Vee and Masha
Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! I paced back and forth in the cemetery. Shoot, shoot, shoot! What am I going to do? How am I going to get back home? Camila has the car keys and she, Luz, as well as the others went to The Demon Realm through the portal. I can't drive home without the car keys. Well, I can hot-wire Camila's car like a hard-boiled criminal, but I'm not a hot-boiled criminal. That, and I don't know how to. I'm just a basilisk in a teenage girl's body.
I guess I can walk back. Kids my age are used to walking outside on Halloween night without adult supervision. Yeah, I'll be fine. Camila's car will just have to be towed.
I was about to walk home when I heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, it's you again!" I turned and saw Masha, who was still in their witch costume. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, nothing!" I lied. "I was just going home." They were then confused.
"So, let me get this straight. You're out on Halloween night in a cemetery doing nothing?" I laughed nervously.
"That's right!"
"Weird. I thought I heard voices out here earlier." I broke out in sweats.
"What?! There was no one! No one at all! Just me. If you think you heard teenage witches battling a possessed half-a witch and you witnessed me trying to free him from his possession, you are greatly mistaken! And the guy possessing the teenager didn't flee from his body and went into a portal into the Demon Realm, followed by my friends and one mother after a very emotional bird sacrifice. Because, those things clearly never happened, like, at all. Because that'll be crazy!" I saw them looking at me like I had lost it. Come on, Vee! Why did you have to tell them that? Now they'll think you lost it!
"Yeah, crazy. By the way, when someone says 'that clearly never happened', they're lying and all of that did happen." I panicked. Oh, Titan! They did believe me! They probably saw it all happen. Maybe they filmed it and were going to post it online for everyone else to see. Me and my big mouth! But, to my surprise, they smiled.
"No, I'm just joshing you! I know what you said is crazy and can never happen!" I laughed nervously again.
"Right, never!"
"Well, be careful out here. It's Halloween night. You never know what creeps and weirdos are out here and what they're planning to do."
"Don't worry. I'll be careful." We said our goodbyes and they left. I sighed.
What are you doing Vee? You're just letting them go? They might be able to get you a ride home. I took a deep breath and walked to them.
"Hey, Masha?" They stopped and turned to me. "Look, I have no ride home, and I don't feel like walking home alone on Halloween night of all nights, so, can you, can you, uh, can you, uh…." Spit it out, Vee! Why can't you just say it?
"You want to take a ride home in my family's car?" They asked. Despite my extreme embarrassment right now, I managed to nod. They smiled.
"Sure! I'll ask my parents if it's alright. I'm sure they won't mind if you just tell them. You just come with me." I nodded and went with them.
"By the way, I'm Vee." I told them.
"I'm Masha." Masha said.
"I know. I remember your name tag back at the Historical Society. I also know that you use the they/them pronouns. You really helped us out back there. More than you know." They smiled.
"Glad I could be of service to you and your friends. It's kinda my job, to help people." I grinned sheepishly.
"Oh, right."
Masha talked to their parents, I talked to their parents, got permission, and before I knew it, I was riding with Masha in their parents' car.
"Thanks, Masha." I said to them in the backseat of the moving vehicle. "You really saved me from having to walk all of the way to Cami…to my mom's house."
"No prob!" Masha said. "I couldn't let you do that all on your own."
"We couldn't let you, either." Masha's mom spoke. "We know better than that. Masha does too."
"Mom!" Masha whined. "Don't eavesdrop! We know better than that too!"
"Sorry." The mom apologized. "But when you have nothing to do in the car, you sort of can't help it. Your ears hear what they want to hear. You can't really shut them off."
"You can always not bring up what you heard."
"Masha's right, honey." Masha's dad told his wife. "You brought this upon yourself."
"Dad!" Masha whined again.
"Sorry. Ears hear what they hear." Masha groaned. They turned to me.
"Sorry about my parents."
"It's okay." I told them. I then changed the subject. "So, why were you guys all at the cemetery?"
"To see my grandma's grave."
"Grandma?"
"She died unexpectedly on Halloween a few years ago." I frowned.
"Oh, I'm so sorry."
