Author's Note: Ok... I'll admit it, I was obsessed with Coraline, to the point that I could quote the ENTIRE movie in Spanish (nowadays I can do some scenes only 😔). I've always wanted to do my own twist, but it wasn't until a few years ago that I decided to give it a shot. So... yeah... enjoy...

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Prologue 1: Coraline

Five years have passed since I moved to the Pink Palace with my parents. Five years have passed since I went through that moment of my life. Things have also changed between then and now, obviously. Mr. Bobinsky became a successful performer with his jumping mice circus, and is still living in the upstairs apartment. Misses Spink and Forcible, however, sadly joined their angels, so everything downstairs was emptied out by friends and family I didn't know they even had. Why-was-he-born and I are about to start our sophomore year in high school. It's still summer break, so we still see each other from time to time. The Cat also joins us.

"Hey, so Grandma said that she rented the downstairs apartment." He wiped his apple and took a big bite out of it. "According to her, it's a single father and his daughter. I haven't seen them, but grandma sure did talk a lot about them." He took another bite. "It's gonna be like when you guys first got here. Grandma talked a lot about you guys non stop, but I'm sure she'll get over it pretty soon."

What fun. I guess Wybs's grandmother thinks things are safer now since she's letting another family with a child set foot in the Pink Palace. I mean, he and I did defeat the Beldam, but I still think it's still kinda risky.

"The kid is younger than us," he continued, "I'd say about 10 years old?" I just shrugged. We were on our way to our meeting spot, the well.

We always pass by there and hang out. Sometimes we drop rocks down there to see how long they fall, sometimes we go there to have lunch with the Cat, simple things like that, but most importantly, to make sure she stays down there.

Time passed and I looked at my phone while eating. It was about to hit 3 o'clock. Mom and Dad should be coming home soon. I got up. "Pehwench amote hee?" I nodded. He quickly shoved his last chips onto his mouth and got up. He gave me a thumbs up, and we started walking to the Pink Palace.

When we got there, there was a mini moving truck parked out front. Someone was coming up from the downstairs apartment. It was a man. "Hi, you must be our new neighbors." He had a soft, yet somewhat deep voice. "Has anyone told you you sound almost like Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Goddammit Wybie.

He began to laugh. "No, that's a first." Another person came up. "Dad?" It was a younger girl along with Wybie's grandmother. "Ah, this is my grandson, Wybourn, Mr. Gomez," said Mrs. Lovat, as she walked up to Wybie to hug him, "and this is his friend and your new neighbor." She extended her hand towards my direction. I guess I need to introduce myself. "I'm Coraline," I said as I extended my hand, "Coraline Jones."

The man shook my hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Coraline Jones." It honestly caught me off guard. Normally,  people would call me Caroline, yet he got my name right. "My name is Daniel Gomez," he placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, "and this is my daughter, Madeliz."

Madeliz. That's a weird name. Then again, who am I to talk? Maybe that's why he got my name right?

I just smiled and quickly gleaned at my door. "I better go, my parents are wondering where I am. It was a pleasure meeting you." I excused myself and walked quickly home. Wybs stayed behind. I closed the door behind me, but felt something weird. I peeked outside, only to see the girl walk back to the truck. I closed the door. Mom and dad weren't home yet. I guess they're working late again. I went to my room, and laid in bed. I could still hear the Lovats talk to the new neighbors, so I just went to sleep.

"Charlie?!" I guess they're home now.

I came out of my room, and saw Dad pass by. "Well someone's looking fancy" I joked. He was wearing a dress shirt, recently ironed pants, formal black shoes... and carried four boxes of pizza? He laughed and responded to mom. "Yeah?!" I guess she couldn't hear him since she didn't respond.

"What's the occasion?" I asked.

Dad turned to look at me. "The downstairs neighbors have invited everyone in the building to a dinner held in the garden. Mom's almost done getting ready, you should too, Pumpkin." Hey, if it involves food, who can say no? I went back to my room and chose my best outfit: a dark blue hooded flannel, white undershirt, black jeggings, and mini black military boots. Simple, yet exquisite. "Perfect," I whispered after pulling up my hair and placing my favorite firefly hairpiece on. "Coraline, let's go!" Mom yelled. She was wearing a rose peplum top with blue pants and beige sandals. I ran down the stairs, and we were all so surprised to see how different we all looked that we all laughed and headed to the garden.

Wybs was already there with his grandmother with a bowl of fruit punch. Bobinsky had trouble bringing all his mice's stage downstairs, so Dad went to help him, all while Mom and I went to place his box of cupcakes and our stack of pizzas. When I turned to my right, I saw them. My new neighbors are in front of this table full of food. Literally no space for the food we're bringing. "Hello all, my name is Daniel Gomez,  but please feel free to call me Dan or Danny. This is my daughter, Madeliz." Both looked like models with the way they were dressed. The father had deep blue eyes, straight black hair, wore a light gray dress shirt with black pants and black dress shoes. The daughter had her father's eyes, with wavy dark brown hair, a light pink sundress with a white undershirt, and white sandals. "We thank you for having us over, and hope you enjoy today's feast."

I walked up to Wybs, as we nodded to one another. We both had a mission: get the pizza. We grabbed our stacks and went to sit on the stairs. "Sho i herd zad da dah ish acshiley ir-ee." I just gave him a blank stare. He quickly swallowed his food while pounding his chest, "Sorry, I was saying I heard that the dad is actually thirty years old."

"Wait," I whispered, screaming, "so that means he had the kid at nineteen!"

We both turned to see the family. Even though both are young, they looked very happy. "I think they'll fit in nicely here." That's what I thought, but little did I realize, I was dead wrong. After all, the prettiest smile is the best mask.

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Author's note: Can't seem to say much about this... that's a first... weird. Anyways, until next time...