(I don't own this series, but I own the OC.)

I twirled the licorice in my hand as I scoured my surroundings for a new victim. My eyes lingered on a cheerleader who was eyeing the 'unhealthy' options at the buffet with a longing expression on her face. Bingo.

The licorice seemingly disappeared from my hands and I made sure to put in just enough confidence to manage a good convincing, but enough to appear arrogant. Sliding into the seat across from her, she still gave me a dirty look as if I was a humanoid rat that had a bad case of mange.

"What do you think you're doing here at this table?" she scowled, her fancy hair bouncing a little with the amount of hate that fell upon her face.

"I see you've been eying the sweets, cupcake," I said, snapping my fingers. She squeaked a little at the sparks that popped up and I opened my hand to reveal some chocolates that had been in a secret pocket of my sleeve. Her eyes gleamed and her hand inched forward; "uh-uh," I smirked, drawing my hand back, "ten bucks for a small bag."

"Ten bucks!?" she practically squawked it out; heck ya, ten bucks for that attitude, Ms. Prissy!

"Hmm, guess I shall take my business elsewhere... but... where else can you get these around town? Had them flown in, they're like heaven in your mouth," I opened one and waved it around a bit to waft the smell of it in her direction before popping it into my mouth and giving a little groan of happiness as if it was the best thing ever.

She practically drooled as she forked over the cash, "gimme!"

"Pleasure doing business with you," I beamed, quickly pulling out a small bag of the chocolates and forking it over as my other hand grabbed my payment before I was gone, walking away towards my partner in crime.

Gabriel didn't glance up as I leaned against the wall across from him, but he smirked in acknowledgment of my presence.

He caught the bag that I tossed at him without even looking up. Impish grin on his face, he leaned his mop against the wall as he opened it up to check the contents; satisfied, he glanced around before motioning his head subtly towards his room. Once there he pulled out a cardboard box and handed it to me, "here you go: licorice, chocolate, pie, skittles, you name it. I've already moved the rest into your room during classes. Even put in a couple new magic sets in there for you that I found."

"I swear it's like you were sent from heaven," I laughed, taking the box from my janitor friend, "I picked up some cryptid books at a yard sale the other day, you can come over and lend them if you want; did you lose your key again?"

He twirled the hot pink, glittery key that I gave him a while back, "nope, still got it."

I gave a nod since I was unable to give him a pat on the back with the box in my hands, "good, good, I thought you'd accidentally lose it like you lost the Princess one."

"Yes, key word accidentally," his impish grin somehow managed to grow even wider.

"Dork," I smiled back as I used my foot to get the door open and exit into the hallway with a last farewell as the door shut behind me. I glanced back in time to see the doofus shoving an entire cupcake in his mouth, eyes shutting in bliss. I giggled at his antics, not paying attention to where I was going and running right into a moose of a man. It was like running into a brick wall since all he did was stumble and I ended up falling flat on my rear; the box fell, and spilled a bunch of suckers and hard candy out onto the floor. Fan-freaking-tastic.

"I'm sorry," the giant immediately apologized as the shorter man beside him chuckled at his expense.

"No problem, it was mostly my fault," I said, hastily sweeping up my merchandise before it could get stepped on. I flicked my wrist to shoot a sucker into my grasp as if plucking it from the air and shoved it into my mouth; I had a bad sweet tooth. Maybe I should see if Gabriel could get his hands on some good toothpaste and floss, maybe even a good toothbrush, in exchange for some extra cupcakes, or maybe I could throw in a cake, "you guys new?"

"We're electricians, here to check the wiring in some of the rooms," the shorter of the two flashed a charming grin.

"Oh, cool. Hey, sorry about bumping into you, here," I said before holding out a whole box of pie that had been nestled in a pocket just milliseconds ago. They both jumped and tensed a little before the short one's eyes lit up and he gleefully accepted the pie. The moose dude seemed confused before rolling his eyes at his partner; his body language told me he was annoyed with his partner accepting the pie. Moose didn't like pie? Who doesn't like pie!? Determined, I narrowed my eyes in thought before flicking my other wrist to dislodge a couple granola bars which I held out to him. He raised an eyebrow before hesitantly taking the bars after I stood there with my hand outstretched for a couple minutes waiting for him to take the on the house apology food.

