"So let me get this straight" Alex mumbled as they all walked together to school, accompanying Angela to her first. Apparently, throughout some unknown astral power, his friend found out about the interaction Shane had with Bianca, and therefore came to pester him the second they set foot out of their house, forcing him to spill everything 

"She gave you her number"

"She didn't give me her number" Shane replied, already having had enough about the day, even though it had just started. 

"Then you called her and she pestered you about creepypastas"

"She didn't"

"And now she's your girlfriend!?" 

"Again, no" he groaned, burying his face in his hands, trying to figure out how Alex got wind to this in the first place. He thought he might have placed some sort of app or device on his phone or some shit like that. Shane made a mental note to check his phone thoroughly once home.

"For the last time Alex, she's my girl friend, with a space in between between. Two separate words, get it? Girl. Friend" he put a lot of emphases into marking the fact that there was a space between the two words. 

He was really, and I mean really trying his best to not just start cursing, he didn't want to, at least not in front of his little sister, he didn't want to give her a bad example, so he took a deep breath to calm himself before resuming.

"This isn't a videogame or a movie Alex, a person doesn't gain a girlfriend, buys a house, gets settled and marries overnight. Get real dude" he added sarcastically.

Angela just snickered at their interaction, and Shane couldn't really blame her. He was pretty convinced that watching two grown man... well, one grown man and a teenager, argue like kids would be, in fact, a pretty funny thing to watch.

"Oh come on dude! She 100% likes you, just do the move already!" Shane just rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore him "So, did you make any new friends Angy?" he asked turning towards Angela, trying to tune out Alex's never ending nagging.

"Yes! I made lots of friends! There's this girl called Sara and she has a very cute hairpin and we sometime borrow each other's pencils because she likes the cute cat that mine has at the end of it and-" 

He smiled as she kept on rambling about her day, explaining it down to the smallest, most insignificant detail. That's what kids do when they are excited, they talk about what happened to their parents, but since her parents were never around, or even listened to what she had to say in the first place, Shane took their place, listening to Angela endless ramble.

He found it pretty boring at first, but as years went by, he started to enjoy it. She reminded him of his younger self, when he was still joyful and ready to take the world head on. He smiled, hoping with all his heart that, unlike him, at least she would remain like this for as long as possible, he didn't want to see that bright smile that was always present on her face, fade into a fake and forced one anytime soon.

The world is a cruel, cold and harsh place, it always has been and will always be, nothing that we do will ever change that. But, as long as people like her exists, people that can brighten up your day just by giving the most sincere and bright smile... then...

Then that's a world where it's still worth living for.

"Shane!" 

"Huh?"

"Are you listening to me?" Angela pouted, having noticed that his mind was elsewhere.

"Of course I am" he replied calmly with a smile "Oh yeah? What was I talking about?"

Moment of silence.

'Oh fuck, she called my bluff' he looked at Alex for help, but his friend just turned away, crossing his arms 'Oh for fuck's sake Alex, why do you have to be such a drama queen?! How can you not help a friend in the moment of need!?' he thought with a groan.

"Uhhh... about that Sara girl?" he hoped that, while he had dozed off, she didn't strand too far from the starting topic. Angela glared at him for a moment, before nodding "Ok you were listening. So! As I was saying..."

Shane let out a short sigh in relief, knowing that he had just dodged a bullet right there. Angela might be just ten, but she got very scary when she got angry, so he tried to avoid getting on her nerves in any way, ESPECIALLY when she talks about her day.

Alex, on the other hand, clicked his tongue, displeased by the peaceful result the two managed to reach. He really wanted to see the two siblings argue their brains out, maybe even brawl a little. Not this time buddy.

"How the fuck do you even manage to keep up with what she says, let alone understand her? It's like listening to a fucking rapper" Alex asked, receiving a punch in response, as well as a soft glare that said 'Don't call her that'

"I don't, I just nod along" he whispered back, making him snort "And it works?"

