What the hell happened to you ?" Susie asked me. "Lets just get the hell out of here" I commanded and we began to run as if it was a marathon. She kept asking me questions like I was taking a s survey. As we were running, I was asking her for directions to Dustin's house. We finally got there. We demanded that Dustin should open the door. "Open the Goddamn door" I requested. He opened it and we hurriedly ran inside. "What happened to you guys ?" He asked. I don't know, I saw Sophie running, so I decided to join her" Susie said. "Never mind, okay why I called everyone to gather here at this time of the night was because, I got us tickets to an escape room" Dustin said. Everyone was happy, except me. I I now that my mum won't permit me to go to places like that. "Why the long face ?" Susie asked me. I dragged her so that we could talk in private. "The thing is. My mum won't permit me to follow you guys. I don't know what to do. Blake won't be happy if I don't come along and besides, we have already started to build a really strong relationship" I said. "That means you have a crush on him" Susie said then she giggled. "Its not a crush, it called infatuation. And I know that you ha e a big crush in Dustin" I told her. "Yeah, I kinda do" she blurted. Dustin showed us the E-tickets on his phone for the four of us. Everyone was so excited that we will finally get to experience how an escape room will be like. We all decided that we will go to the escape room, tomorrow by 9AM. "How are we supposed to sneak our of school without being caught ?" I asked. Everyone was just starring at me for a moment then they busted into laughter. I felt stupid and unwanted. I felt like crying so, I went out outside. "Whats up with her ? Dustin asked. I suddenly heard Blake's voice saying "Sophie, wait!!". I kept running despite the fact that he was following me. My tears would make a sound if they drop on the floor. "Theres no need for you to be angry by what we did" Blake said. Then he grabbed, hugged me and held me by the waist tightly. "Eerythubg is going to be alright, there's no need for you to cry, I promise. I know you're trying to fit in as soon as possible, but you don't rush perfection, Sophie" he told me while I enjoyed his sole embrace. He released me and gave me a peck on my face. I felt like the whole world swallowed me up. I was shocked, yet excited. All I could do was to giggle. "Come on, let me drive you home" he insisted. "You have a car ?" I asked. "Of course I do" he answered. I got into the car and he drove me back home. We both exchanged numbers and promised to call each other when we get home. "Blake, can i tell you something ?" I asked. "Yeah, you can tell me anything" he said. Before I could Ramsay anything, Susie's voice was in my head saying "don't tel Blake that you lie him before he tells you". I had to ask a way different question to not make the moment awkward. He dropped me off in my driveway. I waved at him and he drove off. It was like my first date. I quickly ran to my window and climbed back in. I couldn't sleep in my room because of Ripley. He was terrifying and horrific. I wasn't able to sleep at all. My eyes were open like my eyelashes had been cut off. I was I full despair of him. I was wondering why my mum would do such a thing to me, and why he said that he would not only not get revenge on her, but also my mum. I picked up my phone and came to a conclusion that I should call Susie. She picked up the call but she wasn't talking. "Susie! Can you hear me ?" I asked thinking that she would give me a reply. To my surprise, I heard Ripley's voice. "Where's Susie ? And what are you doing in her house ?" I asked with fear in my voice. "Hello, Sophie. I couldn't help to notice that you and your friends are going to an escape room tomorrow. Now, I'm not going to ruin you plans. Infact I'm really happy that you guys are going there. It will be a great opportunity for me to show Nancy how dangerous I can be. Tick tock" then he hung up the call. I was thinking if I should call Blake and cancel for tomorrow. I wanted to set my alarm for school and I saw that it was 6:00AM. As the say, no rest for the weary. I didn't even have the courage to sleep, when the sedistant Ripley was in my head. I could hear his voice saying "tick tock" over and over. I went to my parents room to tell her about what he said and who he is. I went to her room and she was asleep. I was forced to wake her up by my conscience. I was waking her up, but she refused to wake up. "Mum, there's a demon after my life" I shouted. "What are you talking about ?" She asked. "There's this demon I saw last night, he said he's name was Ripley and he was friends with you back in in high school. I tried not to believe everything he said but he made it sound do real. I was so scared and anxious". "Why didn't you come to me and tell me about it" she yelled. "I tried, but he scared the living nightmare out of me to the extent that I couldn't move or talk. He even left a mark on my body. Look at my nose, look at what he did to me".
"Okay, we are going to move out of this house and find a better place to stay, Is that understood ?" She asked. "Wait, you don't even know this Ripley guy anyway, how come are you acting so temperamental ?" I asked. She quickly told me to go and prepare for school. It was strange because she quickly changed the subject. I was very suspicious of her, but I chose to go into investigation. I got to school and I saw the gang, intent to say hi to then and they were giving me the silent treatment. "Is it because of what I did last night ?" I asked. "Yes, it is. Why did you run off like that ? If it wasn't for Blake that followed you, who I now's were you would have gone to. We were worried sick about you". "Well, if wasn't for what you guys did, nine of that would have happened" I said. "Was it because we were laughing at you because of the joke you made ?" She asked. "Frankly, I was really upset because if what you guys did yesterday. I wa pissed off" I said angrily. "We promise not to do it again" Susie said and then we all laughed. We got into class and I was wondering why our teacher wasn't in class. "Hey Susie, do you have any idea why the teacher isn't here yet ?" I asked. "On his way to school, we punctured holes minus car tyres, so he won't be able to come to school today" she said. "Wow, I should really hang out with you guys more often" I said. "Okay guys, let's go over the plan. Manipulated Mr Williams, check. We move on to the 5th floor and jump right off. I dropped a bouncy castle on the last floor, so, if we jump off, we will land right in top of it. And, I have a car parked right close to the bouncy house. Susie and Blake will serve as decoys, incase if anyone catches us, while we are bailing out. Everyone clear on the plan ?" Dustin asked. "Yeah" we all shouted.