Buttons, a Coraline inspired story

Day Three

I woke up to Forrest and Zoe jamming out at five A.M. again... is this a daily occurrence? I wish that they would be quieter...
I got ready for the day, wishing that the water wasn't freezing. I saw mom organizing a room upstairs but I didn't acknowledge her. Instead, I walked downstairs and looked around for food. There wasn't any, looks like I'll have to visit the Gunsmokes to see if they have any extra food. I made my way to the living room to see uncle drinking another fizzy soda in a bag but this time, it was in a glass bottle.
"Ey, I hear you. Can you tell your mom to not worry about her precious decorations and worry about food?" uncle asks
"Yeah, I'll go make sure of that. I'm gonna go visit the Gunsmokes to see if they have anything we can eat," I nod
"They don't have any extras until lunch, your mom already checked after she was finished decorating the living room," uncle explains
"I'll be sure to check in with them to see if I can have anything to snack on so I'm not starving," I nod again before heading upstairs to tell mom what uncle said

"I can't go shopping because I don't know where all my money went. That's why I'm prioritizing organizing over everything, I can't order any more food until I'm done organizing. Just go ask for food from the neighbors," mom explains, stressfully unpacking a variety of boxes
"Sorry, I'll go downstairs to ask for food. I'll let Stan know the situation when I see him again," I fiddled with my hands before going into my room to change into some warmer clothes with my favorite hood and rain boots. I ran downstairs to see the same three cars from yesterday. It was kind of weird that I never noticed what car Stan arrived in and now I was curious. I made my way to the basement area of the house and saw a little door to another apartment. I knocked on the door and a woman with messy brown hair answered almost immediately
"I don't know who's telling the new people that we have leftovers to spare but we don't. I don't have the time to cook that much food," the woman complained
"I just wanted to see if you had anything for us to snack on until lunch or until my mom finds her money," I spoke up, curiously looking into the house
"I'm very sorry about that, I don't think I have anything that'll last you guys until lunch," the woman shook her head
"Let the kid come in and eat something," I see a man with blond hair and a blue hat saying as he went up to the woman. I felt really uncomfortable at the sight of him. I don't know why but I felt uneased like there wasn't something right with him. He looked at me with a seductive look
"What do you say, kid?" he asks in an unnerving tone
"No... no thank you... I think we're fine for now. I don't think I should come in," I say, trying to back away
"Dice, why don't you go and see if Aldex will come out of his 'man cave'?" the woman asks the man
"Nah, let the kid eat Aldex's food. He never wants to come out to eat," Dice groans, attempting to roll his eyes but failing. Strange...
"I'm not letting my kid starve because the neighbors want something. I'm making sure he eats or I'm gonna stop paying the electricity bill," the woman hisses at Dice before turning to go inside. The man looks at me again and I got so uncomfortable that I wanted to run.
"I think I heard my mom calling me, I should go..." I panicked
"I ain't hear no one," Dice frowns, opening the door wider
"You should come in," Dice smiles again with that same tone that makes my stomach turn inside out
"No thank you, I should go," I start to back away some more but he reached towards me and grabbed my arm
"I insist, please. You'd love my wife's cooking," he grinned, showing that he had a missing tooth.
"I don't want to take your offer, now please let me go!! This is kidnapping at this point!!" I yelled, hoping to get someone's attention
"No, it's not, I'm just saying-" Dice starts before he looked up and turned whiter than uncle if he hasn't had his fizzly soda in a second. He let go of me and smiled nervously
"Sorry, I understand that you're busy, I'll let you go now!!" he quickly said before slamming the door shut and running back inside his house.
"Man," I heard a familiar voice say, scaring me. I jumped and turned around to see Stan looking disappointed behind me
"I never trusted Dice... he always tried to get people inside the house and never let them leave," Stan sighs before looking at me
"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" he asks in a gentle yet soothing voice
"No... he just made me really uncomfortable and lose my appetite..." I mumble, feeling my heart throbbing harder than yesterday
"I had a feeling that I should come around early. I asked my mom if I could help you guys organize anything and she let me borrow the car and told me to come back for lunch. You're lucky I came right when I heard you yelling about him kidnapping you," he explained with a shy smile on his face. I hugged him and thanked him, and he responded by comforting me. He told me that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me, he told me that everything was gonna be alright and I wouldn't have to worry.

