Bright, pearly light streams through the window, illuminating a single, sparkling, brown eye. The rest of Zoe's face remains shrouded in shadows as she leans against the windowsill, though I still see the outline of a smile tugging at her lips.

"And as the girl turned around, an eerie, white mist assembled in the darkness."

As in on cue, a gentle breeze sweeps past Zoe, sending shivers down my spine. I wonder if Zoe could've summoned it on purpose, then remind myself that my best friend would've revealed any weather powers she had a long time ago.

"She felt something tightening around her waist." Zoe thrusts her hand out, moonlight illuminating her warm, beige skin. "A hand, drawing her closer and closer... to death."

I grip my comforter in suspense. I don't even have to look at Priya and Autumn beside me to know they're doing the same.

"Then she felt the trickle down her neck, a small stream, a darkened, warm river oozing from her head, crawling down her spine, and dripping into a puddle by her feet."

Priya lets out a little shriek beside me. I clamp down on the growing unease in my belly.

"The ghost had finished with the knife. That way was far too easy. Now, it wanted to slowly savor the moment when it brought her life to a close."

The knife. I resist the urge to squeeze my eyes shut.

There are no knives in this room, I assure myself. And the story is almost over.

I try to match Autumn's breezy expression beside me. After all, horror stories are meant for entertainment — usually. But my thin lips refuse to tilt up any further than a solid line. Anxiety prickles at my skin, down my neck and spine, sending tingles shooting down my thighs, my calves, just like the sticky substance in the story.

"The ghost had squeezed her head too hard, so all the blood from her brain was leaking out. Within the hour, she'd be dead."

My hands inch around to cradle my elbows. I take deep breaths and try to imagine myself in my "safe place." Slowly, I begin to tap, tap, tap, alternating between elbows.

"I thought you said that the fog wrapped around her waist," Autumn interjects. She's reclining against a baby blue comforter, one I used during my butterfly phase when I was seven, hence the multitude of yellow butterflies swooping across the fabric. Autumn couldn't care less that it has a little girl design. In fact, there's very few things she cares about. So far, the list we've identified is algebra, geocaching, and beat boxing.

Zoe sighs. "Okay, fine. The fog squeezed so hard that it cut off oxygen to her brain, leading to internal bleeding."

"Is that medically accurate?" Autumn peers over her tortoiseshell glasses. With her frizzy brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail, she almost has a teacherly quality.

"She's dead now, so blood. The end."

Blood. Death. A fresh wave of anxiety washes through me. I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, grateful for the cover darkness provides. Please don't notice anything. Please don't pay attention to me.

Adrenaline courses through my veins, making my heart race and my hands twitch. I clasp my fingers together, feel them digging against each other. My body freezes inside my sleeping bag. I don't dare move until the looming panic subsides.

Deep breaths, I remind myself. That "in four out six" routine never works for me, so I focus on the way my lungs expand as air inflates them, my chest compressing as the air releases. That's all that's moving. Your lungs, keeping you alive. Your heart, keeping you alive.

The others chat for a moment while I zone into that peaceful, untainted place. No blood. Nothing sticky trickling down someone's spine or pooling on the ground.

I guess I should've been prepared for this. I thought I was prepared after last Monday. Clearly I was wrong.

"Uh, Madelyn? Earth to Madelyn?"

My gaze snaps to Autumn, then Priya and Zoe. They're all staring at me, though not in a more suspicious way than one would expect. I mean, ruminating isn't normal, but spacing out is, right? Something prickles on the skin behind my neck.

Blood.

I resist the thought, as well the more disturbing follow-up: whose blood is it? It's just apprehension whispering across my skin, raising goosebumps in its wake.

Do they think I'm weird? Abnormal? Perhaps they suspect something is wrong, that everything about me is wrong.

"Madelyn, your pick. Dune, In the Heights, The Devil Wears Prada, or Black Widow."

Slowly, the present crystallizes, and my thoughts become like background static. I see three girls, three friends, lounging around me. Their faces seem expectant, even excited, as they wait for an answer. Well, Autumn seems to be more bored than excited, but that's normal.

I force a chuckle and clear my throat as my mind refocuses. "Uh, I don't know."

