a week after the devastating death of egon spengler has passed and the entirety of summerville hasn't really bat an eye to his death. spengler was popular around the town, but only for the wrong reasons. they called him a madman, a psycho, a delusional grandpa... and frankly, because of his damaged reputation, it affected the girl he raised all her life and the only one in town who cared about his death, brooke devon.

"yo, um..." brooke rolled behind the counter and placed down a sticky note with one of the orders. "one large four-cheese and a single coke."

"your handwriting is worse than mine, devon." one of the boys looked over at the paper, insulting her like a douchebag.

"it's nice to know you finally accept you suck at something. welcome to the club!" brooke grinned sarcastically, placing the note on his forehead and rolled back outside to her friend who was waiting at the door, lucky domingo.

brooke and lucky were miles away different. lucky is a popular kid in school. she has tons of friends, a lot of people who like her, confidence brooke wishes she had, and a boyfriend too. meanwhile, brooke has none of those. although, it doesn't mean she's not as great as lucky. brooke has many qualities she doesn't realize are better than others. she's highly intelligent in math, geometry, physics, chemistry, and science, she knows how to ride a skateboard, her music taste is definitely better than some others, and her style makes her look unique and special. maybe specifically the style itself isn't original, but she makes it look different when it's on her.

despite all these differences, they were with each other through and through. lucky helped her get through the hard times when no one else would. she was her only friend now after egon's passing, and brooke didn't let herself complain.

"he's not that bad, y'know. you guys could maybe, like, hangout sometime." lucky suggested as she andskated towards one of the windows for the orders.

"he's an asshole, I wouldn't wanna talk to some guy like him." brooke said. "and besides, why are you so focused on me getting a boyfriend?"

"well, you're 15 years old and you've been saying every summer has been bullshit so, why not date someone?" lucky crossed her arms and leaned on the wall next to the window.

"and have a higher chance of getting my heart broken again? no way." brooke leaned next to her.

"then, what are you gonna do? you gonna continue performing experiments in your garage for your imaginary audience?" lucky scoffed, mocking her friend.

"exactly. my imaginary audience are far better listeners than everyone else here anyway."

"you'd never know if you never try."

"from my experience, i know i should never try. it makes it worse. i've never connected deeply with anyone other than egon in my life. this is exactly why i don't need therapy."

lucky stared at her weirdly for a moment, worried and confused at her takeaways. "not sure that's the lesson here."

"at least i'm learning something, no?"

~

"pheebs, be a dear and break into your grandfather's house." callie demanded to her daughter, and she followed what she ordered.

as phoebe was breaking into the house, which trevor found boring to wait for, he headed over to a truly messed up garage/shed he saw nearby. he assumed it was property of the same house as well, because the house is in the middle of a hill with no other houses, and the shed had the word "FREAK" and "DIRT" spray-painted across.

he opened the shed, and saw a girl who had a white lab coat, black gloves, and lab goggles on over her clothes. behind her was a table filled with a lot of beakers filled with chemicals, and other equipment used for chemistry. there was also a ring stand with a small vial clipped onto it with some goo-like liquid inside. as she's doing all this, she was also playing "Love Maze" by BTS on a vinyl record player placed on a different side of the room.

"uh, hi." he greeted her, immediately startling the girl who didn't hear the door open.

"AH!" she screamed, her body turning around and her eyes landing on trevor.

"you dumbass! these are dangerous products and equipment! you could've caused an accident!" she scolded him as BTS continued to sing about having a good time.

"then... why are you using them? are you like, a... scientist?" he asked awkwardly

the girl sighed. "not professionally. i like to act like i am."

trevor put his backpack down, trying to walk over but the girl yelled at him to not.

"don't go near, you don't have a coat. or goggles, or gloves... you might need to tie that hair too."

"why? do you not like my hair?"

