It isn't until after I close the front door behind me that I finally release my inhibitions.

"OH MY FUCK YESYESYESYES! TAKE THAT EMMA WALKINGS. TELLING ME IN THE FOURTH GRADE THAT I'D NEVER GET KISSED BY A FICTIONAL CRUSH. TAKE THAT BITCH. WOOHOO!" I proceed to scream and shout and jump about the front foyer in un-contained happiness.

It's another two minutes before I finally tire out and cease in my gestures. Though, my tiredness doesn't stop me from continuing to squeal like a banshee. I'm interrupted in the middle of my fangirling by harsh knocking coming from somewhere inside the house.

Surprised and slightly scared, I cautiously move through the house and follow the noise. I'm led to a door near the very back which, upon opening it, reveals a small hallway with an elevator at the end of it and an Asian boy standing there looking annoyed.

"Would you keep it down? People actually live here, and I was trying to study."

I blink at him, caught off guard. He looks familiar, and it takes me another moment before I recognize him as one of Dash's friends, Kwan I think.

"O-Oh sorry. I, uh, just moved here so I'm a little excited," I say sheepishly, giving him an apologetic smile.

Kwan only frowns and crosses his arms in front of his broad chest, "Yea, well, you were being too loud. I can barely focus as it is. I didn't need your high pitched pig squeals too."

"Hey! I do not sound like a pig," I say indignantly.

"Whatever, I need to finish my homework," he brushes me off and turns to leave.

"What kind of homework?" I ask curiously.

This is honestly really weird, but I genuinely enjoy helping people with their homework. I wanted to be a teacher when I was younger, not anymore, but I still like helping people when I get the chance. As long as it's not history, I can lend a hand.

Kwan peers at me with his narrow eyes before informing me in a low, embarrassed voice, "It's pre-algebra... I got held back in math last year so I have to retake it this year as a freshman."

I grin at him, "Perfect! I mean, not perfect that you got held back 'cause that sucks ass. Not that you suck ass or anything, it's just that teachers are dumb and stuff for not helping you more with your work especially considering you got held back for it...

"Um... What I'm trying to say is that I can help you with it if you want. I'm in H Algebra I, and pre-algebra was a breeze for me. It'll be my apology for interrupting you during your study time and also an apology in advance cause I'll forewarn you that I tend to be pretty loud with my music."

It takes a moment for Kwan to decipher and comprehend my fast paced ramblings, but when he does he asks tentatively, "You'd really help me?"

"Of course! What are neighbors for?"

Kwan stares at me for another moment before giving me a large grin and takes me by surprise by pulling me into a giant bear hug. Eyes wide, I hang limp in his arms as he squeezes me and lifts me off of my feet.

"AWESOME! Thanks so much!" He exclaims in my ear, "None of my other friends are good at math, and the nerds I usually ask are too preoccupied with the others' homework to fit my own into their schedule."

I figure that by 'friends' and 'the others' he means the other A-listers. Which makes sense because there's only so much homework that nerds can do before their schedule is completely taken up.

'They should definitely get paid for their services...'

I blink as Kwan sets me down and says, "I'll go get my stuff and bring it back up here. Is that cool?"

"Yea, totes! I'll, um, set up a spot in the living room for us."

"Great! I'll be back in ten minutes," he says before jogging over to the elevator.

I watch as the double doors close behind him before turning in my heal and walking back into the main part of the house. It takes me a few minutes to find the living room, and I make a mental note to explore the house later to get a full layout of the place.

As I'm walking into the living room, I catch my reflection in a full length mirror set up on the wall and pause. It's slightly unnerving to see myself as a 2D character, especially when I don't really feel 2D. I take a moment to pause and admire my reflection.

My naturally wavy hair is a shade of two lighter than what it normally is, but my eye color still looks about the same. My figure however is what throws me off. To me, all I see are sharp angles cut to make a literal hourglass figure, but in this world I'm sure I would be considered only slightly curvy.

