Selenophile // Marauders

|107| The Attack

TW: Death, Violence, Injury

———

3rd of July, 1978

The phone rang once again the Spade household.

"Riley, the phone!" shouted Madelyn Spade. Riley rushed over to the telephone and picked it up.

"Hello—" she said but was cut off by a girl talking very fast.

"Are you guys free right now?" asked the voice.

"Penny?"

"Yeah, hi," said Penny. "Answer the question."

"Yeah, we're home—"

"Great! Because Will had the audacity to call only two minutes ago to tell me that they are planning to surprise mum by coming around eight o'clock. So it would be great if you guys could come early and then leave by eight so our cousins could come—"

"Okay, all right! Jeez, calm down," said Riley as she tried to process all of the things Penny had just told in a single breath. "We'll come in an hour and be out of there before they come, all right?"

"Love you, bye," said Penny and before Riley could say anything, the call disconnected.

***

5:00 PM

The party was going decent, it didn't feel anything different than any other gatherings with the Humphreys.

Since their fight, Ethan and Penny looked a bit more distant than before. They were obviously on good terms, but not as good as before.

"Hey, can you pass the water?" asked Riley as she turned to Ethan. They were sitting outside. Penny had specifically wanted to sit there to avoid talking to her parents. Riley didn't know why she avoided them, she just assumed she found them boring.

"Yeah, sure," said Ethan and grabbed the glass of water at the edge of the table. Riley took the glass, then started smelling it.

"What's wrong?" asked Ethan. Penny chuckled as she realized what was about to happen.

"The water smells weird," said Riley. "What do you think?"

Ethan leaned in, but just when he was about to say something, Riley moved the glass up and back down, making water splash into his face.

Riley laughed and put the glass back down on the table, leaving Ethan to try wiping the water away from his face. Penny also laughed.

"Funny..." muttered Ethan. "Very funny."

"You still fell for it," said Riley. "Awe, look, Ethan Humphrey fell for a dumb prank."

"All right — how long are you two gonna tease me over this?"

"The whole day, little brother," said Penny. "Or perhaps a month."

"For the last fucking time! I'm only eight minutes younger!" yelled Ethan.

"That makes you my little brother technically," said Penny. "Why don't you go play with your toys?

***

7:00 PM

As Adelaide Humphrey opened her presents, Penny walked over to Riley sneakily. She then sat on the couch next to her.

"It's seven o'clock," said Penny quietly. "An hour 'till my amazing cousins come."

"Even Walter wasn't that bad last time," said Riley.