"Thanks."

"Think of it as an apology for running into you," I gave them an impish grin that probably was one of the things Gabriel's rubbed off on me over our long friendship, "careful, though, the ghosts get a little cranky when somebody messes with their walls."

"The school is haunted?" moose dude perked up at this and suddenly his sharp gaze made me feel a little uneasy but I met it with a grin.

"Only on Mondays."

Gabriel and I were silent as we stared at a quarter on the sidewalk. The only sound from us was the sipping of our milkshakes and the occasional muffled snicker whenever somebody tried to pick up the quarter only to fail. Childish, yeah, but amusing all the same.

"You hear about that guy who got eaten by the crocodile?" Gabriel cut through the silence to fill the nearing boredom as most of the classes began and our victims started drifting off.

"Guess it didn't want to see him later, only after a while," I gave Gabriel an evil smile.

He choked on his drink, trying to stop himself from giggling at my dark humor but failing miserably.

"I mean, he had it caiman," I continued.

I was getting an odd look from a guy wearing a baseball hat but I didn't care; my puns are awesome.

I probably shouldn't have gone back to the library when I kind of wasn't supposed to be there, but those electricians and the guy with the hat were there too so I figured it was okay. I gave them a friendly wave before heading down to my little reading corner. Everything was going okay at first until I realized the book I wanted was all the way at the top of the bookcase, so of course I pulled out my phone and called Gabriel.

The electricians' and hat-guy's expressions changed but I couldn't see it from where I was.

"You rang?"

I jumped about five feet in shock before whipping around and punching him in the face.

"Not the face!" he squealed, hands flying up to protect his face even as he grinned.

"OW! Is your face made of brick!? Don't sneak up on me like that! Now stand right here," I pushed him around a bit before I had him where I needed him to be and quickly climbed up him like a monkey and jumped onto the bookshelf. I almost missed the top for a heart-stopping moment, hissing as my throbbing hand met the bookshelf; I pulled myself up while Gabriel gave me weird looks.

"Uh, wh-what are you doing?" he asked, dodging the couple pieces of candy that had fallen loose in the jump. Huh, I need better pockets.

I paid him no mind, resting at the top for a second before standing up up there, "oh, wow, Gabriel come check this out!"

He was frowning now, a look not much seen on his face as he glanced back and saw the other people in the library, "come on, you're causing a scene and you're going to fall."

"Pft! I'm not gonna fall. Watch this!"

"No!"

Too late, I jumped right to the next bookshelf and almost overjumped. I windmilled for a couple seconds before catching my balance, "I'm gonna do it again."

"You'll give me a heart attack," Gabriel shot back, "come on before you get yourself seriously hurt."

"I'm not gonna-" a light exploded right in front of me, and all the fans in the library immediately started going really fast. I shrieked and stepped backwards, my foot hitting air and I toppled backwards. I landed with an 'oomph' in Gabriel's arms, "oh, Gabriel! I fell for you so extravagantly!"

He looked furious as he helped me get on my feet.

"No! No! Wait, there's a ghost or something! I want to find it! I'm going to name him Spot and he's going to help me deal candy!"

"There's no ghost," Gabriel said, dragging me towards the doors, his hand latched onto my wrist.

It was beginning to hurt to be honest, so I pulled at his hand with my other hand, "ow! Stop! I won't bake you cupcakes!"

"If you do anything like that again, I'm done importing candy for you," he said without looking back at me; his grip loosened enough that he wasn't breaking my wrist, "I mean it. No more doing stuff that will get you killed, I mean, you're lucky I was there. What were you even trying to accomplish?"

"I was too short to reach a book," I admitted, "so my first thought was, 'hey, you know who's tall? Gabe!' but then I got side tracked. But you're short, so I don't even know why I thought of you as a ladder first, maybe cause you're like my only friend, but maybe I should have asked moose over there, he's tall."

He paused, taking a deep breath as if trying to calm himself down before he cast a glance at the others in the library who were staring at us, "wait here."

