Chapter 10: A Prank
“What was the name of that website?” Maya asked Sarosh, without looking up from the laptop.
The three of them were in Maya’s bedroom. It was their big sleepover weekend at her place, now that she was back from her family vacation abroad.
“I think it was a nightmare, something or other,” Sarosh said, typing away on her phone. The sunlight coming through the window touched her soft curls. The weather was pleasant, but the girls wanted to stay in and enjoy quiet time after an eventful holiday. Maya was in Africa for a fortnight. Sarosh’s parents finally took the big step and hired a full-time nurse for her grandmother, and Sarah had been avoiding her parents because of their constant bickering. They never got along well, but things were worse than ever and staying at home was torture for her. That’s why an entire weekend with friends was a much needed reprieve from all the troubles of life.
“What website are we talking about?” Sarah said, taking a bite of her burger. Her back was to the window, and she was facing her friends. She and Sarosh were sitting on the carpeted floor. Maya was on the bed.
“Wait,” Maya continued typing on her laptop, ignoring Sarah’s question. “There is always a way, my friends.”
“Why are you on your laptop, anyway?” Sarah said. “I thought we were going to watch a movie or something.”
“It’s this website,” Maya explained. “I heard they have an impressive collection of old horror movies…”
“What?!” Sarah didn’t let her finish the sentence. “No horror films, please.” She shook her head vehemently.
“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun.” Sarosh looked at Maya and continued, “Why don’t you ask Frida? I overheard her talking about it in the class yesterday.”
“Already did that, but she hasn’t replied to my messages yet.”
“You’re not listening to me.” Sarah threw a pillow at Maya. “And since when have you been close with Frida? I don’t think I even have her number.”
“Since she has been commenting on every photo Maya posted on Instagram,” Sarosh said, sneering. It was no secret that they didn’t like Frida.
“I thought she didn’t like us.” Sarosh was confused at Frida’s out of character behavior.
“Yeah,” Maya said, “so did I, but she has commented on every photo I posted last week.”
“You mean the ones from your trip to Madagascar?”
“Yep, the very same.”
“Wait,” Maya said. “She just replied, and here it is.”
The girls moved to the bed, huddling over the laptop, and waited as the site loaded. The screen blinked, turned blue, and then went blank.
“Damn it,” Maya screeched. “Frida, that brat!”
“What the hell!”
They stared at the blank screen.
“Did Frida fry your laptop?” Sarah said, confused.
“Seems like it.” Maya sighed. “We used to be BFFs. Now, we barely talk to each other. Serves me right to ask her anything. I really thought her comments on my posts were an olive branch or something.”
“You were friends with her?” Sarosh looked at her curiously. “How come I don’t remember that?”
“It was a long time ago. And now, she hates me. After all, I told everyone her biggest secret. In my defense, we were only ten years old. She really holds a mean grudge.”
“What secret did she have at that age?” Sarah’s eyes were as big as saucers as she looked at them. Clearly, imagining all kinds of crazy things.
“She feared her own shadow.” The three were silent for a moment, then Maya asked, “Should we watch something on the TV then?”
“Sounds good to me.” Sarah was happy with the situation because it meant no horror movie. Her friends gave her a knowing smile as the three went downstairs to watch TV.
© 2022 Fizza Younis. All Rights Reserved.
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Between The Pages Of A Book 