The Ghost and the McGee Twins

Mazel Tov, Libby!

One morning at school, Molly and I both received cards from Libby, decorated with turtles. "Sweet baby corn!" Molly gasped. "An invitation? I love invitations!" "You sure do." I said. "You have since we were four." "Open it, you guys!" Libby giggled. Molly and I both opened our invitations at the same time. Looks like Libby was having a Bat Mitzvah. "Ooh, a "bat" mitzvah!" Scratch exclaimed. "Uh, I believe it's pronounced "baat" mitzvah." Molly corrected. "That is correct, Molly." Libby said. "Ha! Knew it!" Molly cheered. "For months, I've been studying Hebrew, practicing my Torah portion, and trying on dresses which have given me stress hives and contact hives." Libby explains. "Gah!" Molly, Scratch, and I yelped. "But it'll all be worth it, because while I'm a girl today, on Saturday, I shall become... a woman!" Libby exclaimed. "Okay, well, where do the bats come in?" Scratch wondered as I squished him in between the pages of my textbook. "Hey, Libby? I was wondering if I can bring a plus one?" I asked. "As long as it's just one person, I don't see a problem." Libby replied. "Plus one?" Molly asked. "Who you bringing, sis?" "I'm gonna ask Cleo." I replied. "We hung out for the first time a few days ago and really hit it off. Could my luck be changing? Am I finally meant to have a friend of my own?!"

Back at home, I helped Molly do some research on Bat Mitzvah parties and what to expect. "These Bat Mitzvah parties are insane!" I exclaimed. "An ice volcano and hot fudge lava?" Scratch asked. "And is that Atomic Pink?!" "Guys, this is way bigger than I thought." Molly said. "It's as big as a wedding! A Sweet 16! Our curse-aversary!"

Fast forward to Saturday, we picked up Cleo from her house and headed to Libby's Bat Mitzvah party. I'm not gonna lie, I was kinda disappointed with the lack of food. "I see no fountain of ranch." Scratch grunted. "Molly! Amber! Cleo! Thanks for coming to my synagogue." Libby thanked, hugging all of us, minus Scratch of course. "Okay, how was I? Did I look too nervous? Did I look like a woman?" "Oh yeah! You rocked that Torah portion." Molly replied. "Neither of us understood any of it, to be honest, but you were great." I added. "So, when's everyone else coming here?" Cleo asked. "Everyone is here." Libby explained, crossing our names off the guest list. "Ouch." I mumbled. "Uh, Libby, what about kids from school, or the Wilder Scouts, or the rest of the Lemmings?" Molly asked. "Oh, all I need is you guys, Rabbi Katz, and my fam!" Libby exclaimed, pointing to her family. "Okay, Mom, you know, that's Uncle Ted and Aunt Meg and their sons, Joshua and Gordie. Wait, where's Gordie?" "Enchanté, m'ladies." Gordie greeted from behind a potted plant. "In 97 weeks, I'll be a man." I'll be honest, Molly and I were both grossed out by Libby's cousin. "Hard pass." Cleo declined. "Ugh! Get out of here, Gordie!" Libby groaned. Looking at the party setup, I noticed a lot of decorations dedicated to turtles. "Wow, you really went all in on the turtles." Molly commented on Libby's turtle decorations. "Yeah, that's my theme." Libby explains. "Oh, I envy turtles. They can curl their soft, vulnerable bodies into their hard shells, where none of life's sharp edges can harm them. What a life." "Ooh, speaking of turtles, I crocheted a turtle for you, Libby!" Cleo announced. "Thanks, Cleo!" Libby squealed with excitement. "Gifts go on the table over there." "But-but-but Libby, this is your special day!" Molly exclaimed. "You deserve a fountain, a DJ, and a celebrity chef!" "Oh, Molly, I mean, sure, all that stuff may be nice, but I'm just happy you guys are here." Libby confessed. "Oh! I need to prep the turtles for the turtle races! But after that, we're going to party into the night!" "I mean, this party is deader than I am, and I'm dead!" Scratch exclaimed. "We're scraping by." Libby's Mom, Leah, told Meg. "But books just aren't selling like they used to." "We live in a digital age." Meg sighed. "Yep. E-books are e-killing us." Leah agreed. "Did you hear that, guys?" Molly asked. "Yeah." Cleo and I answered. "I only listen when I hear my name, so... no." Scratch replied. "Libby's Mom's bookstore is struggling!" Molly reminds Scratch. "That's why Libby didn't go big on her big day. She's settling and sacrificing and making do! Well, I'm making don't! Libby is a shining star, so I'm gonna give her the bat mitzvah she deserves!" Without hesitation, I walked with Cleo in the opposite direction to keep her away from possibly discovering Scratch. "Hey! Maybe Libby needs some help with the party. Why don't we give her a hand?" I suggested. "What are we supposed to do?" Cleo asked. "Everything looks great already." "Could I get some help with the cake in here?!" Leah shouted as the rest of her family came to help. "That. That's exactly what we'll do." I replied, dragging Cleo to the kitchen. "C'mon, Cleo, let's help with this bat mitzvah cake!" After Cleo went into the kitchen, I gave Molly and Scratch a thumbs up for Scratch to become visible again.

