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.
The music changes, its deep, wavy strings and vocalization echo through the smokey, now quiet living room. Marissa takes a big drag from the joint.
"You're making stuff up..." Arlo says under their breath to Cleo.
Cleo shrugs "Call it artistic liberties" he has a big, charming smile.
Arlo huffs, they bury their body deeper into the chair. Their attention turns to Gwen, their eyes meet and she quickly looks away. Arlo blushes. They hated the feeling those little moments gave them.
"Little moments," Arlo thought to themselves, they could probably be the only person in that room thinking there could be moments or little ones at all. Gwen was nothing more than a roommate- friend?
Arlo sighs- their sight turns to Gwen again, her eyes now fixed on Cleo.
Ok, maybe friends. Platonic friends. If they dare to dream.
They turn to Cleo, his mouth moves- Arlo pays attention to what he says-
"Exactly! As I was closing the trunk, ready to leave, I noticed I could still feel the energy between you and-"
Cleo's face gets hit by a pillow.
"Don't you ever shut up?"
Cleo throws the same pillow at Arlo's face, the pillow hits them and Fancy jumps out of their lap with a long meow of complaint.
"You hit Fancy! Cleo..." Marissa stands up and goes to Fancy, she picks him up and pets him. Cleo walks up to them, pets Fancy on the head, and gives Marissa a small peck "Sorry Fancy..."
Gwen floats and leans closer to Arlo "Was Cleo talking about the day that you moved into our apt-"
A quick ping goes off. Arlo quickly searches their pockets to find their phone. They unlock the screen and an e-mail notification pops.
Arlo swipes on it, the notification disappears. They stand up, and Gwen follows them.
"I think we are gonna go..." They grab their tote bag, which has a painted illustration of a ferret wearing a knitted hat on it.
"Really? But-" Marissa places Fancy on the floor "We haven't even ordered the pizza..."
Gwen floats next to Marissa.
"Pizza? Arlo, we can't leave before pizza!" Gwen gives Arlo big puppy eyes.
"Maybe next time..." They dismiss Gwen. They knew if it was up to her they would eat pizza every night.
Arlo hugs Marissa and then Cleo "Thank you for tonight."
Arlo casually slaps the back of Cleo's head "Goof..."
They walk out of the door. Gwen waves them goodbye with a sad look on her face "Bye see you later..." She leaves and leaves the door open.
"I told you not to tell that stupid story- Arlo isn't ready to-" Marissa and Cleo argue with each other. Arlo comes and closes the door as they give Marissa and Cleo a death stare.
Int. Hallway - Night
"See? Told you! You better be thinking of a way to apolog-" Marissa's words muffle as Arlo walks away from the door. Gwen follows them.
"Cleo wasn't supposed to be telling that story?" Gwen floats around "Was it something from your college years? I felt he was getting to the good part-"
Arlo sighs-
"You say that about everything Cleo tells us..."
"He has a way of telling stories I enjoy, he brings life to words!" Gwen shrugs and floats out of the building. Arlo follows her.
Ext. Street - Night
Arlo takes long, fast steps. Their hands in their pockets.
"Hey...!" Gwen behind them, struggles.
Arlo keeps their pace.
"Are we in a hurry?!" Gwen floats faster by their side and places her hand on Arlo's shoulder, they turn around.
"Oh, no. Sorry, I think I was a bit in my head..." they chuckle "Sometimes Cleo has the worst timing..."
"I love how Marissa always grounds him a bit..." Gwen laughs, they walk side by side at a slower pace.
"Oh, they've been like that since high school!" Arlo joins her "I've never seen them fight, but Marissa definitely grabs whatever crazy plans Cleo has and breaks them down into reality."
Gwen's eyes widen, she stops for a second.
"That doesn't sound good..."
"No, no, no-" Arlo closes their eyes, explaining things were never their forte.
"Hm, I meant it in a good way. She supports him and kind of ground his dreams into goals so he can achieve them..."
"Oh!" Gwen continues to float "Yeah! Like a power couple, creativity and organization!"
Arlo continues to walk by her side "Yeah... A power couple..."
