The long awaited June team-up is here! First, I want to give a big shout out to ssternberg1 for being the best June writer and fleshing out her character! Those stories are what inspired me to write an anthology fic to cover Ollie's chairman arc and as a little extra stern's ghostsona makes a cameo in this chapter.
I can relate to June since I am also on the autistic spectrum. I had my own fair share of setbacks and being underestimated growing up and channeled some of that into the later portion of this chapter.
Ollie laid back on the couch with a hand rubbing his forehead. It was his first day off in a little over a week, no scrolls to sign or ominous voids creating potholes in the roads to deal with. He could just relax and take a break for a day.
"Hey, Ollie." The boy looked up to see his little sister looking down at him.
"What's up June?" He pulled himself upright and offered the other half of the couch to her.
June plopped herself down next to him. "Not much. But I've had a pretty busy week." She counted out her fingers while recalling her latest endeavors. "I recalibrated the Phant-O-Meter, tested Scratch's taste buds per his request, learned he was allergic to carob and that I need to disclose ingredients to ghosts before offering food, Darryl and I toppled an illegal toothpaste scheme while doing our own scheme. Nothing too major, I guess."
"Huh, you have been busy." Ollie commented. "So have I, I guess." Come to think of it, it had been a while since the two of them hung out and did something together. Oh no, were they getting to an age where they spend less and less time together?! "When was the last time we did something with just the two of us?"
"April 28th, we went grocery shopping for mom and dad. Then on our way home we got balloons from this guy handing them out for balloon awareness day." June helpfully recalled.
Proving his point, Ollie made a decision. "We need to have a fun sibling day, just you and me!" Ollie pointed to both of them.
"Really?!" His sister sounded excited.
"Really." Ollie held one hand to his heart and raised the other. "I give my Ollie Oath to spend the whole day with my little sister! Now is there anything you want to do? Anything at all?"
June had to think about that. What was something she could do with her brother? There was something that came to mind, but she wasn't sure he'd be up for it. "I've always wanted to explore the Ghost World. I know it's your day off-"
"That's a great idea!" Contrary to what June had thought, Ollie was delighted by her suggestion. "I can't wait to show you how I've engoodified the place! And all the cool ghost stuff! There's so much I want to-" he stopped and smacked his forehead. "Shoot!"
"Ollie?"
"I can't open a portal on my own. I haven't scheduled the council to pick me up today so we have to ask Scratch or Geoff to-"
To their shock, a ghost portal opened up right in the living room. Their friendly, green friend came out and greeted the kids. "Hi guys! Your pal Geoff is here to visit!" They hadn't even needed to spell his name to summon him. The ghost appeared all on his own. "Is Ruben home? I thought we could hang out for a while."
June directed Geoff to the ceiling. "He's upstairs. Do you mind if we use that portal to go to the Ghost World?"
"I don't see why not? Go ahead!" Geoff gladly allowed the kids to use the portal.
The Chen siblings dove right into the swirling vortex, their colorful souls separating from their bodies that fell to the floor. "Wow, you barely feel it happen." June had only become a wraith once before, you'd think there'd be a stronger sensation to leaving your body, but it happens so quick you hardly feel it.
"I barely feel anything." Shell Ollie droned, not picking himself off of the floor and requiring his spirit to do it for him. "Make sure our parents know I took June with me today." The true Ollie tasked his husk. The shell blinked one eye at a time. "... Great! Thanks me!"
June's shell had slightly more energy, pulling herself back up to the couch all on her own and took out her phone. "Shell June, can you keep yourself and Ollie out of trouble until we get back?" The girl was no stranger to weirdness, talking to her own body barely made the top ten strangest things she'd done that month. "Meh." The empty shell shrugged, watching with indifference to the world around her.
Geoff shuddered. The empty shells were so unsettling. "Like a driverless car… I'm gonna go away from these creepy guys now. Have fun in the ghost world!" He waved goodbye to the siblings and floated upstairs. Ollie and June left through the portal just as they heard the shriek of their dad, who'd been so focused on the computer that Geoff phasing through it caused an accidental jumpscare.
