I laughed and almost peed my pants.
“See boys; that is how you play the game.”
Joey was at the corner of the tree house, desperately trying to get the window open to climb out, and Jase had squashed himself flat up against the wall.
Joey was yelling, “Charlie! Charlie! Youhaveto have the ghost say goodbye or else it will possess your body! Hurry up! It’s gonna be likePoltergeist, stay away from TVs!”
I was laughing so hard that I started hiccupping and yes, I peed a little in my pants. It took me a full five minutes to finally be able to explain to them what I did and another five minutes to talk Joey into believing me while pulling him back into the tree house.
When they both realized my prank, we went laughing into my house so I could change my undies and get some dinner. It was anothermake our own ice cream sundaenight, because I had no clue where my parents were. Since I was only ten, I couldn’t cook, and we were out of those littlecup of soup thingys. Three bowls, five scoops each of chocolate and vanilla, extra nuts for me, extra cherries for Joey, and chocolate syrup, not caramel, for Jase. We had a rainbow sprinkle fight and left the mess. Nobody was there to see it anyway.
“What the hell?” Jase’s voice caught my attention by the front window. “The Jenson sisters are walking up to your door.”
“This feels like the beginning of a bad horror movie,” Joey whispered. “Someone hold me; I’m scared,” he chuckled.
“Oh, God, what Disney princess drama is this?” Jase whispered as I opened the door, while clutching my giant bowl of ice cream dinner to my chest.
Rebecca and Rachael stood next to each other, smiling their creepy, lip-glossed, identical smiles. A clone of each Jenson sisters flanked the sides of them; ironed, pin-straight hair, lips glossed to a sparkling shine, all four standing in the same exact posture, heads all creepily tilted in the same way.
“That’s just creepy,” Jase whispered next to me. "They look like four of the same exact people." I nodded my head, thinking the same thing.
“Uh, hi?” I said.
“Hey, Charlotte. We came by to see if you wanted to hang out,”Um. What?Crap-on-a-stick, my ice cream was going to melt.
I opened the door to let them come in. I may not have been in my right mind; I’m not sure what my thought process was. These girls never paid attention to us, and honestly, I never paid attention to them, so let’s call it curiosity.
The four Jenson droids filed in, all walking the same way, all using the same strange dramatic movements. I spooned a heap of ice cream into my mouth, waiting for the punch line to the joke.
Joey sat himself at the edge of my living room, on the small loveseat, and Jase folded his arms across his chest and stood next to me, feet spread wide (I called this hisLaw-manstance, because it was exactly how our school safety officer stood by the front entrance to our school).
“So,” I said after swallowing the mouthful of ice cream and shoving in another spoonful (excuse me, but I was starving), “what’s up?”
Rachel looked around my house and then back to me. Her eyes scanned my face, but ended right on my chest. “Are your parents home?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. Then, I noticed all four droids staring at my chest. “Nope,” I replied.
“And they let you have boys in the house while they’re not home?” Rebecca asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and ate another spoonful of my quickly melting sundae. “It’s just Joey and Jase. My parents don’t mind.”
All four identical mouths smiled their identical smiles.
Jase leaned in closer to me and nudged his shoulders against mine. And I knew exactly what he was thinking. Because I swore I could communicate with my best friends without having to use any words.Way better than I could communicate with the dead.
The nudge.
Hey Charlie, the creepy girls are planning something.
Yeah, Jase, but what?
Don’t know. But if you start painting glitter all over your face like that, I’m revoking best friend rights.
Ha-freaking-Ha. Let’s have them play the Ouija board with us.
I knew you were my best friend for a reason.
Are you going to finish your ice cream?
