Chapter 2

Neil waited anxiously until everyone had retreated to their rooms and gone to bed before scooting his sleeping bag over to the couch where I was laying. He giggled several times, poking me in the arm until I rolled over to face him and he clapped ceremoniously.

"What...?" I whispered, looking somewhat concerned. Neil just shook his head, looking giddy as could be.

"That girl!" he sighed, resting his chin next to my shoulder on the couch cushion. I rubbed my eyes, waking up a little more.

"You mean Mabel...?"

"Wasn't she amazing?" Neil said, struggling to keep his voice a whisper. I shushed him and looked around, but the only thing to be heard was the tin can sounds of the TV playing a vampire movie I'd seen a million times before. I turned back to Neil and nodded, letting my head fall back onto my pillow.

"Yeah she was nice." I admitted, but my expression was probably closer to depression than happiness. Neil recognized my submissive tendencies by now and settled his giggling.

"What? Is something wrong...?" he asked, lifting his head up from the couch. I squirmed under my blankets, ducking under them to avoid Neil's concern.

"No." I said through the layers of cotton, shaking my head.

"There totally is dude, spill it." Neil persisted, peeling the blankets back so I couldn't hide. I sighed.

"That boy...he asked if I was human." I explained. "But how could he know about me seeing ghosts?" I whispered in a panic, shaking my head from side to side nervously. Dipper had said the Norman he knew wasn't normal, and I cringed at just the memory. I could hear it echo through my head in the terrible sing-song voice of a mob of children-

ParaNorman! ParaNorman! Nothing's normal about ParaNorman!

Neil scowled, deep in thought. "Maybe he had a different reason for asking about it?"

"Maybe..." I whispered, involuntarily curling into a ball. Neil sat there for a moment, watching me.

"So is that why you rushed us back here?" he asked carefully. I nodded, my eyes shielded from Neil by my knees. "Ah Norman you can't let that get to you." he offered. I poked my head up just enough to glare at Neil.

"You don't get it. He was...he was glaring at me and acting like I was a-!" I puffed a breath, feeling my eyes water. My anger left as quickly as it came, my eyes falling from Neil to the carpet. "Like I was a freak."

"But Mabel was really nice, remember?" Neil said, trying to stir my thoughts back toward the positive. I grumbled.

"I don't wanna talk about it anymore." I sighed, rolling over and pressing my face into the back of the couch. I heard a small 'oh' come from Neil and then some shuffling and a few minutes later very loud snoring. I didn't particularly mind because I had insomnia and didn't usually sleep much anyway, but tonight it grated on my nerves that were already destroyed from my encounter earlier that day.

After about a half hour of listening to Neil's sharp snoring I kicked my blankets aside and jumped to my feet. Neil stirred but was too deep in sleep to wake up. I stormed over to the door, grabbing my coat and slipping my feet into my shoes on the way, and strode confidently into the night.

With my hands stuffed angrily in my pockets, I walked, and walked, and walked, and walked some more. My anger and energy slowly faded with each step further into the night. It was a surprisingly warm night on the west coast, far from home, in a strange place. I tensed when I saw a ghost glowing through the trees.

It was a boy. He looked at me, raising an eyebrow. And I raised both.

"What in the..." I whispered as I walked towards the ghost. "D-Dipper?" I gasped shaking my head. "What happened to you!?" the ghost laughed shaking his head.

"I don't think we've ever met." he said, floating at eye level now. "You must think I'm the Original." he shrugged his shoulders and pointed at the #2 on his cap. "Sorry pal, I'm only number two." he explained. I blinked a few times, rubbing my tired eyes. I tried to remember how many days I'd gone without sleep, wondering if I was finally starting to hallucinate.

"I-I don't-I don't understand." I shivered, looking around the dark forest. Why had I thought this was a good idea? What in my sleep deprived brain thought this would turn out okay?

"Ah you must not know." he said, looking at the moon that washed us in silver light. "See. There's a lot of weird stuff in this town." his eyes shifted back to me. "Really weird stuff. Being a ghost I've gotten an even better look at the things that happen when people think no one is watching." he looked uncomfortable.

"You must still be here because you have a final request." I mumbled. "Something you need to finish, right?" I said a little louder. Number Two nodded.

"What's your name kid?" he asked. My eyes fell to the ground and I shuffled my feet.

"Norman..." I answered. Number Two smiled wide and laughed, slapping his knee.

"Oh man! Thats just perfect." he laughed, shaking his head. I felt despair wash over me.

"What-Why? Why is that perfect?" I asked desperately of the ghost. He sighed, calming his laughter.

"Its a little hard to explain." he said, crossing his arms and smirking. I lowered my head.

"Dipper thinks I'm not human..." I fiddled with a loose string on my jacket.

