Chapter 15
Night of the Comet
Today was the last day of the school year for Molly and Libby. Even though they were both kind of sad that this is the last time they would go to Brighton Middle School, they were excited to spend summer break together.
It wasn't long before the last bell of the day rang and everyone left the school to enjoy their summer break. Libby was one of the last students to leave before her teacher called out for her.
"Libby, can I speak to you for a minute?" Mrs. Roop asked.
Curious, Libby walked over to Mrs. Roop's desk to see what she wanted, "Sure, Mrs. Roop! Is there anything I can help you with?"
"So, I know that it is none of my business, but I was just wondering if you and Molly are actually together now." Mrs. Roop wondered.
"Oh, no. Molly and I aren't together." Libby was about to add that she and Molly were just friends, but after how she and Molly considered their dance to be a date, Libby wasn't so sure anymore. It was hard for Libby to tell what she and Molly are exactly since they didn't have time to talk about what happened back at the dance. "Actually, I'm not sure what my relationship with Molly is at the moment."
Mrs. Roop gave an understand nod. "Don't worry! It's normal to feel this way! Listen, have you heard of the Blazin' Snowball Comet?"
"The one that passes by every 50 years? That's supposed to be coming tonight, right?" Libby asked.
"That's right! Pam and I plan to watch it together! Maybe you should do the same with Molly!" Mrs. Roop suggested.
"That's actually a great idea! Thank you, Mrs. Roop! I'll tell Molly about the comet right away!" Libby thanked before she started to look for Molly.
Meanwhile, Molly and Scratch were on their way back home. Molly was talking to Scratch about the fun things she had planned for summer, while Scratch was more focused on getting something to eat when they get back home. Halfway through their walk, Libby managed to catch up with them as she called out for them.
"Molly! Scratch!"
At that moment, Molly turned to Libby and greeted her with a smile. "Hi, Libby! Where have you been? I thought we were going to walk home from school together."
"Sorry. I got a little distracted." Libby apologized. "I was talking to Mrs. Roop, and she gave me a great idea with how we can start our summer break! Do you know about the comet that would appear later tonight? I was wondering if you would like to watch the comet with me."
Hearing this got Molly's attention. "Ooh! That sounds like fun! What do you say Scratch? Want to come with us?"
"I don't know." Scratch replied, not interested in joining. "I don't see what the big deal is. Comets just fly around in space. I mean, I can do that!"
"But, Scratch! Do you know how big of a deal it is? This might be our only opportunity to see the comet!" Libby explained, desperate to convince Molly and Scratch to come along. "After all, who knows what our lives will be like in 50 years!"
As Libby said that, Molly's smile faded. She soon remained silent as she thought about what Libby just said. Seeing Molly this worried caused Libby and Scratch to stared at her, concerned.
"Uh, Moll? Are you okay?" Scratch asked.
It was at that moment when Molly snapped out of it and said. "You know what? Libby is right! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we gotta make the most of it! We'll have an epic BFF sleepover, with celestial themed activities and astral shaped snacks!"
The idea that they would have snacks was more than enough to convince Scratch to come along.
"Alright! If we're having snacks, then I suppose I can come along as well!" Scratch finally agreed.
"Great! Let's meet up at my house later tonight!" Molly suggested. "We'll stay awake until exactly 4:07 A.M. when the Blazin' Snowball Comet streaks across the sky and into our hearts!"
For the rest of the day, Molly and her friends got ready to watch the comet later tonight. The sun soon started to set as Molly and Scratch stood in the backyard, waiting for Libby to arrive. It wasn't long before Libby arrived, as she appeared to be tired.
"Hi, Molly. Sorry I'm late!" Libby apologized. "I guess I got distracted reading A Song of Snow and Humidity."
Upon, noticing how tired Libby was, Molly started to get worried for her. "Uh, Libby? Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." Libby assured. "I'm just not used to staying up so late, but I'll be fine! I even brought this belt to celebrate tonight!" Libby showed Molly her belt with a turtle design.
"Speaking of belts, why don't you take a peek at Orion's belt?" Molly led Libby to the telescope so she can take a look at the stars.
At that moment, Libby took a look through the telescope. However, she wasn't able to see a single star in the sky.
"Uh, Molly? I don't see any constellations." Libby explained.
"What?" Molly took a look through the telescope to see that Libby was right. "Oh, my corn! There's too much light pollution!"
Desperate to see the comet, Molly decided to get her parents to drive her and Libby to where they could see the stars. She opened the door to her parents' room, causing them to wake up with a start.
"Mom! Dad! Emergency!"
