Ricky Meets the Peculiar Gang

Morning was drawing to a close. Ten peculiars, and Addison, were gathered around Jacob Portman's living room in a circle, in front of the fireplace, blabbing about virtually anything that came to mind. Jacob's parents were out shopping and Miss Peregrine was napping in his room. Conversations ranged from gossip to learning about one another's taste in the 21st century, especially since they can access practically everything online. Enoch enjoyed listening to a Japanese rock band called Ling Tosite Sigure as, according to him, they were aggressive and "evil." To no one's surprise, Millard and Horace liked classical music, though each had their own different preferences for different eras. Horace liked Mozart, as he was "sophisticated," and Millard adored Beethoven as well as Bach. Arguments between which composer was better were fairly entertaining to watch. Addison liked most types of classical music, and liked to listen to it in order to seem sophisticated. The rest of the peculiars weren't as enthusiastic about music as they shifted the conversation to Millard's obsession with Jacob's gaming console.

"We never had any of those in the 20th century!" Millard said defensively. "You would've reacted the same way!"

"Yeah!" Emma said. "But the difference is that you're a big nerd who cares too much about research!" "Nerd" was a slang term that Jacob taught her, which, he explained, didn't start becoming popular until about 20 years after Miss Peregrine's loop. It meant someone who was fairly smart and obsessed with video games or something along those lines.

"I may be a 'nerd,' but at the very least I use my head over letting my emotions succumb to me."

"You're saying that I'm an emotional dim-wit, aren't you? Oh, you just wait until I burn you!"

"You wouldn't be able to see me," Millard said tauntingly. Emma seemed about to get up and walk towards Millard when the front door, that was connected to the living room, rang.

"I'll get it!" Jacob said as he walked swiftly over to the front door to open it. He was met with the sight of a tall teenager, around six foot, with green hair, wearing a black shirt with Slipknot scrawled above the band members. A family member of his was one of the people expected to be visiting, but his best friend? Even after a long time he didn't believe all the stuff about a hollow killing his grandfather?

"Hi. Is Jacob Portman her—" Ricky cut himself off as he stared down at Jacob, staring back at him in shock. The Jacob Portman. He hasn't seen him in—what, years? God, it's been so long! What a miracle that he isn't dead. He's been searching for him since forever and finally, here he was, standing in front of the porch of his excessively expensive house. The geek that he's protected from bullies since grade school.

"Ricky? Uh..." Jacob said, stuttering. Clearly not expecting his former best friend to suddenly appear at his doorstep. What were you supposed to say to someone you haven't seen in months?

"Jake?" Ricky had to fight back tears. No way he's gonna show his emotions to Special Ed, even if he's his friend. "I missed you, buddy!"

He quickly bent down to embrace Jacob in a hug, making the peculiars "aww!" collectively. Jacob's face grew warm as he blushed. He hasn't been hugged by Ricky since they first met, so this was definitely new. And awkward at best, especially in front of peopl—

Ricky grabbed him aggressively by the shoulders. Jacob glanced at his face and surprisingly, it was shaped into an angry grimace. Slight dread bubbled in his gut. Why would he be angry all of a sudden?

Ricky shook him back and forth. "Goddammit! Where were you?! Why did you leave me?!"

"I-I, uh..."

"You little..." Ricky trailed off as he gazed blankly at a circle of children, staring back at him. They all wore outdated clothes from the 1940s and one of them wore a brown tuxedo and had a brown fedora hovering over what should be a head. And they also had a dog who wore sunglasses? He let go of Jacob's shoulders and kept gazing. Why are they wearing stuff from the 1940s? And why is one of them invisible? Why are they in Jacob's house, out of all the places in the world? Why not in an abandoned house, where they do rituals or some shit?