"this shit feels like
teenage fever"
TEENAGE FEVER
drake
"I'll see you later tonight?" Aella asks through the passenger seat window holding tightly onto her bag. Mike nods with a passing smile, hands still on the wheel. "Call me if you need anything." She reminds as she turns around and heads for her door.
She doesn't hear Mike pull away until she safely locks the door, sighing as she drops her bag and rushes over to her couch. She kicks her sneakers off and lays down at her back to stare at her ceiling.
"Susie! Stop running!" Aella's father yells from the table. Susie immediately stops, crossing her arms in annoyance and walking back towards her father.
She plants herself with a small 'hmph' and looks over at Aella who was eating at her pizza. "Here." Aella offers, putting the plate in front of the blonde girl. She smiles and pulls it towards her.
"Stay here, don't let your sister out of your sight." Aella's father points at her. She nods as he stands up and heads towards the man in the very corner of the restaurant.
"Daddy's boring." Susie mumbles, putting her pizza back down. "I know. Between you and me, he's always been a grumpy old man." Aella smiles through her Cuban accent. Susie giggles.
"Hey, how about we go play in the arcade when we're done?" She asks. Susie's eyes light up and she nods, kicking her feet as she chews away at her pizza.
Aella flicks her hair behind her ear. It was almost to her hips at this point, and it kept getting everywhere. He father was pestering her about cutting it soon, but she refused. Susie and her had nearly matching lengths, but Susie's was a bit longer.
The two weren't blood related. Susie was the daughter of a family friend who'd chosen Aella's father as her godfather. When Susie's parents died only a few months after her birth, Susie became his responsibility.
"Are you done?" Aella asks as she wipes her hands on the paper. Susie drops the crust on the plate and nods, standing up. "Wait!" Aella stops her, walking around the table to clean the bits she had on her face.
"There. Let's go." She smiles, throwing the paper in the trash as Susie grabs her arm with both hands and snuggles her cheek into her forearm.
"Hold on, Su." Aella stops, patting at her pockets to see if she had spare change. She didn't.
"Hey, can you wait for me by the air hockey machine while I ask dad for change?" She squats to ask Susie, moving her hair out of her face.
Susie nods happily and skips over to the machine, waving as Aella dispersed from the area to go and find her father.
"Dad!" Aella yells throughout the restaurant, white sneakers contrasting the dark blue floor as she reaches her dads bag.
She presses her lips together and reaches into it, looking for his wallet. When she finds it and scratches through the few $50 bills he has stacked in it, she pulls out a handful of quarters. Just enough to get them through a few games.
Aella hurried back over to the arcade, not wanting to leave Susie alone for too long. "Susie!" She exclaims, smile bright on her face as she walks back over to the hockey table. Except, Susie isn't there.
The only thing that's left behind it the yellow keychain she won at the claw machine the last time they came. Aella picked it up feverishly, flicking it around. "Susie!" She yells again.
"Susie!"
Aella sat back in Mike's car, hands on her lap as she pondered her dream from a few hours earlier. Her fingers tapped impatiently against her jeans as she bit her bottom lip and stared at the road in front of them until Freddy's came into view.
"You okay?" Mike asks as he makes the turn into the parking lot. Aella turns her head to him and nods silently, licking her lips. She zips open her bag and digs through it, silently trying to find her chapstick.
Mike stops the car and takes the key out of the ignition as Aella gives up on her chapstick. She zips her bag back up and opens the car door, closing it and throwing her bag over her shoulder. "Vanessa's here." Abby announces as she walks around the car.
"Yeah." Mike sighs out as he holds onto his bag. "My friends talk about her sometimes." She explains as she moves to stand next to Aella. "What do they say?" Aella asks.
"That she's nice." She looks up at Aella. The conversation stops for a second as Aella processes that Abby is friends with animatronics. "Abby, if I asked you to wait in the car, would you?" Mike asks his sister.
"No." She shakes her head, grabbing Aella's hand again as she makes her way towards Freddy's. This time, Aella grabs Mike's wrist and pulls him along with them.
He wasn't expecting it obviously, because he immediately froze up as they walked. His hand remained open as Aella dragged him off with Abby.
"Guys, I'm back!" Abby runs towards the showroom while gripping her stuffed animal. Aella is still subconsciously holding onto Mike as they made their way towards Vanessa behind Abby.
"Hey Vanessa!" Abby greets as she runs past her. "Hi, Vanessa." Aella greets as well. Vanessa's eyes flick to Aella's hands for a second, causing Aella to do the same and notice she was still clinging onto Mike.
"Sorry." She whispered, pulling away from him. He wanted to tell her it was okay, that he didn't mind, but he just cleared his throat as Abby started talking. "I missed you guys!" She exclaims as she stands in front of Freddy.
His hand comes up and turns over, signifying he wants Abby to give him a high five. She does so and giggles at him as he puts his hand back down.
"You knew about this." Mike mutters as he looks over at Vanessa. Aella takes a sharp hold onto her bag, eyeing Vanessa. She remains silent for a while.
"Guess you figured it out." Vanessa sighs out. Aella squints at her and furrows her eyebrows. "Ghost children possessing giant robots?" Mike asks her. "Thanks for the heads up."
"Guys, we need help!" Abby exclaims.
She places her notebook on the stepping stool in front of the stage, flattening the page out as the adults crowd around her. "It needs to be big, so we can all fit inside." She explains.
The animatronics are all eyeing the paper as well, blinking as the bolts and wires make slight noises. "Abby," Mike leads her away from the stage as Aella looks over at Vanessa.
"Could this be a good idea?" Aella asks. Vanessa pouts and shrugs, looking back at the animatronics. "Seems like fun." She smiles. Aella looks up at them as well, making eye contact with Chica again.
