Arlo's Boo!

Chapter 1

Int. Cloe and Marissa's Living Room - Night

Arlo, nonbinary, with messy blue hair, pale complexion, anxious and dry, sits on this white, fluffy, thrown armchair. A tuxedo cat called Fancy curls in their lap.

In front of the armchair, there is a coffee table made of piles of books, and Cleo, masc trans, curly hair, always a joker, emotional, sits across it on a bright electric blue bean bag.

Marissa, a cis woman with long curly hair, determined and honest, sits on a burnt orange leather couch, she laughs at Cleo's joke.

Next to her is Gwen, the only ghost in the room, she has long brown wavy hair, round cheeks, sweet and insecure. She looks around, her new group of friends is always laughing and sharing stories about when they were kids, teenagers, and now, adults.

Sometimes Gwen remembered that she used to have friends like that. She used to know them since they went to kindergarten, most of them at least. She could remember each and every one of their quirks, but somehow she felt they could never know hers.

It didn't feel like that with Arlo's group of friends. They knew each other. Kind of like Gwen knew every inch of her favorite sweater. The one she died on. She knew every pull thread, tiny hole, and weird stitch that was on it. That's how it felt with Arlo- and how she thought Arlo, Marissa, and Cleo felt about each other.

And then there was her-

The song fills the living room which was decorated with splashes of bright colors, either by the painted walls or the many frames, shelves, books, candles, and plants. Small lights, hidden or on top of the piles of books and furniture light up the ambient.

"They opened the door carrying this cardboard box which barely held itself together by some old tape. Their eyes were glued to what was in front of them- when out of nowhere the cardboard box ripped with all this stuff falling to the ground!" Cleo narrates another of his stories, in between sentences taking a drag from his joint.

"None of that happened..." Arlo mumbles, their body is somehow stiffed deep into the chair, their arms crossed at their chest. Gwen's eyes fixed on Cleo as he told the story.

"And as they entered the living room, not even caring about stepping on their stuff, you could see it in their eyes! The way they looked at each other-" Cleo gets closer to Marissa, he places his arm on her leg "I swear it, babe, when I entered the apartment I got goosebumps in both of my arms!"

Cleo looks at his arms, his hair standing up. Marissa laughs at Cleo- she loved the way he told stories, it made you forget if they could be true or not, and you just wanted to know what was next.