10 Ways To Court A Grim Reaper

Chapter 8

For the following days, Jean took a leave from the cafe. She still wasn't sure what face to show to Gam Jae – the Grim Reaper – and she still has the anger inside her.

The weekend came, and so did Margot's birthday.

It was the gloomiest birthday the two remaining best friends had to celebrate.

Jean had started the day with tons of schoolwork – in the reason that she took her absence alongside Stacy. They wanted to dedicate this day to Margot, and they had planned to eat the food Margot would like and do the activities she would have done.

When the clock hit nine in the morning, the doors to Jean's house opened, revealing a stunning Stacy Avalson in a tight dress. Her long blonde hair dropping down. "J, you're still not dressed?! Oh my god!" She pushed her sunglasses up, "What in the freezer were you doing?"

Jean, who was buried under her piles of homework, wearing merely her loose tank top and an underwear, ".. uh..."

"What – ugh! You decided today was the best time to do all these? J, tomorrow's literally saturday, leave it!" Stacy pulled her friend up by force and dragged her to her room. "Go pick out something comfy and hurry! Oh my god.." Her hand went to her forehead, seemingly having a headache because of her friend. She then added, "J, you cannot escape this day with excuses. I know what you're doing."

Three hours later, they're having breakfast at Margot's house. They wanted to greet Mrs. Simpson first, thinking she might be lonely on this day.

Margot's house isn't that grand, just big enough for a family of three. In the living room, there are all these lined-up pictures of the Simpsons, photos of them growing up. Jean passed by them and looked at one picure in particular. A picture of all three of them with their highschool graduation caps: Jean, Margot and Stacy – all smiling.

Little did people know it was actually the first day the three of them became best friends.

A smile formed on her lips.

"You two sweet girls, thank you for being so kind to my baby. Have a great day, you two." Mrs. Simpson has a lovely but old face. Margot got the black curls from her, too. Handing Jean a necklace, Mrs. Simpson smiled. "This is the necklace she made for you. She Stacy hers, but didn't have the chance to give yours."

The necklace had silver with the shape of a lock that says 'BFF'.

Jean almost bawled then and there.

But she held it in. Sniffling, she returned Mrs. Simpson's smile, bidding her farewell. She and Stacy then left to visit Margot's grave. Which afterwards they headed to a carnival – trying to steer away from the negativity of this day.

That carnival trip.. hadn't gone so smoothly.

"Here! Vanilla-caramel ice-cream for you, milady." Trying to act as coquettishly as I ever have been, I handed Stacy a cone of her favorite ice cream as we walk in the theme park. The park was bustling.

Stacy looked disgusted. "What is wrong with you?"

Huh! I can't even be sweet with my bestie? "You have to get used to it."

In truth, she's just trying to cheer her up. Jean knows Stacy's still blaming herself for what happened. For what happened with her psychotic uncle. For the whole of their trip, Stacy's been looking down on the ground, for god's sake!

So, Jean had to step up. Jean stopped in front of Stacy and held the blonde's chin up. "Girl, stop it. You are literally so gorgeous today, and this is how you want to spend our day: looking at the damn floor? The Stacy Avalson I know isn't like this!"

"I know." Stacy's voice broke, and Jean's heart broke. Best friends know best when the other would start tearing up, thus Jean didn't waste another second to pull Stacy to the nearby bathroom and lock the doors.

There then came a whole hour of crying.

Tho Jean swore it was only Stacy who cried. Really.

There was another pledge Jean made:

She's not going to let this day end badly.

Atleast, for Stacy.

There was a carnival show at 3 pm, and they were just in time. Feeling giddy, Jean grabbed Stacy's hand and hurried her over to the top row. It was an open show, and Jean appreciated it, with a large-ass circular stage in the middle. "J, slow down, ugh!" Jean chuckled at her, feeling better that her best friend has the energy to be mean again. Following the drama earlier, the two had retouched by the bathroom to hide all the tear marks on their faces and tried to cheer each other up with tons of food.

It was only Jean's wallet that was used for all of it, though...

A man went on stage, dragging a suspicious-looking box, face bright with smiles, "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!"

Jean, "Is it just me or does he look like a donkey when he smiles?"

Stacy, "Shut up."

Jean giggled.

That box did not look light, what with the way the clown is literally sweating already and the show hasn't even started yet. He dragged it up the platform, wiped his sweat, and smiled at the audience. His mic boomed freely around the open carnival, "Tonight, we've got something special." The audience cheered, already hyped. The host smiled, his dirty teeth in display, and snapped his finger – the box instantly disappeared into thin air. "But, of course, we'll save it for later." Making the audience boo in disappointment.

"Wah!" Jean and Stacy's interests were piqued. They clearly didn't see the box fall somewhere or be folded – simply impossible with its weight – how was it possible?

"Shall we start with some good old-fashioned 'pulling a bunny out of a hat' trick?"

___

The show was running for two hours now, and the host pulled a lot of tricks. Except, Jean and Stacy have seen all of them before. Thus, they didn't quite enjoy it, they were bored.

When the subject inside the box disappeared and appeared, the audience clapped and howled like crazy.

Jean tsked. "I bet there's a trapdoor below. Like, what is this, a kid's show? Ugh! I can't take this anymore, I'm going out!" She stood.

Only to be held by Stacy, "Where are you going? Let's atleast finish the show."

"Relax, I'm just going to get some food." She pointed to the food stalls outside. Stacy finally let her with the condition of buying her a large bucket of vanilla ice cream. Jean rolled her eyes, commented, "be careful of diabetes" and proceeded down the bleachers.

Such a meanie. Stacy rolled her eyes too and resumed watching. Finally, the host revealed the box again from earlier and started grinning widely.

"This is going to be so stupid." She said, as she payed attention. What could be in that box?

"Finally, ladies and gentlemen, my final act for tonight." It seemed like the host was even more excited than the audience was, with his dirty teeth on full-on display, disgusting Stacy so much she even abandoned her small box of popcorns.

The host put his hand on the lid of the box. "Are you ready to see what's inside?" The audience howled positive, and eagerly stared at the box. When the host violently opened it, "Then go take a look!"

The audience gasped.

The box.. was empty. The audience erupted in flames, hurling insults and curses at the smiling host.

"Are you frea - " OMG, bad word. " - kidding me?!" Stacy couldn't even help herself anymore. She and her best friend stayed on for almost three hours just for this sh – thing?! "That's it, I'm leaving!" She grabbed their purses and stood up, just as everyone is. Stupid show, she thought.

"Stacy." Stacy turned, thinking it was only Jean.

But it wasn't. Right in front of her stood her uncle, wearing the same clothes they last saw him in. He smirked, the cut on his face apparent, "Did you miss me?"