The Aempodi

3: Witchy Hour

IT was Friday night and the whole town was still busy in its life, enjoying the start of the weekend that held the fake promise for 2 days of rest and enjoyment every time it came around. All the lights shone bright in every store, making it seem as though there was hardly any difference to the sunshine in day light. The streets were filled with the townspeople, hoping for something fun to look forward to or perhaps a nice warm meal to replace the empty hearts of those who didn't have anyone to share it with.

But that was the point, searching for something to just fill up the free night.

So when Sonny, the chirpy wide-eyed brunette somehow convinced all of her friends to go visit Kaia for a surprise slumber party, well, Olivia wasn't exactly enthusiastic.

"Oh, come on! It's still really not too late. All we need to do is turn left into Galley's instead of going straight on, and then bam! We'll have an actually fun night." Olivia said, trying her best to appeal to her friends as they all sat uncomfortably close to each other in the 4 seated car. Some of them looked like they were slowly inclining towards her suggestion but one look from Sonny set them straight again.

"No, we are not. What we need to do is make sure that our friend-" she looked pointedly at Olivia through the back mirror, who just rolled her eyes. "-know that she has our support."

"But why? I mean, she's doing just fine in Neverland or wherever it is her head might be." Olivia protested.

"Hey, she is not on crack, okay? And I told you, she's been struggling lately. We gotta keep the sisterly bond tight."

"Sisterly bond, my ass." Olivia snorted, brushing a strand of her red hair away. "It was just last week when you ditched Tammy at the bus stop. What was it for again? Oh, right, it's just cause you saw your stupid ex on the same street!"

"Oh, shut up!" Sonny cried out, flinching slightly when she heard Tammy's hum of approval. "We all make mistakes..."

The red-haired friend shook her head in mock disbelief. "Okay, fine. How about when Cassie 'accidentally' kissed your previous ex, hm?"

"Ouch, don't bring that up!" The mentioned friend whispered form beside her.

"Again," Sonny cleared her throat. "That was another mistake."

"Fine, let's just all try to list all of our 'mistakes' when it came to your endless list of boy toys. Still into this sister shit?"

"Geez, Ollie. If you're so sick of us, why are you even here?" Sonny huffed, trying her best to keep her attention on the road.

"Oh, I'm not sick of you. Just your positivity," Olivia stuck her tongue out and grinned at her friend, earning back a hesitant but genuine smile. "Just joking, Sunshine. But really though, do we have to go?"

"Yes." Sonny said with a sense of finality in her tone. "And guess what? We're here!"

Olivia groaned, quickly scrambling to her side and stretching over Cassie's lap to peek out the dim car windows. Her back ached from the sudden movement but her heart ached even more when she indeed saw the vaguely familiar sub-urban house across the street. She was fairly sure that the house looked exactly the same as it did 10 years ago, which was the last time the girl had bothered to go here.

The lights were turned on at the front porch, but that was as far as it goes. She couldn't see anything there except for the little, quaint bench near the entrance, otherwise, it was hard to tell if anybody was in there.

"Is she even here?" The red-head asked, a tinge of hope in her voice.

"She is, I already asked her parents." Sonny replied, looking smug at Olivia's disappointment. "They'll be out a little late tonight so they said we have Kaia all to ourselves."