"The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies, parrots, we have…"

Jasmine, Mr. and Mrs. Black and I watch in awe as Hiccup and his friends sail through the village on multi-colored dragons and rocket up to the bright blue and beautiful sky on the Black's plasma screen.

I hog the popcorn as my eyes dart around the screen in anxiety, my ears waiting for the last words of the movie to ring through them. My head seems to move along with the dragons' sharp glides and their rider's body movements.

"…Dragons."

Then the screen goes black for a moment as music begins to play proudly, and the credits start to roll up on the screen at a slow pace.

Mr. Black grabbed the DVD player remote and pressed a button. The screen blinked and the Sony symbol with the deep blue background appears and the symbol slowly shifts around.

Jasmine and I asked in exact unison, "Can we watch it again?"

Mrs. Black laughed before her husband answered, "Sorry, girls. We have to get up early in the morning for Colorado! Patsy and I don't want y'all to be too drowsy."

"Aw, man!" My best friend and I complained again in unison.

"Please, Mr. Black?" I asked desperately, abandoning the popcorn and on the edge of the comfortable couch. "Pretty, pretty please?"

"C'mon, Daddy!" Jasmine added in an innocent voice, doing the big-puppy-eyes. "Mom, back me up!"

Mrs. Black showed a beautiful smile as she laughed and sighed, "I agree with your father, Jasmine. It's time you girls hit the hay."

"Nooooooo!" Jasmine and I shouted like it's the end of the world or something, which we think it is. "Please, guys, please!"

Mr. Black pulled me off the couch and Mrs. Black pulled Jasmine off to get a Tylenol headache from our whining and complaining.

"Would you two rather stay home," Mrs. Black asked shortly. "Or go to bed right now so we can beat the traffic on the highway?"

She got Jasmine and I bolting down the stairs and to Jasmine's room, shouting, "We're going to bed! We're going to bed! We're going to bed! Good night!"

After brushing our teeth, getting pajamas on, setting our clothes out for tomorrow and leaping into Jasmine's bunk-bed, Jasmine asked excitedly, "So, what was your favorite part?"

I snorted as I watched the lava-lamp below, my chin rested on the edge. We'd seen that movie a million times.

"Is that a trick question?" I asked sarcastically, and Jasmine laughed loudly.

She thought I was so funny, and laughed at even the stupidest jokes on Earth. I think she was just being a good friend.

Then Jasmine recovered from her laughing episode and I heard the bed creak and groan, which meant she was getting situated.

"Seriously," she said to me. "What was your favorite part?""Um…" I replied, still looking at the lava lamp that made the room glow with a pink, orange and fuchsia light. "The end."

Jasmine almost choked on her spit. Then she hissed dramatically, "When Hiccup loses his leg? Are you nuts? Are you bonkers? Have you lost your marbles? How many brain cells did you lose from band class?"

I rolled my eyes and thought, Jasmine- I love ya like you're my mom, but, girl, you are so over-dramatic sometimes.

Jasmine then laughed, "Kidding, Anne, kidding. Yeah, I agree with you; that was one of the best parts of the movie."

I perked up then got onto my knees and swung my head over the edge to look at Jasmine. Her pupils had a pink light in them from the lava lamp.

"One of?" I asked incredulously. "More like the best scene in any movie- Ever! If there was an award for a best movie scene, How to Train Your Dragon would definitely win! It made it more… I dunno, angsty!"

Jasmine stared at me blankly. "Whut?"

I sighed in exasperation. Jasmine wasn't a reader, like me; who had read the whole Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Heroes of Olympus series, Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Romeo and Juliet, The Tale of Two Cities, Dracula, Swiss Family Robinson, every biography on Walt Disney, Shakespeare and Mark Twain, three kids alamacs and a dictionary. The last one was a dare, I promise you.

And she did not have a good memory- at all!

I recited for about the millionth time that night, "Angst is the feeling of anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression."

Jasmine nodded slowly, then had her light-bulb moment. "Oh, oh, oh! Now I remember! You know, from Potter Puppet Pals: Wizard Angst! That's what angst is! Oooh, you're good, Anne."

I couldn't help but grin. I loved compliments; they made the world better. "Thank you, Jasmine."

"You are very welcome." Jasmine replied cheerfully, then said, "We should get to bed now.""Good idea. G'night.""G'night, Anne."

I flopped onto my back, making the mattress wiggle and Jasmine giggle, then pulled the blanket up to my chin. I quickly fell asleep.

)-(

"Wake up, Anne!" Jasmine screamed into my ear suddenly.

I yelped and shot straight up in surprise, making my best friend bust up laughing worse than the night before.

I turned sharply to Jasmine angrily, wide awake now, and cried, "Why did you do that?"

Jasmine was howling. "Jasmine!" I exclaimed laughing worse than a hyena. "JASMINE!""Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!""JASMINE NOEL BLACK!"

I grabbed my pillow and swung it at Jasmine's face. Her laugh got muffled for a moment then she landed on her butt on her bunk, making the bed cry out.

Jasmine grabbed her butt and rolled onto her stomach, still laughing. Her hands and butt were high in the air as she laughed even harder.

Then the door opened and I saw Mrs. Black. She was in jeans, a sweatshirt and Converse. Don't worry, Mrs. Black pulled it off perfectly.

"What is going on here?" She asked loudly."Jasmine woke me up by screaming in my ear!" I exclaimed innocently and pointed down to a roaring Jasmine, still grabbing her butt.

"You two better get ready now!" Mrs. Black shouted, making the radio fade away. "We're leaving in less than thirty minutes, and the traffic is already starting to get jammed!"

That got Jasmine to stop laughing. She popped her head up and shrieked, "Thirty minutes?"

"Get ready!" Her mother screamed and whirled around on her heel and stormed off.

Jasmine leaped out of her bed and shouted frantically, a wild look in her dark eyes, "GET DRESSED, ANNE- NOW!"

"Alright, alright!" I exclaimed in surrender as I jumped down to Jasmine's bunk. "I'm getting down, I'm getting down!""Hustle!""Chill!"

)-(

As I tied my shoe wildly, Jasmine ran past me, juggling her suitcase and backpack while putting her hair up in a ponytail.

"Hurry!" She screamed at me wildly. "They're about to shut the trunk!""Tell them to wait!" I exclaimed as I moved on to my other shoe. "I have to get my suitcase!""HURRY!""I AM!"

After Jasmine hurried out the door, I leaped up from the staircase and bolted down to Jasmine's room to grab my suitcase. It was jammed.

Just my luck.

My heart pounding, I pulled on it with all my might. It just rattled. I tugged and pulled with all my strength.

Soon enough, the door glided open as if it was new and hadn't been stuck.

I smiled in satisfaction and stepped in.

I free-fell into an endless black hole, screaming while my arms and legs flailed around.