"What? What is it?" Molly's parents got up, thinking that something was wrong.
"I need a ride to the country! Any volunteers?" Molly asked as she tossed her parents the car keys.
This was too early in the morning for Pete and Sharon to deal with this, and neither of them wanted to drive.
"Not it!" Pete immediately declined. "I went to Darryl's last 5 parent-teacher conferences!"
"I took the kids to that waterpark! There were used bandages in the water! I stepped on one of them, Pete!" Sharon argued with her husband.
"I singed my eyebrows off helping Darryl with his volcano project, so-" Pete threw the car keys, which managed to fall in Sharon's pocket before he went back to sleep.
With no other choice, Sharon reluctantly got in the car with Molly, Libby, and Scratch before driving to the country. As the drive continued, Libby's eyes started to droop slightly as she looked around the car, confused.
"Hm. What manner of wizardry propels this horseless carriage forward?" Libby suddenly spoke in a British accent.
Seeing Libby like this got Molly concerned for her. She didn't know what Libby was talking about, but had a feeling that she was losing touch with reality.
"Uh, Libby? Are you okay?"
As Molly asked her that, Libby snapped back to reality.
"Sorry, Molly. Sometimes when I get sleepy, reality geteth blurry." Libby started to get confused, despite how much she is trying to stay awake.
As the car ride came to an end, everyone noticed that Sharon drove them to a place with grass fields that had a manure like smell to it.
"Where'd you bring us, Mom? Looks familiar!" Molly commented.
Molly didn't get an answer as Sharon was already asleep at the wheel. With Sharon asleep, the three friends decided to get out of the car to get ready for tonight.
Despite the bad smell that the area had, Molly, Libby, and Scratch agreed that it was still a great place to see the comet. They all set up the supplies they needed to enjoy the comet together. As she took a glance at Libby, Molly noticed that Libby still looked tired, so Molly thought of an idea to keep her awake.
"Hey, I know something that can keep you awake!"
"What's that, Molly?" Libby asked, curious.
"Just take a whack at the Blazin' Snowball piñata we have set up!" Molly gestured towards the piñata.
"Aw, yeah! Treat time, baby!" Scratch exclaimed, ready to eat some candy.
At that moment, Molly handed Libby a stick that she could use to hit the piñata with. As she grabbed the stick, Libby stared at it for a few moments in silence.
"This be a mighty weapon!" Libby spoke in her British accent again. "For the throne!"
With that, Libby ran to the piñata and hit it over and over until she destroyed it. Instead of candy falling out, like Scratch hoped, glitter fell out instead. Libby posed with a triumphant smile as glitter rained down on her. Molly couldn't help but blush upon seeing this. She didn't know if it was the cute accent or how heroic Libby was acting, but Molly couldn't keep her eyes off of how amazing Libby was.
"Wow! Libby that was incredible!" Molly stared at Libby in awe.
"Ah, tis was nothing!" Libby replied, thinking she is a character from A Song of Snow and Humidity. "I am not nearly as incredible as you! I have never seen a princess as beautiful as you before!"
"B-Beautiful?" Molly repeated as she couldn't believe what Libby just said to her.
"Indeed! I would be honored to be your knight! I promise to stand by your side until the very end!" Libby promised, living in her fantasy world.
"Uh, that's great, Libby!" Molly awkwardly looked away as she brought her attention to Scratch. "Okay! Libby seems to think she is a character from her favorite book series!"
"Either that, or she is just pretending just to get closer to you!" Scratch joked.
This was not how Molly expected this night to turn out. With Libby trapped in her fantasy world, it just got harder for Molly to enjoy the comet with her friends.
"It's okay! I'm sure we can still make it work! It'll still be a night to remember, Scratch! I just need you and me and Li-" Molly paused when she realized that Libby was nowhere to be found. "Where's Libby?"
That was when Molly began to search for Libby. She searched the fields as she called out Libby's name before Libby suddenly grabbed her and pulled her in the tall grass.
"Fear not, my princess! We will escape Queen Feleanna's kingdom and assemble the dragon hordes!" Libby announced.
Weirded out by what Libby said, Molly tried to get her to calm down so they can relax together.
"Listen, Libby. Why don't we just lay down for awhile as we wait for the comet."
With that, Molly took Libby's hand before taking out chairs that she and her friends can lay down on. Both, Molly and Libby laid down on the chairs before Scratch joined them shortly afterwards.
"Greetings, spectral friend!" Libby greeted Scratch before she looked up at the stars with her friends.
Scratch stared at the stars for a couple of moments before he said, "Okay, this is pretty nice!"
