A/N: Thank you all so much for reading this so far! It's been a lot of fun. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think! Also, be sure to check out my tumblr asirensrage for various manips I sometimes make and answer questions about my ocs.

Chapter 31

I didn't sleep.

My mind was reeling. Tammy's aunt might be the scariest person I had ever met in my entire life. There was no logical explanation for knowing the things she knew. Then again, there was no logical explanation for the predicament I was in in the first place. I couldn't get over what she said though. Tammy was where she was meant to be. What did that even mean?

I wasn't one to believe in things like fate but Debbie's words had set me on edge. It was a little relieving, though, if I was honest with myself. I had been so worried about Tammy and what had happened to her. I still desperately wanted to know and to see if there was a way to return, but it was nice to think that the girl was happy. I hoped she was.

No one said anything when I finally made my way down to breakfast. Debbie smiled softly even as Deanna gave me an unimpressed look as I poured myself a large amount of coffee. I was going to need it if I was going to survive another day.

Deanna handed me a plate that had a stack of pancakes on it.

"Thank you," I said as I took it. The woman was an amazing cook. I needed to figure out her secret. Just for when I ended up living alone. I never cooked much before.

"You look better," Debbie said softly as I sat by her.

"Thanks," I gave her a small smile. I wasn't sure how much I believed her considering I was barely awake, but I appreciated it.

I inhaled the sweet smell of caffeine before taking a sip. I already felt better just from that. Coffee was a simple thing that transcended universes. It was the nectar of the gods in my opinion. After drinking about a quarter of the cup, I felt awake enough to at least eat.

The adults spoke softly around the table. Sam was reading the paper, looking like he was attempting to ignore Debbie's insistence that the crystal she was leaving would absorb the negative energies of the house. I saw him roll his eyes up to the ceiling behind his paper. I tried not to snort into my coffee. Judging from the amused wink he sent me, I failed.

"What are your plans today?" Tammy's mother asked, looking over at me. Something told me she had seen both of our reactions.

"Well, I figured I'd help with dinner considering it's Thanksgiving."

"Nonsense," Deanna said with a smile. "Debbie and I have it covered. You have some fun. Maybe you can show your father some of the moves you've been learning in karate."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't mind helping."

Both the women smiled at me and it was easy to see the familial resemblance.

"Go walk Buster. It'll be fine."

"Alright."

Buster and I were finally on good terms. The dog had stopped giving me a hard time once I kicked a monster in the face for it. It also helped that I kept trying to win its favour with treats. Between me and Tammy's dad, who snuck the dog pieces from his plate at every meal, Buster was going to end up overweight. I used that as an excuse to take the dog on a long walk...not through the forest.

We meandered through the streets. It was weird. I was still so used to cars flying by but even though it was Thanksgiving, people were outside. Kids were playing in the street and I didn't see parents watching them. It was a little alarming, but then again I was used to helicoptering parenting. I was pretty sure that was the term.

"Hey! Kate!"

I turned at the sound of my name. Max was headed towards me on her skateboard. I stopped walking and waited for her to catch up. "Hey. What brings you around these parts? Shouldn't you be at Thanksgiving with your family?"

She made a face before rolling her eyes. "Yeah, my mom's cooking. I ran before I got roped into it. Not like they'd ask Billy to help because he's a boy." She knelt down to meet Buster. The dog sniffed at her curiously before he lay down and rolled over, demanding belly rubs. She obliged.

"Oh god," I muttered. "I don't blame you for that. That's stupid and sexist." She looked up at me. "So you got time to kill, you just skating around? No friends in the same boat?"

"I...don't really have any, except for the guys. They're all roped into their family things."

"Hmm, yeah, that makes sense." I didn't know much about all of their families but Dustin's mom seemed like she loved him a lot and the Sinclairs were in a class of their own with how cool they were. Though I suspected the dinner table might be the subject of a fair amount of action between the two kids. Still, Max needed more friends than just them. "No girl friends?"

She made another face. "Girls don't really...like me."

I tried not to roll my eyes and mentally thanked the stars that I hadn't been thrown back into a middle schooler's body. "The kids here probably just aren't used to people being different." That triggered a thought. "Actually, I might know someone. Friend of a friend sort of thing. Let me see with her family if it's cool if I arrange a hangout. You might know her. She was there that...night."

"El?" she asked, looking dubiously. "I don't think she likes me."

