8. The Sleepover

Luz waved goodbye to her mother as the car pulled away from the house she had been dropped off at. She grabbed her overnight bag and walked up the driveway to the house in front of it. The first things she noticed was how big it was. Sasha had mentioned before how large her house was and it certainly seemed as though she hadn't been exaggerating. Luz checked her phone and saw that Anne and Marcy had already arrived so she would be the last one here for the Sleepover. Luz still couldn't believe she had been invited to an actual sleepover! She had always wanted to go to one but due to not having any real friends had never been invited, now as she looked at the house before her she couldn't help but be amazed at the fact that the first sleepover she ever went to would likely be a very fun one! Sasha had promised that it would be awesome and Luz quivered with anticipation at what the night held in store for her.

The first activity she was excited for was the pool, another amenity Sasha had mentioned her house having. Luz had arrived already dressed in her swimsuit wearing flip flops. The sun was still high and bright in the sky and the temperature was in the 90's so Luz was looking forward to cooling off in the pool. She rang the doorbell and was greeted by Sasha's mother who led Luz out to the back where the rest of her friends were. Sasha was sunbathing by the pool while Marcy and Anne were swimming in the pool. All three girls waved to Luz as she arrived.

"Luz glad you could make it," greeted Sasha offering her some suntan lotion.

"Wow your house is really nice," said Luz, "you weren't kidding when you said you had a big house."

"Oh this thing," said Sasha sarcastically, "I mean it's not much, but hey we're all here now so kick off your shoes and relax. We have a long night of partying ahead of us."

"Come on in Luz the water's fine," called Anne from the pool.

Luz dipped her toes in the water it was indeed nice and refreshing. She looked at Anne and grinned mischievously before backing up a bit. Then she ran forward and jumped into the pool in a cannonball close to Anne and Marcy, creating a huge splash of water that got both of them. All three girls laughed as Luz surfaced and they began splashing water at each other playfully. Sasha eventually joined them in the pool and the four friends played for hours together.

Later after they had finished in the pool they dried themselves off and went inside. Luz was amazed at how much food was waiting for them in the kitchen.

"Ok gals we have 5 different kinds of pizza, none which have pineapple on them," said Sasha winking to Anne, "tons of chips, and enough cream soda and skittles to make your spit hurt."

"Oh boy I cannot imagine what this is gonna feel like in the morning," said Luz apprehensively.

"You don't need to worry about how it's gonna feel in the morning, because we are gonna be staying up all night!" declared Sasha.

"Wow you really are serious about the whole "staying up all night thing" aren't you?" said Luz.

"Of course Luz," replied Sasha, with that she stood up on a chair to face the other girls, "listen girls in two weeks we will finally be in 8th grade. Tonight is a celebration of all that it took to get to that point. Tonight we come together as friends to party and play so that years from now we can look back and say, "that was a wonderful night!"

The girls all clapped for Sasha as she took a bow after that speech.

"So let's get this party started!!!" cheered Sasha.

Over the course of the night the girls engaged in many activities from watching movies, to pillow fights, to karaoke, and dancing. The night flew by fast as they partied late into the night. They took a short break to sit in Sasha's room and gossip. As was common in these types of situations the topic of boys eventually came up.

"Joe Metzger, what do you think girls?" asked Sasha.

"Eh he's cute," said Luz nonchalantly

"I heard he wrote one girl a poem, so he's got a romantic side to him" said Marcy.

"I mean maybe not my first choice, but a solid number two," said Anne.

"Ok my turn," said Luz, "how about Chris Rivera?"

"Oh definitely, he's a hottie," agreed Sasha

"I get the sense that he'd be into table top RPG's," said Marcy

"Well he's cute, but seeing as I helped Sky break up with him I don't think he'd be glad to see me," said Anne.

"Hmmm," pondered Marcy, "Oh I've got a good one, David Hicks!"

"Did you see his hair? How does he have an afro like that?" exclaimed Luz.

"Oh he's got a cute face I would give him a 7," said Sasha.

"I thought I had the puffiest hair in school, can you imagine what our kids would look like?" said Anne.

"Ok my turn," coninuted Anne, "how about Dean Sanchez?"

"Oh forget him," said Sasha, "I heard a rumor that he secretly likes Jesse Bliss."

All the girls let out a groan at this statement.

"Seriously!? Jesse Bliss," exclaimed Anne, "she is literally the worst! She kept asking if I was ever going to bring sushi to school even though I'm Thai. She's made fun of me for as long as I can remember."