Libby nodded in agreement. "Aye! Tis peaceful!"
"Yeah! This is really relaxing! I can almost fall-" That was the last thing Molly said before she closed her eyes.
After a couple of moments, Molly woke up with a start to realize that she drifted off to sleep. Thankfully, the comet didn't arrive just yet. She stood up, to see Libby staring at something in the distance.
"Uh, Libby?" Molly approached Libby, wondering what she was looking at.
"Standeth back, my princess! I do not wish you to get hurt! I must geteth to yon fields of Dragonteith!" Libby pointed to a field of sleeping buffalos.
"Buffalo? Oh, Mom took me here for that Gig Pig job!" Molly remembered. "That's why this placed looked and smelled familiar."
"Once I awaken the sleeping dragon horde and use them against our enemies, we shall be victorious and we can be together forever!" Libby said as she held Molly's hands.
Upon noticing how close she was to Libby, Molly started to blush with a nervous smile.
"Oh. The idea of us being together forever actually sounds really nice!" Molly admitted.
"Excellent! Let us march forward!" Libby exclaimed as she took Molly's hand and led her to the buffalos.
Before Molly could object to this, Libby threw her on the back of one of the buffalos before she got on as well. That was when Libby started hitting the buffalo with her stick in an effort to wake it up.
"Libby, no!" Molly urged Libby to stop in a whisper.
It was too late though as the buffalo opened its eyes and got up in anger. This ended up waking the other buffalos as well before they all ran away in a stampede. Molly screamed in fear as she held onto Libby tightly, while Libby raised her stick in the air.
Meanwhile, Scratch continued to sleep in his chair before the sound of running woke him up. As he opened his eyes, he looked in the distance, shocked by what he was looking at.
"What the?!" Scratch gasped upon seeing Molly and Libby riding a buffalo that was leading a stampede.
"Charge, my dragons! To Queen Feleanna's castle and victory!" Libby yelled at her supposed dragon army.
Thinking fast, Scratch managed to grab Molly and Libby and pulled them both up on the branch of a nearby tree. Molly panted as she watched the stampede disappear in the distance.
"My brave dragon horde may have been bested, but I shall never re-" Libby yawned before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
"Okay! Well, that just happened!" Scratch panted, still surprised that Libby managed to anger a stampede of buffalos.
"It doesn't matter! We can still see the comet from here! The comet is overhead from here, and nothing can ruin this moment!" Molly declared.
Unfortunately, Molly would be proven wrong when clouds formed above the sky, blocking her view of the comet. All Molly could do was watch in dismay as she got more desperate to see the comet.
"No! This can't be happening! It's okay! I can still fix this! If we can blow together, we can move this clouds!" Molly blew air from her mouth in a desperate attempt to move the clouds out of the way.
Weirded out by Molly's actions, Scratch attempted to calm her down. "Uh, Moll?"
"Come on, Scratch! Help me out! The three of us need to have this special memory together!" Molly yelled, as she started to tear up.
"Molly, just calm down! Why is it so important we see this comet anyway?" Scratch asked.
"It's not about the comet, Scratch!" Molly cried as she couldn't hold back her tears anymore. "It's about the three of us making a forever memory! Do you even know where we'll be in 50 years?"
Scratch opened his mouth to answer, but honestly didn't know. "Uh-"
"Exactly! What if we move on with our lives and never see each other again? I just thought if I could make tonight a perfect memory, when the comet comes around again, we can look up and remember each other."
It was at that point when Scratch started to feel bad for his best friend. He had no idea that Molly felt this way. Unable to hold back her sadness, Molly buried her face in her knees as she cried. This ended up waking up Libby.
"Did we thwart the dark queen's evil plot?" Libby spoke in her normal voice, now waking up from her daze.
She looked over to Molly and was surprised to see that she was upset about something.
"Molly, what's wrong?" Libby asked, concerned for her best friend.
"I'm scared, Libby!" Molly admitted. "We're going to miss the comet and won't have a special moment to remember each other by! You were right! People grow up! Move away! Who knows where we'll be in 50 years!"
Upon realizing that it was her own words that caused Molly to get this upset, Libby placed a hand over her mouth in shock. She was overcome with guilt, realizing that she hurt Molly, even if she didn't mean to.
"Molly, no! I-I didn't mean it like that! I only said that so I can convince you and Scratch to cone along with me!" Libby tried to explain.
"Even so, who's to say that we won't move on with our lives? What if in 50 years, we never see each other again?" Molly worried about what might happen in the future.
To make her feel better, Libby placed a hand on Molly's cheek before brushing a tear away.
