I Tried to Kill My Dumb Friend and Now I'm on Probation

Chapter 2: The Sleepover

A sleepover.

So what?

Right?

It's not like it means anything, after all. We're just friends. We are. There is absolutely no problem with two friends sleeping over at each other's houses.

...But what if he... what if I... what if something...

No! Nothing, nothing, nothing is wrong with a sleep over. I repeat—nothing!

Oh, man. I keep thinking something's gonna happen. Why do I keep thinking something's gonna happen? I mean, just because he's a boy and I'm a girl doesn't mean... things are going to get carried away.

...Or will they...?

Aggh! No! No they won't! Jeez, sometimes I wish there were no boys in the world. Or girls, for that matter. No genders at all. Then nobody would fall in love with anybody, and the human race would die out, and nobody would even have this problem.

Maybe I should just cancel our plans...? But... no. Then I'd just be a coward, and a coward over nothing, at that. No, I have to go. I have my pride, after all, and never in my life have I ever backed down from anything just because of some stupid boy...

I lie on my couch, contemplating this. Once again, I'm attempting to sort things out, to come up with an answer. Finally, I come up with this straightforward battle plan:

Go to sleep over at Billy's.

Sort things out once and for all.

Go to sleep.

Wake up.

Go home.

This plan sounds pretty stable, and so by the time I start packing my toothbrush and clothes and all that stuff, I'm feeling just a little bit better. A little.

Eventually, it's time to go to Billy's house. I can see his house from my bedroom window, but the walk down the street feels like an eternity. With every step, I repeat my plan under my breath.

"Get in, get answers, get out," I mutter. "Get in, get answers, get out. Get in, get..."

I ring the doorbell. Any consolation I felt after I first made my plan is now dead and gone. I'm nervous again. My pillowcase full of stuff is slipping slowly from my once again sweaty fingers, and I struggle to grasp it in my hands.

I hear the clumsy thumping of Billy's feet running on carpet. The door pops open, and Billy nearly jumps out at me like a jack-in-the-box.

"Hi, Man-day!" He screams into my face. I pick up traces of recently-consumed sugar on his breath. Great. Now he'll be keeping me up all night with thirty-seven cupcakes' worth of extra energy. Not like I'll be sleeping, anyway...

He grabs hold of my arm and drags me into the living room. He jumps on the couch and starts bouncing on it.

"So, whaddoya wanna do first, huh?" he says. "Play video games? Eat snacks? Play a board game? Eat dinner? Play pretend? Eat candy? Play? Eat? Play? Eat? Play!?"

I pause. "Well, I... Actually, there's something I think we should talk about."

He tilts his head, like a puppy attempting to listen. "Mandy... Billy... talk...?" he says slowly.