The Skellingtons

Romance

A/N: Chapter 3 is up! I can't believe how many views this story has gotten, you guys are awesome! Thanks to everyone who has favorited/followed this story, and thank you in particular to Tecna63, The Cat Loving Kid, and GodlyJewel for their lovely (and much appreciated) reviews. Reviews feed the muse, so keep those reviews coming!

This chapter is about Eve, the second oldest, at age 13. I know the past two chapters have been really fluffy and mushy, but hey, I love fluffy and mushy so you'll all just have to deal with it. This chapter isn't as fluffy as the other ones I think, but it's still fluffy. And Sally has a fairly large part in it – yay! And it's a long(ish) chapter – yay again! I hope you all like it! :)

- .Paradise

Eve rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry, Edgar, but I'm going to have to say no. Again."

"But-but, Eve!" pleaded Edgar Stoker, a vampire boy who was currently holding a crudely made, black Valentine with Eve's name scribble on it. "You've rejected me time and time again! I-I made this just for you!"

He shoved the Valentine at Eve but she pushed it away impatiently. "It's July! You're only supposed to give Valentines on Valentine's Day, which is February fourteenth."

Edgar looked confused for a moment. "Are you sure? There are so many things about that holiday I don't understand..."

"Yeah well, try living with my dad..." she muttered under her breath. Edgar looked at her strangely and she hastily said, "Look, Edgar, I don't like rejecting you all the time but you've got to take the hint! I don't like you."

"But...but..." Edgar stuttered, looking crestfallen. Eve felt bad, but she was not attracted to him so she had no choice but to reject him. She gave him an apologetic look and turned away. Edgar chased after her. "I love you, Eve Skellington!"

Eve couldn't help but laugh a little at his proclamation. "Love? Love?" she scoffed. "Oh please! Who needs love?"

And she stalked away before Edgar could reply.

xXx

Eve sighed as she impatiently perused her bookshelf, her eyes hurriedly scanning over the titles of each book that stood there. She was trying to find something to read and break her perpetual mood of being restless (and, though she wouldn't admit it, to get her mind off of the Edgar incident that had transpired earlier that day), but there was nothing. She had read each of her books so many times and none of the titles seemed interesting to her.

'Maybe James or Nick has something on their shelf...' she wondered. Eve left her room and went to the boys' room, going straight to their one bookshelf and looking over the titles hopefully. Nothing.

She sighed again. 'Maybe Dad has something...?' And so she left the boys' room and went upstairs to the observation tower, where she knew her father kept shelves and shelves of books. Most of the books up there there were dry and scientific, but right now she was desperate. After ascending the long staircase she examined all the books on the bookshelves.

Biology books...scientific theory books...philosophy books...One book on the history of Halloween seemed somewhat interesting, but as she picked it up and flicked through it she quickly noticed that it was a large tome with many tiny words and no pictures. Eve groaned in frustration and hastily placed the book back on the shelf, squeezing it between two large relative physics books.

"Eve? What are you doing up here?"

The ragdoll girl jumped and spun around, relieved when she only saw her mother in the doorframe. "Mom, you scared me!"

"Really? Isn't that your dad's job?" said Sally, smiling.

Eve smiled back at her. "I won't tell if you won't."

Sally chuckled. She stepped into the room and looked around, an almost reminiscent look appearing on her features. "I haven't been up here in a while...Why are you up here, sweetie?"

"I was looking for something to read," explained Eve, indicating the bookshelves.

"Ah," responded Sally. "And were you successful in your endeavor?"

Eve scoffed. "Hardly. Every book up here looks so...well, honestly, they all look so boring! I don't know how Dad can stand it..."

"Let's just say Dad has a...different taste in books than you do," said Sally with a grin.

"More like he has a different taste in books than every normal person does..." joked Eve.

"Mmm...true," agreed Sally, sharing a laugh with her daughter. Sally slowly walked over to the books, looking over them with something her expression that was hard to place. But the small twinkle in her eye gave away her thoughtful feelings.

"You know, Eve," she said, suddenly getting an idea, "these aren't all the books we have..."

"I know that," her daughter responded tiredly. "I already went through my books and James and Nick's books..."

"No, no, that's not what I meant..." explained Sally. "I meant that I have some books, too. Ones that I don't keep up here in the observatory."

Eve was surprised. "You do?" she inquired in awe. "I didn't know that...what books do you have? Where do you keep them?"

Sally smiled warmly. "Come with me."

xXx

For some reason that was unknown to her, Eve always felt kind of awkward being in her parents' bedroom. It was the one room in the house that she unconsciously stayed away from, but she had no idea why. Perhaps it was because she never really liked invading people's personal space, especially the personal space of her parents...or perhaps it was because as she got older she now understood what went on behind the closed doors of parents' bedrooms...Either way, she felt uncomfortable.

