Becky Bloom is excited to visit one of her newest friends; Adam Frankenstein! He’s a strange boy, not the sort she’d usually be friends with, but the pair just clicked. And now she’s visiting his house and meeting his dads for the first time…. So of course, she has to familiarise herself with the best way to sneak into his room in the attic…. Which is easier said than done, but once done, leads to a night of movies and boisterous fun. 3,701 words

The world of Shadow Oaks is owned by TheStalkerBunny on tumblr. It is a brilliant piece of work and I recommend reading more about it HERE.

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Becky always thought that the Frankenstein house looked like it belonged in a horror movie.

It was tall and square, with a tiled roof, dark wooden panelling, and sharp metal decor along its gutters…. A stark contrast to her own bright yellow-painted home; even if the two buildings were around the same size.

She stared up at the house, as much as she could past the long willow branches, and took in a deep breath.

There was movement in one of the second floor windows; she saw someone look out and quickly ducked away from the gate, taking shelter behind its brick support.

Okay.

Another deep breath, and she peeked to the window….

The person was gone.

Okay. She was doing this.

Quickly Becky glanced around the street.

Then she took a step back. Back…. Back….

She ran at the gate, taking a running leap and jumping halfway up its side— Just high enough to be able to grab the horizontal supporting bar and heft herself up the last few meters.

Carefully, avoiding the large spikes set in the metal, she grasp the top bar of the gate and flipped herself skilfully over the top.

She’d done this sort of thing so many times before, it wasn’t too hard—

Becky realised too late that she’d misjudged just how tall this gate was and how far she had to fall, and lurched forward too far to properly catch herself.

She threw out her hands but caught her wrist at the wrong angle and crumpled onto the driveway in a heap.

She lay on the ground for a moment, listening as the large metal gate slowed its rattling and… swung halfway open with a deafeningly loud creak.

Heart pounding, Becky glanced at the window and let out a relieved sigh when there was nobody—

The curtain moved, and she rolled as fast as she could into the garden to conceal herself behind a tree.

She didn’t think she’d been seen…. Though she hoped they didn’t notice the gate was now open.

A few moments passed and the curtain dropped back into place, dimming the light that had shone across the yard.

And then another few moments passed and nobody came out to fix the gate, so Becky figured she was fine.

Painfully, she wobbled to her feet.

‘Ow….’

Her wrist hurt. And she’d scraped her knee.

She swore, and brushed herself down.

Thank god nobody was around to see that!

A low cough, and Becky glanced back to the gate. Then to the empty window on the second floor.

Then, she looked to the attic window.

That was her goal.

Hurrying in the shadows, keeping close to the trees for cover, the young girl made her way towards the house— Her gaze focused keenly upwards as she tried to plan out her next move. A foothold there, by the gargoyle. That window ledge for a boost. The gutter as a grip…. If that tile was as loose as it looked from here she might have to go that other way, but….

Becky had it all mapped out in her head, now—

She bumped into the porch banister, and gave a grunt; she’d been so focused on the roof she hadn’t realised how close she was….

‘Hm….’

This was very well painted.

She traced her fingers along the wooden trim and clicked her tongue as she examined it closely.

Then shook her head and focused on up again; if she used the trim she’d just been admiring as a step, she could boost herself up and cut off a chunk of her climb!

She didn’t hesitate to heft herself up the house’s wooden support, and pulled herself onto the first-level roof.

She wanted to avoid that window that kept getting looked out of— She could only guess it was a bedroom. Perhaps a living room….

So she would have to go this way! Around the side using the gutter and the other window, and then up via the gargoyle.

‘Aren’t you ugly?’ Becky panted as she plopped down onto the roof to catch her breath. She pet the statue on the back of the head with a heavy plap plap before giving a sniff and double-checking her surroundings. ‘Ooo-kay…. Attic…. Window…. So close. Just gotta….’

She manoeuvred sideways, edging along the thin strip of decorative trim that lead towards the attic window.

Reach out her hand and….

Her feet slipped and she let out a sharp cry as she grasp the sill and hung on for her life.

‘Oh, fuck!’ she exclaimed, scrabbling for a foothold. ‘Oh fuck oh fuck oh—‘

The window she was hanging off of opened and large, firm hands grasp her arms and yanked her up.

