Superstitions

Chapter 2: The Sleepover

"Guys, be quiet, my dad could be sleeping," Amalia whispere-shouted at her friends, opening the door slowly

"What do you think you're doing?" they heard the man grumble, crushing an empty can in his hand, with his eyes not leaving the television.

"Um... we got sent home early," Amalia whispered cautiously.

"What did I tell you about mumbling?" he spoke louder, looking over at her.

"They found a kid... dead. So they sent us home early," she told him, louder this time.

He turned the volume of the television up, ignoring her. Amalia looked at her friends and waved her hand towards them, signaling them to follow her upstairs.

"What do you think happened to that kid?" Vicki asked, sitting on Amalia's bed and putting her backpack by her feet.

"I heard his legs were bent over his head or something," Lilia, Amalia's other friend pitched in.

Lilia had pretty long blonde hair, with light blue streaks dyed along it.

"Do they know who did it yet?" Amalia asked, sitting next to Vicki.

Lilia shook her head and sat on the ground in front of them.

"Do they know who the boy was? Other than his name being Nathan," Vicki asked, resting her head in her hands and placing her elbows just above her knees.

Lilia shook her head again and whispered, "Some eleventh grader."

"Well anyway, lets do something fun not worry about this for now," Vicki suggested, standing up.

Amalia rolled her eyes in boredom, "Like what?" she muttered in question, looking over at her.

Vicki looked at the ground, trying to think of something, "Maybe we could go to the park? And we can get some food after," she said, looking between her two friends.

Lilia and Amalia shared a glance before sighing and standing up with Vicki.

"We have to be quiet though," Amalia told them once more, slowly opening her bedroom door.

Lilia and Vicky tip toed behind her. As they neared the stairs that led to the lower level of the house, they heard the loud television blasting. The girls understood that Amalia's father was very strict. They both knew that using that word- strict- was an understatement, and that the way he acted was more abusive than ordinarily strict.

They made it to the stairs and quietly crept down them, stepping wherever Amalia stepped, to avoid creaks. The three of them eventually made it to the bottom, and sneakily put their shoes on.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" the old man grunted.

"We're going out to the park," Amalia told him, loud enough for him to hear and praying that she wouldn't be yelled at.

He thankfully stayed silent, not responding, so Amalia opened the door and left with her friends.

They walked along the sidewalk together. It was still bright outside since it was only around four o'clock. They walked for almost ten minutes, before finally arriving at the park.

"Last one to the swings is a rotten egg!" Vicki yelled, running over to the swing set that held two empty seats.

Lilia followed, running after her and giggling. Amalia didn't run with them. She was frozen. She'd seen the same dark figure from before, hiding behind a few bushes. She looked at her friends and the strangers passing by, but nobody else had seemed to notice it, or see it at all.

• • •

Amalia's dad sat back in his chair, gulping down a beer and turning the television channel to- once again- a random sports program.

"That little- What's taking her so long?" he mumbled angrily.

"REBECCA!" he shouted, the loud noise echoing throughout the house. "HURRY UP, REBECCA!"

Rebecca- Amalia's mom- was constantly being told what to do by her husband.

"I'm here dear, I'm sorry. I had to open a new box," she told him, handing him another can of beer.

He ripped it from her hands and shooed her away. She sped walked over to the kitchen and starting prepping for dinner. Tonight, she was cooking pork chops by her husband's request. It was always his choice, no matter what.

Rebecca grabbed all of the ingredients she needed, and began preparing.

"Don't you make it taste like crap this time!" she heard the man yell over the noise of the television, making her jump and nod quickly.

The door suddenly creaked open, causing Rebecca to look over her shoulder, confused. Amalia and her friends were home.

They haven't been gone for long, she thought, but brushed it off and continued cooking.

Her youngest son was allergic to pork, so she'd have to secretly make something for him to eat without her husband knowing. He didn't even care if his own son was allergic to what he wanted or not.

After fourty minutes, she finished dinner, brought her husband a plate, and called her kids and Amalia's friends down. Amalia and her friends came down first, and sat at the dining table. Her mom handed them each a plate. Shortly after, Amalia's two younger siblings sat down. Her brother was passed a plate of pasta, and her younger sister was passed another plate of pork. Amalia and her friends ate and then quickly but quietly went up stairs, hearing Amalia's dad whistle on their way up.

"Do you wanna watch a movie or something?" Amalia asked, opening her laptop and sitting on her bed.

"Um, yes?" Vicki answered, in a duh tone, sitting beside her on her left.

"What do you wanna watch?" she asked, opening Netflix.

"Can we watch IT?" Lilia suggested, sitting on her right side.

"YES!" Vicki yelled, covering her mouth after.

Amalia laughed and searched for IT.

"There's some snacks I hide under my bed, you can grab them," she told the other two, setting up her laptop at the foot of her bed.

Lilia reached under the bed and pulled out a bag of Doritos and some sunchips.

"Ready?" Amalia asked the others as they got comfy beside her, all of them lying on their stomachs.

They nodded, and Amalia pressed play.

Vicki fell asleep halfway through the movie and Lilia closer to the end. Amalia ended up being only one still awake when the movie was over. It was now dark outside and the only light was coming from her laptop. She looked up slowly, after getting the sudden feeling that she was being watched. She looked around her dark bedroom before settling her eyes on the spot beside her desk. Another figure lurked in the shadows. She froze and didnt move, staring right at the thing. Ten seconds passed and she reached her hand slightly to turn her laptop around, attempting to shine the light on the figure. She turned it around extremely slowly, eyes never leaving the corner where it was. She turned it more and it revealed...

Nothing.

Nothing was there. It had just been a figment of her imagination. She sighed in relief and closed her laptop, before putting it on the ground and resting her head on her pillow. She then fell asleep.

She thought there was nothing there.