After I felt better and hungry, we went back inside the apartment where my mom was currently covering every wall and floor with her silly inspirational quotes.
"Welcome back," mom greeted without looking up
"Gina!! Would you please stop it with the decor!?!? We can literally sell all of this for food that can last us months!!" uncle barked. I backed my way outside, pulling Stan with me.
"What are you doing?" he asks, closing the door after he stepped out.
"Trust me, it's gonna get ugly. You wouldn't wanna witness it," I sigh, shaking my head
"How long will it take?" he asks
"I don't know, they usually take hours or until one is knocked out from exhaustion," I frowned, not wanting to make eye contact with him
"That's a sibling relationship for you..." he mumbled, frowning at the door
"I'm still hungry but I don't want to eat when they start to get physical..." I crossed my arms
"Are you suggesting we should... go out?" he asked, flustered and his face being overtaken by a pink blush. I was immediately embarrassed and blushy
"I didn't mean it like that!! I just thought..." I started before a ringing was heard. Stan took out a phone from his pocket and answered it
"Hello?" he had a frown on his face
"Not yet, they've decided to start a fight... well between each other... I mean they are siblings..." he started to kick the ground a bit
"Well... is it ok if I bring Smokey for lunch? His mom is too busy making their house look like a storm of words ran through it," he looked at me
"Great, I'll be sure to drop him off so I can help them finish unpacking," he smiled which caused me to melt
"Alright, see you in five," he said before hanging up and looking at me
"Yeah, we can... maybe go out for lunch..." he mumbled nervously, looking away from me. I was speechless and breathless
"I'm sure your mom wouldn't mind, right?" he asks, looking at me
"I... I'm sure... I think they'll still be fighting when we come back," I joked with a nervous smile
"Great, I'll let them know. You can wait in the green Camry while I go talk with them," he says, shuffling with something in his pocket. I heard a beep and saw a green Camry parked next to the black van. I nodded and headed inside the passenger seat of the Camry. I'm surprised he got here by himself but I guess he can handle himself. I watched as Stan went inside the house to talk to mom and uncle. It took about a minute before Stan came back out without a scratch. He looked very elegant and confident walking out the door. His vibrant green eyes were just as bright as ever as he looked at me in the car. I felt my heart throbbing faster the closer he got to the car. He got into the car and sat there without turning it on.
"What happened?" I ask, noticing that he was. He sighed and clutched the wheel visibly harder
"It reminded me of when my mom got mad at my dad for going out to town... she's not clingy but she's paranoid that he would spread gossip about her being a witch. She's not a witch, she just has a crow as a pet and owns a pretty beat-down apartment block. I don't know what happened to him because I only heard their fight and never saw him after that. Just watching them fight brought back some bad memories," he explained
"I feel so bad for you," I frown
"How did you deal with it?" he asks, looking at me
"I cover my ears and imagine they're a cat and dog," I smile, hoping to make him feel better
"That's silly," he smiled back
"It's the best way to pretend it doesn't effect me," I sigh
"We better get going before the food gets cold and she feeds it to Zephra," he says, turning on the car and backing out of the parking area
"Who is Zephra?" I ask
"Zephra is my mom's pet crow, she loves that bird more than anything. My dad used to think he heard Zephra speaking to him in the middle of the night. He always claimed Zephra told him to go inside that tiny locked door in your apartment," he explains, not taking his eyes off the winding road. His bright green eyes that pulled my attention like a magnet
"I was scared to wake up in the middle of the night to see Zephra standing on my chest. She's not that big but she's still intimidating. I got over that after a year of her peacefully sleeping as usual," he explains. We continued getting to know each other as the car ride went on. 

After lunch, Stan dropped me off at home and left. I felt happiness and confusion. I held the doll Pia gave me, looking exactly like me. Neither of them knew where he came from but they let me keep him. He wore an orange hood similar to mine but there was a huge difference in outfit. His scarf had black roses, he had the orange beanie I wanted, and he had an orange shirt that had circles and squares. The circles and squares alternated from being black or white. I've never seen the shirt before so I have no idea where this doll came from. My shirt was white with no pattern. This doll left me wondering... where did it come from? Who made it? Why does it look exactly like me? Oh well, I'll name him Rednex and leave him in my room.

I lay in bed thinking about Stan again, remembering the car ride. I wish he would stick around more. I didn't even notice that I fell asleep until...