I LIIIIVE!!! I'm so sorry for taking so long to publish! For those who didn't see, I was taking a mental break because school is crap and who knew 10th grade would be so hard? But seriously, I'm sorry for ditching you all. And I'm sorry to say but I'm still kinda on that break but not. It's weird. I'm not going to be posting regularly like I did in the summer, but I'll try to post when I have time to write a chapter. School still sucks though so who knows when that'll be. I'll try to get back in a schedule during the summer, but I have a lot of things planned for the summer... So I'll still be doing it when I can. Please be patient with me, I wanna keep writing, but life is busy. I'll try to post chapter 18 as soon as I can. I love you beans! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Janus
Okay, you can't tell me that wasn't hilarious. I mean, their faces! The look of total shock and a little more than a bit of terror was clear in their eyes. I still had to fly out quick or they would have seen Patton's tiny box floating or backpack, but it was definitely worth it. All the old ghost stereotypes that I've heard always seemed so stupid, but this has really opened my eyes.

As I flew to Patton's house, I quickly did the math in my head. We have 40 minutes of lunch and it's been 15 so far. It takes about… five minutes to fly to Patton's house so I have roughly.. I'll give it fifteen minutes to hang out with Patton. Thank goodness math hasn't changed in the last hundred~so years.

I zoomed down to the white building that houses the demons plus Patton and flew through the wall into his room. Patton was still in bed, eyes closed. I can't tell if he's sleeping, meditating, or lost in thought. Hmmm… Sitting on the side of the bed, I gently shake his shoulders.

“Patton, I’m back,” He groggily opened his eyes and looked up at me.

“Janus? What time is it?”

“Twelve twenty.” His eyes widened as he shot up, then immediatly winced.

“I’m so dead! Virgil, Roman and Logan will be worried sick!” What is he talking about? I gently pushed him down again.

“Calm down. They won’t be worried and you aren’t dead. I’ve made sure of it.” He paused and looked up at me. I stared in his cornflower blue eyes and the freckles that sprinkled his tan cheeks.

… What were we talking about again? Wait… wait… I know what you’re gonna say… NOPE. I’m not androphillious, screw you. I'm a ghost. He's not a ghost. See the problem here? So no. To answer all the questions: no way hosay. Nope nada non keine nein. Go away. I don't like you right now. Stop. Nope nope nope.

"... Janus? Jaaanuuuus. Janusium. Jany salamey." Blinking, I was drawn out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You zoned out for a bit…"

"Oh, sorry I was talking to the readers."

".... What now?" Shoooot he wasn't supposed to hear that uhhhhh…

"Umm nothing. What did you ask before?" I put a hand on my chin, staring into his soul. I'm not getting distracted this time. Nope nope nope. Just focus on him and the way his cute little thin lips moved. Yerp. Wait no, not cute. Erm… completely normal lips that just turned out to be a nice flamingo pink. It fits his face erm… well. It fits it well.

"... So?" Patton drew me out of my thoughts again. I blinked at the question.

"So what?" Patton smiled slightly. Okay I'm lost. Why's he smiling?

"I asked you what you did to make sure that my friends aren't worried and that I won't get in trouble." Ohhhhhhhhh yeah I completely missed that. But he doesn't need to know that.

"Ah, right I heard you the first time I simply got confused by the way it was worded." Boom. Nice one.

Patton flushed slightly, looking down. Did I say something wrong? "Oh… sorry for wording it weird." Hold up no! That wasn't my goal! Craaaaap!

"Erm- no that's not uh…" my cheeks grew warm. Really Janus? Stuttering? I clear my throat, "English isn't my first language so I don't always connect the dots immediately."

"It isn't? What's your first language?"

"French. My parents moved here from France so I grew up in a house full of french fries. But I quickly learned English when I was sent to school. My family learned it together." Patton smiled.

"That's really cute." I'm so glad I'm a ghost. I'm so pale and translucent, you can't see if my cheeks have gained color or not. Which they haven't by the way, just to clarify.

"Thanks. Now to answer your other question, I'm going to school for you today." Patton's jaw dropped. Huh. Is it really that surprising?

"You… are going to school for me. At Pine View. (A random highschool in Florida, so if ya go there, tell me about it! I'm guessing it's a lot like my high school and if so… oof meh dude.) I… I don't know what to say." I sigh, pushing down my smile.

"Well it's not like I would have let you come to school today. You're in too much pain for that. Skipping is a no because of the house demons. Can't call in sick because again, the demons. The only plausible option was for me to go for you. Plus you were sleeping and I didn't want to bother you this morning." And I don't want my human to get hurt again. Duh.

