“Is there anywhere I can hide in your room?” Larry whispered all of a sudden.

“Yes, but why?” I whispered back.

“I think we woke your parents up,” Larry whispered. I opened my closet and ushered him inside.

“This is the only place you can hide for now,” I whispered, when he went into my closet, “Because jumping out the window might actually kill you.”

“I’ll be fine in here,” Larry whispered. He kissed me before closing the closet door between us. I rushed over and got under my covers, just in time for my Dad to open my door with the hallway light on behind him.

“Vernon, are you awake?” Dad asked.

“Yeah,” I said in a fake groggy tone.

“Were you talking to someone?” Dad asked. I tried not to look at my closet door.

“I was talking to someone on the phone,” I said, “I’m sorry that I forgot to make sure it wasn’t on speaker phone.”

“No, it wasn’t from a phone,” Dad said, “And there’s a smell in here that I don’t quite recognize.” I picked up Lacey who never left my bed and showed it to him.

“It’s my friend’s toad,” I said, “I was talking to her.” Dad frowned.

“Why do you have your friend’s toad?” Dad asked.

“She likes me?” I said in a questioning tone.

“Wait, is she part hypno-toad and part Dreamweaver-toad?” Dad asked.

“What’s a Dreamweaver-toad?” I asked. Dad sighed.

“Both you and your Mom really are good at dodging questions,” Dad said, “You almost made me forget why I came in here.”

“Why did you come in here?” I asked.

“I thought I heard a boy’s voice,” Dad said, “But the elders said that you were straight, so that would mean you like girls, right? A straight trans man would like girls, right?”

“I’m still confused about how you know so much about me,” I said, “But that part is wrong, Dad, I’m bisexual. Why do the elders know so much about me anyway? I’ve never met them in my life.”

“You being bisexual actually makes more sense,” Dad said, “But the elders themselves don’t know so much, they just have an Oracle that is really good at their job.”

“So, why did you have to stay over there for 10 years?” I asked.

“They also really like my cooking,” Dad said, “There you go again. Which boy was in here talking to you?”

“Nobody,” I said.

“I’m pretty sure that’s a lie, Vernon,” Dad said, “Where’s your little teenage Casanova? I can still smell him in here, so tell me so I can tell him off.”

“A dog’s sense of smell really is astounding,” Larry said as he slowly opened the closet door, “But I’m not here to do anything that you’re probably thinking of.” Dad turned to look at him.

“Oh, yeah?” Dad asked, “And what exactly are you here for?”

“To get my toad,” Larry said, “And also to comfort Vernon after his nightmare.” Dad  looked back over at me.

“What kind of nightmare?” Dad asked.

“Well, a baby themed nightmare,” I said.

“Why didn’t you tell us first?” Dad asked.

“Because it’s awkward to talk to either of you about it,” I said.

“Well, I think you shouldn’t dwell too hard on it,” Dad said, “Your Mom and I are willing to listen to your problems. We can help you if you only let us know about them.”

“Are you sure, Dad?” I asked.

“Completely,” Dad said, “But I’m going to have to tell your boyfriend’s parents that he snuck out in the middle of the night.”

“Please don’t,” Larry said, “My parents left yesterday and won’t be home until next Tuesday and I don’t want Carly to get in trouble too for me sneaking out.”

“Then get yourself back home and get some rest,” Dad said, “It’s a school night and I’m sure Carly will get upset if you aren’t at home by the time you have to leave for school.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” Larry said.

“And leave through the front door,” Dad said, “I don’t want you breaking your neck falling off the trellis.”

“Okay,” Larry said, “Bye, Vernon.”

“Bye, Larry,” I said. Larry left through the open door and Dad just looked at me with a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

“Don’t lie about sneaking people into the house again, Vernon,” Dad said, “It leaves a bad taste in my mouth having to punish you when you’re just getting used to having me around again.”

“Mom’s approach was different,” I said, “She was always too tired to care.”

“Her job is kind of demanding,” Dad said, “But I hope you don’t hate me. Or I guess I should say don’t hate me more than you probably already do.”

“I don’t hate you,” I said, “I’m disappointed, there’s a difference.”

“Got it,” Dad said, “Your friend forgot his toad again, didn’t he?” I looked down at Lacey still in my hands.

“Yup,” I said.

“Well, try to get some sleep, Vernon,” Dad said as he turned to leave my room, “We wouldn’t want you to be too tired for school in a few hours.”

“Wait, Dad,” I said. He looked back at me.

“What is it, Vernon?”  Dad asked.

“Can I go on a date with Larry tomorrow?” I asked. Dad frowned.

