After a few screw ups, yelling at each other a bit, and completing our set we went back to the base level. I nearly moaned at the smell of my mom's cooking, feeling my stomach agree with me.
"Shit, your momma knows how to cook like a god…" Frankie groaned and ran into the kitchen, probably trying to get some food early. I shook my head and looked over as Cory walked up beside me.
"Is it always like this here?" He asked and I shrugged.
"Eh, some days are better than others." I replied. "But for the most part, yeah."
"Wow…" He murmured, a bit sadly. "You're so lucky. I wish I had a big family." I smiled at him and ruffled his head.
"Hey, we can be family." I said and he looked at me with furrowed brows.
"How?"
"Like this. You're now my little bro. Done." I said with a smirk.
"But… don't you have to go through the adoption process?" He asked and I looked at him in thought.
"Well… yeah." I said truthfully. "But they don't really decide who's family or not. Family isn't just about blood or a paper that legally binds you to someone. Family is people you can rely on. People you can trust with your life." Cory blinked at me and nodded.
"Oh…" He said. "I get it! Thanks Allie!" He ran off into the kitchen and I smiled at him. My aunt came up beside me and stood.
"Family, huh?" She asked with a smile. "I bet that made his day."
"Yeah." I replied. "Too bad we can't just outright adopt him. He'd be a great little brother." My aunt hummed in response as she lightly pushed me forward.
"Come on, I bet your mother has dinner ready." She said and I nodded, walking into the kitchen as well.
0o0o0o0o0o
"Your family is the weirdest fucking people I've ever seen."
I laughed and looked at LJ, standing between Cory and I. Frankie looked at me weird as to why I laughed and I shrugged.
"Are you losing it, man?" He asked and I threw a piece of carrot at him.
"No, I told you, I was talking to Cory's invisible friend. He don't like you so you can't see him."
"Ouch, my feelings." Frankie said, feigning hurt. LJ snorted and turned away while Cory giggled. My mom watched Cory with a smile as she whispered to my aunt about something and Valerie nodded. I wondered what they were talking about.
"Frankie, I'm going to cut your goddamn fingers off!" Matthew snarled.
"Matthew, language." My mom scolded. "You know better." He muttered an apology while Frankie wiggled his brows. Cory seemed a bit confused by this and looked at me when Rosemary nudged him.
"Just ignore Frankie, he's always flirting with Matt." She said and Cory became even more confused.
"Aren't they both, uh, boys?" He asked.
"What's wrong with that?" Frankie turned to Cory, brows furrowed. Cory looked down, fidgeting like he was about to get yelled at.
"Um… M-Ms. McOlsen s-says that i-it's wrong…" He stuttered and I snorted.
"That lady thinks everything's wrong." I stated. "She don't know what she's talking about, Cory. Don't believe everything she says." He looked at me in worry.
"Yeah man," Frankie put in with a smile. "As long as you're happy in life, that's what matters. Who cares what you like and don't like?"
"I don't like any of you." LJ grumbled and I snickered, causing Cory to pout at the entity while everyone else just looked at us funny.
"That's so not fair…" Amy whined. "You guys can hear the friend and we can't… I wanna see what he looks like!"
"Use Google." Stephan countered. "That has everything."
"Are you kidding me? She'll probably get creepy fan porn." I laughed as Amy wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Gross…" She muttered. "Shouldn't Google have better filters for that?"
"Hell no, how else are they going to screw up horny twelve year olds?" Frankie countered.
"Is that what happened to you?" Matt hissed and Frankie grinned at him.
"Nah, honey, you happened~" He teased.
"Someone please kill me." LJ groaned as Cory and I laughed.
0o0o0o0o0o
I yawned as I ruffled my hair, heading to my room to go to bed. I had school tomorrow and I wanted to be nice and rested for whatever shit I missed.
And whatever demons wanted to try and kill me.
I passed Rosemary's room when I heard a faint giggle, pausing and looking at her door. My eyes narrowed as I crept up, hearing hushed whispers before I grinned. Seems like Cory and Rosemary had become close friends and didn't want to go to bed.
"Hey, isn't past your bedtime?" I asked through the door, causing the two to go quiet after a few shushes. I laughed and opened the door, seeing them both sitting on the floor with sheepish smiles.
"What're you two up to?" I asked as I leaned on the doorframe.
"Nothing!" Rosemary chirped. "Just… talking…" I laughed lightly.
"Come on, you two, it's bedtime." I stated and they both gave me pitiful looks.
"But… what if I leave tomorrow?" Cory asked. "Me and Rosemary just became friends…" I furrowed my brows before offering a smile.
"Hey, we'll just say we need ya for a while longer." I said. "No harm in that, okay?" Cory didn't look convinced, but nodded.
"Okay." He murmured as he bid Rosemary goodnight and left the room with me. I lead him to the guest room and ruffled his hair before saying goodnight, going to my own room to sleep as well.
0o0o0o0o0o
I blinked a few times, wondering why I'd woken up when I realized I was still dreaming. How'd I know this? I was at LJ's carnival.
Sitting up, I ruffled my hair and looked around, seeing the monochrome entity not too far from me, sitting on the ground and muttering to himself. I raised a brow at him.
"Isn't it a little late to be going crazy?" I asked him as he stiffened and turned to face me with a frown.
"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping, kid?" He countered dully, giving me a bored look and I shrugged.
"Well, I was, then I woke up here." I told him before looking around at all the broken tents and stuff. "Jesus, this place looks like hell, man."
"No shit, Sherlock." He hissed, looking away. I rolled my eyes and stood up, deciding to explore the place a bit. Was this where LJ stayed while he was in hiding? It sucks.
"Hey, where're you going?" LJ asked, getting up and following me with a frown.
"Going to look at this dump." I replied, earning myself an unamused snort from the entity. "Might as well since there's nothing else to do here."
"There's nothing here, kid. Dream up something else." LJ growls and crosses his arms. I stopped, turning to glare up at the entity.
"You seem really intent on getting me out of here." I accused. "What're you trying to hide, huh? A zombie army? Your own secret teddy bear collection?"
"What the fuck, kid." LJ deadpanned. "I don't have a zombie army… or a goddamn teddy bear collection." I snickered and turned around again, exploring the monochrome carnival. LJ begrudgingly followed, glaring down at me. It was eerie as all holy hell, but kind of neat at the same time. Busted and broken tents, games, and some rides littered the area while a light fog covered most of the ground.
"Kid, seriously, you shouldn't be here." He pressed as we passed by one of the games. He wasn't looking at me, but glancing around. Almost as if he was nervous about something.
"Why not?" I countered, giving the entity a raised brow at his behavior. "Place looks dead anyways."
"Because I fucking said so."
"Wow, how preschool of you."
"Shut up."
I just laughed and turned to walk again, but froze, my eyes widening a bit. There was a little girl standing in front of me, probably around the age of five. She wasn't alive, given the whitish glow around her and the transparency of her figure. Her light brown—or just regular brown considering the transparency—hair was drawn into pigtails. She wore some ratty overalls with a yellow shirt underneath. She stared up at me with one blue eye and an empty eye socket, blinking at me with curiosity.
"Who're you?" She chirped.
