"Honey, we're leaving now," calls out my mother. Her long red dress shimmers, as my father helps her pull on her faux fur jacket. They're going out for their anniversary tonight, and I'm staying home alone.1

"Miranda, the number for the restaurant is on the fridge," my father reminds me, as they walk out the door. I nod, even though they can't see me. I listen for the click, and race to the couch.2

I jump onto the soft blue couch, and my long brown hair falls in front of my face. I brush it aside, and pull out my cell phone. I hit the speed dial, and the phone begins to ring.3

"Hello," says my friend, Jessica. Her voice sounds strange, but I ignore it.4

"Want to come over?' I asks, twirling my finger around a strand of hair. We'd had a disagreement last week, and things are still a bit rough. But, with some junk food and good movies, that should disappear. We've been best friends since middle school.5

"Sure, I'll be over in ten minutes," she answers. She doesn't live very far. I say goodbye and hang up. I make my way towards the kitchen, and start pulling out baking supplies. Whenever she comes over, we bake. 6

I put the eggs and butter on the counter top, and find the other ingredients. When I finish setting up, I go back into the living hall. I find a few dvds, and toss them on the couch. The bell rings, and I walk/skip over.7

"Hey, Jessica!" I say as I open the door. Her short blond hair is pinned back, and her dark blue eyes sparkle. Her hands are behind her back, and she's rocking back and forth slightly.8

"Hi!" she replies, her lips curling into a smile. I reach out and hug her tightly. Her body seems to tense slightly, but then she relaxes. Her hands wrap around and hug me back, a bit too tightly. She pulls away quickly, and coughs.9

"Are you ready for a John Travolta marathon?" I ask her, hooking my arm through hers. She closes the door behind her, and nods enthusiastically. We set to work on the cookies, and pop them in the oven. 10

"They're going to taste delicious," she says, a little quietly. She looks around, as if in a daze, and then a strange smiles settles onto her mouth.11

"Definitely," I agree, ignoring the strangeness, just happy that we're getting along. The tension's been awful, and I'm glad that it's gone. We settle into the living room, and begin to watch Grease, a favorite of ours. Soon, the oven begins to beep.12

"Oh, they're done," I say, looking at Jessica. 13

"I'll get them," she assures me, standing. I shrug, and pause the movie. Usually, she never wants to leave the movie to get the snacks. She walks into the kitchen, and I hear rustling around. She soon returns, one hand behind her back, another holding a cookie. She takes a slow bite of it, and sighs.14

"So good," she says. There's an edge to her voice, and I look at her, confused. 15

"Don't you just love cookies?" she asks, cocking her head to the side. I smile uneasily. The glint in her eyes unsettles me, and I feel my body tense slightly.16

She draws her hand from behind her back, and I gasp.17

She's holding a knife. 18

She finishes of the cookie, as I stare at the knife. She begins to stroke it, holding it up to the light.19

"You know, I really liked Brad," she whispers, not looking at me.20

Brad Matthews. Brad was the reason for our fight. He'd been dating her, but then the scum tried to make a move on me. She though it'd been my fault, but even when I explained what'd happened, she was a bit weary. They ended up breaking up.21

"You know I didn't do anything! He came on to me," I say, my voice shaking. She takes a step towards me.22

"That might be true," she says, "but if you weren't here, he wouldn't have had anyone to cheat on me with." 23

Her voice is cold, and her dark eyes are icy. For the first time ever, I'm afraid of her.24

"He's the type of guy who goes after anything with breasts," I say, trying to make my voice light. Maybe she's just joking. She must be. But the look in her eyes makes those thoughts go away.25

She looks up at me, and smiles cruelly. In a swift lunge, she has me pinned on the ground.26

"Get off!" I say, struggling. She shakes her head, and pulls on my hair.27

"Let's start with this," she murmurs. She raises the knife, and chops off a bit of my hair. It falls to the ground, and she laughs.28

"Jessica, stop," I says again, trying to get her off. She pins my hands down with one hand, and raises the knife with the other. She brings it down to my neck. I try to scream, but the sound lodges itself in my throat. I feel fear take over me, consuming me, and I start struggling even more. She shouts,29

"Don't f***ing resist, you stupid b****!" Tears spring into my eyes, but I shake off the feeling of hurt. 30

