"Sure, why not," Melody answered, a faint smile playing on her lips.
Zoe's face lit up. "I'll go first!" she said, plopping a pillow underneath her body.
"Truth or dare?" Zoe asked Alyson, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Truth," Alyson answered without hesitation.
"What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"
Alyson groaned. "When I was in kindergarten, I peed my pants in the middle of a class presentation about my pet rock."
Melody and Zoe burst into laughter, and Alyson couldn't help but join them. The crickets chirped on, a soundtrack to their secrets and giggles under the moonlight.
"Alyson, truth or dare?" Melody asked, turning away from Zoe with a smirk.
"Truth," Alyson said instantly.
"Pick dare!" Zoe pleaded.
"No, I don't want to," Alyson insisted.
"But you're the one who suggested the game in the first place," Melody pointed out. "And you made me do dares as well as Zoe, so it's your turn."
"Fine," Alyson finally conceded, an annoyed sigh escaping her lips. "Dare."
"I dare you to show Melody the secret hideout," Zoe announced, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"But it was Mel who was supposed to give me the dare, not you," Alyson retorted.
"Fine, then I'll re-say it," Melody said, playing along. "Show me the hideout."
"I've showed it to you before," Alyson said, crossing her arms.
"But we've never been there in the dark," Zoe piped in.
Alyson let out another dramatic sigh. "Fine," she said, defeated. She led the way across the yard, her flashlight beam cutting a shaky path through the darkness.
The girls crept along behind the houses, their path illuminated by Alyson's flashlight cutting through the suburban darkness. They followed her until she pushed aside some tree limbs, revealing a small, woods-like area that seemed much larger once they were inside. The air grew cooler, and a faint glow shimmered from a small stream, making the place feel alive with a magic they had never seen before.
"This is the place," Alyson whispered, her voice filled with awe. "Admittedly, I've never been here at night. I never knew the small stream could glow like that."
"Whoa, now this is a secret hideout," Melody said, even though she'd been there before. "It'd be cool if we could build a treehouse here."
"It would, but it would be hard to bring everything here and keep it a secret at the same time," Alyson replied. "Plus, I don't know how to build big things other than the car kits you get from Home Depot or Lowes."
"Yeah, that would be hard," Melody agreed as the three of them walked deeper into the mystical woods.
"Thankfully I brought our sleeping bags," Zoe said, her voice filled with a sense of accomplishment as she held up the rolled-up bags.
"What are we going to do with those?" Alyson asked, her eyes widening. She was already hoping Zoe wasn't thinking what she was thinking.
"Let's stay the night here," Zoe suggested, holding up the sleeping bags with a hopeful grin.
"Yes!" Melody exclaimed.
"No!" Alyson said at the exact same time. She stared at them, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Are you two crazy? We can't stay out here all night. What about Mammy? What about Trinity?" she pleaded. "We'll get in so much trouble."
"We'll be fine, come on," Zoe insists, a mischievous glint in her green eyes. "Besides, Trinity isn't home anyways."
Alyson's eyes widen as a memory flashes in her mind. "But don't you remember that kidnapping movie Trinity showed us? Where did the guy kill the girl? We could be killed!"
Melody, ever the voice of reason, looks around the quiet woods. "No one's out here, though, and no one should know about this place, right?"
"But what if something happens? No one knows where we are at!" Alyson's voice is a desperate whisper, filled with a mix of fear and frustration.
"Please, come on, let's just stay out here," Zoe pleaded, her big, puppy-dog eyes fixed on Alyson.
Alyson's resolve crumbled. She sighed, a sound of reluctant defeat. "Fine, but if we get in trouble, you get the spiky belt, not me," she said, pointing a finger at Zoe.
A rush of cold, wet air hit the girls with the force of a tidal wave. They looked up at the warm spring sky, the stars twinkling above them, but felt a torrent of water drench them from above. They shrieked, scrambling to their feet and looking around in confusion. There was no one there, and the sky was clear.
A rush of cold, wet air hit the girls with the force of a tidal wave. They looked up at the warm spring sky, the stars twinkling above them, but felt a torrent of water drench them from above. They shrieked, scrambling to their feet and looking around in confusion. There was no one there, and the sky was clear.
Despite it feeling like water, however, they weren't wet. A faint glow appeared around them, pulsating with a soft, otherworldly light.
"What's going on?" Alyson asked, her voice trembling as she began to feel dizzy, as if the world was spinning.
"Alys," Zoe called out, her voice a frightened whisper, feeling the exact same sensation.
"Zoe, Alys," Melody said, her own voice laced with fear.
As one, the girls collapsed onto their sleeping bags, their consciousness fading into the unknown.
The girls' eyes fluttered open to a blinding, relentless sun. It was the middle of the afternoon, the sky a cloudless, brilliant blue. A deep, throbbing ache pulsed behind Alyson's eyes, and a wave of nausea washed over her. She sat up abruptly, her mind still fuzzy, and saw Zoe and Melody doing the same.
A moment of confused silence hung in the air before the reality of their situation hit them. They were still in the secret hideout, their sleeping bags askew on the grass.
"We were supposed to wake up early," Alyson whispered, her voice laced with panic. "Before Mammy got home from work."
Melody, rubbing her temples, looked at the position of the sun. "It's past noon. Way past noon."
A horrified gasp escaped Zoe. "We're going to be in so much trouble," she said, her voice trembling. "The spiky belt!"
Alyson's heart hammered against her ribs. They had completely overslept, and Trinity was probably already home. The consequences of their rebellion felt suddenly, terrifyingly real.
"Remember, you get the belt and not me," Alyson says, trying to regain a sense of control. "But maybe we can get in quietly. It's not like Mammy always checks on us right after a twelve-hour shift from the hospital overnight as a nurse."
"Maybe, but you still got caught, too," Zoe says, not missing a beat.
"But what if because of this we won't be able to hang out with Melody anymore?" Alyson asks, a new wave of worry washing over her.
"Let's just run for it!" Zoe says, grabbing Melody's hand and taking off.
"Slowly, remember I still have asthma," Melody says, but she runs as fast as she can with Alyson following right behind them.
The girls stumbled through the front door, gasping for air, and Alyson gently closed it behind them with a quiet click.
"Quickly, go to my room," she whispered, pointing to the closed door right beside them.
Loud snores from the room next door could be heard—Doc's room—and the girls giggled quietly as they escaped into Alyson's room, successfully not getting caught.
"I'm starting to think we've learned too much from Trinity," Alyson joked, a hand on her chest as she tried to catch her breath.
"Such a bad example," Melody playfully said, a laugh following her words.
"A very, very bad one at that," Zoe chimed in, sounding much older than she was.
"Why, you!" Alyson exclaimed, throwing herself onto the bed and on top of Zoe, tickling her. Zoe's body shook with a fit of laughter.
"Don't kick me!" Alyson said, holding Zoe's arms and legs down.
"Then...don't...tickle...me!" Zoe squealed, laughing so hard she could barely speak.
"Okay! Okay, no fighting!" Melody said, trying to contain her own laughter.
"You!" Alyson exclaimed, pointing a finger at Melody. "You're totally siding with her!"
"I am not!" Melody said, putting her hands up in mock surrender.
"Are too!" Alyson insisted, flopping onto the bed and crossing her arms. "I'm too tired for this." A wide yawn escaped her lips.
"Come on, Alys," Melody said, looking at her best friend. "It's not like that. Besides, we were just joking, and you took it too far."