MAGE ; benny weir [1]

fourty-two

"Ethan! Guess who was this close to conjuring up an invisible sandwich?"

Benny and Ellie barged into Ethan's bedroom, interrupting his alone time with their familiar introjections.

"An invisible sandwich?" Ethan asked, unable to hide his grin.

"Yes! Bacon, lettuce, and— Ooh!"

Ellie scrunched her face at the random slip of paper that Ethan handed to Benny, leaning into the slip to read what it said, reading the words 'DRIVING LEVEL: LEARNER.'

"You got your learner's permit?" Ellie smiled.
"Okay, that's a more important my Invisi-BLT," Benny admitted. "You still need a babysitter for a road, though. Lame!"

Following Ethan's slick eyebrow, Benny began to connect the dots that Ethan was creating.
"Wait, a babysitter who is a hot Sarah? With a driver's license? ...Okay, less lame!"

"Well, awesome people don't like to brag," Ethan smirked to the mages. "Awesome people like me."

"Alright, Mr. Awesome. Do you have a car?" Ellie asked, smacking his permit in her hand.

"Uh no, I do not."

"Leave it to me," Benny grinned. He snapped his fingers and all that came were a few magenta sparks from his fingertips. 

"Eh, worth a shot. Plan B!"

------------

Reaching a yard sale that was being held on the neighboring street, Ethan, Benny, and Ellie saw a rusted red car parked outside with a price tag taped to the front.

"Seriously? This piece of junk?" Ethan questioned.

"It's in your price range, which is zero to zeltro," Benny shrugged. 

Inspecting the car, the three heard the eager jog of one of their classmates, Malcolm Bruner.

"Ethan! $75 and it's yours!" Malcolm greedily explained.

"Oh hey, Malcolm," Ethan greeted, with Benny and Ellie waving at him.

"Have we met before?" Malcolm asked, eyeing Ellie up and down. "The name's Malcolm, but you can call me handsome."
"HA!" Benny laughed, pulling Ellie closer to him by the waist. "Back off, bud."

Malcolm rolled his eyes, turning his attention away from the two and back to Ethan.
"My grandpa left me all his favourite things in his will," he explained. "So, I'm sellin' them!"

"Ah, family heirlooms," Ellie said. "I'd totally buy something that you think is worthless and resell it for higher price... and, sorry for your loss, I guess."

"I'm only interested in the car," Ethan continued. "Does it run?"
"Haha... maybe!" Malcolm winked. "You'd have to get the squirrel's nest out of the engine, but think on it, alright? I gotta go sell some grandpa pants."

The three watched as Malcolm return to skipping around his yard sale, while Ethan opened the clunky car door and took a seat. He checked the mirrors and manual stick, but grasping the steering wheel suddenly thrashed Ethan into another psychic vision.

A pale, malnourished man who Ethan did not recognize could only be seen by the rear-view mirror. Ethan panicked as he watched the man's sunken face cackle at him from behind.

Flashing back into reality, Ethan jumped at the sound of the car's engine kicking on... without the key.

"Hey, it runs!" Benny cheered.
"Yeah, so do I!"

Benny and Ellie quickly moved out of Ethan's way as they followed him suddenly sprinting away from the yard sale and back down the street.
"...What was that for?"