One year ago...

The door to our apartment opens and through it comes bursts of laughter, a wintry flow of wind, and us three wrapped in warm clothes. A long day of classes finally finished, we’ve come back home. Once the door is closed, we start hanging up our coats and scarves, leaving our shoes beside the door. Caprice places her tophat on the very top rung of the coat rack, I deposit my headphones on one of the middle rungs, still connected to my music player in my coat’s pocket. Mekki drops her keys with a jingle onto the nearby end-table, heaving a relieved sigh.

“So glad that’s over.” She heads over to the small couch, throwing herself backwards onto it. Caprice skips over to the couch and with a little hop, plants herself on it too. “Yep! Now we get to watch movies and eat candy!” She reaches across to the coffee table between them and the television, picking out her favorites from the bowl while scrunching her face at the other varieties.

I go to my room first so I can change into some comfier pants and an oversized sweatshirt. It’s pretty cold today in the apartment, so I’d like to stay warm. I undo my ponytail as well, it gets a little uncomfortable after having up all day. When I get back to the living room, Caprice and Mekki have already taken their favorite spots on our tiny couch. “Hey, when are we going to get a bigger couch?” The space between the two is hardly a few inches wide.

Mekki runs a hand through her hair while thinking. “Well, I can look up something affordable from a nearby furniture place. Then we can put our money together. I guess until then, we’re stuck with this.” I sigh, taking the bowl of candy from Caprice.

Caprice grabs for it, but I maneuver it out of her reach. “Hey! Gimme that.” Caprice demands, but I shake my head and place it back on the coffee table. I sprawl across the two, laying my head on Mekki’s lap.

It’s an easy solution for me since I always get to the undersized couch last. “Why do you always pick Mekki’s side, huh? Huh? What gives!” I lay on my back, looking towards Caprice with a skewed smile. “Because you’re not very comfy.”

Caprice grabs hold of the candy again, hugging it close to herself. “That’s it! No candy this year for Mekki. She’s going on a diet.”

Mekki doesn’t seem pleased with that, reaching over me for the bowl of treats. “Oh c’moooon, I watch what I eat. This is the only time of the year I get to eat chocolate.”

I snicker quietly. “Maybe you do need a diet.” I pinch her leg. “Squishy thighs.” Mekki yelps and jumps. “I’m ticklish, don’t do that!” Caprice and I both laugh. The shorter girl finally relinquishes command of the candy, passing it to Mekki after having decided on her favorites. Mekki doesn’t seem as choosy, unwrapping and eating the first one she lays her hands on.

“So, what movies did you pick out, Hayley?” Mekki asks after eating a few little candy bars. I put on a devious smile. “Good ones.” I pause for a second, then pose a question. “Did you guys invite anyone over? We can move some of our dining room table’s chairs over here so they can sit and watch with us.”

Mekki sighs. “Most people I know already have plans, like bigger parties. I can understand why they said no, considering this is just a little get-together. My old friend Tanya might be coming by though, she’s been taking a few classes at our college since graduating from her vocational school.”

Caprice claps her hands together. “Oh yeah! I asked a person I met in one of my art classes and she said she’d probably come by later. She’s going to a party but is gonna come by after.”

“Cool, sounds like it’ll be fun. Though it’d be just as fun with only you two.” Mekki ruffles my hair and Caprice just smiles. I sit up a bit, reaching for the tv remote. “I left the movie in the DVD player so we could get right to watching.” I switch the channel, start the player and begin the movie. From what the others can tell, it’s some sort of slasher movie.

“Is this one really scary?” Mekki’s already getting nervous about it, just from the title screen. The movie features a handful of friends at their campus and some psychopath already beginning to stalk and hunt them down. I laugh a little to myself. I picked this one out for a couple reasons, mostly because it’s close enough to us three that it’d get them anxious from the beginning.

“How scary could it be? Look at it! It looks like a predictable nineties horror movie.” Caprice states, trying to appear confident. Despite that, she’s already starting to grip the bottom of my sweatshirt. “Just wait, it’s not as predictable as you think.” I’ve already seen the whole movie, so I’m looking forward to how my other two friends react to it.

The movie doesn’t take long to start the mystery and tension. Three friends are being targeted by a masked murderer, but the difference between him and the average psychopath is that he treats them more like targets to hunt and systematically picks off their closest friends, including those who might defend them. After a half hour, the three are left completely defenseless and at the mercy of someone who plays with them. He even goes so far as show himself to one of the girls, but decides against killing her.

“This is awful.” Mekki blanches at the movie, but isn’t able to look away. “He’s left them completely alone and is just playing with them now.”

Caprice balls up her fists, pretending to be a boxer. “If it were me, I’d have tried to take him out already. Anyone who hurts my family is gonna have another thing coming to ‘em!”

The movie continues to get more and more tense. I sit up during a slow moment between all the action, just like I planned. “I’ll be right back, going to use the bathroom.”

“That’s not fair! What if something happens and I get scared?” Mekki asks, looking worried. I shrug with a smile. “Well, I guess you could squeeze Caprice to death instead of crushing my head.”

They’re not really paying attention to me, so they don’t realize I’m going into my bedroom instead of the bathroom. The two girls are too engrossed in the movie to actually notice. The movie’s hit a breaking point in the tension, as one of the three girls was just murdered and now the remaining two are trying to escape from the man.

