Chapter 14

I Wanna Dance With Some-Libby

Today is a special day for Brighton Middle School! Everyone was getting ready for the school dance. Molly was in the school gym, setting up the decorations while Libby was helping her. Molly was on the ladder, setting up the last of the decorations.

"This year's Brighton Bop is going to be- Whoa!" Molly suddenly tripped on the ladder before she started to fall.

Thankfully, Libby noticed this and rushed to save her best friend.

"I got you, Molly!" Libby held out her hands to grab Molly.

Unfortunately, things didn't exactly go as Libby planned. Molly ended up landing on top of Libby, causing the girls to fall on the floor. Despite that, Libby was still glad she managed to break Molly's fall. Once they recovered from the fall, Molly and Libby helped each other back up.

"Whew! Thanks, Libby! You really saved me!" Molly thanked.

"You're welcome! Just please be more careful next time!" Libby urged.

"Sorry, Libby! I'm just so excited for the dance!" Molly exclaimed. "This is going to be the last time we have a middle school dance, so we should really make the most of it!"

Libby nodded in agreement. "Yes. We should." Suddenly, Libby started to blush as she decided to say something that she's been wanting to say for awhile. "Now, all we need are dates."

This left Molly surprised by what Libby said. "We already have a date! It's today, silly! Or do you mean dates, as in the sweet, dark-brown oval fruit, containing a hard stone native to western Asia and North Africa?"

"Actually, Molly, I was wondering if we can go to the dance together." Libby shyly looked away. This time, it was Molly's turn to be embarrassed. Upon seeing how nervous Molly was, Libby said, "It doesn't have to be a date! We can just go as friends!"

This was a surprise for Molly. She secretly wanted to go to a dance with Libby for awhile, so how could she possibly say no?

"Of course I would love to go with you!" Molly exclaimed.

"Really?" Libby had the biggest grin on her face.

"Yeah! I mean, just as friends, at least!" Molly clarified.

"R-Right! Just as friends! Do you want me to pick you up at your house before the dance?" Libby asked.

Molly nodded. "Sure, it's a date!" Molly placed a hand over her mouth from what she said. "I mean, not a date! Just two platonic friends having fun together! I gotta go!" Molly rushed out of the room, embarrassed from what she said.

A couple of hours had passed when Molly returned home to get ready for the dance. She put on the same purple dress she wore at Libby's Bat Mitzvah. Once Molly was finished getting ready, Scratch floated towards her.

"So, you are ready for the dance now? It is about time you went on a date with Libby." Scratch commented.

"It is not a date!" Molly denied.

"Are you sure about that? This is what you wanted isn't it?" Scratch asked.

"Well, yeah, but-"

It was at that moment when Scratch interrupted Molly. "No buts! You've been wanting to be with Libby for so long, and I know that you don't want to waste this chance!"

Before Scratch could say another word, a portal to the ghost world appeared. That was when Scratch realized that the Ghost Council wanted to speak with him again.

"Look, we'll talk about this later. I just need to see what the Ghost Council wants now!"

With that, Scratch was sucked through the portal, leaving Molly alone in her room. Once Scratch was dragged into the ghost world in front of the Ghost Council once again, he was surprised to see that Jinx was here as well.

"Jinx? What are you doing here?" Scratch asked, surprised.

"Just thought I'd stick around to see how well you do at your job." Jinx explained.

"Scratch, we have a very special assignment for you!" Sir Alister announced.

"We need your scares to ruin a certain event going on in Brighton." said Grimbella.

Scratched liked the sound of that. "Alright! Now you're talking! What event do you want me to crash?"

"We are sure you might have heard of this school dance going on at Brighton Middle School, the Brighton Bop." Bartholomew guessed.

That was when Scratch's eyes widened in shock. Of course, of all the events he could ruin, it just had to be the one that Molly is going to attend!

"There is not doubt that this Brighton Bop is going to cause a fair amount of joy in Brighton! All of the students will have a fun time, and they even have some group to sing for them called, Atomic Pink!" Lucretia noticed. "We need you to put a stop to all of this!"

"Uh, are you sure it is that bad? I don't think school dances cause that much joy!" Scratch said with a nervous chuckle.

This caused Jinx to stare at him in suspicion. "Are you developing a conscience, Scratch? We all know what the Chairman would do to you if you refuse his orders!" Jinx brought her attention to the Chairman, who looked ready to send Scratch to the Flow of Failed Phantoms.

"What? No, I'm not having a conscience! I hate all these mushy romantic dances! Of course I would put a stop to it!" Scratch assured.

"You'd better! We cannot have anymore joy in Brighton!" Sir Alister said as Scratch was sucked through a portal back to the human world.

Once he returned to Molly's room, Scratch was left wondering what he should do. If he makes everyone miserable at the dance, Molly's night would be ruined, but if he lets everything go as normal, he could get sent to the Flow of Failed Phantoms. He didn't have time to think about it when Molly walked up to him.

