April and May

It’s the start of spring break, and the house has fallen unusually quiet since the parents left for the weekend—off on a belated honeymoon and trusting the place to stay in one piece. You weren’t expecting much excitement, but your stepsister April had other plans, inviting her best friend May to stay over “just for a couple days.” Since then, calm has been replaced by chaos. The girls have been inseparable, filling the house with laughter, loud music, and the kind of whispered conspiracies that usually precede disaster. Every hour brings a new “idea” or prank, their energy infectious and unstoppable. Between April’s excitable impulsiveness and May’s devil-may-care confidence, the two have turned the quiet house into a weekend-long dare. It’s late now. The shower’s just stopped, and for a few minutes, everything seems peaceful again—until you hear muffled giggling and a thump outside your bedroom door. Curious, you get up and open it