[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 262 & 263. (Patreon)

Chapter 262: Getting the club room ready.

The process of getting the approval for a new club is usually long because, if there ARE new clubs starting, it’s at the start of the school year and all new clubs get approved together. Technically, we had missed the submission deadline by a large margin. However, Mr. Rodriguez vouched for us and took care of the teacher’s side of the paperwork himself.

By that Friday, the Occult Research Club was official. On paper at least. Our club room had to be prepared first, and that task was solely ours.

Alice, Noelle and even Isabelle and Thomas came to help us. We finish school early on Fridays, so we wanted to use as much time as we could to get it all done quickly.

Getting them to give us the storage shed outside wasn’t as difficult as we thought it would be. Or rather, Grace’s idea to make this an occult research club was what made us get it. Her foresight never ceases to impress me.

Also, I call it a shed, but it was only a little smaller than a classroom for 20 people and it almost looked like a small house. It was 5x4 meters with no dividing walls inside. The white paint on the wood outside was peeling off of it, the windows weren’t see-through from all the accumulated dirt (and cleaning them was a pain due to the iron bars on the outside) and the shingled roof needed a real good cleaning. I took on that job because I didn’t want to risk any of the girls falling and Thomas was maybe too heavy for it.

I was standing on top of the club room… Or maybe club house? I was sweeping and getting leaves off from between the shingles. Meanwhile, Thomas was carrying most of the heavy stuff inside to the shed that was actually in use. There weren’t many things to begin with, anyway. More tables and chairs, boxes with old gym equipment, leftover bags of cement from some construction work that had been done years ago, stuff like that.

“And the principal bought more cement to fix the parking lot earlier this year…” I heard Alice say, sighing in frustration. “There was more here!”

“And I’m pretty sure this trampoline can be fixed,” said Thomas as he carried said trampoline out. “I’m gonna tell the P.E. teacher. He was complaining about only having two and needing a third.”

“For a high profile school, we’re pretty disorganized, huh?” Mila commented.

“It’s what happens when you rely too much on throwing money at your problems,” Sarah told her.

“I hear the principal is actually crazy stingy,” Noelle said. “If he knew these things were here he wouldn’t be buying more.”

“Okay, but why don’t they know?” Sarah asked.

“Poor management, basically. Too much space, too many people and too many leftover supplies that people are too lazy to record or report,” Grace said nonchalantly. “Happens all the time and it drives my dad insane.”

Right. Grace’s dad owns a contracting company.

I saw Isabelle walking out of the shed. She looked up at me and asked, “You okay up there?”

“Yeah. How are you guys doing inside?”

“The lights all work as do the outlets. I’m also almost finished with the windows. They’re old and with a few scratches here and there, but they’re fine.”

Good, because changing them would be expensive, and our club had practically zero budget. Why else do you think we were allowed to form the club this late in the year?

We made a vote to decide who would be the president of our new club. Mila, Sarah and I voted for Grace at the same time. Honestly, we didn’t understand why she was surprised at all. Regardless, she laughed, called us out for throwing all the work on her and accepted.

Grace filled out the paperwork and when she had to give an estimate of the implements the club would need to function, she simply wrote chairs and tables, stating that most of our research could be done in our laptops and in the library. That earned us quick approval.

When I was done with the roof, I carefully jumped down. It wasn’t a long fall, barely two meters. Thomas could easily touch the ceiling if he raised his hand.

I peeked inside the shed and was shocked by what I saw. When I first looked inside, it was dusty and full of junk. Now it was completely empty and the wooden floor was spotless. Old, yeah, but spotless.

“Oh wow… You girls did some work.”

“Sweeping is barely worth mentioning,” Alice said. “I feel bad for Thomas. He had to carry almost everything out of here.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Thomas said, smirking. “I pay back what I owe. And speaking off…” Thomas looked at me. “Your boss told you that she’s not opening the shop tomorrow, right?”

I nodded. “And this… ‘Family matter’ she told me about is not an excuse to spend the day with you, right?”

“Hah! I wish.” Thomas crossed his arms. “No, she’s driving her mother to see her sister, Maria’s aunt, who had an accident.”

“How’s that going, anyway?” Sarah asked him teasingly. “Having fun with your new girlfriend?”

You couldn’t have erased his dumb grin if you slapped him. “I’m not telling.”

“Anyway.” Grace sighed, turned to Sarah and poked her cheek. “Stop worrying about him and worry about yourself. You should’ve left half an hour ago, right?”

Sarah flinched and so did I. Our eyes met with nervous glances.

Sarah swallowed. “R-Right. Well… See you all around, okay?”

“Good luck,” Mila told me.

“Don’t worry,” Alice added. “Sarah’s parents are really friendly.”

“Don’t let her siblings push you around,” Grace warned.

Noelle giggled. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“Yeah,” Isabelle agreed easily. “If it was the you from three months ago I’d be worried, but now?” She shrugged.

“You girls know you’re just adding more pressure on the poor guy, right?” Thomas asked them. He wasn’t entirely wrong.

We finished up and went our own ways. I got in Sarah’s car and we drove to her house, to meet her family.

************

Chapter 263: Sarah’s siblings.

My second time in her house felt as awkward as the first, but for completely different reasons. My chest tightened more as Sarah parked her car, and the moment I stopped to take a deep breath, Sarah did the same in perfect sync with me.

We stared at each other and burst out laughing, with Sarah pressing her forehead against the steering wheel.