"Lets just say...he has a good reason to think that." Number Two said. "But really, there is something I'd like you to do for me." I met Number Two's gaze and waited patiently for him to gather his demands. It wasn't unusual for me to walk away from meeting a new ghost with new responsibilities in my hands. Ghosts were needy creatures, their purpose in staying on this planet was only to get help.

"If I can, I'll help you pass on." I offered softly. Number Two nodded, looking the most serious since I'd bumped into him.

"Okay." he said. "This might sound a little weird, but. My final wish is that Dipper be happy." he explained. My eyes grew wide and my eyebrows scrunched together with apprehension.

"Y-You want m-me to make D-Dipper happy...?" I repeated. Number Two pursed his lips, thinking about it.

"Not you specifically. But I want you to make sure that someone makes him happy." he hunched his shoulders. "He's really in love with this Wendy chick. Has been for over a year now. But its not healthy for him, you know? She's way older and just isn't interested. He needs to get over her." he explained the background to his request and slowly I began to understand. "So I can't leave until I know someone is going to stop him from turning into an obsessive maniac." he took a deep breath and stared at me real hard. "Can you do that for me?"

I gulped but nodded. "S-Sure I can try." I promised. Number Two smiled and relaxed.

"Thanks, you're a real pal." he said, nodding his head. He stood there, fading away, but I could tell he was observing me in great detail. "Also, you're really cute." Number Two smiled wide. "Oh yes I made a good choice to have you carry out my final will." he nodded confidently, and I could feel the heat radiating off my face. "Take care Norman." his voice echoed just as the last of his ghost faded.

With Dipper's ghost gone, my eyes focused on the moon. I was horribly confused and could feel a headache brewing. If that ghost wasn't actually Dipper, then where had he come from? I was starting to think maybe Dipper and I weren't so different after all.

I hoped that was the case, anyway, now that it seemed I'd be spending a lot of time with him. I glared at the ground, unsure how I felt about Number Two's last words. I could still feel the blush on my face and a tiny tremble in my hands.

No one had ever called me cute before.


After that late night escapade, I never snuck out again. Neil and I would go to the Mystery Shack most days to be with Mabel and Dipper, sometimes Courtney would even come along and chat with Wendy. On even rarer occasions Mitch and Seth would drop by. They seemed very pleased that we'd made friends with the locals, relieving their guilt for their excessive alone time.

I could still feel Dipper being distant, even after he'd decided I wasn't made of gnomes or some kind of abnormal being. My heart sank with the thought.

"Nothing's normal about ParaNorman..." I mumbled with a heavy sigh as I watched my three friends playing with left over silly string from their storehouse.

I wasn't an angry person, but I could feel these days beginning to wear on me. I was sleeping worse than I usually did, but no one seemed to notice or care. What did Dipper have against me? Yeah I talk to ghosts, so what! My hands curled into fists as they sat in my pocket, but my face remained calm.

I hadn't forgotten why I was here in the first place. To make Dipper happy. I flinched at the thought. I could feel darkness clawing into my head as I sat on that rickety front porch in the summer heat. I was sweating through my jacket but I refused to take it off. Dipper had narrowed his eyes and said 'suit yourself.' and left me in the shade.

From where I sat on that porch, I could see three lost souls milling about. They seemed satisfied as they watched my friends play. I felt anger boil in my stomach, filling me with nausea. If only they could understand how good they had it. My hands fell from my pockets and I gritted my teeth.

"This is stupid." I spat angrily as bright green lightning sparked from my fingertips. I gasped and scrambled to my feet, wiping my hands furiously over my jacket as if that would take back what I had just done.

"Norman...?" I heard Mabel call, and the other two boys stopped their laughter.

My face was pale as I stood there panting, my knees shaking. Neil rushed over to me, looking around.

"Was it a, you know?" he asked softly. I gulped shaking my head.

"N-No no it wasn't." I answered, my eyes gazing passed Neil. Dipper stood there with a cautious confusion in his eyes. My hands trembled and I pushed away from Neil, nearly falling. "I-I'm going back to the house!" I yelled, running from the Mystery Shack.

Neil must have stayed behind, because he wasn't following me. I let out a broken gasp and slowed to a walk once I felt I was far away enough. My heart was hammering against my ribcage so hard it felt as though the bones might snap. My thoughts flickered back to Aggie.

Was this how she felt? I gulped, still shaking. It was as if I was losing control of myself. My thoughts were being consumed by anger. I sniffed loudly.

"No i-its nothing." I whispered to myself. "Its nothing." I said it over and over again until I caught my breath and my hands stopped shaking, but deep in my heart, I knew it was most definitely not nothing.


I continued to visit the Mystery Shack with Neil despite my recently discovered crisis. Today Courtney came with us. I sat on the porch as usual, and Courtney sat on the roof with Wendy chatting about their past relationships.

