I'm sorry I updated so late! I'M SORRY! It's just that, for some odd reason, this chapter took me forever to complete. The good news is that creating this chapter gave me some really good ideas that I think are pretty awesome. The bad news is that I hate this chapter. So please excuse the lameness of this chapter.
Oh yeah, from here on out, this story will be in third person, unlike the first chapter. I wasn't really sure where my story would go when I wrote the first chapter, but now I know that this can't be in first person unless I switch different POVs in one chapter, which I really don't want to do.
Disclaimer: I think you all know I don't own Coraline, only the new character in this story (who's name you'll find out later in the chapter)
"Oh Coraliiiiine! Rise and shiiine!" a voice chimed happily from outside of Coraline's door. The blue-haired girl, who hadn't got any sleep, had her face buried in her pillow. Her mind hadn't registered it was morning until she turned herself over when the person outside of her door spoke and saw the orange and yellow rays of the sun feather out over the mountains. She raised her head slightly, and through her half-opened eyes, examined the clock next to her. It read 6:45. Coraline groaned and buried her face into the pillow, regretting that she stayed up all night. Someone rapped repeatedly on the door. "Coraline! Get your lazy butt up! We're gonna be late for school!"
Coraline could barely understand whoever was talking to her from the outside of the door. It just sounded all like random noise to her. Through the incessant talking Coraline didn't pay the slightest attention to, she slowly looked around her room, trying to remember why she had stayed up all night. She had tried a bit to remember, but decided that she was too drowsy to think at all, so she gave up. With nothing on her mind, Coraline began to understand that there was someone outside of her door, mindlessly talking to her.
"…. And if you don't let me in right now Coraline Jones, I'll break down this door, ya hear me? I'll break it down, I will!"
Coraline recognized the voice almost instantly. Wanting to avoid a broken door, Coraline spoke up. "Calm your jets, Claire. Just come on in. The door's unlocked, ya know." Silence followed. Then, the slight noise of the doorknob being turned could be heard, and in came a girl, a tad bit smaller than Coraline. Her nose was scrunched up and her lips were pursed. Hands on her hips, she scrutinized Coraline, trying to give her a menacing look. Coraline half-laughed at her attempts to look intimidating, which just made her look stupid. The girl's cheeks reddened.
"Don't laugh at me! Here I am, being a Good Samaritan, trying to help prepare yourself for the tough day ahead, but you don't even pay attention to me, much less let me help you! You should be thankful that I moved into this apartment, because without me, your life would have been overwhelmed with tardy slips from school and nasty comments from unpopular girls! Oh, how will you ever go on without me!" The girl, showing no signs of anger anymore, was now clutching on to the side of the door, fanning herself with her hand melodramatically. Coraline let out a small chuckle, walking clumsily towards her closet. "Whatever you say, Claire. Whatever you say. And besides," the drowsy girl opened her closet door, "don't you get nasty comments from mean girls too? In fact, aren't they nastier than the ones they give me?"
The girl was silent. "…..Touché."
The girl, who's name was Claire, had moved in to the apartment room next to Coraline's near the middle of seventh grade. She lived with just her mother and Chihuahua, Pedro, and when she discovered that there was a girl who was the same age as her, she was ecstatic. But she was also nervous. Since Claire hadn't had much experience with other girls her age, she could barely talk straight when she met Coraline. She had greeted Coraline for the first time at her front door with incoherent "hello"s and random facts about her life. (On that day, Coraline had learned that Claire once had an extra thumb on her thumb, she sometimes still wets the bed, and that she's allergic to tangerines) Claire then offered some cake to Coraline as a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" gift, but then had accidentally spilled it all over herself when trying to walk up her porch. Coraline honestly did not want to deal with her; she wanted to shut the door in her cake-smeared face, but she knew karma or something would bite her in the butt if she did, so she decided to help her clean up. When Claire was all cleaned up, Coraline was surprised that she wasn't acting like the annoying dutz she was outside; she was a bit calmer and much more collected. After talking for a while, Coraline decided that she could be her friend. (Part of it was because Claire's full name was an oddity like Coraline's too. Her full name was Clairevaux Bernardine Margarita Michellian Giodello. How cool is that?)