OXOXOXOX
The Ghost World looked much better than the previous time June had been there. It was much more unlively and no flow of misery swirling up in the eternal night sky. "Wow, this is how the Ghost World is supposed to be."
"Yeah, isn't it incredible!?" Ollie did a little flip in the air and spread his arms out wide. "There is so much I want you to see!" He took her by the hand and led her through the streets. Floating felt so natural here, June just instinctively knew how to move in her new form.
"Chairman Ollie!" "What's up Chairman?!" "Thanks for getting my ghost cat out of a tree!" "Has that sobgoblin infestation on the corner of Nightmare Street been dealt with?"
So many ghosts called out to the orange wraith who floated by, he greeted them all with a warm and sincere smile. "Hey Carl! Nothing much, Ms. Fenderson. Remember to keep Cookie away from the window, Sam! Still quarantined for now, Gary. I'm off duty when I'm not wearing the robe, but I'll check on it during my next shift."
June hadn't realized how popular her brother was as the new Chairman. He certainly got more done and cared a lot more than those prior to him (no offense to Scratch). Ollie had become a wraith every day for at least the last two weeks, that level of dedication endeared him to the deceased almost as much as his competency did. On a bonus and slightly more self-serving note, it meant June would have a breeze conducting research with someone who could help her get into areas with restricted access. But first, she wanted some first-person accounts on ghostly subjects.
"The Ghost World is so much bigger than I could have ever imagined." Ollie spoke to his sister while moving forward. "Although we can portal to wherever we want, we should still stick together so we don't get seper-" Wait, Ollie looked back and noticed the red wraith was no longer by his side. "... ated."
His sister hadn't wandered far, she was speaking to a purple ghost girl and taking notes in her notepad. "You want to know if ghosts can have unique abilities?" The ghost repeated what June had asked her. "Some do, but it really depends on your unfinished business, I think? I heard there's a ghost in the pacific northwest who could turn people into wood because-"
"Excuse me, so sorry to interrupt-" Ollie interjected. "But I need to talk with my sister for a moment."
"Oh! Of course Mr. Chairman." The purple ghost excused herself and kindly waved to the two as she departed.
June looked up from her notepad to see her brother looking at her in concern. "Ollie, I was conducting an interview!"
"You can't just go off on your own here, June. If anything happened, and I wasn't around, I-I'd never forgive myself." He wasn't upset at her, he loved her curiosity. But he had to be sure she knew that just because he was in charge around here didn't mean it was safe to wander away from his sight.
Sighing, June understood his concerns. "OK, I won't float off if you let me conduct more interviews later." She bargained.
"Deal." Ollie accepted her terms. Noticing where they were, the older sibling had an idea. "Oh! June, there's a place over there I want to show you!"
June let her brother lead her over to a store that, according to the sign on top, was called Boo! Buster. "Is this an old video rental store?" June had never seen one in person before. Technically she wasn't exactly 'in-person' at the moment.
"Yeah, when stuff dies in the living world they pop up here! Plus, a friend of mine works here." Ollie opened the door, allowing June to go in first before he closed it behind them.
"Couldn't we have just gone through the wall?" June wondered.
"We could, but that is considered rude." Ollie explained ghost etiquette.
A green ghost with a ponytail noticed the customers and lit up when she saw the orange specter. "Ollie! Good to see ya!" She leaned against the counter while the wraith siblings floated over.
"Hi Blair! This is my sister, June." He introduced his ghost friend to his fellow Ghost Friend. "June, this is Blair. I helped her on my first Ghost Friends mission."
Blair offered her hand to June, who accepted the handshake. "It's nice to meet you, Blair."
"Likewise, kid." Blair proudly adjusted the 'manager' name tag pinned to her ectoplasmic vest. "I was going to pass on now that I've got my unfinished business taken care of, but now that I'm free to roam the afterlife I've got to have a little fun for a while. And what better way to enjoy being dead than to pass on my extensive knowledge of horror movie tropes and behind the scenes trivia to more ghosts who can put them to practice." Once she saw the 'haunt wanted' sign in the store window, Blair gladly took the manager position. She'd been staying in a video store since the 90s, might as well get paid to stay in an operational one. "And the best part of the job, I've got my own personal copy of my favorite horror movie, Blood Mansion, that I can watch as many times as I want! And it's on laserdisc!"