Grunkle Stan, who was not someone I saw often, came through the front door and presented everyone with a cooler filled with otter pops. Mabel screeched in delight, rushing to be the first to taste the frozen treat.

"Yeah yeah, don't get too excited. I only got these because they were on sale." he grumbled, taking one for himself. Dipper high-fived Neil and they both picked out their favorite flavors.

I, however, stayed right where I was. I had no desire to be noticed. It was much safer this way. Dipper caught my eye somehow though, and before I could say anything he was walking toward me. I scrambled to catch an otter pop that he threw my way.

"So." he said, sitting next to me. "Why won't you take that jacket off?" he asked, fidgeting with the plastic seal on his otter pop. I watched silently for a few moments, he was getting nowhere.

"My grandmother gave it to me." I answered honestly. "I wear it everywhere." a small smile tugged at my lips. "Would you like me to open it...?" I asked, holding my hand out. Dipper glared, but handed it to me. I easily tore open the plastic and handed back to him.

"Oh-tch what?" he gasped, looking at me like I was a god. He shook his head. "You only opened it so fast because I wore it down for you." he concluded with a nod of his head. I only smiled in responce.

I was surprised to be enjoying Dipper's silent company so much. However, It was all ruined when a ghost wondered up to me. I gulped, my eyes growing wide. It was an old woman.

"Why how nice it is to see two young boys enjoying popsicles on a hot summer day." she cooed.

"M-Ma'am I'm sorry but I-"

"What?" Dipper questioned, that skeptical look on his face.

"Come on, tell Granny a story." she insisted, sitting in the rocking chair to the side of me and Dipper. I shook my head and Dipper scrambled to his feet as he watched the rocking chair roll back and forth.

"No please, you need to leave." I pleaded with the ghost.

"And why is that?" she seemed offended. I now fumbled to get on my feet as well.

"Norman are you doing this?" Dipper asked angrily.

"No I'm not I swear!" I said, staring into Dipper's eyes with great desperation. I turned back to the woman who was now floating so that I had to crane my neck upwards. "Please stop, they already think I'm a freak!" I was trying to whisper but wasn't quite able to through the shakiness of my voice. The woman glared.

"I want a story young man, you had better respect your elders!" and a strong gust of wind blew through the area, knocking all of us off our feet.

"What is going on!?" Dipper demanded.

"I don't-Its not my fault!" I cried, and the wind grew stronger. I shook my head.

"Stop this Norman!" Dipper was convinced I was the one causing this, and to a certain degree, he was right. Green lightning flickered from my fingertips again and I fought to keep control.

"F-Fine!" I shouted, with a burst of green light flickering in my eyes. The wind came to a stop, and the woman gasped. She looked spooked beyond belief and quickly retreated to the forest.

The light faded from my eyes and I was left panting, my hair and clothes all askew.

My three friends stared at me for some time, letting reality sink in.

"What." Dipper breathed in, staring me down. "Did you do?" I gulped and shook my head, covering my face with my hands.

"I'm sorry!" I cried. "It wasn't my fault I'm sorry!" I tripped backwards on an uneven board, falling hard onto the porch floor. The front door of the Mystery Shack screeched violently as Courtney ran to my side.

"Norman are you okay? What was that? Are you hurt?" she bombarded me with questions, resting one hand on my knee. Slowly, I let my hands fall from my face.

"No...I'm alright." I said softly. She shook her head.

"Okay we're going home for today." she said, looking at Neil. The boy looked disappointed but also terribly worried. "Come on Norman." Courtney grabbed my hand and helped me up.

"Come back soon." Mabel called, her usually cheerful smile lost under her concern. As we left the Mystery Shack, she turned to Dipper. "He's not a bad person and you know it." Dipper glared softly.

"Just something about him...isn't normal." he told his twin sister.

"And when has that ever been a reason to treat someone badly!" Mabel waved her hands angrily.

"But you saw him! He was like, talking to himself and-and-and that wind! That was crazy!" Dipper defended himself. Mabel shook her head furiously and stomped her foot.

"Thats not good enough!" she yelled. "He's not crazy, I know it." she argued. "Think about it this way. You do a lot of weird stuff too and its because you found that freaky book." Mabel could see she was getting to Dipper when he didn't immediately respond.

He sighed. "I guess I'm just being paranoid." Mabel rolled her eyes.

"You're always paranoid."

"And I guess you're right..."

"And I'm always right!"

The twins laughed warmly and went back inside the Mystery Shack, brain storming ideas of how Dipper could apologize.


Author's Notes

BAM chapter 2. I would love to get another chapter uploaded tomorrow because I am oddly addicted to this story, but don't get your hopes up.

-AppleLove