‘Becky! What the hell!’ asked a deep, surprised voice as it dumped the girl on the floor. ‘Why are you climbing in the— You know you can use the door, right?! I told my dads you were coming over!’

‘You told them?’ Becky asked, surprised, as she looked up at the very large boy in front of her.

She wasn’t used to boys telling their parents she was going to show up. She almost always had to sneak in….

‘Yes? Why wouldn’t I—‘ he stopped mid-sentence, then, before shaking his head and chuckling. ‘You’re weird, Becky.’

‘Says the guy named “Adam”!’ Becky joked, pushing herself to her feet and ignoring the jeer that was shot back at her. Then, she winced, and shook out her wrist. ‘Ow.’

‘Whoa, you okay?’ Adam asked, stepping to Becky’s side and carefully taking her arm in his hand. ‘I didn’t hurt you, did I?’

‘What? No! You’re not strong enough to hurt me!’ Becky scoffed, patting Adam’s hand with her own to playfully emphasise how large he was in comparison to her. ‘What, do you think you’re some sort of superhuman freak of science or something? Please.’

For a moment Adam looked like he couldn’t decide if the joke was funny or not— But then it landed and he laughed, and Becky glowed with pride.

‘What happened?’ Adam asked.

‘Eh. I fell over.’

‘It looks pretty bad,’ Adam muttered as he let Becky go. ‘I’ll get Dad to have a look at it.’

‘It’s fine!’ Becky defended, calling after Adam as he headed for his bedroom door. ‘I don’t need— Aaaadaaaaaaam!’

Becky complained loudly as Adam disappeared down the stairwell; his footsteps echoing heavily throughout the quiet house.

‘Bleh,’ Becky stuck her tongue out after him before sniffing and turning to look around the attic. ‘So, this is your room, huh patchwork?’ she said to no-one. ‘Not bad. Not bad…. Ooh, my gosh!’

Becky’s attention was grabbed by a large glass enclosure, filled with shedded paper and platforms, and she hurried over examine its inhabitant; a very round and furry hamster.

‘Oh my gooooooosh!’ she had to cover her mouth to stop herself squealing. ‘You’re such a cutie! Hello! Oooh! You’re Nicholae, aren’t you? Hello— Hi!’

The hamster completely ignored Becky— Not that she minded. She was perfectly content to watch it as it burrowed through the paper and settled down in a corner.

‘Oh my god,’ she whispered as it curled up to sleep. ‘Angel baby….’

‘You good?’ Adam laughed, causing Becky to leap up and spin around.

‘Yeah! As good as your face!’ she blurted; realising how stupid she sounded when Adam just looked confused and shrugged. Then, she saw the tall man beside Adam and was too late to bite her tongue as she blurted, ‘Holy shit Adam! Your dad’s a DILF!’

‘B-Becky!’ Adam stammered. ‘No!’

‘I— Didn’t mean to say that!’ Becky exclaimed back as laughter exploded from the stairwell behind Adam and his father.

‘Well, I’m glad at least one of us knows what that meant,’ Adam’s father chuckled to the voice coming up the stairs. ‘Want to fill me in, love?’

Becky bit her lip as an eccentric-looking gnome came to the top of the stairs, his tail lashing in good humour as he rushed to the taller man’s side and scaled him. The gnome planted himself on his husband’s shoulder and briefly whispered in his ear….

Several of the stages of grief passed over his face before he settled on confusion, and looked to Becky— Who let out a very loud, unnatural laugh.

Then, the room went quiet….

Quiet.

Quiet….

WELL! The silence seemed worse than anything else Becky could possibly say so—

‘Hiiii!’ Becky sung, far too loudly. ‘I’m Becky! I’m Adam’s friend— Good work, with him, by the way!’ she gave a thumbs up. ‘Five stars on this one! Just a really good boy, considering he’s homemade! You should consider opening an Etsy account!’

At least the gnome seemed to find it funny.

He laughed, and then wiped his eyes with his sleeve. ‘Oh, my dear! Adam said you were funny but— Oh! You’re too much!’

Becky blushed as the gnome motioned to himself and his husband in turn.

‘I’m Victor,’ he introduced. ‘And this is Igor. It’s lovely to meet you, dear. Just lovely!’

