Author's Note: Here we are with another chapter of the Ghost, the Trickster, and Molly McGee. I know I said last week that I wasn't going to upload new chapters of this regularly for now, but I just couldn't resist making this chapter. It's probably one of the ones I was looking forward to the most, and you're about to see why.
Before we begin, I'd like to let you in on some stuff. As you may know, I'm skipping some of the episodes of the canon show, so I'll share with you a current list of all the Ghost and Molly McGee chapters that I will be covering, including this one. Here they are...
The Don't-Gooder
Twin Trouble
Goat Your Own Way
A Very Hungry Ghost
Citizen McGee
The Internship
The Lucky Penny
Out of House and Home
Home is Where the Haunt Is
Scaring is Caring
All Night Plight
The Jig is Up
Molly vs the Ghost World
That's all I currently have right now. If anyone has any ideas for what to do with the ones I missed, let me know.
The song featured here is a parody of "My Grand Plan" from Percy Jackson: the Musical.
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
"We did it, guys!" Molly announced at the front door of the school next to three garbage cans. There was a banner above the cans that read "RECYCLE". "Brighton Middle School's recycling program is officially a go."
"It is astonishing that there are so many recycling programs, and yet, you mortals are still tearing apart a large section of your earth every day." Loki commented.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Molly said. "For now, it is my honor to kick off Volunteer Week by recycling the very first can. Scratch…"
Scratch emptied the soda can into his mouth before holding it over one of the cans. "Consider the week kicked… OOF!"
All of a sudden, Scratch was interrupted when the front door slammed into him when it was open by Andrea Davenport. She pointed her camera phone at herself smiling for everyone watching her live stream.
"Happy Volunteer Week, Fandreas! Be like me and give Mother Nature a perfectly manicured hand by recycling!" She proceeded by throwing a single plastic cup in one of the cans.
While Andrea walked back to her mother's car, the front entrance was suddenly flooded with students throwing their recyclable trash into the cans. Within a few seconds, all three garbage cans were filled to the rim.
"Recycling is the first step in saving the Earth." Andrea said. "It's hard work, but someone had to do it. I love you. Bye!"
While Andrea rode off of school, Scratch watched in anger. "That someone was us! Who does this Andrea think she is? She's just gonna roll in, take all the credit?"
"Yeah. It is unfair." Loki agreed.
"She did get people to recycle." Molly said. "And that's what matters."
"Really?" Scratch asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes. So, you know, what if she's got the adoration of thousands of online followers? We have grimy fingers from a job well done."
"And you're proud of grimy fingers?" Loki asked.
Molly's next stop was Brighton's Bark Park. It took a long time, but Molly and Loki managed to clean the entire place up.
"Phew! There! Brighton's Bark Park is clean again!" Molly declared. "Let the puppy kisses commence!"
"Actually…" Loki said pointing at Andrea, who just came in and poured a bottle of water into a dog dish. She was then approached by a reporter.
"I love what you've done here, Andrea! 'Local Do-Gooder Proves Anything is Pawsible'!"
"I don't mind getting a little dirty to help our furry friends." Andrea said before getting licks from a puppy which she casually pushed away.
"My puppy kisses." Molly gasped.
"That should be your face covered in dog slobber!" Scratch said.
"Why don't you go confront her and set the record straight?" Loki asked.
"No. No. Because credit doesn't matter." Molly said. "I mean, Andrea gets the fancy photo ops and beagle smooches. But we got… Uh…"
"Grimy fingers?" Loki asked.
"I'm thinking. Gimme a minute."
"AH-HAH! DONE!" Molly said after cleaning the river. "Now, we can officially downgrade the Brighton River from health nightmare to health hazard."
"That's a pretty big garbage pile." Loki said looking at the mountain of garbage. His eyes then caught Andrea who walked to the mountain and added one little leaf with the cameras pointed at her. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"
"I'm here with hometown do-gooder, Andrea Davenport!" the reporter said handing her a sash. "How does it feel to be the Volunteer of the Week of Volunteer Week?"
"THEY NAMED HER WHAT?!" Scratch asked angrily. He reached out to attack Andrea, but Molly grabbed him and held him back.
"No, Scratch! Stop it! Look, Andrea's getting an award, and of course she is! Why not since she has everything else she wants? But you know what she doesn't have?"
"Your extreme capacity for delusion?" Scratch guessed.
"A wild possum in her hair?" Loki guessed.
"What?" Molly asked before noticing the possum on top of her head. She screamed as she attempted to fight it off.
