Fear of the Uninvited

knocked on the door. “Mom?” The door opened.

  “Ah just in time! Good girl, Aria. Let’s have dinner.” She looked at her daughter. “After you’ve washed up.” She said sternly. Aria went to her bathroom. Now she was really scared to go back to school, what if Miss Randella catches her again. She looked in the mirror to see how dirty she was. Aria screamed, she was looking in the mirror but there was no reflection. There was no going back. Aria Universe was a ghost.

  Let’s Play Hide and Seek

  “Wake up! Wake up! It’s time to go to school!” Christina shouted at her little brother, William, and pulled his blankets off.

  “Ah! It’s cold! Let me sleep for five more minutes!” Said William as he pulled the blankets back over his head.

  “No it’s time for school!” Christina said and pulled the blankets off William again. She took her phone out of her pocket. She held it close to William’s ear and played loud music.

  “Stop!” William screamed and rolled off the bed. “Ouch! This is all your fault!” He sat up and rubbed his head.

  “Good you’re awake!” Christina said and batted her eyes. “The bus will be coming in twenty minutes. In that time you have to get dressed, pack your schoolbag, eat breakfast and brush your teeth.” She walked out of the room and closed the door. William quickly went to the door and locked it to prevent Christina from coming in again. He got ready as fast as he could and went down stairs.

  “Hi mom.” He said and sat down to eat breakfast.

  “Good morning, William.” Said his mother and sat down as well.

  “Hi!” Christina said while running out of the kitchen. “There is a new student that’s going to be in my class today! I’m so excited! I’m going to be best friends with her forever!” She said while running around the table.

  “But you don't even know anything about her. What if she’s weird? What if she’s not your type of friend?” Said William. Christina stopped running.

  “Look at you talking all nonsense. You’re not even capable of doing anything!” Christina said and continued running around. “I swear you can’t even use your knife while eating dinner!” William felt hurt.

  “Christina that's enough! William is just a little boy. He is trying to be careful!” Said their mother. She stood up and went to the kitchen. “The bus will be here shortly. William quickly go and brush your teeth.”

  “Okay.” He said and went to the washroom.

  “William! I hear the bus!” Christina shouted and knocked the door three times.

  “Coming!” William quickly rinsed his mouth, washed his hands and came out of the washroom. “Wait for me!” He ran to the front door and put on his shoes. Christina was already on the bus seated in her favorite seat. William picked up his bag and ran to the bus.

  “That took about thirty seconds for you to put on your shoes.” Christina said while William sat down.

  “Stop timing me! Next time I will wake you up and push you off the bed!” He said and grinned at the thought.

  “We’ll see.” She said and laughed with her friends. William just looked out of the window until they reached school.

  “We’re here!” Christina said and ran off the bus. She turned to William who was still seated on the bus. She stuck her tongue out at him and ran into the school. William’s blank expression got replaced with regular annoyance. He got out of the bus and walked into the school.

  Christina ran to her classroom, excited to see how the new student was like. She opened the classroom door and looked around. The new student was not here yet. She sat on her desk and put her bag on the chair. Class didn’t start yet so she was allowed to do anything.

  “Christina!” One her classmates ran into the classroom. “I saw what the new student was like. She keeps on smiling. It’s creepy…she’s on her way here with the teacher, act natural!”

  “Really? I like people who smile.” Christina looked to the door. “I’m ready to see her.” Just then the door opened and they walked in.

  “Good morning class! Today we have a new student named Rubaine. She prefers it if you called her Ru. Please make her feel welcome.” Said the teacher.

  “Hi everyone. I hope we get along!” Said Ru and looked around.

  “You may sit here next to Christina.” The teacher said and led her to her desk. “Christina would you be so kind and show Ru around the school?”

  “Of course!” Christina said and stood up. She heard whispers behind her and tried to listen.

  “Ru looks scary…”

  “How could Christina like her?”

  “I’m going to stay away from her…”

  Christina just ignored them and gestured Ru to come. “Sorry…we are not used to having new students coming in mid-term.

  “That’s okay. I usually have a hard time making friends.” Said Ru.

  “So what do you like to do? Any hobbies?” Asked Christina.

