The rest of the week went by in the same blur; I hung out with the Goth kids, I talked with the boys, I went over Wendy's afterschool one day; there wasn't anything particularly notable. Oh, dad started his job though; he was actually getting along pretty well with the Testaburger family; we planned to have dinner again soon, but this time it would be at our house. Overall, the rest of the week was pretty decent, besides not being able to talk much with Jimmy and the others in Craig's group of friends.

Once Friday night came, dad and I started getting everything ready for the yard sale; it wouldn't be huge; just a few old electronics, some clothes, an old bean bag, Van's old toys, and of course, the Bohr 3 gaming system that I prized so much. After we got everything together, we calculated prices – well, he did; I detested mathematics.

The night drew to a close and I put Van to bed and read him a story about superheros before going to bed myself. However, after I finally winded myself down and fell asleep, I could hear shouting coming from Van's room; dad was a heavy sleeper so whenever Van had a night terror, I had to get up. I slipped on my slippers and wrapped a blanket around me and wandered to Van's room where I found him wide eyed with the window open – the curtain moving with the air. Confused, I closed the window and sat on his bed.

"Hey, kiddo," I said. "Why was your window open?"

He calmed his breathing a bit as I hugged him and whimpered, "There was someone there."

"What?"

"He had a cape and a mask and was in purple," Van said and immediately, I calmed down. It was probably a dream he had and he opened the window to see if it was real.

"Oh, Van it's probably just a night terror," I yawned. "But, I'll stay in here with you if it'll help."

He nodded and huddled in the fetal position; he must've been terrified. I worried if the night terrors didn't stop, he'd have to see a therapist. I lied down next to him and combed his hair until I fell asleep myself.

The next morning, I left his room at five and wandered downstairs to start brewing coffee; I couldn't sleep very well; I had a few weird dreams myself, but they weren't about people in masks with capes, unfortunately; I'd rather have Van's hallucinations than my reality. The rest of the house usually slept until nine, so I assumed the yard sale wouldn't begin until noon. I really wished I had a phone so I could text my friends to come over; I had an old computer, but it was really only good for doing school work – maybe if I could save up enough from shoveling snow or getting a job, I could get one before my next birthday.

While the coffee took what seemed like hours in my delirious mind to brew, I went to the bathroom and washed the dried sweat from my face and tied my hair up into a messy bun; it wasn't a gross one as I'd done the first month being here, but rather, a classy feminine one; I supposed I was getting more in tune with myself and less depressed; today would definitely not be a makeup day and I assumed that I wouldn't even get out of my band shirt and sweats for the yard sale.

I went back into the kitchen to pour the coffee from the pot into my favorite teal mug; it was embellished with swirly white flowers. The sun still wasn't up yet. Back in NY, this time of year, the sun would rise a bit after six, but here it didn't rise until seven. It was only five thirty when I looked at the clock, so after I drizzled some sugar into my cup, I took my coffee upstairs and got out a book to read. After a few minutes, I opened my blinds so that when the sun started rising, I would know to begin breakfast. However, upon doing so, what I saw shocked the life out of me. It was, exactly as Van had described it; someone wearing a cape and a mask with a purple suit; he was almost hovering but not really in a way.

"What the hell," I mouthed out. Immediately I could see its eyes peering into me and I felt uncomfortable but somehow safe at the same time; had this entity been watching over us? Is that why Van saw it so late and now I was seeing it still so early. I closed my blinds and turned my lamp on, completely freaked out. I tried to read for the next hour, but my brain was elsewhere as my eyes scanned the pages.

Once the sun came out, I made sure the apparition was gone before I went downstairs to pour myself a second cup of coffee; it was still hot and I was happy. I started cooking pancakes made with bananas mashed together; they weren't exactly pancakes, but with a little cinnamon and maple drizzle, they were amazing. I paired that with a small pan of sautéed mushrooms, onions, and potatoes and chopped strawberries; produce wasn't as expensive in Colorado as NY but it was still more expensive than we would've liked it to be; but, that's why I needed a job. I hoped the yard sale would help us get through the extra winter expenses, though.

Within the last few minutes of me cooking, dad and Van made their way down the steps. I poured Van a cup of juice as dad made himself a cup of coffee.

"Thanks for cooking, sweetie," Dad said as he made him and Van a plate and went to sit in the living room.

As I said before, I only kind of enjoy television, however in the mornings, I would eat on the porch if the weather permitted; and today, it did so I took my coffee and food and sat outside. Not many people ventured outside their houses on a Saturday morning, but I was always greeted by those who did.

