issue fourteen of "familiar"
HERE'S SOME MORE OF IT YEAH
6 months earlier--
Scott and Chris are waiting in the gym. Sofia comes in with a hand to her mouth.
"Well?" Scott asks her. "Did you find out anything good?"
"She lives with her grandparents. I think the grandmother is Japanese. But, oh! That's not the cool part!" says Sofia, her hands going to her cheeks.
Chris and Scott raise their eyebrows.
"What's the cool part, Sofia?" asks Chris.
"She also lives with this... guy, I dunno, he's weird, but from how they were talking, he's apparently a poltergeist?! And then! This white cat, that was just sitting there, joins in the conversation!! I nearly yelled, but good thing I didn't."
"Yeah, good thing...." says Scott.
"What is it with her?" says Chris. "Coughing up spiders, foretelling the future, friends with a... what was it? Poltergeist?"
"Yeah!" says Sofia. "They're usually invisible, and knock stuff around, but they're caused by troubled teenagers! So, like, maybe she made him?"
"And you could see him..." says Scott.
"Yeah, he was movin' around and doin' stuff like a real person. And he looked really weird, too!" Sofia is out of breath.
"I want to ask her out more than ever, now." says Scott, his cheeks flushed.
"Then do it, man!" says Chris, softly punching Scott's arm.
"It never seems like the right time..." says Scott, looking down. "She only ever talks to her one friend, and keeps to herself in the corner of her classroom..."
"Well, I really wanna be her friend." says Sofia, sticking out her lip. "How 'bout we all go up to her and say hi?"
"I dunno, man, will the time ever be right?" says Scott
===
"...Die? Me?" says Scott, a scared look on his face.
"come with me to my house. I have a proper tarot set there. Maybe it can tell me more." says Olivia.
Scott blushes. Chris stands up.
"Okay." Chris says. "But wait, what about your party?"
"That can wait for a few minutes while I do a reading." says Olivia. "This is really important."
"O... okay. Let's do it." says Scott, standing up.
Sofia stands, and they all head out of the bus.
"Hey, where's everyone going?" says Geoff. "No test drive?"
"Sorry, Geoff, I really love the bus, I do, but Scott really needs his cards read, and I don't have a proper deck with me." says Olivia.
"Well, let me drive you over, then, Your bus needs its proper home, anyway." says Geoff. "Alexis, can you close up shop, then head over?"
"Sure thing, boss." says Alexis happily. He heads into the shop to lock up.
Geoff climbs into the driver's seat.
"On board, guys!" he call out the bus door.
Chris and Sofia sit back on the sofa, Scott and Olivia sit back at the table, and Chloe sits at the desk.
It only takes a couple of minutes to drive to Olivia's house. Geoff parks the bus in the driveway, behind Olivia's purple Stalker.
Everyone gets up, and files out of the bus. They just reach the front door as Alexis runs up. Olivia opens the door to two party streamers popped over her head.
"Happy birthday!" Joseph and Koneko yell.
Olivia smiles and hugs them both.
"And so many friends, how wonderful!" says Koneko, a look of wonderment on her face.
"Granma Koneko, Grampa Joseph, this is Chris, Sofia, and Scott. And of course, you know Chloe, Geoff, and Alexis."
"How nice to meet you kids!" says Joseph. "We're always so glad for Olivia to find new friends!"
Chris, Sofia, and Scott all shake hands with both grandparents.
Eve comes walking out of the parlor.
Sofia tugs on Chris's sleeve and points at Eve.
"Is Bob in there, Eve? Bob!" Olivia calls.
Sofia turns huge eyes to Chris and Scott.
Olivia returns to the foyer, holding a smallish, bluish-white arm.
"Everyone," she says, tugging on the arm, "this is Bob. He's a very good friend."
Olivia finally manages to pull Bob into the foyer.
In four years, Olivia has grown taller than Bob. His body has remained completely the same.
"H... hello." he says, sheepishly.
Scott and Chris stare in wonder. Sofia just looks very excited.
"Well, Granma, Grampa, Scott urgently needs his cards read, so could you give us a few minutes? I know you had the party ready and all..."
"No problem, dear. We can wait." says Joseph, taking Koneko's hand. We'll just show your friends in."
"Thanks, guys." says Olivia. "Well, Scott, this way."
Olivia starts to climb the stairs, followed closely by Bob. Scott hesitates. Olivia notices.
"Oh, don't worry about Bob, Scott. He's a puppy dog. And sort of my assistant in the tarot." she says.
"Okay..." says Scott, still unsure of the little, bluish guy.
