An Unexpected Twist

They say that we should always expect the unexpected, and that saying certainly was true the night I
stayed with my friend Melanie for a sleep-over.

“What are we watching?” Melanie asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Her huge room
painted in pink with yellow and white dots decorating the walls reminded me of a birthday cake. Her
huge bed could hold about five of us, but tonight it was just the two of us besties settling in for a fun-
filled feminine adventure.

“You know I don’t do horror,” I responded firmly. “It will have to be my favorite, anything Dharman.”

“I don’t know what you get from those shows. They’re so corny.”

“They’re corny to you but I love them all the same. I’m sure you’ve enjoyed watching some of the
episodes too. Remember the one about the mean rich girl?”

Melanie opened her personal fridge and pulled out two chocolate pops. Life was amazing in
Melanie’s world. She had no lack for anything in the world, and the best part was that she had me as
her best friend.

“Yummy,” I said, as I grabbed my choc pop. “I’ll put on the show.”

Just as I turned on the show, there was a loud snap. It sounded like half of the roof had caved in. My
heart sank to my feet. “Melanie, what was that?” I yelled, trying to hold on tightly to my pop as if it
were a weapon. Immediately the lights went off and I heard a faint scream.

“Melanie? Melanie, this isn’t funny. Where are you?”

“I’m right here silly. Melanie rested her two hands on my shoulder. I noticed that she was not
holding her pop anymore. Suddenly I felt another pair of cold hands cover my eyes.

“Melanie, who is that covering my eyes?”

“I don’t know. I can’t see anything. My hands are on your shoulders.” She retorted seriously.

“Melanie, stop goofing around,” were the words I wanted to say but just as I opened my mouth an
ear piecing scream rushed out instead. My pop leapt out of my hand, and I jumped to my feet. I felt
like a million daggers were stabbing my heart which was pounding harder than any African drum I’d
heard.

In that moment, the lights came back on, and I saw Melanie and her bigger sister Jessica laughing
uncontrollably.

“I got you,” Melanie said hysterically. “I knew I would get you.”

Embarrassment flooded my soul. “Why would Melanie do something like this when she knew how
scared I was of horror shows.”

“You’re not a good friend Melanie, how can I trust you ever again?”

“Chillax Sandra,” Melanie said. I wanted you to see that a moment of horror isn’t so bad. “You’re
not dead, are you?”

“I’m not dead but our friendship is.” I stomped out of the room and hurried to call my mom to pick
me up. Melanie would never understand that horror movies remind me of the day my dad was
murdered in my back yard. I left her mansion in tears, upset that a perfect friendship and such a
wonderful night could have turned into such a horrible end.

“Sandra, I’m sorry.” I heard Melanie shout at me. I wondered if I would ever be able to explain and
forgive her for the mean prank that she and her sister had just played.

What caused the lights to go off and back on?

Since when did Melanie have a bigger sister?
How did her sister enter the room?
Did your mom pick you up?

CONTENT-4 Unanswered questions

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A memorable sleep-over

“Have fun!” Mom yelled as she pulled out of my best friend’s

driveway. She had dropped me off to spend a night with Meraine,
who lived in the most astounding mansion in our community.
“Come in, Sarah! I’m so excited you’re here.” Meraine practically
grabbed me through her front door and started speaking ceaselessly.
“Are you up for a comedy movie? Cause I’m dying for some
humorous entertainment. And, by the way, do you like my house?
We just did over the lighting and the carpets.” It seemed that
Meraine took no breaths as she spoke her mouthful.
“Firstly, have I ever told you that you talk a lot? Secondly, yes, I
would love to watch a comedy, and thirdly, your house is amazing.
It’s like an unending maze. I’m sure renovating must have cost you
guys a fortune. You guys even lined the edges of the carpets with
lights.
We finally reached her room and as we entered the sweet scent of
strawberry and vanilla tantalized my nostrils. Her pink walls
reminded me of cotton candy, and I could not resist springing onto
her plush bed filled with teddies of various sizes. Meraine’s room
was like an entire house all by itself.
“I’ll just put on some pop-corn,” she said. Then she reached for the
remote and hurled it at me. I quickly found a movie: “Love is my
Valentine.”
“Ding!” the microwave informed us that our popcorn was ready. Its
aroma emptied my stomach and reminded me that food was my
second best friend. Meraine poured the popcorn into a fancy glass
bowl and rested it on the counter next to one of her mother’s
antique vases.
“That vase looks expensive,” I remarked, as I reached to grab some
popcorn.
“Yeah! My mom said that she put it in here for safekeeping because
my dad is kind of clumsy. She knows that I am as careful as a mouse
most times so she figured it would be safer in here.”
Suddenly there was a loud explosion and the lights went out. The
next thing we heard was a thud and a loud crash of glass hitting the
porcelain tiles on the ground.
“Oh no!” Meraine yelled. “I think that was the vase. I think my hand
hit it as I tumbled off the bed.”
“Oh no! I’m sorry Meraine, what are we going to tell your mom?” I
asked frantically.
The lights flickered a bit and Meraine tried to get up but expressed
how concerned she was about getting cut by splinters.
Just as I tried to help her up, the lights came back on. Meraine let
out a sigh of relief when she noticed that it was the bowl of popcorn
that had crashed and broke and not the expensive antique vase.
“Let’s go see what caused this black out,” Meraine said, and the two
of us rushed out of the room, trying not to get hurt by the splinters,
while I tried resisting the urge to pick up some of the popped corn
from the floor.
When we got downstairs, we saw Meraine’s dad with some tools.
“I’m sorry about that little power outage girls. I hope I did not scare
you. I was just trying to do some finishing touches with the wiring,
and I accidentally crossed two wires.”
“I told you mom said he is clumsy,” Meraine whispered to me. We
both giggled then Meraine told her dad about how she thought she
had broken her mom’s special vase. It was dad’s turn to laugh at the
joke.
“I’ll come and help you two clean up that mess shortly. Get back to
your movie. Don’t mind me!” Meraine and I carefully made our way
to the bed and cuddled up and quickly got back engrossed in our
movie, laughing from ear to ear at the main character Bill who could
never show his true love to the ladies he tried to woo.