"Thanks. It was hard on all of us when it happened, especially my mom. We go to the cemetery every Halloween. I started working for the Halloween Festival last year, and it just so happens that it's right by the cemetery, so it's really ideal. Both times, my parents had taken me to the festival, stayed there, and we all went together when I get off from work." This time, they changed the subject. "So, what happened to your friends? They were all on the Haunted Hayride with me when I told them about the Witterbane brothers."
"Oh, well, you see, they…" Again, I didn't know what to say. What can I say that will be believable? I didn't know what to say, so I just sighed. "I don't know."
"They probably ditched you." I looked at them in puzzlement.
"What?"
"Well, now I'm not saying that they did, but they might have just had some fun with you and ditched you. It's Halloween. They might have wanted to have fun, especially that one little guy. He seems like the guy who likes to joke around."
"Uh, yes! It was a trick. That must be it. Dang, my friends! They're good. I don't know why I fall for their tricks every time. They all must be home, ready for a laugh fest when I get home." They were then confused.
"You seem to be really chill that they just ditched you on Halloween night. If I were you, I would be really mad. It's one thing to pull off a harmless prank, but just leaving you to defend yourself walking home alone seems to be really over-the-top."
"Oh. Oh, yeah. I'm totally mad at them. When I get home, I'll really yell at them. They'll think twice about tricking Vee ever again!" Masha smiled.
"You tell them, Vee!"
Marsha and their parents dropped me off at Camila's. At first, they were concerned if I could get in the house. I told them I had keys to get inside and that was that.
I took out the spare keys out of my pocket. I was about to put the key in when I thought of something. If I opened this door, I would be home alone. No Camila, no Luz, Willow, Amity, and Hunter. Just me, all by myself. Did I want to be home alone, on Halloween night? I looked back. The car was beginning to move. Without thinking, I ran out onto the street, flailing my arms back and forth to get the car to stop. It did. Masha's dad pulled down the windshield. I walked over to it.
"Vee?" Their dad asked. "What were you thinking running out in the middle of the road? We could have run you over."
"Sorry." I apologized. "Look, I know this is weird and out of the blue for me to ask, but, can Masha come over?"
"You want me to come over?" Masha wanted to know. I looked back at them and nodded.
"Yeah, I do. I mean, if you don't mind." I saw them smile. I then thought of something. "Oh, no, you can't because it's a school night, right? Sorry I asked."
"Of course I don't mind. The heater at my school blew up today, so I'm off of school until it's fixed. What luck!"
"You don't go to Gravesfield High?" They shook their head.
"Tombstone High."
"Tombstone High?"
"Yeah. The people who named our town and our schools must have been depressed and messed up."
"I'll say!" Marsha then looked up front.
"Mom? Dad? Can I stay at Vee's tonight?"
"Sure." The mom said. "It might be fun for you. Have fun!" Masha unbuckled their seatbelt and walked out and shut the car door behind them.
"Should I bring your sleeping bag over?" Masha's dad wanted to know. Masha was about to answer when I answered for them instead.
"No need." I told him. "We have a sleeping bag for them to sleep in instead." He seemed confused.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Okay." After their goodbyes, the car then drove off. Masha looked at me.
"Vee, are you sure your mom won't mind me staying?" They asked me.
"I'm sure." I told them. "She won't mind one bit."
"Cool. It sounds like your mom is really chill and really trusts you. It's nice that your mom is cool." I laughed nervously.
"Yeah, that's my mom for you. So cool." I then opened the door and we went inside. I turned on the lights.
"Welcome to my home." I announced. "I mean my mom's house. I'm just a kid. I don't own the house. She is the sole owner of the house. I just live here." Shut up, Vee! They laughed.
"I know. Say, are you going to call your friends to yell at them for ditching you?"
"Uh, you're here. I will tell them later."
"Okay, so what do you want to do?"
"How about a scary movie or Halloween related?"
"Sure."
"I'll let you choose the movie. While you do that, I'll go in the kitchen and make us some popcorn."
"Sounds good to me. I like popcorn."
