“No! Don’t go in there!”

 Of course, the pretty, but not too bright starlet on the tv screen paid no attention to the words and kept on going, heading up the path to the haunted house, even as the creepy score and creepier sound effects filled the living room, letting the audience know that opening the front door and stepping inside was a bad idea. So of course, that’s just what the woman on the screen did.

 Jill sat on the couch with her two friends, Amanda and Beth, right beside her, watching the horror movie on the TV, some through their fingers. There was no sort of unwritten law required participants of a teen slumber party to find whatever cheesy late night horror movies were on and watching them, especially when they had the house all to themselves, but still, they were following it. The three teenage girls huddled close together, spilling popcorn, giggling at the cheesy dialogue and plot, jumping and squealing in fright at the jump scares and old-school monster and gore effects and silently wishing they hadn’t decided to watch it in the dark and wondering if they could go and turn on a few lights without the others, their own relief notwithstanding, calling her a wuss.

 The credits were just rolling when Beth raised her head up and looked towards the back of the house. “Hey! What was that?”

 “Aw...don’t try that dumb joke…” Jill started with a groan. “I’m not going to sleep a wink tonight, thanks to that stupid horror movie! I don’t need you trying to scare us to!”

 “No really!” Beth said, nervously. “I swear I’m not making it up! I definitely heard something!”

 There was a pause as the three teens strained their ears, listening to the creaks and groans of the house settling, all of a sudden realizing how big and dark and empty it was with Jill’s parents and brother out for the evening. They’d been so excited at first, having the house all to themselves, but it didn’t seem so fun now…

 Just then, they heard the sounds of footsteps coming in from the back door. It was unmistakable. There was someone else in the house with them! Several people, in fact. The girls could hear muffled whispers from the hallway, getting closer.

 Before they could do much to react though, the door to the living room was thrown open and three figured rushed in as the girls shrieked in fright. The figures were almost invisible in the dark room, dressed in long black cloaks. Under the hoods, each had a mask on: one a snarling wolf man, another a bug-eyed, gray-skinned alien and the third a fanged vampire. “Get ‘em!” The wolfman said, his voice muffled by the rubber mask.

 But muffled as it was, Jill couldn’t help but recognize the voice. And as he ran across the room, she noticed beneath the cheap costume store cloak the distinct red and blue sneakers he always wore. No doubt about it, it was her stupid brother, David. And from the muffled swearing when the alien banged his shin against a coffee table which, between the mask and the dark room he hadn’t seen, that must have been his friend Brad which meant the vampire had to be Greg.

 While their parents were out of town, David had gone to sleep-over at Brad’s house just down the street, leaving their own house free for Jill and her friends to have their slumber party. It seemed the boys had decided to sneak over to prank the girls. Not surprising, Jill had thought up several ingenious pranks of her own she’d wanted to try out later that night.

 “Let’s get ‘em girls!” She said, jumping up from the couch. The two sides, boys versus girls commenced to the sort of rough-housing which would have given all their mom’s heart attacks. It was a miracle nothing got broken, either in family knickknacks or arms and legs. Though David and his friends had the advantage of surprise and being a grade and a year older then the girls, Jill and her friends gave as good as they got, helped by the boy’s stupid Halloween masks constantly getting in the way till they pulled them off. But that was when they broke out their secret weapon…

 Jill was wrestling with her brother when Brad came sneaking up behind her. At a signal from him, David grabbed Jill’s hands and pulled them behind her back. The teenage girl heard a ripping sound and a second later felt something sticky pressed against her wrists. It was duct tape! The boys had brought a roll of duct tape with them! Jill began to squirm, eventually shaking off both boys, but not before Brad had managed to get the tape wound a couple times around her wrists, trapping them behind her back.

 While she pulled and struggled against the tape, the two turned to help Greg, who had had the misfortune of having both Beth and Amanda pile on him while his friends were busy with Jill. Beth was suddenly yanked back by David, into the waiting grasp of Brad and his duct tape. Pretty soon, her arms were taped behind her back as well. Amanda, meanwhile, suddenly found herself on even footing with Greg who soon turned the tables, wrestling her to the ground just in time for the others to come over and begin taping her up next.

 By this time, Jill had finally managed to wriggle free of the tape, only to find it was too late. Three on one was no contest. In just a couple of minutes, the teen lay on the ground beside her friends. All of them had their wrists and ankles taped and strips over their mouths to muffle their giggles and moans of disappointment at losing this latest bout in the eternal war of boys versus girls.

 Their captors stood over the girls, panting and huffing from the rough-housing. They high-fived each other, looking down at their captives who squirmed in the tape, glancing back up at them. Jill glared at her brother, grunting language that would have got her in trouble with their parents, had the tape not already effectively censored her. The other two meanwhile shared looks of excitement and a little worry about where the boys’ prank was going to go next...and how far.

 “Alright boys…” David told his friends, rubbing his hands. “Time for some fun…”