Beth had still not been answering her phone. They hadn't spoken in person, let alone at all, since that scary night two weeks ago. How much time could someone really spend doing summer work? Danny thought. It was just a couple of days before school was set to start, and he wanted to touch base with her one final time in the summer. If she doesn't respond to me today, I'll just go over there myself, reasoned Danny as he sat on his bed staring at the ceiling. For the next few hours, Danny found random things around his house to amuse him and keep him busy. The whole day had gone by and there was still no response from Beth. Watching his clock tip over from 9:59 to 10:00, he sat up and walked downstairs and down the road to her house. Maybe he could reason with her parents while he was there and they'd let her get out some more.

Danny found her apartment and knocked a couple times on the door. He waited patiently as he heard footsteps coming from the far side of the room. Unfortunately, it was her wild mother who answered the door, and not her more reasonable father. The woman staring back at him was a taller version of Beth, with the same light brown hair and brown eyes. The only differences between Beth and her mother were their personalities and small details of the face. For example, Beth did not have any crow's feet.

"Why, hello Daniel!" sang Beth's mother. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages! Where ever have you been?"

"Oh, you know, at home, pretty much," Danny replied, staring at his feet. "Mrs. Sabatino, I was wondering if I could see Beth—"
"Oh, Daniel, don't be so silly. You can call me Vitalia," she winked. Danny felt self-conscious.

"Alright then, Vitalia, is Beth home by any chance?"

"Bethany? Why, she's not taking visitors right now," the woman replied as if concealing her own daughter. "But if you want to you could come in for a cup of tea and a slice of—"

"That's a nice offer, but I'll have to, uh, decline," Danny rushed his words, slowly inching backwards. "Well, have Beth let me know when she's having company."

"Oh, I will." Vitalia smiled at him with a hint of playfulness. "You could always check back in tomorrow. She might be better by then."

"Better? Is she sick?"

"Oh, terribly so. Coughing and wheezing and the whole ordeal. Poor girl. I think she may be nervous for school to start up, fragile thing she is." Beth's mom was now completely in the hallway. Danny realized he was up against the wall adjacent to their doorway. "I'm sure she would appreciate your visit, though. I'll let her know you swung by."

"Thanks. Well, I'll just go then, I'll see you around, Mrs. Sabatino—" and with that, Danny walked briskly around the corner until he was no longer in sight nor reach of the woman.

"Vitalia!" she sang from within the hallway. He felt safe only when he heard the door close behind her. Letting out a relieved exhale, he entered the stairwell, disappointed and more than a little perturbed.

Looks like he'd have to visit Beth the old-fashioned way. Well, so to speak. Danny phased into intangibility as he flew out of the building, turning sharply and arriving at Beth's window. He saw a lump in bed that he assumed was her. Remembering the promise he made last time, Danny knocked softly on the window and watched as she stirred from her peaceful position. He knocked once more to reassure her she hadn't just heard some random sound. Beth looked over her shoulder and smiled. Danny waved as he phased through the window. "Hey! I tried coming in the normal way, but your mom said you weren't taking visitors. I just haven't gotten a reply from any of my texts recently and I was worried."

"Oh, God. Yeah, sorry about that. Did my mom tell you I had some sort of terrible disease? Because I don't. I have a small tickle in my throat." Beth sat up in bed and stretched. "My mom took my phone away so I'd get my work done, and she conveniently forgot where she put it. She also hasn't let me leave the house. It hasn't been the best end of summer for me," Beth joked.

"Well, if you're up for it, I've got a lot of stories to tell. At least four big ones that I can think of off the top of my head," Danny recollected. "And I wouldn't mind hearing about all of the riveting time you've spent in bed the past week."

"Hah, hah, hah. Well, actually, that's basically what I've been doing. If I'm gonna be on lockdown: mom style, I mind as well do it from the comfort of my own bed. Alright, ghost kid. Spill."

So Danny spilled. He talked about his encounter with the clairvoyant and the epiphanies he had shared with her. He described the strange sense of peace that overcame him when he entered the room with the woman and the time they spent so spiritually connected. Then he described the ordeal with his sister and all the regrets that came with it. Awkwardly, since he wasn't used to discussing girl issues with anyone, he confessed is new affection for the goth girl and the night in the movie theatre. To top it all off, he discussed the night he spent haunting around the school and the encounter he had with his parents in his ghost form, explaining the new ghost drills that the school would probably be having in part thanks to him. Beth listened intently, devoted the tales she heard from her peculiar friend. Finally, Danny finished, and Beth had felt thoroughly entertained.