If Coraline could describe Claire's looks in one word, she would say that she looked like a mint (or possibly… a mento). Her blonde, practically white, hair feathered out in perfect waves to about an inch or two above her elbow. Her eyes were large, with full and long eyelashes, and irises that were a bright, icy blue which stood out on her pale face and brought out the color of her cheeks, and everything she wore that wasn't her uniform, was either green or white. Her favorite outfit, which she wore on many occasions, was a pearl white skirt, accompanied by a white shirt that was hidden beneath the mint green sweat she wore. Her legs were clad with a pair of knee high socks, and white tennis shoes with the laces the same shade of her sweater: mint green. And to top of the whole "I'm like mint gum" look, she never went anywhere without her minty green headband, which also held two dark green bows on the sides of it. She reminded Coraline of a spokeswoman for Orbit chewing gum.
As their friendship progressed, Claire became more social and involved than before, even learning to become less clumsy than before. She, too, became friends with Wybie. What seemed like a perfect friendship between the three was actually a bit of a problem. While Coraline loved having Claire as a friend, she was always annoyed by the little eccentric acts she would perform. Like when she would scold her for waking up too late, or when she would drive her insane when she would rant uncontrollably. Some days, Coraline had the urge to slap her across the face and tell her to shut up whenever Claire crossed the annoyance line. It was a lot like her friendship with Wybie: she liked having him as a friend, but there were some days where he would push Coraline's last button. Instead of wanting to hit him, like with Claire, she would actually hit him. Even if it she only smacked him lightly on the shoulder. Coraline could only compare them to Ronnie and Maggie, her two best friends from Michigan. She felt bad, but she much rather preferred her Michigan friends than her Oregon friends.
Though, she would never admit it to Wybie and Claire.
"I thought so." Coraline said before turning her back to find her school uniform in her closet. Claire hurriedly went to her side and looked at her. "Those girls are just jealous of my drop dead sexy looks." She smugly told Coraline, twirling a piece of her bright blonde, practically white, hair.
"Mhmm…" Coraline mumbled, fumbling through her clothes as the girl kept on ranting. Coraline eye lids began to gradually close to the rhythm of Claire's loud voice, and instantly opened her eyes when she realized she was falling asleep. But then her eyes gave in and she began to close them once again, leaning against the door of her closet. She was just about to slip into unconsciousness when Coraline was immediately thrown onto her bed. Coraline opened her eyes, which Claire glared into.
"How much sleep did you get last night?"
The tired girl rubbed her eyes. "…What?"
"You heard me."
Coraline threw her head back, closing her eyes. "Oh… I don't think I slept last night."
"Seriously?" Claire exclaimed, jumping up in surprise. "No wonder you can't think straight! Why didn't you sleep last night? You need to understand that we human mammals need sleep! It's vital to our minds, our souls, our bodies, our spirit!" Claire stated. She immediately threw some clothing at Coraline with deliberate force. "Here's your uniform. Try not to fall asleep while putting it on." Claire ordered, leaving her room to make some coffee for Coraline's work-driven parents.
Coraline groaned, smoothing out her uniform which was ruffled from being in the back of the closet for so long. "Ya know, I was just fine with my mother waking me up before you came. You're like the world's most annoying alarm clock." Coraline said loud voice, loud enough so that Claire could hear her. Claire's high-pitched laughter could be heard from downstairs.
"You're welcome!"
The rest of the morning was uneventful. Coraline ate her Captain Crunch with dull eyes while the exuberant Claire made Charlie and Mel some coffee and croissants, which the two repeatedly thanked her for. Claire gulped down the remaining coffee and then dragged Coraline out the door to the bus stop, where they met Wybie.
"Hey Jonesy! Hey Claire!" Wybie greeted happily, running over to the bench they were sitting at. The two girls both looked at him. Wybie seemed to have sprouted over the last two years, a hearty 5'7, towering over both the girls. He still kept his unruly hairstyle that was always had leaves or twigs stuck in it, curling out in all different directions like he had stuck his finger in an electric socket. His slouch, which had been unreasonably bad when Coraline met him, had straightened itself out a bit, which was all the better. The jacket and gloves he always wore still attached themselves to his stick-thin body because he wore it around everywhere when he didn't have his uniform on. Though his jacket he wore in sixth grade always hung barely above his knees, his sudden growth spurt had fitted his body well against the coat, so that it hung just above his hips now. He obviously looked much better than he did two years ago. He may have even been a bit… appealing also (Though the two girls would never admit it.)