Priya glances up from her laptop perched on her outstretched legs. "There's also the new Little Mermaid movie. I can pull it up on Disney plus."

"Not another movie on a tiny screen." Zoe flops backward against the windowsill with a thump. "Come on, Madelyn has the best movie set up of all time. We have to take advantage of it."

I roll my eyes, a smile growing on my face. "It's not that great."

"Seriously?" Zoe deadpans. "You have a full-on movie screen."

"Yes... but keep in mind that whatever we do, we can't wake up my mom. She has work tomorrow. And we're supposed to go to bed before midnight."

"Oh, please," Zoe laughs. "That train passed an hour ago."

"We should probably head to bed, though," Priya says, placing her computer aside as she shifts her legs sideways. "Don't forget about what rolls around at eight a.m."

"Might as well get used to missing sleep," Autumn says with a yawn. "Things are only downhill from here."

Sophomore year. The thought fills me with a strange concoction of dread and excitement. The first year at Eralyn Academy of Secondary Education is always entry level, getting students known as "sensors" used to their special abilities, learning the basics of how to manipulate them, etcetera. Second year is when the stakes really pick up, not to mention the standard coursework. I'm dreading the fact that I signed up for AP European History already.

But then there's always that ray of excitement that shines through. I'll be back with my classmates, using my new school supplies that Mom bought last week. I'll be one year closer to graduation. And most importantly, I learn more about my gift, how to manipulate it in the real world, just like my mom.

"So, I'm getting the sense that movies are out the window," Autumn says slowly.

"But popcorn isn't," Zoe says. "I'm getting some no matter what."

"Just be quiet on the stairs. You ought to know the ones that creak by now," I say.

"Relax." Zoe heads for my bedroom door. "It's not like your mom is a whisper-hearer."

"That's not really the point," Autumn murmurs in a sing-song voice. But Zoe is already out the door. She does a decent job until a slight creak pierces the silent air. I cringe internally. Still, Zoe manages to return without any run-ins with my mom, and we soon are snacking on three large bags of popcorn — dill pickle for Zoe, everything bagel for Priya and me, and classic buttered for Autumn.

"Let's play something," Zoe says. A light glints in her eyes. "Ooh, let's do Scare or Dare."

"Uh, no," Priya says. She glances at me uneasily. "Not again."

"Oh, come on! It's fun!"

"No more jump scares," Priya says, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth. "And no more clips from Saw, Scream, or It."

"Ugh, fine."

"And nothing from any other horror movie that's entered in your brain's encyclopedia."

Zoe sighs. "If it will make you play, then fine."

"Promise?"

"Shake on it." Priya reluctantly shakes hands. "Yay! Okay, I'll go first. Priya, scare or dare."

Priya groans, tossing her glossy, black braid over her shoulder so that it cascades down her back. "Dare."

"I dare you to... dip the ends of your hair in whatever paint we find in Madelyn's garage."

Priya glares at Zoe. "You didn't."

"I did."

"No one, but no one, messes with the hair."

"Come on, I need a twin!" Zoe's thin, straight black hair has electric dark and light blue streaks running through it. I remember when she cut her hair to chin length last semester. Everyone at school freaked out because she chopped off more than ten inches. It was for a good cause, a local cancer non-profit, but when people first saw it, they just thought it was drastic. Now it's a little longer, almost to her shoulders, and is still as stylish as ever.

"I'm not dying my hair with paint."

"Then have Madelyn's mom dye it after school tomorrow."

"I'm sure she's booked." Priya turns to me. "Right? Please tell me I'm right."

"Then this weekend. Come on, I need a twin!" Zoe squeezes Priya's dark brown hand and shakes it up and down as she bounces in her seat.

Priya sighs. A silent beat pulses among us. "Semi-permanent magenta. I'll buy the hair chalk this afternoon."

"Yay!"

Priya turns to Autumn. "Dare or scare?"

"Scare." Autumn leans back on her elbows, a satisfied smile on her lips. Barely anything phases her; no matter the scare, dare, or schoolwork crisis.

"You've got to be kidding me," Priya groans.

"Just look up a jumpscare and don't watch it," I tell her.

