Timothy was impressed. Even in the dark, the new vase shaded in and merged perfectly with the lights and shadows of the room. It was one of those that were extremely minimalist in design - a sandstone textured round-belly pot with a short neck. Its pastel cream color was soft, accenting the beauty of the rest of the room while also giving of a calmer vibe whenever the rest of the place felt a bit too loud. If Kenny and Lane were to start a clothing line, they would be unstoppable. He lifted his head awkwardly and looked across the living room. Everyone was asleep on either a couch or snuggled up in a sleeping bag but him. He regretted the coffee he drank at the mall. Rolling onto his other side, he hummed to himself, thinking thoughts and listening to the tick of the clock- a grandfather clock that stood hauntingly at the corner with its shadow looming down Timothy’s face.

“I’m sorry if Lois accidently trapped you in that clock” Timothy whispered to the non-existent ghost that he suspected was living in the pendulum chamber. In his lonely boredom, his imagination was getting the better of him. The gears inside clicked and shifted softly as the hands moved, as if trying to respond to Tim. It made him shudder and wonder what he might have awakened. He grunted, turning onto his back; fluffed the pillow up one way, and then flopped it down a bit the other way. Staring at the ceiling, he watched the weird black blotches floating around his eyes dance and move around in the air like amoebic organisms. He knew his eyes were tired, for the tears that came with his yawns were hot and painful and yet the blood rushed through him like he was on a marathon. Turning on his side again, he grabbed his phone. He squinted against the heavy light that his eyes were no longer adjusted to and texted. He heard all three other phones buzz loudly in the other corner of the room and watched patiently in desperation until one of their owners stirred.

 “Tim?” Kenny chirped quietly, “why aren’t you asleep?”

In Timothy’s defense, Kenny didn’t sound like he’d been sleeping himself. He’d probably been laying there still and peaceful. Apparently, pretending to sleep makes you actually fall asleep eventually- ‘it’s probably because you used up all your energy pretending’ Timothy contemplated. However, Tim had tried. He had even tossed, turned and pretended to have a nightmare to make it seem like the real deal. Maybe that was too much pretending, because after his episode with ‘the ghost in the clock’ he no longer felt the urge to sleep. He’d much rather stay up, staring at that old creepy thing in case he had to save his friends if it decided to attack.

“I don’t know” Timothy sighed, “maybe I’m hungry”

Kenny’s eyebrows almost shot through the roof, “How could you possibly be hungry?” he ran through Timothy’s response once more in his head, his eyebrows scrunching into a stiff black line, “and what do you mean by ‘maybe’?”

Timothy shrugged and got out of his sleeping bag, stretching his legs out after the long useless hours they had been constricted inside. He stood up and started creeping towards Kenny, placing each foot carefully to not step on any splayed-out limbs - except Lois’s hand which he promptly got slapped for along with a very rude word. Even in her sleep, Lois was no-nonsense! Kenny stifled a laugh.

“C’mon!” he beckoned, “let’s get a snack”

Kenny groaned lazily and tucked himself deeper into his bedroll “no”

“Please?”

Kenny only grumbled more and turned the other way. Timothy smiled and counted to three in his head. He knew his best friend a little too well to not use him for just a small advantage.

“Fine” Kenny said getting purposefully out of his blanket. Perfect.

They tiptoed towards the kitchen, their eyes having adapted to the dark providing useful for navigating the intricate hallways and corridors. Timothy started rummaging through the refrigerator as if it were his own, thrusting out any fruit, vegetable or any other item he found to be deemed ‘unsnackable’ onto the counter that Kenny leaned backward against.

“No wonder Lane is such a noodle” he said disappointedly, “the only thing remotely close to chocolate here is this granola bar!” He munched on it, the dry flakes of nuts and wheat sticking in between his teeth. Kenny chuckled, then released a yawn through his nose. Knowing that Kenny would’ve amplified the joke a little more if he were in a better mood, Timothy watched intently at the way his friend’s face contorted into something of deep thought and confusion.

“There’s just so much in my head” Kenny sighed, his head sagging lifelessly down the side of his left shoulder. Timothy nodded. He had noticed that Kenny wasn’t as up and active as he usually was all day, usually lagging behind everyone else, heavily preoccupied. He wiped the crumbs off his face as Kenny pushed himself away from the tabletop and started pacing slowly all over the kitchen.