They all reach Olivia's room. Olivia sits down at the desk, and Bob sits on a little stool beside her.
"You can sit on my bed." Olivia says to Scott.
Scott blushes, and slowly sits down.
"What's the matter? My bed won't eat you, silly!" says Olivia, smiling.
Scott immediately calms down.
"Now." says Olivia. She shuffles her deck a little. Bob cuts it. More shuffling. Bob cuts it again, and she sets the deck on her desk, She draws a card and sets it face up on the desk. She draws four more and sets them in the same direction, but in a circle. The fifth card she sets in the middle, then draws a sixth, and sets it face down across the middle card.
She looks at Scott with an intense expression. He bites his lip.
She flips the middle card, and sighs a long sigh.
"What do they say?" asks Scott, balling his hands into fists on his knees.
"You're about to go on a journey. But whether you live through this journey depends entirely on the choices you make. Any choice could be the wrong one. Let me see your hand again." Olivia says.
Scott offers his palm to her.
"Ah! See? Coming to my birthday party was a good choice! Your lifeline is long and deep." Olivia smiles her radiant smile.
Scott feels a little faint at the sight, and the good news.
"Now let's go downstairs and daaaance!" says Olivia. She grabs Bob's hand, and one of Scott's, and rushes out of her room.
===
Olivia, Bob, Chloe, Scott, Chris, Sofia, and Eve are all lying on their backs in Olivia's backyard, gazing at the stars. Joseph, Koneko, Alexis, and Geoff are sitting at the table inside, talking over a murdered cake.
"Olivia?" says Bob quietly. "Yes, Bob?" says Olivia, rolling to face Bob.
"I... I think I like people." says Bob, facing Olivia, and smiling a small smile.
"Yes!" says Olivia. "That makes sense, since you're me. You do like people."
"This was a good party." says Eve, crawling to Olivia. "What fantastic way to welcome new friends."
Olivia hugs Eve... and sees Sofia staring directly at them.
"Um... u... uhh..." says Olivia.
"But that cat!" says Sofia. "That cat just talked! How?"
"I'm magical." Eve says, her deadpan cat face giving away nothing.
"Ohhh... so, are you into, like, black magic and stuff?" Sofia asks Olivia.
"Oh no, I just happened to come across her and her mystical friend Bob here in my travels." Eve answers.
"So. Wait. I'll just tell you. I know Bob is your poltergeist. So how did that happen?" asks Sofia.
"Oh. Um. Well, when my parents died, that was a very hard time for me. And then Bob appeared, and things got so much better! And then came Eve, and she is like a best friend to us both!" says Olivia, thinking quickly.
Sofia draws her knees up to her chin.
"That is SO. COOL. And you are so lucky!" she says. "And on top of that, you're such good friends with Alexis, and Geoff, who is like, the coolest guy ever!"
"I really am very lucky." says Olivia, looking down at Eve's cool, green eyes.
"I wish I had such cool friends." says Chris.
Scott lightly punches him.
"Hey, hey, where are your magical powers?" says Chris to Scott.
"Hmph. Maybe I just haven't had the opportunity to use them yet." says Scott.
"I know I'm magical." says Chloe. "I can hide faster than lightning!"
Everyone chuckles.
After a moment, Scott turns to Olivia.
"So... what are you going to do with your new bus?" he asks her.
"What else?" says Olivia. "Tour the country, telling fortunes everywhere!"
"What about graduation?" asks Chris.
"Well, of course, I have to stay til that's done with. I do want my diploma!" says Olivia.
"Do... do you think that could be the journey you were talking about? For me?" Scott asks sheepishly.
Olivia looks at him hard.
"Give me your hand." she tells him.
Scott does. She looks at it for a moment, squinting in the low light.
"It just might be!" she says, smiling at him.
He melts at that smile.
"It might be." he says, and lays his head on his hands.
Chris and Sofia look at each other. Chris rolls his eyes.
They all look up at the stars again.
===
Joseph and Koneko pull into the garage in their white HoverBug. Olivia pulls up behind them in her purple Stalker.
Chris and Scott get out of the Stalker and let out a loud "HOOOOOO!!!" than stip off their graduation robes.
Olivia, Chloe, and Sofia take some time to get out, though they appreciate the boys' feelings.
Sofia grabs Chloe and does a little dance with her. Olivia giggles, and runs to hug her grandparents. She then comes back to the group.
"I say we shed this graduation garb, run inside and grab Bob and Eve, then go bug the hell out of Alexis and Geoff." Olivia says.