Priya reluctantly reopens her laptop. A moment later, she turns the screen to Autumn. The fullscreen is black for several seconds — five, six, seven...

A ghoul, disfigured and dripping in blood, appears on the screen. My eyes skid to the floor a moment too late. The image, the blood, stains my vision, drips red droplets all over my carpet. I inhale a deep breath, placing my hands on my thighs. I picture that special, untouched place of mine and start tapping. It's better when I close my eyes, but I've practiced long enough to hear the sounds of cups clinking and taste bitter cold brew on my tongue without seeming overly weird. At least, I hope I don't seem weird.

Am I weird?

"Was it that bad?" Priya asks apologetically.

Autumn shrugs. "On par with Zoe's."

"I'm so sorry, Madelyn," Priya says.

"It's okay." I force a smile. "It's my fault for looking."

What a stupid move. Way to go.

Before the anxiety closes around me, Autumn says, "Okay, Zoe. You're up next."

A few rounds of the game help to distract me from the image, though the thoughts never fully seem to dissolve. Panic simmers just under the surface, ready to bubble over. It's taken years to be able to bottle up the discomfort for a later time.

Zoe ends up cutting zig-zags into her nails and watches a jumpscare, Autumn watches two more jumpscares, Priya stands on one leg for a full cycle, and I'm stuck with eating a spoonful of mayo with a maraschino cherry. Zero out of ten; I do not recommend it.

Autumn turns to me after her turn. "Scare or dare."

"Dare," I sigh. The game probably won't last much longer. It gets kind of boring after a while.

Autumn looks at me for a long moment. Then, the slightest smile spreads on her round cheeks. "I dare you to sign up for the school dating app."

Zoe laughs. "Seriously? Oh my gosh, that's incredible."

"What?" I'm too shocked to know how to respond.

"Sign up for the dating app. See who you get matched with." With her legs crossed and her hands folded, she looks like the epitome of responsibility. But I have a feeling only trouble can come from the dating app.

Several years ago, a girl who attended Eralyn Academy invented SoulDate, an app which is supposed to match students with their dream date based on their interests and personality. The only catch is that all the dates are anonymously paired, so you don't know who your match is until you arrive at the date. Essentially, it's an app setting you up for blind dates with random classmates. No one seriously uses it, and it's more like a school joke than anything else.

Oh gosh. I'm going to have to use it.

"You've got to be kidding me," I say, deadpan.

"Let me see you download it!" Zoe exclaims.

"I don't know about this..."

"You'll be the first of us to go on a date," Zoe gushes jokingly. "You'll have to fill us in on all the details."

"Um..."

"Open up the app store," Autumn says. "Let's track this thing down and start making you a profile."

Reluctantly, I reach for my phone, which had been resting peacefully on my pillowcase. My thumbs are in no hurry as I type my password in. The more time I take, the more chance they'll change their minds.

I can't believe this is happening.

My fingers open the app store on autopilot while my brain grapples with the fact that this is really happening. I, a fifteen year-old who hasn't even started her Sophomore year, am going to be downloading and using a dating app.

As it turns out, a simple search in the Apple Play Store yields no results, and we end up finding a link to SoulDate on a random reddit thread from a few years ago.

"This had better not install any malware on my phone," I grumble. The installing button circles a few times before it's 5%, 27%, 90% installed.

"Are you holding your breath?" Autumn asks.

I exhale, desperate for air. "No, of course not."

"Uh-huh."

SoulDate appears on my phone's screen a minute later. I open it up and click through a quick tutorial on how to use the app. Then, a questionnaire pops up on the screen.

"Guys, this is twenty pages," I say, scrolling through it. "There's no way..."

"It's the length of the MBTI quiz," Zoe counters. "And you've taken that at least twice."

I roll my eyes. "Zoe, this is double the MBTI test. Besides..."

"Well, we're happy to keep you company while you fill it out," Autumn interjects.

"But—"

"The sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish," Zoe sings.

I sigh. "Fine. But seriously, this is overboard for a dare."

"Scare or dare is a gamble," Zoe shrugs.

"You never know what you're going to get." Autumn stretches her legs out, reclining on her elbows.

I roll my eyes, take a deep breath, and click "start questionnaire."