Only Liars, But We're The Best

I gripped the steering wheel of my mini cooper tightly till my knuckles turned white. My eyes were slowly drooping even with the loud music blaring over the speakers. Fuck this. I need a stopover.

Patrick and I had been on the road for the past fourteen hours or so. It was my turn to drive, so Patrick's in the backseat, sleeping peacefully. A slight snore emanated from him. I grinned. That guy could sleep anywhere, anytime. Even in such uncomfortable condition.

We're on our way to my old hometown, Nevada, to collect gramps' relics. My late grandmother kept her Wicca stuff in a rented space near where we used to live. Pete made a point for me to go and collect whatever things that could be associated with what we're dealing now. I could find some answers in those relics. All of us were in desperate need of answers.



"Wait, what? What?!" Patrick exclaimed loudly.

We were all seated in the entertainment room, wide-eyed and shell-shocked. Not me, but the guys were.

"You're a witch? As in, you dabble with Wicca?" Andy asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah. I know magick, and it's the Buffy-verse kind, not Harry Potter," I said truthfully.

I had decided to come clean with the guys, seeing the situation had gone out of hand. It was a day after I found out Pete was a vampire. I called the guys for a conference in the entertainment room, telling them I had very important news. Everyone, except Pete since he knew it the day before, was in shock. The guys were eyeballing me curiously.

I ran a hand through my straight brown hair, tugging it at the tips. "I didn't want to continue doing witchcraft as I'm a skeptic. I'm unlike my grandmother," I confessed.

"Your grandmother's a witch too?" Joe asked. "You don't know anything about this, Pete?" he turned to look at Pete.

Pete shook his head. "I've totally no idea what her family's background like, come to think of it. I only knew the basics. Her mom died of cancer, her father remarried my mom, she used to visit her late grandma on weekends, that's about it," Pete replied, shrugging. "I don't like to pry into other people's lives."

"I'm terribly sorry about this, but I'd guess I have to tell you the whole truth about me and my family," I apologized. "My dad and I weren't being completely honest."

The four guys remained silent. Pete nodded his head, urging me to continue.

"Pete, you mentioned I went to visit gramps' on certain weekends. Actually, those visits were crucial to me as I went there for my Wicca lessons," I started. "Dad doesn't like me to embrace witchcraft as he's a man of logic. It's really ironic because his family are all descendants of shamans, making him one too."

There were several gasps coming from the guys. I continued further.

"Both of my paternal grandparents are witches, or shamans, as they like to call themselves. My grandma picked up witchcraft after she married with my grandad. She came from a normal background. After my grandfather passed away, she solely took over the family's apothecary store and single-handedly raised my dad. Unfortunately, they didn't have any other children besides my father and since he refused to take up the family's sorcery ways, my grandma passed the knowledge to me."

"So you're born into a family who practices Wicca," Patrick noted.

"Yes. And my Wicca bloodline is really strong because my mother was a natural witch as well. Dad loved her so much, he couldn't bear to stop her from doing spells in the house. He had sworn off any forms of sorcery. He just didn't want anything to do with it."

"About my mother, her cause of death wasn't cancer. She went mad and committed suicide," I continued, hands shaking. It was hard relieving back past events which hurt me terribly.

This time, Pete spoke up. "You lied about your mother's death? But why?"

"Do you really think your mother would like to marry a divorcé whose ex-wife was mad? Add to that, she went mad because of the craft," I shot back. "That's the main reason dad forbid me to take it up."

"But you did it anyway," Joe remarked. "As in, learn witchcraft."

"Honestly speaking, I was reluctant. Probably my dad's genes was strong in me. I stopped practicing right after gramps' death. Which was when I turned fifteen." I grabbed the glass of water on the side table and took a sip. All these confessions was making me thirsty.

"You said your late mother was a natural witch. So that makes her parents witches as well?" Andy questioned.

