Maggie Doyle woke up, listened for a moment, frowned, cursed whoever had invented doorbells, and then rolled over and went back to sleep.
PJ Hasham, standing at her door in his pajamas, continued to ring the bell insistently.
Dash McKinley, who was five pages from the end of Stephen Kings's "It" jumped when she first heard the doorbell, and then promptly ignored it, promising herself that she would finish the book first.
PJ Hasham continued to ring the bell.
Maggie continued to sleep.
Dash continued to read.
"Hello?" PJ shouted. He began to pound on the door with his fist.
Maggie woke up again, heard PJ's voice, then told herself that she was imagining it, and then rolled over and went back to sleep once again.
Dash, who now only had three pages to go, knew perfectly well who it was at the door, but refused to put down her book and answer it.
PJ, now desperate, searched under the flowerpots outside the front door and, finding the key, inserted it in the lock gently and turned it.
Maggie woke up when she heard the front door screeching open. She realised that to go back to sleep again this time would be extremely stupid.
Dash, with only two pages to go, was fumbling around for her weapon on her bedside table while her eyes remained glued to the book.
PJ tripped over the rug in the dark hallway and swore as he righted himself.
Maggie jumped out of bed and grabbed the golf-club she kept in her closet just for occasions like this.
Dash read the last two sentences, then threw down the book and picked up the can of spray deoderant she kept as a weapon and jumped up.
PJ approached Maggie's door quietly.
Dash's door flew open.
Maggie's door flew open.
PJ was knocked backwards.
Dash screamed.
Maggie screamed.
PJ yelped.
Dash switched on the hallway light.
"PJ!" she gasped.
Maggie swallowed.
PJ winced.
"Um... my house burnt down," he explained apologetically.
Maggie and Dash stared.
"And I came here because... uh, well... well..." PJ swallowed as he looked at Maggie.
He knew why he had come here. 
Maggie knew why he had come here.
They both knew that they didn't want Dash to know why he had come here.
"Because you had nowhere else to go," Maggie finished hurriedly for him.
"Because my house burnt down," PJ said at the same time.
Dash stared. "Your house burnt down?" she asked disbelievingly.
"Oh, yeah, it did," PJ said, nodding. He'd almost forgotten that.
"Oh, that's awful, PJ!" Dash said sympathetically. "What are you going to do?"
"Well... I was hoping that -"
"Sure, you can stay here," Maggie interrupted him brightly.
"He can?" Dash asked, looking at Maggie.
"Sure he can, he does all the ti- I mean, sure he can," Maggie corrected herself hastily.
Dash frowned suspiciously.
"Are they the only clothes you have, PJ?" she asked, staring at PJ's PJs.
PJ nodded.
Maggie shook her head.
Dash looked at Maggie, confused.
Maggie quickly nodded.
Dash looked even more confused.
"I mean, I have his clothes," Maggie straightened out.
"You have his clothes?!" Dash demanded.
PJ winced.
"I mean, no, I mean that I ... I have some clothes that would fit him!" Maggie said quickly. She exhaled deeply, relieved.
"Why do you have clothes that would fit him? He's not your size," Dash pointed out.
"Um..." said Maggie.
"Umm...." said PJ.
"Well..." said Maggie.
"Well..." said PJ.
"You guys, what's going on?" Dash asked, scratching her head.
"I borrowed them," Maggie said quickly.
"They were Robbie's!" PJ said at the exact same time.
"Huh?" Dash asked.
"Um..." said Maggie.
"Um..." said PJ.
They looked at each other.
Dash noticed the look.
"Well, what was it? Are the Robbie's, or did Maggie borrow them?" she asked, trying to make sense of it all.
"Uh..." PJ started.
"Uh..." Maggie started.
"Well, they were Robbie's..." PJ said slowly.
"And then I borrowed them!" Maggie finished.
Dash frowned as she puzzled through this in her mind.
"But if they were Robbie's, why did you need to borrow them, Maggie? And how would they fit PJ, anyway? I mean, PJ was taller than Robbie."
