One windy day on October 30th, I was in the car on my way to Lily’s house.

“Are you excited for the sleepover?” Mom asked.

“Yeah, but I’m nervous because I’m afraid that the lights are going to go out, and I’m going to get scared. Then Lily will make fun of me,” I fretted.

“I bet you she uses a night light, too,” Mom replied. Even though my mom had a talk with me, I was still nervous that the lights would go out and I would get scared.

Finally, we pulled into the driveway. I opened the door and sunk out of the car, and I trudged to the front door. My palms started sweating as I hit the doorbell. I could hear Lily striding to the door. Her smile faded when she saw the look on my face.

Lily asked, “What is wrong? I thought you were excited for the sleepover.”

“It is not that,” I stammered. “It is just that I don’t feel one hundred percent.”

“Okay,” Lily said. “Do you want to play a board game?”

“Sure,” I blurted. “This should not be too bad,” I said to myself as I walked over to pick out the board game.

Lily opened the cabinet and exclaimed, “This is the perfect game for today since it is the night before Halloween! It is called Ghosts and Goblins.”

“This is the perfect game for tonight!” I lied enthusiastically, as I was thinking the opposite. As Lily lifted off the top of the box, she explained the rules to me. Lily explained, “Here is how you play: we each have a pawn and you have to accomplish a dare to move your pawn.”

Later, a few minutes after we started the game, I picked up the card, and it said that I had to go to the basement by myself with the lights out. I was so frightened that I made up an excuse to go to the bathroom. I darted to the bathroom and called my mom.

“Are you hurt? Do you not feel good?” Mom stammered.

“Yes, Mom, I am fine. Well, I guess I am okay,” I moaned. “Well, I am still scared that the lights will go out.”

Lily knocked on the door and asked why I was on the phone and who I was on the phone with.

“Bye, Mom,” I sputtered quickly.

“No, I am not on the phone with anyone. I am just singing the song I sing when I wash my hands,” I replied back to Lily.

“Okay,” Lily said back very suspiciously. I came out of the bathroom, and Lily was standing right outside the bathroom. Lily asked why I was in the bathroom so long. I interrupted and said, “I am thirsty—can we get a drink of water?”

“Okay,” Lily mumbled with a confused look on her face. “We don’t have to finish the game if you don’t want to.”

 I was relieved.

“Okay, maybe we can watch a movie though,” I replied.

“Oh, yeah!” Lily exclaimed. “It should be a scary one.”

“I’d rather not,” I said, shaking my head.

“Come on,” Lily said. “It will be fun.”

“Okay,” I said, thinking the opposite and hoping it would be okay.

Finally, we chose a movie. The movie’s name was Argghhh. I had a feeling it was going to be a really scary movie. I felt really frightened because the movie had ghosts and goblins, and I had a problem with that because I was afraid that something would pop out in the dark. During the movie, I covered my eyes, and Lily saw me covering my eyes, and asked, “Why are you covering your eyes? I thought you liked this movie.”

“It is not that. It is just that I am kind of tired,” I faked a yawn.

“We can go to bed,” Lily muttered.

“Okay,” I replied. “I mean…”

Lily started plodding up the stairs. I felt anxious about going upstairs, but then again, I didn’t want to watch the movie. As we started walking up the stairs, I felt butterflies in my stomach. Then my palms started to get sweaty. The lights were off upstairs, and I thought I saw something popping out in the dark. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was breathing very heavily. Lily noticed and asked if I was okay.

“I am just excited to go to sleep,” I insisted. Lily looked at me with a baffled look. I got my pajamas on and brushed my teeth, and then it was time to go to bed. I pulled my sleeping bag up to my neck. I felt really tense worries rushing around my head. Finally, the lights went out, and the night light turned on. I sat up in shock. I blurted, “You have a night light, too?”

“Yeah, the dark creeps me out,” Lily revealed.

“Same with me…the dark creeps me out, too,” I confessed. “That is why I was acting so strange.”

“Maybe next time you are worried about something, just tell me about it,” Lily advised.

“Thanks for being such a good friend,” I said.

“Goodnight!” Lily whispered.