Follow the Rules

My friend Sarah grinned at me and flipped her laptop around so that I could see it.

“Harmony Hills?” I asked as I sipped my smoothie.

“Yeah,” Sarah replied. “We totally need to get away for the long weekend coming up.”

I looked at the website again; the rolling green hills and sparkling river did look appealing. Sarah and I had just finished the last of our University exams and were exhausted from late night cram sessions. My eyes bulged at the price.

“At that price?” I squealed and pointed a finger at the offending screen.

“It’s a one off, Trish. C’mon, treat yourself for once.”

“I’m still paying off my Uni loan.”

A shadow crept over me and the hair on the back of my neck stood tall at attention. Sarah’s eyes widened in shock and at the same time I felt something cold press into my skin. A clammy hand landed on my bare shoulder and warm air breathed into my ear.

“You cannot escape,” the voice hissed.

I spun around and came face to face with Lucy; my cousin.

“Long time no see,” Sarah laughed.

I looked at Lucy’s large necklace which was the cold item that pressed into my neck. I breathed a sigh of relief; I thought it was a weapon.

“Don’t do that!” I grumbled.

“You’re no fun,” Lucy pouted. A man wrapped his arms around her waist. Gary was her boyfriend and studied engineering at our university.

“Hey, we are planning to spend next weekend away, wanna join?” Sarah chirped.

“Yeah, sounds great. You keen, Gary?”

“You kidding? I need to take a break from all this work,” Gary agreed.

“Well, cheap skate, here refuses to go to Harmony Hills,” Sarah smirked at me. I gave her my infamous death glare.

“Not everybody has money, you know,” I sighed.

“If we have a group booking, maybe they will give us a discount?”

“Worth a try, I suppose,” I admitted.

“Awesome, I’ll see if Carly and Pete will come,” Gary smiled.

I inwardly cringed. Carly and I were not the best of friends. She sneers at anyone who cannot identify at least six shades of red; or any colour for that matter. I happen to be one of those people. Carly is studying beauty therapy and I can’t picture her staying in a cabin with us. I forced a smile as Lucy and Gary waved goodbye.

“I don’t want Carly with us,” I growled to my best friend.

“She won’t be staying in the same room as us, Trish,” she soothed.

“Fine.”