"i never said i didn't." she replied, walking back to the table. "in fact, i really like it... compared to every other boy's hair in this God-forsaken town."

trevor chuckled "thanks." he said, holding back a smile. "wh-... who are you anyway? why are you here?" he hesitantly asked.

she turned around, sassily standing and rolling her eyes before saying something. she lifted her goggles, resting them on her head and replied, "my name's brooke. i live with egon... or at least used to. he raised me when everyone else refused to." she answered, still keeping her focus on the table.

"mm..." trevor awkwardly mumbled.

she then picked up a red gummy bear with clippers, and carefully placed it into the vial. as soon as she dropped it inside, the chemical in the vial immediately started to light the gummy bear on fire. it looked like fire directly from the deepest pits of hell. you could swear you heard the screeches and shrieks of the gummy bear, but that was really just the fire.

trevor slightly jumped back as he saw what happened to the poor, little, innocent gummy bear.

seconds later, the flaming of the chemical stopped... and the gummy bear was gone. disintegrated. snapped from existence.

"....what the fuck." trevor muttered under his breath.

"fun, no?" brooke happily smiled, turning her head to her newfound acquaintance.

"how did... how did that even happen?"

"that chemical is called potassium chlorine. i heated it up from the bottom of the vial, and then i just simply dropped it the gummy bear and it burned. cool, right?" she wagged her eyebrows.

"yeah... really cool."

"hey, mom, i found a weird girl in the garage and apparently, she's gonna have to live with us." trevor said loudly as he came inside with brooke.

callie swung her body around, her eyes landing on brooke who just came inside with trevor. brooke politely bowed after his mom saw her, also waving with a smile on her face right after.

"oh, hello." callie greeted

"hi. are... you his mom?" brooke asked.

"yes, clearly. i'm callie, that's phoebe." she pointed at trevor's sister. "what's your name?"

"brooke devon. i live here with egon."

"lived." trevor corrected.

"yes. lived." she agreed.

"ah, look at that trevor, you're making friends already." callie patted him on the shoulder.

phoebe lifted her head from the table she was examining to brooke who was avoiding looking at any of them. phoebe didn't know why, but she was paranoid of brooke. she thought that she knows something that they didn't. phoebe wasn't sure what that thing could be, but it's something.

the house went dead silent, everyone awkwardly keeping their distance... or, at least keep their distance from brooke.

to destroy the awkwardness, the house suddenly started to shake. rumbling and rattling of the house below started to occur so suddenly out of nowhere and everyone guessed, it was an earthquake.

"you've gotta be shitting me." brooke rolled her eyes, really disappointed she has to deal with another one of these things again.

"under the dining table now!" callie yelled. everyone else rushed, meanwhile brooke was the only one casual about it all since it's so normal for them.

surprisingly, even though brooke is the most used to this, she's the only one doing the "duck, cover, hold" rules. everyone else was just doing planks.

"remember that summer we died under a table?" trevor asked out of the blue, looking out from under the table, excluding brooke from the conversation since it's obviously not targeted to her. "and watched a stranger get crushed."

"of course this place is built on a fault line." callie ignored trevor, and the shaking started to stop.

"probably just fracking." phoebe guessed.

"it's fracking annoying is what it is." callie audibly agreed.

"it's okay, we're only here for a week."

"um... give or take." callie told her son.

"what does that mean?"

"it means we're staying." she specified.

"you said you had money saved up!" trevor yelled angrily as his mom got out of the table after her daughter and brooke did.

"that was before i had children." she talked back.

"to be fair you've never been good with money." phoebe bluntly told her mom before reaching down to get something from below an armchair in the living room.

"thanks, pheebs." callie said sarcastically.

"here, let me help you." brooke offered, extending her arm under the table to trevor.

"oh, um, thanks- ow..." he got interrupted from accidentally bumping his head on the table.

she giggled, trevor also slightly chuckling from her expression before he finally took her hand and got out from under the table.

phoebe pulled something from under the armchair and showed trevor after he finally got out.

"what's that?" trevor asked, trying to grab it from phoebe but she refused to let him take it.

"how am i supposed to know?" phoebe sneered. "do you know what it is?" she asked, looking at brooke as she walked over beside her.

