I’ve never been good at making friends, or any type in bond with people in general, I’m not even close to most of my family members like I’m close to Jesse. Jesse is my best friend, I’ve known her only for a year and a half but she’s literally my world. She’s the only person I can speak to, the only person who understands me.
I’ve never slept over at anyones house that isn’t mine, and even when I’m supposed to be staying at a family members house I get anxious and they have to call my parents to collect me, this results in my parents having to cancel everything that they plan. My parents resent me, I’m a huge burden to them because of just how anxious I am.
Jesse asked if I wanted to have a sleepover at her house. I’d never been to her house, or anyone for that matter, and I’ll admit I was ecstatic, but also hesitant, In case I got anxious and ruined the sleepover and my friendship, I knew I was probably overthinking but it still scared me. Jesse gave me some time to think, and I agreed. I told my parents and they were pretty shocked, but decided to let me go because I had an actual shot at making a best friend for life.
The car pulled up onto a large driveway, connected to an even larger house. It was huge, like mansion sized. Probably the biggest house I’d ever laid eyes on. Me and my parents made our way over to the front door, which was about twice my dads size, and he was 6’7. There was no doorbell, instead there was an abnormally large silver knocker in the middle of the door. I knocked. Jesse answered the door. When she saw me her face seemed to light up and her smile grew larger. She instantly leaned in for a hug. Jesses’ mother and father also approached the door, and stood behind Jesse, also with a comforting smile on their face.
Jesses’ father was also tall like my own dad, he was your typical dad looking person. It was the same with her mother too, it was almost surreal. Jesse toured me around her huge house, which took about an hour in itself. Then we ventured off into jesses bedroom, which was huge, and pink. VERY pink. Like every object was pink.
After staying in jesses room playing games and eating candy for a while, her mother walked into the room, and placed a sheet of A4 paper on jesses bed. The way she walked was so elegant and graceful, like a ballerina.
I took of my headphones and grabbed the sheet of paper. It read:
Sleepover rules!
Follow these rules to ensure you have a safe and happy sleepover!
Don’t eat too much candy! They can smell it from miles away.
Do not leave the bedroom after 1:45am, please remember this rule, your life depends on it.
If you happen to wake up during the night for no apparent reason, hide under the bed within 25 seconds, that way they cannot see you.
Do not get snacks from the mini-fridge during 8:56pm and 9:47pm, you will not like what you find.
Make sure to turn off any light source apart from the TV, you must keep this on all through the night. I can’t emphasise how important this is.
If you wake up randomly and see Jesse sitting upright, awake in her bed, run. Lock yourself in the en-suite and do not come out for the rest of the night. If Jesse knocks and says she hurt herself and needs help, ignore her, and do not reply.
If you wake up and hear the baby crying, ignore it completely, don’t even move, it isn’t the baby.
Do not attempt to speak to Jesse during the night, and if she speaks to you do not reply. This is crucial if you want to stay safe.
If you hear a dog whimpering and scratching on the bedroom door, drag Jesse under the bed and then hide behind the bookshelf. We do not own a dog.
If you hear a ringing in your ear, run, leave the house, this is the only exception, if you don’t, we all die.
Have a lovely sleepover Tina :)
It had to be some kind of joke, these couldn’t have been real, but I still have a gut feeling that I should follow these creepy ass rules. I folded the piece of paper and placed it in my right pocket. Then sat down again to play with Jesse.
After about an hour, jesses dad opened the door. “It’s bedtime girls, you must go to sleep, now.”
I suddenly got very anxious, because this is when I had to start following the creepy rules. I held back all of my emotion because I didn’t want to lose a friend like Jesse. Me and Jesse both got into bed. We top and tailed so my head was at the bottom end of her bed. “Night Tina. Sweet dreams.” She said, inbetween yawns. I don’t know how my dreams were going to be sweet after what I’d read.
Surprisingly, I fell asleep pretty quick. My sleep was pretty deep, and I didn’t have any nightmares like most nights. And that’s when I woke up. My stomach sank. I turned to see Jesse sitting, upright, in her bed. Wide awake. I didn’t want to believe that these rules were true but my instinct was to just run. I bolted into the en-suite and locked the door behind me. After a solid few minutes of hyperventilating in jesses en-suite, I decided to unlock the door, I thought it was all probably stupid anyway.
Just before my hand reached the lock, someone knocked on the door. I froze. “Tina help me! I’ve hurt my head and my visions going blurry!” I desperately wanted to open the door, but something in my head advised me against it. Jesse kept screaming for help. I slumped into the corner, shaking with every breath I took. She was screaming for hours. It was unbearable, her voice got less human-like and more distorted with every screech.
By the time she stopped, I was already half asleep, to put into perspective just how long her screaming went on for.
I woke up, the light from the sun outside made my eyes sting. My ears were still throbbing. I slowly got up from the corner of the bathroom, and unlocked the door. Jesse was playing on her PS5, everything was totally normal. “Hey Tina!” She said, in her usual jaunty tone. “I think your mom and dad are already outside waiting for you in their car.” I couldn’t take speaking, everywhere in my body ached. I picked up my stuff and started walking downstairs.
Jesses parents waited at the bottom of the stairs to greet me. “Your parents are outside waiting for you Tina.” Said her mother with a smile. How did they get here so quickly? It was only quarter to 9. I could see the open door, and my parents car outside. I was so relieved, I was gonna leave this place finally.
Jesses dad showed me out, and I hopped into my parents car. I can’t begin to explain how relieved I was to see my parents smiling faces again. Jesse and her family waved at me as I drove away.
“How was the sleepover sweetie?” Asked my dad.
I was about to reply when I got a notification on my phone. It was a message, from my mom. It said :
Hey Tina! I was just messaging to ask what time you wanted me and your dad to pick you up from jesses house :)
I looked back up at my mom. Who was driving, and then to my dad. Who was smiling eerrily at me. Shit. I forgot to leave on the TV. I felt sick to my stomach.
“Forgot something?” Asked my dad.