While Molly panicked with the possum, Loki turned back to keep listening in on Andrea.
"Volunteer of the Week of Volunteer Week? Wow. I'm just doing my part to enhappify Brighton. That's just a silly little word I came up with. And trademarked."
"Well, this can't lead to anything good." Loki said.
The next day at school, Molly's impatience and temper kept getting tried every minute. Up until lunch, all she could hear was how proud her peers and teachers were at Andrea for all her "hard work".
"Can you believe Andrea cleaned up the whole Bark Park by herself?"
"And she started the recycling program."
"She recycled ONE paper cup!" Molly burst out.
"So much for settling with grimy fingers." Loki commented.
"Charity is not a competition, Ms. McGee." Principal O'Connor said suddenly appearing. "Doing good is its own reward."
Molly stammered. "But that's what I've been say…"
"Now, onto the charity competition!"
"The what-now?" Loki asked.
"We're raising money for a much needed school marquee." Principal O'Connor said. "As the final event for Volunteer Week, whoever sells the most nougat bars will get a big, fancy trophy. Sign up now for the Tournament of Nougat!"
"Question." Loki said. "How big is this trophy?"
"You can bathe in it."
Loki put on a mischievous smile. "I'm sold. I'm signing up."
"Yes! Me too!" Molly announced. "I'm gonna help by selling more candy than Andrea Davenport."
"Vengeful charity." Scratch said mischievously. "I'm so proud of you."
"Now, hold on. Because it's not about revenge."
"Since when?" Loki asked.
"I just wanna do good for the school. And if that happens to show Brighton who the real do-gooder is, then we got her!"
"Right by the nougat!" Scratch said.
Molly and Loki proceeded to write their own names on the sign-up sheet, but not before Andrea already signed her own name first.
"Molly! Lukas! So great of you both to help! You'll sell nougat. I'll sell more nougat. We'll earn enough for that marquee in no time."
"Whatever you say, Andrea." Loki said.
"May the best do-gooder win." Molly said with resentment in her tone.
Throughout the weekend, Molly, Loki, and Andrea went their own pace on their sales. Molly used her cuteness and kindness to sell plenty of candy bars, even to the mayor. Loki used his magic and tricks to make his sales, especially by disguising himself as a happy customer for others. Andrea, on the other hand, was too preoccupied with her social media to notice Scratch sabotaging her, eating her nougat, and sending the others to the Ghost World.
Death and the Ghost Council were both confused and stunned silent at the raining nougat bars that fell from Scratch's portal. One bar fell in Death's bony hand.
"If you're trying to bribe me, you're going to have to do better than that!" Death cried out before taking a bite of the bar anyway. "Hmm. Not bad."
The sales were all over. All the students and staff gathered in the school's auditorium awaiting the results. Molly and Loki both shared confident smirks.
"I worked twice as hard and cared nine times as much!" Molly said. "I'm gonna win that award. There's no way I don't."
"Don't push your luck, Molly." Loki said. "You may sell more than Andrea, but there's no way you sold more than me."
"Oh, we'll see about that, god boy." Molly returned with a smirk.
Loki's smile dropped. "Whoa. I understand you being competitive with Andrea, but why are you taking it out on me?"
"Sorry. I just really want to crush Andrea." Molly said.
Principal O'Connor tapped on his microphone getting all the students' attention. "The winner of Volunteer Week's Tournament of Nougat iiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssss… Ah, I'm kidding! You know who it is. Andrea Davenport!"
"WHAT?!" Molly and Loki asked with the greatest of surprise.
"Hard work truly does pay off!" Andrea stated as she headed to the stage.
"You kidding me?!" Molly asked leaving the school with her friends. "She has everything! Why does she have to take the one thing I have? And she didn't even try."
"Believe me, Molly. I know what you mean." Loki said. "Back at Asgard, I worked twice as hard as Thor in whatever we both did, and he always got all the glory. Trust me when I say that when you're treated unfairly, you treat them twice as unfairly."
"Good quote." Scratch said. "Seriously though, between you two working so hard and me sabotaging her sales…"
"Wait, what?" Molly asked.
"…And the bottom line is, I smell something funky."
"What you smell is the soul-rotting stench of a charity cheater." Molly said. "A… A don't-gooder!"
"A don't what?" Scratch asked. "Not your best."
"It works and it's what Andrea is!" Molly yelled. "And we're going to expose her!"
Loki looked back inside the school and saw Principal O'Connor in the hallway. A thought ran by his head.
"Hey. Whatever crazy plan you're going to come up with, how about you go on ahead? I'll catch up."