"Sounds like a good enough plan to me." says Scott.
Chris makes a kissy face at Sofia. She pushes him.
"'Kay, I'll be right back!" says Olivia, running into the house.
"Man, why don't you just TELL HER already?" Chris says to Scott, shoving him.
"It's just..." Scott says.
"Not the right time, we know." Sofia says.
"Tell her what? I want in!" says Chloe.
"Tell her that he's loved her since the day he first saw her." says Chris.
Scott glares at him. He shrugs.
"But... it's been like... four years!" says Chloe.
Scott's cheeks burn and he stares at the ground.
"Aaaaaawwwwwwww!!!" says Chloe, and tackles him.
"But really, you should tell her." Chloe whispers as Olivia come out of the house holding Eve and leading Bob.
"You guys are crazy. You'll mess up your nice clothes!" Olivia says, tut-tutting Scott and Chloe. "Sofia, Chloe, enough of those robes. C'mon!"
Sofia and Chloe pull their robes over their heads and throw them in the car, then head after Olivia and Bob with Scott and Chris.
They come up to Nectar, and notice a sign in the window: Free Chai Lattes for Graduates!
"Geoff did that just for us, the sweetheart." purrs Olivia.
They all go in.
Geoff blows on a party horn behind the counter.
"No more lessons, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!" he sings to them.
"Well, our teachers couldn't really give us 'looks', Geoff..." says Chloe.
"Oh, well, 'no more teacher's dirty printed reprimands.' How's that? Geoff says through a smile.
"Doesn't rhyme, don't like it." says Sofia, sitting on one of the comfortable sofas.
"And what's this about a free chai latte?" says Olivia, waving one of Eve's paws at Geoff.
"Just as it says, m'lady. Free lattes all 'round!" says Geoff jovially.
Olivia and Chloe join Sofia on the sofa; Bob, Chris, and Scott take the sofa opposite them.
In a few minutes, Alexis and Geoff bring them all their chai.
"So! When does our adventure start, miss bosslady?" Geoff asks Olivia.
"How about... the end of this week?" Olivia says.
"I'm there!" says Scott.
"Well, me too!" says Sofia.
"Guess I have to keep them in line." says Chris.
"And you're not leaving me behind!" says Chloe.
"Guess we should have built a two-decker bus!" says Geoff.
6 months earlier--
Scott and Chris are waiting in the gym. Sofia comes in with a hand to her mouth.
"Well?" Scott asks her. "Did you find out anything good?"
"She lives with her grandparents. I think the grandmother is Japanese. But, oh! That's not the cool part!" says Sofia, her hands going to her cheeks.
Chris and Scott raise their eyebrows.
"What's the cool part, Sofia?" asks Chris.
"She also lives with this... guy, I dunno, he's weird, but from how they were talking, he's apparently a poltergeist?! And then! This white cat, that was just sitting there, joins in the conversation!! I nearly yelled, but good thing I didn't."
"Yeah, good thing...." says Scott.
"What is it with her?" says Chris. "Coughing up spiders, foretelling the future, friends with a... what was it? Poltergeist?"
"Yeah!" says Sofia. "They're usually invisible, and knock stuff around, but they're caused by troubled teenagers! So, like, maybe she made him?"
"And you could see him..." says Scott.
"Yeah, he was movin' around and doin' stuff like a real person. And he looked really weird, too!" Sofia is out of breath.
"I want to ask her out more than ever, now." says Scott, his cheeks flushed.
"Then do it, man!" says Chris, softly punching Scott's arm.
"It never seems like the right time..." says Scott, looking down. "She only ever talks to her one friend, and keeps to herself in the corner of her classroom..."
"Well, I really wanna be her friend." says Sofia, sticking out her lip. "How 'bout we all go up to her and say hi?"
"I dunno, man, will the time ever be right?" says Scott
===
"...Die? Me?" says Scott, a scared look on his face.
"come with me to my house. I have a proper tarot set there. Maybe it can tell me more." says Olivia.
Scott blushes. Chris stands up.
"Okay." Chris says. "But wait, what about your party?"
"That can wait for a few minutes while I do a reading." says Olivia. "This is really important."
"O... okay. Let's do it." says Scott, standing up.
Sofia stands, and they all head out of the bus.
"Hey, where's everyone going?" says Geoff. "No test drive?"
"Sorry, Geoff, I really love the bus, I do, but Scott really needs his cards read, and I don't have a proper deck with me." says Olivia.
"Well, let me drive you over, then, Your bus needs its proper home, anyway." says Geoff. "Alexis, can you close up shop, then head over?"