"nope." brooke lied, not wanting them to get in trouble with any ghost mischief. "egon was always holding it though. never knew why."

everyone then heard the door open, and an old lady in grandma clothes came inside, uninvited.

"can i help you?" the lady asked, even though she was the one who came in.

"um... hi. we're... we're the- um... the..." she nervously scoffed. "this was my father's place." callie stuttered.

the lady looked around the room, her view landing on the kids sat at the armchair.

"hi..." she waved at them.

"hi." both trevor and phoebe said together in sync, curiously staring at the lady.

"janine, right?" brooke asked.

"yes... i'm, uh, janine melnitz. we spoke on the phone. i was your father's... you know, we were friends." she said, drawing her attention back to callie. "very sorry for your loss."

"you knew him better than me. i should be sorry for your loss." callie partly said jokingly.

"i just tried to keep the bills paid on time, that kind of thing."

"like a money manager?" callie asked.

"oh, there was no money to manage. he could barely keep the power on."

"blame that on me." brooke joined the conversation. "that was my bad."

egon always told her to check the power but she never was able to since she was always 'busy.'.. in other words, burning gummy bears and vibing to korean boy's music.

callie sighed, turning her head back to janine. "so he left us nothing?"

"well i wouldn't say that. there is quite a bit of debt."

"ms. melnitz, i'm here to sign forms, pack the silverware and leave with a rent check. are you telling me this place is worthless?" callie asked with a smile on her face to hide her disappointment.

"you mean, aside from the sentimental value?... and a cute young girl your children can play with?"

brooke rolled her eyes knowing she was talking about her. "i'm fifteen, not nine."

"you're still a kid, aren't you?" janine shrugged.

~

callie, phoebe, trevor, and brooke all got into the car and drove to spinners for dinner. callie felt a little frustrated now that she has three kids to take care of but she also felt a little relieved that theres someone who knows how to work the place.

"so, phoebe, right?" brooke asked to clarify her name.

"yep." she answered, not looking at brooke at all since she wasn't interested in talking to her.

"you into science?"

"how'd you know?" phoebe turned her head quickly to her brooke and paying more attention to her as she mentioned science.

"just assumed." brooke replied, smirking. "what kind of science you into?"

"well, anything in science captivates my interest, actually. physics mainly, though. but, ask me anything and i'll have a way to answer." phoebe responded. "what about you?"

"astronomy, physics, parapsychology." brooke answered. "the actually interesting parts of science."

"parapsychology, thats cool." callie said, getting into the conversation

"yeah it is." brooke agreed. "how about you trevor? what you into?"

"um... cars. mechanics and... stuff." trevor answered, a little embarrassed that what he likes isn't so extraordinary as what they like. "i'm not a science type of person."

"well, i have a broken car. would you care to help me? cars aren't my... biggest strength." brooke requested.

"oh... of course i'd love to." he accepted.

"ok." brooke muttered, smiling and sitting back on the seat.

~

they arrived at spinners after a long drive. their new house is quite far from the actual town. their house is in the middle of nowhere in a town that's in the middle of nowhere.

"i can't believe a place like this still exists." callie mumbled, looking around the diner.

"i can't believe we have to spend a summer in this heap." trevor annoyingly spat. "we have lives."

"you don't think I have a life?"

"no. you're a mom you live for us."

"thats cold." brooke mumbled butting into the conversation.

soon, brooke got a text from a friend.

- yo, is that your car? - the text said.

- which one we talkin' here? there's more than one car in the world. - brooke texted back.

- car in front ;) -

brooke looked outside the window and saw lucky smiling and waving at her as she rollerbladed back into the diner.

she sighed. "okay..." she mumbled quietly to herself while unbuckling her seatbelt.

"give me a minute." she told the family, opening the door to go inside to meet with her friend.

"i'll go with you." trevor quickly said before brooke could go out without him. he wanted to get out of that car soon enough.

"uhm... ok." brooke mumbled, getting calmer.

the 2 teenagers let themselves out of the car to approach inside the diner and sit n the front. brooke took out her phone, texting lucky again and waiting for her to respond. meanwhile, trevor felt a little out of place in the diner.