The girls are so focused on the movie that they don’t turn around to see that I’m already standing behind them. I can hardly see them through the mask and darkness. “Come back over here Hayley, I need something to hold onto or I’m going to freak out.” Mekki tells her. Caprice nods. “Yeah, she’s gonna break my arm with her gorilla strength if she doesn’t let go soon.”

I don’t respond and instead lean a bit closer to the two in the dimly lit room. Caprice is the first person to turn towards me and lets out an ear-piercing scream which instantly makes Mekki scream in fear as well. The two turn around and see that I’m climbing over the couch. They two leap away from me, yelling at the top of their lungs while I weave my head back and forth between the two panicking girls.

Unable to hold back my laughter, I pull off my alien mask and cape, hysterically laughing. Mekki takes a deep breath of relief while Caprice punches me on the arm. “That wasn’t funny, Hayley!” I still can’t stop laughing, I can’t believe how perfectly my plan went.

They sit back down and this time I lay my head on Caprice’s lap. “Happy now?” Caprice nods. “Yep!”

“You’re too skinny though. What if you get a boyfriend and you sit in his lap? You’re going to hurt him with how bony you are.”

“Pffft. Like I’m gonna get a boyfriend. Boys are gross and smelly.” She informs me. Mekki rolls her eyes. “I’m sure the next word you’re going to say will be cooties or something.” Caprice laughs a bit to herself. “Might as well! Have you seen half the guys at our college?”

Mekki just hums in response as we finish watching the movie. Another friend gets killed and the last girl surviving hits a breaking point and manages to fight back, ultimately killing the murderer.

“That’s a relief. I thought she was going to be killed too.” Mekki says.

“Well, that guy got what he deserved. What’s the next movie?” Caprice doesn’t skip a beat, wanting to keep going.

“It’s more of a psychological horror, so it’ll be a bit slower. I haven’t watched it either, so no scary aliens this time.” I grin and Caprice grumbles at me. “I can’t believe you scared me with that stupid mask. I mean, Mekki’s a big scaredy-cat, but me? I eat scarier monsters for breakfast.”

I sit up and move towards the DVD player so I can swap out the movies. I pop the new one in, grab a handful of candy and rest my head back on Caprice’s lap. Like I thought, the movie starts out a lot slower than the last but focuses on the supernatural a lot more. There’s a lot of scares that make us all jump throughout the movie. Everyone seems pretty on edge, which doesn’t help when someone starts banging on our front door.

“Wh-Who’s that?” Mekki asks. I have no clue.

“We shut off the front light so it shouldn’t be a trick-or-treater.” Caprice says, her voice pretty worried.

“I didn’t invite anyone.” The pounding gets louder and we leap from the couch. Thinking about it, didn’t both of them invite people? It’s probably one of those two. It might be more fun if I don’t tell them that.

“What if it’s some sort of murderer? Or a monster?” I ask and I can see the color flush from my two friends’ faces. Caprice rushes into the kitchen, grabbing a spatula and our colander. She promptly puts the colander on her head like it’s a helmet and I have to keep myself from laughing more. I grab the TV remote for my improvised weapon and as we approach the door, Mekki grabs one of our shoes for her defensive weapon of choice.

Caprice unlatches the door and pulls it open a bit, myself between her and Mekki. Barely visible through the night is a very short girl. Mekki sighs. “It’s Tanya.”

I start laughing and Caprice quickly takes the colander off her head. “Uh… hey. What kinda party are ya three throwing?” She asks, looking curiously at the things we’re brandishing. Each of us hide them behind our backs.

Mekki scratches her chin. “Uh. A normal one, we just got a bit jumpy. Why didn’t you knock like a normal person?”

Tanya just shrugs. “I dunno. I found this terrifying ghost haunting your parking lot, didya forget to tell her your room number or somethin’?” The short girl aims a thumb over her shoulder at the shy looking girl slightly behind her, dressed like she just left a costume party.

She gives a sheepish wave. “Hi.”

“Oh, hey there Allison!” Caprice chirps. A bit of an odd silence falls between us all and eventually Mekki breaks it.

“Why don’t you guys come in? It’s cold out there, huh?” The two nod and follow our lead into the apartment. I wasn’t expecting much but a couple movies and some fun, but tonight’s looking a lot nicer than I originally imagined.

Present day

The same time as last year, we all walk through the door to our apartment again. This time, the chill of winter follows us into the apartment, but there’s no laughter. We all deposit our things in the same places, but none of us go straight for the couch to watch movies.

“Hey, I grabbed some good movies we could all watch… if you want to, at least.”

Mekki forces a smile. “I would, but I have some writing to do. Plus, my club’s party kind of tired me out.” I nod slowly. I didn’t go to either party for the sake of staying neutral like I have this entire time, but it’s beginning to wear on me.

I turn my eyes towards my other friend. “Caprice? How about a movie or two?”

She puts on a smile, but it looks just as tired as I feel. “Sorry. I’m pretty beat too and I’m not really in the mood for movies.”

A sigh escapes me. “Okay. Good night, then.” The two both go to their respective rooms, closing their doors behind them. I walk towards our couch, now bigger than it was before and twice as empty. I set out a bowl of candy ahead of time, hoping they’d put aside their stupid fight just so we could have a little fun again.

I grab one, unwrap it and pop it into my mouth. It doesn’t taste as sweet as I remember.

I turn on the TV, starting a movie by myself. I pull my knees to my chest, flopping over to one side. “I wish things would just go back to normal already…“