"I like popcorn too. I mean of course I do. I suggested it and said I'll make us some popcorn, meaning me too." Why do you keep talking, Vee? Just shut up and hand them the remote. I grabbed the TV remote, turned it on for them and handed it to them.
"Here. I'll be right back. You have lots of options. I trust you to pick a good one." With that, I left them alone with the TV as I made my way into the kitchen.
"I can't believe it took them 29 years for them to make a sequel." Masha said once the movie was over. "The first one is a favorite of mine. I always wanted to know what would happen if they ever made a sequel and now I don't have to wonder anymore. Although, I am curious what would happen if they made a third one now. I just hope it doesn't take them another 29 years."
"I just watched the first film for the first time with my friends not too long ago." I told them. "It's quite good."
"You think they'll be mad that you watched the sequel with me and not with them?"
"No. They won't mind. My friends are chill and cool like that." Masha looked confused.
"The same friends that ditched you in the graveyard?"
"Yeah, the exact same."
"Hmmmm, in speaking of your friends, where are they?"
"Trick-or-treating."
"At this late hour? And aren't some of them too old to trick- or- treat? That one kid with the scar and eye bags look to be 16 and the others look 15 or 14. That one kid looks young enough still to go."
"Yeah. That's how much they love candy." Masha smiled.
"Well, joke's on them. Trick- or- treating is over. Adults won't give candy to kids at this late hour…at least I don't think so." They thought of something else. "So, where's your mom?"
"She's at work."
"Again, at this late hour?"
"Yeah. She's a vet. She had to perform an emergency surgery on a dog tonight."
"Ok." I sincerely hope Masha was believing my lies. Fortunately, they seemed like they did because they did not question the whereabouts of my friends or my mom for the rest of the night. They never even questioned my dad. I hated having to lie to them, but if I told them the truth, they wouldn't believe me, so it was best this way. "That movie sure makes witches scary. Good thing they're not real." Yet again, I laughed nervously.
"Yeah." I seem to be laughing nervously a lot. "Or basilisks." Titan! Why did I say basilisks? Why? What's wrong with me? They just looked at me.
"Uh-huh; right!" Fortunately, they had no further questions.
We then told scary stories to one another and played some board and card games. It was after one in the morning before we both went to bed. Masha had taken off their hat and put it beside their sleeping bag (which was Hunter's when he stayed here for the past couple or so months) I had taken it upstairs for our Halloween sleepover.
I woke up at seven. I quietly walked out of the room. I didn't want to wake up Masha. I then went to the computer and turned it on. I went to the site of Luz's school.
Once I got the school's phone number and called the school on the phone.
"Gravesfield High School." Someone on the other end spoke. "This is Vice Principal Linda Binds speaking, How can I help you?" I responded back to her in my best Camila voice.
"This is Camila Noceda. I'm afraid my daughter, Luz Noceda, had too much Halloween candy last night and developed a terrible stomachache. She will be absent from school today." Linda then sounded sad.
"Oh, well, that's too bad. She's a good kid. Tell her I, as well as the whole school, wishes her for a speedy recovery so we can see her tomorrow." At least she didn't question why a high schooler was still trick- or treating or any other questions for that matter.
"I will." We said our goodbyes and I hung up. Next, I looked up the number of Camila's clinic on the computer and when I got it, dialed on the phone.
I told the person that picked up what Camila told me. I then told the person the same excuse that I told Luz's school of why I (Camila) couldn't work today. And to really sell it, I pretended to gag.
"Oh no." I said in Camila's voice. "I'm really sorry. I have to go." I hung up.
I then walked back to where I was sleeping with Masha and went back to bed.
It was almost eleven in the morning when we got up. Masha called their parents and they picked them up. They gave me their number and they put back on their witch's hat and left with their parents.
I sighed. Now, what am I going to do? I just can't force Masha to come back, can I? I'm sure I'll come up with something! I watched until Masha's parents' car drove off into the distance before I went back inside to call Camila's abuela.
Oh, Camila, Luz, Hunter, Willow, Gus and Amity, I hope you do what you guys need to do in The Demon Realm and come back soon, especially you Camila and Luz, I can't keep coming up with excuses for you two forever.