I didn't wait long; Gabriel came back with the book I had been trying to reach before my mind side-tracked. I was so excited to get it in my hands that the question of how he reached it went way over my head and I beamed before opening it up and already beginning to read.

"You're welcome."

"Thanks, Gabe," my grin grew at his huffed statement that demanded a thank you.

"All that just for that?"

"Boom!" I said, waving the book like a trophy, "1001 Puns and How to Use Them."

"More puns?"

I glanced up warily at the fans, before looking over at the electricians and the guy in the hat, "I thought you were here to check the wiring!"

"Uh," moose was the first to speak, obviously not expecting me to have looked over and speak to them.

"We did," pie guy said.

"Is today a Monday?" I asked Gabe seriously.

"Thursaday, I mean Thursday. Now see what you did? Because you always mess up Thursday I always mess up Thursday," Gabriel said, "come on, let's go check out your book."

I narrowed my eyes at the fans, "hmm."

"Oh no," Gabriel's face fell, knowing what it meant when I got all thoughtful, "please don't."

"Help me up, short stack," I said, pushing on him towards the nearest bookshelf, "I'm gonna go all ghostbuster on Spot if it's the last thing I do."

"Do you see how fast those fans are spinning!? It will be the last thing you do! And what do you mean short stack!? I'm taller than you!" Gabriel snapped at me. I wasn't used to him getting so angry at me, so I glared and turned to stare up at the top of the bookshelf, which seemed to be miles away.

Without a word I started to climb, "Spot? Spot, I'm a gonna gank youuuuuu!"

Gabriel cursed before yelling at me, "get back down here now!"

"Don't yell at me!" I said, reaching the top. I had been worried that I would break the shelves since you weren't supposed to climb on them, but they stayed intact and I didn't even knock over any books. I was just leaning over to get a good look at the fan when Gabriel yelled.

"1!" Gabriel yelled, "I get to three and you'll never see another import ever again!"

It seemed that the lightbulb inside had exploded, which didn't make any sense. It wasn't too bright and even if it was a coincidence how would it happen to all of them at once?

"2! What are you even hoping to accomplish?"

I once heard that there are no small coincidences in this world. I looked over the side of the bookshelf, realizing I was higher up than I thought I would be. I wasn't too sure on how well an angry Gabe would catch me if I jumped. My best bet was the plush seat a bit away. If I could jump at the right angle with enough momentum, maybe I could do it. Or maybe I could do a cool ninja roll, like the ones I used to do when I was a kid when my brother and I would climb trees and sometimes get stuck.

I backed up a bit, deciding the ninja roll was my best bet. I backed up until my back foot hit open air, "whoa! Okie-dokie, hi, instant death! Wait, no, I'm good."

"Get! Down!"

"I AM!" I snapped back and I took off running.

I was a little surprised when my feet hit and I just rolled with it; I hadn't actually expected it to work. I kind of just stared at my feet for a minute before looking back to the bookshelf. I gaped for a second before breaking into a massive grin, "HOLY ENCHILADAS! DID JA SEE THAT! WOO!"

"No yelling in the library!" the librarian yelled.

"You didn't yell at Gabe!" I yelled back, "I just ninjad the bookshelf! Bam! Haha! Yeah!"

Gabriel put his hand on my shoulder, ending my victory dance, "no more imports."

"I'll make you an apology cake?"

"Three."

"You hog. Fine, three cakes."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the library doors, "you're very lucky that I put up with your crap."

"But my book!" I whined, reaching futile for it, "Noooooo! My puns!"

Gabriel dragged me right out of the library.

"Bad Dean! My pie! Mine!" I practically yowled as I struggled to reach my parrot. Dean simply moved back a bit.

"My pie!" he cried, sounding heartbroken, "oh no, my pie! Son of a dog!"

"Did Gabriel teach you that!? That jerk taught you that, huh!?"

"Oh no!"

"Stupid bird," I grumbled, struggling to reach him where he hid behind the bookshelf. My bookshelf was pressed against both sides of the corner, creating a gap behind it, where my bird was currently tearing into a box of one of my pies slices. I was barely getting by on scholarship to be at this college, only able to keep up with tuition and studying because of my candy dealing bringing in money, so I was not going to let my parrot be the one to eat the pie I've been saving. All I had was ramen and candy and pie.

