Pity Party
Molly lies in her bed staring up at the ceiling. A distant expression on her face as her mind plays out memories of the school dance. Once joyful, now overshadowed by a hue of sadness as she realizes she has to let Ollie go if she wants to keep Scratch safe.
The thought leaves her heartbroken. Tears fall and she turns around, trying to be as quiet as possible so she doesn't wake anyone up.
Scratch is in the Ghost World taking on more responsibilities as The Chairman so Molly doesn't have to worry about waking him up in his little ghost house. Still, her family is downstairs and she doesn't want to worry them.
Molly can't help but wonder if things could be different. Holding onto hope that she can still have the best of both worlds.
Why? Why do I have to choose between my friend and my crush? Why can't it be simple? The main character in my favorite animated movies always gets their happy ending…That's all I want. Am I asking for too much? Am I being selfish?
Running on no sleep, Molly lets her emotions get the best of her. She gets out of bed, wipes away her tears, and gets out her scheming board. Ready to make a plan and find some balance in this chaos.
"Who says I can't have a ghost hunter for a boyfriend and be a friend to ghosts? It's possible! I know it is. I just have to think…" Molly said.
Molly starts laughing as she begins to write and draw up her plan, using her red string on the board to find connections. She's getting in the zone and can feel that intense excitement and electric energy coursing through her.
"This is all going to work out. I know it! Everything's going to be perfect." Molly said.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Pete and Sharon make breakfast while Darryl's sitting at the table playing games on his phone. It's Saturday, so everyone's home and ready to have a relaxing weekend. Little do they know, Molly has her own plans.
Pete and Sharon look at one another concerned. It's late in the morning and Molly's usually awake and making breakfast for everyone herself. They can't help but wonder if something happened at the dance last night.
"Darryl, can you go check on your sister? It's not like her to sleep in this late." Sharon said.
Darryl looks away from his phone annoyed.
"She's probably just sleeping in. The dance was pretty crazy last night. Did you know that she and Ollie got crowned king and queen? Then Molly just left without an explanation. I don't know what happened, but maybe she just wants some privacy." Darryl replied.
Before Pete and Sharon can respond, they hear Molly upstairs.
"Yes! This is all falling into place. It's the perfect plan…Stop crying, we need to celebrate! Everything is fine!" Molly said.
Now even Darryl looks worried.
"Okay, that's not normal, even for Molly. Maybe I should go check on her." Darryl said.
Sharon stops Darryl while Pete starts walking towards Molly's room.
"No, it's okay Darryl. Your Dad and I will handle this." Sharon said.
Sharon meets up with Pete under the doorway to Molly's attic room. Both nervous, but ready to help Molly with whatever's going on in her world.
Molly's room is now filled with papers, pictures, and her scheming board now connecting the dots to how she'll make her dream a reality. It's organized chaos, something only Molly is able to achieve. It's both brilliant and worrying.
Suddenly, Molly snaps out of it when she hears her parents.
"Molly, is everything okay up there?" Sharon asked.
"It sounds like you're working on something important. Is there any way we can help?" Pete asked.
Molly freezes. The last thing she wants is for her parents to see her in this obsessive state.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Everything is totally normal! And I don't need help, but thanks for asking. I'm just working on a school project." Molly replied.
Pete and Sharon can hear it in Molly's voice. That tired yet energized tone and they just know she's going through something.
"Okay, but maybe you should take a break? We've got breakfast ready." Sharon said.
"It's your favorite, confetti cake pancakes with rainbow sprinkles." Pete added.
Just hearing her parents being so kind brings tears to Molly's eyes. She knows they're just trying to help so she gives in.
"Okay okay, I'll be down in a minute." Molly said.
Molly starts getting ready, trying her best to hide her messy hair and dark circles under her eyes, but she knows it's no use. She's exhausted and that's going to show no matter how cheerful and smiley she acts.
So, Molly takes a deep breath as she tries to calm herself, but she's in that hyper and energetic mood and it's almost impossible to come down from that.
Molly looks in the mirror, ready to face the day with a forced smile.
"Well, here goes everything!" Molly said.
Molly heads downstairs and into the kitchen with a smile. She can see the concern on her parents and even her brother's faces as she sits down at the table.
Once everyone's sitting down and has their breakfast, Darryl's the first one to break the awkward silence.
"Molly, you don't look so good. Are you okay?" Darryl asked.
Deep down, Molly feels anxious and overwhelmed about her situation. She wants to tell them, but something's holding her back. A subconscious block that forces her to be happy even when she's not.
"Of course I'm okay! Just tired from the dance last night. Nothing happened! I just…It was just a lot, but I'm fine." Molly replied.
Sharon takes Molly's hand and tries to comfort her.
"You know you can tell us anything, right?" Sharon asked.
Pete starts to get suspicious about Ollie, just seeing his daughter like this breaks his heart.
"If Ollie hurt you…" Pete said.
Hearing his name, Molly starts to cry. It's not what her Dad thinks, he didn't hurt her. She hurt him by leaving him without an explanation and she's conflicted about whether or not it was the right thing to do.
"No, it's not that. It's…You know what, I'm not hungry. I'm going to go work on my project." Molly said.
Molly gets up from the table and runs back up to her room as fast as she can in tears. She shuts the door, locking it behind her, but she can hear her parents and Darryl below, calling out to her.
I knew this would happen. Why did I even go downstairs? I should have just stayed up here in my room where it's safe. I just need a healthy distraction. Got it, I'll just keep working on my plan. Yeah, that'll take my mind off things.
Molly goes to her board and starts getting in the zone again. Blocking out the world around her as she gets lost in her own world.
Suddenly, Molly snaps out of it when she sees a ghost portal appear out of nowhere.
Scratch flies through the portal and closes it behind him. Then he sees the chaos that unfolded while he was gone and realizes Molly got lost in another obsession.
Just as Scratch is about to angrily ask what happened, he stops when he sees the state Molly's in. He can tell she's hurt, but desperately trying to hide it behind a smile.
"What happened? Is everything okay?" Scratch asked.
Molly doesn't know what to say, so she turns her board around and quickly tries to pick up all the scattered papers all around her.
"Molly, stop cleaning! What's going on?" Scratch asked.
Molly stops and starts laughing through her tears again.
"Nothing! Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm fine, okay? I just want to be left alone." Molly replied.
Scratch turns Molly's board around and tries to make sense of her plan.
Molly stands there frozen. Seeing the sad look on Scratch's face makes her feel worse, so she speaks up.
"I'm sorry, Scratch. This…It's just, I really like Ollie and I can't just let that feeling go. There has to be a way I can be with him and still be your friend. I just have to show him that ghosts aren't the enemy." Molly said.
Scratch looks over Molly's plan, seeing how she plans on doing this and it scares him.
"Let me get this straight. You want me to open a portal so you can change into a ghost and show him that ghosts are good? Molly, do you realize how dangerous that is?" Scratch asked.
Molly thinks about this, realizing that she may be putting herself at risk, but she's not giving up.
"It'll be fine. Ollie cares about me, and when he sees me as a ghost, it might change his heart. I have to believe it will work. And if you won't help me…" Molly replied.
Scratch gets curious about what Molly's going to say next. He didn't know how far she's fallen down this hole and it worries him.
"If I won't help you, then what?" Scratch asked.
Molly's forced smile disappears and she gets serious. She's ready to confront the truth.
"I'll have to find a way to turn into a ghost myself." Molly replied.