"Scratch, I've been thinking about what you said, and it is still not a date, but I know that Libby and I are going to have a fun time together!" Molly smiled.

Once he realized that Molly and Libby were going to be happy during the dance, he knew that he had to put a stop to it.

"About that, Moll! Maybe you shouldn't go to the dance with Libby after all! There are others you can go to the dance with instead! How about Jeremy?" Scratch suggested.

Molly then raised a confused eyebrow. "What? No! Jeremy spits when he talks and laughs like a seal!"

"I know! He's perfect!"

"No, Scratch! I'm going with Libby, and that's final!" Molly made up her mind.

"Come on! You can go on a date with Libby on any other night!" Scratch replied.

Molly sighed. "For the last time, Scratch! It's not a date! It's not like Libby is bringing me flowers!"

At that moment, Molly heard the doorbell ring. She knew that it was Libby, so she rushed down the stairs. As Molly opened the door to greet Libby, she was surprised to see that Libby actually did bring her flowers.

"Hi, Molly! I know that we said that this isn't a date, but I just thought I should get these flowers for you, anyway!" Libby said with a shy smile.

At first, Molly had no idea what to say. Touched by this sweet gesture, Molly gratefully accepted the flowers.

"Thank you, Libby! They are beautiful!" Molly thanked.

"Aww! Isn't that sweet!" Sharon smiled.

At that point, Pete started to get emotional from what he was seeing, "Sharon, Molly is growing up so fast! She is going to the school dance with Libby!"

With an amused smile, Molly rolled her eyes. "Don't get too excited, Dad! It's not like this is a date!"

"You say that now, but this will end up being one of the best nights of your life!" Pete promised.

After Molly's parents took a couple of pictures of Molly and Libby together, the girls were ready to go to the dance together. They both got in the back seat of Leah's car, who agreed to drive them to the school. As they sat next to each other, Molly and Libby gazed at one another before shyly looking away from how beautiful they looked. Leah noticed this, so she decided to turn on some romantic music to set the mood.

It wasn't long before they reached the school. Molly and Libby stepped out of the car before Libby said goodbye to her mom.

"I hope you and Molly would have fun tonight, Turtledove!" Leah smiled, happy to see her daughter going to the school dance for the first time.

"We will, Mom!" Libby said before her mom drove away.

Once they were ready, Molly and Libby entered the school as they met up with the rest of their school friends. Meanwhile, Scratch was attempted to scare as many unexpected students as possible in order to please the Ghost Council. It didn't do him much good as most of the students were distracted by Atomic Pink performing on stage. Both Molly and Libby stood together as they watched Atomic Pink together.

"It's incredible how we managed to get Atomic Pink to perform at the school, isn't it, Molly?" Libby asked.

"It sure is, Libby!" Molly replied before she thought of an idea. "Hey, Libby? I was wondering if you would like to dance with me."

Hearing this surprised Libby. "Really? I'm actually surprised you still want to dance with me after how poorly we danced together at my Bat Mitzvah."

"Hey, that was a long time ago! Besides, you know what they say! Second time's the charm!"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure it is third time's the charm, Molly." Libby pointed out.

"Well, this is the exception! If you like, we can have this dance together. Just as friends, at least!" Molly offered.

Truthfully, Libby actually liked the idea of dancing with Molly once again. "Sure! I would love to dance with you! Just as friends!"

Just like at the Bat Mitzvah, Molly and Libby held each other's hand before they began to dance with each other. Unlike last time, they didn't stumble or trip. This ended up catching the attention of the others students. They were all left impressed by Molly and Libby's dancing, so they took out their phones and took pictures. Before long, news of Molly and Libby dancing together spread through the rest of the school.

After dancing for awhile, Molly and Libby decided to relax for awhile. They both sat down as they smiled at one another.

"So, that was pretty fun!" Molly commented.

"I know! I had a fun time with you too, Molly!" Libby replied.

"This is amazing! Is this really happening?" Molly and Libby suddenly heard the excited voice of one of their classmates.

Before they knew it, Molly and Libby were surrounded by Andrea, Kat, Sheela, and the rest of their female classmates.

"Huh? What's happening?" Molly asked, confused.

"Isn't it obvious? You two!" Andrea exclaimed.

"Kat and I have been waiting throughout the entire school year to see you and Libby get together!" Sheela said with a smile.

"All that's missing is your cute couple name!" Kat explained before she let out an excited gasp. "Oh, I know! Molly plus Libby equals Mollibby!"

Despite how awkward the situation was, Molly couldn't help but like the sound of her and Libby's couple name. It had a nice ring to it! However, she and Libby just wanted to go one night without anyone shipping them.