"Fine. We'll regroup later." Molly said leaving with Scratch.
"Well, yeah. We live in the same house." Loki said rolling his eyes. He re-entered the school and approached the principal. "Mr. O'Connor. I was wondering if I could ask you a question…"
Later on that night, at the Davenport mansion, Andrea shifted her eyes around making sure no one was around as she left the garage. She closed the door and let out a sigh.
"Gotta figure out what to do with all this now." Andrea said.
"With all what now?"
"OMG!" Andrea gasped turning behind her. Loki stood there with his arms crossed and suspicion glaring from his eyes. She then chuckled nervously. "Oh, Lukas! What a nice surprise. What brings you here, at my home?"
"I had spoken to Principal O'Connor about your nougat sales." Loki said. "I asked him how many bars you sold and he provided me the answer."
"Oh, he did, huh?" Andrea asked trying not to sweat. "There… There isn't anything wrong, is there?"
"He didn't seem to think so. Then again, I suppose this proves that I am smarter than Principal O'Connor." Loki said. He started taking small steps to the garage door Andrea was trying to hide behind her. "You see, 4000 nougat bars sold is pretty extraordinary, but the total amount of money spent was even more so. More so than the entire town. Which means either every working citizen of Brighton got a big pay raise in one day, or it was all bought by one insanely rich citizen."
Andrea hid behind a fake smile for too long. She gave in and sighed. "All right. You win. Follow me." She hung her head and opened the garage door.
Just as Loki suspected, the entire garage was mostly filled with carboard boxes with the words "Mrs. Nougat" printed on them. On top of one of them was a receipt with Andrea's name written as the recipient.
"You got me. I sold all the nougat bars to myself." Andrea admitted shamefully. "Are you mad?"
Loki looked around the garage before turning his attention back at Andrea. "Well… Not really. Actually, I'm kinda impressed. What a clever and simple trick you pulled."
"Really?" Andrea asked slowly growing a smile. "So you won't tell anybody?"
"Technically, you didn't do anything illegal. And you did sell the most candy." Loki said. "But the real problem is Molly."
"Molly?" Andrea asked.
"Yes. Ever since Volunteer Week started, you've been taking credit for all of her hard work, and she's really upset about it."
"Really?" Andrea asked. "She always seemed like the kind of person who's satisfied knowing good things are being done. I honestly didn't think she cared about credit."
"Even she has her limits, and this whole sales thing pushed her past them. If she saw this place, she'd probably blow a gasket."
Andrea sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone upset. I just… I really need my social media fame to grow."
"Why? Everyone in Brighton already loves you. Do you really need any more?"
Andrea hung her head down low seeing nothing but the floor with a frown on her face. She stayed silent before finally speaking up. "Lukas, there's… There's something I should probably tell you. It's… Well, it's not easy to talk about. The reason I went through all this trouble is… because of my parents."
"Your parents?" Loki asked before realizing. "Oh. I get it. It's hard having rich parents, so you want to get their attention, right?"
"No. Well, yes, but that's besides the point." Andrea said heading to the shelves on the far-right side of the garage. "I meant that all of this is because of… my real parents."
Loki's eyes widened and he stared at the blue-haired girl silently. "Uh… What?"
Andrea nodded. "Yeah. I'm, like, adopted. And this is my only clue to my past." She reached one of the shelves and pulled out a very dusty basket with white blankets in it. There was a name etched onto the rim of the basket, and although it was mostly covered in dust, the word "Andrea" could be made out on it.
"What's this?" Loki asked completely caught off-guard.
"It kinda started two years ago." Andrea said. "My foster parents, the Davenport's, thought I was finally old enough to tell me the truth. When I was a baby, I was left at the front porch of an orphanage and the Davenport's adopted me shortly after. When they finally told me, everything changed. I wanted to know where I came from."
"So your whole social media thing…" Loki said.
"Yep. It's all so I can reach out to them. Maybe they'll come and finally meet me. I know it sounds kinda nutty, but I didn't know what else to do. I guess finding out you're adopted can lead you to do some crazy stuff, am I right?"
Loki felt an emotional connection with the rich girl before him. "Yeah. I… can only imagine."
"Yes, I still had a lot of money and parents who give me whatever I want to make me happy, but to be perfectly honest, a part of me still wants to know who my real parents are and why I was abandoned.
