Read The Hidden World Inside the Haunted Mansion

Nicole slid a flier in front of me, completely blocking the Economics 101 textbook that I was reading. Nicole has always bothered me while I was busy, especially while I was studying, since high school. Sadly, despite the fact that we now shared a college dorm, she never grew up. I flicked it aside, letting it flow gracefully to the floor as I continued my effort to not fail this exam. I had always tried to stay diligent in my studies while Nicole did whatever suited her best. It's honestly surprising that she hasn't repeated a class yet. It still amazes me how she was able to get into college with just her test scores. I know that she is secretly smart, but she just doesn't want to show it. Not to anyone. Not to me. But I didn’t mind being the brains of the duo if it meant Nicole did all the talking for the both of us. Nicole’s hands slammed in front of my face with the flier underneath. She had always kept her nails perfectly manicured, and this time she went with hot pink, one of her favorite pink shades.

"You're coming with me?" she pointed at the flier. $90 dollars per person. Overnight scavenging hunt. Dinner provided. That was all that was stated on a flier that looked like it was created with MS Paint.

"What time?" I said, pushing my glasses up and looking at my notes. Most of the time, I followed along with her silly excursions, like the "finding bigfoot" hiking trails and apple-picking adventures where she would playfully flirt with the farmer that was giving us the tour. For the most part, everything was nice, but this time I had to really create some flash cards for a Spanish quiz next Monday.

"It starts at 7:45pm..." She trailed her words off and skidded off to her bed as she mumbled, "Tomorrow."

"What the hell, Nikki?! I have to study-" I glared at her and then back at my desk, cluttered with textbooks and loose paper.

"You’ve been studying, Ria. All that study and no play and you're just going to crash, burn, and have a bad day. Let your mother Nikki treat you with this once-in-a lifetime opportunity. Just look at this," Nicole said, pointing to a sign with bold font on the flier. It reads, Be the first to find them all and win $500. "We can make big money if we really take it seriously," I raised an eyebrow and sighed.

"First, never say that you’re treating me to something. Every time we go somewhere, I’m always paying for myself. Second, when do you ever take anything seriously?"

"Hey!" Nicole said, her eyebrows raised in confusion and she placed her hand on her chest. "I do take things seriously if I want to."

"Okay then, we’ll see," I said, teetering back over to my work. Looking at the massive pile on my desk, I could feel my eyes weighing down heavily. Maybe Nicole was right. Maybe I do need a little break.