"Hey! There's somebody here to see you!" I heard my roommate yell, "I'm letting them in! If you're dead when I come back I'm taking your pie!"

"NO!" Dean screeched, "OH NO, MY PIE! SON OF A DOG, MY PIE!"

"NO! BAD DEAN!' I screeched back, "GIVE ME IT!"

"OH NO!"

A throat cleared behind me and I quickly realized I was stuck when I tried to back up out of the bookshelf where I had gotten myself wedged.

Realizing this, Dean grabbed up my pie slice carton and flapped over my head, sidling out from where I had trapped him. He hopped off my back and I heard his talons clicking across the ground as he made off with the pie.

"DEAN, YOU JERK!"

"Brat," the bird responded.

"I'm gonna punch Gabriel in the face."

"I'm gonna punch Gabriel in the face," Dean echoed, "smug bast-"

"Dean! No swearing!"

"He's gotta knife!"

"What?" I squeaked, "Dean, analysis!"

"I'm sexy and I know it," he sang, "doo-doo-do-doo-da-doo."

"Useless feathered rat," I growled, "I hate you."

"You love me," he responded before I heard an angry squawk, "MY PIE! B-"

"DEAN!"

"You female dog!" the bird replied.

I cursed under my breath, "if you're here about a deal, the candy only gets dealt when I say it gets dealt."

"We're not here about a deal."

The wiring guys?

"Oh, you have to check the wiring? Now is kind of a bad time," I said, pulling on my arm, the last limb stuck, recognizing the voice of one of the guys who had been checking the wiring.

"Punch him in the face," Dean said, "I'm gonna punch Gabriel in the face."

"Bad bird," I scowled, "you can't punch."

"Gonna punch Gabriel in the face."

The two men were holding bloody stakes, and I gave them a weird look, "if you're not here for wiring then what are you here for?"

I heard my door slam open and recognized the chubbish man with the baseball cap that I had seen them with yesterday. He gave the two guys an exasperated look and waved to the door, "wrong person, you idjits."

The two men glanced to me and quickly hid the stakes behind their backs.

"Oh, we're- we're looking for..." the one who had accepted my pie yesterday said awkwardly, pausing as if thinking for who they were here for.

"Is that janitor friend of yours here?" the short baseball cap wearing one asked.

"Gabe?" I frowned, getting to my feet and brushing myself off, "he doesn't live here. Why are you guys looking for him?"

"He was going to help us for this movie we're making," the pie loving one told me, giving me a cheeky grin, "these stakes are one of the props."

I shrugged, "I don't know. He only comes here sometimes."

Dean, who had been snapping at the short haired wiring guy's shoes, flapped up onto my shoulder, nibbling at my ear before bobbing his head at the two men.

"Well," the long haired man said, trying to get the other wiring guy's attention, "we should- um, we should be going. Sorry to bother you, miss."

"Nice parrot," the short haired one said, still smiling at me, "likes pie? Did you say his name was Dean? You don't happen to read-"

"Dean," the long haired one hissed sharply, "quit flirting and come on."

"Alright, alright, hold your horses, Sammy," he hissed back before focusing his gaze onto me, "you know, maybe I'll see you around som-"

'Sammy' grabbed 'Dean's' hand and pulled him out the door. Baseball cap guy apologized for bothering me and left.

I stared at the closed door in confusion before shaking my head. Some people were just so weird.

"Hold your horses, Sammy," my parrot piped up, "Sammy, Sammy, Sammy! SAMMY!"

I groaned; did they have to teach Dean new words to echo at all hours of the day?

Gabriel didn't meet me in the halls the next day, or the day after that. It wasn't until a couple years later that I saw him again, when I looked up from the counter of the candy store I now run (my candy dealing days had progressed into my own little store and those shipments never stopped coming even when Gabriel wasn't around to personally deliver them).

"Hey," I greeted him, surprised to see him grinning at me from the other side of the counter, "where'd you go?"

"Oh," he rubbed his chest, "a little family spat and an argument with my brother. Just got swept up in the heat of the moment, you know? So, what have you been up to?"