Filler.

Even from four blocks away, you could still hear the construction equipment by the school as they attempted to fill the massive hole that collapsed right next to the school. According to the news, the ground around it was stable enough, but it needed to be filled and secured before it could even be thought to return the students to the school. There were even talks of abandoning the school all together and building another one on an empty lot somewhere else in town. With how old the school was, it continued to be brought up.

The topic was one that the students of Third Street talked about. They might not have been the biggest fan of school in general, but Third Street Elementary was their school, and they weren't exactly thrilled at the idea of being forced to leave it. But they weren't stupid. They knew that there wasn't much they could do to sway the school board on this issue this time, with or without Detweilers persuading speeches. There wasn't a lot of wiggle room on the issue. Their parents wouldn't let them go to a school where the ground could collapse at any moment.

Spinelli didn't bother getting involved in those conversations. What was going to happen was out of their hands at this point.

After saying good night to her parents, she stepped inside her bedroom, wondering if she could go right to sleep. It's not like TJ was in any condition to stop by her window. But that was put to rest when she saw him lying in her bed.

"TJ what are you doing here?!" She closed and locked her door. "What if one of my parents came in here and saw you?! Are you crazy?"

He didn't give her an answer other than a blank stare. Of course.

"How did you even get in here? I thought my window was closed," she said.

Great. Now what was she supposed to do? It's not like she could tell him to leave, if he even understood a word she was saying. He sat up when she came over and sat on her bed.

"You can't just sneak into peoples rooms, Teej. I know we're friends but I was this close to grabbing my baseball bat and beating you into a pulp," she said. "Guess I gotta get you home. Do I have to go out and look for CJ? She's probably already out there. She'll know what to do."

As if on cue, there was a knock at her window. Looking over, she saw CJ sitting on the branch outside her window.

"I was just talking about you," said Spinelli.

"Is he in here?" CJ asked, looking inside her room. She climbed inside and walked to her closet. "I'm so sorry, I was trying to get back here to cover his area, but he followed me and ran before I could stop him. I figured he would look for you. He likes you enough."

She drew the familiar symbol on her closest door before opening it to a long dark tunnel.

"I sort of need you to come with. He won't listen to me, but he'll definitely listen to you like this," she said.

"What makes you think he'll listen to me? He didn't listen about not sneaking into my room," Spinelli grumbled.

"Just try it."

Spinelli sighed. "Whatever." She walked to her closet, or where it used to be. This seemed to get TJ's attention, as he moved to it on the edge of the bed. "C'mon, Teej. You can't stay here; you gotta go home."

He followed her as she walked further inside CJ followed behind and shut the door. After awkwardly moving around, CJ opened the opposite door to TJ's room.

"Everyone's either out on a field trip or in a meeting, so you don't have to worry about anyone coming in and finding you," said CJ. "I'll be back as soon as I can to bring you back."

"You don't expect me to actually stay here, do you?" Spinelli said. "You didn't say anything about that!"

"I can't make sure he stays here and do my job at the same time! As soon as take my eyes off him, he'll just go after you," she said. "When I'm done, I can take over and you can go home. Just do this one favor for me, I'll pay you back, I promise!" CJ returned back to his closet. "Just this once!"

And with that, he closed the door, leaving the two of them. Spinelli groaned and plopped down on the bed face first. She felt the mattress shift as TJ climbed on. She looked up at him, and found him looking down at her curiously.

"Don't look at me like that Teej. This is mostly your fault," She said half-heartedly. "I guess you can't help it, though. Either way, I'm going to sleep. Don't stare at me the whole time; that's weird, dude."

Spinelli turned over and climbed under the covers. Home or no home, she was still tired and wanted to go to sleep. That sleep however, didn't last too long. As comfortable as the covers were, it worked a little too efficiently, leaving her overheated and scrambling to get from under the covers.

She huffed and pushed herself off the bed. While she looked around his room, he just stayed on his bed watching her. Spinelli was staying out of his closet, remembering how she accidently cut the palm of her hand. The cut had completely healed since then, but she remembered the pain.

Instead, she looked around his desk. Rather than looking like it belong to a kid, human or not, it was perfectly neat and tidy, with no sort of decoration indicating a personality. A thick book sat on it, along with a notebook and pen. She wasn't even going to attempt to open the first book, but she flipped through his notes. Whatever language it was written in, it sure as heck wasn't in English, and she couldn't make out what it said.

