Emma: Seventh Grade

Chapter 12: Up All Night

Emma and Lizzie were snuggled together under the covers, eating popcorn and watching the movie. It wasn't too scary at first, but then all of a sudden it became horrifying and gruesome. The girls clung tightly to each other in fearful anticipation throughout the entire movie, and they screamed loudly every time something scared them. Emma didn't even touch the popcorn; the main characters in the movie were brutally tortured and it made it hard to watch, let alone eat.

Despite this, Lizzie insisted on watching another scary movie when the first one was done. Emma reluctantly agreed; the first movie was a little too much for her. She could not get the graphic images out of her head. But maybe a different movie would help with that, even if it was scary.

The second movie was called The Descent, and it was about a group of friends whose cave-exploring adventure went terribly wrong as they encountered a horrific, ugly group of creatures who brutally attacked and killed them one by one. The creatures scared the living daylights out of Emma. She and Lizzie were screaming practically the entire time, and Lizzie accidentally spilled the entire bowl of popcorn all over the bed. Emma almost peed her pants a couple times she was so frightened.

When that movie was done, Emma was literally shaking she was so scared. She knew there was no way she was going to get any sleep tonight, as the image of the bloodthirsty cave-dwelling monsters was still etched in her mind. Her blue eyes were wide with fear, and she was glancing around the room nervously, half expecting one of those awful creatures to jump out at her, rip her guts out, and eat her alive.

"That was some movie," Lizzie commented, seemingly unfazed by the disturbing content they just watched. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."

"Me neither," Emma agreed, her voice shaking. She reached for her phone and started scrolling through Instagram to try and take her mind off of it.

Lizzie was on her phone as well. "Selfie time!" she exclaimed, turning on her camera. Emma squeezed in close to Lizzie and forced a smile. Lizzie snapped a photo and posted it on Instagram. She tagged Emma in it with the caption, "Movie night with my bestie!"

"I like it," Emma said, studying the picture.

"Me too," Lizzie agreed. "We look good together." She snuggled up next to Emma and closed her eyes. "Goodnight, sweetie. I love you to the moon and back."

Emma laid her phone down on the end table beside her and put her head on the pillow. "Goodnight, love you too," she said to Lizzie.

It was two in the morning, and within a half hour it seemed like Lizzie was sleeping. She slept so quietly it was hard to tell if she really was, but Emma was pretty certain. On the other hand, Emma was wide awake. She jumped at every little sound she heard, and she could not find a comfortable position to lay in. Every time she moved, her sweatpants would slip down and she could feel her butt being exposed. It didn't help that she was sleeping in a new place either; Emma often found it harder to sleep in new places. Her mind kept replaying the gruesome and scary scenes from the movies they had watched, and it was making her even more anxious.

After tossing and turning for about an hour, Emma went on her phone and started playing Candy Crush. That seemed to help distract her from replaying the movie scenes in her head, but she was still wide awake. She glanced jealously over at Lizzie, who was sleeping like a princess. How could anyone sleep after the movies they just saw?

Just then, the door slowly creaked open. Gasping in fright, Emma bolted upright in bed, only to see that it was Bison creeping into the room. She sighed a sigh of relief, but her heart was still pounding. Emma desperately wanted to sleep in order to obtain relief from her racing thoughts, but she was far too panicky. She climbed out of bed and paced around the room, trying to use up some of her nervous energy and make herself tired.