Wybie's goofy grin had slowly changed into a worried frown upon the sight of Coraline's face, which hadn't been full of attitude like it always had. Sudden silence filled the windy air, only the sound of leaves could be heard; which was odd since their short time at the bus stop usually had all of them talking and laughing and such. Wybie coughed at the silent awkwardness, which Coraline glared at him for.
"Are you sick or something, Wybourne?" She asked menacingly, leaning farther back in the bench she and Claire were sitting on. Her eyes were like daggers, and Wybie averted her sharp gaze.
"Uh… are you okay, Jonesy? You don't seem yourself…" He noted.
Coraline opened her mouth to retort a mean comment, but then Claire leaned in front of her. "Oh, she just forgot to sleep last night, she's fine." She said with a reassuring smile. Coraline scowled and then pushed Claire back to her original position, wishing that Claire would stop answering for her like that; it bugged her. Coraline turned her head to look at Wybie, whose head, as always, was cocked to the side in confusion.
"Why didn't you sleep last night?" He asked in curiosity.
Coraline suddenly sat up straight. "I don't know! Maybe I stayed up until 3:00 or something, and then fell asleep without knowing it! I'm not sure why I decided to stay up all the God-forsaken night!" she snapped, her grumpy attitude suddenly getting the best of her. Wybie recoiled back at the venom in her voice, which he hadn't heard before in all his two years of knowing her. 'Note to self: Do not provoke Coraline when she doesn't get any sleep.' Wybie mentally noted.
"S-sorry…" he uttered, turning away. Coraline huffed her breath and leaned back into the bench. Claire just watched the short quarrel with her icy blue eyes, obviously wondering what the deprivation of sleep could do to a person. She would conduct an experiment on it later. The silence once again filled the air. While it may have been awkward for Wybie and Claire, it was a bit settling for Coraline. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, inhaling the outdoor air deeply and then exhaling it out slowly. All she could see behind her closed lids was blackness, and it enveloped her senses, making her slowly fall asleep.
And then she remembered why she had stayed up all night.
The blackness of her eyelids was suddenly replaced by a cracked, skeleton face; it's face distorting into a malicious smile. Her eyes were… buttons, and they gleamed brightly, but it wasn't in any way comforting. It's hair, black and shiny, framed it's horrifying face and went down to the crease of it's neck.
But thing that stuck out the most in Coraline's mind, was the fact that in it's two metallic hands… were a pair a black buttons and thread. A voice, raspy and full of evil intent, suddenly was heard in Coraline's head:
"Don't worry; it will only hurt for a bit."
Coraline immediately opened her eyes and took a deep breath of air. She sat up and glanced all around, making everything was in place. Wybie, who was busy making a pattern in the dirt with his foot, noticed Coraline's sudden change in movement. Claire also noticed this and turned to her.
"Hey, are you okay Coraline?" She asked worriedly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Coraline changed her frightened expression to one of nonchalance. She shrugged of Claire's hand. Suddenly, the sound of the bus could be heard, and the smell of gasoline filled the air.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She said indifferently, laughing a bit to ease whatever worry they had, if they had one. Wybie and Claire exchanged confused glances. When the bus rolled around, they climbed on it and sat in their seats. Coraline watched the scenery pass her window as they went to school, her mind on other things. It was just a dream, Coraline thought, just a dream about something in the past. She thought it was stupid that she had sacrificed her precious sleep because of some stupid nightmare. Nightmares are harmless; they don't bring you any mayhem or anything like that… right? Right?
….. Right?
Of course, saying it was just a dream didn't ease Coraline's tense position in class very much. When Coraline had her first nightmare when she was six, her dad told her that a nightmare was something that could never happen in real life, it was something that wasn't made to be in real life, so it was made inside your head. After that, whenever Coraline would have a nightmare (which was seldom), she would just pass it off as something that couldn't harm her and go on with the rest of the day.