“With the boy who was just here?” Dad asked. I nodded. “He doesn’t seem to be old enough to have a driver’s license and I don’t think you should drive him around. You’ve only been here for a little while, right? So it might be hard to find your way around.”

“His older sister, Carly, is going to drive us,” I said, “She’s in the same grade as me. Larry is a grade below us, but I think Carly is two years older. Besides, I don’t have a driver’s license either as we haven’t stayed in one place for long enough and each new place has different age restrictions for getting one.”

“You don’t have a driver’s license,” Dad repeated.

“Nope,” I said, “Besides, we only had the one car.”

“Well, I guess in my homeland not a lot of people got theirs at all due to public transit,” Dad said, “But here there’s barely any options. And now that we also have my car, I can teach you how to drive, if you’d like?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, “Your car is the maroon Honda Accord in the driveway, isn’t it? You just brought it home when you gave me the pizza.”

“Yes,” Dad said, “I had to buy a new car after the old one must’ve been sent to an impound lot due to not moving from the airport parking lot in a long time. It was 10 years after all. Luckily, your Mom and I found this car for cheap online, so we went, paid for it, and picked it up. I was hoping to open a restaurant too, but that’s not an option at the moment, so I’m going to go look at job listings for chefs in the area.”

“How much money did you have with you when you came back?” I asked.

“Well, the elders paid me for my cooking,” Dad said, “But when I left, my parents, your grandparents, gave me some extra money. They also told me to exchange some money for you for all the new year’s packets that you were supposed to get, so I was hoping to give it to you on Saturday morning, but I can give it to you now, if you want it.”

“No, Dad, I think you should give it to me later,” I said, “We both better get some sleep.”

“I see,” Dad said, “How about you let go of the toad and try to have a good dream.” I looked down at my hands, Lacey was still in it, but her eyes were closed so she might’ve been sleeping.

“I’ll try,” I said. Dad nodded and left my room. I closed my eyes and drifted off into dreamland.

When I got to school later that morning, I ran into Carly and Larry arguing again, but this time, Larry looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night.

“I thought I brought her back home,” Larry said, “But she keeps slipping away. She’s really tiny, if you don’t remember.”

“She’s your pet,” Carly said, “Why do you keep losing her?”

“You know how much of a troublemaker she is, Carly,” Larry said.

“It still doesn’t make you sneaking out in the middle of the night any better,” Carly said, “And why did you ransack our house looking for her? You could’ve just called her and she would’ve popped out of nowhere like she usually does.”

“Not if she’s not in hearing range,” Larry said. I took Lacey out of my pocket.

“Here’s your little troublemaker, Larry,” I said as I handed Lacey over. Larry looked so relieved as he held her.

“She really likes Vernon,” Larry said, “So I guess she never left last night, huh?”

“You forgot her,” I said, “And my Dad low-key hates her.”

“But she’s cute and useful,” Larry said, “Why would he hate her?”

“She’s part hypno-toad,” I said, “Why else would someone not like her?”

“Makes sense,” Carly said, “Now, since that’s all sorted out, let’s get to class so we can learn.”

“Can I kiss my boyfriend first?” Larry asked.

“Whatever,” Carly said. I kissed Larry. Then, Carly and I went to our class and Larry went to his.

Carly and I met up again with Larry at lunchtime, he seemed to be in the middle of doing his homework.

“You didn’t do your homework last night, Larry?” I asked.

“This is homework I was assigned this morning,” Larry said, “I hate doing homework over the weekend.”

“You just want to have your date with our dear friend Vernon without worrying about homework, don’t you?” Carly asked.

“Yes,” Larry said, “And I don’t want to disappoint Mom and Dad any further.”

“You know I won’t tell them,” Carly said.

“I know, Carly,” Larry said, “It’s Vernon’s Dad that I’m worried would tell them.”

“He doesn’t even know your parents,” I said, “And even though my Mom met your Mom, doesn’t mean that my Mom saved her phone number. Besides, I might’ve missed 10 years with him, but he won’t tell them if you keep your promise of not coming into my room in the dead of night again.”

“I intend to keep that promise,” Larry said, “I’m not an idiot.”

“So, where can we go for fun around here?” I asked.

“There’s a mall nearby,” Larry said, “And the library. And maybe the planetarium. Or the cemetery. Or possibly the movies. There’s a zoo too. And a theme park. Where do you want to go?”

“One of those things are not like the others,” I said, “Everything except the cemetery sounds great.”

“I think you voiced your thoughts there, Vernon,” Carly said, “But I better go see what’s taking Marshall so long to get over here.”

“He’s probably embarrassed because of the confrontation yesterday,” Larry said, “So you might have to go sit with him at lunch from now on.”

