She lay there, her arms wrapped around her midsection as she writhed in pain. Why did I have to be so jealous, she thought as the light started to fade. “It wasn’t worth this,” she breathed as the darkness settled in.

Two hours earlier

Kennedy, Tasha, and Lindsay were all giddy about their sleepover that weekend. Getting the preparations together, picking out cute pajamas, and the prospect of talking about boys all night had them super excited. The party was to be at Kennedy’s house, which made it even better because her parents would be out at a Halloween party until around 1:00 a.m., and nothing’s better than a few 15-year-old's having the house to themselves for a few hours.

Kennedy was the leader of the trio. As a matter of fact, she strove to be the most popular one in the sophomore class, and it seemed to be working. Everyone loved her. She was a junior varsity cheerleader and head of her Spanish club. It seemed she got along with just about everyone. She’d known Tasha and Lindsay since they were all in third grade together, so the trio was inseparable.

“So…do we have everything?” Lindsay asked, taking inventory.

“Yeah, just about anyway,” Tasha responded.

“What?” Kennedy asked. “What are we missing?” Just then, the doorbell rang. “Who in the world is that? It's just supposed to be us tonight.”

Tasha gave a mischievous grin.

“Okay. What did you do?” Kennedy asked, already seething. “Who did you invite without asking me first?”

“Oh lighten up, Ken. Lindsay and I thought it would be cool to invite Kedrick over.”

Kennedy’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “A boy?! You invited a boy over? My parents would kill me if they knew a boy was here!”

“But they’re not here, are they?” Tasha said with a bit more brashness than usual. “He’ll be long gone before they even get back.”

“Yeah, Ken,” Lindsay chimed in. “It’s just to add a little more fun to the night. Besides, you know there’s a rumor that he’s a warlock. So I think tonight we should find out if it’s true…or not.”

Kennedy couldn’t believe these two would do such a thing. Even though her parents said they’d be home by one o’clock, they could easily come home earlier. She marched toward the front door and snatched it open. There stood “Warlock” Kedrick. “Well, well, well,” she sneered. “I just want you to know this wasn’t my idea. For some reason, those two nerds back there thought it'd be fun.” She then turned and stomped away, leaving him standing in the doorway.

Kedrick walked down the hallway, following the sounds. Once he entered the den where the girls were set up, Lindsay and Tasha’s eyes were all over him. There he stood, in all of his Gothic glory. Dressed in black from head to toe, his slick, black hair was held together with a black scrunchie. He even had his nails painted black. “What’s up y’all?”

Tasha was the first to speak. She walked over, grabbed his hand, and pulled him toward their group. “Now that you're here, we can get this party started!” Kennedy rolled her eyes and went back to finishing the refreshments.

After about two hours of dancing, eating, drinking punch, and telling jokes, Lindsay cleared her throat. “Okay y’all, it’s game time.”

“What kind of games?” Kennedy inquired.

“I know you’ve heard of 'Light as a feather, stiff as a board'.”

Kennedy stilled. They never said anything to her about playing that game. “You do know what that entails, right? Someone literally has to die.”

“That’s right,” Lindsay answered. “But that someone is also resurrected. Now that we have our warlock here, I think it’s the perfect time to try it out.”

Tasha chimed in. “It’s said that once the individual dies, those who are in attendance are to place two fingers each under the deceased, say the incantation, and then chant light as a feather, stiff as a board several times until the dead starts to levitate. After that, he or she will be resurrected.”

“So…” Kennedy said. “Who’s the guinea pig?” All eyes went to Kedrick.

“No, not me,” he hurriedly stated. “I’m here just in case…I’m needed.”

“That’s right. He's only here to assist,” Lindsay stated, looking pointedly at Kennedy.

“No, I’m not doing it,” Kennedy said. “You can forget that.” She flopped down on the couch defiantly and finished sipping her punch.

“Well, I guess that’s out,” Tasha said.

Just then they heard a thump. They looked over to where Kennedy had been seated and saw her jerking on the floor. Tasha screamed. “What happened? Call 911!”

No one moved.

“Lindsay?!”

“We'll resurrect her,” Lindsay said in a menacing voice.

“What did you do?”

“We needed a body, so I gave us one,” she shrugged. Lindsay had always been envious of Kennedy.

Kennedy...always the leader. And Lindsay was always her shadow, but she’d grown tired of being the flunky. It was her turn to lead. Once she resurrected Kennedy, she would be the popular one. “Now…let’s move her to the table and begin the incantation.” All three of them lifted Kennedy and placed her on the coffee table.

“Okay Kedrick, place the instructions on top of her and let’s begin.” Kedrick did as Lindsay asked.

They all placed two fingers each lightly underneath Kennedy and began. As they read the incantation, they began chanting. Light as a feather, stiff as a board. Light as a feather, stiff as a board. They said it over and over until Kennedy began to levitate. They all gasped in horror and excitement. But Kennedy did not wake up.

“Oh, no,” Tasha whimpered. “Oh no!”

Just then, Kennedy started hacking and coughing. Everyone screamed as she dropped to the floor.

“I’ll go get her a glass of water,” Lindsay stated. As she got up and went into the kitchen, a weird feeling washed over her. She started to feel unnaturally hot, as sharp pains tore at her stomach. “W--what's happening?” she whispered. She dropped to the floor and started writhing and jerking in pain the same way Kennedy did after she poisoned her. Lindsay desperately looked toward them in the den, but neither Tasha nor Kedrick noticed, as they were too busy caring for Kennedy. However, Kennedy’s eyes stared directly into hers. She smirked and mouthed, Pay back’s a bitch.

Kedrick wasn’t the witch. Lindsay choked as she realized It was Kennedy the whole time. Kennedy's eyes were black as night as she sat there, watching her. Watching her die in pain, not being able to utter a word. She lie there on the kitchen floor, her arms wrapped around her midsection as she writhed in pain. Why did I have to be so jealous and mean-spirited, she thought as the light started to fade. “It wasn’t worth this...” she breathed, just as darkness settled in.