While Brooke and Nessa were storming out of the restaurant, Caleb Wolfe spent the entire day preparing Movie Night.

He went to Rocket Video, rents at least two dozen movies, and races back to the beach house where Caleb worked his magic.

After stacking twenty-four VHS tapes on the plywood table, Caleb opened four bags of popcorn and tossed each of them in the microwave.

Heated kernels explode like gunfire. Golden butter showered in the air. He placed four glass bowls underneath the microwave, opened the fridge, and gathered four bottles of fizzy orange soda.

Glass chandeliers hover stiffly above the ceiling. Books tucked inside wooden shelves sitting near the boxed television set.

The interior is rich with pastel colors. Living room couches sagged like wrinkles. Some were dipped in turquoise; others matched the color of melted butter and cotton candy.

In front of the furniture are a long, glass table and a box television set sitting on a chunk of plywood.

Now, the kitchen is very hard to explain; it is like sleek ivory on the warm sand. Wooden dining room table encircled by desolate chairs.

Despite having various rooms, the massive beach house seemed deserted; neighbors, bikini babes, or stoned surfers often played on the vast seashore but never looked inside the beautiful castle.

All they can do is watch the creamy white foam and salty seawater beat against the sand. The tranquil sound is tainted by melancholy guitar chords.

After spreading out the sugary snacks, Caleb approaches the food cabinet, where his girlfriend Brooke had stored in the food cabinet.

Unfortunately, he couldn't get away from Johnny Phoenix's solemn tune. The nineteen-year-old boy has been locked up in his room, singing "Nutshell" by Alice in Chains for five hours.

Not only did the song drove Caleb insane, but it was ruining his good mood.

"Oh my God," he called aloud. "Johnny, can you please not play that depressing song again?"

Johnny's guitar strumming stop. "Sorry."

Caleb Wolfe positioned the soda bottles on the coffee table. "Are you going to help me set up this Movie Night Party or not?"

A nonchalant Johnny strums his guitar some more. "Maybe later."

"Seriously?" Caleb was thinking as he scurries up the steps.

Opening the door, he witnessed a young man sitting on his black bed, holding his dark brown guitar.

Oil-black flannel shirt, white Puka shells, and acid-washed jeans.

The bitter smell of Old Spice and citrus flew past Johnny's nose.

Grunge bands and old action movie posters scatter across the dense gray walls. Tossed clothes soiled the light brown carpet.

A sleek, black katana settled on top of his dresser drawer.

Thanks to Brooke's aunt, Brooke, Nessa, Caleb, and Johnny began living together in the beach house. They have running water, food, and a place to sleep.

Every once in a while, they receive endless calls and written letters from their workaholic parents, sending their sons and daughter guineas to buy food or clothes.

Now, gold, silver, and copper guineas are the currency supernatural creatures and mutants use to purchase supplies.

While gold symbolizes first-class, silver represents the middle-class, whereas copper is the epitome of the underprivileged.

Those who receive copper pieces worked in degrading tasks such as janitors, farmers, and other jobs.

Though their parents never reveal their jobs would often leave work to check on the kids.

After tuning his guitar, Johnny places it next to his prized cassette tapes and looks up at Caleb.

"Hey." he greeted, playing with his white Puka shell necklace. "What's up?"

Caleb analyses Johnny's guitar. "Why are you always moping in your room?"

"I'm not."

"Yeah, you are," grunted Caleb. "You haven't been this sultry since Kurt Cobain had passed away."

Johnny glowers at his laidback best friend.

"I like peace and quiet." he declared.

"Of course you do," Caleb observed. "Don't you like Halloween?"

The grunge-obsessed James Dean expressed a loud sigh and fell back on his mattress.

Halloween used to be his favorite holiday when he was little. He would dress up as a Batman while his younger sister loved disguising herself as Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood from Top Gun.

Whenever they stop at a house, Nessa would branches her tiny arms out and races around Johnny's legs like an airplane.

Now, they can't talk to each other without bickering. Stretching his arms across the thick mattress, Johnny gets up from his bed.

His brown eyes studied Caleb's graffiti T-shirt, military pants, and yellow Timberland shoes.

Indigo blue snapback cap fastened around Caleb's head as his twisted dreadlocks began sticking out of his cap like hay.

Scratching the fresh patch of acne on his forehead, Johnny asks when the girls are coming home.

"No idea." Caleb shrugs. "Brooke and Nessa are probably at the diner, working their butts off."

All of a sudden, the boys hear the door burst open. Caleb and Johnny both trade startled looks before staggering downstairs.