‘Yes,’ Igor agreed, his confusion shifting into a smile as he offered Becky his hand. ‘Very nice…. I’m sorry I didn’t hear you coming in. I must have been in the kitchen.’

‘Oh, uh, no I…. Came in the window,’ Becky ignored Igor’s odd look as she shook his hand— And flinched as her wrist was jolted with a sharp stinging pain.

‘Ah! Your wrist! Yes! Let me see, dear, let me see!’ Victor said, motioning for Becky to lift her hand up to him. ‘Hm! That was quite a fall, wasn’t it! For a moment I thought you weren’t going to get back up!’

‘You… saw that?’

‘My dear I was sitting on the front porch waiting for you— Did you not see me? You stood next to me for a moment, even! Though, you seemed much more interested in the porch’s support pillar than anything else going on around you.’

Becky felt herself blush deep, deep red as she shook her head.

No, she… hadn’t seen him.

She’d been too focused on the window….

Had he really been right there? Under her nose?

She looked away and coughed.

With how huge Adam was, she hadn’t expected his father to be a gnome….

‘It was absolutely fascinating to watch you! I wondered if I should have said anything but— Well, when you rolled away to hide I thought it would be much more interesting to see what you had on your mind!’ the gnome let out a chuckle as he finished examining her wrist. ‘Ah, nothing wrong. Just some ice to bring down the swelling and you’ll be tip-top in no time!’

Becky still felt embarrassed as Victor gave her a smile. ‘You really saw… all that?’ she asked, biting her lip when he nodded. ‘It was so dark though, how did you….’

‘My dear, I am a gnome!’ he said proudly, waving a hand. ‘We also are blessed with darkvision!’

‘Right. Yes,’ Becky gave a nod and glanced to Adam. ‘Um…. So…. Where are we gonna hang out—‘

‘—Ah! Come downstairs and we’ll set you up in the sitting room!’ said Victor as he made the leap off Igor’s shoulders. ‘There’s a TV for all your sleepover needs! I’ll grab you some ice for that wrist and Igor can make you two some popped-corn!’

Becky watched as Victor bolted down the stairs on all fours, and felt herself give a chuckle as Igor followed much more calmly.

Then, she leant towards Adam. ‘Your dad’s fucking feral,’ she whispered. ‘What’s wrong with him?’

‘That’s just… gnomes,’ Adam blushed three shades and rubbed the back of his neck.

‘Come along, my boy!’ Victor hollered up the stairs. ‘Come show your friend around! A house tour!’

Adam’s blush deepened as Becky gave him a playful nudge with an elbow.

‘Yeah, Adam!’ she teased, starting for the stairs. ‘Show me around! Share your secrets! Give me ammo!’

‘Ammo?’ Adam laughed as he followed her down. ‘For what?’

‘For destroying you, duh!’ retorted Becky. ‘Heh… anyway— What do you want to watch? Host gets first pick. Obviously.’

‘Obviously,’ Adam echoed. ‘Uh, heh. Well, I was thinking we could watch this movie uh, Frog in the Well? It came out a few years ago. It’s about—‘

‘—A frog in a well, obviously,’ Becky interrupted playfully as she reached the bottom of the stairwell. ‘Shush, now! No spoilers!’

‘Alright but you should know it—‘

‘—Shh—‘

‘—It’s a—‘

‘—SHH—‘

‘—Becky!’ Adam placed his hand over her face to stop her shushing him. ‘I’m trying to say it’s a horror movie. Are you okay with horror?’

‘I’m friends with Katie,’ Becky scoffed, pulling away from Adam and putting her hands on her hips with a smug look. ‘She loves bloody stuff.’

‘Uhhh…’ Adam grimaced. ‘From what you told me it’s usually action movies. Horror is really different.‘

‘I can take it!’ Becky bragged.

