House of the Dead

“Morning mom.” Shaylyn said as she stepped into the kitchen.

“Morning Shay. So, have you and Valerie found somewhere to stay yet?” Her mother asked while pulling a plate out of the cupboard. Valerie and Shaylyn had just graduated, and planned on staying somewhere together for a couple years, they’d been best friends for years, and didn’t want to separate.

“No, would it be ok if she came over today so we could find something?” Shay asked helping her mother prepare breakfast.

“I guess so. I have to go out, I can take Sammy with me I guess. You two really need to find someplace to stay. I told your grandparents that when the come in from California they can stay in your room.” I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t know why they would want to leave California to come to Florida, its like the same weather.” Shay said, rolling her eyes as eight year old Sammy ran into the room.

“They want to see you guys and me, they don’t care about the weather!” Shay shrugged her shoulders and got her breakfast, sitting down at the table.

After eating, she went to her room, and pulled a pair of shorts and her bikini out. She got in the shower, and washed the chlorine from the day before out of her long, strawberry blond hair. She finished, and threw on her bathing suit, slipping the shorts over it. She called Valerie.

“Hello?” she heard Valerie say.

“Hey, want to come over today? We really need to find a place to stay!”

“Yeah, and I might have a place. I’ll bring pictures and the information.”

“Ok great, see ya soon.” They hung up, and Shay dried her hair, and put on her make up. She didn’t have any plans, but even when she was just around her friends, she felt like she had to look good. Her other friends, Allie, Jackie, Mary, and Beth had all gone off to different states, and they only kept in touch through email. The only friends that she had kept in touch with were Valerie, Matt, and Derek. They had no intention of loosing contact either.

She heard a knock on the door, and ran out to find Valerie standing there, holding a pile of papers.

“Hey, I’m taking a guess that’s the place?” Shay asked, pointing to the picture on the top.

“Yeah, that’s it. Is your mom home?” Valerie asked, looking around the room.

“No, she and Sammy went somewhere. I don’t even know where.” Shaylyn smiled, she loved having the house to herself. They went to the kitchen table, and Valerie sat down at the table in the kitchen. Shaylyn got a cup of coffee for each of them, and sat down across from Valerie, handing her the coffee.

“Ok, so, this is the house.” Valerie pushed the picture that was on the top of the pile over to Shaylyn. The house obviously used to be white, but was old and broken down. There was a small porch on the front, that used to be a green color. It was a huge three story house.

“Valerie! We can’t afford this.” Shaylyn exclaimed.

“Actually, we can. My aunt owns it, she used to let people rent it…but then she noticed that people would run from the house a couple days later, they wouldn’t even take their stuff. She doesn’t know why…there is only one problem.” Shaylyn nodded.

“Ok, what’s the one problem?”

“Well, she says that she wont let us move in unless we find at least two other people to live with us. She says that the house is too big, and she could find a family with more people to pay her more for the rent. But, if you and I can find two other people, we have the house.” Shaylyn sighed, and thought for a minute.

“Matt and Derek!”

“What?”

“Matt and Derek, they were looking for some place to stay together too. They could stay with us. Don’t worry, different rooms.” Shaylyn smiled at her thought. Valerie nodded.

“I guess that would work…” The girls smiled, and gave each other a high five.