My Brother: Cupid

My Brother: Cupid Ch. 8

I stayed with Dewey over the weekend. It was like spending the weekend in a haunted house. At night the house was a lot worse then during the day you could hear the it literally creep. I'm surprised I got a wink of sleep. On Monday I went back to school. It was a little far from Dewey's house so he drove me there. I braced myself for another run-in with Haley.

As I walked into my first class I looked at her and couldn't help smiling. I, luckily, avoided saying anything to her. This smile made her melt downwards into her chair as if she was trying to get away. I felt the same way. Unfortunately I couldn't get away from the stupid love magic.

A whole week went by. My mom called almost every day, no one really trusts Dewey, even if they've only heard his voice. Dewey was a great host, he fed me, gave me a ton of candy (it's kinda his thing), and even did the normal fatherly things. Chase didn't ever find me. And Haley and I managed to avoid all contact.

That was until I came home one day to a house smelling like despair and blood. Dracula came into the living room as he quickly addressed me. "Ve quick. I have a Holiday meeting very soon," he said.

"Wait! A Holiday meeting? Do you remember that I'm trying to avoid my brother? Why would you invite him to the very place where I'm hiding?" I said.

"I vemember. I try to avoid everyone, see how vell that works," he said, but seeing the panic on my face he said, "Relax. He's not even coming. He's very very sick." This was followed by an evil laugh.

"He's sick?" I asked.

"I don't sink so. I sink he is incapable of becoming Cupid because he's so vorried about you," Dracula said. He then turned around and said, "You are vree to join us in the meeting, if you dare. I don't know what's its avout."

"Really? Chase, I mean Cupid, never lets me join in on the meetings," I said.

"I'm not supposed too either," he said leaving. I decided to join him and I followed him to his meeting room.

"Dracula, you are always late to the meetings in your own house," I heard Santa say as he walked into the room.

"I don't even know vat the meeting is about," was Dracula's response.

"I thought it was obvious," Santa said with a sigh, "Hasn't Cupid been calling all week? We have to find-" The room fell silent as I entered. All eyes turned to me.

"Him," the turkey said finishing Santa's sentence.

All the Holidays rushed over to me.

"Todd, have you been here all week?" New Year asked me.

"Yeah. I've been staying with Dewey," I said.

"Dracula! What kind of Holiday are you? You've had Cupid's brother here the whole time?!? Have you just been ignoring him?" Mother Day yelled.

"His mother knew vere his vas, so I vasn't worried. Todd asked for my help avoiding his brother virst," Dracula responded.

"So this whole week when Cupid wouldn't stop emailing us or calling us you just said . . ." April Fool said.

"I don't know vere your brother is," Dracula said.

None of the Holidays looked to happy at this response. "Of course you did," Santa said. "While the rest of us were looking for Todd you were busy lying. Listen, Todd, you need to go back to your house."

"Your brother has been worried sick about you," Father Day said.

"He's been calling us and emailing us nonstop," the Easter Bunny said sounding a little annoyed.

"He said he'd be willing to do anything to get you back to the house," Mother Day said.

"Even give up being Cupid," Tom said.

"He said that he would give up being Cupid . . . for me? But he loves being a Holiday. He loves being Cupid," I said.

"Not as much as he loves you," Santa Claus said.

This was a lot to take in. My mind went back to the day when Chase first told me that he was Cupid, he seemed so sure of himself. He must of used the word love a thousand time. He had told me he didn't even want to take me in because he was worried that he might loose his job. It had been pretty obvious that he loved being Cupid more then me. But now I wasn't so sure.

"You have to understand what's like to be a Holiday, Todd. It's hard. There's no normalcy. Everyday to us is the holiday that we represent. You've seen your brother's house," Lucky the Leprechaun said.

"Besides Santa and New Year we all started as normal people. We had to give up a lot when we became Holidays," Mother Day said.

"Even Tom and I have human forms," said the Easter Bunny.

"Your brother, like the rest of us, is controlled by the Holiday. His holiday is all about love. No, not love, infatuation. He's controlled by the force of infatuation, is it any wonder that he wants you involved in his life," Father Day said.

They all started talking at once about how hard it was to be a holiday. Something along the lines of how New Year could never make any friends because he always matured way faster then them and how Dracula could never give out enough candy at Halloween and how Father Day never seemed to do enough to make Mother Day happy. If I was confused before, I was even more confused now.

"Enough!" I yelled. "I understand. I just need to think for a couple of minutes to think about this."

They nodded their heads and I left. I went and sat down on one of Dewey's couches. I started to think. I went back to when I was six and Chase was twelve:

"Didn't mom tell you not to climb on the banister?" Chase asked me giving me a tissue for my bloody nose.

"Are you going to tell her?" I asked still crying. My mom had gone to some sort of charity thing and had left Chase in charge.

"Even if I didn't your nose might give her the hint," he said helping adjust the tissue.

I started to cry even louder.

"Okay. Okay. Listen, we'll just tell mom that you fell of your bike and hit your nose, okay?" he said.

"Really? You'd lie for me?" I said.

"If you really needed me to, I'd do anything for you, Todd. That's what brothers do," he said.

He was always doing things for me. That's when I realized something. He never told on me but I was always telling on him. He was a pest, but I could be a pest at times too. He had even taken me in to live with him when I had no where else to go, he didn't have to do that. He was a true brother. And I was just the ungrateful kid who lived with him.

I knew at that point I had to go back to him and tell him how I really felt.