3: The Karate Kid, Prologue

The Reine Family Home.

June 25th, 2014: 9:23 PM

Katelyn Reine’s eighteenth birthday was easily her worst. Not that they were typically fabulous. Katelyn hated being the center of attention, so she usually kept the date to herself and, if she was feeling adventurous, went out to breakfast with some friends. Even putting aside the big thing - this was her first birthday since her brother Albert had died - there were plenty of little things that brought her day down. She’d just been let go at GameStop (something that had been a long time coming given Katelyn’s steadfast refusal to push rewards cards on customers), her parents had failed to make breakfast, and her boyfriend canceled their bowling plans, citing a late shift at Target.

2: The Ghost of Christmas Something Something, Part Three

The following morning was Andrew’s first final, which was in Intro to Philosophy. The final consisted of a short answer portion, and then an in-class essay that asked: “Based on what we’ve talked about in class and read in the texts, which philosopher that we’ve studied would be the best kisser, and why?” Confused, quiet, and nervous laughter filled the room as students read the question, and nobody seemed entirely sure if the professor was serious until about ten minutes into class.

2: The Ghost of Christmas Something Something, Part Two

“So can ghosts, like, possess people in real life?” Andrew asked as he made a bed out of the couch for the second time. Eugene had been exhausted and quiet when he picked Andrew up, and went right to bed but, Millie was full of energy and very glad to see someone who could see her back.

“Yeah! I mean, I can’t. But ghosts get more powerful the longer they’re around, I guess,” she said. “I don’t really know how it works, but I saw it happen once when…well I don’t really remember, but I definitely saw it. I think.”

2: The Ghost of Christmas Something Something, Part One

“Yep. This is unsalvageable,” Eugene confirmed.

Andrew, who had been picking up toiletries in their bathroom, looked over to see what he was talking about. Eugene, a lanky, nicely dressed redhead, was on his knees, rummaging through the shredded pages of a book that lay atop a pile of many others. When Andrew had last seen that book the previous night, it was being ripped from his hands by the ghost of Jessica Crawley. Or perhaps it was Tracy Roth. Whoever it was, she seemed to have torn the book to pieces in her rage. That was the only explanation for the book’s current state - bits of unreadable paper and loosened binding. The job she did was impressively thorough, leaving only a few pages fully intact.

2: The Ghost of Christmas Something Something, Prologue

Connie’s Convenient Convenience Store.

December 19th, 2015: 9:22 AM

“Deck the halls with something something, fa la la la la, la la la la,” Tara Mason heard a customer singing quietly to herself as they walked through the door, letting in even more unwanted cool December air. Her cheery voice made Tara angry, and she hated being angry, so she did her best to tune her out as she set about putting various gift cards back on the display where they belonged. It wasn’t as though Tara were a Scrooge or anything. Quite the contrary, Tara adored Christmas. It was just this morning that she hated.

1: The Misinformed Women, Part Three

Connie’s Convenient Convenience Store significant in Cierto because it was one of the eleven locally-owned establishments in town. Despite this, it wasn’t particularly visually interesting. It was square brick building with an ugly teal overhang and a sign with the store’s named painted plainly onto it. It had a large glass window on either side of the door, allowing one a look inside.

Given the time of day, the store was, of course, closed, and the area around it uncomfortably silent, with only a streetlight half a block away giving off any sort of consequential light. Often times a few drunk kids or a homeless person or two could be found there that early in the morning, but Andrew and Eugene lucked out. They were alone.

1: The Misinformed Women, Part Two

The next morning, Andrew found himself sitting on a bench on the edge of the large, circular pond around which CSU Cierto was built. It was one of those rare days on which Andrew could see himself clearly reflected in the water. Today, that reflection looked lost and tired. As he stared at himself, memories of monthly rates he could not hope to pay jumped to the forefront of his mind. He could work a second job, Curtis had proposed, but he thought drowning himself in the pond sounded more alluring. Steven suggested he take out a small loan, but that was even less tempting. He could just drop out of school - what did he really need it for? He hadn’t even chosen a major yet. He could just keep working his awful job and never be happy and die alone or live in the streets or in a car which he didn’t even have or or or

How could Steven do this to him?!