ParaNormaline - Chapter 3

- CHAPTER 3 - Ghost Whisperer -

--Coraline's POV--

Coraline ran to the hotel room as fast as she could. When she got there, her parents were getting ready to leave. The text they had sent had said that they were going out to eat and they wanted her back so she could get ready. "So where are we going to eat?" Coraline asked as she got ready. "Well, this kind woman invited us to eat at her place to make us feel welcome in town." Mel answered. "Now don't take too long getting ready. We don't want to keep them waiting!"

Soon they were all in the car heading for the house they were eating at. "Who are we eating with, anyway?" Coraline asked. "The Babcock's, Coraline. They're a very nice family!" Charlie answered. I'll be the judge of that! Coraline thought, smirking to herself.

Once they got to the house and they were out of the car, they went up and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, someone came down and swung the door open with a raised eyebrow. Coraline and the boy gasped simultaneously.
"NORMAN?!" "CORALINE?!"

--Norman's POV--

Norman stood there in awe. His mom invited Coraline's family to supper? He couldn't believe it! It wasn't a bad thing, but he found it a little weird, and ironic. Judging from her reaction, he assumed Coraline was just as shocked as he was. After a few seconds of silence, Norman's older sister Courtney came to the door. Norman and Coraline were still staring in shock, their jaws dropped. "Oh, you're here!" Courtney pushed Norman aside, knocking him into the wall. It hurt, but it did knock him out of his trance. "Come on in!" Courtney smiled at Coraline's parents as they came in, feeling welcome.
Coraline hesitated, then went inside as well. She looked back at Courtney as she opened the door wider, looking outside to check for others. Sadly, the door hit Norman, who was now pushed up against the wall. He made a small yelp of pain, but Courtney didn't seem to notice. "Anyone else?" she asked Coraline. She just shook her head, so Courtney shrugged and shut the door, revealing Norman again. Coraline quickly went over to him in worry.
To him, the whole room was spinning, including her. "A-are you okay?" she asked sweetly. Norman's vision started to go back to normal as he stepped forward dizzily. "Huh? Oh, yeah… I'm fine." He answered, shaking his head a little. "I've been through worse." After a moment of awkward silence, Courtney called out from the kitchen. "Are you two coming or not?" she called in annoyance. With that, they started to the kitchen to eat.

Supper didn't seem to pass very quickly. Norman and Coraline ended up sitting across from each other, but neither of them bothered talking unless they were addressed. The grown-ups on the other hand talked the whole time, and Courtney left early to go see Mitch.
Once supper ended, the grown-ups continued their conversation in the living room, leaving Norman and Coraline alone together in silence. Norman wasn't sure what to say without embarrassing himself, and he was sure that neither of them wanted to sit in the middle of their parents' conversation.
Luckily, Coraline was first to break the ice. "So… How about we go to your room?" she asked. Norman felt himself freeze up, hoping she didn't notice. He wasn't sure why, but the question seemed a little… awkward to him. "Why my room?" he asked hesitantly. "Do you want to hear our parents blab on about their jobs?" she giggled in response. Norman opened his mouth to say something, then stopped himself. "Follow me." He replied, leading her to his room.

When they got in, he flinched, not sure how she would react to his zombie-based room. He knew for a fact that he had gone overboard with some of the stuff, but he didn't mind. After all, he saw dead people every day anyways. He stayed stiff, his eyes shut as he waited for a reaction.
What he heard wasn't at all what he expected. "Nice room!" Coraline said. Norman's eyes blinked open in confusion and he stopped tensing. There was no insult, no sarcasm, nothing insulting. He wasn't sure if he heard her right. "Say wha?" was all he managed to get out to verify. "I said, 'Nice room'!" she answered, then walked over to his bed, looking at all the posters and leaving him to stare at her in awe.
After a few seconds he laughed at himself silently, then went over and joined her.

After awhile of talking and joking, he started to think about telling her about his gift. He kept silent about it though, thinking that it would be pushing it. He had already gotten lucky about the room, after all. He managed to stop thinking about it until she decided to bring up the curse again. "Hey, I know you don't really wanna talk about it, but… What's up with this whole 'Witch's Curse' thing?" she looked at him curiously.
He looked down at the ground, thinking. Eventually he took in a deep breath and made his decision. "Alright… I can tell you what happened, but I need to tell you something else first, or else it won't make very much sense." She nodded in agreement. He took another deep breath. He didn't think he'd get this far, honestly.
"How should I say this…" he murmured to himself. "Alright. I'm just gonna say it." He sighed, then took yet another deep breath. "I… can talk to the dead." He finally managed to get it out. "Really?" she asked. He nodded nervously.
"That's… Amazing!" she exclaimed. He blinked in awe. This day was just filled with surprises. "You… don't think it's weird?" he wondered aloud. "Usually when people find out they call me a freak or something… Other then Neil, I mean." He made sure not to leave Neil out. "I meant what I said, Norman!" Coraline explained. "Being able to talk to the dead? That's something amazing!"
"You think so?" Coraline nodded, smiling. Norman was ecstatic. Not only were they on the same page, but they were talking about his powers, and not even in a bad way! "So what does this have to do with the curse?" Coraline asked. Norman smiled, then started to explain the whole story with ease.

Once he finished, they didn't get much time to talk about anything else, seeing as Coraline's mom called for her. Coraline thanked Norman for telling her everything, then went to the door.
"H-hey… Wanna meet up again tomorrow?" he asked quickly. Coraline turned to him, smiling. "Sure! At the school?" "Remember where it is?"  he asked. She nodded in response. "See you there then!" Norman replied. "See you then." Coraline smiled as she agreed, waving goodbye as she shut the door. He kept repeating the sentence in his head after she left.

See you then…