AN: So I've been sitting on this chapter for a better part of a year now and I'm tired of staring at it because it's obviously not going to get any better, so please just take this self-indulgent nonsense.

You spend the entire weekend familiarizing yourself with your new workshop, and setting it up the way you want it to be. You still haven't decided what you want to build yet, but the idea of recreating your rocket seat is cementing itself further in your mind. You find yourself daydreaming about how you would like to go about it, which features you would like it to have based on how the first turned out, and what parts you would need to make it happen.

So it's a little jarring when your alarm goes off on Monday, and you remember that school is still a thing, and no, you can't spend all day in the garage again. It takes a lot of bargaining with yourself before you finally pry yourself out of bed (late) and rush through your morning routine so your father can bring you to school before he has to be at work.

You walk into your first class of the day and take your usual seat, next to a girl named Beth. You're still not sure about her, to be honest, considering she literally barged her way into your life and demanded to be your friend. "I'm gonna show you around," she said, the first day of school. "I know how scary switching schools can be." Since then, she's made a point to involve you in everything, from asking you to work with her on group projects to inviting you to sit with her during lunch. You'd be lying if you didn't appreciate it, though. There's just a part of you that's incredibly paranoid about her intentions.

She turns to you very suddenly after you sit down and stares at you intently. "How was your birthday?" she asks.

You nearly jolt out of your chair. "How did you know?" you squeak.

Her eyebrows shoot up, disappearing behind her dark bangs, and she shakes her head quickly. "Sorry, that was way blunter than I meant it to be! It was in the announcement at the end of the day on Friday. But you didn't say anything about it, so maybe you wanted it to be private? We don't have to talk about this."

You find yourself chuckling at her reaction. The one thing you do find endearing about Beth, you suppose, is that she seems to carry out this balancing act of wanting to be in on everything but also wanting to respect people's boundaries. She's just loud, and sociable, but seems to have a hard time with figuring out where the lines are drawn. In a way, you can relate, struggling sometimes to pick up on social cues, but tending to assume the worst of situations and straight-up avoid them where Beth tends to blunder right through them. You appreciate her bravery. "It's okay," you reassure her, and realize that it is, in fact, okay. "I just didn't want to make a big deal about it. My birthday was good, I just spent it with my family."

"Good, good!" she chirps. "I guess I assumed you wanted to keep it quiet, since you didn't say anything to us about it. I just, well, you know. I'm nosy."

The bell rings to signal that class has officially started, and the next 48 minutes are filled with you pondering the details of the electromagnetic engine for your rocket seat while your teacher blathers on about the Mongolian empire's decline.

The next two hours pass in much the same way, except for biology, because you're dissecting a pig and trying very hard to not puke. Despite it being a virtual pig, the simulation is highly realistic, and very unsettling. You stare intently at your paper and write down everything Vijay tells you to, while they gleefully wield the virtual scalpel they won through a very intense match of rock-paper-scissors with Clara.

"You're gonna cut too deep," Clara warns.

"Shh, I know what I'm doing," Vijay assures her. "You wanna be a doctor, not a mortician."

"This isn't even what a mortician does!" Clara argues.

"No, but working with dead things is."

You give a weak laugh and add, "The only time I wouldn't be completely freaked out by hearing someone say, 'I see dead people.'"

Clara gives an exasperated sigh. "Don't encourage them, Eva. I don't want to fail this assignment because someone got a little too carried away."

"I found the heart, Eva, you gotta draw it now," Vijay orders.

"Ew, no, I'm not looking at that."

"Get your face in here, you chicken."

"Put your own face in there!"

"Do not," Clara snaps. "I will draw it, Eva, you're doing a perfectly good job of documenting our process."

"And not hurling," Vijay adds.

You look up at the ceiling as Clara and Vijay examine the "animal" and muse, "I think I'm gonna become a vegetarian after this."

"I am a vegetarian, but I'm still enjoying this," Vijay says. "Like, it's just a simulation. They're not real pigs."

"They're probably based on someone actually dissecting a pig, though."

"Yeah, but they're probably ethically sourced. Maybe the mother died of natural causes?" Clara suggests. "At least we don't have to cut open a real pig."

