Friday at last.

Through her last class, she was constantly jittering her leg.

After a week of sneaking out the window, combined with studying hard every afternoon, nothing was gonna be greater than planning some big cryptid hunt over the weekend. The teacher’s words went in one ear and out the other, as her focus was locked on the clock.

Minute after minute passed on…

And on…

And on…

Until the final bell rang. Attempting to remind the class of work due at home, the teacher flinched as Louise slung her backpack around her shoulder, and bolted out the door.

She stood at the entrance of the school, bouncing in place. Students slowly streamed out the front door, heading to their cars, being picked up by their parents, or walking to the mall plaza. Finally, she caught sight of Davis. She pushed through the crowd, waving to him.

“Hey hey hey!” She started walking alongside the boy, the two beginning their trek home.

“So, I was thinking tonight instead of studying, we can take a break and plan a big hunt! The small fry we got are good, but there’s gotta be another massive cryptid just waiting to be found! We can-”

Davis looked over at her, looking exhausted. The bags under his eyes seemed even deeper. “Hey Louise, I’m sorry, but I… I got something really important going on tonight. Something personal, but I just need to be left alone.” He took a deep breath. “Again, just really sorry to pop this up, it’s kinda…”

Louise paused for a moment. “Hey, we’re partners, no need to hide anything. Is something up?”

“No, just for tonight, I need to be left alone. That’s all, ok? I’ll come to your place tomorrow morning. I promise, I won’t even oversleep!” He glared at her. “And seriously, don’t sneak over or anything.”

“Come on, why can’t you trust me? What’s wrong?”

“I’m asking you to trust me here Louise… Something very important, and it shouldn’t concern you at all.”

She pouted. “Well, fine. I guess I’ll figure out something else to do tonight.”

Davis sighed. “Thank you Louise. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

The two split off as they returned to their respective homes.

Louise pushed through her front door, glancing around.

“Welcome home Louise!” She heard her mother exclaim.

She dropped her bag off in her bedroom, pulling up her computer chair.

“Hey honey, can you come here for a moment?”

Obeying, Louise hurried over, to find her mom standing up proud, as her dad sat on the couch, typing away at his laptop.

Mrs. Palrick pulled her daughter into a hug, squeezing her as hard as she could. Louise was taken aback.

“M-mom?”

“Oh, I Just wanted to say good job with all of your studying this week! It’s really great seeing you take your schoolwork seriously.”

She released her daughter from the hug, still beaming a great big smile.

“Oh, where’s Davis today?”

“He said he was busy with personal stuff or something, I don’t really know.” Louise looked away, thinking about what he was getting up to.

“I don’t think we could bring him without asking his parents, though?” Mr. Palrick spoke up.

“Bring him? Is something going on?”

“Well, it was your mother’s idea, but to celebrate you doing so well on your tests, I booked a really nice dinner for us. It’s at a fancy place near El Lago, I know you’re gonna love it.”

“Plus, how long has it been since you’ve had some fun with your mom and dad? I think we all deserve a nice family night.”

“Aw mom… But…” She looked around nervously.

Her gut said she should make excuses, she still really wanted to find Queen and plan for a big weekend hunt. But her mom looked so happy.”

“Is something the matter?”

“Oh uh… It sounds really great, mom.” She smiled. “I guess I didn’t really have much to do tonight too, so sure.”

“Great! We’ll be leaving in a few hours, so make sure you wash up and dress up nicely!”

Her eyes widened. “Aw, really? Do I have to? Not like they’re gonna care how I look there.”

“Yup, we’re all going to look our best tonight. No buts!”

Davis returned to his home, taking a deep breath. He had sent Queen away earlier this morning with enough money to hopefully keep her appetite sated. The curtains were up, but he could see the faint glow of the living room light on.

He smiled, and walked up to the front door.

A few hours later, involving showering, Mrs. Palrick helping Louise brush out her hair nicely, applying proper makeup, and digging deep in her closet for her old dress wear, all was set. Mr Palrick was dressed up in a nice business suit, Mrs. Palrick wearing a nice dress shirt and pants, and Louise all dolled up in a bright orange sleeveless dress. With her hair brushed out, not tied together into a nice sidetail with her star hairpin, Louise felt like something was terribly wrong with her look, so she at least still nestled the pin in her hair.

The family piled into their car and drove off to the restaurant.

“So Louise.” Mrs. Palrick spoke. “How did you meet Davis anyways?”

“Oh, we sorta just bumped into each other and shared some interests. Nothing big.”

“Ooh, like your alien and ghost sighting stuff?”

Mr. Palrick exhaled, continuing to focus on the road.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Yeah, stuff like that.”

“So you’re going and doing urban exploring just to hunt ghosts? That’s not really responsible Louise, you could really get hurt over a bunch of nothing.”

Louise crossed her arms. “Well dad, you’ll be eating your words when I finally get to show you irrefutable proof that ghosts exist!”

Mrs. Palrick laughed. “I’m pretty sure Louise isn’t out risking her life for this stuff, right?”

“Uh… Yeah. Davis and I just do exploring stuff. His house is actually right near the woods, so it’s always close by! Nothing much to worry about, even if it does get a bit dark.”

“See, just as I expected from her!”

“The smart thing to do would be to avoid the woods entirely…”

“Hey, no need to be a party pooper! As long as Louise makes sure to text us when she’s out late. If she doesn't, she can kiss her urban exploration days goodbye.”

Louise shirked in her seat uncomfortably. “Yeah, I promise I’ll do my best!”