"Umm, my maternal grandmother's a natural witch, but my grandfather isn't. Dad didn't know I practiced the craft as I told him my visits to gramps' was a normal grandchild-grandparent bonding session. I lost touch with my maternal grandparents ever since mom died," I set the glass back on the table.

Pete let out a low whistle. "You sure are one messed-up kid," he ruffled my hair. "And I thought I had it bad."

"I'd guess those Wicca families would mingle and marry into another Wicca family," Patrick pointed out. "As much as your dad would like to be normal and deny his family's sorcery heritage, he still married a witch. And a natural one as well."

I nodded glumly. "You've got a point."

Nobody spoke for the next five minutes or so. Time seemed to have frozen.

Suddenly, Pete cleared his throat. "I've got an idea," he said, eyes twinkling.



I awoke to the sun rays shining on my face.

"Hey sleepyhead, we're here," Patrick's tired voice was heard beside me.

I squinted and stretched myself as far as my legs could, which wasn't much due to the space constraint in the cooper. "Yeeouch!" I cried.

"What happened?" Patrick asked worriedly.

"I got a crook in my neck. Sorry to scare you," I replied sheepishly.

Patrick nodded his head, eyes still on the road.

I looked out of the window to find that we're indeed in Nevada. I did a mental slap to myself as I realized I let Patrick drive for the rest of the night. No wonder he sounded tired. I turned to look at him.

"Trick! You didn't wake me up for my turn!" I exclaimed.

"You were sleeping so peacefully, I couldn't bear to wake you up," Patrick replied.

"What? That's not a good excuse! Pull over and let me drive. You've got no idea where the place is neways," I tugged at his bicep.

Patrick laughed and he stopped the car. I took the driver's seat and he settled himself at the back. "I'm going to catch a short nap now," he yawned.

"Sleep for as long as you want, Tricky. You deserve it," I said to him and started driving.

Half an hour later, I reached the designated place. Patrick was still sleeping soundly, so I left him in the car. I'm not going to take very long anyway. It's a grab-and-go task.

I had been paying for the yearly space rental ever since grandma's death. The money was accumulated from my part-time jobs and pocket money. I'm also thankful that gramps' picked a cheap rental space. Otherwise, I might have to work even harder to pay the rent.

"Hi, I'd like to withdraw my space starting today," I said to the receptionist.

"Name?"

"Maiya Verda. The space rental is under my grandmother's name, Lynn Verda."

After the many form-filling and signings, only then was I able to proceed to the locker where gramps' relics were stored.

It was one of those lockers which most schools have, only slightly smaller. I opened it and found that the space inside was relatively empty as there weren't many books. My heart dropped. I thought gramps' would have left me her entire collection of Wicca relics.

I was taking out the books and putting them into my backpack when the shrill ringtone of my iPhone pierced the silence. I glanced at the screen to see Patrick's contact photo flashing.

"Hey Patrick, don't flip. I'm in the storage warehouse. Coming out soon. Give me another ten minutes or so," I hurriedly spoke in the receiver.

"Alright. Don't give me a scare like this," he replied and hung up.

I finished packing up and made my way out of the warehouse, thanking the receptionist and some of the workers there. Patrick was leaning against the car, hands in his hoodie. I jogged over to him.

"Got everything. Let's go," I opened the trunk of the car and dumped the heavy backpack inside.

"Leave the bag in the back seat. I want to take a look at the books," Patrick reached in and took out the bag again.

I shrugged and slammed the trunk close. "One last stop and we're heading home," I reminded him.



I drove past the place where the family's old apothecary once stood. After grandma died, the building was sold to one of our family's friends. I wasn't really close to them, but they've promised to keep the business going. So instead of an old, run-down apothecary, they've transformed the place into a modern drugstore. Well, the medicine concept is still there.

I made a right turn and smiled to myself when I saw the familiar two-storey, chocolate-colored terrace house. Ryan's house. My trip to Nevada would go to waste if I didn't stop by to visit my bestie.

"Huh," Patrick snorted beside me.

