Chapter 6
Libby's Birthday
Ever since her recent encounter with Jinx, Molly took extra precautions to keep the Chairman's cloak safe. If dealing with Jinx wasn't bad enough, Molly also had to keep an eye on the Frightmares as well. That was when Molly decided to tell the Ghost Council what was going on.
After putting on the cloak and giving Scratch the news, she asked him to take her to see the Ghost Council. Once Molly and Scratch entered the Ghost World, they approached the Ghost Council as Molly told them what happened back at Ollie's house.
"So, what you are trying to say is that the Frightmares are currently being held at this Ollie Chen's house and we don't have to worry about them for now?" Sir Alister asked, wanting to understand the whole situation.
"That's right! I'm sure that they won't be bothering us anytime soon!" Molly assured the Ghost Council.
"Great job, Moll! You're just starting off as the Chairwoman, and you are already keeping the Ghost World safe from Frightmares!" Scratch encouraged his best friend.
"But she didn't even do anything!" Lucretia argued.
"Hey, the Ghost World is still standing under her rule, isn't it?"
With an annoyed sigh, Grimbella placed a ghost and up to her face in annoyance. "At least with the Frightmares detained, we would be able to continue your Chairwoman training."
"Ooh. Sorry, I can't!" Molly replied with a nervous chuckle.
At that moment, the Ghost Council stared at her, dumbfounded. They gave Molly the Chairman's cloak to rule over the Ghost World and she wouldn't take her responsibilities seriously.
"What do you mean you can't?" Bartholomew asked, annoyed with Molly.
"Today is Libby's birthday, and I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Molly replied with a cheerful grin.
The Ghost Council couldn't believe what they were hearing. While they understood how important Libby was to Molly, they believed that training Molly was also important.
"I don't believe this! Scratch, talk some sense into your friend and tell her she needs to continue her training!" Sir Alister ordered.
At that moment, Scratch floated over to Molly before placing a hand on her shoulder, seemingly ready to tell her she can't go to Libby's birthday.
"Molly." There was a pause before Scratch excitedly asked. "Will there be cake at Libby's birthday?"
"Of course! Libby's mom said she would bake the cake herself!" Molly happily replied.
"Then it's settled! We're going to Libby's birthday party!"
Before the Ghost Council could argue, Molly and Scratch turned and flew away. The two friends excitedly flew through a portal back to the human world, leaving the Ghost Council silently wondering if they made the right choice in making Molly the Chairwoman.
The time for Libby's party to begin got closer as more of her friends had arrived. The McGees, along with Andrea showed up for Libby's birthday. Even Scratch, along with Geoff and Jeff showed up in secret. The only ones left who needed to arrive were Ollie and June.
The siblings sat in the backseat of the car as their parents drove them to Book Marks the Spot. With the car parked right in front of the bookshop, Ruben and Ester turned to say goodbye to their kids.
"We hope you two have fun at Libby's birthday!" Ester smiled.
"Are you sure you don't want us to come inside with you?" Ruben asked. "It would be nice for us to get to know Libby's mom!"
As they looked through the window of the shop, they noticed Molly, who looked as though she was talking to herself. There was no doubt that it meant that Scratch was here as well. Ollie and June tried to stay calm, hoping to not look suspicious.
"Uh, no thanks we're good!" Ollie said with a nervous smile.
"We'll see you after the party!" June reached for the car handle before Ester stopped her.
"Hold it! You forgot your ghost hunting gear!"
The two siblings looked down to see the various gadgets that their parents forced them to bring with them.
"Okay, who brings ghost hunting equipment to a birthday party?" June asked, annoyed with her parents.
"Better safe than sorry!"Ruben replied.
With a couple of sighs, Ollie and June picked up their gadgets before leaving the car. Once they entered the bookshop, they immediately tossed their ghost hunting equipment to the side before being greeted by their friends.
"Ollie! June! I'm so glad you two can make it!" Molly exclaimed before embracing the two of them in a tight hug.
"Uh, good to see you too, Molly." June replied, feeling awkward about the hug.
