midnight

11:59

11:59 am

The colon between the numbers on my alarm clock blinked mockingly at me.

I sighed and turned over on my bed. I looked back to my phone and continued scrolling through a list of fanfiction. Unfortunately, I had already read most of them so I had nothing to do. If you're asking why I'm not sleeping, well, sleep is for the weak. I inwardly groaned and turned, lying on my face. Boring.

12:00 am

Tap. I jerked my head to the side, my eyes widening.

I heard another tap on my window and this time I lurched up. Maybe I'm imagining things.

Tap. I looked toward the window. It was where the noises were coming from. I swung my legs over my bed and stood up. Carefully placing my feet on the ground, I made sure the floor didn't creak and wake up my parents.

I took a deep breath and grabbed my curtain. I gripped the cloth tighter. Here goes nothing. I whipped the curtain aside and looked down. There was a dark figure down there. 

I closed the curtain violently and tried not to panic. Shit, now they know I'm up here cause I opened my curtain. What do I do? Do I wake my parents? Where's my knife? Wha-
"Teri!" a muffled hiss was sounded from outside, awaking me from my panic zone. Was that...? I cautiously opened the curtain again and looked more carefully. Someone was waving up at me and I peered down. Oh. It was my friend, Zaina. I opened the window.

"What the heck," I whisper-yelled at her. "It's midnight, why the hell are you here?"

Zaina grinned at me and casually walked over to the tree next to my window. She started climbing it while I stood there gaping.

When she finally reached my window, my friend croached down and grabbed onto a tree branch. I could see that she was practically vibrating with excitement. "YOU NE-"

I quickly covered her mouth with hand, nearly shoving her out of the tree. "Wait a minute, I need to close the door; my parents will hear us."

I closed the door as quietly as I could and walked back to my window. "Okay," I said, leaning forward against the window. "Now explain to me why the fuck you're at my window at 12:00 am, and the reason why you threw rocks at my window like some cliche movie." I crossed my arms. "You could've just texted me."

Zaina sighed heavily. "Just," she took her phone out of her backpocket and started tapping away. Suddenly, a car slowly appeared and came to a stop in front of her house. The windows rolled down and five heads popped out.

I stared as the five figures waved at me. "Okay, what the-"

"Okay shut up," Zaina said, waving my confusion off. "Get dressed and bring some money too." She turned away, looking for a way down the tree. "Also, bring a jacket because it's chilly at night even if it's summer." She started making her way down. "I'll see you down there~"

I stared after her. What?

Despite my confusion, I changed into a oversized sweatshirt and jean shorts. Praying my parents don't wake up before I get back, I slipped out the window and placed my feet on a tree branch. After I closed the window, I carefully made my way down the tree and walked to where Zaina was waiting in front of the car. The windows were closed again, so I couldn't see who was inside.

Zaina beamed at me and slid open the car door. Five more of my friends were like sitting in the car, smiling at me.

"Hey hey~" one the girls, Cierra waved lazily at me.

"I'm-what-huh?" I spluttered.

"Just get in," the driver said. She turned around and gesticulated at me. I warily stepped into the car, taking a seat next to Cierra. Zaina got in after me and clambered into the seats at the back of the car.

The car door slammed shut and the large vehicle did a u-turn. They left my neighborhood and got on the main road. There were only a few cars passing by because it was so late. That's when I spoke up. "Okay, alright, haha funny prank, wow. What the fuck is going on? I feel like I've said that like a hundred times today. Also, what was up with all that rock throwing and tree climbing? That's so unoriginal."

Everyone in the car (except the driver, of course) turned around and stared at me. Then they all burst into laughter. I stared flatly at them before tugging at the car door, attempting to open it and throw myself out.

"Wait, Teri," someone wheezed from behind me. They reached out and grabbed me by the wrist. "I know you love death but now is not the time."

I turned around and looked into the face of my other friend, Xandra. "You love death as much as I do." I said with a straight face and monotone voice.

Xandra stopped and shrugged. "True." With that she leaned back and took her phone back out, scrolling slowly as if she was reading something. 

"Ok, I'll explain what's going on." I turned to the speaker. This time it was another friend, Jackie. "So what happened was that our driver, Maxine here," she patted the girl on the shoulder, "suddenly showed up to my house like we did to yours except she was alone. All she said was to get ready and that we're going on an adventure with our squad." Jackie shrugged. "And now the full squad is here."

"And unfortunately, I'm broke," another girl spoke up.

"Oh my god, Faith, your parents literally gave you a hundred bucks yesterday, what the crud are you talking about." Cierra rolled her eyes, twisting around in her seat to face her.

Faith stared back at her. "I don't see your point."

Cierra made a face. "That doesn't even make sense."

"Whoop," Max (short for Maxine if you didn't figure that out) suddenly said and the car swerved abruptly, causing my head to smack off the window.

"You suck at driving," I rebuked her.

"You suck dick," Max shot back.

"WATCH YOUR MOUTH." Faith yelled.

"Ok first of all Max, that was completely unnecessary and, guys? Where are we going?" I asked them, leaning forward to see through the front window better.

Cierra turned towards me and grinned. "The diner that we always meant to go to but never did."

"Ohh...and then we're going home?"

"Hah!" Zaina laughed from the backseat. "That's not even close to finishing tonight."

I hummed, acknowledging their words. My worries started fading away. This might actually be a fun night. For the first time that night, I let myself relax and crack a smile.