Kamrynn rolled her head around her shoulders, hearing a satisfying pop in her neck. She was waiting on her best friend to show up to her house for their sleepover, finding it unusual when she realized that the girl was thirty minutes late. Kamrynn checked the time. "9:12" shined brightly in the dimly lit basement. As she was about to adjust her settings, the screen changed to a picture of the two. Kamrynn answered it.
"Hey, Dahl. Where are you?"
"Kam! I'm so sorry. It'll be another hour before I get off of work."
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
"No, it's not. But, I have a surprise for you."
Kamrynn rolled her eyes with a small smile. "What kind of surprise?"
"Well, how about you go put on something cute and I'll come pick you up? I gotta go!"
Kamrynn scoffed as she lost connection before pulling off the blanket she wore and making her way to her bedroom down the hall. She went to her closet and searched through for an outfit that she could go out in. Knowing Dahlia, she was probably going to take her to some kind of party. She blew some air out of her mouth, deciding on her favorite pair of skinny jeans, the same ones she always wore to parties. She skipped to the bathroom, turning on her speaker to play some music as she washed her face and fix up her hair. When she was finished, she got dressed, taking a second to admire how she looked. The jeans may have had a lot of holes in them, but people thought that they were designer, so she kept them. After her moment of self-appreciation, she went upstairs to wait for Dahlia to show up.
The doorbell rang and Kamrynn answered, smiling when she saw the girl holding a small box in front of her. "Happy early birthday, Kam!"
"You didn't have to get me anything," Kamrynn complained as she stepped aside to let Dahlia into the house. Dahlia shrugged.
"I know, I know, but you're my best friend and I feel obligated to do it. Go ahead and open it and I'll be right back." Dahlia ran to the bathroom and Kamrynn shook her head, closing the door. The box weighed less than nothing, so she assumed it was either a piece of jewelry or a gag gift. Nonetheless, she pulled off the ribbon that held the box together and slid off the top to reveal a silver ring made into the head of an open mouthed, ruby eyed tiger.
She smiled as she set the box on the counter and inspected the ring further. Eventually, she put it on, admiring the way it looked before the eyes started glowing and the teeth pierced her skin. She panicked as droplets of blood dripped down her hand and onto the hardwood floor. As soon as the pain started, it stopped and the ring disappeared from her finger. The blood was gone, and the only thing that remained was the scar where the ring attacked. She wondered if she imagined it all.
Dahlia walked into the living room and smiled. "You ready to go?"
"Dahl...something weird is going on."
Dahlia gasped. "Did you open your present?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Excellent! Let's go. We're going to be late."
Kamrynn barely had time to grab her possessions before Dahlia dragged her out of the house. With Dahlia's energy, she decided to worry about the incident later.
They followed the GPS to a small apartment in a town that Kamrynn did not recognize. In fact, she did not recognize anything after the first turn out of her neighborhood. "Dahl, where are we?"
Dahlia smirked. "Did you put the ring on?"
"Yeah? But, where are we?"
"We may or may not be in Seattle, Washington because the ring you put on sent us into a different dimension."
"What the actual Hell are you talking about?" Kamrynn was starting to get uncomfortable and Dahlia couldn't blame her as she got onto the highway.
"Hear me out, yeah? You know Nani?"
"Your grandma?"
"Yeah. She's a witch. She made these rings for us to explore other worlds."
"What the fuck, Dahlia?"
"I guess this wasn't the best way to tell you."
The two were silent, Dahlia keeping silent while Kamrynn processed the information. Once Dahlia got off of the highway, she sighed. "Listen. I have a surprise for you. If you don't like it, I'll take us home and I won't involve you in this stuff ever again."
Kamrynn frowned as they entered a neighborhood and approached a small house that was buzzing with energy from the party inside. Dahlia turned off the ignition and waited patiently for Kamrynn to react. Kamrynn sighed. "Fine. But, you're gonna tell me everything later."
"I promise."
"Okay then."
They exited the car and followed the music into an open door of one of the houses. The house was filled with people, but the hosts managed to seek them out. Kamrynn suddenly couldn't breathe when she recognized who one of them was.
"Hello, ladies," one of them greeted. "Never seen you before."
"Were new in town," Dahlia answered. "Heard there was a party."
"You came to the right place. Welcome! I'm Steve Montgomery and this is my man, Axel."
"I'm Dahlia. This is my cousin, Kamrynn. What school do you guys go to?"
"Seattle High," Axel answered. "Steve's running for class president and I'm his campaign manager. That's mostly what this party's for."
"That's pretty cool! We're gonna start there on Monday. Maybe you guys can show us around sometime."
"Of course," Steve said. He was pulled away by a girl who planted a wet kiss against his cheek. She then turned to the others.
"Who are they, Steve?"
"Maria, this is Kamrynn and Dahlia. Ladies, this is my beautiful girlfriend, Maria."
They exchanged greetings and Maria gave each of them wary looks. "You guys new or something?"
"Yeah, we just moved here," Kamrynn spoke, gaining everyone's attention.
"Oh, so she does speak," Axel joked making Kamrynn blush and the other chuckle. "You guys want anything to drink? We've got some different types of sodas, water bottles, no alcohol though. Wanna try to keep this clean tonight."
"Water," Dahlia and Kamrynn replied together before giving each other a look and snorting. Axel ran to grab something and Maria pulled Steve away. Dahlia smirked.
"She must be the crazy type."
"I see it." Kamrynn looked around to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation before a wide smile spread across her face. "Dahl, did that...ring send us into one of my favorite movies?"
Dahlia grinned. "Guilty. What do you think?"
"We just talked to Michael B. Jordan. Michael B. freaking Jordan!"
Dahlia laughed as Kamrynn made an unintelligible noise to express how she felt. "So, was it worth it?"
"Holy shit, Dahl. Yes! Thank you." Kamrynn pulled her into a warm embrace. "This is so cool, I can't even speak."
"Well, you have until 3:05 am tomorrow morning to decide if you want to stay. The movie is gonna start at any time if we do, but we can't leave until the entire movie is over. That's the only time the ring will show up again. The Ring is the only way we can travel."
"Anything else I should know?"
"I don't know what would happen if we died...so...dont."
"Noted," Kamrynn said, sarcastically.
"Other than that, we're good. Have fun."
Axel returned with their waters and they started another conversation. Later, he started introducing them to other people that went to the school. They had a great time talking to people, they even danced a little bit in the living room. By the time the party started to die down, it was three o'clock in the morning. Dahlia and Kamrynn said farewell to Steve and Axel before going back to Dahlia's car. They pulled away from the house and headed for the main road.
"So, you have about two minutes to make a decision," Dahlia said as she fished through her pockets. She produced two rings and held them out. "If you put the ring back on, it'll take you back home. If you don't put it on, then kiss these babies goodbye until the movie is over."
Kamrynn thought about it as she took her ring from Dahlia's hand. She watched as it slowly started to turn transparent. She thought about the consequences. The dangers of being involved in the storyline. The responsibilities that she could possibly be putting onto her shoulders. She then thought about life back at home. She just graduated high school and she was not very fond of having to go back. And what of her family? What she could never go back? How long will it be before anyone knew she was gone? On the other hand, they were already here. And she trusted Dahlia. The girl was meticulous and OCD about everything. And with knowing that her grandmother is a witch, maybe she was one, too. Maybe she could make a difference. She sighed, closing her fist around it. "Let's stay. I love this movie. Hopefully I can...change things."
"That's the spirit!"
"This is some Matrix type shit."