1.5 years ago

Finally, another boring day of school was over. Yet again the same exact thing I've done hundreds of thousands of times before. The same monotonous cycle of life I've been going through for the last 300 years...

I'm sick and tired of it. I'm tired of doing the same thing over and over and over every single day, with no escape or end in sight. Why was I cursed to live like this? As a ghost?

It wouldn't be as bad if I had someone to talk to. Someone to hang out with. I'm not like everyone else though. I can't do what they do. I don't belong here. I'll never belong.

She sniffed as she put her books away into her locker, floating them inside with her telekinesis, as she felt a tear trickle down her face.

Meanwhile, Gumball and Darwin walked by, happily chatting with each other. As they saw Carrie looking upset they began to slow down and looked at each with pity.

"Hey, isn't she one of our classmates?" Gumball asked.

"Yeah, err...Carrie, I think her name is?" Darwin responded.

Carrie slowly closed her locker and wiped her eyes as more tears began to fall, despite her best efforts to hold them back.

"Is...is she crying...?" Gumball asked, sounding upset as his ears lowered.

Darwin nodded. "She looks so upset..."

Gumball thought to himself out loud as he slowly looked down. "I've never seen her talk to anyone in class before... she always seems so lonely..."

Darwin turned to him. "Poor girl...maybe we should ask if she wants to hang out with us?" He suggested with a smile.

Gumball's face lit up. "Ooh, yeah, that's an awesome idea! It's bound to cheer her up!"

Carrie was heading towards the school exit but stopped as she heard Gumball call out her name. She turned confused.

The cat and fish brothers from my class? What do they want from me?

Darwin began to rub his arm. "Hey Carrie, We uh...we noticed you looked pretty upset and lonely and, well, we wondering if maybe you wanted to...hang out with us?"

They...they wanted to hang out...with me? No one at school had ever asked to hang out with me...

She gave the two a look as if she was heart warmed by their question. "R-Really? You...you really want to hang out with me!?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, of course! We've never hung out with a ghost before, so it'll probably be really fun!"

I didn't know what to say. This was the first time this had happened to me, I was speechless...

"Carrie?" Darwin asked as they awaited her response.

"Oh, err...y-yeah, sure!" She responded, managing a weak smile.

"Awesome! Come on, this is gonna be so much fun!" They grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her out of the school and towards their home. Anais was waiting outside for them, and they explained what was happening. She just shrugged and went along it, and the four set off home.

I didn't know what to expect. Maybe an awkward conversation before I just went home again? Boy was I wrong...

They arrived home and found Nicole watching TV.

"Hey Mom, we're home!" Gumball called out, as he, Darwin, and Carrie walked over to her, Anais going to the dining room to read a book.

"Hello, sweetheart! And who's this?" She looked at Carrie, who looked down awkwardly.

"This is Carrie, our friend from school! We're hanging out with her for a while as she seemed lonely and we wanted to cheer her up!" Darwin informed her.

Carrie's head shot back up, though they didn't notice.

F-Friend!? Did they consider me a friend, even though we basically just interacted for the first time? Why?

"Awww, that's so nice of you boys!" She smiled proudly, before turning to Carrie and holding out her paw.

"I'm Nicole, these three rascals' mother. Nice to meet you." She gave her a friendly smile.

Carrie hesitated before taking Nicole's paw and shaking it awkwardly. "Err, n-nice to meet you Mrs Watterson." She gave a polite smile back.

She turned back to the boys. "You treat our guest well, alright?"

They nodded. "We will!"

"You sure? You two won't be getting up to any funny business up there will you...?"

"Funny business?" Darwin asked confused.

She smirked."Well, this is the first time you two have brought a girl home..."

All three of their eyes widened and they all began to blush as they realized what she meant.

"Mom!!!" The two exclaimed horrified, as Carrie looked away blushing.

"What?! I just thought since you don't usually invite girls around that maybe, y'know..."

"No, no way! Absolutely not!" Gumball exclaimed as he turned deep red.

She leaned forward with a grin."You sure!? I mean, I won't stop you..." She let out a snicker as she tried not to laugh at their reaction. Anais, who was watching from the dining room could help but giggle too.

"We don't like her like that! She's just a friend!" Darwin exclaimed, the two incredibly embarrassed.

She began to laugh. "Awwww, boys, I'm only winding you up!" She rubbed their heads affectionately as the two rolled their eyes. "You three go and have fun, okay?" She chuckled.

Before she could embarrass the two of them even more they eagerly dragged Carrie upstairs, leaving Nicole and Anais to continue laughing.

"Ooh, what to do? Play video games? Do you even like video games?" Gumball began to excitedly think out loud, as they entered their bedroom, giving Carrie no time to speak.

Darwin began to join in. "Ooh, no, we could play a board game! Or each a bunch of snacks and tell stories! Or maybe..."

Carrie kept trying to interrupt as the boys began to suggest many more ideas. Eventually, she lost her temper slightly and raised her voice.

"Guys!" She yelled.

They stopped and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"I...I really appreciate your enthusiasm but I...I can't do any of that..." She admitted, sounding a little guilty about it, despite it not being her fault.

"What do you mean? Why not?" Darwin asked.

"Since I'm a ghost I can't interact with objects. I just phase right through them. Same with food and drinks, they just go through me and fall out, so I can't consume anything either."

"Oh...okay..." Gumball's ears fell slightly.

Oh no, they look annoyed... Had I disappointed them? Had I just gone and ruined this whole thing...?