June looked around the store, it was filled with VHS tapes and other long-unused media formats. She spied a display labeled 'Manager's choice' filled with a very nice selection of horror movies. Besides that, there was a poster for 'Ghost VCR' rentals. "You rent out VCR's too?"
"Yup." Blair went back behind the checkout stand and pulled a neon-colored VCR out from a cabinet underneath. "It's the only way to watch any tapes around here. Glad to finally find a living person who knows what a VCR is and doesn't think it's a 'weird toaster'." She rolled her eyes in the chairman's direction.
"It was one time." Ollie mumbled.
Knowing that they could rent a player, the Chen siblings searched the store for a movie to rent. "I've never watched a ghost tape before." June didn't know where to start when it came to finding something to watch. It had to be something special, something she couldn't see in her world. A video cover caught her attention and she gasped.
"What is it?" Ollie heard the gasp and came to find the wraith staring at a video in shock and wonderment.
Picking up the box, June held it out for Ollie to see. "They have 'Midnight Mountain'! This movie has no known copies remaining!" She'd researched lost media before, and this film was one of the more notable ones that had a miniscule chance of being found.
"No known copies remaining in the living world." Blair corrected her. "Little known Easter egg about lost media. If all copies are gone in your world with no chance of recovery, they wind up over here."
This was news to Ollie. "Wait, for real?!"
Blair nodded and directed them over to another display. "The scary flicks are my favorite flavor of film, but no one can deny the allure of watching something that should be lost to time."
The wraiths scanned the display. Ollie vaguely thought he recognized some of the films, but looked over to June for confirmation of their rarity. Her jaw hung open as she laid eyes on some of the greatest losses of Hollywood (and one weird flick from Argentina) that hadn't been seen since long before she was born. "Ollie, this is incredible! People have searched for decades for any of these, and they're all right here! To rent!" It came with a sobering realization. For these films to be in front of them, it confirmed they no longer existed on the other side. No one could ever find a missing copy in life and would have to become a ghost to view them.
The manager could tell that the younger girl had realized what it meant for the films to be here, and offered a little ray of hope. "There's still plenty of lost films not in the ghost world, which can only mean they can still be found somewhere."
That got June to brighten up. "That is a good way of thinking about it." The green ghost left the two to figure out which movie to rent. Ideally, they'd like to see all of them for historical significance and novelty.
"Are any of them about ghosts?" Ollie asked while holding up two tapes.
"Not that I know of." June read off the backs of the boxes, which seemed to have been custom-made by Blair if the commentary was any indication. "You know what this kinda reminds me of? When we would pick out candy to bring home after school at the end of each month."
"Oh yeah! We'd walk over to… to… what was that place?" Ollie blanked on the name.
June raised an ectoplasmic eyebrow. "Barnaby's Treat Trove? We'd go on the last Friday of every month and get candy to bring home."
"Oh yeah! We'd take forever picking candy and mom would be out waiting to meet us in the car." Ollie recalled the establishment from when they lived in New York. "Yeah, we may not want to take forever to pick out a movie though." His sister agreed and tried to single out a tape. She thought it was kind of strange that Ollie forgot Barnaby's Treat Trove. They had that tradition every month for six years until they moved to Brighton.
A movie was finally agreed upon and taken to the front to be checked out. "This one please." June placed the tape on the counter. "And we'd like to rent a ghost VCR as well."
Blair moved to ring them up when a thought crossed her mind. "Hold up, do you two have a ghost TV to hook the ghost VCR up to?"
Cue Ollie smacking his hand into his face. They could get the VCR, but living world televisions wouldn't be compatible. "June, you wouldn't be able to rig it up, would you?"
"I think that is beyond what even I can do." June answered honestly.
The conundrum would have to untangle itself later, for outside the shop a cry for help went out. "HELP! THIS IS A CRY FOR HELP GOING OUT!"