Amused from seeing her girlfriend being so friendly towards Ollie and June, Libby gave a slight giggle. "Okay, Molly! Why don't we just give Ollie and June a moment to breathe!"
"Oops! Sorry!" Molly let go. "I'm just so excited we are all getting together to celebrate your birthday! I'm just so happy for you, Ahuvati!" Molly immediately hugged Libby next.
Before the party began, everyone started to socialize as Darryl and June were hanging out with each other and Pete, Sharon, and Leah started to catch up with each other. As everyone talked to one another, Ollie managed to find Scratch, who was ignoring Geoff and Jeff as he was eating turtle-shaped cookies. Seeing this as he chance to apologize for everything, Ollie approached his ghost friend.
"Hey, Scratch." Ollie got Scratch's attention.
The ghost soon turned to Ollie with crumbs all over his face. "What do you want, kid? I'm not in the mood to socialize and I just made it clear to Geoff and Jeff earlier."
"I just have something that I've been wanting to tell you. Can we speak in private?" Ollie asked, noticing that Geoff and Jeff are still here.
"Oh, don't be silly! Whatever it is you want to tell Scratch, I'm sure you can say it to us too!" Geoff smiled.
Picking up on the hint, Jeff knew that Ollie wanted to talk about something personal. He knew that Ollie wouldn't say anything with him and Geoff around, so he decided to help Ollie out.
"Hey, Geoff? Maybe we should just leave Ollie alone and let him talk to Scratch in private. We can have a dance together if you like!" Jeff said to his partner.
"A dance? I would love to dance with you! Let's go!"
Geoff then took his partner's hand as they both floated away together. With one last smile, Ollie silently thanked Jeff before bringing his attention back to Scratch.
"Listen, Scratch. I know that we haven't gotten along with each other when we first met, and I'm sure it's my fault." Ollie admitted. "You see, I only captured you on that day because I was afraid you were going to hurt Molly and Libby. I was clearly wrong, and I am so sorry for how I treated you!"
Scratch could tell that Ollie was genuinely sorry for what he had done. While Scratch didn't want to hold a grudge, he still couldn't forget that Ollie nearly took him away from Molly.
"Okay, look, kid. I know that you didn't mean any harm. You were only doing what you thought was right, but you nearly took me away from Molly forever." Scratch pointed out as Ollie sadly lowered his head. "But if there is anything that I have learned from being Molly's friend, it's that sometimes you have to forgive others. So, for Molly's sake, I suppose I can forgive you and be your friend, if you like."
Surprised by what he heard, Ollie started to tear up before he embraced Scratch in a hug. As weirded out as he was by this, Scratch sighed before he reluctantly hugged Ollie back.
It wasn't long all of the preparations were made and Leah gathered everyone together so they can all celebrate Libby's birthday. They all sang happy birthday to Libby before she blew out the candles on her cake.
Everyone soon took slices of the cake and enjoyed how it tasted. Scratch especially loved the cake as he ended up taking multiple slices in secret, leaving Leah wondering what happened to the rest of the cake. She didn't have time to think about it though since it was now time for Libby to open her presents. Ollie and June were the first ones to hand Libby a present.
"Here you go, Libby! This one is from me and Ollie!" said June.
Excited, Libby unwrapped her gift to see that it was a book on the history of paranormal activity Libby stared at her gift in awe as it contained history and paranormal activity, two of her favorite things.
"June and I weren't too sure on what your interests were, but we thought you might like this." Ollie explained. "Sorry if this isn't the kind of gift you wanted."
"Are you kidding?! I love it!" Libby exclaimed. "Thank you!"
"Ooh! Libby, you have to check out my gift next!" Andrea exclaimed before excitedly handing Libby her gift.
As Libby unwrapped Andrea's gift, she was surprised to see that it was some kind of gift card.
"This is a special Davenport gift card! Enter the code in your phone, and you would get all of the most popular love songs personalized just for you! You can listen to them if you ever want to have a dance with Molly!" Andrea suggested.