"Listen, I'm glad that you are all excited, but it's not what it looks like!" Molly tried to clarify.

"Molly is right! Molly and I aren't a couple! We're just friends!" Libby explained.

"Aww." The girls sighed before they walked away, disappointed.

Once their friends walked away, Molly and Libby brought their attention back to each other.

"Wow! I didn't know our school friends thought of us like that!" Libby commented.

"Yeah! Can you imagine? Us being together?" Molly let out a nervous chuckle.

While Molly and Libby continued to have a fun time together, Scratch continued to spread misery throughout the dance, Despite that, Scratch still wasn't able to scare too many students since they were too happy.

"I don't understand. I am usually so good at this! Why isn't anyone scared?" Scratch asked himself.

It was at that moment when Scratch noticed students on their phones, all of them talking about the same thing. Curious, Scratch floated close to one of the phones to find out that everyone was talking about Molly and Libby and their potential relationship. That was when Scratch realized that Molly and Libby were causing most of the joy at the dance. As much as he didn't want to do this, Scratch knew that he had to put a stop to this.

The dance went on until Mrs. Roop stood on stage to announce prom royalty. Everyone waited in anticipation as they eagerly awaited the results.

"Listen up, Lemmings! It's time to crown our Lemming royalty! And the nominees are- Oh, I can't hold it in any longer! It's Molly McGee and Libby Stein-Torres!" Mrs. Roop announced, as if it was obvious.

That was when everyone at the dance burst into applause. Both Molly and Libby were left surprised. Just when they thought their night couldn't get any better, they were now the prom queens.

"Mollibby!" The students cheered as Molly and Libby were surprised by how quickly that ship name is catching on.

After getting over her surprise, Molly turned to Libby, excited. "Libby, this is incredible! We are the prom queens!"

"We are? This is all so much to take in! Do you think we are even ready to go onstage?" Libby asked, feeling nervous.

"It's okay! I will always be with you, no matter what!" Molly promised.

Feeling reassured, Libby took Molly's hand as the two of them made their way onstage. They felt the crowns being placed on their heads as everyone cheered in joy.

With the prom queens now crowned, Atomic Pink decided to play one last song for the night in honor of Molly and Libby. As the music began to play, Molly and Libby shared one last dance together as they wrapped their arms around each other in a slow dance. Both Molly and Libby closed their eyes, as they happily danced in each other's arms.

Before long, Molly gazed into Libby's eyes before she said something that has been on her mind for awhile. "Hey, I know we said this isn't a date, but if you want it to be, I wouldn't mind!" Molly admitted with a shy smile.

Truthfully, Libby liked the sound of that. "Actually, I think I would really like that, Molly!"

Everyone was so caught up in the fun, no one noticed Scratch floating above them with a punch bowl. Scratch thought if he could dump it on Molly and Libby, it would stop the fun and ruin everyone's happiness. As hard as he tried to go through with it, he knew that he couldn't. He had never seen Molly so happy before and didn't want to ruin her night.

With a sigh, Scratch put the punch bowl down, and floated inside a nearby disco ball. Here, he emitted a ghost-like glow from the disco ball as the light shined down on Molly and Libby. Surprised by this, Molly and Libby looked up at Scratch, who gave them both a wink, allowing them to have their fun night together. The girls gave Scratch a couple of grateful smiles before they finished their dance. As the school dance came to an end, Molly and Libby met up with Scratch.

"Scratch, you're the best!" Molly gave Scratch a tight hug. "You somehow made our wonderful night even more amazing!"

"Uh, there's no need to make a big deal out of it." Scratch pretended not to care.

"You know, you are not so bad after all!" Libby said to Scratch. "Listen, I know that we haven't exactly gotten along since we first met, but if you want to start over, I would be happy if we can be friends."

With an amused grin, Scratch replied, "I suppose if I have to! But only if it keeps Molly happy!"

"Yay! Now my two besties are also besties as well!" Molly exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Libby and Scratch.

With the dance over, Molly and Libby waited for Leah to pick them up, both of them happy that they got to spend this amazing night together. Meanwhile, Scratch started to worry about what he had done. He started to feel that it might not have been a good idea to shine the light of the disco ball on Molly and Libby to give them even more attention.

"Okay, calm down, Scratch! You still managed to scare a lot of students at the dance! I'm sure the Ghost Council won't even notice the one good deed you have done!" Scratch tried to assure himself before he got in the car with Molly and Libby.

Meanwhile in the ghost world, the Chairman, along with Jinx and the Ghost Council kept their eyes on a meter that indicates the misery in Brighton. The meter soon pointed to the green, indicating more joy than ever. They all glared at the results and had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with Scratch failing to ruin the dance, or the mysterious couple they were searching for, or maybe even both. It was at that point when they all had enough of the increasing joy in Brighton and decided that it was now time to take drastic measures.