Around 5 o'clock pm, the whole downtown of Ashland was deserted, which was the least bit surprising as downtown tended to be dull and uninteresting. This grey little part of the city was the last place Coraline wanted to be on the first day of summer break. She should've just dropped everything, papers and all, and marched right on home. Or better yet she should've dropped everything, march down to Lauren's place and bop her right in the nose!
It was the least that snobby little princess deserved. While she was up in her mansion "preparing refreshments" as she called it, Coraline and Wybie were down here doing her bidding like a couple of slaves!
"If she cares so much about her brother, why doesn't she go look for him herself?" she scowled.
There wasn't even a single soul to pass out flyers to. She had spent the entirety of the afternoon taping up posters to poles and store entrances, but even after hitting every nook and cranny of the area she still had a pile of papers left over. She then thought about Wybie who had agreed to take the east side and hoped he was having better luck than she was.
Coraline began to make her way down the street to meet up with her friend while on the way she noticed a figure sitting in one of the benches. She had passed that bench several times today when it was empty, so he must've just sat down not even fifteen minutes ago. As she walked toward his direction she noticed that he was slouched over, arms propped on his legs as though he had a headache. A little closer and she noticed that he was a kid around her age, maybe a little older, though he wasn't wearing a uniform and she doesn't remember seeing him around school. Instead he had on a white coat with short sleeves and black knee high pants. He must've been awfully humid in those heavy black army boots, not to mention his face was covered by a black, oily mess of hair. He was facing downward, so he probably didn't notice when Coraline stepped in front of him until she attempted to make contact.
"Um…excuse me…"
"Wha…" was the kids only reply. He sounded like someone who just woke up from a deep sleep.
When he lifted his head, Coraline pulled back a bit as a whiff of sweat and alcohol flew past her nose. She could now see his sick face which was ridden with an ill, almost blank expression. He had ice blue eyes, pale white skin, and smelled like P.E. At first she thought he was a vampire until she noticed the perspiration flowing down his chin. Just looking at this guy made her nauseated.
"Uh…" Coraline fumbled through the papers. "Have you seen this kid?" She held out a flyer to his face, drowsy eyes attempting to focus on what was in front of him.
He tiredly grabbed the sheet of paper and examined it as if he had just been handed a pop quiz, turning and flipping it to the other side. His mouth hung open as though he had an answer to her question, instead he hurled up a pitcher of chunky fluids right on Coraline's boots. She jumped back a foot away, disgusted and frustrated. She fought the urge to look down at her feet, lest she'd wind up hurling as well.
"What is wrong with you!" She screamed at him, but the only thing he uttered was that same dumb sound-"Wha…"
The kid continued to make that brainless stare at her, with a trail of brown fluid dripping from his mouth. Combined with the sweat, his odor was unbearable.
With that, Coraline flung the remaining missing signs at the miserable kid, papers flying in all directions. Even then he seemed clueless as his head slowly tilted left and right, as if the posters where pretty little butterflies. Leaving him to wallow in his stupidity, Coraline stormed down the sidewalk, making a squish and a squash as she stomped along the way.