"I once lent her $5," said Sasha, "then when I asked for it back she was all like, "what $5 are you talking about?" She started spreading rumors that I stole money from her. Like I would need to steal money."

"You know she and her group of friends once ran by and both stuck gum in my hair as well as stole my Azura Book 3," said Marcy sadly.

"That is exactly why I am no longer friends with her," said Sasha, "I stopped inviting her to all my parties after that."

"Thanks again for that Sasha," said Marcy "I really appreciate that."

"I remember on my second day of school she asked if I could help her with her Spanish homework," said Luz, "she said she'd pay me in tacos. Que puta!"

"Well we might have different opinions on guys but I think we can all at least agree we hate Jesse Bliss, right girls?" asked Sasha.

"Agreed," they all said.

Luz yawned and looked at her phone, "wow it's just after midnight!"

"Does that mean you turn back into a pumpkin?" asked Anne playfully.

"No," said Luz, "how about you Anne, will you loose a shoe as you leave the ball?"

"I sure hope not," replied Anne, "walking around in only one shoe sounds uncomfortable."

"Oh is it really after midnight?" said Sasha looking at her phone, "hang on I'm gonna go see if my mother is asleep." Sasha left her room and returned a few minutes later.

"Yeah she's out, and it's after midnight which means it's the perfect time for….." Sasha reached into one of her drawers and pulled out a notebook, " A SCARE DARE!"

"Ahhh!" screamed Anne and Marcy.

"Oh is this that thing you were talking about?" asked Luz, "what's with that notebook?"

"This my dear Luz is…..The Book of Losers! Allow me to explain," said Sasha confidently, "The way the Scare Dare works is one of us comes up with a scary dare and we all have to do it. But if you fail the scare dare then your name gets added to…..The Book of Losers, and once your name is in the book it's there…..FOREVER!"

"Forever!" said Anne.

"Forever!" repeated Marcy.

"Oh this sounds interesting," said Luz with a devious grin, "I am soooo looking forward to this. What's the challenge?"

Sasha thought for a moment, then took out her phone and ordered a Lyft for the girls, "put your shoes on," she said to her friends, "I have a great scare dare, but we have to travel a bit, I'll explain when we arrive."

"Uh Sasha are you sure we should be leaving the house alone, after midnight?" asked Anne nervously.

"Nothings gonna happen, trust me, besides that will make the dare even scarier, unless you want to chicken out now and add your name to the book of losers," taunted Sasha holding the book out to Anne.

"No way," said Anne.

"I'm in," said Marcy.

"Well it's my first Scare Dare and I don't mean to fail," said Luz confidently.

With that the girls got ready, in a few moments a car arrived outside the house and they all piled in eager to head to their destination.

Sasha had brought a flashlight and lead the girls down a small path into a forest. At the end of the path was a run down old house. The area looked familiar to Luz.

"Hey I think we're near my house," observed Luz.

"Oh if that's the case then surely Luz you've heard the stories about this old abandoned house right?" asked Sasha.

"Actually I think this might be the first time I'm seeing it," answered Luz.

"Well I heard that kids go missing around this house all the time," said Sasha in a scary voice to the girls, "what's more they're never found again. Their bodies never turn up it's as if they just vanished off the face of the earth. And that brings me to tonight's Scare Dare. Each one of us will go into that house alone, no phone, no flashlight, no nothing. All you have to do is stay inside for 15 minutes and you win. If you leave before the time is up you lose and have to add your name to……. The Book of Losers!"

The girls looked at the house, it certainly looked creepy. It was old and dilapidated, there didn't seem to be any lights or water inside and the place gave off a very scary vibe.

"I'll go first," said Marcy, "Honestly I don't think I'm gonna last but if I go first then that might make me feel braver."

"Okay," said Sasha, "we'll keep time for you outside," with that Sasha brought up the timer on her phone and set it to 15 minutes. The girls waved to Marcy as she entered the house and shut the door.

Less that five minutes had passed on the timer though, before Marcy came out shaking

"Okay I'm done, too many weird noises and to many creaky floor boards, don't think I was alone in there," she said. Marcy reached for the book and added her name.

"I'll go," said Anne, "I think I got this." With that she entered the house and closed the door. Sasha re-set the timer.

Anne lasted longer than Marcy but at roughly the 8 minute mark she too exited the house shaking and clearly terrified.

