Coraline 2: The ones who were left behind

Chapter one

Nightmares were normal for Coraline. Of course they were. She had a nightmare at least once a week so she was fairly used to them. That wasn't to say that they didn't put her in a bad mood though. So when she once again dreamed of a terrifying realm of button eyed creatures that seeked to make her one of their own, you can expect that she wasn't a very bright and cheerful person that morning.
It had been two months since Coraline Jones fought and defeated the Other Mother. Two months since she moved into the Pink Place. And two months since she found herself at home there. And in those two months, she's been dreading apon dreading the day when she would be forced to go to a place even worse than the Other World... her new school.
Okay, even SHE can admit that she was being a bit dramatic as she miserably pulled on her uniform. But she stands by it. Schools are a complete and total nightmare for her. I mean, come on. You expect her to LIKE being surrounded by know-it-all adults that don't listen to her? Those guys are what the Other Mother used to lure her into the Other World in the first place. So that was now TWO things that weren't going her way that day. Regardless, she continued getting dressed. The grey shirt and skirt seemed to suck the life out of her when she put it on. Coraline dragged herself down the stairs looking one minor inconvenience away from just giving up on life. Her father caught sight of her dull expression as he served up her eggs and toast.
"Hey, chin up, kiddo." He said, ruffling her hair, "Middle school's not so bad."
She grunted and pushed his hand away.
"You were HOMESCHOOLED through middle school, dad."
The man shrugged as he grabbed his coffee.
"How much worse can it be?"
"You've clearly never encountered tweens before." Coraline mumbled.
"Well... at least you've got a friend going with you."
The girl actually allowed herself to smile as the familiar whirl of an engine sounded from outside. Wybie. Her mother sighed at the sound.
"You know, I can just drive you to school." She told her.
Mel didn't like Wybie's bike. She liked HIM just fine (aside from the fact that he was always covered in dirt and leaves) but she couldn't stand how often Coraline insisted on riding that death machine. She just couldn't get the thought of them smashing into a tree (or worse, another car) out of her head.
"No, mom." Coraline chuckled, "Besides, it's just a ten minute drive through the forest. We'll stick to the path and everything. I'll be fine."
Her mother sighed again.
"Oh, alright."
Each of her parents gave her a quick hug before sending her off to meet up with her friend for school. Her father had a point. Maybe school wouldn't be as bad with her best friend around. The two had grown quite close ever since the well incident.
She opened the front door... and immediately did a double take. The kid getting off Wybie's bike couldn't actually be Wybie, could it? The kid she saw was dressed in a similar uniform to her own, only with grey dress pants instead, and didn't have a single twig in his hair. He wasn't wearing gloves. WHERE WERE HIS GLOVES?
"Hiya, Jonesy." He greeted as he stood in front of his bike, waiting for her.
He was still slouched over and had his head tilted at an odd angle like his spine had never heard of the concept of being straight before. He waved at her with a shy lopsided smile.
It was him.
"Hi, Wybie." She greeted, walking over to him, "If that is your real name."
His smile dropped in favour of a confused look.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, she grabbed his ear and pulled lightly on it. Not too hard, just enough to catch him off guard.
"Who are you and what have you done with Wybourne Lovat!?" She said.
"Ow! Nothing!" He whined, pulled away with a hand over his ear. He tried to look irritated but she could see his repressed smile, "I'M Wybourne Lovat."
"Impossible! The real Wybie would never be seen without his weird nerdy jacket and gloves!"
"Hey!"
"Not to mention THIS!" She continued to rave and pulled a hand through his clean hair, "Where are the leaves!? Where are the sticks!? Everyone knows it's impossible for Wybie's hair to be clean! His head is so big it has it's own gravitational pull that only works primarily on leaves and sticks!"
"Okay, I get it! It's weird for me to be all neat and tidy!" Wybie said, swatting her hands away, "But you're one to talk! Since when does Coraline Jones wear grey?"
He teased back, pointing to her uniform. She just groaned.
"Since I had the displeasure of having to go to Green Dale Public School." The girl pouted.
Wybie flinched back a bit. Shoot. He hadn't meant to ACTUALLY annoy her.
"W-well... if it's any consolation, i-it's not nearly as boring as the uniforms make it seem." He told her as he climbed back onto his bike.
She perked up a bit at that.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, but it's kinda up to you to decide whether or not that's a good thing." The boy cringed.
She was just about to ask him what he meant by that when a voice cut her off.
"Be safe, you two!" Mrs Jones called, "She better get home in one peice, Wybie Lovat!"
The two of them rolled their eyes, fondly as Wybie called back.
"Roger that, ma'am!" He turned back to Coraline and gestured to the back seat, "Wanna get going?"
She let herself smile again.
"You bet."
She climbed on, wrapping her arms around his waist to secure herself. Wybie petled a few times to start up the engine, throwing up some dirt from the friction of the tires on the ground, and then they took off. Normally he liked to drive off the porch and get some air, but Coraline's mom was watching, so instead he just gentilly rolled down the driveway and out into the forest. He picked up the pace a bit once they rolled out of sight of the house.
"I found a new shortcut." Wybie told her, not looking back at her, "Should we?"
Coraline felt a grin spread across her face. She told her mom they would stick to the path... but what she didn't know wouldn't kill her.
"Definitely."
Wybie grinned too and swerved sharply to the left, throwing them off the path and onto the rough forest floor. The two of them laughed as they bounced and bobbed down the new path.
"Hold on tight, Jonesy." Wybie told her.
She soon saw why. Up ahead was a steep hill. And I mean STEEP. She tightened her arms around him with a grin as the edge grew closer. And closer. And-
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The two of them cheered as the bike dropped. They sped down the hill, wind whipping at their faces as they howled with laughter. The bike shook like they were on a roller coaster and the kids laughed in the same way. Even though gravity was doing the work for him, Wybie continued to petle like a madman, so by the time the hill had ended, they were still going crazy fast. Wybie aimed the bike to go over a big rock and sent them into the air. Coraline screeched in glee as their tires hit the ground again and bounced them around a bit. They weaved through the trees, branches nipping at their heads as they passed underneath. NOW Wybie had his usual unkempt mane of twigs and leaves. Coraline probably did too.
Eventually, they came back up to the path, hearts racing and hair wild. Needless to say, the two of them continued to laugh all the way to school.
...
Most kids got off the bus, or out of a car, or just walked into the schoolyard when they arrived at school.. so you can imagine that the whirling engine of a partially electrical bike being driven by a crazy haired boy accompanied by a blue haired girl would draw some attention. Especially since the bike looked like it had been put together in a garage and the kids were laughing like lunatics. But the two of them were having too much of a good time to notice the stares they were getting as Wybie locked up his bike. This also meant that they didn't see the way one kid in particular was looking at them.
"Looks like Little Lovat's got himself a girlfriend." The boy said. A vicious smile crawled across his face as he watched them go, "This is gonna be FUN."