"Sure thing, boss." says Alexis happily. He heads into the shop to lock up.
Geoff climbs into the driver's seat.
"On board, guys!" he call out the bus door.
Chris and Sofia sit back on the sofa, Scott and Olivia sit back at the table, and Chloe sits at the desk.
It only takes a couple of minutes to drive to Olivia's house. Geoff parks the bus in the driveway, behind Olivia's purple Stalker.
Everyone gets up, and files out of the bus. They just reach the front door as Alexis runs up. Olivia opens the door to two party streamers popped over her head.
"Happy birthday!" Joseph and Koneko yell.
Olivia smiles and hugs them both.
"And so many friends, how wonderful!" says Koneko, a look of wonderment on her face.
"Granma Koneko, Grampa Joseph, this is Chris, Sofia, and Scott. And of course, you know Chloe, Geoff, and Alexis."
"How nice to meet you kids!" says Joseph. "We're always so glad for Olivia to find new friends!"
Chris, Sofia, and Scott all shake hands with both grandparents.
Eve comes walking out of the parlor.
Sofia tugs on Chris's sleeve and points at Eve.
"Is Bob in there, Eve? Bob!" Olivia calls.
Sofia turns huge eyes to Chris and Scott.
Olivia returns to the foyer, holding a smallish, bluish-white arm.
"Everyone," she says, tugging on the arm, "this is Bob. He's a very good friend."
Olivia finally manages to pull Bob into the foyer.
In four years, Olivia has grown taller than Bob. His body has remained completely the same.
"H... hello." he says, sheepishly.
Scott and Chris stare in wonder. Sofia just looks very excited.
"Well, Granma, Grampa, Scott urgently needs his cards read, so could you give us a few minutes? I know you had the party ready and all..."
"No problem, dear. We can wait." says Joseph, taking Koneko's hand. We'll just show your friends in."
"Thanks, guys." says Olivia. "Well, Scott, this way."
Olivia starts to climb the stairs, followed closely by Bob. Scott hesitates. Olivia notices.
"Oh, don't worry about Bob, Scott. He's a puppy dog. And sort of my assistant in the tarot." she says.
"Okay..." says Scott, still unsure of the little, bluish guy.
They all reach Olivia's room. Olivia sits down at the desk, and Bob sits on a little stool beside her.
"You can sit on my bed." Olivia says to Scott.
Scott blushes, and slowly sits down.
"What's the matter? My bed won't eat you, silly!" says Olivia, smiling.
Scott immediately calms down.
"Now." says Olivia. She shuffles her deck a little. Bob cuts it. More shuffling. Bob cuts it again, and she sets the deck on her desk, She draws a card and sets it face up on the desk. She draws four more and sets them in the same direction, but in a circle. The fifth card she sets in the middle, then draws a sixth, and sets it face down across the middle card.
She looks at Scott with an intense expression. He bites his lip.
She flips the middle card, and sighs a long sigh.
"What do they say?" asks Scott, balling his hands into fists on his knees.
"You're about to go on a journey. But whether you live through this journey depends entirely on the choices you make. Any choice could be the wrong one. Let me see your hand again." Olivia says.
Scott offers his palm to her.
"Ah! See? Coming to my birthday party was a good choice! Your lifeline is long and deep." Olivia smiles her radiant smile.
Scott feels a little faint at the sight, and the good news.
"Now let's go downstairs and daaaance!" says Olivia. She grabs Bob's hand, and one of Scott's, and rushes out of her room.
===
Olivia, Bob, Chloe, Scott, Chris, Sofia, and Eve are all lying on their backs in Olivia's backyard, gazing at the stars. Joseph, Koneko, Alexis, and Geoff are sitting at the table inside, talking over a murdered cake.
"Olivia?" says Bob quietly. "Yes, Bob?" says Olivia, rolling to face Bob.
"I... I think I like people." says Bob, facing Olivia, and smiling a small smile.
"Yes!" says Olivia. "That makes sense, since you're me. You do like people."
"This was a good party." says Eve, crawling to Olivia. "What fantastic way to welcome new friends."
Olivia hugs Eve... and sees Sofia staring directly at them.
"Um... u... uhh..." says Olivia.
"But that cat!" says Sofia. "That cat just talked! How?"
"I'm magical." Eve says, her deadpan cat face giving away nothing.
"Ohhh... so, are you into, like, black magic and stuff?" Sofia asks Olivia.
"Oh no, I just happened to come across her and her mystical friend Bob here in my travels." Eve answers.