I'm dressed in a dark blue, denim skirt with a quarter sleeve, light violet crop top that hangs off of my shoulders. The top is kept up by teal colored straps that match the teal rose design printed across the fabric of the shirt. Knee high, white socks are paired with indigo, converse type shoes. I don't think I look bad, just weird compared to how I usually see myself. I let my eyes linger on my figure for a moment longer before continuing my trek into the living room.

Luckily, the kitchen is right next to the living so it's easy for me to find as I walk through the open doorway and straight to the fridge. I'm pleased to find the fridge fully stocked, filled with fruits, veggies, meats, and even desserts.

'Even the freezer is stocked to the brim... Desirée is a damn good genie.'

I grab some cubed pieces of cheese and pre-sliced pepperoni from the fridge before shutting it closed. I move over to a door which I rightly assumed to be the pantry and locate some crackers. I search through the carbonates and find a large porcelain platter on which I dump the snacks onto.

With that done, I walk back into the living room and set it on the coffee table. Not a second later, I hear another knock coming from the back of the house.

"Come in!" I shout, hopefully loud enough to be heard.

I let out obnoxious snorts in between my fits of laughter. Kwan is laughing so hard, he can barely finish the story.

"S-So Dash ended up g-grabbing Mason's d-d-dick!" Kwan finishes in hysterics.

I laugh even harder and fall onto my back, kicking my legs up into the air, "Y-You're fucking with me, right?"

"Not at all!" He responds, glee evident in his voice.

Kwan and I had been working on his pre-algebra homework and actually managed to make good progress on it. He said he understood what I was telling him better than the teachers. That's when I learned that Kwan is dyslexic. A dyslexic Asian, who would've thought?

Anyways, we finished up his homework and were eating the snack I threw together as we shared funny stories with each other. The one he was just telling me was during one of their football practices. Apparently, they were scrimmaging and Dash tackled this Mason guy thinking he had the ball. It was a decoy, but that wasn't the funny part. What was funny was the fact that while Dash was fumbling around Mason, trying to find the ball, he ended up groping Mason's dick. It was the one day Mason chose not to wear his cup, so he very much felt his joystick being fondled.

'Gotta love football.'

I dab at the few tears that managed to escape me eyes at some point during my laughing fit. I chuckle for a few more moments before finally calming myself.

"We definitely need to hang out more, Kwan."

Kwan throws his head back as he laughs again whilst nodding in agreement. He's completely relaxed, leaning back into the cream colored couch and stuffing another cracker with cheese and pepperoni into his mouth. I sit up from the floor and resume my previous position of leaning my side against the bottom half of the couch. The couch itself is super comfy, trust me, but sometimes I prefer sitting on the floor.

I don't know if it's because I'm a girl or because I'm new, but Kwan has been extremely nice. But, then again, I always remember Kwan to be the nicer one out of the group of A-listers.

I'm interrupted from my musings by Kwan's voice, "I wouldn't mind hanging out with you, 'Lil E. I'm sure my friends would love to meet you too!"

I resist from rolling my eyes at Kwan's new nickname for me. 'Lil E' sounded eerily close to Lily which I would've been fine with. But no, Kwan said 'Lil E' was meant as a dig at my short height.

'Way to ruin my self-esteem Kwan.'

I settle on snorting and say, "Puh-lease! Who wouldn't want to meet me?"

"Satan."

I laugh and throw one of the couch pillows at him. He easily catches it - damn football skills - and chucks it right back at my face. My reflexes aren't as sharp as his, and I flail my arms around to swat it away.

Kwan chuckles at my actions and shakes his head. A series of beeps go off, and Kwan immediately digs around in his pockets. He pulls out a phone - a flip phone, pffft - and reads the screen. He groans and rolls his eyes before flipping - pffffft - the phone shut and shoving it back into his pocket.