As usual, Kyle's dad greeted me on his way to work with a wave before driving away; his only days off were Friday and Sunday – I think one of those days held prevalence in Jewish culture, but I couldn't remember which one. It was weird that he always went in later on Saturdays, though; it was coming on ten o'clock and I usually saw him leave with Kyle at seven; so maybe it was Friday? (Authors Note: Friday Night into Saturday is Shabbat.)

After a few hours went by, father and I had set up for the yard sale and were excited to talk with neighbors more than anything. Business was slow for the first hour, so we sipped on our coffee lazily, however eventually Kyle and Stan's family came by. My dad talked to Stan's dad, Randy, while the women talked. Ike went inside to hang out with Van and I talked with Stan and Kyle.

"You're selling your Bohr?" Stan asked.

I sighed, "Yeah, yknow I don't really want it anymore."

"Liar," Kyle said. "Tell us what's up."

I sighed, even deeper, "We can't afford to have it anymore; my dad switched jobs and now works under Wendy's mom at her business."

"Oh," They both said.

After a few more minutes, Henrietta's family came, along with the Goth kids; Henrietta carried a parasol even though it wasn't that bright out.

"Hey, conformists," Michael greeted us. I thought he was also looping me into the mix, until he followed it with, "Hey, Emma."

I smiled, "Hey, Michael; I'm surprised you guys showed up."

He sighed, "Well, we were at Henrietta's house and her dad made us come with her."

I looked for Bradley and finally caught sight of him, "Hey, Bradley, Ike and Van are inside if you want to go play with them!"

He grinned at me and ran inside to join them. He was cool; I think he was in my grade or a grade below me, but he seemed to do so much better with kids Van's age, which I thought was cool; most kids my age wouldn't dare hang out with a kindergartener.

I noticed Henrietta looking at some of my old coats and walked over to her, leaving the Goths with Stan and Kyle.

"These aren't too bad," She commented. "Why are you getting rid of these?"

They were mostly just old band shirts and boots.

"I grew out of them," I admitted. "I like loose fitting clothes. I still have plenty of band shirts, though."

She nodded, "Cool."

When we walked back over to the conversation Kyle and his mom had left; I'd assumed they'd pick up Ike later. Not long after, Eric and his mom arrived and Stan and his family left; they would have stayed but his dad, Randy, was arguing with my dad about some sports team. When Eric joined the conversation, it was uncomfortable, but my dad seemed to be hitting it off pretty well with his mom; she was pretty too; I hoped she wasn't single though, because the thought of being around Eric too much made me shiver in fear.

"Wow conformist, what are you doing here?" Henrietta asked Eric.

"Just here with my mom," Eric answered. "She told me if I came I'd get ice cream later."

"No, but really," Pete said. "You clearly can eat whenever you want, so that's not it."

"Yeah, then what is it, huh?" Michael said.

"Did you want to come talk to Emma?" Firkle added.

I sighed, "Guys, leave him be..." He irked me but I didn't like seeing him get bullied.

"Meeeeeeemm!" Eric shouted. "These Goth losers are making fun of meeeee."

Eric's mom and my dad came over to see what the problem was.

"What are you emos doing on my property, anyways?" My dad asked.

"We're not emos!" Michael and Pete shouted.

I couldn't believe my dad would ask that in front of them. Thankfully, Henrietta's family already left because they probably would've gotten angry at my dad for harassing their daughter.

"These are my friends, dad," I said. "And Eric was just provoking them."

"Was not," He whined.

"Oh, Eric, come on, let's go home," His mom said, taking him by the hand, much to his aggravation. "It was nice talking to you." She gave my dad a flirty look and walked down the street to their house.

The rest of the day went pretty well; eventually the Goth kids left and Ike was picked up. We sold a decent amount of our stuff, except my Bohrs game system. We were about to call it a night when Jimmy and Tweek showed up, cash in hand.

"Hey, we heard you were selling your Bohrs," Tweek said, a bit spazzed out, as usual. This was the first contact I'd had with him in a week.

"Yuh-yeah, and we were um wondering," Jimmy began. "How muh-much it is?"

I shrugged, "It was originally a hundred, but what do you guys have?"

"Twenty," Tweek said.

"I hu-have thirty five," Jimmy added.

I looked at my dad and he nodded.

"Deal," He told the boys.

"Awe-awesome," Jimmy smiled.

"I guess today's over then," Dad said, as the sun was setting deeper into the sky.

I looked at the boys and smiled, "Do you guys want to join us for dinner? I'm making lasagna."

"Sure," Jimmy said and Tweek nodded in response.

"Awesome, I'll go get it started," I smiled and ran inside.

Outside the window, I could see Jimmy and Tweek talking and helping my dad clean up the yard sale as Van and I prepared dinner. I was happy. I was just nervous for the masked apparition and worried that it would haunt me again that night. Then again, I could always stay up and confront it myself…