Coraline sighed, rubbing her forehead in annoyance. She was trying to act like her usual self, but ever since Miss Spink and Forcible left, she was a bit more melancholy than usual. After Miss Spink died, Miss Forcible moved away, acting like she was finally free, but everyone knew she was lost and hurt.
"Coraline?" someone asked from the doorway. The young teen looked up to find Wybie standing there, holding a wrapped box. "Um... Grandma wanted me to stop by and give you this. She knows how much you liked the two women. You would go there to listen to their stories, right?"
"Yeah." Coraline looked away, her eyes going to her hands. "Anyway, thanks."
She took the box and set it on a shelf, turning away.
"There's a new family already trying to rent out the apartment," he said, picking up the turtle shell next to the weird giraffe doll. "They're moving in in a month."
"Who is it?"
"I'm not entirely sure. All I know about them is that their son was bullied. Something happened to the town they had been living in, but the bullying started up again not long after." Wybie shrugged. "Grandma is too busy to tell me much of what's going on lately."
"Oh... Cool." Coraline opened up the window as the black cat crawled along the windowsill. "Hey, what's brought you here?"
She took him in her arm and pet his head, smiling slightly. She then turned to Wybie again, cocking her head to the side as she sighed.
"Um... I know this is strange to ask, but how has the whole 'Other Mother' thing going?" he asked. Coraline chuckled, trying to ignore how the cat seemed to growl at the mention of the Beldam's common name.
"Wybie, it's just nightmares. It's been a year. I doubt she's going to come back or anything." She sat on her bed, holding the cat up so she can look at him. "What do you think?"
"School starts up again soon," Wybie sighed, trying to change the subject. "What thing are you going to wear with the uniform this year? Do the gloves still fit?"
"No." Coraline shook her head. "I was thinking that maybe i'd wear a scarf or something. I'm not entirely sure. Maybe a belt..."
"Cool..." Wybie nodded, the black cat crawling into his lap.
"Norman! Hurry up!" Courtney yelled, climbing into the back seat of the car.
Norman walked out of the house, dragging a few duffel bags after him. Neil hugged Norman, pulling away with his usual weird smile.
"Bye, Norman. You'll call, right?"
"Yeah, Neil. I'll talk to you later. Bye." Norman nodded to his red haired friend before following his sister into the back seat.
It took them about five hours to get to the apartments. Courtney scoffed, her eyes scanning the rotting wood and the rickety staircase.
Norman had fallen asleep after they'd left from where he said goodbye to Aggie. He leaned his forehead against the glass as the car came to a stop next to another vehicle parked at the side of the building.
Norman climbed out, carrying his bags after his parents. His mom gazed up at the pink apartments, her eyes falling to the staircase where they'd be living.
"Hey, Norman. We'll get your bags. Go meet the neighbors." His mom smiled warmly down to him, taking his three bags.
Norman stayed silent, nodding. He climbed up the steps to the porch, knocking on the wood. It took a minute before a girl around his age swung the door open, her blue hair pinned back away from her face. She had a toothbrush in her mouth, the toothpaste covering her teeth.
"You must be the new neighbor." She stated, pulling the toothbrush out of her mouth. "I'm Coraline."
"Nice name." He held out his hand, his fingers barely showing outside of his red sweater sleeve. "I'm Norman." She shook his hand and opened the door wider, allowing him to come in.
"Mom! The neighbor's kid is here!" she yelled before putting a finger up to indicate she would he right back.
Norman walked down the hallway, looking into the rooms, the white walls barely keeping its color. He jumped when Coraline came back down, a pink butterfly clip in her hair and the toothpaste and brush gone.
"You hungry? Mom's busy, but once she's done, she'll be right down to meet you. My dad's at work, so I'll be your...um...helper for now. Sorry, i'm not used to new people. I just moved here about a year ago." She took a glass out of the cabinet once they got in the kitchen and looked to him. "You want anything?"
"Nah, I'm fine." He shook his head.
"Are you sure?" She shrugged when he nodded and poured herself some water. "Anyway, what brought you here? I mean...other than the problems at school."
"Well, there was this thing that happened where I used to live." His eyes darted to the corner where a doll sat, its black button eyes seemingly haunted.
"What happened?" Coraline asked, sitting down at the round white table in the middle of the room.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Norman chuckled.
"Is that so?" Coraline asked, a daring smirk on her face. "I'll trade you a story about this house if you tell me."
"What do you mean?" Norman stood there, confused for a moment.
"I have my own story about where I live that may interest you. But you have to tell me your story first."
"Oh... Um... Well, I can see dead people."
To his surprise, Coraline laughed. She looked to him once she was done to continue.
"And...well...zombies sort of took over my town for a day or so. There was this girl who was angry. She was seen as a witch." He looked away, remembering the miserable face Aggie gave him when he told her he was leaving.
"But she was just misunderstood. She affected the town pretty badly. Most people tried to forget about it. I think the bullying got worse because of it and so my mom and dad just decided it'd be best if we left."
Coraline had her cheek resting in the palm of her hand. She smiled in a way that made him stop talking. She stood up and picked up the doll he'd been looking at earlier.
"I wanted to get rid of this doll, but I couldn't bring myself to. It's wrong just to pretend like the bad things just never happened, right?"
