ONE
It was already dark when Emily and Paige walked out to the parking lot after swimming practice. They'd been in the same team for a couple years and had become friends. They were chatting about homework and the upcoming swimming competition when they reached their bikes.
"You want to take a little detour and ride with me?" Paige asked, and Emily shook her head.
"Sorry, I should really get home, my mom already made dinner."
"Alright, maybe another time," Paige smiled, "get home safe." She said, while getting on her bike. "See you tomorrow!"
"You too!" Emily called after her as Paige rode off. She got on her bike and rode off in the other direction.
It was chilly, but still warm considering it was already October. Emily's hair was still wet from swimming so she'd put her beanie on, and she started pedaling faster so she'd get warm. She was almost home, only a few blocks left. She turned into the street where her friend Spencer lived, and was doubting to go and say hi, but she decided it'd be best to keep going, she was almost home now.
The headlight on her bicycle flickered a few times and then completely went out. Of course this happened in the part of the street without streetlights, so Emily rode her bike to the sidewalk and stepped off. She gave a few ticks against the light, and wriggled it a bit until it came back on. She realised she was standing in front of the house that had been for sale for a few years, and noticed that the For Sale board was gone. Emily frowned. Spencer never mentioned that she had new neighbors. Maybe she just hadn't met them yet.
"Hey," Emily heard a voice say. "What are you doing?"
The voice sounded curious. Emily looked around, but didn't see anyone. The voice must've noticed because a light was flicked on in front of the house. A girl was leaning over a railing on the porch, and smiled.
"Oh" Emily said when she saw her. She took her bike and walked a bit closer. I was just - um, the light on my bike went out, so. I just fixed it and noticed that the house wasn't on sale anymore."
"Yeah," the girl replied, "my dad said it'd been on the market for a really long time." She turned her head and looked the house up and down. "I'm pretty sure it's haunted."
Emily chuckled. "That wouldn't really surprise me, honestly."
Now that she was standing closer to the house, she took a good look at the girl. She must've been about the same age as Emily, but she was definitely smaller. She had blonde, almost golden locks, a heart shaped face and bright blue eyes. She was pretty, but the type of pretty that boys should watch out for. The girl smiled again and seemed amused, but before she could answer Emily, the front door opened and an older boy appeared.
"Ali, dad's been calling you, get inside." The boy said, and he disappeared again, leaving the door open.
The blonde - supposedly named Ali - shrugged at Emily. "Got to go!" She exclaimed "see y'around". Before Emily could say something back the girl was gone. She looked at her watch and realised she was already way too late, so she jumped on her bike again and hurried home. Her light flicked off again, but she made a mental note to just fix it tomorrow.