“What’s up, Kenster?” Timothy asked.

“First of all,” Kenny’s voice gained some angered vigor, “my brother’s getting married!” His tone wasn’t a very happy one, as if he were complaining about his brother having committed tax-evasion or something. Timothy thought it was probably because he forced Kenny out of bed.

“OH MY GOSH CONGRATULATIONS!!” Timothy shrieked, his voice echoing through the entire villa. He swallowed as Kenny gave him a glare that might as well scare death away. “That’s great” he said hushed and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“It’s not great!” Kenny yelped. Timothy looked back at him confusedly. Kenny panted and started pacing faster, “I didn’t know about any of it.” He whispered, “not until today. He never told me he had plans-HE NEVER TOLD ME HE HAD A GIRLFRIEND!” he yelled. “When he told me today, I wanted to tell him to go back and never come home- never call or text again”

“Maybe- maybe he thought you were still too young for all of this” Timothy explained as he headed towards the trash can. He thought fast, “I might not have siblings but…I do have cousins. The younger one is always a baby no matter how old, you know?” Unfortunately for Tim, he was that baby: his cousins ranging from just a year older to being thirty-year-olds with children! Mexican families were something else and Timothy wasn’t very fond of being part of their gatherings. He was glad Kenny had stopped moving so much- it probably meant that he was actually calming down and listening to what Tim was advising. “Besides, he probably didn’t want you to lose focus of your boards this summer”

“I guess” Kenny said. He pondered disheartedly, “I feel horrible, now. He even opted to take me out to meet her tonight and I came here instead.” He gave himself a minute of disappointed s.ilence.

“Who was that?” Kenny murmured. Ah Kenny - always asking the important questions. As much as Timothy wanted to tell Kenny that he felt the presence of a ghost in Lane’s clock, he kept his mouth shut. They didn’t have to wait for long as they stood face to face with Mr. and Mrs. Kalchik.

“Good morning” Kenny said politely after glancing quickly at the clock on the kitchen wall. He had his hand stretched out front and stood with his back straight and firm.

“Hi” Tim waved sheepishly. Just because it was no ghost, didn’t mean that his pulse got any close to being normal. It much rather grew faster.

“Good morning” Timur Kalchik nodded. Even in the dark, his marble green eyes glowed, scrutinizing Timothy and Kenny heavily, making them feel small and unworthy. He got straight to the point, “Our neighbor Ms. Petal called and told us she saw you all get into a taxi earlier in the night. Care to explain?”

A cold shiver went down Timothy’s spine. What perfect timing! Why was it always him? He might as well have tried to grab a spoon and start digging his own grave-or just ask the ghost in the clock to teleport him to the underworld with it.

“Of course, sir” Kenny said courageously returning Mr. Kalchik’s glare with only half the power. And yet, Timothy didn’t fail to notice the flitting eye contact he had with Lane’s mother, Alice, in hopes that she would back him up. He grabbed a tall stool and hopped onto it, although the hopes of intimidating anyone fell flat with him having to awkwardly scramble the last bit up due to his legs being too short to lift himself upward enough. He cleared his throat to regain any modesty left and started talking. Being the good friend he is, Timothy filled in with some of the more minute details- some being helpful and some not so much - such as the ghost. He just had to put it out of his system, but he very much regretted doing so. He more or less kept quiet after that. For the cherry on top, they presented the parents with the new vase and waited, standing in attention as the Vice Admiral examined it, curling the end of his moustache.

“Ah” Timur nodded, “that vase”, he grunted, “that vase had to go anyway”

Timothy looked from Mr. Kalchik to Kenny to Alice Kalchik, all three displaying various levels of emotion: Timur gave a slightly impressed smile, Kenny’s face and body contradicted themselves as his eyes still bulged but the tension in his muscles fizzled out to relax and Mrs. Kalchik stared back in offense, her mouth open like a lost guppy. She was probably the one that had chosen the former ornament. He muffled his laugh into his elbow.

“We’ll head to bed now, sir” Kenny said innocently and gave the Vice Admiral a weak salute, then tapped Timothy lightly on the wrist to signal their departure. The silent eyes of Mr. Kalchik bore heavily on them until they completely exited the kitchen area. The second, Timothy snuggled back into his sleeping bag he fell into a deep sleep, wondering how Lois and Lane survived amongst parents who carried themselves like gods.