Memories

If it weren't for detention, Coraline wouldn't have missed the bus or had Wybie walking five paces behind her the entire time, humming a certain melody which angered Coraline.

"Laa, la. Laa, la." He sang. "La, la la la la laa, la. Hmm. Hm. Hmm, hm." Wybie stopped, making Coraline's fingers finally unclench from her fist. Finally, he was done. "That tune sound familiar, Jonesy?"

She ignored him, regretting telling him the chorus of that song the beldam had sung when she was younger.

When she finally arrived at her house, she expected to be welcomed by her parents at the door, arms crossed and pissed expressions laying on their faces. However, she realized as she checked her phone that they wouldn't be back till six.

But as Coraline walked up the stairs, memories began to pour in.

"Coraline, are you sure it's safe to do this?" Wybie had asked, clicking his helmet on.

"Oh, of course!" She smiled, settling in the front of the cardboard box to make room for him. "I've done this a hundred times at my old house." Coraline glanced back at him. "And I turned out great!"

Wybie gulped. "Right."

She groaned. "Wybie, just get in for Pete's sake."

Slowly, he stepped into the box behind Coraline. "If you had asked, I could have made this a lot safer. 'You know? Maybe some seatbelts."

"We are each other's seatbelts," She said, edging closer to the stairs. "Now, wrap your arms around me."

"W-What?"

"My lord..." Coraline sighed, taking his arms and hugging them to her waist.

"We're actually doing this?"

"Hold on tight!" She screamed, letting their weight go over the last step.

The scene had played out in front of her, with the sparkly rainbowed-coloured cardboard box Coraline and Wybie had spent all day making, for them to just ruin it in a matter of seconds. Coraline had recalled once they had gotten to the bottom that the box had completely collapsed, making Wybie and her a ball of laughter on the floor.

With a smile on her face, Coraline climbed the rest of the stairs, making her way into her old bedroom. She gazed around the place, looking upon the peeling pink wallpaper, and floorboards that creaked at every step. Last night, Coraline had been too tired, and it had been too dark to recall anything, but now as she was looking around, it reminded her of the past.

Mostly about Wybie.

She glanced over to the window, remembering how almost every night, Wybie would sneakily crawl through it, since her parents only allowed him to come over on weekends.

Coraline sat on her bed, face buried in her arms. She couldn't believe she had lost her favourite mittens, after all, they were so important to her.

Suddenly, she began to hear a tapping on her window, which frightened her. Carefully, Coraline crept up to the window and swiftly opened the blinds, to see Wybie Lovat. Her heart raced, as she opened the window.

"Gosh Wybie, you scared me half to death!"

"Shh," He hushed, as Coraline stepped backwards to let Wybie in. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"Well obviously, or else you wouldn't be crawling through my window," Wybie stepped over the windowsill, and into her room. He dusted off his pair of jeans and coat. "What's wrong?"

Wybie glanced up, noticing the tears Coraline had been trying to smudge away from her face. "I could ask you the same thing." He worried, taking a step closer to Coraline as he gripped her hands and pulled them towards him. Coraline didn't back away from his touch.

Finally, she found it in herself to look away from his eyes. "I... I lost my mittens."

"The colourful ones?" He asked.

"Yeah," Coraline replied, looking back into his eyes. Wybie looked her up and down, then took a step back, his face beginning to turn red after realizing how close they were.

"Um, when was the last time you remember having them?" He asked, trying to hide his face as much as possible.

"This morning, I wore them to school."

Wybie looked back at her and smiled. "I won't stop till those mittens are back on your hands." He said, touching her hands again, before hopping back out the window without any effort, as if he had done it before.

Coraline laughed to herself. Those were the days. The days of living a carefree life, and not having to worry about looks, grades, or people. She laid down on the bed, letting her memories flood in and fill her head with happy thoughts.