CHAPTER 7
SIX, SIX, SIX

THE doctors were afraid that Coraline was going to "hurt herself," even when she said that if she wanted to commit suicide, she would've done it months ago. Francesca Avery had never seen one of her daughter's visions before her very eyes. Once it finally happened, she convinced herself it something other than the obvious: depression, a schizophrenic break, hallucinations, and of course, an overdose. Francesca was never content in reality. She never wanted to believe the evident truth, and Coraline couldn't blame her. The truth was scary.

So she had to miss a few days of school. No big deal. With the help of her friends, her absence was played off as a stomach bug. No one would ever know the truth of her visit, or why the nurses wouldn't let her fucking out of her patient room. Within a few days, everything was back to normal. At least, physically it was. Mentally – well, that was a different story.

Water glided down the first floor windows in the Avery household, fresh from a shower that had just passed over town. It was nine o'clock on Halloween night. Coraline had her first day back at school since the hospital visit, and she still managed to make it back home early to cook dinner, all thanks to Eloise giving her a ride. Her mother, on the other hand, worked late, and finally walked through the door at eight thirty. They didn't even hand out candy this year to the kids, and instead, Coraline left a bowl of Reese's and Butterfingers outside. She had made spaghetti and homemade sauce in the meantime, which was Francesca's favorite. The meal had gotten cold.

After having to microwave both their plates, the mother and daughter finally sat down for dinner. Both were silent, and Coraline felt that she, personally, had the right to be. She swirled the sauce around her plate, playing with the spaghetti that just wouldn't stay on her fork. The scents of garlic and spices filled the air, yet she didn't feel hungry. She was just angry.

Francesca wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin. "Thank you for making dinner again, Cora." She said, causing her daughter to roll her eyes when she looked away. "Did you hand out candy earlier?"

Coraline shook her head. "I was busy making dinner."

Francesca shoved a spoonful of spaghetti into her mouth. "How was your first day back at school since ..." She paused. "The thing."

Coraline lifted her grey eyes. "Okay, I guess."

"Did anyone find out why you were gone?"

"Nope," she replied, popping the P.

Francesca took a long sip from her glass of wine. She had poured it to the edge of the glass before they sat down and it was already half gone. Licking her lips, she asked, "Did you see that boy again today? The Satanist one?"

Coraline swallowed. "No, I –" She bit the inside of her cheek. "I got a ride home with Eloise today. I haven't seen him for a while."

"That's probably for the best. Wouldn't you agree?" Francesca lifted her hands in surrender once her daughter cast her a judgmental glance. "Hey, I'm not trying to dictate your life. Just making a suggestion." She swirled the wine around in her glass. "But God, Cora. You should've seen him when he came to the hospital that night. The kid got past fucking security and broke into your room!"

The daughter's eyes went wide. "Wait, what?" This wasn't some scare tactic. Coraline could hear the truth in her mother's voice.

Francesca nodded. "I don't know how he did it. He kept asking the front desk for your room number and they refused him. Until ..." She scrunched up her mouth. "I'm not sure what happened. He just looked at the secretary and demanded to know where you were. It was like a switch went off in her brain and she just ... gave in."

Coraline blinked.

"The security team and I eventually found him in your patient room. I'm surprised they didn't arrest him. You were still unconscious from the IV, and somehow you didn't wake up from all the yelling. He was kneeling in front of your bed and just ... holding your hand." She shrugged. "Now do you understand why its best for you to stay away? Not just for safety against the unknown, but also your own reputation. You told me you were gonna start over again senior year; that prom queen was definitely in the cards for you."

The daughter looked away, smiling falsely. "I guess that's the plan," she muttered, stabbing her fork into a tiny piece of sausage. Tomato sauce splattered from bowl and onto the gold tablecloth.

And thus, Coraline began to hide from Michael Langdon. It wasn't out of fear or safety. In fact, it was quite the opposite. While Michael's hospital break-in caused her to question his moralities, it only made her realize how serious he took ... whatever kind of relationship they had. It was thrilling to know someone could be that loyal to you, after only knowing them for a few months. Coraline hadn't felt that special since the first vision.

But hesitation lingered within her. Out of all things, she wasn't afraid of the beast living a few houses down. She was afraid of what he might've seen. The last thing she ever wanted was for Michael to find out about the visions. She didn't want him to look at her differently, like everyone else had. The fear of him watching her twitch on the ground as the visions took over made a shiver crawl up her spine. She was sick to her stomach. Coraline remembered shoving him out of her window that night and pulling down her shade, so he couldn't have seen, right? He must've ran home after that, right?