‘Are you sure—‘

‘—I can take it!’

~~~~

She couldn’t.

By the end of the movie Becky was trembling head to toe— And when Adam turned to her to ask what she thought, she let out a shriek and accidentally threw her popcorn into the air.

‘Whoa, okay,’ Adam raised a hand. ‘You good?’

‘Don’t sneak up on me!’ Becky let out a breath. ‘Oh my god that was unsettling! His wife!’

‘Yep.’

‘His wife fucking— Shoved him in the well!’

‘Yep.’

‘Ah!’ Becky hit her own face with a plap plap plap to try and reground herself. ‘Oh my god! My ancestors had it right! If I ever meet a frog I am eating that fucking thing!’

Adam tried to cover his laugh with a hand, but instead it came out as a loud snort and Becky jumped again.

‘Is this really what you watch for fun?’ Becky asked. ‘My god!’

‘It’s not for everyone,’ Adam shrugged, pushing himself up and turning on the sitting room light. ‘We don’t have to watch any more of my horror—‘

‘—Yes we do,’ Becky retorted. ‘Put on another!’

‘What?’ Adam blinked. ‘But you didn’t like it?’

‘I’m not a baby! I’ll be fine!’ Becky snorted, sticking her nose in the air— Then she grinned. ‘Besides, you sat through all three Poached! movies with me, even though it looked like the first one gave you some sort of hernia.’

‘Poached wasn’t so bad it, was— I mean it had some redeeming qualities, like uh…’ Adam trailed off as he sat down, seemingly unable to think of anything before he sighed and shrugged. ‘It was… actually unbearable.’

‘And yet you sat through three of them!’ Becky said, shifting over so she was leaning on Adam’s side. ‘For me! You’re sooooo sweet! Like cotton candy! Or baby carrots. Or cough medicine.’

Adam pushed Becky off the couch, then, and she fell to the floor with a loud squeal.

‘Adam!’ Becky complained, loudly. ‘Aaaaaaadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam!’

‘Beeeeecky!’ he teased. ‘Beeeeeeeeckyyyyyyy!’

Becky launched herself at Adam, who leapt off his seat and tried to duck away, but only managed a few steps before Becky leapt off the couch and onto his side, locking him in an extremely awkward grapple.

He was so big that couldn’t get herself around him— Though she didn’t need to, and she just clung onto his side like a koala to a tree.

‘Becky get off!’ Adam laughed as she began to scale him. ‘Get off me— Becky no!’

Becky made it to his head and began poking at his face and neck. ‘Boop! Boop boop!’

‘Becky stop! That tickles!’ Adam tried to shake the girl off, but stumbled and fell backwards onto the couch; which only succeeded in making him an easier target for Becky’s assault. ‘Quit it! Quit it! Becky! Hah! No!’

‘Poke! Poke poke! Boop! Boo— AAH!’

Becky let out a shriek as Adam rolled over and swept her under his arm to hold her down.

She wiggled underneath him, trying to shift herself upwards to break away from his grip— Which wasn’t hard; she could feel he wasn’t holding her too tight as he tried not to crush her.

‘You’re like a ferret!’ Adam joked as she scrambled out of his arms and tumbled to the floor.

‘I’m wily!’ Becky cackled, leaping to her feet and pulling up her hands in a boxing motion. She threw some playful punches to the air beside her before gasping loudly and turning back to Adam. ‘Don’t mess with me I’m— OH! I want to do your hair!’

She received a laugh in response.

‘No— Sit up properly! Sit up!’ she exclaimed, going for her bag and tipping its contents on the floor. ‘I’m gonna do your hair!’

Another laugh, though Adam complied and pushed himself up so Becky could get into position behind him.

She settled on the top of the couch— Hairbrush in her hands and a collection of rainbow ties strung up her arm.

‘Braaaaids!’ Becky declared, running the brush through Adam’s hair. ‘Ooh, or pigtails! Pigtail? Braids— OH!’ Becky let out a loud gasp. ‘Waterfall braids!’

‘What are those?’ Adam asked. ‘They sound pretty.’

‘They are pretty!’ Becky confirmed as she worked her hands over Adam’s head and began to braid. ‘I’m going to make you beautiful!’

‘Heh…’ Adam gave a chuckle, and leant back so Becky could get at him from a better angle. ‘You know, it’s nice not to have to listen out for your dad.’

‘Yeah!’ Becky agreed. ‘It’s super good! We should hang at yours more often!’

‘I’d still like to meet him, sometime,’ said Adam— Though he waved a hand when Becky tensed. ‘It’s fine, though. Nothing urgent. Just sometime…. Hey, so, where did you tell him you were going tonight anyway?’

