AN: I forgot a few disclaimers. Any video game belongs to their developers. There was another one, too, but I can't remember what it was . . . Oh, well, I'll remember it sooner or later. Thanks to AceLions, Starling Powers, and Calm-Waters for their reviews. Now I bring you
Stars, Chapter One: The Making of Our Story
I cracked open an eye, trying to find my phone. I couldn't remember if I had put it on top or underneath my comforter. And the annoying little ringtone I had set for the alarm wasn't helping any. Finally finding it (next to my pillow), I pushed the middle button to turn off the alarm. I would have pushed the snooze button, but I doubted I'd get up in time. The clock said seven, but my body was screaming "What the hell?! Go back to sleep, you idiot! It's fucking five o'clock in the morning!" Apparently, my body was still on Arizona time, as opposed to Connecticut time.
That was one helluva move. And only a few days after Christmas. Okay, so it wasn't that bad, but I used to live in the Valley of the Sun, and moving to this freezing hell hole was going to take some serious getting used to.
Speaking of freezing hell holes, I had to get out of my nice warm bed before Mike came in and kicked my ass outta bed. Rummaging around under my covers, I grabbed my fluffy, leopard print robe, and attempted to put it on. Alright, that wasn't gonna work. Damn.
I glared at my dogs, who had been watching me with interest.
"Don't give me that look, Nero," I told the grey miniature schnauzer. He was the youngest, and the fattest. And he was really cute, especially when he'd cock his head at you. "I don't care how cute you are, this is all your fault." Then I shifted my gaze to Duchess. She was white, and a mini schnauzer also. And she was the smallest. A runt of her litter. Also, the daintiest of the three. "This is your fault, too, little missy."
I slipped out of bed, and nearly yelped when my feet touched the cold hardwood floor. Oh, how I missed carpet. Then I put on my robe, grabbed my iPod, turned on shuffle, and left my room, the dogs following me.
My room was at the end of the hall, with my little brother's next to me, and my parent's on the opposite side of the hall, a little ways down. They had our third mini schnauzer, Greta. She was the oldest, largest, and black. Yup, we had one of each. And every morning, I had to get up, and take them outside. At least, back in Arizona, we had a fenced in backyard. Here? Not so much. But I was lucky. Since it was so freakin' cold, they wouldn't wander far.
After the dogs did their thing, I made my way into the kitchen. It was bigger than the old one, for which I was absolutely thrilled. Opening the freezer, I heard someone coming down the stairs. Judging by the cadence, I guessed it was my step-dad, Mike.
I was answered with his gruff voice asking, "Fix my coffee yet?"
"Working on it," I told him. One would think he'd be able to smell if I had done it yet. He was up a little early. Must be the fact his new job started today. That's why we moved. Mom's work decided they'd send her and Mike out to the branch out here. The pay was better, and well, Mike would finally have a solid job. He had left his job back when my brother was tiny so he could take care of him. We had bad luck with babysitters, if I remember correctly. And now, Mike was having difficulties getting back into the job front. I guess it happened when you had too much education, and not enough experience. But all was good now.
And here I am, nineteen, moving across the country with my family. Sure, I could have stayed back there, but I really didn't have anywhere to stay. I could have stayed with my grandparents, but I can only sleep on the couch for one night. I could have stayed with at my Dad's place. If I had a death wish. I could have stayed with my great-grandmother. Wait, no I couldn't. I had to be at least sixty-five. Okay, I could have stayed with my best friend and her husband. But I didn't. Why? Well, if something should have gone terribly wrong with that arrangement, I would have no place to fall back on. So I moved.
Since I was a college student, I had to transfer to the New York Scientific University. And by some crazy twist of fate, I got a full ride scholarship. They even hooked me up with a job at the bookstore. That was awesome of them, but I still had to wait a few weeks before the semester started. The school was only about two hours away, but in my little shetland pony of a car, I'd have to stay in the dorms. That should be fun. Yippee.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
An hour later, my parents where ready to leave for their first day at the new job! Woohoo! Yes, I tend to be rather sarcastic in the morning.
"Sweetie," my mother said.
"Yes, Mom?"
"What are you going to do today?"
"Weeelllll, since everything's all unpacked, and I'm all situated for school, I guess I'll explore the house for a bit. Why? Was there something I had to do?"
"No, just wondering. Make sure your brother stays out of trouble."
"Okay, I'll lock him in the closet."
Mike nodded. "Just don't forget to feed him."
"I'll see what I can do," I told them with a grin and a double thumbs up.
Mom just shook her head and sighed, then they left.
Before I was going to do any exploring, I was going to take me a nice hot shower. Or at least try to.
It was about 11:30 when I made my way to the attic. I'd never been in an attic, so I saved it for last.
There were boxes of things we'd never unpack . . . and a vanity? I didn't recognize it, so I tiptoed over to it. Hm, it was kinda cool, with it's three drawer mini dresser, and largish mirror with a crack. I wanted it. And taking it to my room was gonna be an adventure. Seeing as I had no idea how I was going to get it down the stairs. I looked at the vanity, and then the stairs. And did it a few more times.