"you work here?" he asked to break the silence between them.

"uhm, yeah. one of my friends too." brooke replied.

trevor thought for a second before he asked another question. "are you guys hiring?" he said. he wanted to work there to possibly spend more time with her, if that could be.

"yeah, why?"

he didn't answer, thinking she was annoyed, but brooke knew he wanted to apply anyway.

"give me a second." she said while she got up from her seat and went to the back of the restaurant to look for the application papers. she came back with one in her hand and gave it to him along with a pen in her pocket she didn't know she had. trevor started filling it out quickly as fast as he could.

brooke already peeked over at his application to see what he might put. "you think 'friendly smiley face' is considered experience?" she looked over as he filled out the paper.

"well, what else am i supposed to put?"

"mechanics. you said that's your hobby, right?"

"yeah, because a restaurant needs a car mechanic to fix their ham so it can get up and running again."

"gosh, why are you so fucking american?..." she whispered, facing the front of the diner again.

"i'm from chicago, you can't judge me from where i'm from."

"yeah, yeah, stereotypes are bad or whatever..."

"BOO!"

"HOLY SHIT!" brooke yelled as she got startled by lucky who decided to jumpscare her just now.

"lucky! what the hell!" she exclaimed, laughing and obviously terrified.

"gotcha." lucky laughed and walked or, rolled, in front of them behind the counter.

"you're an asshole sometimes, you know that?" brooke reminded her.

"im sorry! i couldn't help it."

"trevor, meet lucky. lucky, meet trevor." brooke exasperatingly sighed, obviously knowing she'd have to introduce them now.

"hey." trevor waved at brooke's friend.

"nice to meet you, trevor." lucky greeted him back.

"why'd you never mention him?"

"just met him today, thats why." brooke answered.

"oooohhh okkk." lucky teased, winking to brooke.

"lucky." she rolled er eyes, sounding more annoyed by her than usual since just earlier that day they had a conversation about dating. trevor chuckled a bit and look down at his feet while his face gets a little redder.

"so, you here to apply, right?" lucky turned her head to the boy.

"yeah." he replied, handing his application form to her.

"you put 'friendly smiley face' as experience?" lucky asked.

"i told him not to." brooke agreed, scrunching her nose.

"could you put in a good word for me?"

"i could tell them you have a pulse." lucky said trying not to sound rude.

lucky rolled away outside and 2 boys in the back started teasing brooke.

"finally got a boyfriend, devon?" one of them asked.

"do you not have functioning ears? we just met." brooke talked back with an annoyed attitude.

"yeah and then the next day we're gonna find you guys fucking." the other boy said laughing.

trevor looked uncomfortable while brooke gave them a deadly glare... he shifted in his seat, terrified of that look. he knows he'd be so dead if he was given that look too.

they then walked out of the diner and while brooke was opening the door she pointing her middle finger at the 2 boys. she's always hated the other colleagues that weren't lucky. what's worse is that they're her friends, so she always has to pretend she does like them, when in fact, she wishes they were never there.

~

brooke and trevor walked out of the diner and make it into the car while callie gets their order, finally, after waiting so long.

"so, where you heading?" the lady giving out order asked callie.

"we're staying actually." she said while taking the food from the lady. "you know that farmhouse off the highway with the barn? dirt? it was my father's." she detailed.

"dirt farmer had a family?"

"you knew my father?"

"no one knew your father." the lady scoffed. "aside from this weird young teenage girl he picked up in the middle of the street when she was a child. basically kidnapping. disgusting if you ask me."

brooke felt a little hurt. she looked down playing with her fingers trying to hide her face from anyone noticing her tearing up. but phoebe noticed.

"well, i'm sure he'll be missed." callie grinned.

"nope." the lady answered bluntly and she walked away.

"you okay?" phoebe asked brooke in a quiet, but not too quiet tone.

"its fine. thank you phoebe." brooke replied, smiling while her voice was