We opened the door of our home & stepped inside.

"Tadaima." We said. It means "We're home" in English. You see, our father's British & our mother's Japanese. And we're the only children in our family.

"Okaeri nasai!" Our mother said. She kissed us both on our foreheads.

"Where's dad, mother?" I asked.

"Oh, he's in the living room. Go say hello to your father."

"Okay." We said. We walked to the living room & saw our father sitting in the couch.

"Hey dad." Hallie said.

"Oh, hello my darlings." He said, his blue-green eyes shimmering beneath his spectacles.

"Father, you & mom were supposed to go on to that trip today, weren't you?" I asked.

"Oh yes, well after dinner we are to leave immediately. So you two, be good, alright?" he said, pinching our cheeks.

"Dinner's ready!" our mother said. The smell of katsudon wafted from the dining room, making our stomachs growl with hunger. Father stood up & walked towards the dining room.

"Come on, then. Let's eat."

"We'll be right there."

As soon as he left the room, I turned to my sister & said "Thank God he didn't ask anything about today."

Hallie nodded.

"Come on, let's eat."

We entered the dining room, sat down & prayed as we always do every dinner.

"Itadakimasu!"

Exactly after dinner, Mom & Dad went upstairs in a hurry to get their bags to leave right away.

"Now, remember everything we've told you." Said Father. "Just call us in case of a grave emergency & we'll come home right away."

"Okay, okay. We will." Hallie said.

"You two be careful, now." I said.

"And you two, I wanted to make sure that you'll be fine so I asked our neighbor, Mrs. Davies, to check up on you." Our mother said, being extra caring about us.

"Okasan, you'll be gone in only two short days. Don't worry, we'll be fine." Hallie said, shrugging her arms.

Our parents really looked reluctant on leaving us all alone in the weekends. But Hallie, feeling ready to take the responsibility, assured that we are just fine on our own & told them to go already. Well, after a struggle, they finally decided on going.

"Goodbye, you two! And be good now!" Father said, waving goodbye on us from the car.

"Itte mairimasu." Our mother said goodbye in Japanese. And we gave her the appropriate response.

"Itte' rasshai, Okasan! Otoosan!"

Then, the car sped off away & out of sight. I picked up the phone & called our friends to come over so we can have a slumber party. I know it's kinda weird, but to tell you the truth, I'm not comfortable being alone here with just me & my sister.

"...I know it's kinda short notice but can you make it?"

"I don't know...wait, hold on...Hey, mom, can I stay at Haylie & Hallie's house tonight?.........Okay, she said yes."

"Great. Okay, how about Taylor? Is she going or not?"

"I already told her about it, but I'm not sure if she's going. You know the way she is. But I'll force her to go."

"How?"

"My secret weapon: The infamous puppy-dog pout."

"Haha. Okay, I gotta go now. We're going to prepare our snacks. Don't forget to bring those DVDs, Gail, okay?"

"Alright, I won't. See you on the flipside!"

"Yeah, bye!"

I hanged up after my conversation with Gail.

"So, she'll make it?" Hallie asked.

"Uh, yeah. Her mom's going to drive her here & they'll pick up Taylor on the way.

"Taylor?"

"Yeah. Gail's gonna force her to go."

"How?"

"The puppy-dog pout."

"Oh."

The doorbell rang.

"That must be Dawn." I said & stood up to open the door. She came in, dressed in a lavender 3/4's shirt, asymmetrical denim skirt & boots that made her look like she was going to the mall.

"Dawn, why are you dressed like that? You're just going to spend the night here." I asked, looking at her in amazement.

"Well, I just got these pair of boots & I wanted to try it right away. Don't you think it's just fabulous?" she said, proudly displaying her "fabulous" pair of boots.

"Um, they're...they're nice."

"I know, right?"

I just noticed right now that there's something behind her moving.

"Uh, Dawn, who, or what's that behind you?" I asked.

She looked behind her shoulder.

"Oh that? That's Steven." She said, her left eyebrow raised. She snapped her fingers at him.

"Get those in!"

Steven was a short, scrawny man who has eye bags hanging beneath his eyes. He is Dawn's...um...personal assistant. Yes, I know what you're thinking. Well, that's what you get if you're a super-spoiled & a pampered girl. Those things he was carrying was Dawn's bags, which I thought was strange since...well, wait a minute, why would Dawn carry so many bags? She was just going to stay here for just one night.

