The things we fear never really go away. Until we face them head on and destroy them… or embrace them.


"Wybie, I swear, if you make us late—"

"I'm coming, Jonesy, I'm coming! Just give me three point eight seconds!" Coraline Jones crossed her arms and blew a piece of her formerly-royal-blue, currently-deep-violet hair out of her face. In the five years she had known Wyborne Lovat, he had never once been on time meeting her for school. They always barely made it before they would get in trouble, but Coraline didn't like to skate so close to the edge of detention.

But today they would get there on time, so help her. She had just gotten her license and she was finally driving the 1989 Pontiac Grand Am she had bought (in honor of her hometown) and they had spent many hours fixing up. She wanted to take her baby for a test drive, and the distance to their high school – a quick three mile journey – seemed fine.

Coraline honked the horn impatiently and the Cat started awake from his first mid-morning nap on Wybie's front porch. She gave him an apologetic look, and he shook his head and closed his eyes once more. They didn't stay closed long as Wybie thundered out of the house and down the stairs of the porch, rattling the railing that Cat was on and causing him to nearly fall off. He yowled in Wybie's direction as he righted himself.

"Sorry, Cat!" Wybie called as he haphazardly dove into Coraline's car, "I left you some treats by my window!" While Cat didn't look happy, he still gracefully began the journey to Wybie's second story window to retrieve the treats he earned just for putting up with two noisy teenagers. Coraline chuckled as she pulled out of Wybie's driveway and onto the main road and Wybie scrambled to buckle his seatbelt.

"Come on, Wybie, get it together. I'm not getting a ticket on my first day because you didn't buckle up," Coraline teased and he stuck his tongue out at her.

"This is not worth the extra fifteen minutes of sleep I get because we don't walk to school anymore," he grumbled, finally getting his belt on.

"Don't you mean running?"

"Quiet you." They both giggled, and Coraline reached over to his neck, quickly straightening his royal blue plaid tie while they were stopped at a stop sign with no one around. Coraline hated uniforms, but the one for this school was better than her middle school's. She had only been allowed to wear grey jumpers or white shirts and grey slacks with grey sweaters in the winter. However this uniform had a bit of color: blue plaid skirts and ties, silver-grey pants, royal blue blazers, and even some royal blue accessories if you wanted. Coraline had specifically chosen to dye her hair violet in order to clash with the uniform, and the effects were sometimes cross-eye inducing.

"Thanks, Cor. I hate doing my tie," Wybie commented, flicking the offending accessory.

"I know," she replied and turned on the radio to their favorite oldies station, which so happened to be playing the first solo in "My Sharona" by the Knack.

"Yes!" Wybie cried and started air guitaring. Coraline focused on the road as best she could while rocking out a little herself and the two rode to Brownheart Preparatory Academy in joyful sing-along.


Charlie Jones couldn't place the last time he felt that particular chill down his spine. Nor could Mel Jones explain why the little door in the living room that Coraline had obsessed over when they first moved in suddenly made her shiver. Neither of them thought too much of it.

But neither of them saw the flicker of green light under the crack. Perhaps then they might have remembered.