Andrea:
I've always been so lucky
Always getting what I want all the time
Always been so lucky
It's like everywhere I go, the sun always shines
Every wants to be my friend
And my appearance is a work of art
But all along, I never knew
A question was hidden in my heart
Who am I
That's a question I need answered
Who am I
I've got to know
Where did I begin
What's my origin
What kind of girl am I
And maybe then, I'll finally start to grow
I've always been so happy
Like a genie was always granting my wish
Always been so happy
But mostly, that's because ignorance is bliss
Then, someone sits you down to talk
They say something that changes your view
And that just goes and lets out
The question from inside of you
Who am I
That's a question I need answered
Who am I
I've got to know
Where did I begin
What's my origin
What kind of girl am I
And maybe then, I'll finally start to grow
So you make yourself an internet star
With so much good deeds and wisdom to preach
And you'd do anything not to fall behind
OR ELSE, THE ANSWERS WILL BE OUT OF REACH
Out of reeeeeaaaaach
I'll find who I am
Yes, I must find the answers
I've got to try
'Cause I've got to know
Where did I begin
What's my origin
WHAT KIND OF GIRL AM I
AND PERHAPS, MAYBE THEN
ALTHOUGH MY CHANCES ARE BLEAK
I'LL NEVER STOP FINDING THE ANSWERS I SEEK
I'LL FINALLY START TO… Groooooooooow
I've always been so lucky
"Wow." Loki said still stunned. "I… I don't know what to say. Just… I'm sorry."
"No. I'm sorry." Andrea said. "I didn't want to make Molly upset. She just makes everything good seem so easy and I thought she wouldn't mind. Tell you what. At the new marquees unveiling, I'll tell Molly the truth."
"Really?" Loki asked.
"It's the least I can do." Andrea said. "And… Thank you for figuring me out and listening to me. I always knew you were a guy I could relate to."
Loki nodded and left the garage. When Andrea closed the door, they exchanged nods and parted ways.
"Oh, Andrea. You have no idea." Loki thought to himself.
As soon as Loki disappeared, however, Molly and Scratch made it to the front of the mansion. Without them noticing anything that just happened, they sneaked their way to the garage where they could learn the truth for themselves.
The next day, nearly every citizen of Brighton gathered up in front of the school for the new marquees unveiling. All the whole, Andrea livestreamed from her phone.
"Hey, Fandreas! Check it out! All my hard work selling nougat paid off. Everybody's here for the unveiling, even my parents."
Watching her from afar, Loki could see what Andrea was hiding behind her smile. He then looked life to see Molly with an insane smile on her face. Curious, he approached her.
"You seem to be in a good mood, in a scary sort of way." Loki said to her.
"Just excited for the big unveiling." Molly replied not dropping her smile. "And I'm not just talking about the marquees."
"What does that mean?" Loki asked beginning to get confused. He then saw Scratch hovering behind Molly. The ghost sweated and looked very confused. "Scratch, what's going on?"
"I… Well, I… Oh, I can't take it!" Scratch cried out. "Molly and I sneaked into Andrea's place last night and found out she sold all of her nougat bars to herself! Molly took pictures and set them up to be uploaded to the marquees for everyone to see!"
Loki's face extended and his jaw dropped. "WHAT?! Molly, what could possibly possess you do to that?!"
"I was just following your advice, Loki." Molly said. "Remember? 'When you're treated unfairly, you treat them twice as unfairly'."
Loki felt like his whole foot was shoved in his mouth. One look at Molly, and he could actually see himself back when he thought he was treated unfairly.
"No, no! Molly, I was wrong!" Loki told her. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but that was horrible advice!"
"What are you talking about?" Molly asked. "Why are you defending Andrea? After what she's been doing to us all week?"
"You don't understand!" Loki said. "Look, there's something you need to know!"
Loki proceeded with telling Molly and Scratch everything that happened to him the previous night and his eye-opening conversation with Andrea. The more he explained the details, the more Molly regretted her decision.
"…And she was planning on apologizing to you after the unveiling!"
"Oh, no! You're telling me that Andrea's adopted? And she's been using her social media fame to find her real parents?" Molly asked.
"Oof. That is sad." Scratch said. "Honestly, I almost feel bad for her. And you know me. I have very little empathy for others."
"What have I done?" Molly asked. "I let my jealousy get in the way of charity! I'm the don't-gooder!"
"That still doesn't work." Scratch said.
"You got to keep the photos from going up!" Loki demanded.
"I have Darryl ready to upload them as soon as Principal O'Connor announces Andrea's name!" Molly explained just as the principal himself presented himself in front of the school next to Andrea.
"The winner of the Tournament of Nougat and our hearts is…"
"SCRATCH, YOU'VE GOT TO STOP DARRYL FROM RELEASING THOSE PICTURES!" Molly cried out.
