Don't Text Back

Chapter 7

TJ and I ended the day with coconut ice pops. A woman selling them out of a cart was down to her very last two and gave them to TJ and me.

"What a lovely couple," she said, taking off before I could even explain that we were not a couple.

TJ laughed. "Couple of bus buddies," he said.

"Don't say that," I chuckled. "That sounds a little weird."

On our way back to the house, TJ and I talked about jobs. He told me that the pet store his job was hiring. All I needed was my ID and to pass a drug test. I had everything I needed to apply, except a high school diploma. He said they may hire me if I look like I'm able to follow simple instructions. He said I seemed like a sharp girl and that getting a job would be easy here.

"Well," he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Enjoy the movie with the girls."

"Thanks," I said then watched him walk away.

I was about to enter the house, but I heard arguing coming from behind the door. Someone, Rebecca I believed, was yelling for someone to help her. I tried opening the door, but it was locked. I pushed the key in, but my fingers trembled so much that it dropped them. With the keys back in the lock, I turned them and walked inside.

Fear traps me like a pillow over my mouth, making it almost impossible for me to breathe. What I had seen could not be unseen. The keys dropped from my hand. Upstairs, stretching to break free from something grabbing her was Rebecca. She looked at me with terror on her face. When I looked over to see what she was trying to escape from, I saw two curled hooves grabbing her feet. Whatever had her, dropped her when they noticed me. Rebecca immediately stood up and wiped herself down like nothing happened. I could only stand there, speechless.

"What are you looking so surprised at?" she asked while walking down the stairs.

I pointed to the top of the stairs, my finger trembling. "Something had you," I choked on my words. "You were screaming for help."

Rebecca rubbed her arm, lowered her eyebrows, and glared at me. "I was practicing for a skit at my school. It's called acting."

"But, but-" I took a deep breath, trying to get my breathing together. "It had hooves. They were wrapped around you, growing curly hooves clutching you."

She shook her head, ran upstairs, then brought down a mannequin with hooves attached to it and a scary white mask on the face part. As soon as I saw it, I felt relieved. The fake hooves were made of cardboard and fake fur. She patted it and smiled. "I Hear Taps at Midnight," she explained. "That's what the skit is called. Come sit down, you're getting pale."

The two of us sat down, and she handed me a water bottle. I sipped out of it, doing my best to calm my heart and soul. I was still shaking. "I'm sorry. By the way, that was some good acting."

"Thank you," she smiled. That was the first time she had smiled at me. I was so happy she was like this instead of avoiding me.

Not wanting to ruin the moment, I asked her to tell me how long she's been taking up acting. She beamed as she talked about something that was obviously her passion. She's been acting for five years and has been in one show on Broadway when she was a kid involving the movie James and the Giant Peach. She was the spider.

"People said the spider fit my personality, so I went for it," she said. "Acting is the only thing I'm good at."

"That's awesome," I said. "I wish I had a passion."

"Sometimes it takes a while to find," she replied. "Amanda still doesn't know what she wants to do in life, but she's having fun searching for passion. You'll find yours."

"Thanks," I said.

"No problem," she said. "How about you help me set up for the movie night. The other girls will be here soon."

"Alright."

***

Amanda, Dakota, and Ameira all came home around the same time. They were happy to finally get in their pajamas to watch a movie. The TV was in Dakota's room, and all of us set up pillows and scattered them onto the floor. We had to vote between Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Bad Moms. I liked the action and voted for the ape's movie. I won. To my surprise, Rebecca sat next to me and the other girls to the side of us. Whenever she laughed at a part, she commented on how she wanted a baby monkey or that she wished animals could actually talk. I know the other girls wanted to shush her, but they didn't out of fear of upsetting her good mood.

After the movie was over, we watched Bad Moms. We weren't even fifteen minutes into the film when Ameira, Amanda, and Dakota fell asleep. I was about to go to sleep myself, but Rebecca tapped me on my shoulder.

"Hey, let's go for a walk." She insisted.

"Now?" I asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Let's just get some air," she said.

Sighing, I gave in, not wanting to get on her bad side. I put on a sweat jacket and my shoes, and the two of us headed out into the cold night.

The night sky was starless and dark. Not many lights were on, making the area around us unwelcoming. I expected for someone to jump out of the shadows at any moment. We walked in the direction of the abandoned house. I wanted to ask her if she was afraid to go this way, but I didn't.

"I love late night walks, but the other girls don't like it much," she said.

"I never did it," I said. "My parents would go crazy if I went anywhere at night."

She nodded her head. "My parents were the same way. I miss doing this, and I haven't in so long."

'It is nice," we said approaching the abandoned house. There was that gusty wind again, picking up speed as we walked. I let out a chuckle. "Every time we pass this place, I swear it gets even windier."

We kept walking. "Yeah. They say that place is cursed."

"You know about the story?" I asked.

"Boy, do I. Everyone around here knows about Griselda."

"Do you believe it?"

"There's no such thing as a dog with the head of a horse named Roger," she said. "Or a haunted cell phone. People are ignorant." She stopped walking and so did I. ''Do you believe that?"

"No," I said. However, as I looked at the house, I began having second thoughts.

"Good," she said. "I mean how cool would it be to explore a haunted house? I always wanted to do it, but not alone."

Did she expect me to go in there with her? Because if she did, that was a no. That would never happen. Before she could say anything else, I started walking back towards our house. I hope that gave her the message that I wasn't interested in going inside. "I'm getting a little cold," I tried to make it seem that I wasn't scared. "Maybe we can do this again another night," I smiled.

She walked next to me, her face wiped of the happiness that was there a few minutes ago. She walked ahead of me, almost stomping. When we got to the house, she didn't talk to me or anything. She just went into her room and slammed the door. I went to my room and shut the door as well.

The night seemed long, and I couldn't sleep. Rebecca was up all night, yelling, screaming, and arguing about something. Every time she yelled I thought she was in trouble. I assumed the girls would go inside and check on her, but there was the possibility of her just acting. I didn't want to check on her just to humiliate myself again. Her screams and pleads sounded so real. So...convincing. I just laid in bed, listening to her shout, 'let me go! Please! I'm so sorry' and more nonsense. After she was done, I finally fell asleep. Finally.