Gwen follows them "You think we could order some pizza?"
Arlo nods. They walk side by side.
Int. Hallway, Arlo and Gwen's Apartment - Night
Gwen goes through the door and Arlo turns their keys and opens the door. They look up and see Gwen floating in the middle of their living room.
"Is good to be home, isn't it?" She turns around and smiles.
Suddenly they remember what song was playing on their phone, one headphone in and the other one dangling.
The song dances in Arlo's mind.
~Como pode ser, gostar de alguem e esse tal alguem nao ser seu...~
Cleo was right- they were carrying the saddest cardboard box in their hands and the afternoon light flooded from the bedroom window into the living room.
The apartment wasn't quite a studio or a loft, it was an open floor with one wall that separated the bedroom from the living room, one small bathroom and a kitchenette. Enough space for Arlo and- Gwen who was floating in the middle of the empty room.
Arlo would never forget the way the orange hues shone on her hair. The surprise in her eyes and the way it felt she belonged there, with them, although it was an empty apartment with an almost dying plant by the window.
"Oh! Cool!" Cleo entered the apartment and placed a group of full backpacks by the entrance door "You got a ghost, dude!"
"Arlo?" Gwen floats next to Arlo, who stands by the door.
"Is everything ok?" Arlo looks up and sees Gwens floating next to them. They shake their head.
"Yeah, sorry-" They turn around and lock the door "Just tired..."
Int. Bedroom, Arlo and Gwen's Apartment - Night
Arlo sits in front of their laptop, its bright screen lights their face. Their eyes read, left to right, over and over again, a fidget toy spins in between their fingers.
"Hey-" Gwen appears by the side of the wall that separates the bedroom from the living room "Arlo!"
She rolls her eyes and floats next to them "Arlo!"
They close the laptop, fast.
"Gwen!" They gently push her face from theirs "You don't have to yell my name every two seconds, I hear you!"
"Are you sure? Cause I've been calling for a while now... And you haven't even moved a muscle-" Gwen takes a closer look at their face "You haven't even blinked!"
"How do you even know if I'm blinking or not?"
"I got my ways..." A crazy smile draws on Gwen's face.
Arlo sighs "What do you want?"
Gwen floats up to the kitchen and grabs two baking good boxes "Do you feel more like cookies, or a chocolate cake?"
Arlo opens the laptop again "Chocolate."
"Really? " Gwen looks at the boxes "Cause I thought cookies would be better for the afternoon tea for tomorrow..."
"Sorry Arlo! I'm gonna do the cookies!" Gwen turns on the oven and prepares the mix.
"Sure- whatever..." Arlo mumbles. Under their breath, they read the open e-mail on the screen.
Arlo takes a picture of the email, they open their messages and send the picture to Marissa.
Moving there... Arlo looks up and sees Gwen fighting with the cookie dough. That means they would have to tell Gwen.
Gwen, their roommate, who now was more of a friend than anything... The ghost who lived in their apartment, before they moved in. The ghost that can't follow them cross country... The only person they might have ever-
Arlo shuts down the laptop and stands up.
No reason to think about it now-
Int. Livingroom, Arlo and Gwen's Apartment - Night
Arlo walks up to the TV console, they press play on their speaker.
Arlo looks at Gwen who seems to be fighting a lost battle against the cookie dough.
Arlo sniffs the room, the smell of an overheating oven.
"You set up the oven too high again, do you want to burn this place down?" Arlo moves to the stove and changes the temperature...
They didn't have to tell Gwen anything. At least not today.
to be continued...
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Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of Arlo's Boo! And if you have been accompanying their adventures since the short stories, double thank you! (:
I wanted to share with you a little doodle I did of Arlo and their friends when I first started writing their story! I hope you like it <3
Also, there is a playlist I'm going on Spotify with the songs that will appear in each chapter, its name is "Arlo's Boo" and I'll be releasing some TikToks inspired by the story as well.
Remember to vote and comment, so Arlo's Boo! can grow and get more visibility ((:
Thank you from the bottom, top of my heart for reading me! For liking this story, I'm so happy you are here with me.