"Do I have time for an 'I told you so'?" Scratch asked.
"NO! YOU CAN SAY IT TWICE LATER!" Molly replied quickly as she grabbed Scratch and threw him up to Darryl. As Scratch was on his way up to the roof where the youngest McGee was, Andrea's name was called out.
"ANDREA DAVENPORT!"
Scratch managed to crash onto Darryl's laptop before he could press a button. He let out a sigh of relief wiping sweat from his ecoplasmic forehead.
"Phew. Darryl, I thought I wasn't gonna stop you in time from releasing those photos."
"Photos?" Darryl asked. "I was ordering a burrito. The photos are already about to go up."
"Oh. Well, that's one for the 'whoops' column." Scratch commented.
Seeing that Scratch was already too late, Loki panicked. He saw the marquees screen as it was about to change. Without thinking, he conjured up an Asgardian dagger and thrusted it as hard as he could. A second later, the whole screen exploded with sparking electricity making everyone gasp. The good news was that nobody saw the photos. The bad news though was that the marquees was broken already.
"What just happened?" Mr. Davenport asked.
"I don't know." Principal O'Connor said confused. "Those construction guys assured me it wouldn't malfunction until the fifth year."
Mr. Davenport sighed. "Well, I'd hate to see my baby girl's hard work gone to waste. So on behalf of the Davenport family, I'll go ahead and pay for repairs."
Some truths were explained at the side of the school where Molly, Loki, and Andrea met up at. Scratch was there too, but he was invisible to Andrea.
"You were about to what?!" Andrea asked.
"I know. I'm really sorry, Andrea." Molly said shamefully. "I was actually willing to make you look bad, but then Lukas told me everything and I regretted it immediately."
Andrea shared Molly's apologetic look. "Well, at least the marquees malfunctioned before anyone could see it. And to be fair, I did kinda bring it upon myself with what I've done to you all week. I'm sorry for taking credit for your hard work, at least without talking to you first. I didn't think you'd react like this."
"Neither did I." Molly concurred.
"I guess even the best of us can have bad days." Loki said.
"So… we cool?" Molly asked.
"Sure." Andrea replied. "Thank you for understanding."
"You're welcome." Molly said. "And Andrea, I hope you find your real parents. They'd be lucky to know you're their daughter."
Andrea gave one last thankful smile before walking away. As she left, Scratch was getting choked up.
"I promised myself I wasn't going to cry."
"No, you didn't." Loki said.
Along the way, Andrea passed by the broken marquees. She was checking her phone when she noticed something on the ground. She reached down and picked it up looking curiously at it.
It was the same dagger that Loki threw before. Its handle was wrapped in a green ribbon and it had Asgardian writing etched into its blade.
"Whoa. Where'd this thing come from?" she asked.
That very night, Loki laid in his bed thinking about everything he's been through the past couple days, including his interaction with Andrea. For the first time, he actually saw her as a kindred spirit, someone he could actually relate to.
Before heading to sleep, Loki pulled out his phone and looked up Andrea's social media page. He clicked on a random video which showed her dressing up excitedly for the Christmas Snowflake Celebration. He watched and listened noticing how pretty she looked in her dress.
"Hey, Fandreas! Great news! My daddy has actually agreed to fund the Snowflake Celebration's repairs! I can hear everything pitching in to get everything right side up again, which means I can finally be the Snowflake Queen! And I already have my king picked out. #TheBestChristmasEver!"
Loki chuckled proudly. He then pressed his thumb onto the button on the page which read "FOLLOW".
After the day was saved, Scratch decided to help himself with some victory nougat from Andrea's garage. However, he ate literally every candy bar in there and came down with a very bad stomach ache.
"Oh, I think I'm gonna… gonna…"
Scratch tried to hold in his mouth, but something burst out of him. He let out a burping sound so loud and powerful, the entire garage shook. Many things fell off of the tables and shelves, including Andrea's baby basket.
When the burp was over, Scratch patted his stomach sighing in relief. "Well, thank goodness I didn't barf." He looked around seeing the mess he made. "Hmm. Well, I did cause this so… Nah. I'll just put up one thing and I've hit my quota."
Scratch picked up Andrea's basket and put it back on the shelf. After brushing off some of the dust, he headed out of the garage.
What Scratch failed to notice was the name on the basket he put up. Before, it looked like "Andrea" written on it, but now, another word took its place, one that previously was partially concealed by the dust until now.
Now, it read "Angrboda".