"Who the hell could that be?" Johnny was thinking as he rode his fingers down the white staircase.

Meanwhile, Caleb reads the mysterious intruders' thoughts and began to relax.

"It's Nessa and Brooke," he sighed. "They're here."

"What?" Johnny stopped for a moment. They left work this early?"

"Apparently," Caleb shrugged.

The boys quickly scrambled downstairs to discover Nessa and Brooke arriving in the living room.

Thin, worn lines appear under their eyes.

Their hair is tousled from the adrenaline and angry breeze. White sand grains sprinkled the kitchen floors.

Stunned by the girls' unexpected arrival, the boys exchange weird looks at each other.

"Hey, babe." Brooke waltzed towards Caleb and gives him a quick kiss on his lips.

"Uh, hey." her surprised boyfriend looks at her in surprise. "Did Mr. Dickhead give you two a day off or something?"

"Nope." said a nonchalant Nessa, removing her navy green bomber jacket. "We quit our jobs."

Johnny couldn't believe what he's hearing.

"Whoa, you two quit?" he asks. "But why?"

Brooke and Nessa sighed, then told the boys the events that had occurred at work.

"Wait, you two were robbed again?" Johnny frowned.

Brooke and Nessa both nod in unison.

"Jesus Christ," Caleb moaned. "And I thought Brooklyn was crazy!"

Sauntering towards the living room couch, the exhausted Brooke deteriorates on the pillow-like seats.

"After we left the diner, we took a taxi and walked home."

Caleb blinked his eyes rapidly. He wanders towards the girls, studying them closely. "And you're sure you two took those assholes out?"

"Technically, we shot them in the legs and shoulder," Brooke explained sheepishly. "But we told the robbers to give the hostages' stuff back."

An astonished Johnny whistled, "Whoa, that's crazy."

"I know," Nessa concurred with a shrug. She swung the microwave door open, took out a bag of cooked popcorn, and tore the package.

"While we were being held hostage, one of those robbers was busy preaching about society or whatever."

She tosses the cooked, buttery kernels inside her mouth. "If it weren't for Brooke and me, we would yawn ourselves to death."

Caleb smirked, then takes the bag of popcorn from her hands. "Of course, you did."

Running her fingers across her cracked lips, Brooke mentions the wanted posters to the boys.

"The police are looking for us," she says. "They think they can reward felons ten million dollars just so they can see us locked away in a cell."

An enraged Nessa threw up her arms.

"And the worst part is, no one wants to hear our side of the story!" she exclaimed. "Last December, we were attacked by that horrible octopus monster for no reason!"

Before the children got themselves tucked in bed, they heard a loud shriek coming from the water.

Gathering their weapons, the teenage quartet head outside and discovered an angry Kraken compressing the waves with its dominant tentacles.

Frantic to protect their new home, Johnny, Brooke, Caleb, and Nessa all worked together and killed the towering sea monster.

Putting her hair up in a frizzy ponytail, an exhausted Brooke did a menacing scoff.

She recalled the time when Brooke and her friends were walking outside to look for a girl who went missing a couple of years ago.

Sadly, a wealthy college boy-from out of town-impeded on their mission by giving Brooke unwanted advances.

Luckily for the teenage visionary, she sprayed perfume in the boy's eyes, pulled him out of the car, and she and her friends abandoned him on the side of the road.

"Yeah, that wanted poster even mentioned that sleaze." Brooke scoffs. "It's a good thing I knocked him out with my sleepy perfume."

Putting the bag of popcorn on the table, the teenage telepath utters an angry sigh. "God, I still wished I beat the living shit out of him."

His girlfriend put on a tender smile, then wrap her arms around Caleb and kissed his cheek.

"I am glad you didn't," she whispers.

"Thanks." he puts on a warm smile as Brooke wraps her arms around his neck. "So, did that asshole boss shat his pants?"

Brooke kissed her boyfriend on his upper lip.

"Oh, definitely," she cracked up.

"I don't exactly remember all the details, but when Nessa told Mr. Wakeman that we're Thelma and Louise-" Brooke explodes into a loud giggle- "I wanted to die of laughter."

Caleb and Nessa laughed whereas Johnny squints his eyes at Brooke.

"Thelma and Louise?" he asked. "Who the hell are they?"

Nessa shoots him a strange look. "Are you fucking serious?"

Johnny shamefully nods.

"It's a movie about two badass women taking a road trip to Mexico," Nessa explains, her hazel eyes shone like wildfire.

"What?" Caleb looks at her funny. "I thought Thelma and Louise were driving away from the pigs because they offed a rapist."

Nessa's cheeks glowed bright pink. "Well, yeah. That too."

