“Hey class, we’re going to do something different today.”

I jolted back into reality. I was in my English class, bored and daydreaming.The material being covered that day was something I already knew. Because of my passion for writing, I usually got the top grades in that class.

“We’re going to be forming partners, please pick someone,” Mr. Willis said.

I sighed and turned to my right to ask Sebastian if he wanted to be my partner. Sebastian wasn’t there. I scanned the whole classroom looking for him. I spotted him by the door, covering his mouth as he asked to go to the nurse’s office. He didn’t look so good. I wondered if he had eaten something bad.

“As soon as your partner is picked, start working on the project!” Mr. Willis said.

I got up from my desk and walked over to Fernando.

“Hey, do you want to partner up?” I asked.

He turned to me with a guilty expression on his face.

“Sorry man, I’m partnering with Jett,” he replied.

“Oh…okay then,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment as best as I could.

I walked back to my seat and put my head on my desk, trying to figure out who would partner with me. The partners had to be chosen that day and Sebastian wasn’t available because he felt sick. Fernando couldn’t partner with me either. I pondered on what to do.

“Hey, do you want to work together?”

I looked up to see a small student, with short blonde hair and blue eyes.

“Umm...sure!” I replied.

“Great! Let’s get started!”

He sat next to me and pulled out his laptop. I pulled mine out too.

“So, for this project, we have to make a short story together. What should it be about?” the boy asked.

“Wait, hold on. We haven’t introduced ourselves,” I said.

“I’m Mason,” the boy said, extending his arm for me to shake.

“I’m Christopher,” I replied, shaking his hand as I did.

“Alright, let’s get started. Regarding what I said earlier, what do you think?”

I leaned back in my chair. “Well, I think we should choose a popular genre that everyone will like. Why not science fiction?”

Mason thought about it for a little bit and then replied, “Okay, sounds good, what will be the plot of this story?”

“Why don’t we go with a standard alien invasion?”

“Simple. I like it!”

We spent the rest of the class talking about what we should write. We started writing drafts for our story, and character sketches. We didn’t finish so, of course, we had to finish it at home.

“Hey so, do you want to come to my house to finish the story?” I asked Mason.

“Sure!” he replied.

We packed our things, got up from our chairs, and walked to my house.

…………………………………

We got to my house. I unlocked the door with my spare key. No one was home. My sister was sleeping over at a friend’s house, and my parents were out working. I walked inside my house. At the entrance to the right, was a large table that allowed six people to sit. To the left was a small kitchen. A hallway led to the living room and a door opened in the side of that hallway leading to the bathroom.

“Let’s go upstairs,” I said, pointing to the stairs that led to my room.

Upstairs was a long hallway with doors on the side of it which led to three bedrooms: one for my parents, another one for my sister, and finally one for me. There were two last doors at the end of the hall, one was a bathroom, and another one was a laundry room.

I opened a door and motioned Mason to go through. Inside was a single bed, a table in the middle of the room, a pc in the corner with a rainbow keyboard and posters on the walls of my favorite bands.

“Nice room,” Mason said as he looked around.

“Thanks, I spend a lot of time working to keep it clean,” I replied.

We sat at the table and pulled out our laptops. After an hour of working nonstop, I realized that Mason could very well be my new best friend. He was just like me; smart, quiet, and interesting. Our piece had almost been finished when I heard the door slam downstairs.

“That’s weird, I swear I locked the door,” I said.

Mason frowned. “Maybe your parents are back?” he said.

“I don’t think so...if they were back they would have messaged me.”

We crept down the stairs to look around and see if anyone was in the house.

“Maybe it was the wind?” Mason suggested.

“I doubt it. Someone must be in the house,” I replied, trying to sound calm.

Our heads suddenly shifted right to the sound of pans clattering. We walked down the stairs, and started walking down the hallway. Suddenly the sound of the pans stopped. I motioned for Mason to hide in one of the rooms. I looked around the corner of the door and spotted a figure in a purple cloak. A hood covered their face. They had a pentagram on the back of their cloak. They opened the door and walked out of the house.

“They’re gone, Mason,” I called softly, confused on why someone entered our house, and just left so abruptly.

I searched around the house with Mason to see if there was anything stolen, but nothing seemed to be missing. Everything was intact. I turned to look at Mason. His eyes were wide, and he was shaking. I hoped he was going to be alright. It seemed like what happened really freaked him out.

“Do you know that person?” I asked Mason.

“N-No,” he replied.

“Are you okay? Do you want to sit down?”

“Sure. I’m ok, I’m just a little scared.”

We sat down on the couch in silence for a couple of minutes until Mason broke the silence.

“Please don’t call the police,” Mason said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Just don’t. Trust me on this.”

“Okay.”

I waited for my dad to get home, as he was usually the first to arrive. We watched TV while we waited. When I heard the family car’s doors slam I opened the door to greet my dad.

“Hey Christopher, how was school?” Dad asked.

“Fine.”

My Dad gave me a weird look, and walked inside. When he laid his eyes on Mason he immediately greeted him.

“Hi there! Are you Christopher’s friend?” he asked.

“Yeah, I am;” Mason replied. I felt myself smile to hear him say that.

“Well, welcome to our house, make yourself comfortable,” Dad said warmly as he shook Mason’s hand.

“It’s okay, I was going to leave soon anyways. My mom is expecting me for dinner.” Mason walked to the door, waved goodbye and left.

“That seemed like a nice friend. Good on you for expanding your social circle!” my Dad said as he patted my back.

“Thanks Dad.”

That night I wasn’t feeling good. I was scared that something might happen. Was I going to be assaulted in my sleep? Was my family going to be killed at night? How could I know? What was up with them wearing that cloak? It had a pentagram on it, what could that mean? Questions overwhelmed me until finally I was left with one. If I died, would I get another chance to live? Was there a god that would give me mercy? I really didn’t know.