Suddenly he began to smile again. "Okay then, I know what to do then!" He announced confidently.

"What?" She asked.

He got up and grabbed a piece of paper from the desk, along with a pen, and removed the cap. "We'll make a list of all the actives you can and can't do, then decide which we wanna do!" He smiled and he began writing down a bunch of activities.

They were really going out of their way for me like this? Just to find something I could do? What had I done to deserve this?

"Any ideas?" He asked Darwin.

"Well, we've got sports, which we wouldn't wanna do anyway, video games cause they need a controller...ooh, board games! She can't move the pieces so we can't do them."

"Actually, I probably could do those. I have telekinesis, so I could just move the piece and dice that way."

They gasped as their faces lit up. "You have telekinesis!?" They exclaimed in awe.

"Y-Yeah, but I-I mean it really isn't that cool...it's just..."

"Awesome! You have to show us!"

"O-Okay then..."

She lifted her arm and began to levitate Gumball's pillow off of his bed and around the room.

"Oooooh!" The two exclaimed excitedly as they watched in delight.

Eventually, she placed the pillow back down again. "Ta-da!"

The two clapped, and she couldn't but smile slightly.

"Nevermind then, board games can go in the yes side!" Gumball smiled, crossing it out and moving it into yes.

"Ooh, and watching movies!" Darwin suggested.

"Yeah, and games like Truth or Dare and would you rather!"

The two began to eagerly suggest more ideas, and eventually they had come up with a list of what they wanted to do that night, starting with a movie.

The three went downstairs and sat on the sofa, picking a movie to watch from the DVDs they had.

Anais noticed and looked up from the book she was reading. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Watching a movie with Carrie. Wanna join?" Darwin invited her.

She thought for a moment before smiling. "Sure, why not!"

The boys smiled and moved up so that she could sit with them.

Once they were all comfortable, Gumball held out the remote.

"Right, we all ready?"

"Don't...don't you want any snacks or drinks?" Carrie asked them, noticing they had made no effort to get any.

Darwin shook his head. "Nah, you can't eat so it'd be pretty unfair and insensitive of us to be sat here munching away in front of you."

She looked at them surprised. "A-A-Are you sure? I mean, i-i-it's fine, honestly. I don't mind."

"Nah, it's fine, we're good." Gumball smiled.

Anais nodded in agreement. "Besides, we don't want to spoil our appetites for dinner anyway, so it's all good."

"I...thank you...I-I-I guess?" She replied, unsure of what else to say.

"You're welcome!" Darwin smiled as Gumball began the movie.

I've never had anyone be this thought to me before...this kind...why are they doing this for me? Did they really just feel bad for me?

As she watched the movie with them she found herself beginning to smile and laugh along with the three of them, and for the first time in years, decades even, she was genuinely having a good time, temporarily forgetting about her troubles.

Two hours later and the movie had ended.

Carrie noticed it was dark out and realized, much to her dismay, that she was going to have to leave and go home.

She sighed as she looked at the three of them. "Well, I had a great time guys, but it's getting dark out so I should really be getting home..."

"Aww, really?" Gumball frowned as his ears lowered.

"But there's loads more things we wanna do!" Darwin complained.

"I know, and I'd stay for longer if I could, but I can't really stay here all night, can I?"

"I guess not...' Gumball sighed. "We had a great time though!"

"Yeah, it was awesome! We definitely need to hang out more!"

They wanted to hang out with me again? They really enjoyed it that much...?

'Y-Yeah, for sure!" She replied with a weak smile.

The two walked her over to the door and opened it for her.

"I could've just phased through it..." She reminded them sheepishly.

"Oh, right, sorry." Darwin apologized.

"It's fine. So, uh...see you tomorrow at school? Maybe we could...talk at lunch?"

"Sure!" Gumball smiled. "I look forward to it!"

"Me too..." She smiled before turning around to leave. She thought to herself before turning back around.

"Hey uh...when...when I first came in, and you told your Mom that I was your friend...did...did you mean that?" She asked as she rubbed her arm.

"Of course!" Darwin smiled. "We'd love for you to be our friend!"

She hesitated as all of her emotions from throughout the night began to catch up with her.

The two of them had noticed me looking upset...all by myself...and instead of just ignoring me like everyone else they had gone out of their way for me. They'd hung out with me, a random classmate they'd never really interacted with before, just because they thought I look upset and lonely...

They made me feel so included, and welcome...they went out of their way to find an activity I could do and they were so kind about it. They didn't insult me or mock me for not being unable to do those things...they just smiled and worked out something I could do...even refusing to do something they thought would be insensitive to me...

As she thought to herself she began to cry softly, and before she knew it she found herself floating forward and hugging the two tightly.

"T-Thank you! You have no idea how much this has meant to me! Everything you've done tonight...how kind and considerate and inclusive you've been...and considering me a friend...it all just means so much!"

They hesitated, shocked at her sudden gesture, before smiling and wrapping their arms around her, hugging her back. "You're welcome..."

And that was the story of my first hang-out with Gumball and Darwin. It may not have seemed like much, but it meant more to me than I could ever express. It was the first step in my relationship with what have ended up being the two most important people in my life.

I owe so much to them both. Thanks to them, I'm happier than ever. I finally feel loved, and accepted, and appreciated, and I know that to most people that blue cat and his fish brother are nothing more than annoying troublemakers who cause chaos across Elmore, or their annoying but endearing classmates, but to me, they're more than that. They're not just my friends...

...they're my family.