"I don't think I'd be able to handle the smell," you mutter.

Clara nods. "Agree."

"You want to be a doctor, though!" Vijay cries.

"Doctors work with living things, not things pumped full of preservatives."

"Aren't we all pumped full of preservatives from all the processed foods we eat?"

"I am not getting into this argument with you."

"Because you know I'm right," Vijay says with a smirk.

Clara rolls her eyes. "Just focus on finding the liver."

"Roger dodger." Vijay gives her a smart little salute and goes back to poking around at the pig.

It really is unfortunate that lunch is immediately after biology. Still woozy from class, you take your sweet time retrieving your lunch from your locker and then making your way to the cafeteria. Your friends are already seated at their usual table when you arrive.

"Wondered when you were gonna show up," Vijay teases.

"Oh my god, I have to do that next hour. How bad was it?" Beth asks. "Did you throw up? Was it super realistic? Was there blood? I'm so nervous."

You roll your eyes. "It was fine, Beth, there's no blood. And no, I didn't throw up. I'm just glad they don't serve pig for lunch here."

Vijay cackles, and Beth sighs and relaxes into her seat. "Thank god," she mumbles. She scoots over so you can sit between her and Addie.

"How was your weekend?" the latter asks. "Beth said your birthday was on Friday."

"Sorry!" Beth squeaks.

You shoot Beth a look before replying, "It was good. I just spent the day with my dad and some friends."

"Do you, like, not do big birthdays?" Vijay asks. Clara and Addie both glare daggers at them, but Vijay shrugs and cries, "What? It's a genuine question!"

"Uh, I haven't in the past, no," you mumble. "I dunno. It's not a problem."

Vijay slams their hands on the table. "We should do something together."

"What?"

Beth grins and bounces in her seat. "We should! We never hang out outside of school. Come on, Eva, let's do something fun!" She grabs your shoulder and pushes you from side to side.

"Like what?" You hate the little quiver in your voice.

Clara, observant as ever, notices it immediately. "We don't have to if you don't want to, Eva. It's okay if you didn't want to do anything big for your birthday."

"I was thinking a sleepover," Vijay says, ignoring Clara completely. "We can stay up late and watch movies and play video games."

"Oh, yes, yes, yes!" Beth squeals. "And we can do makeovers and paint our nails and play truth or dare!"

"And eat so much pizza!" Vijay adds. They whip around to face you. "What do you think, Eva? Sounds fun, right?"

You swallow. "Yeah, I guess so."

Addie is about to say something, but Beth talks over her first. "What's wrong? Why are you nervous? You're not upset, are you? We don't have to!"

"No, no, it's okay," you stammer. "I just, I've never actually… been to a slumber party."

Vijay and Beth stare at you like you've grown a second head, and you start to fidget under their collective gaze until Beth asks, "Didn't you go to a boarding school? You like, had so many opportunities to have sleepovers, how do you get to being in tenth grade with never going to a sleepover?"

Clara snorts. "Beth, don't be rude."

"I'm sorry! But, still, how?" Beth shakes her head. "Now we definitely have to have a sleepover. We can use my house; my parents don't care and we have enough room for all of us."

"We don't have to," Clara argues.

"I mean, it might be fun," you mumble.

"We definitely have to," Vijay asserts. "Eva, we are gonna make your first sleepover the best sleepover ever."

"Of course you can go," your father says, when you bring up the slumber party over dinner.

"I didn't ask if I could, I just said people from school invited me," you correct.

Don looks up from his soup and frowns. "You are going, aren't you?"

"Well, I don't know, do I really want to?"

"Sure you do!" he cries. "This is what people your age do, Eva! You should be taking advantage of it!"

Rick snorts. "You don't have to if you don't want to, kid."

"Well, obviously," Don says, rolling his eyes. "But you should! I've been so nervous about you not making friends, and then this golden opportunity presents itself to you. And here you said you didn't have any friends."

You frown. "I didn't say I didn't have any friends, I just said that I felt uncomfortable inviting them to my house and demanding gifts from them. There's a big difference. And while we're on the topic, I don't feel particularly comfortable spending the night with people I hardly know."

