After school, Molly and I caught up with Libby and Cleo. "Hey, bestie!" Molly greeted. "Hey, guys." Cleo waved. "Sup?" I asked. "So, what'd you do this weekend, guys?" Libby wondered. "Oh, Libby, we had the craziest Friday night..." Molly began, remembering that thing with the fish. I was hanging from its tail. After that, Scratch kept it in my bed for a few hours. "We..." "No, no, no! You can't tell Libby and Cleo about our ghost adventures." Scratch interrupted. "Um, yeah. This weekend, it was crazy. Uh, because Mom had been looking for this scented rainbow ribbon candle which she is just nuts for. And so we just went all around town looking for it, you know." Molly lied. "We looked in Brighton, and then Perfektborg, and then Mewline, and then, uh Oconohaw." "And?" Libby asked. "Pfft! No rainbow candle!" I chimed in, glaring at Scratch. "Which probably would've smelled better than a bed with a dead fish." "You did this all for a candle?" Cleo asked. "Hmm, that is crazy." Libby said, walking away with Cleo. "Hmm, I give that lie a 7 out of 10." Scratch said. "Weird enough to be true, but boring enough that there are no follow up questions. Good job." "Sweet baby corn." Molly and I groaned.

Later at home, Molly and Scratch were building a puzzle together while I caught up with some reading. "Aw! I hate lying to Libby!" Molly complained. "She's my best friend, Scratch. She should know about you. I'm getting stress hives from all the lies!" "You think I like lying to Cleo?!" I asked. "She almost found out at Turnip Fest and at the talent show!" "Girls, don't you see that the more people who know about me, the less scary I am." Scratch explained. "And I'll just be some kind of friendly ghost!" "But, I like friendly ghosts." Molly groaned. "Well, the Ghost Council doesn't!" Scratch snapped. "If I don't keep my scares up, they'll send me to the Flow of Failed Phantoms! Forever! Now, do you have any edge pieces?" "The Flow of Failed Phantoms?" I asked. "I never realized how dangerous the afterlife must be." "Hi, Mrs McGee!" We heard Libby say at our front door while her and Cleo were carrying a huge candle that perfectly met the description of the lie Molly told. "No wonder you had trouble finding this. Abe and Allie at the candle store, they said they've never even heard of a rainbow ribbon candle!" "Careful, Libby!" Cleo warned, grabbing one side of the candle. "Anyway, Mrs M, we made this one ourselves!" "Thanks, I guess." Mom thanked. "Just one question. Why..." "Why, Libby, Cleo! How thoughtful of you to make a candle from scratch." I interrupted. "Oh, right!" Mom exclaimed. "Mmm! Smells like rainbows?" "Well, you've saved the day yet again, girls! See you later!" Molly exclaimed, pushing our friends out the door and slamming it shut.

The next morning, I woke up to find a bunch of papers on my bed. "Molly, did you stay up all night again?" I asked. "It was for a good reason." Molly replied, fixing her vision board. "I had the funniest dream." Scratch yawned. "I was riding a dog, the dog started speaking French... Whoa! Whoa! Amber, what the heck happened in here?" "Ask her yourself." I replied. "You're right, Scratch. Libby and Cleo need a new best friend." Molly said. "Which is why I created Milly and Ember, Libby and Cleo's new BFFs!" "Um, they're both pictures of you and Amber." Scratch commented on her drawings. "Well, there's a familiar resemblance, sure, but they are clearly our Canadian cousins, Milly and Ember!" Molly explained. "You see the flag?" "Clearly. Oh, yeah, I didn't see that at first." Scratch replied. "Milly and Ember have blue hair and are exchange students staying with the McGees." Molly continued. "Meanwhile, 'Molly' will be up in..." Molly falls asleep mid-sentence before getting woken up by Scratch. "...Canada! Anywho, what's important is that Milly and Libby's friendship and Ember and Cleo's friendship is 100% lie-free and pure. So as long as we keep our friendships separate, it'll be fine!" "I'm not doing this." I refused. "I'm not pretending to be you either. We don't even have relatives from Canada!" "So, the answer to lying to your friends about me is to tell an even bigger lie about yourself?" Scratch asked. "It's either this or tell the truth." Molly replied. "Well, if it's gonna keep me out of the Flow of Failed Phantoms. Hello, Milly!" Scratch exclaimed, putting a blue wig on Molly's head. "Mom!" I shouted, going downstairs. "Am I adopted by any chance?"

Once Molly got into her Milly disguise, we headed over to the book shop to lie in Libby's face. "So, let me get this straight. Molly's in Canada, and you're her, uh, cousin... Milly was it?" Libby asked. "Yup! I'm Molly and Amber's Canadian cousin Milly." Molly replied. "Totally different person." "Okay, uh, Milly. You wanna check out the dystopian fiction section?" Libby offered. "Do I? Unlike Molly, I am very pessimistic about the future." Molly agreed. "Come on, cousin Amber!" "So, uh, Milly. What part of Canada are you from?" Libby asked with a raven perched on her arm for some reason. "I think she's from Windsor." I replied. "Which is near Detroit."

Later, at school, it was time for lunch. Since Scratch ate my lunch again, I had to get the school lunch. "Ah, an American cheeseburger and fries." Molly said. "In Canada, we have p-poutine." "Oh, well, you must be homesick for the Great White North." Libby sighed. "I know how much Canadians love maple syrup." "How did you fit that in your bag?" I asked, gagging in the process. Maple syrup is disgusting! "Didn't you say you thought maple syrup tasted like a tree's tears?" "Yup! All Canadians love maple syrup, eh?" Molly questioned. "A little taste of home." Libby said, pouring the entire thing of maple syrup onto Molly's burger, even topping her off with a small bottle. "And a bonus just for you." "Oh, corn. That's disgusting!" I gagged, just as Cleo joined us for lunch. "Hey, Amber." Cleo greeted, glaring at Molly. "Um, who's your friend here?" "My Canadian cousin, Milly." I lied. "I can't wait..." Molly chuckled nervously, swallowing the burger whole, syrup and all. "Honestly, that's not bad." Scratch commented. "I'd have another one." "What just happened here?" Cleo wondered.