‘Oh, I didn’t tell him I was going out.’

‘Becky!’ Adam gasped.

‘What? I, like, never tell him when I go out!’ Becky defended. ‘If he sees I’m gone then he’ll just think I’m at Katie’s or Jezzibeth’s or something! It’s fine.’

‘That doesn’t sound… safe,’ said Adam, slowly.

‘It’s fine,’ Becky waved a hand as she finished the final braid. ‘I haven’t gotten hurt yet, have I?’

‘That doesn’t mean it’s safe—‘

‘—Yeah it does!’ Becky interrupted. ‘It’s like. Averages and percentages and stuff! Like in science.’

‘You mean math?’

‘No no, science,’ said Becky. ‘Like uh. The hypotenuse thing. Where you test things over and over and that’s your answer for stuff.’

‘Hypothesis?’

‘That’s the bitch.’

That got a laugh out of Adam— Though only briefly before he tried to make himself serious. ‘Pops says personal anecdotes aren’t substitutes for actual studies. He says— What are you doing?’

Becky rejoined Adam on the couch, makeup in-hand, and slowly unrolled a tube of lipstick. ‘Want some?’

‘No!’ Adam laughed, rolling away as Becky aimed a swipe of lipstick at his face. ‘Stop it— No!’

‘Come on! I’ll make you pretty!’ Becky threatened.

‘No! Not— Not that colour!’ Adam exclaimed, standing up— Only for Becky to attempt to scale his side again. ‘Okay! Okay! No— A different colour! I’ll do it but— A different colour!’

Becky dropped off his side and clicked the lipstick tube shut again before discarding it in the pile beside her bag. ‘Okay, then, what colour? I have a rainbow!’

As she said it, she motioned to the makeup she’d abandoned on the couch.

‘Blue, pink, red, yellow— Ah!’ Becky clapped her hands with excitement as Adam picked up the tube with the black swatch on the lid. ‘Oooh, yes! I can see it already! I’m going to make you the prettiest man in the world!’

Becky made a wide, excited motion with her hand as Adam playfully rolled his eyes and sat back down.

‘Okay,’ he chuckled, unrolling the lipstick and lifting it to his lips. ‘There. Happy, now?’

‘Yes! Wait, no—‘ Becky grabbed one of her makeup wipes and shuffled forward to clean up Adam’s lips. ‘You got it a little…. There! Have you done this before?’

‘A little bit,’ Adam admitted. ‘Not much, though. And definitely not well, heh….’

‘Well, I’m going to apply the rest to you!’ Becky said, proudly. ‘And I live for makeup, so you know you’re going to look fantastic— Oh! Put on another movie while I do, yeah? Something good!’

‘I’ll stay away from horror,’ Adam chuckled. He waved a dismissive hand when Becky began to protest, and shook his head. ‘I don’t want you jumping in fear while doing mascara! You’ll take my eye out!’

‘Truuuuuuue!’ Becky giggled. ‘What then? Oh! I did bring a few, myself!’ she leapt off the couch and made for the pile of things she’d left scattered on the floor. ‘I have Mimics of the World! We could watch that again— Or Pumpkin Spice— Oooh! No! This one! I haven’t shown you this one yet! It’s so good, too!’

‘Ah, yeah? What is it?’

‘It’s called Fish Prince!’ Becky answered, ignoring the face Adam made at her as she rejoined him on the couch. ‘It’s about a merman prince falling in love with a human and coming up to shore and getting lost in the city while looking for him! He goes to a bar and ends up getting swept up in the music and joins a band, and they have to win battle of the bands— But then there’s a twist! Do you want to know the twist?’

‘Uh, sure?’

‘The guy the merman likes is in another band, and they face off in the final two!’ Becky gave a loud giggle and kicked out her feet. ‘He has to choose between being loyal to his band or sabotaging them to be with the man he loves! Oh— And— Now it’s— It’s only rated MA because there’s a sex scene, but— But it’s not full frontal, so it’s okay! It’s honestly not even like. A sexy sex scene. It’s actually kinda stupid and funny!’

Adam looked like Becky’s description of the movie had just punched him in the stomach, and he let out a very long, very strained, ‘Mmmmmmmmkaaaaay….’ before slowly taking the movie from Becky and making his way to the TV.

‘Woo!’ Becky threw up her hands. ‘Okay! Okay! You put that on, and I’ll get the makeup ready! Okay? Okay! Alriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!’

-End-

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