"So. Wait. I'll just tell you. I know Bob is your poltergeist. So how did that happen?" asks Sofia.
"Oh. Um. Well, when my parents died, that was a very hard time for me. And then Bob appeared, and things got so much better! And then came Eve, and she is like a best friend to us both!" says Olivia, thinking quickly.
Sofia draws her knees up to her chin.
"That is SO. COOL. And you are so lucky!" she says. "And on top of that, you're such good friends with Alexis, and Geoff, who is like, the coolest guy ever!"
"I really am very lucky." says Olivia, looking down at Eve's cool, green eyes.
"I wish I had such cool friends." says Chris.
Scott lightly punches him.
"Hey, hey, where are your magical powers?" says Chris to Scott.
"Hmph. Maybe I just haven't had the opportunity to use them yet." says Scott.
"I know I'm magical." says Chloe. "I can hide faster than lightning!"
Everyone chuckles.
After a moment, Scott turns to Olivia.
"So... what are you going to do with your new bus?" he asks her.
"What else?" says Olivia. "Tour the country, telling fortunes everywhere!"
"What about graduation?" asks Chris.
"Well, of course, I have to stay til that's done with. I do want my diploma!" says Olivia.
"Do... do you think that could be the journey you were talking about? For me?" Scott asks sheepishly.
Olivia looks at him hard.
"Give me your hand." she tells him.
Scott does. She looks at it for a moment, squinting in the low light.
"It just might be!" she says, smiling at him.
He melts at that smile.
"It might be." he says, and lays his head on his hands.
Chris and Sofia look at each other. Chris rolls his eyes.
They all look up at the stars again.
===
Joseph and Koneko pull into the garage in their white HoverBug. Olivia pulls up behind them in her purple Stalker.
Chris and Scott get out of the Stalker and let out a loud "HOOOOOO!!!" than stip off their graduation robes.
Olivia, Chloe, and Sofia take some time to get out, though they appreciate the boys' feelings.
Sofia grabs Chloe and does a little dance with her. Olivia giggles, and runs to hug her grandparents. She then comes back to the group.
"I say we shed this graduation garb, run inside and grab Bob and Eve, then go bug the hell out of Alexis and Geoff." Olivia says.
"Sounds like a good enough plan to me." says Scott.
Chris makes a kissy face at Sofia. She pushes him.
"'Kay, I'll be right back!" says Olivia, running into the house.
"Man, why don't you just TELL HER already?" Chris says to Scott, shoving him.
"It's just..." Scott says.
"Not the right time, we know." Sofia says.
"Tell her what? I want in!" says Chloe.
"Tell her that he's loved her since the day he first saw her." says Chris.
Scott glares at him. He shrugs.
"But... it's been like... four years!" says Chloe.
Scott's cheeks burn and he stares at the ground.
"Aaaaaawwwwwwww!!!" says Chloe, and tackles him.
"But really, you should tell her." Chloe whispers as Olivia come out of the house holding Eve and leading Bob.
"You guys are crazy. You'll mess up your nice clothes!" Olivia says, tut-tutting Scott and Chloe. "Sofia, Chloe, enough of those robes. C'mon!"
Sofia and Chloe pull their robes over their heads and throw them in the car, then head after Olivia and Bob with Scott and Chris.
They come up to Nectar, and notice a sign in the window: Free Chai Lattes for Graduates!
"Geoff did that just for us, the sweetheart." purrs Olivia.
They all go in.
Geoff blows on a party horn behind the counter.
"No more lessons, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!" he sings to them.
"Well, our teachers couldn't really give us 'looks', Geoff..." says Chloe.
"Oh, well, 'no more teacher's dirty printed reprimands.' How's that? Geoff says through a smile.
"Doesn't rhyme, don't like it." says Sofia, sitting on one of the comfortable sofas.
"And what's this about a free chai latte?" says Olivia, waving one of Eve's paws at Geoff.
"Just as it says, m'lady. Free lattes all 'round!" says Geoff jovially.
Olivia and Chloe join Sofia on the sofa; Bob, Chris, and Scott take the sofa opposite them.
In a few minutes, Alexis and Geoff bring them all their chai.
"So! When does our adventure start, miss bosslady?" Geoff asks Olivia.
"How about... the end of this week?" Olivia says.
"I'm there!" says Scott.
"Well, me too!" says Sofia.
"Guess I have to keep them in line." says Chris.
"And you're not leaving me behind!" says Chloe.
"Guess we should have built a two-decker bus!" says Geoff.