American Vacanza

slumber parties are supposed to be fun • siena

hey! this chapter is being edited as we speak, so it may seem choppy at times. also, that means all chapters here on out are unedited and therefore lower quality. thanks for understanding!

Running through hotel hallways always made me feel faster than an Olympian. However, as evidenced by my short-lived fifth grade track career, I wasn't much of a runner. I ran into the room and called first dibs on the shower, but Madison was already ahead of me and had grabbed it anyway.

God damn, I really needed to get in better shape.

"Hey, wanna watch a movie!" Madison inquired, picking up the TV remote and scrolling mindlessly through the channels.

"Absolutely." Madison looked taken aback by my confident answer, but you had to remember, I hadn't done something as normal as watching a simple movie in almost a week.

Her voice was deep and baritone, and she picked up the remote once again to use as her microphone. "Tonight's feature presentation.... drum roll please... Slumber Party!"

I rolled my eyes. "Is this one of those cheesy eighties chick-flicks?"

"Don't you love those? Mean Girls? Clueless?" She tilted her head like a cat does when it's confused.

I shook my head and inhaled in disappointment. "Those are late nineties and early two thousands!  I've never heard of-- what's it called?"

"Slumber Party."

"Slumber Party. It sounds like something boring, cheesy, and probably demeaning to women."

Madison gestured to the screen, which clearly showed the Slumber Party movie poster; a voluptuous girl who seemed to be screaming under bloody, red letters that spelled the movie's name. "Cheesy, possibly, demeaning, definitely; but boring? Never." A decisive smirk appeared on her catlike face. "You're gonna love it."

I let out a short, nervous laugh. "Um, no. I like chick flicks and science fiction. I'll watch a comedy, but I have never in my life watched a horror movie. I'll be scared to death."

She stared at me, her brown eyes motionless. "Oh, please. You sat through that 3-hour snooze fest historical movie that won, like, three Oscars. If you can survive that, you can survive this gem of the horror genre."

"Hey! You're only making fun of Nights In Krakow because you weren't smart enough to understand it."

"Girl, I'm a straight-A student. I take three AP's. I just don't want to waste my time. And besides, Slumber Party," Madison explained, "is the modern classic horror film. If Freddy, Jason and Chucky were all combined together and then brought in a time machine to 2017, it would be about 1% as scary as Slumber Party."

"Wow," I replied. It came out sarcastic, but it was really just a terrified groan escaping my mouth. "You're really making this movie sound appealing to me, a small, squeamish fifteen-year-old girl."

"Well, I'm sorry. The truth is, for a person that's never watched a horror movie, Slumber Party is the perfect starter. Minimal jump scares, cheesy confrontations, nothing but slightly spooky thrills. No nightmares or heart attacks here." She didn't sound too convincing- she'd just tried to tell me it was the scariest thing she'd ever experienced. Pick a side!

Before I could come up with a rebuttal, Madison hit play and the movie had already started. "No! God, why? I don't remember agreeing to this!" I screeched. "Turn it off!"

"Just watch it!" she screamed, trying to match my tone of voice. But nobody could match my squeaky, obnoxious squeal. "Watch it, or else MASKFACE will come get you!"