Despite her avoidance, Coraline decided that if he did know, she would trust him to keep it a secret. If he was as loyal to her as he depicted, she could at least do the same. But ... it wasn't the right time. The visions were still new and fresh. She thought she had them down to a schedule, but that suddenly changed last month. Everything was still confusing and she just didn't need to be stressing about this. She wished for normality again, where the only thing she needed to be stressed about was getting the prom queen nomination and passing physics. She was going to ignore him until things felt right. Perhaps, that was her best option at the moment.

Later that week, Michael Langdon waited by a window near the front door. He was sprawled across an old, pleather couch, curling his arms around the back of the furniture. He felt shitty; he felt sad. It was like growing up all over again, where everything he did was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Michael watched the lights turn out on the first floor of Coraline's house. She was avoiding him. It didn't take an idiot to realize that. He hadn't seen her walking home all week, which meant she was taking another way to dodge something. She wasn't answering his calls. She hardly left her house. All these signs could be traced back to him, but what did he do?

Could this be yet another abandonment? As Michael rested his chin on his arm and watched Coraline sit near her bedroom window on the second floor, he wondered if his past was coming back to haunt him, one that he always running away from. Was he cursed with an attraction to the wrong people, or were people really insufficient human souls, like Miriam said? The question repeated in his nightmares for days.

Michael Langdon hadn't cried in a long time. He almost broke that night. Almost.

•••

It was the first Wednesday of November that Coraline shoved the door open to the abandoned teacher's longue. Eloise Tran was at her side, trying to hold in her excitement that the club decided to play Twister after a long day of school work. However, when the two girls walked into board game club, they saw Greg Ramano making four decks of cards. Billy Dhar circled around the table, tearing off the hood that he kept on all day to hide his dark curls. He nodded towards Coraline and said, "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Before Coraline could respond, Eloise shut the lounge door with a slam. "I thought we were playing Twister!" She exclaimed. "What the hell, Greg? I was excited for it!"

"Neither of us could find it around our house. I'll try to get it for next week, okay? We're just gonna have to deal with Go Fish for once. It's an American pastime." He finally looked up to Coraline and straightened his back. "Where have you been?"

Coraline frowned. She forgot that she had been skipping a few club meetings to hang out with Michael, and then the hospital visit caused her to skip even more. She'd rather not dwell on any of that, but she knew Greg was going to want answers. It hurt him when people skipped, even though Eloise was the leader to begin with. Coraline felt bad for putting it on the backburner, but ... she was also starting to not care.

"Don't be rude, Greg," Eloise scoffed. She took a seat at the table and curled one leg under her, smoothing out her pastel pink skirt. "You know Cor was in the hospital."

Greg picked up his deck of cards, glancing to them for a moment. "She was there for four days. She hasn't been here for almost two weeks."

"I was busy, okay?" Coraline sighed. "No need to talk about me like I'm not in the room."

"Hey, hey. Can I start?" Billy asked, causing everyone else to pick up their cards. The tension in the room wavered, but never boiled over. Billy puckered his lips as he looked at his deck, and he turned to Eloise. "El, do you have any sixes?"

Eloise tsked and handed her friend a six of clubs. Billy grinned, placing the card in a pile with a six of spades and a six of hearts he had in his deck. "Speaking of six, six, six," he drawled, "how's your Satanist boyfriend?"

Coraline rolled her eyes. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Sure, he isn't. You got a six of diamonds?"

She smirked. "Nope, go fish."

Billy groaned and picked up a card from the main deck. Eloise pursed her lips from Coraline's right. "He seems to admire you, Cora," she muttered. "It's quite cute the way he stares at you."

Coraline raised a brow. "Didn't notice. You got any Queens?"

"No," Eloise shook her head, "go fish."

Coraline frowned and picked up a card. A Queen of Hearts. Exactly what she needed.

"You sound put off by him," Greg commented. "Finally realized you were wrong? Or is there trouble in paradise?" He looked to Billy, and the two boys shared a chuckle.

"Its none of your business," she snarled, watching Greg's laughter die down. Billy stopped immediately once Coraline sent him a glare. "What's so funny, anyways?"

Greg shook his head. "Nothing, nothing," he assured, releasing a long sigh. Flipping through his cards, he finally looked at Coraline from over the edge of his deck. "I just think its hilarious how you won't admit to dating a Satanist."

Coraline's mouth dropped.

"We're your friends, Cor! You can tell us!" He continued, waving his cards in her face. "Anyways, you got any eights?"

