Paper Thin

• 43: Focus on the Fun •

Melody

After school, we piled into two cars; Noah, Cora, and Alani in Alani's car, and Emma, Harvey, Carson and I in Carson's. When we arrived at Emma's house, we all got out of the cars and filed into the house one by one.

The foyer was simple, browns and whites complimenting each other as they covered the stairs, the walls, the doors and window frames. There was a little table with photos of a young Emma and her parents. I smiled and turned to Emma.

"Is it okay if I change in the bathroom?" I asked.

Emma nodded. "Of course. The rest of you, I can show where to drop your stuff, and change."

Once in the bathroom, I locked the door and changed into a pair of leggings and an oversized brown sweater. I fixed my hair into a quick side braid and smoothed out my clothes. I took a deep breath and left the bathroom.

My sock covered feet padded softly against the honey coloured hardwood as I made my way out to the living room. I sat down on the big couch, beside Carson, who was already out of his scrubs. He gave me wide smile as I slipped into the spot between him and the armrest. I laced our fingers together without thinking and rest my head on his shoulder.

"I don't think I've ever seen you in this casual of an outfit," Carson mumbled, resting his cheek against the top of my head. My cheeks started to heat. Was it a bad thing? Did I look ugly? Or frumpy? "You look beautiful."

Before I could accept or deny the compliment, Noah and Alani walked into the room. I stared down at Carson's thumb, which was tracing circles on the back of my hand. As everyone finished changing, they came into the living room, one by one.

"Ugh, Noah, just let me sit here," Alani whined.

"You got it last time Alani," Noah retorted.

"All the more reason to give it to me... it's my seat," Alani said.

"Wait, is that..." Noah leaned close to inspect the fabric. "Just as I thought. Your name isn't embroidered here."

They went back and forth over the comfy recliner chair as Harvey walked in. He sat next to Carson and put his hands behind his head, leaning back into the soft velvety sofa. Cora went over to the shorter couch and lied down on her back, her head against the armrest. Alani, who lost the fight went over to Cora and lifted her feet before sitting down.

"Noah sucks," Alani said to Cora who laughed.

"Love you too!" Noah grinned as he reclined the chair.

I tucked my legs underneath me as Emma entered the room. She tossed a blanket at Noah, one at Harvey, one at Carson and another at Alani and Cora. Carson spread the blanket across the two of us, as Alani picked up the remote to turn on the movie.

"Did you need help with the snacks?" Harvey asked Emma, who smiled.

"Sure!" She said, trying to hide her excitement as Harvey got up to help her in the kitchen. Alani and Noah wiggled their eyebrows at each other, making the rest of us chuckle as the two disappeared around the corner.

I played with Carson's fingers on top of the soft blue blanket trying to distract myself from worrying about the snacks that they might bring out.

"So, I say we watch The Conjuring and then the second one – because it's hilarious. Then Saw and then we'll see, where we go from there but I'm thinking The Devil's Advocate," Alani said. Cora groaned.

"Please not The Devil's Advocate, I won't sleep for weeks!" She whined dramatically.

"Yeah, let's go for Child's Play instead," Noah suggested.

"I love Chucky!" Carson laughed. The sound brought a smile to my face. It warmed my heart and radiated throughout my body.

"Okay, fine. Child's Play it is," Alani sighed.

I took a deep breath after deciding to contribute to the conversation. "You'd better not make me want to throw out my old dolls," I said with a wide smile.

"Maybe... maybe not..." Alani giggled.

Emma and Harvey entered the room with a tray in each pair of hands. Emma was holding orange frosted chocolate cupcakes, while Harvey had popcorn and chips on his.

I guessed the key to friendship must be stuffing one's face with sugary and salty treats. Maybe that's why I'd never had any friends... Though I hadn't moved to Alcott High because I wanted friends, I actually liked having them – as exhausting as it might be.

When Harvey put his tray down in front of us, I sighed. Maybe I could try the whole 'friend' thing. I reached for the popcorn and took a handful.

"Okay, The Conjuring," I cheered leaning back on the couch.

***

Yikes. That's all I could think of to describe the first movie. It was scarier than anything I'd seen before. It's sequel, however, was laughable in comparison, giving Carson's arm relief from the death grip I had it trapped in for two hours. His arm was thrown over my shoulders, but my fingers kept reaching to his biceps when I was surprised. By the second movie, my knees were pulled up to my chest so I could duck behind them too.

The doorbell rang halfway through Saw, making everyone jump, but I was more than grateful to get away from the gore. Alani hit pause and we all looked at each other.

"Trick-or-treaters!" Noah exclaimed, excitedly.

"Anyone want to play hide and clap with them?" Alani asked with a mischievous look on her face.

"Hell no!" Harvey shuddered, probably thinking about the scene we had watched earlier in our horror movie marathon. The rest of us laughed in response. Emma sat up from her seat next to Harvey.

"Okay, I've got the scream mask and scary music..." she started. "But please only scare them a little. Don't scar them for life okay?"

While at first, I was unsure about how I felt about it initially, the scared looks on kid's faces made me smile in a twisted sort of way. I could understand Alani's joy to a certain degree. We gave the children candy in the end, so we didn't feel too bad about freaking them out.

By the time the neighbourhood kids left us alone, everyone was hungry and admittedly, so was I. They were ordering pizza and we had the rest of Saw to watch. Maybe I could handle it. I could just focus on the fun to distract myself from the rest. Carson wrapped his arm around me as we sat back on the couch.

Focus on the fun, I told myself.

___________

Author's Note: Hello, I am alive. I'm sorry I'm not as active asI thought I would be! I changed where I was going with one chapter and was happy but then was like "hmmm... what next!?" so that took a while! But I hope you enjoyed this! It's much more upbeat than usual! The calm before the storm perhaps?? HAHA WHO KNOWS! Well! Vote if you liked it and have a wonderful day!