I Almost Killed My Crush's Mom

Chapter 14:: Sleepovers

Chapter 14// Sleepovers

My brain doesn’t seem to want to shut up on the way to Billie’s house.

Is it normal to be nervous? Billie’s one of my really good friends now, so I shouldn’t be so nervous about visiting her house for a sleepover, but I am. I’m scared that she’ll have a mansion for a house. I’m scared that maybe, just maybe this is a practical joke. What if they’ve given me the wrong address? What if it gets really awkward inside? These questions are buzzing around my head: making me shiver with anxiety. I know I’m freaking out over nothing, but I honestly can’t help it. I overthink things, I panic, and it’s all due to my low self-esteem. I can’t help but wonder why the popular girls want to hang out with me. Okay, so the shopping was fun, but I didn’t expect for them to want to hang out with me again afterwards!

I take a deep breath, pulling over at the side of the road and double checking the sticky note currently attached to my jeans. 5 Allard Way, Hamilton. Yeah this is definitely the right street, but which is the right house? I don’t see a mansion anywhere around me. I survey the area, surprised when I make out six little bungalows in the cul-de-sac, hidden away by trees and sweeping gravel driveways. Billie lives here? My eyes widen a little bit in surprise- I always pictured Billie to have a massive house. I mean isn’t being rich one of the reasons these girls are so popular? These houses are a normal size, if anything uniquely smaller due to their one storey quirk. Completely the opposite of what I expected.

I always seem to get the unexpected when I’m around Rita, Billie and Sophie. I’ve painted this image of them in my mind, based on stereotypes and rumours, and actually they’re all wrong. These girls are nothing like I expected them to be. The fact that Billie lives in a normal sized bungalow, and not a giant million dollar mansion is a comforting thought for me: because now I feel less intimidated. It gives me the courage to grab my bag and exit the car, making my way towards the end of the cul-de-sac where I know Billie’s house is. I approach Number 5, and open the white gate onto a sweeping stone driveway. At the bottom of this large driveway is a dainty white bungalow, with a scarlet door.

I hesitate for a second, gulping down the fear that this could all be a prank. I know this isn’t a prank: I know that Billie, Rita and Sophie especially would never be that cruel. Suck it all up Lois and ring the doorbell. And so I make my way down the driveway and knock on the red door, taking a deep breath and waiting a few torturous seconds, until the door finally swings open.

I see a terrifying sight before me.

Billie stands grumpily in front of me, her inky locks tied into two very high, messy pigtails. Her face is covered in a lumpy green concoction, and I almost don’t recognise her due to the lack of eyeliner. “Run while you still can Lois,” Billie whispers, and I hear laughter from behind her, before she’s dragged back inside with an exaggerated squeal. I stand, chuckling, on the doorstep and Sophie appears in the doorway with an eerily angelic smile.

“Welcome to the torture house Lois,” She grabs my arm and pulls me inside. Immediately I’m hit with the warm cinnamon scent of Billie, and I barely have time to register my cosy surroundings before my bag is being dropped to the floor and I’m being pulled down the hallway into a classic stone kitchen. Waiting on the kitchen counter, is a bowl full of lumpy green stew. Billie is sat on a barstool next to it, glaring whilst Sophie paints more of the mixture onto her face.

I wrinkle my nose and look questioningly at Rita, who also has the goo smeared on her skin. “It’s an avocado face mask,” She reassures me, “Completely homemade, although I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of chilli in here somewhere because my face is burning.” She grimaces, “Do you want a drink to go with that face full of gunk?” She indicates towards her Pepsi, pulling on a cheery smile.