"You know you think if you close your eyes and don't focus on the fact that you're in a scary house you would last longer, but no that strategy did not work at all," said Anne. She too wrote her name down in the book without complaint.

"Ok my turn," said Luz confidently, "I know I can do this!" Luz walked up to the house and closed the door.

It was very dark so Luz couldn't make out much of the interior of the house. There wasn't any furniture in it except for an old rocking chair. Luz decided to take a seat in the chair and hope that the rocking of it would drown out any other potential noises. Despite being alone in a creepy house Luz was actually quite calm, she had a fascination with dark and scary things and this house even though it looked creepy and haunted was actually quite peaceful. Luz steadied her breathing and did her best to not freak out. Occasionally she thought she heard an owl hooting off in the distance or another ambient noise. While these noises did surprise her they did not freak her out. Luz was able to focus and concentrate in order to stay in the dark. Luz had to admit the inside of this place was scary, but it was also strangely familiar almost as though she had been here. Luz racked her brain trying to remember if she'd ever been in this house before but couldn't recall any such instance.  Before long the front door opened and Anne peaked in.

"Luz are you in here?" she asked.

"Yeah I'm here," said Luz waving her hand but not sure if Anne could see her.

"You did it!" exclaimed Anne, "you beat the clock!"

"Really?!" said Luz excitedly. She stepped forward to where Anne was. She walked out the front door where Marcy was cheering.

"Way to go Luz!" she said.

Sasha was standing stoically next to her looking quite surprised, "Hmmm you actually succeeded, I honestly didn't think you would.

"I guess that means it's your turn Sash," said Anne.

"Well here I go," said Sasha as she entered the house closing the door behind her.

This time Marcy kept time on her phone. She fully expected that Sasha would win the challenge and was surprised when less that three minutes into the time, Sasha practically bolted out of the house. An expression of terror on her face.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE VOICE?!" she asked Luz as she ran up to her and grabbed her desperately.

"Whoa what?" said Luz surprised.

"THE VOICE!!!" continued Sasha in panic.

"Sasha what voice are you talking about?" asked Anne concerned.

"Marcy, Anne I know you didn't stay in the whole time but surely you heard it too, right?" asked Sasha.

Marcy and Anne looked at each other before looking at Sasha and shaking their heads.

"I swear I'm not making it up," she said, "I heard it speaking to me, almost as if it was talking directly in my head."

"What did it say?" asked Anne.

"It said--" began Sasha before looking at all her friends and deciding not to say, "you know what forget what it said. Let's get out of here!"

With that Sasha pulled out her phone and ordered another Lyft to get them all back to her house. As they walked back to the main road Sasha was still trembling at what the voice had told her. She didn't want to repeat what it had said to her friends with good reason. That voice, how had the others not heard it? As Sasha thought more it did almost feel as though the voice was talking directly to her in her own head. It had an echoy almost metallic sound to it. Even over the car trip back home Sasha could still feel the impact of its words and they left her shaken and scared.

"I can see in your heart," the voice had said, "you desire power and control. I see you have managed to manipulate your friends into serving you. You like controlling people, and why shouldn't you? I can teach you how to be better at it. All you have to do is come through the portal…."

After checking to make sure that Sasha's mother was still asleep the girls reconvened in the living room.

"I can't believe I actually have to write my name in the book of losers," said Sasha bitterly as she finished writing her name, her perfect record now broken. "Here Marcy you hold onto the book now," said Sasha handing it to Marcy, "I'm not worthy."

"And so the Queen of Scare Dare is dethroned," said Anne, "I can't believe you won your first Scare Dare Luz! Congrats!" offering Luz a high five.

At these words Sasha became uncomfortable and decided to head to her room for a bit, though before she did she pulled Luz aside for a private conversation.

"Luz since it's just us one more time I'm going to ask you. Are you sure you didn't hear any voices when you were in the house?" asked Sasha.

"Sasha I swear on my mother I didn't hear any voices, I heard a lot of sounds but no voices. Are you ok?" asked Luz concerned, "I wish you'd tell us what the voices said?"

"I can't," admitted Sasha, "it was personal. That's why…..that's why I got so scared. The voice said things about me that no one else knows."

"Not even us?" asked Luz.

"No not even you or Marcy or Anne, I need to be alone for a bit, you guys go on and keep partying. I'll be back in a sec," Sasha turned to leave before Luz called to her.

"Hey Sash wait a sec," called Luz. Sasha turned around; Luz stepped forward and enveloped Sasha in a tight hug.