Ollie turned determinedly and quickly looked back at his sister. "Wait right here, I'll just be a second." He flew out in a streak of orange light, fast enough to blow up a little wind behind him.
The video store manager was not surprised by this. "Oh boy, there he goes again." She rolled her eyes and addressed June. "You might want to go after him. He could be a while if left unchecked."
On the one hand, Ollie had told her to wait right there. On the other hand, Ollie had made her promise not to wander off, and she wasn't about to let him set a double-standard of running off on his own. "Thanks Blair, but we probably won't be able to rent the video today."
"It's fine. I'll just have to bring the movie over to you guys one night. Maybe even a double-feature." Blair saw June off as she went after Ollie. The green ghost smiled, the young girl was a sweet kid. A miniature portal opened up behind her and spat out a new VHS tape to add to the inventory. Blair recognized the title as another lost film. "Looks like the last copy of 'Hitchhiking Gorilla' got destroyed. Bad news for film searchers and good news for me since I get an advanced screening!"
Outside, June caught up to Ollie in time to see him lift a billboard off of a ghost who was pinned down underneath. With a not insignificant amount of effort, Ollie moved the board enough for the other ghost to wiggle free, albeit with his body flatter than a pancake. "Thank you Chairman Ollie! I never meant to knock that over, I got distracted by a flock of dead birds and smacked right into it."
Ollie inspected the support beams that should have been at the bottom of the billboard. "Hmm, looks like it hasn't been maintained in quite some time. Let me get my robe and I can have this fixed up! Maybe even reinforce it with an additional frame, maybe new paintwork-"
"Ollie!"
He noticed his sister beside him and jumped a bit. "June!? I told you to wait for me!"
"It's your day off. You shouldn't be working today." The red wraith reminded her brother. "And if I'm not allowed to wander off from you, then it would be a bad example to run off without me."
She was right on both counts, Ollie could not become a hypocrite, or worse, a bad example! "OK, yeah, I shouldn't have done that. And it is my day off…" But he couldn't just leave this mess in the street. "This billboard has to be moved aside. I can't lift it by myself without the robe, so I'll need a little help." Together with his sister and the newly flat-chested ghost, they managed to drag the damaged billboard into the closest alley. Ollie swept up the little debris remaining and had June write a brief note that the chairman would repair the damage tomorrow and stick it to the board. With that all taken care of, the Chen siblings went out to see more of the Ghost World.
OXOXOXOX
Once everything had been settled, Ollie took June over to what appeared to be a ghost park. June had to admit, she had never been to a park where all the plants were dead. One had to wonder if they were ghosts of plants that had died or if they just showed up there. The afterlife was full of curiosities that couldn't be covered in just a day.
"I think it's around lunchtime, hard to tell with it always being night here." Ollie relied on his nose to find what he was searching for. "Let's sample some ghost food like-" he found what he was looking for, pulling June in while he stretched his other arm out to reveal. "The churro cart!" The food cart that Scratch loved to patronize and/or steal from had a heavenly glow over it. The glow came from a ghost flying overhead testing out a new flashlight.
June blinked. "Is that the only food cart around here?" She liked churros, but felt the ghost world needed more variety.
"..." Ollie moved the two of them slightly over to the right and repeated his previous gesture at a stand beside the churro cart. "The pretzel cart!" It was also bathed in a heavenly glow, that ghost was still flying around with that flashlight.
"Eh, that'll do." June shrugged. The siblings didn't have to wait long before they could order and receive the pretzel-y goodness that was pretzels. Taking a bite out of hers, June was puzzled by the taste. "Is this what salt tastes like here?" She didn't like it, it tasted bitter and a bit peppery.
Trying his own pretzel, Ollie could tell what she meant. "I think it's… parsley?" He guessed. This explained the short wait for pretzels. "I wish I had an explanation for this, but I don't." His sister moved to throw away her pretzel in the garbage bin, and was intercepted by the orange wraith. "We can't just waste this!"
"Do they even have carbon footprints here?" June pretty much figured out her brother's reasons for not being wasteful… sort of.
