Chapter Two: A Sheet, A Washrag, and A Sock
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Nurgle shouted a few weeks later as she flew around her gorgeous new home, searching for Larkin. "It's been four days, Larkin! If you've been cheating again, I'm gonna fry your ass!" At that moment, the tune to the Spice Girls' "Wannabe" started playing in Nurgle's pocket. She pulled out her cell phone and put it to her ear.
"Hello?...Oh, hi Mom...I'm sorry I haven't been over, but I've been busy the past few days...Larkin's been using her invisibility powers to cheat at hide-and-seek again...no, Mom, it wasn't me...I told you, I grew out of that phase! I don't chew holes in people's underwear anymore...well, maybe it was your weirdo neighbour...I have to go, Mom. I have to find Larkin. I'll call you later." She ended the call and slipped the phone back in her pocket.
Two days later, Nurgle finally found Larkin asleep on the roof. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU FREAK?" she screamed in her ear.
Larkin jumped to her feet and lost her balance, tumbling off the roof and into a bale of hay in the yard. When Nurgle landed gracefully in front of her, Larkin scowled. "Why did you get the cool flying power? I'm the one who can't stand on her own two feet. I need it more than you. I need it to save myself."
"Well," said Nurgle, "maybe the writer doesn't like you as much." The girls were silent for a few minutes. Then Nurgle asked, "What were you doing on the roof?"
"Watching Kyo..." Larkin answered dreamily, her eyes beginning to look lost.
"Who's Kyo?" Nurgle wondered as she tried to help Larkin's eyes find their way home.
"The boy who lives across the street. If you sit on the roof, you can see right into his kitchen. So I was watching him get undressed and take showers and stuff."
Nurgle scratched her head. "Why does he take showers in his kitchen?"
Larkin pondered that. "I'm...not sure. Wanna go ask him?"
"Sure, why not?"
Larkin lead the way as the two trudged through the hay and horse poop to the house across the street. As soon as the door swung open, Larkin turned herself invisible.
The man in the doorway stared at Nurgle. "Can I help you?"
"Quit being a wimp," Nurgle said. "Show yourself!"
"Pardon?"
"My friend here is being dumb. We came over here to talk to Kyo, but now she's gonna chicken out. I tell ya."
The man looked around, then glanced at Nurgle like she was crazy. "People with imaginary friends are stupid," he stated and slammed the door.
"ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME LOOK DUMB?!"
Larkin reappared at Nurgle's side. "It doesn't matter if I was or not. You are dumb. At least I don't have an imaginary friend!" She spun on her heel and began to walk away, leaving Nurgle fuming.