Mr. Palrick continued to drive until they were out of Tomahawk Hills, and the scattered farmlands turned into more green hillsides. The greenery blended in with more suburbs, alongside fancy, brightly lit shops. The sky was beginning to darken as they pulled closer to their destination.

The restaurant was on the top of a small hill, distant from the other shops and houses. Most of the seating was outdoors, as several well dressed customers chatted with each other, sipping on wine and enjoying a plethora of fancy-looking meals. The family stepped out of the car together, quickly getting seated.

Despite being outdoors, there were several heat lamps that thankfully kept everyone warm. Louise sighed in relief, being toasted by the lamp and staring up at the darkening sky. She glanced back at her menu, pursuing it.

“I’m feeling a ribeye steak tonight.” She said. She sniffed the air, catching whiffs of whatever was being cooked in the kitchen. “I hope they don’t take too long, I’m starving.”

“Good choice!” Mrs. Palrick exclaimed. “I think I’ll get that as well. What about you hon?”

“I’m thinking ribeye as well.”

Placing their orders, Mr. Palrick spoke up after the waiter left.

“So Louise, have you decided what you want to do for college yet?”

Louise looked to the side. “Not really. Colleges don’t really offer anything that interests me.”

“Well, that’s what I thought when I was your age too. But I’d never know I’d enjoy accounting if I didn’t go out on a whim and try a few classes!”

“Yeah, but I know I don’t like math and numbers dad.”

“There’s lots of other interesting avenues that don’t involve math. Though they don’t pay as well.”

Mrs. Palrick’s eyes widened. “Maybe programming? You really like those videogames, maybe you could learn how to code them?”

“Nah, that’ll just make my head hurt. Plus there’s a lot of math in programming too, right?”

“Well, you’re going to have to figure out soon. College application deadlines are coming up in a few months, so you better have them and your essays all set to go.”

Mrs. Palrick tapped her finger on the table. “Well, not exactly. I know sometimes students take a gap year, where after high school they get a job, and think a little bit more before they go to college. I should have taken one.” She laughed to herself. “Else I wouldn’t have had to spend a few more years changing my major.”

“I’m not really interested in a job or college right now anyways.” Louise mumbled.

“Could we change the subject?”

Mr. Palrick gave a judging look her way. “Fine, I suppose. About Davis though, he’s pretty studious. Do you know what he’s looking to major in?”

“Dad, please.”

“Hey, Louise is the one who earned this dinner for all her hard work. We can save all this talk for another time.”

Louise smiled, staring peacefully at her mom. “Thanks mom…”

“Though related to Davis, I’m curious what happened to your other friends. Didn’t you spend time around other girls last year?”

“Oh them, well, we were just teammates, for the track team. I didn’t know them super well. Well, not as much as Davis. But he’s pretty special.”

Mrs. Palrick shot her a smug look. “Oh, I understand.”

“It’s nice to see you being social again, and I really wanna talk more with him too.” Mr. Palrick chimed in.

“Hey, I’m still pretty social! This year has just been a bit odd and busy for me.”

“Yes, urban exploration, but I don’t think the ghosts are very social either.”

Mrs. Palrick bumped her husband’s shoulder. “Hey, you don’t know that.” She said in a teasing tone.

“No, it’s not that, it’s like everyone around me.” Louise spoke. “It’s like ‘Oh did you hear about this drama’ or ‘I’m gonna save up and get rich’ or ‘Sorry, too busy trying to get college stuff sorted out!’ Nobody wants to have any fun, so things are a huge drag.”

“Well yeah, like I said before, college is important. But I’m sure things will calm down next semester.”

“Well Davis still wants to have some fun in spite of college.”

“And I think you should consider yourself lucky you found somebody who knows how to juggle that then. Especially considering your interests.”

She nodded proudly. “Yup, Davis is pretty cool! I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

She briefly thought back to the vision the Oracle gave her. Even after a whole week, it was still plaguing her mind.

“I really, really hope he sticks around.”

“Is something the matter with him?” Mrs. Palrick questioned.

Louise shook her head. “It’s… I mean we’re gonna run out of places to explore, and he’s gonna go off to college next year. And there’s more to it too but-”

“Oh Louise, I think you’re overthinking things. If he didn’t want to be around you, I don’t think he’d do so much for you already.”

Mr. Palrick chuckled. “The boy has a very solid head on his shoulders. I think you have to trust him a bit more.”

Soon, their meals arrived. The overwhelming scent of the well seasoned steak pushed away all thoughts of worry from before.

“Oh this looks SO good!” She glanced around. “Still, why exactly did I have to dress up nicely for this?”

“Don’t you want to dress nice for some nice food? Now come on, let’s eat!”

Following the meal, more chatter between the three of them, and a dessert of a chocolate lava cake, the family was back in the car, driving back down the hills home. Louise was stuffed, leaning her neck back on the headrest. The skies had darkened, a beautiful assortment of stars overhead once more. Louise stretched her arms out, yawning.

“Thanks mom, thanks dad. I promise I won’t worry you anymore.”

“That’s all right Louise.” Mrs. Palrick said. “And don’t forget: If anything else is bothering you, we’re always here for you as well. No matter how bad things seem, we’ll always love you.”

Louise felt a shudder run through her spine, seeing the smiling face of her mother. Visions of her future flashed through her mind again. She thought of how her mother would react, should she encounter such a fate.

I am going to continue doing what I love and what I must, mom. I still love you.