"Well, you'll get to know them more if you do go! Getting out of your comfort zone isn't such a bad thing, you know." Your father spoons more soup into his mouth, nodding sagely.

You look at Rick. "What do to you think?"

He shrugs. "It's up to you, but I think it would be good for you."

"But what if they realize how weird I am? What about the nightmares? I'm gonna wake up screaming in the middle of the night, and they're gonna think I'm a freak!" you cry.

"You're still having nightmares?" Don asks.

"What, did you think I just got over it?" you demand.

"Well, no, but you haven't woken up screaming in a while, I thought maybe they were getting better."

"Just because I stopped screaming doesn't mean I stopped having nightmares."

Rick cuts your father off before he can argue with you further. "I think that's something to be nervous about, though. Like, that's a legitimate concern."

"Thank you!" you say, exasperation making you sound a little sassier than you strictly wanted to.

"You don't have to suffer in silence, though!" your father cries.

You slam your hands on the table. "I know that, but I don't think four people I've only just met need to know that I have all this trauma and be put in a position where they have to deal with me during an episode!"

"But what if it goes really well?"

"And what if it doesn't?"

"Only one way to find out," Rick says. "It's your call, Molly. If you decide to go and change your mind after the fact, I'm okay with picking you up."

You huff. "I'll think about it," you grumble.

On Saturday evening you find yourself on Beth's front porch, fist hovering inches from the door as you debate with yourself if this is really worth it. You can still back out, tell them something came up and that you couldn't make it after all.

"Eva?"

You turn, and find Addie standing on the step behind you. You didn't hear her approach.

"Oh, hey," you mumble, rubbing your arm. "How's it going?"

She studies you, and asks, "You doing alright?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm just, you know," you shuffle your feet and look everywhere except her, "Nervous."

She offers you a hand, and you take it hesitantly. "You still don't have to do this, but I'm proud of you for coming," she says quietly. She squeezes your hand. "You ready to go inside?"

You nod. "Yeah, okay." And you realize, to your surprise, that you are.

"Oh my god you're here!" Beth races to greet you the moment Addie pushes the door open. She nearly knocks you off your feet as she practically throws herself at you to give you a hug. "I was so nervous you weren't gonna come, I would have been so sad!"

"Give the girl some breathing room, geeze!" Vijay calls from the dining room table. They tilt their head back and pop a grape into their mouth. "Are you ready for the best first sleepover ever?"

"I think so," you reply. "What are we doing first?"

Beth grabs your bag. "First, I'm taking this down to where we'll be sleeping. Then, I was thinking we could start dinner and get a movie playing, and then we could play games. Unless there's something else you'd rather do? It is your first sleepover, after all, so you should be the one calling the shots."

"No, that's fine," you agree. "I don't really care either way."

Beth hugs you again and squeals. "Ooh, I'm so excited! Tonight's gonna be great!"

You can't believe, with all the cooking Rick does, that you've never made your own pizzas. Beth's parents bought little pizza crusts and an abundance of toppings.

"Don't take all the veggies," Clara reprimands.

Vijay sticks their tongue out at her. "I'm a vegetarian, this is all I can eat."

"You can have cheese!" Beth cries. "You can have cheese, right? Or are you one of those 'no animal byproducts' people?"

"Those are vegans," Clara says.

"Oh yeah."

Vijay takes a piece of spinach and drops it on your pizza. "Eat your greens, Eva, or you'll never grow up big and strong."

You stuff the leaf in your mouth and grab a handful of olives. "Don't ruin my pizza," you reply.

"Yeah, looks like she's got a game plan," Addie says. "The levels of concentration are unreal."

"Pizza is an art, and I am a master." You carefully distribute the olives evenly across the layer of marinara and pepperoni covering your crust. "They'll have to hang this shit in the MOMA."

Vijay cackles, and Addie, seemingly taken off-guard by your sudden use of profanity, laughs so hard she snorts.

"You swear?" Beth gasps. "But you're so quiet!"

"And?" Clara demands.

Addie scoffs. "Eva isn't that quiet, you know. You're just too busy yammering for the rest of us to get a word in. Well, except Vijay."

"Ayy!" They raise their hands over their head and grin.