So why was it that all Coraline could think about was the dream she had last night? As her science teacher raved on about some type of chemical, Coraline absentmindedly tapped her pencil against her desk, staring out the classroom window.
If it was a nightmare, Coraline contemplated, why did it seem so real? Why was it that she could feel the ache of her arms supporting her weight then collapsing beneath her and the sting of her face hitting the ground in her nightmare? Did that happen with every nightmare? The blue-haired girl began to doubt her dad's soothing words when he spoke to her as a child.
Coraline thought about what could have provoked her dream. Maybe… since it was almost President's Day weekend, maybe she was just remembering the day when she went into the Other World! Yeah, that must be it, I mean-
"Caroline? What is the answer?" A stern voice demanded. Coraline, used to everyone calling her Caroline, (She had stopped correcting people that her name was "Coraline" after a year; everyone was too dim-witted to remember.) instantly turned her head forward, where her teacher was impatiently tapping her foot.
She stayed silent, not sure of what to say. The teacher scowled, looking like she had drunk lemon juice. "Well? The class is waiting Caroline." She told her.
Coraline could feel the gaze of all her classmates bore into her. She looked up at her teacher and said bluntly, "I don't know what the question was, Mrs. Grison."
The teacher snorted and pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose. "I would expect that coming from you, Caroline. If I were you, I would suggest getting my head out of the clouds and into the books. Understand?"
Coraline was definitely not in the mood for her teacher's suggestion. "Yes, Mrs. Grison." She responded in a bored voice. The teacher smiled slyly at her. "Very well then." She took her attention off of Coraline and on to some other students, "Michael, could you please tell me the answer for this question?"
No one had noticed Coraline's distant attitude until lunch, where Wybie, Claire, and she all sat down at the same table. The two noticed her unopened lunch box and her finger as traced random patterns all over the table. Her sleepless night had finally taken a toll on her looks: dark purple bags hung under her eyes and her face had been a shade or two paler than what it normally is. Her eyes would sometimes close, then instantly open, and then again shut her eyes. Claire finally had the audacity to speak up. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table, the noise made Coraline a bit more alert.
"Listen," she began, glaring at Coraline, "I know you're tired an all from staying up, but you're acting all freaky-like today. What's up?"
The girl raised her eyebrows unsmilingly and then rested her head in the palm of her hand. "Nothing. Just tired"
"Just tired my butt! You would be acting cranky and stuff if you were "just tired," but you're not even talking to us!" She pointed out, flinging her hands around for emphasis.
"Is there something wrong with that?"
"Yes! There is! Now tell us what's on your mind!" Claire insisted. Coraline looked at her only two friends, both of which were staring at her for an answer, and sighed. "Okay. I had a nightmare last night, okay? That was why I stayed up all night. Does that answer your question?" She admitted, turning beet red. Claire's angry expression instantly turned into a soft one.
"Oh, Coraline it's okay!" She told her, running over to the other side of the table to give her a bear hug, "We all get nightmares! In fact, I get a reoccurring one where a red pickle chases me and tries to rape me!" She informed her reassuringly, squeezing her tight. Coraline struggled to get out of Claire's death hug, but finally pushed her off of her body. Coraline glared at her.
"First of all, don't ever hug me like that again. Second of all, don't tell me about your raping pickle-nightmares ever again. And third of all, this nightmare was pretty realistic."
Claire, being the oblivious girl she is, ignored the first two points Coraline made. She walked back over to her side of the table and began to talk in a more serious voice. "Just because it was realistic doesn't mean it's real. I would just forget about the whole thing before you start obsessing over it." She advised. Wybie nodded his head in agreement.
"Well you don't know what it was even about!" She argued, but as soon as she said it, she wished she took it back. Claire and Wybie looked curious.
"Well… what was it about?" he asked.
Coraline froze. She didn't really want to tell them, but they had asked her. Claire and Wybie were waiting for her answer, so she swallowed her pride and then looked at Wybie. "Remember in sixth grade when I first moved here?"