"Listen it's okay to be scared you know, it doesn't make you weak or any less of a person. I just want you to know that." said Luz

"Oh thanks Luz," said Sasha who actually felt a bit emotional at this display.

"That's what friends are for," continued Luz, "if you ever want to talk about anything serious I'm here for you. I promise I won't judge you."

"Thanks for that as well, and hey good job winning your first Scare Dare. But don’t get cocky! I'll make sure I win the next one," with that Sasha made her way to her room, but before she left completely she looked back one more time at Luz, Anne, and Marcy who were still celebrating Luz's win of the Scare Dare As Sasha watched this scene unfold she couldn't help shake the feeling that something bad had happened. Losing the Scare Dare was weighing on her mind a lot. As Sasha saw this she began talking to herself in her head.

They like Luz more than you, said a voice in her head.

What?! No that's crazy, replied Sasha to herself.

Luz was able to win the Scare Dare! She humiliated you, said the voice again.

So Luz won the Scare Dare, I mean I'm still captain of the cheerleaders. I'm still high up on the social ladder. I still host the best sleepovers. How could Anne and Marcy possibly like Luz more than me? said Sasha.

You remember what was said to you in that shack? Asked the voice, I think the others may be drawn to Luz because she shows genuine friendship to them. If you don't do something about this then Luz may be able to expose you for what you are, said the voice.

I….I….do care about Marcy and Anne, and Luz too, said Sasha.

Do you? Asked the voice. Or do you merely see them as a means to an end?

Sasha didn’t respond to that. Instead she finally went to her room and sat on her bed, deep in thought about the events of the night. She didn’t stay awake much longer though and eventually fell asleep.

As Luz rejoined Marcy and Anne, they both came up to Luz to envelop her in a group hug which Luz returned.

"Hey is Sasha okay?" asked Anne.

"She said she'd be alright," said Luz, "I think she needs to be alone for awhile. I wonder what this voice she heard said to her?"

"It's probably not important," said Marcy, "for all we know she was making it up."

"Eh that doesn't sound like something Sasha would do," countered Anne, "in all the time I've known her she's never been one to make things up like that."

"Well if she won't tell us then I guess we'll never know," said Marcy.

"In any case lets keep this party train going!" exclaimed Anne, "Oooo how about some karaoke? I know a song that would be perfect for the three of us!" With that Anne began searching the karaoke book for the song listing. She finally found it!"

"So check this, it's an oldie but one I remember my mom playing a lot while she cooked in the kitchen," said Anne, "come on girls get in close, we need to share the mike." As the song started Anne was first to begin singing.

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want

So tell me what you want, what you really really want"

Marcy picked up the cue and sang the next verse

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want

So tell me what you want, what you really really want"

Luz joined in with the other two to sing the next verse

"I wanna, I wanna, I wanna

I wanna, I wanna really really

Really really wanna zigazig ha!"

After that the girls took turns with the other verses as they continued singing. Though they came together to sing the refrain.

If you want my future, forget my past

If you want to get with me, better make it fast!

Now don't go wasting my precious time

Get your act together we could be just fine!

The girls kept singing together as the song continued getting more and more excited as it went on. All of them getting into the song and enjoying singing it. As the song ended the three girls cheered and hollered and hugged each other, even though it was late at night they still had energy and wanted to keep the party going.

As the song ended the three girls cheered and hollered and hugged each other, even though it was late at night they still had energy and wanted to keep the party going.

"Let's keep this party train going!" exclaimed Anne.

"Yeah what's next?" asked Luz.

"Well we gotta tear up the dance floor," said Marcy, "Ooo! And if we're doing oldie songs I know the perfect one to play!" With that Marcy took out her phone and searched for a song. When she found it she connected her phone to a speaker in the living room.

"This is another great one from the nineties," said Marcy "I hear they used to play it at high school dances all the time!"

The song started with a nice drum beat before moving into a full swing with horns blaring! The girls began dancing as they heard the fast beat of the song

"Who's that whispering in the trees?

It's two sailors and they’re on leave

Pipes and Chains and swinging hands

Who's your daddy? Yes I am

As the song played on the girls kept dancing individually, though at one point Marcy and Anne began dancing together, twirling and spinning around to the fast beat of the song. Luz continued to dance alone, but was surprised when Anne stopped dancing with Marcy and reached out a hand to her.

"Dance with me Luz," asked Anne.

"Oh….I don't really know how to dance to this song," said Luz nervously.