Beth pouts. "I don't talk too much, do I?"

"Not too much," Clara agrees. "But it can be difficult to say anything when you really get going."

"It's kinda cute, how passionate you get," Addie chimes. "Don't worry about it."

Beth huffs and looks at you. "Eva, I'm sorry I talk over you."

"What? No, it's fine," you blurt. "It's not like I have that much to say-"

"Bull!" Vijay cries. "You've got tons of stuff to say! Probably." They purse their lips as they think. "You know, there's still a bunch of stuff we don't know about you. What do you even like to talk about?"

Clara sighs. "You don't have to be a jerk about it, Vijay."

"It's a legitimate question!"

"You think all questions are legitimate questions."

"There's no such thing as illegitimate questions."

Addie snorts. "You're thinking of 'stupid' questions."

You grab a handful of cheese to sprinkle over your pizza. Maybe if you go back to that, they'll drop the subject-

"What kind of hobbies do you have, Eva?" Beth asks.

You feel your cheeks heat. "It's dumb."

Vijay smirks. "Do you collect sexy anime figurines?"

Clara smacks at their arm, even as you snort in surprise. "No, it's not that dumb." You brush your hands together to get the rest of the cheese off and sigh. "I like to make things."

"What kinds of things?" Addie pries.

"Sexy anime figurines."

"You wish," you blurt instinctively, which makes everyone laugh. "Uh, machines, I guess? I haven't in a while though…" you trail off, realizing that they'll probably think your interests are weird.

Clara grins. "That's really cool!"

"Like, robots?" Beth's eyebrows are furrowed as she seems to struggle to wrap her head around this development.

"No, I made a rocket seat, and I've got mechanic friends that I've helped out before."

"Oh, like cars," Beth says, nodding.

You grimace. "Not exactly…"

"Robots!" Vijay crows.

"More like, star-racers?"

The four of them are quiet, until Addie says, "Oh yeah, isn't your dad some racing guy?"

You laugh, despite yourself, and reply, "Yeah, he manages a team. Like, it's not a big deal, really. I just think they're neat." You shrug, and pick up your pizza. "I think mine is ready for the oven."

Vijay nods. "Same, let's get these puppies cooking, I'm starving."

As Beth carefully places the pizzas in the, she asks, "Are you gonna make them when you grow up? Are all the big racing guys gonna be driving your star-racers? I wanna be able to point at them and say, 'My friend made that, and she's awesome!'"

Your cheeks heat, and you turn away to tuck your chin against your shoulder. "You really think that's cool?"

"Uh, yeah?" Beth frowns. "Why wouldn't we? You must be really smart then, right? Like, really good at math or something. Can I ask you for help on my homework?"

"Pfft, no! I'm so bad at math—"

"You can't be that bad, if you're building things," Clara says. "Have some faith in yourself."

Vijay grins. "False modesty looks bad on you, Eva."

"Well, tell that to my grades," you grumble.

"Okay, I'm changing the topic," Addie announces. "We're not talking about school. This is a strict 'no school-talk allowed' zone."

"Can we talk about which movie we're gonna watch?" Vijay asks. "Because Beth pulled the one with the singing Phils and I am not about to endure that atrocity."

"It's a good movie! The Phils are super cute!" Beth cries.

"Phils are mute, though," you protest. "They communicate telepathically."

"And besides, it's a terrible movie. We're not watching it," Vijay declares.

Beth crosses her arms and huffs. "Well, we're not watching any of your movies, they're way too long."

"Let's be real, none of us are gonna want to read subtitles right now anyway," Clara adds. "I say we pick something we all know, since the chances that people are actually going to pay attention are slim."

In the end, Beth puts in some animated movie that you know you should have seen, but you didn't really watch that many movies in the boarding school and catching up on pop culture references has not been a top priority since returning home. You're too worried that they'll make a big deal out of you not having seen it before, so you let them talk while you watch. Maybe it's hidden somewhere in the attic of your dad's house for you to watch more closely later.

When the movie ends and you've eaten your fill of pizza and fruit salad, Beth suggests painting each other's nails and then playing a game after they dry. "Vijay brought a bunch of retro video games, I say we try some of them," she says.