Her older brother Johnny stumbled upon the VHS tapes and picked one from the stack.

"Are You Afraid of the Dark?" he read. "This is the movie we're watching?"

"Uh, yeah." Caleb beamed. "It was the shit during our sophomore year in Idlewild."

Idlewild is a boarding school the children attended when they were younger. Run by Headmaster Prometheus, the classmates were fed, pampered, and trained to defend the world from supernatural monsters.

The boarding school continued to live on until Headmaster Prometheus died of AIDS. And so, the government shuts down Idlewild then forced the staff, children, and custodians out of the building.

It was a painful event to type on a blank page, but I am sure these four unusual antiheroes will find a method to cope with the pain.

Massaging her exhausted eyelids with her left hand, a sullen Brooke tells her fellow friends that she missed being Idlewild.

She missed her old friends, the rigorous training, and the moments she shared.

A sympathetic Caleb kissed her forehead and held Brooke's soft hands.

"Easy now, my beautiful woman," he says in a soothing voice. "Let my warm embrace ease that horrendous pain."

He spread out his arms and Brooke slithered right in, causing Nessa to let out a moan.

"Hey guys, I just got home from work," she reminds them. "And the last thing I want to see are you two making out in front of me."

Johnny rolls his eyes, whereas the teenage couple ignored her. They hugged for a few seconds before sharing their "I love you's" to each other.

After their embrace, Johnny consoled Brooke, telling her that Idlewild will always be their home.

But the one thing Headmaster Prometheus taught these kids is that change is a part of life.

Nodding her head in agreement, an amiable Nessa placed her hand on Brooke's back.

"Johnny's right, Brooke," she says. "Change is a huge deal when you're growing up. The only thing we can do is accept it."

Her older brother grinned, ruffling Nessa's hair with his left hand. "Aw, thanks, little sis."

"Yeah." Nessa went on, nodding. "Change is really hard. I mean, look at us."

"We used to go to school, hang out with our parents, and live in our own homes. But now, we are crashing at your aunt's beach house, taking shitty jobs, and missing our parents."

Caleb sighed, "Yeah, life fucking sucks."

Frowning, Brooke unzips her green backpack, pulls out a huge plastic bag, and held it out for the boys to see.

"Holy shit." Caleb takes a closer look at the bag and gives it to Johnny whose eyes widen like baseballs.

They couldn't fathom the fact that the horrid Mr. Wakeman had given Nessa and Brooke five-hundred guineas—both dipped silver and gold.

"Here's the money Nessa and I earned," she says. "With the coins our parents made, we could be millionaires."

"Holy shit," Caleb said again.

"I know, right?" Nessa jumped up and down in excitement. "This cash should last a while until we find another job."

Johnny disappeared for a moment and came back with an empty glass container.

"So far, we have two saving jars." he began, unscrewing the red lid.

He positioned the jar on the table and poured the coins until they touch the rim. 

"Okay." Nessa yawns. "Well, I have to take a shower."

"Same here," said Brooke, loosening her hair. 

"Maybe after we're finished, we can watch some movies."

Johnny smiles, as he closes the plastic Ziploc bag and fastens the lid on the money jar.

"Okay," he says. "Caleb and I will take care of the money, you two go take your showers."

"Okay."

Hustling upstairs, Brooke and Nessa collected the clothes from their rooms, then attended two different bathrooms.

Pink lather and warm steam. Water slithers across nude skin. Vapor materialized on the glass surface.

After taking their hot showers, the girls put on their fresh clothes.

Nessa sports a white T-shirt with red stripes and denim blue overalls while Brooke wears a soft orange crop top and "Mom" jeans.

Bare feet slapped against the wooden stairs.

Brown hair flounced in the wind.

Waddling up to Caleb, Nessa picks up the opened bag of popcorn and asks him when they'll start the movie.

Caleb let out a yawn. "I would start the movie right now if Layne Staley would get his ass down here."

"Will you stop treating me like I am your wife, Caleb?" Johnny shouted from upstairs. "I'll be down there in a minute!"

"No, please take your time!" Caleb replies sarcastically. "I'll be sure to bring you a cane to help you walk faster!"

"Fuck you!"

Swiveling her eyes, Brooke declined on the couch. She ran her fingers through the brown curls, staring at the gray television screen.

Meanwhile, Nessa chewed on the buttery popcorn until something got stuck in her teeth.

"Ugh," she grunts picking it out with her pinkie. "I always hate these things."

Plopping herself beside Brooke, Nessa pours half of her popcorn in one of the glass bowls and waited until her brother rushed downstairs.