"Hey, buddy," Billy interrupted, "I don't think you wanna –"

"Shut the fuck up, Greg!" Coraline shouted, leaning into the table to meet his eyes. "I've told you a thousand times: Michael is not my boyfriend, and I would appreciate if you would stop chastising me for being his friend. It's not your business, so shut up and get over it."

Eloise chewed on her bottom lip, unsure if she should've broke apart that fight. Billy frowned as Greg sat back in his chair, feeling defeated. Michael Langdon was tearing this club apart, and he didn't even need to be present to do it.

"Oh, yeah," Coraline finished, "go fish."

•••

Coraline dragged two white buckets filled to the brink with water bottles and various paper products. Her mother was on a water kick lately, convincing herself that drinking more of it will cause her eye wrinkles to disappear. She was drinking over the recommended ounce levels a day, which made Coraline have to separate the recycling more often. Coraline picked up a few bottles that strayed from the buckets as she tugged them to their barrels outside.

She released a huff. Coraline told her mother that she had a big exam to study for and asked if she could – for once – do the recycling instead. Of course, she was met with a big, fat, "No." At least she tried.

Separating their recyclables with a quick, yet dueling task, especially in the dark. The moon was Coraline's only source for light now, as she squinted at the objects in her hand. She sighed, tossing paper products in one barrel and plastic in another. She began to hum a tune to herself as she did it, wondering if that would make this go by faster. (It didn't.)

"Coraline Avery."

She jumped at the sound of her name, standing up straight and using the large bottle in her hand to defend herself. However, all she saw through the darkness was a pair of familiar, blue eyes and hair gifted by the sun. Coraline lowered the bottle, but still gripped it tightly in her small hand.

Michael Langdon looked to his shoes before finally meeting her stare again. Standing on the sidewalk in front of her house, she watched him tilt on the heels of his sneakers. He clasped his hands behind his back, feeling himself cower at her presence. Why was he shying away from her all of a sudden? What was so scary? It was toss up between the inevitable truth and the power he knew that lurked underneath her skin.

"Hi," he finally said.

She lifted her chin. "Hi."

"Haven't seen you around."

"Yeah."

Coraline viewed away for a moment, allowing the silence to take over her body. She swallowed hard. "My mom told me what you did," she muttered, turning back to him with a blank expression. "How you came to the hospital to check on me."

Michael smiled softly. It was nothing like his usual, bright grin. He shrugged his shoulders and hesitated, contemplating his next words. He watched her grip loosen on the water bottle in her right hand. "Is that why you've been avoiding me?"

Coraline's mouth opened, but no words fell out. She was awestruck and couldn't form a response.

"Are you afraid of me?" He asked, taking a step closer.

Coraline's arm shot out, holding the bottle in front of her. It was a reflex, but Michael took it as a threat. He put his hands up in surrender.

"No, no. I ..." She shook her head. The bottle in her hand vibrated. "I'm not afraid of you. Why would I be afraid?"

"Because everyone else is," he replied quickly. "Because I broke into your hospital room to see you were okay."

Her eyes softened. Guilt swelled in her chest, crawling all over her body. "I've witnessed scarier shit, Langdon."

Michael nodded, unable to respond.

"What ..." She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, he was closer in front of her. Hesitantly, she lowered her arm. "What did you see that night?" Her teeth grit. "Were you still outside my window?"

He nodded again.

Coraline's eyes grew wider than ever before. "You saw me lose consciousness. You saw me during one of my ..." She paused. The word, episode, hung by the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't lie and say it.

"You have to tell me everything," he directed, now standing inches from her. Michael reached out to grab her hands – to feel the energy and insight that surged through her – but she kept her arms firmly at her hips. "You have power within you. I've felt it. I can help –"

Coraline pressed a finger to his lips. "Shush!" She whispered, and then looked over her shoulder. Through the sheer curtains, she could see Francesca cleaning off the table, probably wondering what was taking her daughter so long. She licked her lips and turned back to Michael Langdon, noticing the darkness that had taken over his stare.

"Meet me in my room in ten minutes. I'll leave the window open."

•••

A/N: HAPPY HALLOWEEN, WITCHES ✨🎃

I'm sorry I keep apologizing for the fast pacing of this story AGSHSJSJS but it is intentional!!!! I mean, really, about a month and a half has passed of them knowing each other but that's still a little fast. Their relationship is moving quickly because that's how Michael is, he's always in a hurry to get somewhere. (I'm pretty sure Constance said something like that, along those lines.) He does everything fast because that's his normal pace, and that's why their relationship (or whatever they have lol) is moving rapidly, as opposed to like a normal relationship!

OK I'M DONE RAMBLING!!!! I GIFT YOU WITH THIS VIDEO

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]