“Wake up, Stephanie! Wake up!” said Stephanie’s teacher, Mrs. Booksworth.

“What happened?” asked Stephanie.

“You fell asleep again,” said Mrs. Booksworth.

“Sorry,” said Stephanie.

The whole class giggled except Eliot and Paige, Stephanie’s best friends. Eliot and Paige were twins. They didn’t laugh because they knew what had been going on. After school, Stephanie was so embarrassed. Her friends came over to her, and they invited her over to their house to get the topic off of her mind.

At their house, Eliot and Paige thought that they could help her get over her fear of monsters under her bed. They decided that they would organize a sleepover to show her that monsters are not real.

“You guys might not believe me, but I swear I have seen it before. Monsters are real,” said Stephanie. “I think I am just going to go home.”

Stephanie was going to prove that she was telling the truth.

***

Finally, the day of the sleepover came. At about 5, her friends came over to her house.

“Are you ready to get over your fear?” they asked her.

“I guess so,” she said.

They watched a couple movies and ate dinner, and then they went to Stephanie’s room.  

“We will help you have the courage to look under your bed so you know there is no monster,” Paige said.

“I still can’t believe you guys don’t believe me,” Stephanie responded.

“We’re sorry. It’s just… we don’t believe in monsters,” said Eliot.

“When we were younger, we thought there was a monster under our bed, but our parents helped us get over our fear,” said Paige.

“I get you guys don’t believe in them, but I do,” said Stephanie. “At around 11, I will prove to you guys that monsters are real.”

At 11, they turned the lights on.

“Ready to look under your bed?” Paige asked.

“Kind of,” said Stephanie.

“Great,” said Eliot.

They all were about to say something when they heard a snore.

“Was that any of you because it was not me,” said Stephanie.

“It definitely was not me,” said Paige.

“That wasn’t me, either,” said Eliot. “Maybe monsters are real.”

“Don’t be silly,” said Paige. “I will look under the bed. I’m sure nothing will be there.”

“Be careful,” said Stephanie. “Just so you know, it has red eyes, blue skin, sharp claws, and puffy, gray hair.”

“Okay. Here I go,” said Paige.

She leaned over the bed, but then she gasped, screamed, and sat straight up.

“Shh!” said Stephanie.

“Monsters are real!” said Paige.

“I told you so!” said Stephanie.

“That monster looked exactly like the one me and Eliot thought was real in our room!” said Paige. Her heart was pounding out of her chest.

“Do you know if he has a name?” asked Stephanie.

“No,” said Paige.

“But we named him Auggie,” said Eliot.

“We need to find a way to get rid of him!” whispered Stephanie.

“But is there really a way of getting rid of a monster? He is probably dangerous!” said Eliot.

“There has to be a way,” said Paige.

“Maybe we don’t need to get rid of him,” said Stephanie.

“What do you mean?!” asked Paige.

“Why would you let him stay?!” asked Eliot.

“Maybe if we try to become friends with him, we can let him stay, and I won’t be scared any more,” said Stephanie.

“Why would a monster want to be friends with us?” asked Eliot.

“Why wouldn’t a monster want to be friends with people? Because he is the only monster here?” asked Stephanie.

“I guess that might work,” said Paige.

“Let’s ask him to come out,” said Eliot.

“But before we do anything, you guys need to promise you won’t scream, gasp, or do anything that would make him not want to be friends with us when you see him,” said Stephanie.

“We promise,” said Paige.

“I will ask him,” said Stephanie.

“Okay,” said Eliot.

“Be careful,” said Paige.  

“I will,” said Stephanie.

She approached her bed.

“Hey, monster,” she said “Do you want to come out from under there and talk to me and my friends?”

“Why would you talk to me?” asked Auggie.

“Because I want to be friends with you,” said Stephanie.

“But I am an ugly monster. No one has ever wanted to be friends with me before,” said Auggie.

“I know. But in school, I have been getting in trouble for falling asleep during class,” said Stephanie.

“What does that have to do with me?” asked Auggie.

“Because I was scared of you, so I couldn’t fall asleep,” she replied. “If I am friends with you, I won’t be scared anymore.”

“Okay, I will come out,” said Auggie.

“Yay!” said Stephanie.

“Please don’t scream,” said Auggie.

“We won’t,” said Stephanie.

Auggie came out from under the bed. He was a little scary to them at first, but then they found him to be really kind.

“Hi,” said Eliot.

“Hi,” said Auggie.

“Do you remember me and my sister? You used to live under our bed,” said Eliot.

“I do remember you guys. You were terrified of me, so I left for this room,” said Auggie.

“Sorry about that,” said Paige.

“It is okay,” said Auggie.

“Do you have a name?” asked Paige

“No. I wish I did. Where I come from, we don’t get names,” said Auggie.

“Do like the name Auggie? That’s what we used to call you,” said Eliot.

“Auggie… I like that name. Sure, you can call me that!” said Auggie.

“Yay!” said Eliot.

The girls and Auggie talked for hours and became best friends. Auggie stayed for as long as he wanted. Stephanie, Paige, and Eliot promised they would never tell anyone about him. Stephanie gave him pillows under the bed for him to sleep on. From then on, Stephanie was not afraid of Auggie, and she never got in trouble for falling asleep in class again.