Aunt Phoebe's Return (1)

Luna chewed on the tip of her pencil as she looked over her notes. Isaac was sitting on the couch behind her, munching on some chips.

"If you're not going to study then can you at least be quiet," Luna huffed, looking up from the papers scattered across the small table.

"You know I can't focus unless I have something to munch on," Isaac emphasized with a bite of the chip in his hand.

Before she could snap back at him, the doorbell chimed. She looked to Isaac with wide eyes knowing that it was Kwon on the other side.

Simon had been invited but declined saying that his family had a gathering that was mandatory. That was another reason why Isaac was munching away on food with an unfocused mind. He had been looking forward to hanging out with Simon for a little bit, but then a family emergency had popped up.

Isaac placed the bag of chips down and looked at her with worried eyes. "I had seriously hoped that the potion would have worn off by now."

Luna didn't know how to respond to that. Of course she wanted the potion's effects to be lifted from Kwon, but she also wanted to study with him and pick his brain while he was being civilized. Though she still hoped for the potion's effects to wear off shortly, hopefully by sunrise the next morning.

She sighed and pulled herself up with a small stretch, her shoulders and neck popping. Her body had become stiff from the hour spent sitting on the floor with her back bent over the coffee table.

Luna made her way to the door and opened it with a stiff smile in place. She could still try to act in a decorous manner while Kwon was under the influence of the love potion. . .even if she hated the guy's guts. It was only fair for her to act as nicely as she could since she was the reason for Kwon's current dilemma.

Kwon stood on the other side. His hair-which had grown lighter in recent years-looked black and Luna could make out small drops of water hanging on the ends. His baggy shirt hung loose off his shoulders giving him a more relaxed vibe than what he normally had during school hours.

"Kwon," Luna greeted him, taking more effort than she thought possible to make his name not sound like a curse. She had to keep reminding herself to be as courteous as possible.

She really didn't want to play nice with her bully but she figured it couldn't hurt. If playing nice was the only way to smooth over Kwon's future anger once he was free from the potion's spell, then so be it.

Kwon's lips tugged down in the corners just a fraction, going unnoticed by Luna as she watched a head of water fall from the tips of his bangs. "You know, you could call me by my name."

Luna felt her shoulders tense up. Call him by his given name? When was the last time she'd done that? Would she even be able to?

With a small shake of her head, she came to her answer. "No. . .that will take some. . .time." Time they hopefully won't have.

Kwon didn't say anything else on the subject so Luna let him in.

"I didn't know you would be here," Kwon commented upon seeing Issac sitting at the coffee table, stuffing his face with chips. Chocolate bars still in their wrappers laid beside his opened notebook.

"Of course I'm here. How else do you think I keep my excellent grades? I need to study to do that."

Kwon's eyebrows furrowed down as his face scrunched up in confusion. "You study? I just always assumed you copied Luna."

Luna was surprised that Kwon had observed them enough to figure that out. Though it was true that Isaac didn't always copy her work, even if it was hard to believe.

"I do that too," Isaac shamelessly admitted.

Luna resisted the urge to rub her temples, feeling a headache coming on. Maybe this whole studying thing was a bad idea? Or at least with these two in the same room. The snarky commentary was enough to give anyone a headache.

She sat down at the table in front of the book she had been previously reviewing. Kwon looked around in uncertainty before he took a seat on the floor across from her.

After an hour of individual studying, Issac decided to take a break to order a pizza, saying that studying on an empty stomach was giving him a headache. Nevermind the fact that he had devoured an entire bag of chips and three chocolate bars during that hour of supposed studying.

"Is he always like that?" Kwon asked once Isaac was in the kitchen and out of hearing range.

"Not always." Luna pulled out her calculus book and flipped it open. "Should we review calculus until the pizza arrives?"

Isaac could be a great study partner sometimes. . .which was putting it lightly. She wasn't trying to be mean, but Isaac possessed a short attention span so studying wasn't always his priority. He also wasn't in any AP classes so Luna was unable to use him as a sounding board for when she needed to verbally work through a problem she had in one of her classes.

"Sure."

The two of them went back and forth, working through the equations. Luna was pleasantly surprised with how Kwon was able to grasp the problems and perfectly explain them. It shouldn't have been so surprising since he held the second highest gpa in their year.

Though that could always change since he and Luna always switched places with each new report card. Something that always irked her.

The sound of the door handle on the front door alerted them to someone coming in. Luna looked around and saw that Isaac was plopped on the couch, scrolling through his phone.

"Is it your aunt?" Kwon asked, raising to his feet.

Luna shook her head. "She's away for a business trip." But that business trip had been canceled earlier that day, so it was possible, especially if her aunt had boarded a plane right after her phone call during Luna's lunch.