Oh! I had an idea! I turned off my iPod, stuffing the headphones into my pocket so they wouldn't be in the way, and dragged the vanity to the stairs. Then I laid it on it's side, and pulled it down the stairs.
I got it onto my room with out any trouble, and placed it against the wall with the door. I had to slide it to the side so it wasn't directly across from my other vanity dresser. That one was dark brown, huge, and had all my little knickknacks, hats, and wear-around-the-house clothes. This one was a soft white, and almost dainty like. I glanced between the two mirrors, making sure they weren't reflecting each other, and satisfied with arrangement, I stood in front of my new vanity. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I'd figure that out later. For now, I ran my finger along the crack. 'Cause I'm stupid like that. This time, I did yelp as the glass sliced my finger, and I immediately put the injured digit in my mouth. I stared as an impossible amount of my blood filled the crack that ran the entire length of the mirror. Then my eyes widened in surprise as the glass glowed brightly . . .
. . . and a guy fell through. I stared at him, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. But he was staring at m, too, probably thinking the same thing. His oh so green eyes looked into mine, and his wild blonde hair looked like he had just woke up. I could see he was wearing a black and white striped sports coat, but other than that, I couldn't tell. But it was his skin that confused me the most: deathly pale, with a slight purple tint, and dark purple circles around those crazy green eyes.
"Are you a vampire," I asked him around my finger.
"Um, no," he answered in a gravelly voice.
"Then what are you?"
"I'm the ghost with the most, sweetheart."
I didn't say anything else as took my finger out of my mouth and examined it. Nothing serious, and it had stopped bleeding. Then I rubbed my nose with the side of my hands. Hey, it's what I do.
"So, Kitty, what are you doin' in this house?"
I glared at him. "My name ain't 'Kitty'. And why do you care?"
"Yer name's 'Kitty' now, and it don't matter why I care."
"Whatever. I live here," I answered him, and there was a knock at my door. "What do you want, Zach?"
My little brother opened my door. "When are you fixing my lunch?"
I rolled my eyes. Of course that's what he wanted. "I'll be down in a minute. Figure out what you want."
"I want the pasta thing."
"Okay, I'll be down in a minute."
After my brother left, I returned my attention to the ghost in my mirror. He had straightened up, and was leaning against the frame, his hands in his pocket.
"Looks like yer life is a Cinderella story, but I don't see the Prince anywhere."
"I wouldn't want a prince anyway. I'd rather have a knight. So, Mr. Ghost, you got a name?"
"Yeah."
"Well?"
"I can't tell you."
"So, what, I have to guess?"
"Ever played charades?"
"No."
He raised an eyebrow at my answer. I guess he wasn't expecting that. "You good at readin' signatures?"
"Relatively."
He pulled out a pen and paper, and signed his name with a flourish. I took the offered paper, and read it.
"Bee . . . is that 'tee ell', 'ell tee', or double 'tee'?"
"'Tee ell'."
"Beetle . . . ." The second half looked like there was a 'j' followed by some unclear letters, possibly a 'c', and ending with an 'e'. Juice, mayhaps? "Is it Beetlejuice?"
"That's it!"
"Beetlejuice," I repeated, skeptically.
"Yup."
"What the hell kinda name is Beetlejuice?" I eeped in shock when he suddenly appeared next to me. His insane grin was ever so slightly intimidating, and I took a half step away from him.
"It's my kinda name, my little kitten," he said, standing there with one serious air of cockyness.
"Um, okay, I'm gonna go fix my brother some lunch. You stay here, 'kay?"
"Sure," he said with a shrug.
God help me, what have I done?
Most chicks had a thing for guys in uniform. My mom had a thing for guys in tuxedos. Me? I had a thing for a guy in a black tie and a classic pinstripe suit.
There was guy in a black tie and a pseudo-pinstipe suit in my room.
What. The. Hell.
I will admit I was rather intrigued by the . . . ghost, so I now had a tiny internal battle going on. One part of me wanted to stay away from him, one part wanted to find out more about him. And one part wanted some sushi, but that didn't seem like a viable option at the moment.
After I made my brother his lunch, I made my way back to my room. Of course, I didn't expect to see him pawin' through the top drawer of my dresser.
"What are you doing?"
"Tryin' ta figure out yer personality." He didn't stop looking through the drawer.
"By examining my underwear?"
"Yup."
"Do tell."
Finally, he turned to look at me.
"Judgin' by the fact none of yer socks are matched, yer very laid-back. Due to the majority of yer panties have the same cut, and by their patterns, you wanna feel cute. But since there also is quite a bit of lace in there, you wanna feel a little sexy, despite yer innocence. Same goes for yer choice of bras. And since there is only one matchin' set, you tend to be rather random."
My God, that was disturbingly accurate.
AN: Well, whadya think? Hmm, I only have a few things planned for these two at the moment, and I want it to last more than a month or two, so if you have any ideas let me know! I'll see if I can work it in. Also, I have two places for this to end. It depends on how well you like Kitty. That means you have to leave me a review. :nods: Oh, and I now accept anonymous reviews (didn't realize I hadn't before), so yeah.