Maggie swallowed.
PJ gulped.
Dash stared.
"How 'bout we all hit the sack?" PJ suggested.
Maggie nodded eagerly.
Dash shrugged and then turned to return to her room. 
Maggie took PJ's hand automatically as she pulled her toward her bedroom.
Dash glanced back at them. "Um...?" 
She stared at their hands, and then confusedly at the direction in which they were heading.
Maggie and PJ immediately let go and hid their hands behind their back guiltily.
"It's nothing," Maggie said quickly.
"Nothing at all," PJ added quickly.
Dash shrugged, and turned to leave again.
Maggie and PJ's hands found each other again.
Dash turned again. "Hey?"
Maggie and PJ immediately let go.
"Yeah?" they chorused.
"Where's PJ going to sleep?" Dash asked with a frown.
Maggie and PJ both opened their mouths to speak. Then they both closed their mouths and looked puzzled.
"He'll sleep... on the couch!" Maggie said quickly.
"I will?" PJ asked, plainly hurt.
"So why was he going into your bedroom?" Dash asked suspiciously.
"Um..." PJ began.
"Um..." Maggie began.
Dash shook her head, too tired to try to understand.
"I'm going to bed. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Dash," Maggie said with a smile.
"'Night, Dash," PJ said with a smile.
Dash closed her bedroom door after her.
Maggie and PJ looked at each other.
They held hands again, and Maggie led PJ into her bedroom, closing the door after them.
 

"Hey, Maggie?" Dash called.
Maggie opened her eyes blearily, glancing at the alarm clock. Why was Dash knocking on her bedroom door at six thirty in the morning?
"What?" she called back.
"Where's PJ?"
Maggie could tell that Dash was clearly puzzled.
"He's right here," she replied automatically. Then she froze.
"What?!" Dash cried.
PJ stirred, then jolted awake. "I'm not here!" he called hurriedly, albeit sleepily.
Maggie groaned.
PJ swore.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt," Dash called through the door. Maggie could hear her giggle.
Maggie groaned again.
PJ swore again.
Maggie jumped up and opened the bedroom door to find Dash staring at her, smiling widely.
Maggie quickly closed the bedroom door behind her so that Dash couldn't see PJ.
"Maggie, is PJ in there?" Dash asked with a suspicious smile.
"Um... nope!" Maggie said firmly.
"But I heard his voice in there," Dash said pointedly.
"Um... I was... well, I was practicing my... what do you call it? You know, when you copy someone else's voice...?"
"Mimicking?" supplied Dash suspiciously.
Maggie nodded firmly. "Exactly. I was mimicking PJ."
Dash stared at her for a moment, then asked, "Maggie, *why* would you want to mimick PJ?"
Maggie opened her mouth to speak, but could find nothing to say.
"Uh..." she said slowly.
"PJ's in there, isn' it?" Dash asked knowingly.
Maggie shook her head quickly. "No," she squeaked.
"Then you won't mind if I open the door and check?"
Maggie nodded, then shook her head, and then nodded again.
"Nes!" she blurted out.
"Huh?" Dash looked at her doubtfully.
"I mean... It's really messy in there."
"So?" Dash asked pointedly.
She pushed past Maggie and reached for the door handle, but Maggie quickly flattened herself against the door.
"You can't," she said desperately, adding, loud enough for PJ to hear and get the hint, "You can't go in my room, Dash."
"Why not?" Dash reached for the door handle again.
Maggie tried to protest, but Dash grabbed her hand and yanked her out of the way.
She groaned as Dash opened the door, covering her eyes.
"PJ!" Dash gasped.
Maggie uncovered her eyes, knowing that the inevitable confrontation and confession had come.
Then she gasped, when she saw PJ.
Or, to be more correct, half of PJ, stuck in halfway out the bedroom window.
Maggie groaned.
"I can explain it all..." she began.
PJ started to wiggle backwards, but then he got stuck.
PJ swore.
Dash giggled.
Maggie groaned again.
This was gonna be a long day...

- end -