"Oh well um… thank you." He smiled sheepishly. I nodded in response, then glances at the time.

"I have to go now, but I'll be back right after school." I began heading towards the window before pausing, remembering the small box in my pocket. "Oh and there was a red head boy and a coffee person there who gave me this and said it was yours." I gently put the box on his bed. His eyes grew wide.

"Oh crap they know… Remy and Emile, they know about it." I sigh.

"Yeah about that… they may have tried to talk with me about it and I, most graciously of course, ditched them."

"What?!"

I shrugged, "I turned invisible and flew away. Their faces were hilarious." Patton looked at the ground, eyes wide as he processed this.

"... I'm screwed. Well, no I'm Patton, but you know what I mean."

"... Was that a dad joke?"

"... Maybe." I heaved another sigh before glancing at the clock again.

"I have to go or I'll be late, but we'll continue this after." He reluctantly nodded and I picked up his school bag again. "I'll be back." I flew out through the window and for those who are wondering, yes I left the window open so I could fly out with the bag.

Who wants to hear about what happened in English class?

Not me. It's a demon class and should be burned. Thank goodness Patton didn't have a test in it. Because I prefer to block out those memories, let's skip to the end of the day.

The person in Patton’s picture, Virgil I think, came up to me after the demonic class. He looked a bit hesitant. “Hey Pat, can I talk to you for a bit?”

I blink. Now? Really? After that class of torture? No I’m not doing that. No way- … What would Patton do?

Suppressing a sigh, I force a cheery smile onto my face, “Sure thing!” Bleh cheerfulness.

Relief flashed through his eyes and the side of his lip twitched into a small smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem!” This is like Patton, right? How is he so energetic all the time? It’s exhausting.

Virgil led me out of the classroom and outside the school. We rounded a corner and came to the east side of the building. No one else was in sight. Okay, what’s going on? He doesn’t look like the type to sell drugs, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Jokes on him, I’m broke. Try to rob me, emo mugger. I’ll just screw you over and send you to a mental hospital. Ghosts don’t exist after all so he must be crazy if he claims they do. They still send people who claim that to mental hospitals, right?

He leaned against the wall and looked down, clenching his jaw. Dang it, looks like I’m going to have to pry. I plopped my hands in the freaking cat cardigan pockets and looked into Virgil’s eyes, “What did you want to talk about?”

“... My parents,” I paused. Shoot is this human having the same problem as Patton? I’m not ready to adopt and protect two humans, one is enough thank you. “You know how they’re divorced and have been fighting for custody cause they don’t want to share it. Well… They gave me the choice and I can’t… I can’t decide… but I need to. I just don’t know what to do.” Virgil gripped onto his jacket tightly, his normally masked anxiety clear as day.

Well huh that sucks. At least he has an actual problem compared to that Roman person. But still that's nothing compared to what Patton's going through or what I went through. Why the heck does he have a right to complain when Patton suffers silently each day?

"That sucks." I state flatly, "Really, it sounds like the worst thing that could have happened. Poor you."

Virgil froze and looked at me as if I grew a mushroom from my head. "Excuse me?"

I shrugged, "I said it sucks. There is no way anyone could possibly know what you're feeling right now. You must be in so much freaking pain it's hard to breathe and when you do, each breath feels like pure acid pouring down your throat. It's really too bad." Virgil didn't move, he just continued to stare at me. "What?"

"You never talk like this … ever… you would never say anything like that. I…" Shoot what do I say to that? I broke character.

"Erm uh well…The old Davis house changes people I guess." I avoid eye contact, wishing to be literally anywhere else.

"... You're not Patton." I stiffin. Dang it dang it dang it dang it.

"What? Of course I am!" I force a smile, but he sees right through it.

"You're not Patton." He glared at me and walked closer until he was glaring up at me, his nose almost touching my chin. "Who are you?"

Crap. Guess it's time to drop the charade.

"Me?" I pointed to myself, a smirk on my face. How dumb could this kid get? I literally brought up the Davis house. Who else would I be? Pinocchio?

"Well, my dear Virgil. You're right about one thing. I'm not Patton." I paused for dramatic effect and he set his jaw. I chuckled, "But the Davis house does change people."

1694 Words!

Hopefully you guys liked it! Sorry again for leaving you, and on such a horrible cliff hanger too... Here's another one. Man, I'm going to be a great author (if I ever become one. Fingers crossed.) But yeah, I'll try to get the next chapter out to you beans as soon as I can. I love you all. Have a great day/night or whatever time it is where you are. Don't forget to eat, sleep (I say like a huuuge hypocrite), and take care of yourselves. I love you guys and care about your well being. See you next chapter sisters, brothers, and non binary others.

💖Maybay4