odette messily rummaged through their room, throwing things into a big, tan canvas bag. they had clothes, makeup, snacks, ghost gear, and a small, bedazzled laser baton packed already. as expected, they packed their things at the last minute. the clock on their bedside table read 12:26 pm, less than ten minutes away from when they said they'd arrive at their house.

the person groaned in irritation and murmured to themselves, "fuck! i've got to feed stink and salem!" they threw their bag onto their bed, figuring they'd be fine if they forgot anything. odie then grabbed a pair of small tongs and pulled a cricket out of a plastic container, bringing it over to their frog's tank.

"yum, yum, yum. yummy crickets for lil' stink stink," they cooed, dropping the cricket into the tank. princess stink hopped around, sticking her tongue out in an attempt to grab the insect.

after watching her for a few seconds, they shuffled over to their mini fridge and pulled out a bag of frozen mice. hey took one out with the tongs, this time dropping it into their snake's tank. they put their tongs down and put the bag back into their fridge. they grabbed their bag and slung it over their shoulder.

"odie! victor's here!"

"coming, dad!

odette rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping and falling. they caught themselves before they did, cursing under their breath.

"victor! hi! you're early, i think," they greeted, trying to catch their breath as they spoke.

victor looked down at odette, an amused look on his face. "early? i'm like, five minutes late. are you okay?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at them. their face turned slightly red, their eyes glancing away from victor and then back at him.

"oh shit- yeah, i'm great. i'm wonderful. are you okay?" they asked, fidgeting with the seam of their bag.

"uh, yeah? i'm, i'm okay, yeah."

"cool. good."

quiet snickering and whispering could be heard from behind odie, coming from their two siblings, orion and juliette who were sitting in the kitchen. odie looked behind their shoulder, shooing them away with a scoff. victor stifled a laugh, looking down at his feet. "are you gonna let me in or...?"

"oh! yeah! yeah, i will. yup," they moved to the side, making room for victor to enter the doorway. they fiddled with their acrylic nails, flicking their index finger with their thumb. the motion made a soft 'clack' sound. "we can sit in the living room while we wait for harper if you'd like. stink and salem are feeding right now, so i don't think we should go to my room."

"m'kay."

they both sat down on odette's couch, their knees nearly touching. victor set his bag down by his feet, leaning his arm against the armrest.

after sitting quietly for a few seconds, odie finally spoke up. "what elaborate lie did you come up with this time?" they asked, looking over at victor with a grin.

"well, i told them that i was gonna be spending a week at my aunt's house. my aunt knows how strict they are so she decided to cover for me. hopefully, they don't go over to her house to see if i'm actually there, i feel like that's the kinda shit they'd pull," victor responded, leaning back into the couch, "before i came, i had to leave my phone at my aunt's house so that they don't see me with you guys when they check my location. it's so stupid."

"at least you were able to get away, though. i'm sure it'll be fun."

"yeah, if we don't get killed by fuckin' demons."

"don't worry, i can seduce them into not hurting us with my super sexy charm."

"great idea, then they'll be too busy crying to try and touch us."

"ha, ha. you're such a great hype man."

their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. odette got up to answer it, their leg brushing victor's as they stood. once they opened the door, a messy-headed harper was revealed. it was clear that she had just woken up, her hair a mess and her eyes droopy.

"good morning?" odette greeted, their tone questioning.

"yes, good morning," harper nodded, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with a groan.

odie let the girl in, watching her plop herself down onto the couch next to victor.

"my stupid alarm somehow reset during the night, so it didn't go off until ten minutes ago. i'm so fucking tired, i'm gonna off myself," she complained, setting her two bags next to her on the couch.

"do you need water or something?" victor asked, gently elbowing her limp body.

"no, i need caffeine. so much of it."

"starbucks?" odie suggested, pulling their car keys out of their denim skirt pocket and jingling them. the keychains they had on it hit against their car keys, creating a noise.

"starbucks sucks dick," victor said.

"ok? so do you?" harper responded with a scoff, slowly getting up from the couch and gathering her things, "starbucks, please."

grumbling, victor grabbed his bag and stood up. "the car is going to smell like literal unicorn piss."

"is that what coffee smells like to you?" odette asked with a judgmental look, their eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"yes."

harper shook her head as she began walking out the door, victor following.

"whatever dude."

odette closed the door behind them, heading after their friends.