"Good question, but I'm referring more to the vendor being close by. It would hurt his feelings to see us throw away the snack he worked hard to make!" Ollie took the pretzel from June. "I'll get you a churro and…" He gulped. "-I'll eat both of these myself."
True to his word, Ollie bought a churro for June and forced himself to eat the terrible pretzels. June did not envy him, the only way those pretzels could taste worse would be with cilantro. Like a champ, Ollie finished the pretzels and was thankful to be in a form that couldn't be killed by food poisoning. He had to sit down for a while, and they found a bench next to a goo-filled fountain. June kicked her squiggly ends like they were her actual legs while finishing her churro, looking around at the many ghosts roaming around. "Ollie, can I conduct my interviews here?"
"Sure, June-" He forced back a gag. Ollie still needed more time to let his ghost body process the affront to snacking it had ingested. "I-I need to sit down a bit longer. Just stay in front of the fountain where I can see you, alright?"
June nodded, retrieving her notepad. She glanced around for her first subject. A purple ghost with an indigo hoodie and a ponytail floated past and caught June's eye. "Excuse me!" She stopped the ghost. "I'm June, a living girl who separated my soul from my body to visit the Ghost World, and I'd like to ask a couple of questions about your experiences here."
"Oh, uh sure! I can answer a couple of questions." He accepted.
Clicking her pen, June got to work. "How different is your day-to-day routine compared to when you were alive?"
"Hmm, let me think…" He pondered, setting up a quick montage of ghosts being interviewed by June.
"I still have to brush my teeth. Cadaverties are a real pain." A ghost lady instinctively held the side of her mouth.
"Yeah, I died of blood loss from amputating both of my legs. But you can't even tell the difference!" A ghost man with an old-timey mustache exclaimed.
"I've never thought about where the food we eat goes." A tall ghost might never be able to stop thinking about that question from now on.
"Always add the 'till death do us part' in the wedding vows. The marriage is still legal once you die if you don't." A woman ghost clearly hoping to upgrade her spouse in the afterlife shared her advice.
Ollie watched June go from ghost to ghost, asking questions and jotting down responses. By the ninth ghost, she finished her process and said goodbye to the ghost, in mandarin! She returned to the bench where her brother waited for her. "I didn't know you were learning mandarin."
"It's a recent thing." June shrugged. "You've been busy lately, I never got a chance to tell you. You're either off engoodifying or kissing Molly."
The orange wraith's face turned red (still weird he could blush without blood) "W-We haven't-Me and Molly haven't kissed yet! I mean not on the lips at least." They'd kissed on the cheek and maybe forehead once, they were still working their way up to a proper kiss.
Moving past her brother's flustered response, June grinned and flipped through her notes. "The interviews went great. I've got lots of interesting data from today!" She was mostly happy that the ghosts had been OK with her taking an interest in them. They indulged in her curiosity and answered all of her questions, and only one was left with existential dread of where the food went! June made a decision. "Ollie, do you think I can come visit the Ghost World on a regular basis like you do?"
Ollie had to mull it over. "Maybe… but you'd have to have a chaperon."
"Heads up!"
A shout drew focus away from the conversation and onto a ghost who had lost control of his oversized bouncy ball. The ball bounced and knocked over various people and objects alike, indiscriminate in its chaotic wake. It was heading for the wraith siblings next, Ollie's turnip ball instincts kicked in, he deflected the comically large bouncy ball away using a dead branch under the bench as a paddle.
The bouncy ball went sailing over the horizon with no sign that it would come back down anytime soon. With the ball's reign of terror stopped, the ghosts nearby cheered for their savior.
"Our chairman saved us again!"
"Chairman Ollie is the best!"
"… that was my ball…"
He wasn't even on duty and he was still earning popularity points. June was impressed. "Wow, I had no idea you were so popular here."
Ever modest, Ollie downplayed the attention he got. "It's really nothing. I'm just doing what needs to be done."
"It's such a stark contrast to how it was back in New York." June innocently commented, unaware of what she accidentally reminded Ollie of.
