Wybie didn't fancy doing chores much. It just... was boring! Not fun at all. He'd rather be riding his bike and finding sights that he'd never seen before. He didn't mind helping his grandmother out, he just minded having to do the dishes. Or laundry. Usually he'd help out in a snap, but today was different.

It looked like it was going to rain and that was his favorite kind of weather. He loved riding in it, it made him feel like a rebel. Also, it was a very exciting day. There was someone moving into the Pink Palace apartments... and this family had a kid! One his age, too! He smiled at the thoughts of what could come to be with a new friend living right down the road. They could play together very easily and probably become inseparable.

Before his grandma could tell him to stay and clean up his room, which was on the to-do list today, he ran out of the house and hopped onto his bike. He rode off, his mind set on the goal to meet this mysterious stranger. Riding away, a million thoughts were going through his head about them. Would they be nice? Would they have curly hair like him? What if they liked to ride bikes too? What if it was a girl?!

He was even more excited now. Wybie was riding towards the Pink Palace when he heard a voice coming from below and stopped. Below him was a girl, maybe a year older than him. She had bright blue hair and bright yellow raincoat on. A piece of an red mini-skirt was peeking out from under it. She had in her hands a branch that looked like it would be perfect for a slingshot, being in the shape of a Y and all. Her attention was on a small stump, one Wybie sat on in thought a whole lot. He would imitate the thinker. The cat was perched upon. It was his cat. Well, kind of his cat anyway.

"...Not talking, huh?" She talked to cats? That's... That's totally sane. "Magic dowser... Magic dowser... Show me... THE WELL!"

Wybie now realized what the stick was for! Was she a water witch? Dowsing rods are only used by those to find water by them... That's what he thought, at least. His mind thought of something else and he smiled, knowing he could scare her. That would make good conversation to begin with. He blew the air horn that was on his bike, pulled down his skeleton mask that he made himself, and popped a wheelie. The girl spun around at the sound and a look of terror was on her face.

He charged down the hill, moving closer and closer. She screamed and the thunder rumbled in the background, adding to the dramatic effect and making it even more terrifying.

He'd finally reached her. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" She tried to hit Wybie with her slingshot stick, but that didn't work. He grabbed it from her and she fell backwards into the slimy mud from the force. Well, at least she had her raincoat on.

Wybie parked his bike beside the stump and jumped onto the log. He used his mask to get a better look at the new girl. The only thing new he noticed was she looked scared to death, had tons of freckles, and deep brown eyes. Didn't look much like a water witch to him.

After lifting his mask, he studied the dowsing rod in his hand.

"Oh... Uh, lemme guess. You're from Texas or Utah, some place dried out and baron right?" Her facial expression changed from scared to annoyed. "I've heard about water witching before, but it doesn't make sense. I mean, it's an ordinary branch." Actually, it wasn't he had noticed. It was poison oak but he had gloves on, so it wouldn't bother him much.

"It's a dowsing rod!" She pointed out and hit his shin. OW! That's going to leave a bruise in the morning!The dowsing rod jumped out of his arms as he jumped and she lept up to catch it.

"And I don't like being stalked! Not by psycho nerds or their cats!" She tilted her head to the side to mimic the cat who did that quite often. Well, she seemed nice...

"H-He's not my cat. He's kind of feral. You know, wild? O-Of course, I do feed him every night," Wybie petted the pretty black cat ",and sometimes he'll come by my window and leave my little dead things!"

She groaned. "Look. I'm from Pontiac." She said, sounding rather mad.

Wybie gave her a face of confusion. Where in the world is that?

"Huh?"

"Michigan? And if I'm a water witch, then where's the secret well?" She stomped on the ground for effect, mud slashing onto her yellow boots.

She was standing in the circle of mushrooms that had coincidentally grown into a circle around the well. He was rather surprised that she didn't notice the mushroom circle or that the ground shook under her feet. "Y-you stomp to hard and you'll fall in it!"

"Oh!" She jumped back in suprise. Wybie got down from his log-throne and started to dig into the mud that covered the secret well. That wasn't to bad thanks to the gloves that his grandma had given him for his tenth birthday. They were black and had skeleton hands on them. They were his favorite part of his outfit.

The boards of the well-top shown and he pointed at it. "See?" He knocked on it to show her how deep it was. He grabbed a rather large stick and put it in the well, to lift the boards up. They were really heavy. "Supposed to be so deep if you fell to the bottom and looked up," he stepped on the stick which lifted the top up and uncovered more of the top ",you'd see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day." He remembered the old story his grandpa use to tell him before smoking got the best of him.

"Huh." She moved closer, got down on one knee and started looking at it. Wybie thought he'd change the subject and saw the faded pink house in the distance.

"Suprised she let you move in. My grandma, she owns the pink palace. Won't rent to people with kids."

"What do you mean?" The girl stood up straight and gave him a look to kill.

Remember what grandma said. Don't. Tell. "W-w-we'll I'm not supposed to talk about it." His stutter started to show around her. He'd changed the subject again.He didn't know her name! That was something good to talk about. "I'm Wybie." He held out a gloved hand towards her, giving her a warm greeting smile. "Wybie Lovat."

She took it. "Wybie...?" She stared akwardly at his hand and he shook hers.

"Short for Wybourne," he walked towards the cat after letting go, "not my idea of course. What'd you get saddled with?" He looked back at her, she was rubbing mud off of her hand onto her raincoat.

"I wasn't saddled with anything! It's Coraline." The cat passed in front of Wybie and he focused his attention on it, not paying much attention to her.

"Caroline what?"

"CORALINE. Coraline Jones." She stomped her foot again.

"Hmm. It's not real scientific, but I heard an ordinary name like Caroline can lead people to have ordinary expectations about a person." He quoted what he had read in one of his monthly scientific magazines and pet the cat.

She groaned at him. What'd I do?

A soft voice filled the air. "Wybourne..."

The cats eyes got wide. Grandma found out he'd skipped out on chores! Maybe Caroline didn't hear...

"I think I heard someone calling you, Wybourne." She spat out his name. She did hear! Crap on a stick.

"W-w-what?" Wybie stood up, and the leaning cat fell over into the mud. "I-I didn't hear anything."

"Oh, I DEFINATLY heard someone, Why-Were-You-Born." She walked closer, her eyes squinted at him, giving out his new nickname.

The voice sounded again, along with the ring of a triangle. "Wybourne!"

"Grandma..." I'm coming! He nervously laughed at the new girl, Caroline, and she gave him a kind of mad look. Maybe he'd just call her by her last name, Jones... Jonesy sounded better in his mind, though.

He picked up his bike and mask. "Well, it's great to meet a Michigan water witch. But, I'd wear gloves next time." He raised up his hands, showing off his.

"Why?" Another know-it-all-look.

"Because that dowsing rod of yours... Uhh... It's poison oak."

Her brown eyes got wide and she dropped the stick. She jumped back from the rod and started wiping her hands on her raincoat. That's not going to help it much at all. He rode off towards his house, taking the long route. Finally, it started to rain on him.