𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐂𝐘; trevor spengler

chapter fifteen

THE CAR RIDE WASN'T AWKWARD. Although that was how Athena first pictured it to be when Gary offered to drive her home, it wasn't how it turned out. To begin with, they talked about ghosts and their theories, like they used to do in Athena's old science classes, but then they settled into a comfortable silence. The girl hadn't realized how much she missed her old chemistry teacher until they met again. They were both glad they did.

"So, has anything interesting happened lately? Other than the ghosts and stuff . . . obviously," Gary started cheerfully, glancing over at the teen before focusing his eyes back on the dark road ahead of him.

"Not really," Athena tried to lie, but her smile and giddy voice dubbed her in. The man driving the vehicle let out a heavy scoff, rolling his eyes at her terrible lying abilities.

"That is the fattest lie I've ever heard," he stated blankly.

"Offense taken," she defended whilst crossing her arms, staring over at the man with raised brows and a sharp glare.

"It's that boy, isn't it?" He guessed slyly with a smirk. He knew the answer - he knew it was a yes - he just wanted her to admit it. 

"Maybe," she muttered as she bit her lip to hide her smile, the corners of her lips twitching up as Gary let out an obnoxious laugh beside her. 

"Ha! I knew it . . . although, everyone else does too," he trailed off without a thought, clamping his mouth shut with wide eyes upon realizing what he'd accidently said. Athena had the exact same reaction.

"I'm sorry, what?" She queried incredulously. Gary sighed, succumbing into his mistakes.

"You make it so obvious, both of you," he explained with a shrug.

"Both of us?"

"Yeah- wait, you don't know?" After getting nothing but silence in return, he groaned with frustration. He didn't know how teenagers could be so dense. "He likes you. A lot."

"Bullsh-"

"Uh, uh, uh. No swearing of any size or form is tolerated in this car," he scolded as he spun the wheel, rounding one of the eerily empty street corners of Summerville's center.

"That's bullcrap," Athena fired back with annoyance, fighting back the urge to grin as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"That still counts," he sang tauntingly. She let out a groan of annoyance as she pushed her head back into the seat, closing her eyes dramatically as Gary purposely turned up the volume of the radio. "Woo! Let's party!"

— '•⁂𑁍⁂•'—

Gary wanted to stop at Walmart, much to Athena's relief. She was starving, as the small punnet of strawberries she'd had earlier in Trevor's backyard didn't do her much help. Half of them were covered in grime, anyway.

As she was looking over the countless ice-cream flavors - some more absurd than others - Gary frantically called her over. Much to her surprise, a little marshmallow was standing on his packet, waving at them. The marshmallow was moving. 

"What the hell," the confused girl trailed off as more and more of the tiny beings popped out of the same packet. Suddenly, a vacuum banged into Gary's left shoe, being driven by the very same tiny marshmallows. They were everywhere.

Athena glanced around worriedly, gulping as her eyes glowed with anxiety. "Come on, let's get out of here," Gary muttered as he pushed the teen out of the crowded aisle.

"Mr-"

"Gary. Call me Gary," he mumbled as he quickly sped away from the puffed beings. Finally coming to her senses, Athena chased after the man until she was jogging alongside him. However, before she could continue, he stuck a hand out infront of her.

She almost tripped over, looking up at him with annoyance upon recognizing that it was his hand that had caused her imbalance. Although, when she followed his terrified train of sight, she almost screamed. There was a gigantic monster with it's head stuck in a bag right infront of her, dog food sprawled across the floor around it as it's horns poked holes in the bag's middle.

Gary started to carefully step backwards, wanting to get away from the frightening dog before him, but Athena couldn't move. She was frozen, her anxiety overpowering her senses to the point of paralysis. Her brain was telling her, screaming at her to move, and yet she couldn't do it. She couldn't move a muscle.

However, the very same vacuum that hit Gary's foot earlier rammed into Athena's, the marshmallows cheering as the girl's ability to move was knocked back into her. Just to her luck, it was exactly when the monster glared over to them.

"Is it looking at us?" Athena questioned aloud, her voice barely a whisper as she blinked away her fear.

"Yep," Gary replied in the same tone, taking a deep breath before opening his mouth once again. "Hey-" Gary began before the monster roared, causing him to let out a war-cry as he threw the containers in his hands at it's tough exterior, running away with Athena's arm in hand. He pushed her infront of him as they ran towards the store's exit, sprinting into the parking lot.

"Run that way!" Gary shouted as he pointed towards the road, his legs still pumping beneath him as he propelled himself towards his tiny car.

"What?" Athena shouted with disbelief, internally shouting at herself once again as she stopped chasing the man. "No, I can't-"

"Athena! Just trust-" Before he could finish, the monster ran - horns first - into the shop's glass opening, smashing the windows as it continued to gallop after the small town teacher. The girl watched in horror as the supernatural being jumped onto the hood of the car Gary had climbed into moments ago, hearing said man let out a scream as it leaned closer.

"Gary!" Athena screamed without a thought, preparing to run towards the vehicle before she caught the monster snatching the man by his shirt and pulling him through the windshield. The monster turned towards the girl, leaping off the car with the unconscious man dangling from it's mouth as it let out a deafening growl. It ran off into the distance.

She stopped in her steps, her hands shaking by her sides as a single tear slowly trickled down her right cheek. She had witnessed the unimaginable, something she was never prepared to see in her life, and yet there she was, grief-stricken, standing in the middle of a crime scene.