  “I love to play hide and seek! It’s the best game I’ve ever played.” Ru said.

  “I like that game too. I play it with my family sometimes. It would be nice to play with an extra person. How about you come have dinner with my family tonight and then play hide and seek? My house is really big.”

  “Really? Sure! I’d love to!” Ru’s smile grew bigger.

  “Here is the library. It’s the perfect place to study. And here are also some other classes we will be going to for the next few lessons.” Christina said while pointing to the classrooms they went passed, suddenly the bell rung.

  “We should probably get back to class. It’s okay if I didn’t see everything, I’ll figure it out.” Said Ru.

  “Good idea.” Christina said happily and they both went back to class.

  Time passed quickly. The bell rang and school was over. Christina quickly ran up to Ru and jumped up and down.

  “Are you ready? You can take my bus! Does your mom know about this?” Asked Christina.

  “It’s okay. My mom doesn’t care.” Ru said.

  “She doesn’t care? Why not?” Christina’s face went confused. “My mom always wants to know.”

  “That’s a good mom.” Ru said without answering Christina’s question. “Do you take the bus?”

  “Yes!” Christina felt awkward but kept walking. “My bus is there. I have a little brother named William. He’s nice if you don't annoy him. But his regular expression is always ‘the annoyed face’ so try not to have a long conversation with him.”

  “Okay.” Ru said and looked at the bus they were walking towards. “Is that him?” Christina looked over to where Ru was pointing.

  “Yes it is. Do you see that expression on his face?” Christina said and laughed. Ru just nodded and laughed along. They went into the bus. Christina ignored William and walked to the back seat.

  “Hi William.” Ru said lightly and joined Christina at the back.

  “Creep…” William whispered to himself. He looked out of the window. He was right about what he said in the morning. Ru was weird and he felt suspicious of her.

  When they got home. William went off the bus first. He didn’t want to get involved with Christina and her new friend. He went in the house.

  “I’m home, mom!” Said William.

  “Hello William! How was school?” Said his mother. William followed the sound of her voice and went into the kitchen.

  “Christina brought the new student here! She’s so creepy! Please mom, don't let her stay!” He pleaded.

  “She did? That’s fine! I’d love to meet her!” She said and went out of the kitchen. William just grunted and ran upstairs to his room. “Hello Christina and friend! You are welcome to stay here!”

  “Hi mom! This is Ru. She will be staying for dinner. Can we also play hide and seek after?”

  “Of course! We’ll do anything to make Ru feel welcome.” Said her mother. “Are you hungry or thirsty?”

  “No I’m fine.” Ru said.

  “Let’s go upstairs.” Christina said and grabbed Ru by the arm. They
both went upstairs. Ru stopped by William’s door.

  “Is he okay?” She asked.

  “Yes, he always locks himself in his room when someone else is here. Come on he can hear us.” Christina said as they both went into her room. “I feel bad for what I said to him this morning. I think I hurt him pretty bad.”

  “What did you say?” Ru asked.

  “I told him that he is not capable of doing anything. Like picking up a knife to cut his meat or something.” Christina said in guilt.

  “Picking up a knife huh? I hold one all the time.” Ru said and laughed. Christina just looked at her. “I guess he’s just afraid if he’ll hurt someone.”

  “Probably.” Christina said. “We should start our homework.” Ru nodded and took out her homework. They both worked until it was time for dinner.

  “Dinner time!” They heard her mother shout.

  “It’s time for dinner. You can meet my dad downstairs.” Said Christina and opened the door. She looked out of the door and saw William. He looked back at her. “William sorry for what I said this morning.” She said quickly. He just nodded and stuck his tongue out at her playfully and ran downstairs. Christina sighed in relief. “Ready?” She said to Ru

  “Yup.” She said and had a big smile on her face. They both went downstairs.

  “Ru, this is my dad.” She said and let Ru sit next to her.

  “Hello Ru. How do you like school so far?” Said Christina’s father with a warm smile on his face.

  “It’s good, thank you.” Ru smiled back, but the smile was not warm, it looked a little freakier from before.

  “Mom, after dinner we’re still playing hide and seek right?” Asked Christina.

  “Yeah!