"She doesn't know you," I replied. "Give it a chance. She's a little sheltered but I think you'd both be good for each other." At the very least seeing them converse would be interesting. The two of them needed more friends their age, especially fellow girls to deal with the weird things in the town and the boys they both found themselves surrounded with. Hopefully, they had better luck than I did.

"I guess?"

"If you don't want to, that's fine. There's no obligation, I just figured it could be a new friend. Can't have too many of those, especially here."

"Maybe…will you be there?"

"Yeah," I said. "As long as your mom's cool with it too."

"Yeah, they don't really care what I get up to as long as I'm home at night."

I kept my comments about that to myself. "Alright, I'll let you know if I can set it up. Walk with me?" I nodded for her to join me. She nodded and stood. Buster reluctantly got up once she stopped petting him. I waited until we were a little further down the block before I asked. "How's that going? Home, I mean."

"It's...weird."

"Yeah? You okay?"

She nodded. "It's just like my mom's on edge. I haven't seen Billy and his dad fight, not like...before you knocked him out. But everything's weird."

"Weird good or weird bad?"

"Just weird."

"Okay," I nodded. "You can come to me if you need to, you know that, right?"

"I know," she gave me a small smile. "Are you…" she paused for a second. "Where did you learn how to hit like that?"

"I take a karate class. They have ones for younger kids if you can get your parents to pay for it."

"I doubt Billy's dad would let me."

"Well, I'll teach you sometime. Everyone should learn to throw a proper punch. Especially us girls." I winked at her, trying to get her to smile.

"Okay!" She grinned. "Do you have to go back to your house?"

"Nah, let's walk a bit. Keeps me from getting drawn into cooking too." I gave her a soft smile. "Then again, I did get kicked out, so maybe not."

"You got kicked out?" Max asked, looking alarmed.

"My mom told me to go outside. My aunt's around so they don't need help."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Well, it led me to running into you and we're hanging out, so it's not that bad." Max grinned back at me. "How long have you been skating? Can you do any tricks?"

"Not yet, but I'm working on doing a kickflip!"

"Oh cool!"

We walked some more as Max told me about how she's been practicing her skate tricks. She told me a little bit about California and how she missed it. I could understand her grief of missing home. I couldn't tell her that though. I could, however, distract her.

I was in the middle of telling her about Lord of the Rings when we ran into someone. Literally.

"Woah!"

I grabbed Steve's arm before he could completely topple over and got him on his feet. "You alright?"

"Me? Yeah," he brushed himself off and tried to play it cool. "What are-what are you doing?" He caught sight of Max next to me. "Oh, hey, random girl from the...night."

She didn't look impressed. "Max."

"Yeah, right, Max." He blinked before looking between us. "You guys know each other?"

"Obviously," Max snarked back.

"What she means is yes, we know each other. What are you doing out and about? Shouldn't you be at Thanksgiving?"

"Shouldn't you?" he asked back.

I pointed down to Buster. "I'm walking the dog."

"At-" he looked down at his watch. "Four-thirty?"

"Shit!" Max exclaimed. Both of us looked at her in surprise. "It's four-thirty? I got to go." She looked up at me. "I'll see you later Kate, and maybe you could finish your story?"

"Sure thing."

She waved bye to the two of us before she took off on her skateboard.

"Strange kid," Steve said.

"All the kids here are strange, remember?" I looked over at him. He looked like he thought about it before he nodded.

"Dustin has a crush on her."

I turned to face him. "Really?"

"Yeah, don't know if it's going to work. Trying to give him tips but…"

I rolled my eyes. "Because you're such a ladies' man?"

"Hey!"

"I'm kidding, relax." Male egos were so fragile. "So why aren't you at home for Thanksgiving? Grabbing last-minute items?"

He clutched the bag he was holding a little tighter. "Uh, no. My folks aren't home so…" He ran a hand through his hair, looking uncomfortable.

"So you're eating dinner alone?"

He shrugged. "It's fine. Not the first time nor the last. They're coming home in a week, I think."

Something told me this wasn't the first time. I stared at him for a minute before I nodded to myself. "Okay," I said. "Come on. You can join us."

"What? No."

"Yeah," I said. "We got more than enough food and my dad will be glad to have someone else to talk to who won't try to convince him that his aura needs cleansing."

"What?"

"My aunt Debbie." It would be best to let him experience it for himself. "Come on."

"Kate, I'm not going to come and invite myself to your house for Thanksgiving."