Despite the slight embarrassment she felt from that comment, Libby still enjoyed the gift.
"Thank you, Andrea! I'm sure that I would enjoy all of the songs this gift card has to offer!" Libby smiled.
Molly was the last one to give her gift to Libby. After seeing all of the amazing gifts Libby received, Molly started to feel nervous, silently wondering if her gift was good enough. Someone as wonderful as Libby deserves the best and Molly hoped that she chose the right gift. With a sigh, Molly stepped forward, ready to give Libby her gift.
"Looks like it's my turn! Libby, I have thought long and hard about what the perfect gift would be for you, and I got you something that might be a little unexpected." Molly admitted.
"Oh, it's okay, Molly! I'm sure that whatever you got me is going to be amazing!" Libby smiled.
Feeling reassured, Molly took out a sheet of paper. Everyone remained silent, each of them wondering what Molly was planning.
"I have created a poem for Libby Stein-Torres, the love of my life!" Molly cleared her throat before she began to read her poem. "To Libby, my best friend! You are amazing and loyal til the end! From your pretty eyes to your beautiful hair that is brown, you are a wonderful friend to have around! You have always been a delight and filled my life with light. I am happy that we are now together and I promise to always love you forever!"
Once Molly's poem came to an end, everyone clapped and cheered for Molly. Touched by Molly's poem, Libby was crying tears of joy.
"M-Molly! That was so beautiful! Thank you for this wonderful gift! I love you so much!" Libby said before she embraced Molly in a hug.
Everyone watched as Molly and Libby kissed each other on the lips. As they embraced each other, their friends and family smiled, happy that Libby got to have a wonderful birthday.
"I just knew that Libby would love Molly's gift the most!" Andrea commented, not surprised by this outcome in the least. "This is too adorable to not make a post about." Andrea took a picture of Molly and Libby before making a post about Libby having the best birthday ever.
A couple of hours went by before nearly all of the guests left. It was at that point when the McGees were the only ones who stayed around. That was when Libby took the time to relax and read her new book.
Since her parents were getting ready to leave, Molly decided to spend her last couple of moments with her girlfriend. She sat down on a chair right next to Libby, who closed her book after finishing a chapter.
"So, did you just have the best birthday ever, Ahuvati?" Molly asked her girlfriend.
"I sure did, Sunshine!" Libby replied with a smile. "It was certainly less crowded than last year!"
"Oh, right!" Molly remembered the night she tried giving Libby the best Bat Mitzvah ever. "I still can't believe that it has already been a year since your Bat Mitzvah!"
"Me neither! I'll admit, my Bat Mitzvah did feel pretty intense after you tried to make it as big and exciting as possible." Libby admitted, to which Molly looked away with an awkward smile. "Still, I ended up having a fun time with you, especially during the part we danced together!"
Thinking back to her dance with Libby reminded Molly of the gift Andrea gave Libby earlier. "That reminds me! Do you think you would want to check out the love songs, Andrea told you about?"
"Oh, yeah! I'm actually curious to see what songs my new playlist would have for me!"
At that moment, Libby took out her phone before typing in the code on her gift card. A list of countless songs then appeared on Libby's phone, leaving her impressed. She honestly didn't think she should be too surprised though, given how rich Andrea's family is.
A random song immediately played as Molly and Libby recognized what the song was. It was I Can Count on You, the song that was performed by Atomic Pink at the school dance last year.
That song held precious memories for the two girlfriends as it reminded them of the best night of their lives. With a blush, Molly held out her hand for Libby to grab.
"May I have this dance, Ahuvati?"
"I would be honored, Sunshine!"
The two girlfriends soon wrapped their arms around each other before they began to slow dance together. This didn't go unnoticed by Leah. She took a closer look and started to tear up, happy for her daughter.
As Molly and Libby were having their dance, memories of the Brighton Bop came flowing back to them. They felt as though they were back at Brighton Middle School, reliving their wonderful night together. This ended up being the perfect end to Libby's special day as this turned out to be her best birthday ever.