"How can you go to two schools at once? I'd go crazy," she mumbled. "And you have a crazy controlling dad that wants you to be perfect in everything."

She moved to the minifridge next to the desk and opened it. It was fully stocked with drinks and food that she didn't recognize. What did any of that taste like? She should try any of it? What if it was toxic to humans?

"You wouldn't let me eat anything that would make me sick, would ya, Teej?" She jokingly asked. She pulled out a bottle of some fizzy pink liquid and turned around to face him. He still sat on his bed, more preoccupied with stretching his wings than what Spinelli had in mind. He glanced at her, the bottle in her hand, then went right back to his wings. "Right. I'm trusting you here to not let me do something stupid. If i die, I'm coming back just to kill you for letting it happen."

She twisted off the cap, and a pale pink mist poured out, along with a sweet aroma. She downed a few sips. The taste wasn't terrible. It was something like a bubblegum flavor with a tinge of cherry at the end. The aftertaste, however, reminded her of that one time her mother gave her Pepto-Bismol for an upset stomach.

"Yeah, that's kinda gross," she said, twisting the cap back on. "What else is in here?"

For while, Spinelli occupied herself with sampling whatever was in the fridge. She went uninterrupted for the most part, except when TJ snatched some red fruit out of her hand. Considering how he ate it afterwards, she didn't know if it was because he was hungry or if it was poisonous to her.

All the sampling left her feeling full, and ready to go back to sleep. TJ, however, had other plans, keeping her from climbing back into the bed.

"C'mon, Teej. Move! You can't hog the bed all to yourself!" She groaned. "It's your fault I'm here in the first place!"

Still, he didn't budge, even pushing her back a bit with his tail. Frustrated, she jumped in, taking him by surprise.

"You act like there isn't more than enough space for the both of us," Spinelli said. "I hope you snap out of it soon, TJ. You're weird enough without being like this." He only stretched and yawned in response, ending in a huff of flames out of his nose. "So I've been thinking. You should tell the others about, you know, this. That way you wouldn't have to come up with reasons why you're missing school so much. I know you said you're supposed to keep this secret, but I found out and you trust me with it. I think you can trust the guys with it, too. They'll freak out like I did, but I'm sure they'll think it's really cool. You're probably not even listening to me, are you?"

Her answer was in the form of him nodding off, struggling to stay awake. Would he even remember what she said? Maybe, maybe not. He stretched and rolled his neck in a circle to attempt to stay awake.

"Don't let me keep you up, dude," she said. "I wanna go to sleep, too. But it's too hot."

Seemingly taking her advice, he laid down on his stomach, keeping his weight off his wings. It was only when he bent his knees, leaving his lower legs and feet angled upwards, that she was able to see that those changed, too. Like his arms and hands, it was now colored a deep red, and his feet looked more like claws than anything.

"Even your feet, too? It looks like this thing is getting worse," she said, laying down next to him. "I'm sure you weren't like this the last time I saw you."

He sleepily blinked at her, resting his head in his arms.

"You're so weird, Teej. But in a good way. You being a demon, I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around all this. Monster boy or not, you're still putting yourself in danger. And you're my friend, I don't want you to get hurt. That one night you got stabbed with a branch. How many bones have you broken? Did you ever get your skull smashed in and then come to school the next the day like its nothing? I dunno want to think about all this. Like it great you're keeping us all safe, but do you feel safe? What happens if you can't handle things one night?"

By now, he had completely dozed off.

"Or maybe I'm worrying over nothing," she mumbled. "I hope I am."

This whole thing felt like a bizarre dream that was taking too long to wake up from.

It didn't take long for the closet door to open. CJ stepped through, her clothes looking worse for wear, and in desperate need of a hot shower and a few dozen band-aids.

"Thanks for helping me out, I really appreciate it," said CJ. "I wouldn't have been able to focus with him running toward. I owe you one, Spinelli."

"I'll keep that in mind," Spinelli said, climbing out of bed. TJ stayed put, fast asleep. "I'm ready to go home."

"Right."

While Spinelli climbed out of bed, CJ drew a new pattern on his closet, allowing it to open to her room. After stepping through, she climbed right into bed.