Chapter Text
Spring cleaning was officially the worst idea Junior had ever agreed to.
And considering his history, that was saying something.
Dust covered almost everything in the SML house.
Old boxes lined the hallway.
Chef Pee Pee was angrily sorting kitchen supplies.
Marvin was trying to decide what to throw away.
Rose was organizing closets.
And Jeffy had somehow spent twenty minutes wearing a lampshade as a hat.
“Jeffy, that’s trash!” Marvin yelled.
Jeffy looked offended.
“No, Daddy. This is fashion.”
“It is literally a lampshade!”
“Fashion.”
⸻
Upstairs, Junior, Cody, and Joseph had been assigned the attic.
Which meant they were mostly making a bigger mess.
Joseph opened an old box.
“Dude, there’s so much ancient stuff up here.”
Junior was digging through another one.
“Maybe we’ll find treasure.”
Cody rolled his eyes.
“The only treasure in this house is finding a room that doesn’t smell like crayons.”
Junior pulled out a dusty photo album.
“Huh.”
Joseph looked over.
“A photo album?”
Junior grinned.
“Oh, we’re definitely looking through this.”
Cody sighed.
“That’s an invasion of privacy.”
Junior opened it anyway.
“Exactly.”
⸻
Most of the photos were boring.
Old family pictures.
Random vacations.
Pictures of Marvin looking younger and more stressed.
Some things never changed.
Then Junior stopped.
“…Uh.”
Joseph looked over.
“What?”
Junior turned the page.
And froze.
A little kid smiled from the photograph.
Maybe seven or eight years old.
Long blond hair.
A pink shirt.
A huge grin.
Standing beside a much younger Feebee.
The name written underneath in marker read:
Jenna & Feebee - 2012
⸻
The boys stared.
Joseph blinked.
“…Who’s Jenna?”
Junior shrugged.
“No idea.”
Cody frowned.
“Maybe a cousin?”
Junior flipped to the next page.
Another photo.
The same girl.
Again with Feebee.
Again with Nancy.
Again labeled:
Jenna
⸻
Junior scratched his head.
The dates caught his attention.
Every single photo was from around the same time.
Always Nancy.
Always Feebee.
Always Jenna.
Then Junior turned another page.
And everybody went silent.
The photo showed Jenna sitting at a table drawing.
A familiar blue helmet.
Tongue sticking out slightly in concentration.
A look all three boys recognized instantly.
Junior slowly blinked.
“…Wait.”
Joseph leaned closer.
“…No way.”
Cody adjusted his glasses.
His eyes widened.
The drawing style.
The expression.
The posture.
Even the weird way the kid held the crayon.
“Dude…” Joseph whispered.
Junior looked horrified.
“Dude.”
Cody looked back and forth between the photo and the attic door.
“No.”
Then they heard footsteps.
Coming upstairs.
The attic door opened.
Jeffy stepped inside carrying another box.
“Junior, My daddy say stop throwing things at Joseph—”
He stopped.
Immediately.
The photo album was open.
The picture was visible.
And Jeffy’s eyes landed directly on it.
The color drained from his face.
Instantly
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Junior looked between Jeffy and the picture.
Then back again.
The resemblance suddenly felt impossible to ignore.
The eyes.
The smile.
The way the kid stood.
“Jeffy…” Junior said slowly.
“…Who is Jenna?”
Jeffy froze.
For a second, nobody thought he’d heard.
Then his grip tightened on the box in his hands.
Way too tight.
The room had gone completely silent.
And for the first time since Junior had known him—
Jeffy looked genuinely scared.
The attic went completely silent.
Junior was still holding the photo album.
Joseph was staring at the picture.
Cody was already trying to figure out why Jeffy suddenly looked like he wanted to disappear.
And Jeffy…
Jeffy couldn’t stop looking at the photo.
The old photo.
The one he thought nobody would ever find.
“Jeffy?”
Junior frowned.
“Why do you look like that?”
No response.
Jeffy’s eyes remained fixed on the picture.
A young blond-haired girl smiling at the camera.
Jenna.
A name he hadn’t heard spoken out loud in years.
A name he had worked very hard to leave behind.
⸻
Joseph looked back at the photo.
Then at Jeffy.
Then back again.
“…Dude.”
Junior blinked.
“What?”
Joseph pointed.
“The eyes.”
Junior looked again.
Then paused.
The kid in the picture had different hair.
Different clothes.
Different everything.
And yet…
Something felt familiar.
Junior squinted.
“…Wait.”
Cody slowly adjusted his glasses.
“Oh.”
“Oh?” Junior repeated.
“What does ‘oh’ mean?”
Cody pointed at the picture.
Then pointed at Jeffy.
Then pointed back at the picture.
Junior looked.
Looked again.
And then again.
“…No way.”
Joseph nodded.
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Jeffy immediately grabbed the album.
SLAM.
Closed.
“Nope.”
Junior blinked.
“What?”
“Nope.”
Jeffy tucked the album under his arm.
“We done.”
“Jeffy!”
Junior reached for it.
Jeffy stepped back.
“No.”
Cody’s eyes narrowed.
Which was never a good sign.
Because it meant he was thinking.
And when Cody thought about something, he usually figured it out.
“Jeffy.”
Cody spoke carefully.
“Who is Jenna?”
Jeffy immediately looked away.
Which was answer enough.
Junior gasped.
“Oh my God.”
Joseph gasped too.
“Oh my God.”
“What?” Cody asked.
Junior pointed dramatically.
“HE KNOWS HER!”
“I figured that out already,” Cody deadpanned.
Junior ignored him.
“How do you know her?”
Jeffy shrugged.
Too fast.
Way too fast.
“Just know her.”
Joseph folded his arms.
“That’s suspicious.”
Jeffy began slowly backing toward the attic door.
The album still tucked tightly under one arm.
“Jeffy.”
Cody’s voice stopped him.
Jeffy froze.
“Why does she look like you?”
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Not even Junior.
For a moment, Jeffy’s expression completely fell apart.
Fear.
Panic.
Something else.
Gone almost immediately.
But they saw it.
Junior blinked.
“…Whoa.”
Because Jeffy didn’t deny it.
Not even a little.
⸻
The attic suddenly felt much smaller.
Joseph looked between them.
“…Okay now I’m confused.”
“So am I,” Junior admitted.
Cody watched Jeffy carefully.
Thinking.
Connecting pieces.
The photo.
Jeffy’s reaction.
The resemblance.
The name.
Something important was hidden here.
He didn’t know what.
But he knew it mattered.
“Jeffy.”
Cody spoke quietly.
“You don’t have to tell us.”
Jeffy looked surprised.
“But something about that picture is making you panic.”
Cody continued.
“And that’s not normal.”
Junior nodded.
For once, completely serious.
“Yeah.”
Another silence.
Jeffy’s grip tightened on the album.
Then—
Without saying a word—
He turned.
Opened the attic door.
And left.
⸻
The three boys stood there staring after him.
Junior broke the silence first.
“…Well.”
Joseph nodded.
“That was weird.”
Cody continued staring at the doorway.
Thinking.
Because for the first time since he’d met Jeffy…
There was a mystery.
Not a prank.
Not a joke.
Not chaos.
A real mystery.
And somehow…
It was connected to a little girl named Jenna.