"I'll warn you all now, I'm super good at them because I've been playing them my whole life, so you better be prepared to lose," Vijay brags.

"You're going down, Vijay," Addie challenges. "I'm coming for your throne."

Vijay snorts. "As if."

"Okay, okay, nails first," Beth says. "I'm gonna go grab the nail polish, I'll be right back."

Your toenails are bright pink and you are beating Vijay into submission for the second time, zipping past Bowser Jr.'s little car while Beth leans over your shoulders, cheering you on. "Go, go, go!" she screams, so fast that it all sounds like one word. "Go, Eva, go!"

On Vijay's other side, Addie is also yelling. "They picked up a shell, watch out!"

"Whose side are you on?" Vijay demands.

"Not yours! I gotta beat you, too!"

It's incredibly close, but Vijay's blue shell doesn't hit you until after you cross the finish line, and you drop your controller in your lap and let your head fall back against the sofa as Beth smacks your shoulders repeatedly and squeals. Vijay reaches over and rubs their fist in your hair. "You stinker. 'Ooh, I'm Eva, and I've never played a video game before,'" they say in a squeaky voice. "As if."

"I didn't say I've never played, I just haven't played a lot of games," you correct. "Quit being a sore loser."

Addie stands up to stretch. "I think we should do something else, before this game ruins any friendships."

"I think it's getting to be about bedtime, anyway," Clara adds, and punctuates the statement with a yawn.

Your heart drops, and you swallow hard. "I thought people stayed up all night during these sorts of things," you mumble.

"I mean, we can definitely try, but I'm pretty tired, too," Beth says. "I say we get everything set up for bed, and maybe pop in another movie."

"Where are we all gonna sleep?" Addie asks. "I don't think we'll all fit in your room."

"I was gonna pull the mattresses off my bed and the guest bed and move them out here," Beth explains. "Someone can sleep on the couch, and we can fit two people on each mattress."

"I call couch!" Vijay cries.

Beth rolls her eyes. "Yeah, good, I don't wanna get kicked all night long."

You all help with setting up your sleeping arrangements. You and Clara grab the mattress off the guest bed and drag it into the family room, while you can hear Beth and

Addie bumping around upstairs. When they finally return, Beth is already in her pajamas, a matching set with pink, satin shorts and a tank top that says "Cat naps" above a sleeping kitten. "I figured we'll all be changing soon," she says with a shrug.

"I'm right behind you," Addie agrees. "I'm gonna go hop into the guest bedroom to change into mine."

Your friends shuffle through the bathroom, taking turns changing and brushing their teeth and getting settled into their sleeping arrangements. Addie and Beth attempt to start a game of truth or dare until Vijay dares Beth to run around outside in her pajamas and they all realize that none of them actually want to get out of their beds.

"Why don't you go put your PJs on, Eva?"

You jump, and turn to face Clara. You wince when she frowns, minutely, so you mumble in assent and drag yourself to the guest bedroom. You don't expect her to follow you.

"Is everything alright?" she asks softly. "Do you need anything?"

You shift your weight between your feet while you wrack your brain for an excuse.

"Are you having fun?" she asks.

"Well, yeah, of course," you reply. You are. Well, were.

"Do you not want to share a mattress? I'm sure Vijay would trade with you for the couch—"

"It's not that," you blurt. At least, you don't think it is. You haven't really shared a bed with someone before. "It's dumb."

"If it's upsetting you this much, it's obviously not dumb. Do you want to talk about it?"

You should just say no. A part of you really wants to say no. But you've gotten so far. Do you really want to throw in the towel now?

"I… get nightmares. A lot. About my mom and stuff. I don't want to bother any of you."

Clara nods, and takes a step closer. "Why do you think it would bother us?"

You rub your arm and huff. "Because they used to wake my dad up."

"I mean, I won't say that you won't wake anyone up, but I don't think anyone would be really bothered. You're our friend, Eva, and we care about you." You don't say anything, so Clara sighs. "I'll let you change. But please don't let that ruin the rest of your night. If you have a nightmare, we'll do what we can to help you, okay?"

You nod, and she seems satisfied enough with that. You take the momentary solitude to check your phone, which has apparently been blowing up with messages from your father. You huff and scroll through all of them.