"It has so far" he said with a shrug.

"You know what I mean don't you Shane?" Angela asked, completely oblivious to the interaction the two friends just had. And, as if to prove his point, Shane just nodded along, adding a quiet "Mhm" with it.

"I mean why in the world would anyone prefer pink over red right?! It's outrageous!"

"Mhm"

"Red is obviously the best color, end of discussion"

"Mhm"

"I'll show them today! I'll show everyone that they are wrong and I'm right! And everyone will come to my side and agree with me" she announce proudly. 

"Mhm"

"Oh I know! I'll use a drawing to show them! I'll draw the best rose they've ever s-" she stopped mid sentence 

"Shane"

"Mh?" 

"Why is that old friend of yours looking like he's about to piss his pants from laughing?" he turned around saw Alex with tears in his eyes and a hand over his mouth, trying to hold back his laughter, obviously failing to do so.

"Don't mind him, he's an idiot and idiots laugh at everything" he smirked as he said that "So you're gonna join him soon too Shaney?" she teased with a coy smile.

"HEY!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After dropping off Angela at school, the two friends kept walking towards Shane's.

"Welp, Imma go now, I'll see you later dude" Alex said once they reached the building "Sure, go organize your cards or something" he joked.

"Ah ah very funny, you know I have an actual job"

"Job is a bit of a strong word for someone who just sits around all day in front of a monitor keeping an eye on a freaking stuffed doll" he pointed out, making Alex roll his eyes "Whatever dude, at least I have an income, ya don't" he teased.

Their bickering got interrupted by the sound of the bell ringing.

"The bell saved you" Alex mumbled "Bye dude" he gave him a small wave before heading towards his 'Work place'

To be fair, his job was indeed an actual one, it's just that Shane couldn't believe there could be someone dumb enough to hire an idiot to do something that's literally useless.

Alex worked as a security guard in a museum close by that had exposed many occultism items, like books and ancient ritual tools. But, for some reason, unlike the other guards, who would either have to check several cameras or patrol the halls on their shifts, Alex was in charge to keep an eye on just one specific piece.

A possessed doll. 

Or at least that what the museum passed it off as. Shane was 99% sure that it was just a random creepy doll that someone found in a dumpster and thought it looked old and scary enough that if someone put a sign on it that said 'Possessed' everyone would believe it was.

They went as far as to adorn the display case where it was with several sacred seals and holy items so to 'Keep the evil inside from escaping'.

It was all bullshit of course, they just grabbed some paper, scribbled a fancy phrase in Latin on it, burned the edges and threw some dirt on it so to make it look old before sticking it to the glass. As for the holy items, they were probably some knock-offs bought in the cheap store downtown. 

Alex's job was basically to make sure that the doll stayed in place, aka didn't leave the case, aka basically watch a stuffed toy stare at you through the camera for a few hours a day and get payed.

Let me repeat that so you actually get it. He gets payed, to watch, a freaking, doll!

And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that he dragged Shane into the madness that this dumb job brought along.

Let's just say he was insufferable the first three weeks. He would call at 1 am and scream at him, saying that he saw the doll move or turn it's head towards him. 

And of course Alex, being the dumbass, conspiracy theorist who believes everything that paranormal or doesn't make sense, and denies everything that has even a gram of sense into it, thought 100% that the doll was possessed and had cursed him.

Thank god Shane, being the good friend he is, pointed out that the doll was probably older than both of them and their parents, seeing the state it was in. So he theorized that it would sometime move due to decay or maybe a weak draft that managed to somehow sneak inside the case and move it a little.

Nonetheless, the fucker kept calling him at ungodly hours for about a month before settling down. Not because he started to get used to it or believe Shane's words, of course not. It was simply because Shane got tired of his bullshit and started turning off his phone at night.

A small smile creeped on his face as he recalled this memories.

"Welp, time to go to classes and study dumb useless shit"