorations?" Cypress said incredulously as he walked into the barn, carrying bundles of black fabric. After they laid it out, we put our centerpieces on and plugged in the strings of orange and purple lights. The place looked incredible.
ASPEN
After dinner, we all went back to sort of doing our own things. The older folks stayed at the table gabbing with Daddy and the other parents cleaned up. The kids were sent off to play and the teens were allowed to do whatever, within reason.
"C'mon!" I said excitedly to Leon, Cypress and Kennedy as we finished writing down a bad habit we wanted to cast away in the new year. We all went out to the fire and stood on one side, watching the flames dance through the chilly night air, warming everyone around it.
"Up in flames,
Up in fire.
Give me my heart's true desire.
Bad habit be gone,
Bad habit be banished.
From my life, this habit will vanish.
This my will,
Harm to none.
When the parchment burns up, the spell is done!" we all said simultaneously before tossing our bad habits on the fire and watching them char into little bits of ash. I had written that I wanted to stop biting my nails on mine. I wondered silently about the other boys, and what their parchments said.
It was late. Grams and Paps slept in the first-floor guest room. Leon went home because he had work in the morning. Cypress and Daddy had gone to bed already and I was laying in the dark. Kennedy was on the couch in the living room. The room was hot. Too hot, I couldn't really breathe. My phone lit up on the bedside table.
KENNEDY: You up?
ME: Too hot to sleep. I'm up.
KENNEDY: Wanna go outside?
ME: I know a fun place!
I rolled out of bed and put back on my velvet shirt and high waist jeans. I grabbed my brown leather jacket and fluffed my hair before tiptoeing downstairs to meet Kennedy. He was standing in the foyer. He was looking at the floor but he glanced up at me and did a double take. His mouth was slightly ajar and his eyes had a look of amazement. I blushed hard.
He shook his head and chuckled nervously.
"C'mon," I said, we walked out and off the porch. Just past the barn was the other side of Cherrywick Woods. We started down an old deer path. I had brought flashlights and they were illuminating the otherwise dark woods.
"Where are we going?" Kennedy asked.
"You'll see," I smiled big. I led him further until we got to a little grove of trees where Daddy once built me a dwarf cottage. It was basically a small shed that was painted to look like the cottage from Disney's Snow White. Inside was a little table and
chairs, a box full of toys, board games and a little bed in one corner.
"That's the cutest thing I've ever seen," he said taking in the little cottage. We went inside and I lit the camping lantern that was inside there. We sat down at the little table and looked like giants.
"Do you believe in fate?" I asked mindlessly.
"Like everything mapped out for us? I guess. But I think our decisions map it out for us," he replied thoughtfully.
"Do you believe in soul mates?" I bit my lip nervously.
"Sure, why?" he looked at me with an intensity that made my knees weak.
"No reason," I lied. I got up and went to the shed door. Kennedy stood up and suddenly we were incredibly close. Our eyes were locked. He reached out and put his hand on my arm. I felt his palm through all the fabric. I Moved closer and I could feel his breath on my face. He swallowed.
"Kennedy," I whispered.
"Aspen," he whispered back.
"I don't think-"
"Then don't start," he interrupted me. He pulled me close and mashed his lips to mine. My knees went weak and I almost lost my balance. Thankfully He had a good grip on me and was holding me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply again and again.
He held me close with desperation. He held me so close I could feel him heart on my chest. He pushed the table out of the way with his leg and guided me to the floor. I kissed him with everything in me. Then I remembered Leon. I was dating Leon. I was cheating on Leon. I pulled away abruptly. I stood up and rushed out of the shed and ran until I was in my front yard I dropped to my knees sobbing under the silvery light of the almost full moon.
"Aspen! I'm sorry! Please, forgive me!" Kennedy said worriedly. He dropped down next to me.
"I can't do this, Kennedy. I'm not a cheater. I don't do this kind of thing."
"I know, I'm so sorry. I don't know why...I'm sorry," he got up and climbed on to his motorbike and left. I listened as the vehicle drove away and then I cried. I just laid in the cool grass crying.
AUTHORS NOTE
Hey guys! Geez, I'm really beginning to be one of THOSE authors. I'm sorry for the long ass wait. Hopefully, I can get the heck out of my writer's block and finish this story. I owe it to those of you who have e-mailed me and shown support. Just know that I love to hear from each and every one of my readers to know that they care! You are all so important to me! Thanks for sticking with me! Kisses =^.^=
-Kit