-Banging head on keyboard- This. Chapter. Sucks.

The problem is I KNOW of all the awesome stuff I'm gonna do for the climax, but there's some boring stuff that's hard for me to write that has to happen before I can get to that...

So bear with me, please.

You need him. I could be him...
I could be an accident but I'm still trying.
That's more than I can say for him.

Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman.
Maybe he won't find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town.

-Grand Theft Autumn, Fall Out Boy


On the second day of school, Coraline was just as bored as ever. Science class was the worst of all, seeing as Wybie was currently her only friend.

Well, there was that new guy…

Speaking of him, every time Coraline looked up he turned his head, as though he had been looking at her. Coraline raised an eyebrow, feeling mildly weirded out.

It was only when the teacher, Mrs. Cabot, told the class to split up into pairs that Coraline began paying attention. Mrs. Cabot had a voice that sounded like the engine on Wybie's bike. Plus, she laughed at her own jokes.

"Hey," Coraline jumped when she heard his voice. Sebastian Abaddon was looking down at her, looking nervous, "you, uh, wanna be partners?"

"Sure," Coraline said after a moment. As he sat down, an awkward silence stretched over them until Coraline finally admitted, "I don't know what we're supposed to be doing."

"You weren't paying attention?" Sebastian guessed. Coraline nodded sheepishly. Sebastian laughed, his black bangs falling into his eyes. Coraline scowled.

"It's not funny!"

"You're right, you're right…" Sebastian had to struggle to stop laughing, but after a few moments he turned serious again. "Now, we're converting units of measurement."

"The metric system," Coraline groaned, "we don't even use that here."

"Well, I would assume they are trying to make the next generation of Americans less dumb."

"Good luck," Coraline sighed, and Sebastian laughed again.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

"No, that was actually supposed to be funny." Coraline glanced at him oddly. She shrugged, guessing by his dark skin and slight hint of an accent that he was just foreign or something.

"Anyway," she swept on, "first we have to convert six decameters in kilometers. Okay, who uses decameters anyway? I don't think they even use 'em in Europe."

"Maybe Japan?" Sebastian supplied. Coraline shrugged.

"Then why don't they send these worksheets over to Japan?"

"I wouldn't know."

This pointless conversation carried on through the whole class, and only when the bell rang did Coraline realize that they hadn't even answered the first question. Not exactly the best start to the new school year, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to care.

Wybie felt sick to his stomach, and it wasn't because of the cafeteria food, either.

No, he was slumped in his chair, watching that Sebastian kid and Coraline talking away about nothing. It wasn't anything important, anyway, but Wybie couldn't help but feel steamed as he watched them. At least when Coraline talked to him, it was about something. It was only when they argued that their subject of conversation dissolved into nonsense.

Wybie had no idea why just watching them talk was making him so irritated. He didn't care who Coraline talked to, and he had been prepared for her to make new friends this year and not want to see him; but he didn't expect that stuff to happen so soon, and he didn't expect it to make him mad.

When Sebastian suddenly got to the subject of exactly what shade of blue Coraline's hair was, Wybie felt like he was going to barf. Could this guy make it any more obvious that he liked Coraline? He was flirting with her, that was for sure, and Wybie couldn't watch them anymore.

"I'm gonna go outside," he said abruptly, "see you later, Jonesy."

Coraline looked at him curiously before nodding, "well, okay Wybie. See you later."

Dumping his lunch tray in the trash can, Wybie was almost out of the cafeteria when he felt as though someone was staring at him. Turning around, he saw Sebastian Abaddon himself giving him a cold stare. This wasn't what surprised Wybie the most.

It was as though Sebastian's irises had filled out his entire eyes, covering the whites. His eyes had been brown when Wybie had last seen him, but now they were wholly and completely black. Coal black.

"I'm telling you, Cat, there is something seriously wrong with that guy."

Cat jumped down from the windowsill and gave Wybie a curious glance. Jumping up on the bed to sit next to him, Cat meowed.

"He was glaring at me, and his eyes were black. Just completely black, and at first I thought it was a trick of the light but there was no way."

Cat hissed, and for a moment Wybie almost believed he was really listening. The feline pawed at Wybie's shirt, as though waiting for him to say more.

"And he was just staring at me, like he was gonna eat me! And Coraline doesn't notice a thing wrong with him, and she always knows when something weird is going on."

Wybie stood up and paced, remembering the events that had happened after lunch.

"And when we were in English, she was completely out of it. I told her that her hair was on fire and, and I got nothing. And she was wearing this weird locket too. Probably something Sebastian gave her." Wybie spit out the boy's name like it was a curse.

If Wybie was looking at Cat, he would've noticed that his eyes were wider than normal. When Cat sprang off the bed and out of the room, Wybie watched him go with wide eyes.

"Cat? Where are you going?" Wybie would have followed if his grandmother hadn't called him for dinner at that exact moment.

"He'll come back," Wybie told himself.

The plain black cat leaped towards the Pink Palace Apartments at an amazing pace, climbing up the ledges outside of the house until he came to a familiar window. Looking inside, a low terrified sound rose in his throat as he looked at the necklace on top of Coraline Jones' dresser.

'She's not going to give up on this, is she?' Cat thought angrily.

On the dresser sat a black locket, engraved to look like a small, black button.