“I don’t even know what I’m nervous about,” Sarah said. “It’s not like I’m worried my parents won’t like you. I guess… I’ve been lying for so long about not having a boyfriend that bringing you here makes me nervous I’ll get caught.”

“Then… why don’t we forget that we’re together for now?” I suggested. “Just introduce me as a friend from school.”

“Yeah, that’s the plan.” Sarah nodded. Then, as we were getting out of her car, my mind reading decided to act up. {Asking me to forget he’s my boyfriend is a bit too much, though.}

We heard shouting the moment we got close to the door. Playful shouting, I hoped, as it came from Sarah’s little siblings, presumably.

“Give it back!” I heard a little girl shout as Sarah opened the door.

“No, it’s mine!” Another child’s voice. A boy who wasn’t Robert.

“No it’s not! That one’s mine!”

“Yours is in the kitchen!”

“That one’s Robert’s.”

“What are you fighting over now!?” Sarah asked, shouting back.

The sound of footsteps rushing towards the front door was almost like a stampede. Sarah’s three younger siblings, two boys and one girl, came up to us with excited grins.

“They’re here! They’re here!” they shouted loudly. “Mooom! They’re here!”

“Ugh, quiet down! You don’t need to shout!” Sarah scolded them, but they didn’t seem to listen.

Honestly, I didn’t mind. I think Isabelle and I were kinda like this when we were their age, too, and those were still good memories.

I kneeled down to meet them at their height and turned to Robert first. “Hey there. Long time no see, Robert.”

The young boy giggled “Mister, we met yesterday!” he told me.

“Ah, right.” I laughed and extended my fist towards him. Little Robert excitedly fist-bumped me. “Did you tell your family how brave you were?”

“Um… Er… Y-Yeah!” he happily confirmed, clearly relieved that I wasn’t telling them how scared he actually was.

I then turned to the other boy. He was a lot taller than the other siblings, reaching close to my chest if I had been standing. He had their mother’s chestnut-colored hair in slight curls. He was thin, bordering on lanky. “You’re Cole, right?”

“Yes.” The boy answered shortly, putting his hands in his pockets and frowning at me. Oh man. He tried to subtly glance at Sarah, but it was very noticeable. “...Are you my sister’s boyfriend?”

“C-Cole…!”

I looked up at Sarah and shook my head with a smile before I turned back to Cole.

“Sarah and I are friends,” I told him easily. It wasn’t technically a lie, but yeah, I was lying to the boy and it didn’t feel good, but I quickly got an idea of what was going through his head. Something along the lines of ‘this stranger is here to take our big sister away from us’. I knew because… because that was how I felt the first time Isabelle got a boyfriend. “She’s helped me out a lot, but I bet she scolds you all the time, doesn’t she?”

Cole’s eyes widened. “Y-Yeah! She does! She still treats me like a kid even though I’m already eleven!”

I smirked. “I’m her age and she scolds me all the time, too. That’s just how your sister is.”

Cole pouted. “I know, but it pisses me off.”

“So you’d rather she stop paying attention to you?”

Cole’s eyes widened again. He looked down at the floor and kicked the air. “...No.”

“Believe me, I know how you feel,” I nodded solemnly. “I have an annoying sister too.”

That got a chuckle out of him. I extended my fist to him. “My name’s Oliver. Nice to meet you, Cole.”

Cole smiled, took his hand out of his pocket and returned the first-bump.

Next was… Huh? I could’ve sworn Sarah’s little sister was around here…

“Hey, Violet, don’t be rude! Go say hello!” Sarah told her sister, who… was hiding behind her big sister’s legs.

When my eyes met Violet’s, she flinched and hid behind her sister again. Her cheeks were red and alternated between glancing and turning away from me.

“Ha Ha! Violet has a crush on Sarah’s friend!” Cole teased.

Little Violet’s face now turned red from both embarrassment and anger. “I DO NOT!”

“Yes you do!”

Violet’s mouth turned upside down and her eyes began to water. “I do not…!”

“Cole, stop it,” Sarah told her little brother, her tone now much more serious. “Are you really going to make Violet cry? What kind of big brother does that?”

Cole scoffed and kicked the air again.

Oh boy… What do I do here?

“Hm? You’re Violet, then? Oh wow. You look just like your mom,” I told her with a soft chuckle.

Violet rubbed her eyes and smiled. “R-Really?”

“Yeah. I met her yesterday. It’s really surprising how much you look alike.” And I wasn’t just saying that. If Sarah took after their dad, Violet was a child version of their mom. Long, straight chestnut-colored hair and big eyes of the same color. A roundish face and about half a head shorter than Cole.

Violet stepped out from her hiding spot and nervously walked closer to me. “U-Um! T-Thank you for helping Robert yesterday!” she said, her voice getting louder as if to be able to get the words out. It took me by surprise.

“You’re welcome. Do you take care of him at home?” I asked her.

“Y-Yes. If I don’t, Cole will steal his portion of ice cream!”

“Stop making me look like the bad guy!” Cole argued.

“But you DO steal his ice cream!”

Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose as her little siblings began to bicker again. “I’m so sorry…”

I stood up with a chuckle. “It’s fine. Your siblings are fun.”

“Did you finish introducing yourselves?” Mr. West asked as he walked up to us with his wife next to him.

“Yeees!” the three children answered.

“Good. Now go put away the toys you left in the living room,” their mother told them. “We have a guest.”

The three kids did so without a word of protest.