Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall.....

A Very Interesting Sleepover

I drove to school, feeling like a giant weight had been removed from my shoulders. It was a relief that I could go to school without worrying about Arista causing me any more panic attacks. I parked my car and got out. "Babe!", I heard someone say. I saw Angel running towards me. "Angel!", I say, especially happy to see him. I run into his arms and he holds me tight. "I'm sorry I never got the chance to talk to you yesterday, but I saw the assembly", he said. I cringed. "You did?", I asked. He nods and takes my hand. "Yeah, Autumn really has a lot of problems, doesn't she?", Angel said. "Imagine, she wanted to date me, and if I had, she would've been cheating on me with some grown man, and I probably never would've known." I nodded. "That's true", I agreed. Then Angel gets a good look at me. "Nice outfit", he says. But I can tell from his voice that he doesn't really mean it. "Yeah, believe me, it was my mom's idea, not mine", I say, laughing. Angel laughed with me. "Your mom is really something special", Angel says. I snicker. "Yeah, be sure to tell her that on her birthday, in case I forget."

I sigh. So far, this has been a really normal day, the most normal I've ever had in a long time. Then I saw Heidi and Janice and Iliana running over to me. "Hey girl", Heidi said, linking her arm through mine. "Hey", I said, smiling at her. "Are you free tonight?", she asked me. I nodded. "I am, why?", I asked. She smiled. "Because I'm having a sleepover at my place, and I want you and Janice and Iliana to come", she says. Janice and Iliana look at each other excitedly. "Really?", I say. Heidi nods. "Yeah, it could be just the four of us. Just hanging out and chilling, staying up all night, ordering pizza and watching movies and giving each other makeovers....."

I think about this. I haven't been to many sleepovers. And it's been a long time since I've been to one. But this was my chance to have that great feeling again. "I'm in", I say. "What about you guys?" "Oh we're so in", Iliana says. "Am I invited?", Angel says jokingly. Heidi laughs. "Sorry Angel, no boys allowed", Heidi says, grinning.

Later on, at home.....

I walked in, whistling a cheery tune. My mother was sitting on the couch, watching television. "Hey honey", she said, turning down the volume. I sit down next to her. "What're you watching?", I ask. She shakes her head. "Oh, nothing really, I was just about to change it anyway." Then, a commercial popped on the screen. It was my dad. It was one of his business commercials. "Let me help you", I say coldly, grabbing the remote and switching the channel. My mom looked at me with sadness in her eyes. She smooths my hair back. "Is there anything you want to tell me?", she says softly. "Yeah, Heidi invited me over for a sleepover, can I go?", I ask her. "Please?" She smiles. "Of course you can", she says. "I'm glad you're finally making friends." "Thanks, Mom", I say. "I better go start packing. Her mom is coming to get me tonight."

I head up to my room and empty my backpack of school things and pack for things I would need for a sleepover. I was just about to get my toothbrush from my bathroom when I heard a voice behind me.

"What're you doing?"

I turned around. Arista was standing there, hands on her hips. "Oh, hey Arista", I say. "Hi", Arista says flatly. "I'm just packing", I tell her. She stares at the bag in my hands. "Where are you going?", she asks. "I'm going to a sleepover. Heidi invited me", I say. A fire seemed to burn behind her eyes. I swallowed. I probably shouldn't have added that last part. Especially since Arista is still so sore on Heidi. "When will you be back?", she asks. I shrugged. "I dunno, probably tomorrow morning", I say. "Okay", she says and pulls out another cigarette. "Have you just been here, smoking all day?", I ask her. "You didn't go inside your mirror?" Arista shakes her head. "No, and yes, I have been smoking here all day. I don't have any internal organs, so I don't have to worry about ruining them", she says. I sigh. "Are you gonna be okay being here by yourself all night?", I ask her. Arista walks around my room. "I should be fine", she says. "Go ahead, go to your little party, eat, drink, dance, do whatever", she says. She sounded cool with it, but why did I feel so much tension in the room?