The Hidden Door by Liz Botts

“Are you in or what?”
    I hear the edge in Riva’s voice, but I hesitate anyway. “I don’t know. Who else is going?” I ask, switching the phone to my other ear and getting up from my bed.
    Riva sighs, “I don’t know. Malcolm. Sarah. Kelly. Justin.”
    â€œJustin? No way. I’m not going.”
    â€œDaphne, really!” Riva huffs, “It’s Halloween for goodness sake!”
    We sit in silence for several minutes and I am not sure how to go on. Riva has only been my friend for a few months. We met when she moved here from Pennsylvania so she doesn’t know my history with Justin.
    I stand in front of the mirror, which hang s over my dresser. The face staring back at me looks so sad. Justin does this to me. I miss him.
    I loved him, Reev , I want to confess. I loved him and he rejected me.
    Riva stays silent for so long I think our phones have disconnected. But she finally says, “Aren’t you even a little curious about the ghost? And what about The Vampire sightings?”
    â€œIt’s all about the Hidden Door,” I say.
    â€œWhat’s the Hidden Door?” Riva’s voice changes to a higher pitch, like it does whenever she gets excited. Shoot .
    I watch the shadows cast by the streetlight dance along my wall. A tree branch bends in the wind, startling me with the quick change of light and dark. My head whips around toward my window so fast I almost drop the phone. I peer out into the dark. Nothing there.
    â€œJust a silly campus legend. Justin tells it better.”
    â€œPlease come with us,” Riva says. “It won’t be the same without you.”
    I want to believe her. But now that I know Justin will be there, I’m just not up for a night filled with unspeakable tension. Especially now, with all the rumors about a vampire (or more accurately a vampire wannabe) lurking in the shadows. I have to think of an excuse. Fast.
    â€œMy parents will never let me go,” I say. “What would I tell them?”
    Riva squeals. The shrillness nearly bursts my eardrum. “I knew you wanted to go. Just tell your parents we’re going to the Halloween concert, and then you are spending the night at my house. Which you totally can do, by the way, when we’re done with our investigation.”
    With that Riva launches in to her explanation of the plans for the evening. I have agreed to meet her at the concert hall with the rest of the group. She promises to send one of the other girls to pick me up.
    As I pull on jeans and a warm sweater, I muse over the fact that Justin will love this. The Hidden Door legend has always been a favorite Justin always thought that he was one step away from finding it— that he would crack the mystery if he just worked on it hard enough.
    I wouldn’t really know, I guess. We haven’t been talking much this past year. I’m not going to focus on that tonight though, I promise myself as I start packing my backpack with sup plies.
    When Justin and I were best friends, we spent countless nights prowling around campus searching for the Hidden Door. Still , as much fun as those nights were , we never found anything to suggest paranormal activity. He kissed me on one of those stake-out nights— right at the beginning of junior year. I doubt he even remembers.
    My parents are surprisingly nonchalant when I tell them my plans. They tell me to have fun. Now that I am a senior, they seem a bit more relaxed about my coming s and going s .
    Just as I am about to walk out the front door, my mom catches me. She places her hand on my neck, mutters something in Latin then pulls out my crucifix necklace. Nodding, she presses something—a bottle—into my hands.
    â€œBe careful, Daphne,” she says with a tight smile. Nodding to the bottle she says, “Holy water. Just in case.”
    I roll my eyes, but stuff the bottle into my backpack. My older sister Veronica marches in the door