"You can put it down now." Dawn said.

Steven looked as if he was going to burst into tears of joy. He put all of those heavy-looking bags down.

"You can go now, Steven." Dawn said, as if she was shooing off a fly.

Steven bowed at her & left in a hurry.

"Honestly! You can never get good service these days!" Dawn said, flipping her hair & shrugging her arms.

I can't help but ask about those bags so I did.

"Dawn, what's with the bags?"

"Oh nothing." She said, raising her eyebrow again. "Just a few clothes."

"You call that a few?"

Someone spoke behind her. We both turned around. It was Taylor, Gail & her mom.

"Uh, yes. I would call that a few." Dawn said in a pretentious manner.

"Hey guys!" Gail said.

"Hey Gail, Mrs. Parker." I said, smiling.

"Hello, Haylie. Where's your parents?" she asked.

"Umm, they're on a trip right now. They just left an hour ago."

"Oh, so you & your sister are all alone for the weekends?"

"Well, yeah."

"Good for you! Gail here would beg not to be left home! She's still a little bit childish, you know?"

I caught the expression on Gail's face. Her face was almost red with embarrassment.

"Mom!"

"Oh sorry! Well, I better get going now! You girls have fun!"

"Bye Mrs. Parker!" I said.

"Bye mom!" Gail said.

Taylor sneered at what she heard. So did Dawn.

"So, you don't like to be left alone in the house?" Dawn said, grinning. "Why, will da iddy widdy monster get you & eat you for dinner?"

"Oh, shut up!" Gail said, her face red with anger & embarrassment.

"Or maybe because you're afraid of the dark." Taylor said with a mischievous grin across her face.

"No way!"

"Oh yes you are!" Dawn added. "Like what happened today on Frank's..."

She paused. She didn't continue on what she was going to say. Well, I knew why. She was still terrified. And also Gail. I don't about Taylor, though. I don't even know if she got scared.

"Let's just go on to the living room, shall we?" I said.

They followed me into the living room.

"You guys wait here. Here's the remote."

I went into the kitchen, where Hallie was preparing the food we're going to eat.

"Are they already there?" she asked.

"Yeah. Including Taylor." I said.

"Oh. Here, help me with this."

She handed me the tray, which is full of sushi. I walked into the living room & placed it on to a table.

"Here you go, guys."

Gail whipped out all of the DVDs she brought, which I've noticed it was all horror movies.

"Wait, are you sure you wanna watch this, Gail? You might get nightmares." Dawn said, teasing her again.

"Please stop talking." Gail said in an annoyed tone.

We went on to the horror movie marathon. It's kinda starnge, you know? They just experienced seeing a ghost today & they're here watching horror movies. They're taking this matter as if it never happened. Unbelievable.

It was almost midnight after all the talking & the movie marathon, which I didn't watch. We're all tired so we decided to go to bed.

"Hey, could someone help me with these bags?" Dawn asked for help. And naturally, Taylor gave her a sarcastic attack.

"Go help yourself. There's the stairs. Use it."

Dawn was annoyed, but she responded in just a short sentence.

"Oh please shut yourself up!"

I helped Dawn in carrying her bags. And mind you, they're very heavy. We took turns in the bathroom & changed into our night dresses.

"There's something behind you, Gail." Dawn said, in a obviously fake expression of terror.

"Heh, I'm not falling for that again!" She said, her voice slightly raised.

"Oh no! It's Frank!" Dawn said again in the fake tone of shock.

Gail turned around &let out something that was like a scream.
"AAAAGGHHhhhhh...."

It was just Taylor.

"You bitch!" Gail said, while Dawn was rolling in the bed with laughter. Me & Hallie were laughing as well. Gail grabbed a pillow & threw it at Dawn. She hit her, & to return the favor, she grabbed a pillow & threw it back at Gail, but it missed. Instead it hit Taylor. We thought she was going to be angry but she just joined in & threw the pillow back. Pillow Fight!

After I thought was thirty minutes, we got tired of it. I felt the sleepiness taking over me & I just fell asleep.