Scott didn't know what to expect from Nicole's house. He had an idea in his head that it was as black and gloomy as her... but of course, it ended up looking like your average, ordinary home - if a bit barren in comparison to his. Like most of the inhabitants of Watford, Nicole's parents were wealthy... but they weren't "the Pope's surgeon" amounts of wealthy. Their white walls were decorated with paintings, not by masters, but by their children. Scott spied one of a horse with Nicole's name at the bottom, a messy third grade signature.
From above, Scott could hear footsteps chasing each other around. He craned his head up - the house's open, high-ceilinged foyer had a staircase in it that ran against the wall and up to an overhang, part of a hallway on the second floor. Two little kids were running across it - Mona and some boy. Ahh... Scott got it now.
Charlie must be Nicole's kid brother or something... well, that explains why they have the same last name.
"Nicole? I thought your cousins were getting you soon."
A voice called out from another room - that must be Mrs. Zhao. She walked into the foyer, mixing something rapidly in a big bowl with a wooden spoon... but when she saw her daughter, she froze. Her eyes darted to the boy next to her, then to the flowers that stuck out from his bag, then back to Nicole, then to the boy again, and to the flowers... Nicole... boy... flowers... Nicole... boy... flowers... Nicole... boy...
She dropped the bowl.
"Mom..." Nicole stepped back.
"Finally!" she cheered, shaking her arms in front of her chest with glee. Nicole covered her face with a palm... Scott didn't quite get what was going on, but it sure was amusing. "A boy! A boy!"
"Mom."
Her mother was still joyful... she bounced over to a doorframe and clapped her hand on it repeatedly, obviously to get the attention of whoever was inside the room it lead to. "Judy! Sarah! I was right, I was right, I told you it was just a phas-"
"Mom!" Nicole shouted. The woman froze again, looking back at Nicole.
"Hmm?"
She sighed, pulling her hand off her face. "He's, it's not... Scott's here to get his sister. He had to go to the store."
The woman was about to say something, but paused.
"Oh." she scooped up her bowl and began to mix again, slowly this time. "Well... good. He's not that cute anyways..."
That last part was spoken under her breath, but Scott had the feeling he was meant to hear it.
"What are you staring at?"
Scott glanced over at Nicole, but she wasn't talking to him... she was talking to the two cute-ish older girls sticking their heads out from the doorframe her mom had peeked into. Judy and Sarah, he presumed. They looked college age, basically just taller, makeup-free, better-developed Nicoles.
"Nothing." one giggled. The other seemed to be thinking deeply... she pointed at Scott, wagging her finger. Something was on the tip of her tongue.
"Hey, you're... Scott, right?" she asked. "Cord-something?"
"Uh... yeah. Cordova."
She snickered. "Oh... cool." The other sister looked at her knowingly... Nicole looked mortified.
"W-We're going upstairs now!" she said hurriedly, practically dragging Scott by his arm.
"Say, what was that about?" Scott asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Nothing."
Girls... what a mystery.
Nicole was currently fumbling with a set of keys. Apparently, she had set up a lock on her door... weird. Scott stood in place, shifting his weight from foot to foot. His arms were growing tired from carrying the bags, and excitement was addling his brain.
Tonight... I get to do the ritual tonight.
Would it work at all? Probably not. Was it gonna turn out to be a waste of time and money? Most likely. But was he gonna do it anyways? Definitely yes.
"Here we go..." Nicole found the right key and unlocked her door. "You can come in."
Scott was hoping he'd be allowed to go in with her... he'd never seen the inside of a girl's bedroom before. After she stepped inside, he quietly followed, looking around curiously as she walked over to a set of drawers. The decor was almost all black, with shelves of anime figures and posters of bands that looked like something an emo girl would enjoy on the walls... her bed looked big and comfy. Strung up around the room were old Christmas lights of many colors, which gave the room a weird, dim, rainbow glow.
"Okay... I think it's in this one."
The drawers she had walked up to were locked as well. Did she put a lock on everything? After she unlocked it, she began to dig around inside - it was a pretty deep drawer. Scott peered inside... there was some weird stuff in there: a jar full of beetles, a sharp, silvery knife, a book bound with weird leather about the same color as his skin.
Soon enough, she found what she was looking for. Lifting it up carefully, she presented it to Scott. It was wrapped up in black fabric, but from the shape, there was no mistaking it. This was a skull.
"So... is it real?" he asked.
"One hundred percent genuine." she lifted up the fabric a bit, pushing the skull towards Scott. The exposed bone was clearly old, faded, almost sepia-tone. Scott reached out a shaky finger to stroke it... it was strange. Cool to the touch, and covered with little bumps and ridges.
"Where'd you... get this?" he asked, as the girl took it back.
"That's not important, is it?" she held it close to her chest. "Are you buying or what?"
Scott scratched his chin. "Uhh... are both parts there?"
"The cranium and the mandible, you mean? Yeah."
"Then... it's a deal." he still had the wad of bills in his hand, so he passed it along to the girl. She took it with a smile, before wrapping the skull back up and sliding it inside one of his bags. There was a little empty room in one, despite all the boxes of Kraft.
"I've got a question, though..." Nicole crossed her arms. "What are you gonna do with it?"
Scott froze. How was he supposed to answer that? A little wheel of lies spun around in his head.
It-it's a gross sex thing, you don't want to hear about it.
I collect... bones?
I'm... I'm definitely not trying to do a demon summoning ritual, if that's what you're thinking!
"Ha-halloween decoration?" it sounded more like a question than an answer, but... well, he had already blurted it out. Judging from the raised eyebrow, Nicole obviously wasn't buying it.
"It's June, Scott."
Shit. How the Hell had he forgotten that?
"I, uh..." he forced himself to laugh, but what he let out was more of an awkward goat bleat than a casual chuckle. "What? Haven't you ever heard of... Halloween in June?"
"No?"
"Oh, it's... it's a thing."
At that moment, someone began to knock on the door. Still eyeing Scott suspiciously, Nicole walked up to the door and opened it. Standing there were Charlie and Mona.
"Nicky, can we borrow your-" Charlie was quickly interrupted by Mona, who caught sight of Scott standing near the drawers.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" she jabbed a stubby finger at the teen.
"Uhh..." Scott tried to think of an answer, but Nicole had one for him.
"Picking you up." she gestured for Scott to get out of her room, tucking the money into her pocket.
"Aww, but I want to keep playing." Charlie said. Mona ignored him, pointing at the bags.
"Do you have the mac and cheese?"
Scott nodded.
"Then why are we still here?" she dashed off.
Ha... she could be funny, sometimes.
