Zoe. | Recharged. | Book One.

Zoe Bryan. | Sleepover Prep.

September 4th, 2011

I zip up my neon-orange duffel bag after packing away a small number of clothes for my sleepover with Marla. My duffel bag has adjustable velcro straps attached to it, and my fluffy, bright-pink sleeping bag is placed securely underneath them; my bag also has mesh pockets on either side of it to hold extra items. I do a mental checklist in my head as I survey my room, looking around for anything else that I'll need. Marla is downstairs chatting with my parents along with her father, principal Dunham, while they wait for me to finish packing my things. I toss my duffel bag onto my bed as I quickly jog over to my built-in bathroom, which is adjacent to the corner of my bed. I turn the light on from the doorway before answering, and I grab all of the necessary toiletries that I need for an overnight stay.

"Toothbrush," I mumble to myself as I grab my purple, electric toothbrush from the toothbrush holder on the left of the sink. "Mouthwash," I continue to mutter to myself as I squat down to the cabinet underneath my sink and grab the half-used bottle of green mouthwash. It'll do, I guess. I shrug my shoulders and grab a small box of tampons from within that cabinet as well. You never know. I stand back up after closing the cabinet, jog back into my room to put the toiletries into the left side mesh pocket of my duffel bag.

"Okay," I say, looking around my room and doing another mental check for anything that I might be forgetting. I look over at my wooden oak nightstand, where I notice that my phone and my charger are sitting on it. I quickly pick up my phone and its charge off of my nightstand before placing it into the additional mesh pocket on my duffel bag. I survey my bedroom once more in hopes that I have everything that I need. I exhale, blowing out air from in between my lips, which causes some strands I'm here in front of my face to move upward from their original position in front of my eyesight for a few seconds, before landing back in their place of origin. Frankly, I'm nervous I've never had a Sleepover with anyone from my high school, especially the most popular individual from set high school. 

I move the strands of hair that are in the line of sight of my left eye behind my ear as I exhale once more and pick up my duffel bag to head downstairs. Suddenly, my cell phone rings. I place my duffel bag back onto my bed and pull out my cell phone from the mesh pocket. I look at the caller ID, and my eyebrows narrow in confusion. An unknown number? Who could that be? I usually wouldn't answer phone calls like these, but something is telling me to answer the call.

I slide my finger across the screen, to the right, and place a phone up to my ear. "Hello?" I answered inquisitively, but the response that I got on the other end of the line put me in shock.

"Zoe! You have to help me; please. Help me. Please!" A teenage-sounding boy, screams out through the phone; before I hear voices with heavy accents that I can't make out. Shortly after that, the call is disconnected. My mouth goes dry as I stare over at my doorway in utter panic. I let my phone for the carpet on my floor, and begin to pace around my bedroom.

Who was that little boy?  And how did he know my name? How did he get my number in the first place? Thoughts like these continue to swirl around in my hand before I hear Marla calling my name from downstairs. I quickly snap back to reality and place my phone back into the mesh pocket of my duffel bag after retrieving it from the floor. Luckily, my phone didn't break thanks to my durable phone case, which has a built-in screen protector.

"Coming!" I respond before turning out my bedroom light and leaving my room with my duffel bag in hand as I make my way downstairs.

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Reference

WooshBeauty. (2019, April 9). Frustrated Travel GIF by WooshBeauty - Find & Share on GIPHY. Retrieved June 14, 2020, from https://giphy.com/gifs/k6WnYADEhQbY7s7oeV