Curious, I raise an eyebrow at him.

Guessing my silent question, he responds, "My dad needs me to come back for dinner; apparently my mom's having guests over and they want the whole family there."

"Ah," I nod my head in understanding and hoist myself up, "Well, I guess I'll walk you out."

Kwan stands up and gathers up his things before following me back through the hallways to the elevator. As we're waiting for the elevator to come up, Kwan speaks up.

"Thanks again for helping me with the homework."

I wave him off, "Seriously, dude, it's no problem. If you ever need help just text me, and I'll make time."

Sometime in between sharing stories, Kwan and I exchanged numbers. Of course, I'm listed under his contacts as 'Lil E'. I got him back by listing him as 'Hit the Kwan'. That dance doesn't even exist in this universe, so Kwan was confused and under the impression that I was a tad violent. Which I am, but I would've waited a little longer before telling him that.

Kwan gives me a huge grin in response and steps into the elevator. I give him a short wave as the doors close before turning on my heels and walking out of the little hallway. I close the door and lock it behind me before walking back into the living room.

"Alright, Cecily, time to explore this joint," I say to myself.

It took me two hours to explore the entire apartment. I'll be honest and say that one whole hour was me getting lost and needing to retrace my steps. The other hour consisted of me actually finding new rooms and taking the time to study them. I discovered that there was both a main house and a shed of sorts.

In the main house, there were three bedrooms, one of which was clearly a master's bedroom. Even though I'm the only one living here, I just had to claim it as mine. I jumped on the bed and everything. And each room had huge closet space. Definitely gonna have to go shopping soon. Anyways, I already knew there was a kitchen and a living room. I eventually found the dining room through another doorway leading from the kitchen.

I also discovered a lounge of sorts. The lounge is probably my favorite place hands down just because of the couch which is built into the floor, not to mention the bookcases built into the walls. Those would've been perfect to hold my books back home. I never had enough space for them.

And, of course, there was a laundry room. There's not much to say there. Oh yea, and there were bathrooms too - four of them, one for each bedroom and one near the dining room. You know, in case someone suddenly gets diarrhea from the food. Note to self, always keep the toilet paper stocked in that bathroom... and some Fabreeze.

The shed was mostly filled with the typical gardening tools. Though, I also discovered that there were some tools for fixing cars, along with spare car parts. Now, I've never fixed a car before, but I've always wanted to try. Guess that's something I can do whenever there's nothing big going on in this town.

That was about it for the house. By the time I was done, it was around 10 o'clock. I let out a wide, ugly yawn as I walk to my room. This day wore me out.

'I hung out with Kwan, got a mini-date and a kiss from the Danny Phantom, and my best friend was...' I trail off.

I pause in my undressing and a wave of guilt washes over me.

'I'm over here, having fun and shit, while my best friend is in a magical coma in the middle of a fucking ghost zone... What kind of friend am I?'

I groan at that last thought and almost hit myself in the face before I stop myself. I'm allowed to have fun, right? I mean, Jamie was the one who brought an ouija board over to my house, and she was even the one who decided to make the wish. True, she didn't exactly wish to be sleeping beauty, but it's not like she was being that specific either.

'I can have fun here, but I shouldn't forget the reason why I'm here in the first place. Jamie's my top priority, first and foremost. I have to save her before she gets hurt somehow. But the ghost zone is a vast place. It'll take some time to find her, and in that time I can make a few memories at least...'

I hesitantly nod in agreement with my reasoning. I'm not 100% sure if it's the right way to go about everything, but I know that Jamie would skin my hide if I rescued her and didn't have any good stories to tell her when we home.

I laugh lowly to myself as I imagine Jamie's angry tirade. I finish undressing and ruffle through the dresser drawers before eventually finding a simple, long t-shirt to wear to bed. I throw it on and climb into the large, queen bed, snuggling down into the pillows. After another tired yawn, I'm out like a light.