"Molly, I promise I will never move away! I don't know what would happen in the future, but whatever my life is like in 50 years, I want you to be a part of it!" Libby assured.
A slight smile formed on Molly's face as she started to feel better.
"And I'm not going anywhere either!" Scratch promised. "We are cursed together, whether you like it or not!"
More tears fell down Molly's cheeks, but they were now happy tears. She was so lucky to have wonderful friends like Libby and Scratch.
"Thank you! Both of you! I'm happy that we are together!" Molly smiled. "It's just too bad that we are going to miss the comet though."
Scratch pondered for a moment before he came up with an idea. "Maybe we don't have to miss the comet!"
Confused with what Scratch had planned, Molly and Libby were surprised when Scratch grabbed them in his mouth. He then shape-shifted his ghost form into a hot air balloon before taking Molly and Libby to the sky with them.
Before long, they were all floating above the clouds, giving them an incredible view of the sky. After gazing at the sky for a couple of moments, the comet finally arrive. Molly and Libby hugged each other in joy as they watched the beautiful sight of the comet together. Even Scratch couldn't help but tear up at how beautiful it looked. As they watched the comet, Molly and Libby turned to one another with a couple of smiles before they blushed from how beautiful they looked.
Once the comet flew away, Scratch floated back down to the ground. They were all happy, knowing that this would be a night they would never forget.
"That was amazing! I will remember this night for the rest of my life!" Molly exclaimed.
"Yeah! Me too!" Libby agreed. "The night I almost stayed up all night!"
"You know, that actually was kind of fun!" Scratch admitted.
At that moment, a portal to the ghost world appeared, and Scratch knew exactly what that meant.
"Is it the Ghost Council again?" Libby asked.
"Unfortunately so!" Scratch rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Don't worry! I'll be back soon!"
With that, Scratch was sucked through the portal as he was taken to the ghost world. He was soon face to face with the Chairman, along with Jinx and the Ghost Council.
"Hey, if it's about a scare report I forgot, I'm sure I turned it in!" Scratch explained.
Little did Scratch know that the Ghost Council wasn't interested in any scare reports this time.
"Scratch, we have just discovered the couple who has been plaguing Brighton with joy!" Grimbella announced, much to Scratch's shock.
"It would appear that your two servants, Molly McGee and Libby Stein-Torres are in love with each other." Sir Alister pointed out.
"Have you known about this?" Bartholomew asked.
Scratch couldn't believe that the Ghost Council just found out about Molly and Libby's feelings for each other. Despite that, he tried to play dumb.
"What? That's insane! I can't believe my own two servants would fall in love with each other behind my back! This is a really shock!"
The Ghost Council simply glared at Scratch in silence, none of them believing him for a second.
"Well, lucky for you, the Ghost Council decided to give you a chance to redeem yourself." Jinx explained.
Lucretia nodded. "Indeed! If you wish to avoid being sent to the Flow of Failed Phantoms, you have to destroy their love for each other by any means!"
That was the last thing Scratch wanted to do. After everything that Molly and Libby had been through together, Scratch couldn't bring himself to destroy Molly and Libby's beautiful relationship.
"Actually, I don't think that is such a great idea." Scratch explained, earning a glare from the Chairman.
"Are you questioning the Chairman's orders?" Jinx glared at Scratch.
"Look, all I'm saying is that there might be more to after-life then making people miserable. Don't you guys have any dreams you wanted to pursue?" Scratch asked.
"Of course! I have always wanted to play the lute, but my father wouldn't let me!" Sir Alister casually replied.
"Uh, okay." That was not the response Scratch expected.
"Enough! Scratch, you are going to do whatever it takes to tear those two apart from each other because if you don't, we will!" Sir Alister warned.
With that warning, Scratch was sent back to the human world. He was soon greeted by Molly and Libby, neither of them aware of the danger they are in.
"Scratch, there you are! How did everything go with the Ghost Council?" Molly asked with an innocent smile.
At first, Scratch didn't know how to answer. After everything that Molly and Libby had been through together, he couldn't bring himself to split them up. To keep Molly and Libby from being suspicious of him, Scratch decided to lie and pretend that everything was fine.
"Oh, everything went well! We were just going over some boring paperwork! Nothing important! Why don't we just go back home and get some sleep!"
"Sounds good to me! I can really use some sleep after staying up for so long!" Libby commented.
At that moment, Molly and her friends returned to the car so Sharon can drive them back home. Throughout the car ride, Scratch sat down in silence thinking about what the Ghost Council told him. It won't be long before he would have to make an impossible choice. He would either have to split Molly and Libby up, or risk being separated from Molly forever.