Page 228 of Sienna Rossi: Beyond Shattered Trust

The door opens, and Heaven steps inside, pausing as she takes in the room.

“Allie? What are you doing here? What is this?”

“A very small get-together,” Allie says.

“It’s a sleepover,” I explain. “Not a party.”

Allie narrows her eyes. “Why add that?”

“There’s cake…” Heaven points out.

“Cupcakes,” I correct.

“They’re too small to count,” Allie adds.

I step forward and take her hands. “You said you didn’t want a party, and we listened. No guests, no DJ, no speeches and no one forcing you to smile for photographs.”

“It’s just a sleepover like old times. You know once Si has this pup, we won’t get these times again?” Allie points out.

Heaven’s eyes soften. “True… But I get to choose the movie.”

“Fine.” Allie shudders. “As long as it’s not romance.”

“That’s my choice,” Heaven replies haughtily.

Allie simply gives her a disgusted look.

We settle amongst the pillows, Heaven between us as she scrolls through the films. She eventually chooses one with magic, fighting and enough romance to keep me interested.

The first pizza is almost gone before the opening scene ends. We sure can eat.

The film continues, and we spend most of it arguing over which character is clearly going to die first and why people in films insist on following strange noises.

“They should leave,” I say as the woman on screen approaches a dark stairwell.

“They won’t,” Allie replies. “They never do.”

“Why not?”

“Then the film would be ten minutes long.”

Heaven nods. “Fair, but this isn’t horror, so they’ll survive.”

We laugh at some of the scenes; Heaven and I ‘aww’ over others, Allie gags at another, and soon we’re laughing and simply joking about the movie, the outside world forgotten.

When the movie ends, we all change into our pyjamas before Heaven allows Allie to choose the next movie, and then we begin on our snacks.

Ten minutes into the next movie, someone is brutally murdered.

Heaven turns to Allie. “Really?”

Allie shrugs. “It had good reviews.”

“That man was just decapitated.”

“Like we don’t see actual death all the time,” Allie points out.

By eleven forty-five, the three of us are stretched across the blankets, the second film playing quietly in the background.