"What? You ain't happy that we're visiting Ry?" I asked curtly. "You do know him."

"Wha-what?" Patrick turned to look at me, stunned. "I didn't get you."

I glanced at his lap and saw one of my gramps' relics was opened. And here I am, getting agitated for no reason. I sighed and pulled into Ryan's driveway.

"Keep this. Ryan doesn't know about the witchy stuff," I hurriedly snatched the book out of Patrick's hands and stuffed it back inside the bag.

"Whoa. Even your best friend's kept in the dark?" Patrick questioned, eyebrows raising.

"Yup. And don't even dare breathe a word about it," I hissed as I saw Ryan sauntering towards us.

"Hey RyRo! I've missed ya!" I gave him a peck on the cheek.

"We were on Skype two days before, idiot," Ryan smirked. "Oh hey, Patrick. Bet this bugger dragged you along for one of her homesick road trips, eh?"

Patrick laughed. "Kind of."

We headed into the house. "You guys are lucky to come today. Any other days and I'll be in my own apartment. Mom asked me to take care of the family house this week as she's outstationed. Nobody's feeding the cats," Ryan explained.

At that exact moment, a large orange tabby cat and a medium-sized Siamese scampered into the living room. The Siamese pounced on Patrick.

"Yikes!" he scooted off the sofa he was sitting on and ran across towards where I was sitting.

"Char! Come here, girl!" Ryan called to the Siamese.

I was laughing the whole time at Patrick's antics. Char, the Siamese cat was playful, whereas Fuzz, the orange tabby, was the lazy one. Char was used to me but she got excited at new guests, hence the pouncing.

"Sorry Rick. Char's excited to see new people," Ryan apologized. "She's used to Mai's scent, that she can't even be bothered with Mai."

I scowled. Leave it to Ryan to bring me down.

"Uh, okay. Umm, I'll just take a seat beside Maiya then," Patrick slowly edged his way to sit.

"I'll get you guys something to drink," Ryan made a move to get up from his chair.

Char followed Ryan into the kitchen whereas Fuzz continued to snooze underneath the coffee table. Patrick and I sat beside each other awkwardly.

"So did you find anything interesting in the book?" I whispered to Patrick.

"Actually, yes. Lots of stuff. I'm surprised we're talking about this now," Patrick replied in the same hushed tone.

I smirked. "Just making conversation, Tricky. You were restless. And fidgety," I commented.

Patrick stared at me, his blue eyes wide. Being this close to him, I realized he had really pretty eyes. How the fuck did I not notice this? It's not only blue, but there's a mix of green in it as well. It's as pretty as Petes'.

"It's that obvious, huh?" Patrick scratched the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly.

And how can I miss out that cute smile? I snapped myself out from my daydream. I kept it cool by shrugging my shoulders. Okay. That was weird.

Ryan came out with his homemade iced lemon tea. He could whip out a tasty drink in a matter of minutes. There's just something about him and tea.

We chatted for a while, catching up on what's happening in our lives, but omitting out the vampire & witchy stuff. Since I always did video conference with Ryan, I didn't really have much to tell. It hadn't been that long since he left Chicago.

"I think we'll take our leave now. It's a long drive back to Chicago," I excused myself.

"Hey, do drop by again if you're in town, alright?" Ryan stood up and hugged me.

"Sure will, Ry," I returned back the hug and pecked him on the cheek.

After we said our goodbyes and disentangled Char from Patrick, I took the first drive while Patrick slept at the front seat.

While driving, I did steal some glances at Patrick. His cadet cap was pulled low over his eyes and he was snoring lightly as usual. His right arm was placed across his chest and his left was dangling over the seat. Patrick's really cute when he sleeps.

I immediately focus back on the road. What was wrong with me? I did not have feelings for Patrick before and I shouldn't have it now.

That was because you didn't pay attention to him. All you see was Pete. Pete this and Pete that. You've finally opened your eyes.

Okay. Shut up inner voice. Still, what the hell's happening?!