Cleo had never been the brightest.
Lucas had always known it. Sure, he had initially passed it off as the unfortunate label stapled upon her by society, merely his own immature assumption that the girl ought to fit the stereotype of any pretty girl (barring, of course, rare gems like Marlena, blessed both physically and mentally)– a flirt, a party girl, dumb as a goldfish or dumber.
At first, he had warned himself not to judge a book by its cover, sage advice that Lucas was keen on following. But the further he looked into this bubbly ginger book, the further he came to accept that she was indeed the embodiment of the stereotype, and the further away he sought for young Marlena to be from Cleo.
He scanned Cleo in her entirety, a redheaded girl wrapped in childish pajamas that loosely draped her slender frame. What the hell was a girl like her even doing at Barrie? Why bother enduring such unnecessary things as college when in the end, someone like her, someone like
Cleo fucking Everett would surely end up walking the streets at night, in search of horny men looking for the time of their respectively pitiful lives? Why even
bother? Riddle him that, Cleo Everett.
"Can I help you?" Could she help him? Could she... help him? Cleo's words were laden with resentment, resentment that Lucas indubitably returned to sender. She was nothing. She was a mere obstruction in the way, one that would easily be overcome and forgotten once Lucas was through with her. The girl hardly hampered Marlena in the long run– so his young sister had briefly wandered astray. He would lead her back, save her from Cleo's slippery grasp.
Lucas was, after all, Marlena's savior, just as she was his.
"You can help me, yes," After a cursory glance, Lucas deigned to delve further into the house of the beast for the sake of their chat, pushing his way past her and in the doorway.
The television– almost more formidable a foe than Cleo herself; Lucas hated the damn things, source of addiction and distraction and corruption and all the things that were bad in this very very bad world–, the television was on, scene and characters paused and motionless as they lay frozen on the screen, their lives stuck on that one lonely frame.
If only life itself were so tremendously simple. If only all it took was to push a single button to dominate fickle time, to fast forward or rewind or pause, to paralyze existence in an everlasting moment. Lucas wished he could rewind to and pause at a life before Marlena had dreamed of laying eyes on another man, before she had ever met Cleo Everett, before their father's passing had driven Marlee into obsessive mourning when she should have been obsessing over
him, over Lucas and not that stupid man who was now many feet under the ground.
Lucas bent and grabbed a gummy worm from the bowl– blue and pink, naturally, since it was the only flavor even remotely tasty–, clasping it between his fingertips. He eyed it ravenously for a long moment, frozen there like the magical characters on the screen before finally he drew the worm to his open mouth, snapped down on it, ripped it apart with ivory teeth, tearing at it, tearing at it, chewing, chewing, destroying,
destroying as he could only wish to properly destroy Cleo Everett.
But cannibalism was not generally condoned.
He swallowed and turned to face her, licking his lips of sugar.
"You need to leave my sister alone." Lucas could care less if she appreciated his unlikely presence in her home or not. He could care less whether or not she had a damn movie to finish, wizards to send back into motion with a touch of the remote. He could care less if she had worms to devour, tea to drink, all Lucas cared about, all he had ever cared about, was that his sister be left alone. That she be released from the burden of Cleo's friendship, free to come back into Lucas' wide open arms.
notes .....omg if something i said doesn't make sense, tell me.. i know the wording is awkward in a lot of places LOL idk.