“His football friends are too much even for me,” Carly said, “I don’t think I’m willing to sit near them and have them crack sexist jokes in my presence.”

“What if they crack jokes about the ghosts instead?” Larry asked, “Not all jocks are sexist.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to be the butt of the joke again,” Carly said, “It was humiliating in 7^th grade, but we’re 11^th graders now, so hopefully they matured somewhat.”

“Marshall bullied me for years because he wanted your attention, Carly,” Larry said, “He hasn’t matured at all.”

“Maybe this is a bad idea,” Carly said, “But I think I’ll just go anyway. Don’t accidentally mess with the ghosts again, you two.” Carly walked away, leaving me alone with Larry. We looked at each other before suddenly we were interrupted by a piece of paper slamming down on Larry’s head.

“What the heck?” Larry asked as he pulled the paper off his head, “Oh, it’s for you, Vernon.” He handed it to me and I read it. It said:

“Vernon Daniels,

We invite you to our gala under the moonlight on Saturday night at 8 pm, please bring your boyfriend. The gala is to welcome you to our school as the first of your kind. You are not just a measly Wolf Spirit, not an Astral mage. You are so rare that even the word rare isn’t even worthy of your one-of-a-kind existence. We humbly ask for your presence, but if you don’t want to go, then just circle the word no. We apologize for Cordelia’s childish request and are confused as to why you honored it, though it does give us more reason to invite the both of you.

Circle here:

Yes

No

Sincerely,

Divina Crumpet and the other ghosts”

“They want us to go to a gala here at the school on at 8 pm Saturday night,” I said.

“Did you say ‘us’?” Larry asked.

“Yes,” I said, “It says ‘please bring your boyfriend’ at the end of the first sentence.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a living person getting an invitation to a ghost gala,” Larry said.

“It says that I can circle no if I don’t want to go,” I said.

“Let’s go anyway,” Larry said. “I’m super curious about this.”

“Okay,” I said, and I circled the word yes. The letter burnt itself with a green fire and disappeared completely.

“I guess we should have expected that,” Larry said, “Now, what should we wear to this gala?”

“Formal clothes, maybe?” I asked.

“No, from what decade?” Larry asked.

“It’s this Saturday,” I said, “We don't have time to go ask them and find the right clothes. Why don’t we just wear button down shirts and nice pants that we already have?”

“I guess,” Larry said, “But we’re the only living beings in attendance, so we’re going to be different no matter what.”

“As long as I don’t have to wear a dress,” I said, “I think we’ll be alright.”

“They don’t know enough about you, Vernon,” Larry said, “Besides, I don’t  think they care. That Cordelia ghost just wanted to see a bunny, but she couldn’t figure you out either.”

“Don’t remind me,” I said, “I still can’t forget being called a ‘dog thing’ by her. I’ve never been more insulted in my life.”

“I get that,” Larry said. The bell rang ending lunch.

“I’ll see you later, Larry,” I said, “I better go to my next class.”

“Okay, Vernon,” Larry said, “But I’d like a goodbye kiss.” I smiled for a second before I kissed him.

“I really like you,” I said, “I hope to see you later, Larry.”

“I really like you too, Vernon,” Larry said, “I’ll see you.” I left to go to my next class, just to see a teenage girl get yeeted down into the floor in the hall by an unseen force, probably by a ghost. When I got to my next class, Carly looked at me with a bewildered look.

“What is it, Carly?” I asked.

“One of the jocks that Marshall knows got yeeted by the ghosts in the middle of a sentence,” Carly said, “I think he was trying to crack a joke, but I never heard the end of it, so I’m not even sure what he was cracking the joke about. This guy doesn’t even have an ounce of power, so I wasn’t even sure why they did it on the first place.”

“The ghosts might be protecting us,” I said, “Now that they decided that they like me. They invited me to their moonlight gala and told me to bring Larry, but they didn’t bother to write his name.”

“Moonlight Gala?” Carly asked, “Do ghosts even host parties?”

“Apparently they do,” I said, “And Larry and I decided to go.”

“When is it?” Carly asked.

“8 pm on Saturday,” I said.

“Do you think they’ll drag you two here for the rest of your lives against your will for saying yes only once?” Carly asked.

“I didn’t think that far,” I said, “But they could do it when we’re dead too, right?”

“Yeah, I can imagine they would,” Carly said. We were sort of quiet until it was time to go to our last class. Hiking, where we met up with Larry again.

“The ghosts are throwing people who talk bad about us now, Vernon,” Larry said, “They yeeted Marshall’s friend when he was in the middle of insulting me.”

“I don’t want to be popular with ghosts,” I said, “Dad told me that I have to defeat them.”