"You're not," I said. "I'm inviting you. Well, less of an invitation and more of a demand. If you don't come, I will follow you and sing the cheesiest songs you can think of. Out loud." From what I knew of Tammy's voice, this was a threat.

"You think that scares me?" He straightened up but I could see the fear and intrigue in his eyes.

"I think that the idea of my father coming to find me is a better scare, especially since he'll also demand you come over and he's far more stubborn. Haven't you heard what he did to Hughs?" I was pretty certain everyone in school had heard about Sam getting Hughs arrested.

He paled slightly. "You sure it'll be okay?"

"Trust me. It'll be fine. Now come on, before Buster decides he's going to sleep here." Steve looked down at the dog at my feet. Buster was lying down, looking for all the world like he was going to pass out. I whistled sharply to wake him up before turning back the way I had come from. I looked back to make sure Steve was following.

"So," he started talking as he kept pace next to me. "What's the cheesiest song you were going to sing?"

By the time we got back to the house, both of us were singing I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore by REO Speedwagon. With action. If I was honest, it was the most fun I have had since the Prince concert.

"Who's this?"

I looked up from where I was unclipping Buster's leash from his collar. "This is Steve. One of my friends from school. I ran into him on my walk. His parents aren't in town and he was going to eat alone."

"It's uh, nice to meet you," Steve stepped forward and offered his hand.

Sam took it and shook it once before dropping it. He stared at me for a moment. "Go tell your mother."

I grinned at him and looked at Steve once I stood up. "See? Told you. Come on." I motioned for him to follow me as I headed to the kitchen. There was music playing and I heard Debbie's laughter as we got close.

"I'm back," I called out as we walked in. Both Deana and Debbie turned to look at us. I heard Steve shuffle behind me.

"Who's this?" Deanna asked, unknowingly echoing her husband. Her gaze flickered between Steve and me.

"This is my friend Steve. I ran into him walking the dog. His parents are out of town."

Deanna looked at him sharply. "They left you alone?"

"Uh, yeah," he said. "But they left me money and stuff. It's fine."

"You were going to spend Thanksgiving alone?" she asked. Steve nodded and Deanna wiped her hands on a towel. "Tammy, add another place setting."

I looked at Steve. "See? Told you." I moved around Debbie who stepped forward and grabbed another plate.

Debbie moved to look at Steve. "Steve?" she asked.

"That's me."

Debbie turned to grin at me. "How fortuitous." She looked back at Steve before she frowned. She reached up and plucked at something from the air around him. "Your aura is clouded. I could do a reading for you if you'd like?"

Steve looked around her at me. I shook my head quickly.

"Uh, that's alright," he said to Debbie. "I'm good."

I grabbed the last thing and headed his way. "You're going to scare him, Aunt Debbie," I said. "Ease him in."

"Oh of course," she patted my arm lightly. "You're in good hands here, Steve. Go on and watch tv. We'll call you when dinner's ready."

He followed me into the dining room where I added him to the setup.

"So your aunt is…"

"I warned you," I said, looking at him pointedly. "Just don't be rude about it."

"I wouldn't be rude!" He looked so affronted that it made me laugh. "I won't. It's just...not what I expected."

"It never is." This was going to be the first time that the table was a little more even with seating. I figured I'd put Steve next to me, given that I forced him here. It would also help him a little against Debbie. "Come on, let's find my dad. See what he's doing."

It turned out that Sam was hiding in the living room. There was some sports game on and Steve got into it immediately. I half-watched, not having any clue what they were going on about and was falling asleep when dinner was called.

I got up and stretched while Sam motioned for Steve to follow him to the table. I headed to the kitchen to help bring stuff to the table. Deanna caught sight of me instantly as soon as I walked in.

"Take this," she handed me a bowl of green beans. "And go sit with your guest. Everything else is ready."

"Okay."

I took the beans to the table and sat down in my usual spot. There was a full classic-looking Thanksgiving spread. It was a little surprising. You would have thought we expected ten more people with the amount of food that was there. Steve was next to me where I had set his place.

"Good thing I ran into you. I didn't realize we were feeding an army," I said dryly. I heard Tammy's dad snort

"Do they, uh, do they need help?" Steve asked.

"No, they said everything was ready."

"And it is," Debbie said as she came out of the kitchen. Deana was not far behind.

She grinned at all of us. "Let's eat!"

[tbc]