Yes, as the most competent and benevolent chairman, Ollie was incredibly popular. And even in Brighton he had friends and a good reputation. But life wasn't always so kind to him. Growing up, neither of the siblings had many real friends. June found her place with more of the other neurodivergent kids at school, joining up for RPG games and science stuff. Ollie was the one who had a harder time finding friends. His parents had already made themselves known to be ghost hunters before Ollie ever joined them. He'd had some people tease him about his parents when he was little, but once he decided to become a ghost hunter too… it got worse.
Most kids made fun of Ollie for believing in ghosts. He was such a kind, helpful and bright kid that the teachers liked him, and he had a few normal friends who he thought accepted him. They never called him 'ghost boy' or pranked him into thinking there was a ghost nearby. He knew his friends genuinely liked him, but when he was eleven he started to realize they really only knew him on the surface.
Younger Ollie had been talking with two of his friends after school before getting a call from his dad to meet him in the backyard for drills. Ollie excused himself and was halfway down the hallway before realizing he had left his backpack at the classroom door. He went to retrieve it and overheard his friends talking about him.
"Poor Ollie, it's ridiculous that his family thinks ghosts are real."
"I feel so sorry that they dragged him into that. Hopefully, one day he can grow out of their delusions and have a normal life."
It hurt. It hurt so much to know that's what the friends he trusted thought of him. They didn't see his hand reach inside the door and take his bag back before running back home, trying to hold back the sadness inside. He made it outside and passed the elementary school where his little sister was waiting for him.
"Ollie! I've been working on a new invention that you're going to love!" She waved him over, eager to reveal her new Phant-O-Meter. She had no idea how down he was feeling, and yet just her enthusiasm to join in his interests was enough to lift him up out of the dumps.
Through thick and thin, Ollie and June always had each other's backs. She was the only one he could call a true friend before coming to Brighton. When he switched sides to being a ghost friend, the hardest thing was keeping it from June. He had been scared they would drift apart with their views now clashing. Thankfully, she jumped ship to loving ghosts too, and they were stronger than ever. And they weren't alone now. They had finally found more true friends that would always be there for them, though their bond as siblings would remain special.
"Ollie?" June's voice called him out of his thoughts.
He just smiled. "Just thinking." He reassured her. "I think I might know one other place where you could do some serious research here."
OXOXOXOX
The ghost library looked even more ancient than the ones in the living world. Despite that, it was pretty modernized inside. They had 90s-era computers and state-of-the art dial-up-connection!
June floated up to the librarian's desk and looked up at the 1800s-styled librarian. "Hi, it's my first time here. Where would I find the section on 'souls and spirits'?"
The pale green librarian ghost tutted and peered down at the wraith through her glasses. "Young lady, that is not a proper greeting. I will not divulge any information until you can properly introduce yourself."
Ollie stepped in between June and the crotchety librarian. "That won't be necessary. I think I remember seeing that section the last time I was here." The orange wraith herded his sister over to one side of the library. "I should have warned you, the head librarian is… she's got outdated views." Was the nicest way he could put it.
They found what June was looking for on their own, a shelf filled with knowledge about how souls and ghostly apparitions worked. The little red wraith had no idea where to start, so she picked up the first one that caught her eye. "Soul color theory?" She flipped through the pages, gauging whether it was worth her time to read all the way through. Her hand stopped on a page that got her attention. "Ollie, listen to this! Only one percent of golden yellow souls become ghosts! Due to their joy-bringing nature, they are unlikely to die with unfinished business and those that do don't take long to complete it and pass on."
"That explains why Molly is the only golden ghost I've seen." Ollie finally had an answer about his girlfriend's unique coloring and joy powers as a wraith.
June continued to skim through the book, searching for the sections that covered red and orange ghosts, when a loud shout could be heard from outside. The younger sibling lowered her book to see her brother press himself against the window. He found the source of the cry and sprung into action. "I'll be right back, stay here." Just like back at the video store, Ollie bolted off to help some ghoul in need.
The wraith left behind was not amused. He promised he wouldn't do that again. June returned the book to the shelf and resigned herself to go fetch him once more.
