Written by me!
Jazz brushed her waist-length silky orange hair, looking at herself tiredly in the bathroom mirror. She hadn't slept well at all. Her mind was still reeling from all the new information she had learned yesterday, which had naturally resulted in her being unable to sleep. She only got four hours of sleep altogether last night.
The fact that the multiverse existed was huge. She had witnessed time travel back when Dan had masqueraded as Danny, but this was on another level entirely. A powerful adversary was breaching the multiverse, and her beloved younger brother had gotten mixed up in. His life was already perilous enough without throwing this in, too.
All that was crazy, but it wasn't the most significant thing on Jazz's mind. No. She couldn't stop thinking about the girl from yesterday. Her half-sister from another reality. She still felt betrayed that Danny had kept something so significant from her. Something as important as having another sister he spent much time with! After learning he was a half-ghost, she believed they'd been done with secrets, but evidently not.
She dreaded what was planned later that morning. After the Ancients had explained everything the previous day, they had magically delivered a small slip of otherworldly glowing parchment to each person in the room. On the parchment was the name of the person they would be working with the next day—something about bonding and forging more friendships.
Her parchment had declared Ceci Masters/Spirit. Of course, it was the one she didn't want to be anywhere near. Perhaps Danny's lousy luck had rubbed off on her somehow. She finally wrangled her flowing locks to look presentable before returning to her room. Her aquamarine eyes found the clock. Time was ticking down until the meeting time. The pit in her stomach grew ever bigger.
Eventually, she heard a faint knock at the front door. Her time was out. A few seconds later, voices trickled upstairs. Jazz breathed deeply before striding out of her room and down the stairs. "Oh, there you are, Jazz!" her mother greeted once she appeared. "I didn't know you were meeting with your cousin today."
Jazz forced a smile. She remembered the first time Ceci had come over when she was introduced as the daughter of her mother's distant cousin, Kathleen Wells. She now had to keep up the cover story, too. "Yeah, Mom, we're going to the library together to… bond."
"That sounds grand, honey," Maddie responded, giving her daughter a quick hug before she left. "I hope you both have a good time!"
"Thanks, Mom. I'll see you later." Once they were back out the front door, the two redhead girls looked at each other silently.
"God, I wish we could go to the library. That seems a lot more pleasureful than dealing with whatever apparition will show up," Ceci said, unquestionably trying to dissolve their awkwardness.
"You like going to the library?" Jazz asked curiously. Maybe she had more in common with her half-sister than she thought.
"Yeah, I love to read!" Ceci replied while fiddling with her braid.
"Danny thinks it's boring, so I usually have to go alone," Jazz responded sheepishly.
"Boring, huh? That doesn't surprise me." The other girl giggled. "Well, I guess we should head into town."
"Okay."
The two girls started the walk further into town. Jazz gradually felt her guard lowering as they learned more about each other. She was surprised to hear that Ceci had two younger siblings, and they compared notes about what they were involved with in school. They even ended up discussing their college plans. Jazz wanted to study psychology, and Ceci was interested in business and finance.
Finally, a breath of magenta mist interrupted the half-ghost, signifying that a ghost was nearby. Jazz tensely looked around, grasping the Fenton Peeler in one hand. Her body armor could come in handy if the spirit were violent.
Abruptly, they heard gasps and screams from further down the street. A crowd stampeded towards them, hiding in stores and behind buildings. Jazz squinted her eyes to see a figure unhurriedly floating down the road, clothed in a long white dress that looked almost antique. The white material billowed out behind her like fog. Beside her, Ceci sighed in relief. "It's only the White Lady. She looks a little terrifying, but she's harmless." Jazz nodded, and the two girls walked closer to the ghost.
"Hello, again. You look a little lost. I'm here to take you home." Ceci told the ghost kindly. The lady looked at them, solid black eyes gleaming. Jazz couldn't help but feel unsettled. Something about her was just… creepy. The complete silence as she stared at them didn't help.
Eventually, the White Lady approached Ceci, which the half-ghost took as a sign of agreement. "All right, just hold on a second." She turned to Jazz, smiling hesitantly. "I guess this is bye for now. I had fun hanging out with you today."
"Yeah… it was fun." Jazz replied, a little surprised that her answer was honest. "See you later?"
"See you!" Ceci gently took the White Lady's hand and grasped her pendant with the other. A swirling portal appeared in front of them, and within a few seconds, they had disappeared. Jazz hummed to herself and stood there for some time before walking away.
The partnership hadn't gone that badly, to her surprise. She had expected to feel worse when interacting with her new sister, but they seemed to get well. They had more in common than she and Danny had. She secretly hoped that they could go to the library sometime.