Kristin and I had arrived at the haunted house. She looked at me in surprise “You didn’t want to tell me we were going to a haunted house?” What could I say? “I was afraid you wouldn’t like it, you know. I’m not sure how squeamish you are.” She slapped my arm “Are you kidding me? I love haunted houses!” Kristin was too cool for words. We stepped in to the queue. It wasn’t a big one really; perhaps the park was closing down? Nah, that couldn’t be it. These parks are usually open until midnight or something.

The queue inched forward I had spotted two familiar faces behind me. I held my hand out to them and they came towards it. A quick glance at Kristin let me know she was to busy looking at the outside of the haunted house to know what I was doing. I inched a little closer to them so I could whisper “Megan, this is Kat, Kat this is Megan” they smiled at each other. They knew each other from Glitter as well. “I want to scare the bejeepers out of Kristin. So you get in the cart behind us and call out to her or something. You know make her scared?” They winked at me and smiled.

“You know, I really like these paintings on the wall” Kristin suddenly said. I snapped my head back to Kristin “I’m sorry what did you say? I was just looking at the other rides” She looked at the other rides too “I said that I liked the paintings on the walls. They’re really good.” I shrugged “I guess they’re okay for a haunted house. But to be honest, they all look the same to me. I’ve seen better too. Some friends of mine are true artists; they are so amazing with their painting and drawing. Makes my work look like a 2 year old did it!”

I got a look from Kristin “stop putting yourself down so much! Remember you are a real good artist too! I’ve seen your work! I’m allowed to say it and you’ll have to believe me too. Because, I wouldn’t lie to you.” She was right. We stepped in to the carts. I glanced behind me quickly and winked at Kat and Megan. “What are you looking for?” Kristin asked me suddenly. Startled, I almost dropped my bag outside the cart. “Huh? What? Ooh sorry. No... Nothing. Nothing, I was looking for nothing, just err... taking this whole experience in as much as possible” She looked a little suspiciously at me. Come on brain, work your magic. “I mean, it’s not every day that you get to spend time in New York with your most favourite person in the world, right?” She seemed to buy it. Phew. “I guess not. Do you really mean that?” I saw this little kid looking out of her eyes; I guess she was not as self assured as I thought. I gave her one of my own big smiles and wrapped my arm around her shoulder for a quick hug. “I couldn’t think of anyone I would rather spend my time with then you.” She flashed me a quick smile and the carts were off.

We were plunged in to sudden darkness as the doors closed behind us with a loud bang. We both startled and laughed “great way to start a haunted house” she said nervously. “Yeah, I agree. It’s great!” Smoke machines blew their smoke across the rails. Green lights cast their eerie glow on the rolling fog. The effect was great!
Kristin hooked her arm in mine and gave me a nervous little smile “You’re not scared are you? You know it’s all fake. You’re an actress! You should know it is all fake, right.” Kristin gave me a daring look “I’m not afraid!” Yet, I added silently in my head. Something must have shown on my face because Kristin leaned back from me “What are you thinking. You have an evil gleam in your eyes!” I gave her my innocent face “Me? Evil in my eyes?” A poke in the side was the response I got to that.

One fake doll after the other was meant to be scary. I wasn’t that scared really, but the spider webs in the hair were never one of my favourite things. While I was plucking the last pieces of web out, a bang in the distance startled both me and Kristin “I thought you said you weren’t scared” Kristin sniggered. “I’m not scared; I’m only hyper sensitive to sudden loud noises. It comes with HSP.” I drew the last piece of web out of my hair and put it all in my pocket. I would keep it for a maybe scrapbook. “What’s HSP? Sound serious.” Was she worried about me? “HSP stands for Highly Sensitive Person; it just means I am overly sensitive to light, sound, smell, taste and other people’s emotions. It’s not all that great.” I took a deep breath. “I never really liked talking about being HSP. Most people think you are making it up or that you are exaggerating. Nothing of the sorts. HSP is real and I have to life with it.” Kristin bumped me softly. “Don’t worry, I believe you. And I can’t imagine it would be fun to be over sensitive to the very things we use to sense things.”

Kristin really rocks. The more I spoke with her the more I loved this tiny bundle of fun. Was I starting to feel guilty about this prank we were gonna pull on her? Yeah, I guess I was a little. But there was no way for me to tell Megan or Kat to stop. The only thing to do was play the whole thing out and hope for the best.

We pushed through another set of doors and entered a graveyard scene. An owl hooted in the distance. Soft creepy music started in the background, a door creaking to our left. Kristin giggled again “I have to say, this is really creepy! It sets the mood.” If only she knew. She grabbed my hand and I squeezed it in comfort. “Don’t worry, I will protect you.” I said in a manly voice. Kristin slapped at me and made a hissing sound. "Don't be like that" she said laughingly "you make it sound like I'm a maiden in distress!" I gave a bark of laughter. "Would that make me prince Charming? Not the best catch there then huh?"

"Kristin." The name came in a whisper. Kristin looked at me "yes?" she asked. I gave her an innocent face "what?" I asked her in return. "You said my name." I shook my head "No, I didn't" She looked confused "But I heard someone say my name." She looked behind us, but we had just gone around the bend, so nothing could be seen. "Kristin." This time it was Megan whispering the name. "There! there it was again!" Kristin half yelled. She tried to stand up and I pulled her down "Sit down! you can't stand in these things! what if you knock your head or something! I would feel guilty! Besides, I didn't hear anything." I raised my eyesbrow for effect. She looked even more puzzled now then before. "Kristin.... Kristin" this time it was both of them. I could feel Kristin freeze up beside me "Tell me you heard that too." I had to bite my lip not to burst out laughing "I think this place is getting to you, Kristin." She hooked her arm in mine again.

"Kristin, join us." "Kristin, I'll swallow your sould." Ooh such classic lines. Evil Dead was the best horror movie ever. Nothing beats a classic like that! "Mo, please tell me you heard that?" She sounded really frightened now. I felt kind of bad, but kind of not either. Keeping the laughter down was getting really hard now. "Kristin... Kristin... Kristin" the voice echoed through the place like an echo in a cave. They seemed to be coming from all sides. But I knew the ride was almost over. The last thing was the hand.

The doors of the exit came closer. 3.... 2.... 1. Kristin flew up, only being held in her seat by the metal bar "YIAAAAAH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. I tried to both cover my ears and hold m y stomach laughing at the same time. Not easy, I tell you. Kristin sat back down and grabbed the metal bar with both hands. I heard laughter coming from behind us. Guess I wasn't the only one thinking it was funny as hell. The doors opened to the outside world again and sunlight blinded us both for a few seconds. I could almost hear Kristin's heart hamering in her chest. She looked absolutely pale and was breathing like she had run 10 miles.

We looked at each other. She was really spooked, the whites of her eyes showing just a tad. I had tears streaming down my face. We stepped out of the carts and I had to support Kristin the first few steps until we reached a bench. I sat her down, facing the ghost house. About 1 minute later Megan and Katie stepped out of the carts. Kristin took a deep breath in. She looked at me, whide eyed and mouth gaping. Megan and Katie walked over to us, both still giggling. I looked at them and started giggling as well. I wasn't sure if Kristin thought it funny too.

But, I knew one thing though. Kristin was going to kill me.

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