All this gold is painful to look at. It’s just portrait after portrait, chandelier after chandelier. I could just imagine the snobby people that walked through the halls I was currently strolling in, looking posh and over the top for no one in particular. The guide’s voice faded in and out as I tried listening to the history behind each room. History never really appealed to me. As I continued feeling myself zone out, I imagined the elegant parties that would have been held in the ballroom. Without realizing it, I had wandered away from my group and was now looking at what seemed to be a hidden stairway. I’ve seen many movies and knew it was best not to follow my curiosity about what lay behind the door of the stairway. It wouldn’t hurt to take a quick sneak peek.

“Excuse me, you have to stick with your group, you could get hurt” one of the leaders of the groups announced to me. With an unruly grunt, I force myself away from the sight. Typical for the rule of No Fun to come into play for this trip. I followed her back to where the guide droned on about Napoleon in France. Looking around once more, I wondered how a person could call this palace a home. The view inside the Palace of Versailles was absolutely beautiful no doubt, however it was a bit too extravagant for my, or probably anyone else’s, liking. I let out a sigh of pleasure and tightened my grip on my bag as our group followed the tour guide outside.

Once outside, the cold wind nipped at my fingertips, and I scolded myself internally for not bringing my gloves. Soon after walking around a bit more around the area, our leader was giving us options on where our groups could eat for lunch. My group was exasperatingly indecisive throughout the entire trip, so we had to make a few trips to make everyone happy. I settled on a nutella crepe, and indulged myself in its chocolatey goodness. The crepe was perfectly crisp on the outside and warm, gooey, heaven in the form of chocolate hazelnut on the inside.

Later on in the day we had a bus tour, for which, of course, we all fell asleep. The gentle rocking motion of the bus mixed with the plush seats behind us provided for the ultimate dreamland state.

By 11:00 in the evening all of us were worn out. All of us simultaneously cracked our bones as were walking into the hotel. My body ached from the fourteen hour non-stop walking tour of Paris as I slumped down on the bed in my hotel room. I heard a slight buzzing in my ears which I confirmed to be from my lack of sleep. My roommates, Jenna and Kelsey, equally as exhausted, rested beside me as we called out the order of the showers. I could have cared less about who showered first because all I wanted was to fall into a deep slumber and subside my growing homesickness I was getting from this trip.

My eyes started to grow heavy as I posted another picture on Instagram for my followers back in America. Wow. Back in America. It never really hit me that we were across the world, walking the streets of natives that were not Americans. I shuddered at the thought of being in a country that was half way around the world. Right when I was about to reply to a comment, the hotel phone rang deafeningly. Kelsey and I jumped at the sound since Jenna was finishing up with her shower. None of us were expecting a call, so both of us were a bit confused as to who would ring it at midnight. It was probably a teacher telling us to go to bed. Kelsey reached over to pick up the phone and I went back to my phone. I did not look too much into it as Kelsey was dead silent next to me. She hung up the phone and I looked at her unknowingly.

“Who was it?” I asked, laying down on my bed and yawning. I really should be going to sleep I thought, as I stretched my arms around my head.

“I don’t know, it was someone breathing heavily on the phone.” Kelsey replied, confused as she got up to charge her phone.

My bed started to call out to me as if needing my body warmth for survival. I wanted to reassure it that I would be sleeping in a few minutes. I ruffled my pillows, and my eyes were starting to shut on their own accord, my body thrumming with exhaustion. I blinked back stars, and slowly took off my socks before the shrill sound of the phone ring erupted in the air again. Kelsey cautiously looked at me before picking up the phone. At this point, Jenna finished her shower and was blow drying her hair.

“Hello?” Kelsey said, sounding quite uncomfortable. After a few seconds of listening to the other end, she took the phone away from the side of her face and slammed it against the receiver with a pale face. Jenna stopped blow drying her hair when she looked at Kelsey’s frightened face.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Jenna’s questions came out in short bursts, and Kelsey just shook her head.

“I’m not sure what happened. It sounded like a guy but there was way too much static. He was like ‘hello, hello’ as if he wanted to reach someone.” Kelsey’s voice was rushed as if she didn’t believe what she was saying. The air in the room dropped 20 degrees and we all got goosebumps from fear.

“If it was the same person who called earlier, he knows what room we’re in,” I reveal, and we all become deadly still and silent. I definitely was not tired anymore.

Then the phone rang again, making my stomach drop.

We all looked at each other, and I noticed Jenna mustering up some courage to pick up the phone. We all go to her side as she shakily raises the phone to her ears.

“H-hello?” Jenna stutters, and we all wait for the response.

“Bonjour ladies,” a creepy sounding man responds, preceded by a lot of static like Kelsey had mentioned earlier. I had to perk my ears to hear him. All of our eyes widen, and Jenna gulps and replies to the man.

“Who is this?” She whispers into the phone. We could tell her voice was dry. There was no answer from the other side of the line, and soon we hear a click. He hung up.

We all stay silent and my brain was fuzzy and couldn’t form a complete thought or idea.
Right then, we hear a bone crack outside our door as if someone was standing on the other side. My heart was thumping in my chest before, but now it was beating like it’s in a marathon!

I put my hand in my mouth to stifle a scream that was about to erupt from me, and I jump onto Kelsey’s bed. I had never been so scared in my life, and none of us knew what to do. We tried staying as quiet as we could, so it would seem as though no one was in the room.

“What do we do?” I whisper to them, and I felt like crying because we were so vulnerable. None of us had access to the room numbers or phone numbers of our teachers or our “body guards”, and our only form of communication was through email, which was a lost cause because it was one in the morning. It was then when we realized, if these calls in Paris would have not have happened, we would have continued to have trusted our teachers with our lives.

I could tell you that all was well in the end and I survived to tell the story. I could tell you that it was a murderous man who was out to get us and we had to stay in our beds, frightened for our lives. Or I could tell you that it was just a prank call from our friends. But what would be the fun of that? Because what happens in Paris stays in Paris.