Justified Paranoia

"Dude, you're afraid of the dark?"

Sara's face visibly paled. 

She should have expected this.

The question had often been shot at her in many shapes or forms when people found out- usually accidentally or by confession. And now that she thought of it, mostly at sleepovers.

Just like this one. 

Why, oh why, did I agree to another stupid sleepover?

She breathed in, her face on fire. "Look, it's just a fear, like arachnophobia, it's quite common actually-" 

Danielle, her friend, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. For babies. Not you."

"Are you sure Sara's not a baby?" her classmate, Jessica quipped.

Sara glared at her. "Shut up." A fireball grew in her chest, threatening to explode. "I am not a baby."

"No, I'm pretty sure you're a baby," Danielle shot back. 

"I am not!"

"Then what are you? A mentally unstable person?" Danielle held up her hands, palms wide, and waved them like a lunatic. "Do you need a shrink?"

Sara's eyes widened. Her head felt like a block of ice. 

Am I going to lose the only friends I have here?

"Look, Jessica, Danielle, just give me four minutes. I'll explain."

Danielle scoffed. "What else have I got to do anyways?"

Jessica pumped her fist. "Yeah! What she said!" Sara looked pointedly at her. 

She shrugged."I feel like I can get some laughs out of this when I retell it.". 

"Um, no, it's not funny. It's an actual phobia." Sara continued, "Besides, for me, it's what the dark symbolizes. Danger. I mean, who knows who or what things are there? An intruder, a serial killer, or a rabid dog." She shuddered. "Is that comical?"

She turned on Jessica. "Is rabies funny, Jessica?"

"Look, I-"

She held up a finger and looked at Danielle, who was as smug as ever.  "I understand society makes it seem...unusual for an adult to be afraid of the dark, but-"

"Unusual is too mild a term." 

Sara glared at Danielle. "But to me it's normal. You think I'm a baby, but have you ever lived with it?" She pointed to her face. "Look at me. I have so many dark circles that not even the best makeup artist can cover them. And if I do sleep, I want to keep the light on, which prevents me from sleeping. It's a vicious cycle. The only way is for me to install a special timer that dims the lights just right in my bedroom- and it costs two-thousand dollars. I also have to specially order a device that allows me to single-handedly turn off all the lights outside my bedroom at once. And don't even get me started on my electric bill."

She closed her eyes. "I want to be a Language Arts teacher, but I can't even stand annotating classic horror stories in Lit class. Edgar Allan Poe, especially. When we study him, I..." She rubbed her forehead. "I have to pull an all-nighter for several days a week so I don't have panic attacks. I can't even go to the movie theater at night. And a whole list of stuff that's plain annoying."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "I still think you need a shrink."

Sara huffed. "Was this all for nothing? A shrink, or therapist, or whatever you're thinking of won't work. Believe me, I've tried them all since childhood, yet here I am today like this. I've suffered my whole life and it's not going away anytime soon. No matter how much I want to, I can't change."

"But then you wouldn't have these problems-"
Sara cut her off. "Oh, stop. I have phobias, just like you have your stupid obsessions. I'm normal. Just like everyone out there. My fears are not up for discussion. End. Of. Story." She stopped. "What are you doing?"
Jessica's smile turned evil. She raised her hand, and-
The lights suddenly switched off.
The End.

Hope you enjoyed this super short story. Feedback is definitely appreciated.