"It's okay, not like anyone's watching, you're among friends no one's gonna judge you" said Anne.

Luz starred into Anne's eyes for a second before accepting the offered hand. Anne immedialty pulled Luz into a spin, and they started to dance. As they twisted and turned around the living room Luz felt a sudden rush of emotion. She couldn't quite describe it, but while dancing with Anne her stomach felt light. At one point their faces came close and Luz could feel her cheeks getting warm. Part of her wanted to stop dancing with Anne, but another part of her wanted to keep dancing with her forever. Eventually the song ended.

"That was fun!" said Marcy

"Yeah I'm a little tired after that thought," said Anne, "hey Luz you okay? Your face is all flush."

Luz brought her hands up to her face almost instinctively, as if trying to hide her cheeks, "Oh yeah, that was quite a workout," she said nervously, "but it was fun!"

"Well let's have another then," exclaimed Marcy.

Marcy played a few more songs on her phone all of them fast paced. The girls would either dance by themselves or with each other. Sometimes the three of them would come together and dance in a group. At one point Luz got the opportunity to dance with Marcy, while she had fun she didn't have the same feeling with her that she had with Anne. Later she got to dance with Anne again and that same feeling of nervousness and butterflies in her stomach came back. Luz was glad the song was fast paced as her face once again became flush after dancing with Anne, but she was able to attribute it to the dancing itself. 

Afterwards the girls were tired and decided to watch a movie instead, they all piled onto the couch as the movie started. Anne sat in the middle between Luz and Marcy. As the movie went on Luz tried to nonchalantly put her arm around Anne. Though before she could, Anne ended up putting her arms around both Marcy and Luz. When the movie was almost over Luz noticed that Marcy had fallen asleep and was leaning on the other side of the couch. Luz decided to lean her head on Anne's shoulder and yawn. Anne noticed but didn't make any move to push Luz away. In fact she ended up leaning her head against Luz's

By the time the movie ended it was around 5:00am, Luz was a bit out of it and honestly wanted to sleep. As she peaked out a window she saw the faintest hint of dawn on the horizon  as the sky was turning a slight shade of pink.

"Hey Anne it's 5:00am how much longer do we need to stay up?" asked Luz.

"We're almost there!" said Anne trying to sound excited, but clearly tired, "we just need to stay up a little bit longer and then we'll have stayed up all night," declared Anne as she tried to slap herself awake.

Luz yawned before saying, "Anne at this point we've basically stayed up the whole night, what else would you want to do?"

"I just need a swig of my Blam Berry Blitz and I'll be good as new," said Anne as she tried to get up off the couch only to trip due to fatigue and fall right back onto the couch into Luz.

"Oh sorry Luz, thanks for catching me," said Anne, "man am I tired maybe it is time for bed. Can I use you as a pillow?" With that Anne closed her eyes and leaned onto Luz's shoulder wrapping her arm around Luz. Luz again felt that feeling she had felt earlier in the night when Anne had danced with her. She felt her cheeks flushing as she felt Anne lean up against her, but the feeling passed and was replaced by one of warmth and contentment. Following this was a feeling of butterflies in her stomach. This night had been fun, but this feeling was a surprise for Luz. While she wasn't entirely sure how to process it, something about it just felt right. This was the first time she ever had felt this way…..about a girl.

"Anne are you awake?" asked Luz, only to be greeted with a snore from Anne. Luz starred into Anne's face as she slept. As she starred into Anne's face Luz couldn't help but notice just how beautiful she was.

"You're cute even when you're asleep," said Luz quietly.

Why am I feeling this way? thought Luz, ever since she asked me to dance something changed. I've been around Anne before, but now something feels different. I've never had these kinds of feelings for a girl. What does this mean? A part of Luz's brain was telling her to push Anne off of her and get away. But another part was saying that she should enjoy this, let Anne sleep against her and see how this felt.

I don't know would that be taking advantage of Anne? thought Luz, hey she asked if she could use you as a pillow. All you'd be doing is obliging her. Luz was feeling both scared and happy at the same time. Scared of these feelings she was having about Anne, and yet at the same time happy that Anne was snuggling up against her. In the end her feelings of happy won out.

Luz shifted her position on the couch so she was lying completely on it with her head up on one side in a pillow and pulled Anne up so that she was lying on top of Luz with her head in Luz's lap. Luz wrapped her arms around Anne and smiled. Luz made sure that they were alone one more time before leaning down and giving Anne a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight Anne," said Luz softly before drifting off to sleep herself.