I successfully throw her off, and jump up to my feet. 31

"Why are you doing this," I ask, "we've been friends for years!"32

"Because," she says, her voice steady and unfeeling, "you always get the guy, and I'm just your sidekick. Next to you, I'm bland."33

"But you're beautiful! A lot of guys like you!" I exclaim.34

"Not as much as they like you," she shouts, anger in her voice.35

"Then stop hanging out with me! Don't kill me," I exclaim, stupefied by her reasoning.36

"That's not enough," she whispers, standing up and brushing off her pants. She lunges for me again, and I jump out the way, heart pounding.37

'I need to defend myself,' I think, and run towards the kitchen. I shakily pull out a butcher knife, and turn around to see Jessica leering at me menacingly.38

"Miranda, why don't you put that down," she says, as if I'm the crazy one. She raises her knife, and stalks towards me.39

"Jessica, I don't want to do this," I say, feeling my stomach lurch at the thought. She shakes her head sadly, and then she's right in front of me. Her usually adorable face is twisted in hate, sweat lining her brows. Her knife is placed right at my throat, and I bring mine up to hers.40

"If I die, you will too," I say, sounding braver than I feel.41

"Eh," she says, shrugging off handedly. "Oh well, sucks for me I guess.". She smirks, and traces the knife lightly over my collarbone. I tense up again and quickly push her off, onto the ground. I kick the knife out of her hand, and sit on her stomach. She groans.42

"Get the hell off!" she shrieks, trying to push me off. I shake my head. She gives me one last push, and I tumble off, hitting my head on the ground. I rear back in pain, and curse under my breath.43

She gets up, grabs her knife, and throws it at me. I scream.44

It's sharp edge skims my bare arm, cutting it slightly. I look at the blood that starts to trickle out, and look back at Jessica. She has a sick smile on her face. I ignore the slight pain in my arm, and jump up, knife in hand. I run past her into the living hall, and try to get the phone, but she comes after me, clutching the knife, and gets to it before me. She pulls up the cord, and with a triumphant laugh, slices it with the knife. I gasp inwardly, and back away from her. 45

She walks towards me, knife raised, and plunges it into my side. I scream, loud and bloodcurdling, as the blood pours out of the wound. She pulls out he knife, and looks at it, a surprised look in her face. My hand clutches my side, and I feel myself stumble, falling to the ground. She kicks out, kicking me in the stomach, and I groan louder. The pain is horrible, I feel like something is clawing at my side, or like a brand iron just seared me, leaving nothing but marked flesh. I stand up shakily. I will not let her kill me. 46

I tackle her, knife in hand, and stab her in the arm. I don't go deep because I don't want to seriously hurt her. My stomach twists as she howls in pain, her face red. She tries to squirm out from under me, but I hold on tight. 47

My mind kicks into high gear, and I remember that I have on a belt. I quickly remove it, and work on tying her arms, using a special know I'd learned in girl scouts. Once I finish,, I stand up, and start to drag her by her feet. I pull her into the hallway, blocking out her shouts. I open a closet door, and push her in.

"I hate you," I say, looking at her. The thing is, I don't. I hate this crazy, evil version of her. But I don't hate the way she used to be. The funny, quirky, best friend.

I hold my side, the warm blood trickling onto my hand. I slam the door, and promptly lock it. I rush to the couch where my cellphone was, and call the police, in near hysterics. The lady on the other line assures me that the police and the ambulance will be here shortly.

I go out onto the porch, and soon hear the sirens, and see the flashing lights. They hustle me onto a stretcher, and when they find Jessica, they pull her onto one too. But then, they pull a white sheet over her limp body. Not before I can see her dead, lifeless eyes, staring at me.

"What happened to her?" I scream, fear clutching my body once more.

"She was found hanging in the closet, in a makeshift noose." one of the officers explain, not looking at me in the eye.

I let out a sob. I fall back onto the stretcher, and squeeze my eyes shut. Maybe this is just a dream. Maybe I'll wake up right now. I open my eyes.

It's not a dream. I hear the sirens, I see the flashing lights, the nosy neighbors standing outside their houses, looking out their windows.

I close my eyes again, and feel myself drift into a deep sleep. Soon, the sound of sirens fades away, to the back of my mind...