After school, Libby took Molly, Cleo, and I over to the park to do something fun, whatever she meant by that. "So, what are we doing next, best friend Libby?" Molly asked. "Oh, you're going to love it, Milly." Libby replied just as Molly cringed at the sight of a magician. Has Libby caught on? "Which cup hides the ball?" He asked. "Is it under one or under all?" "Magic?" Molly mumbled. "Libby, are you sure about this." I asked. "Come on, Milly. Pick up a cup." Libby said. "There's no way you could hate closeup magic like your cousin Molly, right?" Okay, she's onto us! She has to be. "'Course not. That would be ridiculously coincidental." Molly replied, pointing at all three cups, which had no ball. "The ball is gone! As if by... magic!" The magician exclaimed as the ball popped out of his sleeve. "Boo!" Cleo yelled. "Try something different next time!" "Magic. It's so fun!" Molly shouted. "So whimsical!" "Aw, you are super great, Milly." Libby complimented. "Maybe even a better friend than Molly." "Wow! What a nice compliment!" Molly exclaimed. "For Milly. Who is me. I love it!"

While doing some reading back at home, Mom called for me to do a little favor. "Amber, can you answer the door for me?" Mom asked. "I've got my hands full doing the laundry." "Sure thing, Mom!" I replied, climbing down from the attic and heading to the front door. I opened the door to see Libby standing on our porch. Sweet baby corn! She knows Molly's here, doesn't she?! "Libby! Sorry, Molly isn't here right now. She's..." "...in Canada. I know." Libby interrupted. "Actually, I came to see you." "See me?" I wondered. "What's going on?" "I wanted to ask if you knew what was going on with Molly lately?" Libby asked. "You seem to be hanging out with her a lot." "Nothing to worry about." I reassured her. "Everything's fine." "Are you sure?" Libby wondered. "I feel like she's hiding something from me." "I'm sorry, Libby." I apologized. "I can't disrespect Molly whether she's hiding something or not." "Funny you should say that, Amber." Cleo chimed in behind Libby. "Libby and I have been noticing that Molly's been acting weird lately, but I noticed that lately, you were also acting weird." "Mind if we investigate your room?" Libby asked. "Are you sure about this, Libby?" Cleo questioned. "I mean, you're not gonna find anything, so, I guess." I replied as they headed up to the attic. "Oh! This is getting out of hand! I gotta warn Molly and Scratch!"

I ran over to the park to take time for a breather. Coincidentally, Molly and Scratch had just arrived. "Molly! Libby and Cleo were in our room, investigating!" I warned. "Don't worry. We just shook them off." Molly reassured me. "Or did you?" Libby asked. "Once the bloodhound of truth gets your scent, there's no hiding." ""The bloodhound of truth?"" I wondered. "Aw, is that what you call yourself?" Molly asked. "I'll ask the questions!" Cleo snapped. "Sorry. I just really wanted to say that. But seriously, we have some questions." "We know what you're hiding, Molly and Amber. Your big secret." Libby said. "You do?" Molly and I asked. "She does?" Scratch wondered. "So, you were in on this?" Cleo questioned. "Okay, let me explain, you see, I'm not Molly or Milly, I'm actually Mally from Tallahassee!" Molly lied. "Paul can be here in 5 minutes." Scratch whispered. "No more lies!" Libby snapped. "We know the truth! Molly has... an Eastern Canadian brain slug!" "What?" Molly and I asked. "Wow. They really went off in a totally different direction, huh?" Scratch questioned. "I was confused about it too." Cleo admitted. "I'm just going along with it." "It all adds up! Molly's impeccable Canadian accent? The slug's native tongue! The hives? Obviously an allergic reaction to slug mucus! We found some on your window sill. Her super cool wig? To hide the slug itself! Reveal yourself, slimy puppet master!" "I don't think that's right." Cleo said as Libby removed the wig from Molly's head. "I don't have a brain slug." Molly confessed. "I actually don't think they exist." "Oh, I was really hoping it was a brain slug." Libby sighed. "Because otherwise, there's only one thing it could be. You don't want to be friends." "Is that true?" Cleo asked. "What? No, I swear that's not it!" Molly exclaimed. "What else could it be?" Libby asked. "This has happened before. I just thought you were different." I went over to Cleo as she walked away with Libby. "Guys, I promise you, we do want to be friends with you." I explained. "I get it, Amber. I can't force you to tell me anything, but when you're ready to talk, I'll be ready to listen." Cleo sighed. "We have to tell them!" Molly begged. "That's a hard no!" Scratch refused. "We can't keep living this way, Scratch!" I snapped. "Please?" Molly asked, giving him puppy dog eyes. I may or may not have done the same. Scratch hesitated, but he decided to give in. "Okay, fine." Scratch sighed. "But just Libby and Cleo." Molly and I smiled at each other and ran towards our human friends. "Wait, no! The truth is... we have been hiding something." Molly confessed. "Someone, actually." I corrected. "Ah. It's a ghost." Scratch said sarcastically, appearing in front of Libby and Cleo. Libby actually fainted on sight. Cleo's jaw dropped when she saw Scratch. "Libby! Are you okay?!" Cleo gasped. "Happy now?" Scratch asked. "Thank you." Molly and I whispered.