While Cleo was still helping out Libby and her family, I came back to the party to see Mom and Dad walk through the door. "Molly? Did you hire me through Gig-Pig?" Mom asked. "Yes! Mom, we need an ice volcano, stat!" Molly exclaimed, handing a chainsaw over to Mom. "And you are the best and only artist I know!" "On it." Mom said, turning on her chainsaw and cutting the ice block. "Since when did Mom learn how to use a chainsaw?" I wondered in shock. "Also, why are Mom and Dad here?!" "Dad, you're our DJ. No smooth jazz." Molly instructed. "I don't make promises I can't keep." Dad said. "Darryl, get us some guests!" Molly ordered, calling Darryl on her phone. Before we knew it, Darryl came to the party leading a conga line of guests. "Whoa, Darryl!" I gasped. "How'd you get all these people on such short notice?" "People will follow a conga line anywhere, Amber." Darryl explains. "Anywhere." "And Amber, go grab Libby." Molly said. All of a sudden, Libby and Cleo came back to the party, shocked to see all the people who came via Darryl. "Sweet! I don't have to do anything." I cheered. "What did I just walk into?" Cleo asked. "Oh, good, you did invite your school friends!" Leah exclaimed. "I didn't." Libby confessed, running over to Molly. "Um, Molly, where did all these people come from?" "Eh, mazel tov, Libby!" Molly exclaimed, taking a selfie with Libby. "Isn't it great? They're all here for you!" "Be the turtle, Libby. Go to your happy place." Libby said, hiding inside her sweater. "Hey, this is a turtle party, isn't it?" Molly asked. "So come out of that shell, Libby." "Ugh! I knew that turtle metaphor would come back to haunt me." Libby sighed.

Molly went back onstage with Libby to light the candles on her cake. "For the little girl I love to bits, time to get your candles lit...s!" Leah exclaimed. "Candle one is for my grandparents, who've already passed. They may be gone, but they're memories will last." Libby said. "And next, for the woman on whom I depend, you're not only my mom, you're also my friend." Congrats, Libby." Leah cried. "I'm so proud of the woman you've become!" "You make me feel safe and ever so jolly." Libby continued. "Candle three is for my best friend, Molly!" All of a sudden, I noticed a small toy car drive past my legs. Molly had told me that Scratch ordered a bunch of live bats that she threw in the closet, where he was driving towards. The car also caught the attention of Libby's cousin, Joshua. I ran towards the door and stopped him from releasing the bats. "Oh, no, buddy! Can't have you opening this closet. There's... a ghost in there!" I warned, sending Joshua crying. "Kinda nice to tell the truth for once." "The truth about what?" Cleo asked, startling me. "Gah! Oh, Cleo, um. I had a feeling that something Molly had would ruin the party, so I decided to put everything in the closet." I lied. "She's really trying to give Libby the best Bat Mitzvah." "That's good to hear." Cleo smiled. "I'm having a great time. I'm glad you invited me, with Libby's approval, of course." Suddenly, the lights went down and Dad began playing some slow jazz music. For some reason, almost all the guests acted brain dead when about to slow dance. "This is interesting." I commented. "Yeah, you should've seen my cousin's wedding reception." Cleo recalled. "It was like I was at a graveyard with zombies." "It's the moment you've all been waiting for, that age old tradition, the hora!" Molly announced. "Give it up for the woman of the hour, Libby Stein-Torres!" However, Libby was nowhere to be seen. "Where do you think Libby went?" Cleo asked. "I don't know, but I think Molly might've gone too far." I replied. "She's probably just shy." Molly said to everyone. "Just one moment."

Not long after, Molly went to the closet door, where I was standing with Cleo. Scratch was there, too. "I'm not even touching the door!" Scratch grunted. Molly sighed, opening the door to release the bats, scaring away the guests, making Scratch a pretty happy ghost.
"Bats?! You didn't tell me about bats!" Cleo exclaimed. "There's a reason I hid them in the closet." I chuckled nervously. "You're not scared of bats?" "No. A bat actually found its way into Brighton Middle a while back." Cleo explained. "I think it was nesting in Andrea's locker."

After cleaning up the mess, Libby started her turtle race. After a few minutes, Libby's turtle, Simon, crossed the finish line. "Now this is the perfect party." Libby stated. "Sorry I almost ruined your special day, Libby." Molly apologized. "Oh, it's okay, Molly. I learned a lot in the minutes since I became a woman." Libby said. "Like how we're all responsible for our own happiness. It felt good to stand up for what I wanted today." "Wow! You're so wise." Molly gasped. "Wonder when I'll become a woman." "Not the same time as me. That's for sure." I chuckled. "Enjoy what's left of your childhood." Libby said. "It'll be over before you know it." "It's way more of them than we ordered!" Scratch yelled, trying to escape from the bats.