"Wow. That is some week," Beth declared, simplifying the developments frankly.

"Actually, it was two weeks," Danny clarified. Beth gave him a glare. "Yeah, yeah, I know. One week, two weeks, potato, potahto."

"Exactly," Beth seemed satisfied with his clarification. "I can't believe I missed all of that. Maybe I should go ahead and register as a self-employed hermit. I'm almost excited for school if it means I get to leave my house," Beth lamented, raising her blanket over her head and arching her back, contorting her face and making nonsense sounds. Danny laughed as he realized that was her version of a hermit. She kept up the antics as Danny replied with his own silly faces. Suddenly, the two heard the sound of her door handle turning and gasped.

"Bethany! What is going on?" her mother entered with a very concerned look on her face. All she could see was Beth sitting on her bed with a wacky face and covered in a throw-blanket. Beth looked to her side to see if Danny was still there. He wasn't. Glancing back at her mom, she smiled weakly.

"Oh, I was just… sleep talking," Beth arrived at her absurd conclusion. "Yeah. Don't you ever sleep talk? It's really weird."

"I'll say," her mother replied. "Anyway, get some rest, dear. You need to be in top shape before school comes! I can't have my little girl going to school deathly ill!"

"As I've been saying, I'm fine, but I will go back to sleep. Which means I need to have my door closed. In short: Goodnight, mom."

"Night dearie! Sleep tight!" her mom was about to leave when she turned back. "And maybe less sweets before bed?"

"Sure," Beth smiled as she watched her door slowly come to a close. Danny reappeared next to her slowly, sitting cross-legged on her mattress. "That was close," Beth affirmed.

"I'll say. You're lucky I have a good reaction time." Danny crossed his arms as if gloating. Beth pushed him off of the bed and he landed on her floor with a soft thump. Beth fell onto her side giggling. "Hey! You better be nice to me. I'm your only escape from this prison-house."

"I guess that's true," admitted Beth. "Wait, why did I not think of this before? Please take me somewhere. Anywhere that doesn't smell like my mother's perfume!" Beth put her hands together as if in a begging position. Danny smiled with a hint of sport as he stood up and grabbed a hold of Beth's arms. The two were soon launching through the room and into the night sky. Both intangible, the two looked over the town shortly, admiring the view. Beth had only been so high up a couple of times and was not used to the sense of freedom. Danny was happy to share it.

"Where to?" asked Danny. Beth did not respond. "Well, if you're not going to tell me, I'm just gonna take us to some random place." More silence. Beth was still trying to get used to the feeling of weightlessness. "Suit yourself." With that, the two flew off towards downtown Amity Park, passing over the dimly lit streets below. After just a couple of minutes spent flying, Danny took them down onto the top of an eighteen wheeler parked outside of a CVS, where, just across the street, a night club was raging on with bright neon lights. "Just in time for the paaar-tay!" Danny exclaimed. Beth laughed.

"This is certainly better than staying in bed." The two watched the silhouetted bodies of the dancers within the club flash back and forth on the glassy windows across the way. They could feel the booming within their chests even from across the street. "Huh. Must be terrible living next to a night club," Beth noted.

"That's true." The friends continued to chit chat as they sat atop the truck for a couple of hours. They let the night slip away as they swung their legs off the edge of the trailer and mourned the end of their summer. Surely, their adventures wouldn't stop when their break did, but there was always some sort of nostalgic feeling between friends when responsibilities washed in like waves on a beach. If their way of putting off the end of summer was staring mindlessly at the wall of some late night party, then they'd sit and watch colors dance before their eyes for hours. As long as they were there, the moment didn't have to end, and neither of them wanted it to.

Hey you! Long time, no update, I know. I could tell you why, but I'd like there to be some mystery between us. I've actually had this chapter written for a while, but I have this policy where O like to have the next few chapters ready before I post it. I'm stuck on Chapter 13 right now. So, when it comes out and you read it, and you think to yourself "Wow, this chapter's not so great," just know that I've warned you. I hope you had a spoopy halloween. I went as Sam. Ciao (8