Let Rick or me know if you need anything.

Hope you're having fun.

What have you been up to?

Be responsible.

Are you getting my texts?

You snort, and type up your reply. I'm fine. We're just doing girl stuff.

Your phone buzzes again as soon as you set it down to rifle through your bag for your pajamas, so you groan and reach for it again.

OK. I'm going to bed soon, but don't hesitate to call if you need anything tonight.

Fighting the urge to roll your eyes, you send back, Thanks, goodnight. See you in the morning.

Mind made up, you quickly change and return to the main room, where your friends are arguing about school drama, from the sound of it.

"Look, all I'm saying, is there's no way they won't get caught," Clara asserts. "There are cameras all over the school."

"But do they actually record anything?" Beth demands.

"I hope not, or I'd get in a lot of trouble," Vijay mutters.

Clara frowns. "What do you mean?"

"Remember the frog thing?"

Addie groans. "I knew you had something to do with that."

"Okay but if they're making our families pay extra to install all these cameras 'for our safety', I certainly hope they're actually using those dumb cameras," Beth says.

"What are you talking about?" you ask, plopping onto the mattress next to Clara and hugging your pillow to your chest.

"Vijay released frogs in the administrative wing, apparently," Clara explains. She gives Vijay a disapproving scowl, but Vijay only shrugs.

You shake your head. "No, no, before that. Who's getting caught for what?"

"You know that global studies teacher who takes people's phones and makes you pay real money to get them back?" Addie asks.

"Yeah, uh, Jamison or something?"

Addie nods. "Yeah, someone broke into his desk and stole all the phones to give back to their owners."

"The absolute legend," Vijay chimes. "Truly the hero we need in these dark times."

"The way you're talking about them, I have to wonder if maybe you know something, Vijay," Clara accuses.

Your friend only shrugs. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. All I know is that I wish I'd thought of it first. I'd buy this person lunch for a month to thank them for their service."

"Well, only time will tell, I suppose," Beth says. "But I think that we should get another movie playing."

Beth does end up putting that musical with the Phils on, and you laugh at Vijay's scathing commentary until fatigue overwhelms you and you lay down and close your eyes. Just to rest them, you tell yourself. But when you open them, the room is dark except for the television screen, still looping the movie's menu. You pick your head up and find that your friends have all fallen asleep, and with a yawn, you rejoin them. You don't even realize that your concern over nightmares is the last thing on your mind.

AN: *swoops in after almost a full year of no updating and throws this at y'all because that's my superpower or something*

Real talk, my motivation to write has been non-existent and the only reason I'm posting this now is because I have been staring at it for, probably a year, and that's not an exaggeration. I can't promise more and/or timely updates even with being quarantined because while I do spend the majority of my time thinking about oban, actually putting those thoughts on paper is... hard! Really hard. Also, this chapter took a weird and unexpected turn and I decided to just go with it so now I have to redo years of planning and try to figure out how to connect the dots, but it was too important to me to give this poor kid some friends because I didn't want her to be lonely and missing Jordan and Aikka :(

I also feel the need to put this out there, just in case, I guess? I know more people have been sharing their own fics about what happens after Oban, and that's awesome! I'm always glad to see more content for this small fandom. However, as a disclaimer, I am NOT reading any of these fics, because I do not want to consciously or unconsciously steal those authors' ideas (also I'm really bad at comparing myself to others and getting discouraged and giving up lmao). So, any similarities between this fic and those fics is either purely coincidental, or just a really popular headcanon in this fandom! (I did spend a hot minute in the fandom discord where I saw people talking about their ideas, so it's definitely possible).

Additionally, if I ever decide to throw in the towel completely, I'll probably upload the rest of what I do have written somewhere, because I am really happy with a lot of what I have and I'd like people to see them, even if I can't muster the willpower to connect everything together.

Anyway, if you're still out there and following this fic, thank you for your patience, and for reading! And if anyone ever wants to talk about oban, I'm still lurking on my tumblr, nightbloggingbyday, so feel free to shoot me a message or ask in regards to fic/headcanons/really good recipes. Hope this finds you all safe and healthy 3