rhinestone eyes

005

The night following the tarot reading, Coraline decided that she would steer clear of the psychics on 300 Fox Way. Maura knew what she was, she was sure the woman knew but hadn't accepted the truth as a possibility.

The idea was terrifying, though Coraline wasn't sure why she felt so claustrophobic about the psychics knowing her secrets. They were similar, both living between the ordinary and extraordinary. Both human, but with a little extra something flowing through their veins.

Yet, it was still a terrifying notion. So, she stayed preoccupied. She busied herself with Tiffany Blanchard during the days. Tiffany was a pleasant surprise.

Her father was a world renowned neurosurgeon while her mother was the CEO of a pharmaceutical company. She was the oldest of three, a true leader in every sense, but she wasn't calculated or reserved. Tiffany had a good relationship with everyone in her life, except Ronan Lynch who she claimed was a parasite.

The two girls were opposites, but Tiffany liked that Coraline didn't respect social etiquette and acted brashly while Coraline liked that Tiffany was unpredictable yet equanimous.

The pair had fallen into a routine at school and things were looking up during the daytime. Nighttime, however, had never been Coraline's friend.

She hadn't been able to get a good night's rest in about three years, and a change of scenery wasn't enough to correct her nocturnal tendencies. So, while the sky slept Coraline sat wide awake.

She had her blinds pulled up, revealing the faint trace of stars from behind the many trees. Cat was nestled up in the chair beside the window, sleeping silently atop of a disregarded sweater.

Her room was dim, candles and the yellow lightbulbs in her lamps being the only source of light, but it was enough for her to make out the italic words painted along the stained pages of the large book in her lap.

It had been a gift for her sixteenth birthday, from Wybie and his grandmother. The old woman had found it years ago when she had first moved into the pink palace, hidden under a panel of the wooden floors. Coraline traced over the latin words, committing each syllable to memory.

There were sticky notes stuck to the pages, tucked along the broken spine; tiny footnotes she had made about phrases she'd found particularly hard to translate, pronounce, or understand.

She carefully flipped the stiff brown-tinted pages, her finger lightly dancing across the feminine cursive scribbled down as she took a glimpse at each sheet before moving to the next.

Once she found her desired page the girl took a deep breath and let her eyes fall closed. She took in every detail of her surroundings. She watched the light from the many candles around her dance over her eyelids, mirroring the flame that burned in the pit of her stomach.

There was a buzzing breeze blowing in through the slightly ajar window where Cat was cautiously purring in a light slumber. The air wasn't inherently hot, in fact it was unseasonably cold out, yet heat tingled against Coraline's porcelain skin.

Words of a foreign but oddly familiar language slipped out of her lips in delicate whispers and her entire body burnt as energy surged through her veins. Then, it all settled. Coraline's eyes fluttered open slowly, hesitantly, as she peeked through the dark blue lashes of her left eye before allowing her right to follow suit.

"Holy shit." Wyborn Lovat exclaimed, hand to his chest as he stared at his best friend in amazement. "So freaking awesome." Coraline let out, glancing around at her new surroundings. "You're astral projecting into my bedroom."

"I'm astral projecting." Coraline agreed, fighting the urge to squeal. Wybie threw himself onto his black sheets, kicking his feet up onto his desk as he rambled incoherently. "Wybie." She tried to break him out of his nerd rant about the physics behind astral projection.

"Yeah?"

"There's something seriously off about this town. It gives me the creeps." Coraline could finally breath again as she threw herself down onto the beanbag across from Wybie's bed.

—

"Do you think they have bellybuttons?" Charlie questioned his daughter, gaining a strange look from her. "Well, why wouldn't they?" She questioned, glancing at the living room tv which displayed shots of a grey creature.

She was sat upside down, her feet hanging over the back of the couch and her head just barely resting on the arm rest. Her dad was beside her, pretending to edit the paper in his lap as they watched some science documentary that theorized aliens are simply evolved humans from the future.

"They're aliens." He stated as if that explained everything. "Huh." She offered, tilting her head sideways in thought. A ringing broke the girl out of her thoughts, causing her to turn her head towards the doorway.

She watched as her mother begrudgingly made her way out of her office, down the stairs, and towards the door. "You couldn't have gotten the door, Coraline?" The older women hissed. "You beat me to it." Coraline offered as she slid down to the ground and rolled onto her feet.

Standing on the opposite side of the door was Gansey. He had changed out of his school uniform and replaced it with a yellow polo shirt and khaki cargo shorts. Gansey straightened once the door was fully open, leaving him face to face with Mel.

He wasn't expecting Coraline's mother to answer the door. "Oh, hi Mrs," He drawled off, realizing that he didn't actually know Coraline's last name. "Gansey?" She peaked her head into the room before quickly shoving herself between the door and her mother.

"Who's this, Coraline?" Mel gave her a daughter a look that screamed 'what did you do this time?' Gansey held out his hand, "Richard Gansey. Coraline and I go to school together. Well, I go to Aglionby." Immediately Mel's expression lightened as she fixed her hair slightly. "Oh! Would you like to come in, Richard?"

"Actually, would it be alright if I steal Coraline away for a few hours?" Coraline went to speak, but her mother was quick to beat her to it. "Of course. L trust you'll make sure she doesn't get you into any trouble." Her tone was light, but it made Coraline wince. "Mom."

"Don't be out too late. It's a school night." She gave Gansey a smile smile before retreating back to her office. "Should I change?" She posed, eyeing his boat shoes. Gansey eye'd Coraline in return.

She wore oversized short dungarees, which had been cut by Coraline herself and now frayed at the ends. She paired them with a black shirt underneath and black knee high socks that were pushed down towards her ankles, the black fabric pooling over her feet.

She had a dragonfly necklace hanging around her neck and her hair was braided, adorned with barrettes and clips of different shapes and colors. "That'll do." He shrugged. "Good, cause I wasn't actually offering." She dropped down to slip on the brown ankle boots that she'd disregarded beside the door. "You should've called."

"No time. We're in a bit of a rush." He glanced around impatiently. "There was time." She countered, shutting the door behind her before following Gansey towards his orange Camaro. "Maybe." He shrugged. "Wait." She paused. "How'd you get my address?"

"That's a secret, Drew."

-

Authors note:

I hate writing dialogue ://