Exiting the library, June spotted Ollie around the corner helping plug a bursting pipe outside a creepy cafe. He grunted while adjusting the pipe to the best of his ability to bring it down to a gentle leak. "This will have to do for now."
The cafe manager wiped his brow in relief. "Thank you Chairman! I'll get a hold of a ghost plumber right away."
Ollie didn't see the need for him to go to the trouble when he was right there. "If I go get my robe I can use my power to weld it shut-WOAH!" he was cut off by a hand grabbing him by the back of his neck and pulling him away.
He looked up to see June was his captor while she addressed the cafe manager. "Sorry, I need to take my brother back. You should go call that plumber." She dragged the orange wraith back over to the library entrance.
"What the heck, June?"
"You went off again even though you said you wouldn't!" The frustrated tone of hers hit Ollie enough to realize what he had done. He winced and was about to come up with an apology of sorts when she continued. "You've been increasing your own workload by volunteering yourself to help anyone in need." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
She had him pegged. Ollie rubbed his neck and looked away. "Just a little bit." He poked his fingers together. "I can't help helping. Doing good deeds and engoodifying the afterlife is why I'm here. I can do so much and help everybody who needs it." In the back of his head he recalled Scratch getting on his case about this habit of his around the time he first started.
"Ollie…" June moved to put her hand on his shoulder.
Another shout was heard by the duo, this time a frustrated one coming from inside the library! The siblings looked at each other and went back inside. The librarian was furiously whacking the side of the retro computer. "This darned devil box! I knew relying on this was a terrible idea!"
"Is everything alright?" The wraith boy and his sister approached the front desk.
"This blasted computation system stopped working!" The librarian huffed and gave the computer one last smack on top. She hated it, but since the chairman decided it was easier to digitize information, she was forced to rely on it to manage the library.
June floated up higher to get a better look at the screen. "I can fix the system." The technology was primitive in her eyes, so it would probably be a simple fix.
To her shock, the librarian laughed in her face. "Oh, you are a funny child!" When she realized the wraith was still firmly staring at her, she realized she wasn't joking and sneered. "Oh, were you serious?"
"Yes. If you let me-"
"You are a little girl. How could you possibly know anything about such overly complicated technology?" A flash of hurt crossed June's face as the ghost lady shooed her away like she was a bug. Her eyes landed on the orange wraith and realized who it was. "Oh, good! The chairman is here! Won't you please fix this problem?"
"No."
The librarian and June were shocked to hear the word come from Ollie's mouth. That couldn't be right. This was the chairman who always fixed everyone's problems. The green ghost laughed nervously. "I'm afraid I must have misheard you, it sounded like you said-"
"I'm not helping you." Ollie was firm. For once, he did not jump at the chance to help someone, he wasn't even just a little bit tempted.
The crotchety ghost sputtered. "B-but why?! You have to fix this!"
Ollie held June firmly by the shoulder. "June can handle it. There's no one better with machines than her."
"She is a young girl! What could she possibly do?!"
"Let her fix the system, or we walk… er, float." Ollie didn't back down, his sister watched him in stunned amazement.
Seeing that the chairman refused to budge, the librarian reluctantly led them to the server room.
OXOXOXOX
June phased through the door to the server room and instantly figured out the problem. "I've figured out the problem!"
The librarian rolled her eyes. "She has only been in there for mere seconds! How could she have found the cause so fast!?"
June opened the door and pointed to the center of the room. "There's a giant bouncy ball crashed into the modem." Yup. That same ball Ollie deflected earlier had finally come down and smashed into a critical component of the library computer system.
The orange soul had no need to admit his part in this to the older lady and focused on what mattered. "How long will it take to fix it?"
"Hmm-" June inspected the damage. "Get me some tools and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I can get it fixed in under an hour."
"You got it!" Ollie zipped off to retrieve the items she needed and the snack to fuel her. The librarian stayed behind to keep an eye on June.
Once June got what she needed, she set to work repairing the broken modem. She'd hardly ever worked on tech from the 90s, but it was basic enough that she didn't need to tinker with it. With the unpleasant ghost lady watching her, June felt compelled to finish her work as efficiently as she could manage. She would prove that not only did she know what she was doing, she was an expert at her craft. With the finishing touches and the last bite of her sandwich, June reconnected the modem to the system. What was broken whirled to life and brought the network back online.
