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It was just like any other day for Coraline.
With a groan, she hopped out of bed and went to the bathroom to get ready for school.
She grabbed her hairbrush, raking a hand through to clear a path. Her hair felt unnaturally soft, like a knit blanket.
She looked in the mirror, finding thin strands replaced with thick strings of blue yarn.
Her skin took on a leathery appearance, almost as if it was fake.
Cold, plastic eyes stared back at her.
Bright blue buttons.
Buttons.
She clawed at her face instantly, razor-sharp nails slicing at the threads keeping them attached to her face.
"AAAAHG!"
She woke up with a jolt, blinking the double vision away before checking her clock, barely even 11:30.
Picking up a chunk of hair and letting it fall from her fingers, she breathed a sigh of relief seeing its usual shade of brown, which she let grow out for once.
It wasn't an odd occurrence for her to have nightmares, but they definitely weren't as common as they were five years ago, when everything went down.
She grabbed her phone and rang her speed dial.
She heard a click on the third ring as the voice on the other line said, "Heyyy, what's up?"
"Sorry for waking you if I did Wybie," She started while crossing her legs. "I had a nightmare, last time I tried bothering my parents my dad said I was a little too big to share a bed with them."
"Coraline, we've been over this, you're not big."
"Not what this is about. Think we could go on a walk? I could alone, but I'd like some company."
"Mmmm, maybe not a walk... That incident after the Halloween party is still kicking me in the ass."
"Booooo, you're no fun." She pouted a little before asking, "Could we at least talk for a little bit at least?"
"Of course." He yawned, blankets rustling on either end of the call as they made themselves comfortable. "You still have that stuffed animal I gave you?"
"Oh, yeah, that thing," Coraline said as if she didn't have the spotted pig cuddled in her arms. "It stinks like you, y'know."
"It's called boy smell, and I know you like it."
"And how can you be so sure?"
"You complimented the cologne I sprayed it with."
She felt herself flush at the call out, weakly retorting, "Nuh-uh..."
He chuckled as he heard a slight inhale on her line, betting, "If I came over, I bet it'd be in your arms."
"Do it then," She challenged with a laugh.
She heard some yelling on the line before the voice got closer. "I'll be over in five."
"See you then, Wybie." She hung up and immediately mumbled, "Shit shit shit, where can I hide it?"
The trunk is a little too crammed, the bed is too obvious, under the bed is too mean...
She walked over to her window nook with a blanket wrapped around her, gently stuffing the pig in one of the storage compartments. She sat down on the one next to it, kicking her legs while waiting for him to show up.
Coraline never cared to be quiet, but considering she was sneaking in a guy close to midnight, she gently popped the window open upon his arrival, bristling at the chilly November air.
He eased himself into the room, avoiding the creaky spot on the window sill, having done this many times.
He sat one panel away from her, shutting the window and asking, "So where is it?"
"Where's what," She played along with a slight smile.
Wybie blinked once before opening the panel between them and pulling it out. Since he didn't have his gloves on, he confirmed, "It's warm."
She snatched it out of his hands, holding it instinctively close to her chest. "Fuck off." She tossed it onto her bed and crossed her arms with a pout.
He scooted closer and set a hand on her knee, clarifying, "I think it's nice that you use it."
She dropped her arms and smiled against her own judgement, glancing down at his hand before back at his face.
"What was the nightmare about?"
"It's the one I keep having, looking in the mirror and having become a doll."
His hand moved to her face, a calloused hand cupping her face after she flinched. "Looks like you haven't got any sleep recently," He commented with a gentle swipe of his thumb under her eye.
She shrugged, leaning gently onto his side.
When she yawned, he dropped his hand and suggested, "We can lay down if you're tired."
"I'm not," She protested while rolling her widened eyes.
"You're a big ass liar, dude," He said with a laugh. Standing up and offering her a hand, he gave her a slightly crooked smile.
She took his hand and muttered, "Yeah, whatever."
"You know I don't actually mean that you're big, it's to put emphasis on the liar part."
She didn't respond as they quickly got situated, having done this enough to have set spots.
He leaned his forehead on hers, gently commanding, "Hey, hey, look at me."
She blinked, hooking a leg around his.
"You're not big, you're simply..." He slipped an arm around her waist, hand resting on the upper-most part of her back thigh. "Y-You're just filling out, nothing wrong with that. You did say you shot up a cup size in like a week. You said your mom was a late bloomer, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." She sighed, asking, "But... Ugh, this is dumb, nevermind."
"C'mon, say it."
"I don't feel like it."
"Alright," He said, not wanting to push her and make her angry.
After a few minutes of him massaging her upper-thigh, which she'd never admit she likes, she sighed.
"I'm not like, too big for you, right?"
"Jonesy, I'm black. You're a 5'5 white chick. You are tiny compared to most women I've seen."
"You're dodging the question, whatever dude," She muttered before turning around, which in a bed as small as hers, whether unintentional or not, meant they were spooning.
He repositioned his arms by wrapping them around her lower stomach, pointing out, "I'm in your bed, was just essentially feeling you up, and..." As she relaxed, head leaned back a little above his chest, he mentioned, "I still have those polaroids you gave me. I look at 'em just about every night, y'know. I like looking at you."
Her face immediately went red. "The ones from the beach or the ones from the Halloween party?"
"Both."
He laughed as she groaned, hiding her face in her hands.
"What can I say, you looked good in your Mileena costume! And..." He chuckled, sinking slightly into the blankets while admitting, "I also have the ones from after the party."
"You mean you took photos when we recreated her flesh pits outfit with toilet paper and my dad asked the night after if that cat got in the house and unraveled the roll?"
"... I hate to remind you Jonesy, but you took them and told me to 'build up my collection'."
She slammed her face into a pillow and quietly screamed in embarrassment.
"Look, I know you're self-conscious about gaining a bit of weight, but I'm personally a little happier to see you not look half-starved."
"I was not! My ribs didn't even stick out!"
"And now your collarbones don't either," He added with a satisfied note in his tone.
She turned back around, their shared blanket half-draped off of her, finally revealing a small, golden-yellow two-piece with small, black suns all over. Pale moonlight cast shadows across her upper body and highlighted her tired face.
Admittedly, he wasn't looking at that, eyes instead wandering a little lower.
"Really can't keep your eyes off me, huh?"
She laughed as he glanced away from her, defending himself. "W-well it's nice to see all this in person."
"Are the photos not enough," She asked rhetorically while helplessly giggling.
"No! I mean, they're p-p-plenty enough! I just like looking at you, Jonsey." As if his face wasn't already burning up, she looked up at him with half-lidded eyes and hair falling on her face, which made his thoughts worse, and therefore his face burn brighter. "God, you're so pretty."
"Coraline? Who are you talking to?"
Both of them almost jumped off the bed, quickly sitting up and trying to act unsuspicious. She wrapped a blanket around herself to hide her lack of clothes, and he awkwardly rubbed his arm knowing his jacket was out of reach.
The door creaked open as Mel poked her head in, asking, "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah Mom, I'm fine!"
She looked at the bed, noticing Wybie awkwardly avoiding eye contact with either women.
"Oh, didn't know she invited over a friend." Mel raised a slight eyebrow as she continued, "I'll get out of your hair then."
She shut the door, but swung it back open and mentioned, "There's condoms in the bathroom drawer. Goodnight!"
"MOOOOOOM!"