"Hey.. who's possessing you?" Aella asks, shifting away from Vanessa to stand closer to Chica. "That's Susie." Vanessa mentions. Aella's stomach sinks.
"Who?" She asks. "Susie Davies. She went missing in the arcade." Vanessa explains, arms crossed. Aella's eyes start to brim with tears. "Are you okay?" Vanessa asks when she notices. Aella turns away quickly trying to not make eye contact with anyone.
"Aella, come on." Mike waves over. She turns to look at him for a split second before turning back around and wiping her eyes. "Coming." She mumbles.
"I like it in here." Vanessa sighs, laying comfortably on her back. "Me too," Abby smiles. "But, I think it's gonna rain soon." She sighs.
Aella flips herself over onto her stomach, peeking over Chica's body. "Sounds like we're going to need a roof." Vanessa says, pulling their attention away from the ceiling.
"I'll go see what I can find." She stands up. Aella makes eye contact with Mike as she stands up as well. "We'll come too." She nods, dusting herself off.
Mike, Vanessa and Aella enter the back room, Vanessa immediately bending down to inspect the open boxes. "What exactly are we looking for?" Aella asks.
"Tablecloths! They used to keep 'em back here for big events." Vanessa sighs. "Right. And remind me how you know that?" Mike asks her as she reaches into the shelf.
"Found em!" Vanessa dodges the question, pulling them out of the large box. Aella takes a look around them, the party essentials bringing back unwanted memories.
"Don't," Vanessa calls out and snatches Aella's attention away. "I wouldn't do that," Aella walks back towards Mike, inspecting the suit. "They're springlocks. They're on all the older models." Vanessa explains.
"They were designed to keep the animatronic parts in place so that, uh, a person could safely wear the suit," She continues. "They tend to be pretty unstable," She sighs out and grabs the broom propped up on the wall. "Let's see." She mutters before pushing the end into it.
"Oh." Mike lets out in shock. "Like I said, unstable." She sighs. "Is there anything else that you want to tell us, Vanessa?" Aella asks. "Cause you seem to know this place pretty fucking well." She crosses her arms.
"What?" She asks, turning around fully. "Were you an employee before? Or are you behind this whole thing?" She accuses. "Oh please. Quit being so childish." She scoffs.
"Hey, stop that shit. You know you have something to tell us." Mike stops her. Vanessa scoffs and turns around to leave.
Mike starts to chase her, but Aella stops him. "Mike," She mutters out. Her arms are wrapped around herself as Mike turns around to look at her. "I wanna tell you something." She frowns. Mike's heart start to speed up as Aella looks for something to sit down on, hands coming to lay on her knees.
"Uhm.. I haven't been completely honest," she admits as he sits down next to her, leaning forward. "I— I do know this place." She explains, turning her body slightly to look at him.
Mike's back straightens up at her words. "Oh." He mutters out. "My.. uhm— my sister, she was.." She cocks her head to the side, looking down at her hands.
"My sister was one of the kids that went missing," She presses her lips together. "We used to come to this place at the end of every month. She was the sweetest little girl I knew." She mumbles.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asks, eyebrows furrowed. She sucks in a breath and looks up at him, trying to look in his eyes. "I hate talking about it." She says with a frown.
Mike sighs and looks forward, collecting his thought before looking back at her. "My brother died too," Mike nods, eyes flicking around her face. "He didn't die here, but I feel like it has something to do with this place. My dreams are so much more vivid when I'm here." He whispers.
Aella sighs as her tears start to well up again. "My sister, Vanessa said she was the one possessing Chica." Aella cocks her head to the side as she wipes away one of her tears before it could slip.
Mike was making triangles on her face with how fast his eyes were moving between both of hers and her lips. "Sorry. I just.. I needed to be honest." She sighs and stands up, wiping her cheeks one more time.
"No, it's okay. I get it." He scurried to stand up and put his hands in his pockets. Aella nods as her eyes scan his again. His mouth opens, almost to say something. But he closes it.
"Thanks for listening." She smiles, eyes focusing on his lips as he opens them again. "Yeah. Of course," he sighs. "You too." He presses his lips together.
Aella smiles for a second before turning back around, leaving the room with Mike behind her. "We ready?" Aella asks, clearing her throat when her voice breaks.
"All ready." Vanessa sighs, pulling the tablecloths out of the bags. She looks over at Abby to see what she was doing and notices the girl reaching towards Bonnie's guitar.
"Abby?" Vanessa yells, rushing over to the stage. "Wait, Abby, don't!" She yells. Abby's hand makes contact with the guitar and it sparks, throwing her down.
"Abby!" Aella yells, following behind Vanessa.
She's foggy when she opens her eyes, Aella coming to cradle her head gently as Mike calls her name. She starts to cough when she's finally awake, whimpering as she looks up at Aella. "What happened?" She asks.
"It's okay, Abby," Aella helps her sit up before she reaches to hold onto her, grabbing her shirt as she gives her a long hug.
"You're okay. Nothing's gonna happen when I'm here." Aella comforts as she holds her gently.
Aella is nearly asleep in the car, watching Abby in the rear view mirror as she draws quietly. "You doin' okay?" She asks, readjusting her head. Abby looks up at her through the mirror as well and nods, looking back down at her paper.
Mike and Vanessa were arguing. She could tell from Vanessa's face as she turns back towards Mike. She looks away from the two of them, trying her best not to pay attention to them.
Mike opens the door and gets into the car, watching as Vanessa drives away. "She looked so angry." Abby mentions as he settles in. "Why does everyone always look at you that way?" Aella knew Abby. She knew she loved her brother, but she also couldn't understand why everyone else didn't.
"Let's just go home." He sighs, clicking his seatbelt in place.