"I must say, that was splendid work." The librarian admitted and went to thank… Ollie? "Thank you chairman for delegating the matter."
Even after all her hard work, this ghost wasn't going to thank June. Ollie had to resist the urge to let his ectoplasm spike out in fury. "You know, I think it would benefit the library staff to take a class on modern sensitivity training. I'll speak with the council about arranging a session for this weekend." The young chairman made his anger known and took June by the hand. "Come on little sis, let's get out of here."
June followed Ollie out, not missing the disgusted way he looked at the librarian and the way she responded with visible dread. Once out of the building, the boy let his anger fall and knelt down to his sister's level. He studied her face, looking to make sure she was alright. "If that lady won't say it then I will, thank you, June." He ran his fingers across her ectoplasmic hair.
When it came to what bothered Juniper Chen (aside from being called Juniper), it was never the reputation or opinions people had of her family's former business. Yeah, it hurt when she was young that others criticized her for believing in ghosts, but she soon realized she didn't care what people thought about their cause, and it became just a mild bother. It was when she was underestimated that it got under her skin. People thought that she was too young, that her autism was a problem, sometimes even just being female was reason to believe she couldn't do something. She wouldn't be given chances to prove herself, so she'd make her own chances and prove them wrong.
In spite of the opposition she faced, June's family never underestimated her. They trusted in her abilities and knew she would succeed. Out of all of them, it was her older brother Ollie who had the most faith in her. Today wasn't the first time he'd championed to get her an opportunity she'd been denied and, sadly, she knew it would'nt be the last time. She'd finally found her place in Brighton where her talents could shine, and her brother would always be the one cheering the loudest.
The little red wraith wrapped her arms around her older sibling, he reciprocated the hug right away. "You're welcome Ollie." June would always have him and Ollie would always have her.
OXOXOXOX
A new ghost portal opened up in the Chen household's living room. Two brightly colored souls flew in with the smaller of the two going on about her plans. "-and while you're doing chairman work I can study and conduct experiments! There is only so much we can learn about ghosts without traveling to their world!" June couldn't wait to start visiting the Ghost World all the time like Ollie does.
Ollie chuckled at her excitement. "One step at a time, June. We need to talk to mom and dad about this first."
Looking down, their empty shells were sitting on the couch where they left them. Shell June in particular didn't seem to have moved at all and was still on her phone. "Hello me, how was your day?" June floated down to her body. The shell finally looked up from her phone. "Meh."
June dove back into her body, wobbling a little as she became whole again. "Bodies are still weird." She regained her balance and watched Ollie return to his body-
"HHNNRGH!" The now whole Ollie groaned in pain and clutched his head.
"Ollie?!" June scrambled over to his side while he rubbed his forehead.
The boy held up a hand. "I'm fine. Just been getting some headaches lately." It's been happening a bit recently, mostly once he returned to his body. But they subside pretty quickly so he didn't worry too much about it.
June, still concerned by what she had just seen, helped Ollie up to his feet. Her eyes passed over his phone and noticed something. "I think someone was trying to call you a bunch of times."
Puzzled, Ollie grabbed his phone and checked to see four missed calls from Molly. "Huh, I should call her back." He pressed her contact and waited for her to pick up. "… Hi Molly? I saw you tried to call me earlier?"
"Remember we were gonna go see a movie?" Molly's voice came over the line.
Ollie paled. "Oh… wow, I totally forgot about that!" He clutched his hair and frantically looked at his sister. She nodded for him to 'go see her' and he started power-walking over to his girlfriend's house. "I'm on my way over to your place. We'll watch something as soon as I get there-"
The youngest Chen listened until she heard the front door close before frowning. "Ollie would never forget about a date with Molly." Her brother was too head over heels for his girlfriend to let a date slip. Something wasn't right. "I need to drop my plans for Ghost World visits for the time being. The more pressing matter I need to look into is if there are any side effects to being a wraith."