Even now, as she stood beside her mother in her parents' bedroom and knew she had permission to be there, Eve still felt a little strange being there. But she remained there, feeling desperate for a new book to read and feeling curious about her mother's hidden library. Sally was currently kneeling in front of the large trunk that rested at the end of the bed, trying to undo the rusty latches that held it closed.

"Aha!" she said in triumph as soon as she unlatched them. "Here we go..."

She opened the trunk and Eve curiously peeked inside. What was inside looked like...well it looked like a bunch of junk, honestly. There were some random pieces of clothing and jewelry, and knick-knacks that seemed out of place, including a bottle, a basket, some letters that looked a little frayed, and a grey jar that said "Deadly Nightshade" on the front. Eve was altogether confused.

"Uh, Mom," she asked carefully, "what is all this stuff?"

"Oh...this and that," Sally replied mysteriously. "Mostly just some things from the past that I didn't have the heart to get rid of."

Sally then started rummaging through the objects and pulled out something...a book! Eve's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"What book is that?" she inquired quickly.

Sally smiled. "Oh, it's an old book that used to be my favorite before I met your father. It's...still one of my favorite actually, but I just haven't read it in a very long time." She handed the book to her daughter, who received it eagerly and looked at the title.

"Pride and Prejudice?" she read, feeling with her hand the embossed words on the book's hard cover. "I don't think I've ever heard of this..."

"That's because hardly anyone here has heard of it either," explained Sally. "But it's a very popular book in the Human World, and rightly so."

"The Human World? So this book's about humans?"

"Yes indeed," replied Sally brightly.

"Fascinating..." Eve whispered, turning the book over in her hands and examining it. "What's it about?"

Sally's smile couldn't help but falter a little as Eve asked this question. She knew her daughter was adverse to things in that genre...

"Well, it's...erm..." Sally stuttered, trying not to change her daughter's unbiased opinion of the book. "It's...well, it's a romance, and um -"

"A romance?" Eve whined. Without consideration she shoved the book back into her mother's hands. I've had enough romance for one day...she thought bitterly. "No thank you. I don't do romance."

"Oh but sweetie, it's so much more than that!" Sally desperately tried to convince her. "It's also a drama, a comedy, a statement on society in that era...it's so interesting, and I know you'll really like it in spite of the whole romance aspect of it."

Eve exhaled heavily. She hated anything to do with romance, she always found it so cheesy and fake, but...then again, she really was desperate for a book to read...Who knows? Eve thought. Maybe I should give romance a chance...Er, romance novels, I mean!

"Oh, alright," she conceded. "I'll give it a try. But know that I'm only reading this because my only other option is a science book."

Sally grinned. "I won't say 'I told you so' when you end up enjoying it."

"Oh sure, Mom," replied Eve, rolling her eyes dramatically. And with that, the mother and daughter left the observatory and descended the stairs, Eve holding the book close to her chest.

xXx

Over the next few days, Eve read Pride and Prejudice. But not only that, Eve pored over it. It was a little difficult for her to get used to the different language style of the book at first, but once she got the hang of it she found herself reading and reading for hours on end, only stopping for meals and requests from her parents and siblings. Eve found herself assimilating to the characters and feeling a sort of connection with them, especially with the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, because she felt they had similar thoughts and personalities.

And the romance aspect of it...Eve - though she would never admit it - loved it. The way the book described the love between the characters was a in such a way that Eve had never heard before. She had always thought love was something only found in fairy tales and romance novels and cheesy songs, but the love the characters had for each other in the book felt so real to her that she started to reconsider her previous philosophy. Maybe love isn't what I thought it was...

Finally, Eve finished the book. After she read the final sentence of the novel and closed the book gently, she closed her eyes and took in everything she had read. She was filled with joy and hope because of the book's marvelous ending...and familiar sadness because she had reached the end of the book...and bitter annoyance because, she realized, her mother had been right.

She sighed. I hate it when Mom's right...she thought to herself. Ah well. Worse things have happened. Eve stood up, stretched, and was about to go (reluctantly) return her mother's book when she heard a faint tapping at her window. Confused, and curious, she pulled back the black curtains covering her window and she saw a bat fluttering outside her window, a pleading look on its face. Oh, she knew that bat (and that pleading look on its face) so well.

Eve nearly laughed. Poor Edgar...He's really persistent, she observed. Then she smiled. Maybe that's not such a bad thing...Maybe that's a good thing, and I was too blind to see it...I'm sure he has other qualities that aren't so bad...Eve's signature Skellington grin widened. Her mind was made up, and she felt a sureness in herself that she had never felt before. She was about to open her window and let him in when she looked around her room and noticed how untidy and dirty it was. She cringed, realizing she didn't want him - or anyone - in her room if it were in this state. So she motioned for Edgar to meet her downstairs and she eagerly raced out of her room, leaving, unnoticed by her, Pride and Prejudice resting on her bed, its pages now a little more frayed than they had been before she read it.