"Uh… yeah? Why?"
Coraline bit at a hangnail on her thumb before answering. "Well… remember when I told you that story about a… spider, and then you didn't believe me? But then you saw the spider for yourself then threw it down the well?" Coraline said inconspicuously so that only she and Wybie would know the real meaning behind it. Wybie looked confused for a second, but then quickly caught on.
"Ohhhh, I know what you're talking about."
Claire switched her glances from Wybie to Coraline and then vice versa. "What spider? What story? What the heck are you guys talking about?" Coraline ignored Claire.
"Well… I had a dream where that story I told you happened to me…"
"Oh… I see." Wybie said, nodding his head slowly. Claire puffed out her cheeks, putting her hands on her hips.
"Why won't you guys tell me what's going on!" She whined. Coraline just looked at her then turned her head and said, "Oh, well that's confidential. You should have been there…" She mocked, which made Claire angrier than ever. She and Wybie continued to mock her and enjoyed the pleasure of seeing her get frustrated for the rest of lunch. After they had the rest of their classes at the end of the day, the three friends met at the entrance of the school. Claire was still begging them to tell the secret of the spider all the way 'till they got home, where she gave up asking and defiantly stomped back to her apartment. Coraline headed to her apartment too, but something caught her elbow. She turned to see Wybie, with a serious, almost pitying look on his face. Coraline jerked her elbow from his grasp and turned to him. "What do you want, Why-were-you-born?"
Wybie shrunk back, and with a quiet voice, he assured her, "I know that what you went through was pretty tough and all, but that doesn't mean you have to worry about some dream… It's not like it'll happen."
Coraline groaned, and then punched him in the shoulder. Wybie instantly started to rub his shoulder. "Oww… what was that for?" He asked with annoyance. She squinted her eyes.
"That's for telling me something that I already understand! You guys have been telling me that all day! But you don't even understand, do you?" She waited a couple of seconds to see if he would respond, but he didn't, so she then started again, "It's like if you were almost kidnapped you and then had a dream that they did kidnap you and tortured you. Get it?"
Wybie looked away, his head down. "Sort of…" Coraline groaned then started to walk away. "Just forget we had this discussion, Wybie. Goodbye."
She didn't hear him respond. Coraline didn't care though; she just walked back to her flat and spent the remainder of the day watching cartoons. When her parents got home, they made and ate dinner together without noticing Coraline's sudden change in behavior. As soon as Coraline finished her meal, she immediately went upstairs, took a long shower, and then hopped into bed, not even kissing her parents goodnight. She thought about her short conversation with Wybie. He'll never understand, she concluded, he's too ignorant too. And Claire doesn't even know what the heck we were talking about…
Coraline sighed and then buried her face into her pillow. The only people who could understand were the ones who had actually been to the other world, and the ones that had had already passed on. Coraline was the only survivor left.
Closing her eyes, she thought that she would probably never have a nightmare about it again if she kept thinking about it, so she dismissed all thoughts of the Other Mother and the Other World until her mind was blank. Then she slowly slipped in unconsciousness…
The frog in the well was happy.
Because he wasn't interested in the outside world.
The frog in the well was happy.
Because he didn't have anything to do
with the outside world.
And you were happy, too.
Because you didn't know what
happened outside of the well.
-Frederica Bernkastel
You like?
Trust me. This story will get A LOT better. :p
I'll definitely have chapter 3 up quicker than last time, maybe in two or three weeks? I'm bad when it comes to writing quickly. :D
Just for a heads up: I'll be changing the name of this story to "The Nightmare Games" soon, probably by the next chapter. And I will be changing the rating to T because of some crazy stuff that happens later on.
Just some random fact: I originally planned out for this story to have just Wybie and Coraline in it, but then there were too many things that didn't work, so I decided to add a character, which made things much easier.
Review, and I won't buy you a LalaLoopsy Doll (Have you seen those things! They're creepy!)
But could you review, please? They inspire me to write whenever I read them (As long as their not along the lines of something like "DAMN YOU. YOU SUCK.") So….. REVIEEEWWW! :D
(P.S, thanks to everyone who reviewed! It really inspired me!)
