"Oh My Goodness..."

"Let's do the ouija board tonight!"

Jeremy sounded super excited over the phone. He was a friend of mine I met when he used to be my supervisor at a movie theater. We went back about seven years—seven years of sharing similar interests, including paranormal-related subjects like ouija boards.

"Tonight?" I asked. "I thought you were going to have a party tonight in your hotel room after the convention."

"I am," Jeremy answered. "We can try it out after you guys are done taking pictures."

See, we were at a cosplay convention in Orlando, Florida for the weekend. I went as the character Jade from the video game, Mortal Kombat. My friend, Allison of fourteen years from way back in high school dressed as Kitana from the same game; and my sister, Day was a in a schoolgirl outfit reminiscent of a manga she enjoyed. She said it was Lenalee from D. Gray Man—a character many at the convention recognized.

It was because of her outfit that people had paused to stop by and take pictures of or with us.

After Jeremy made the suggestion he did over the phone, I agreed. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan. There better be drinks!"

Jeremy chuckled. "You know that's already a given."

"Okay, good. Where are you staying so that we can meet you there?"

"I'm in La Quinta like one mile from the hotel. It's right around the corner from the street on the opposite side."

"Oh yeah," I said, remembering our pathway to our current location. "I saw that hotel on the way here. You're lucky you got a close place. What room are you in?"

"215."

"Perfect. I'll call you when we're on the way."

After Jeremy and I hung up, I looked at Allison and Day who had been taken selfies with the statue of Jack Sparrow that stood beside one of the vendor stands. I informed them of Jeremy's plan, and they instantly seemed excited and nervous at the same time. Allison was the only one who had ever used a ouija board before.

"I had something visit me last time," she said. "Let's see if it chooses to visit me again!"

The anticipation of using a notoriously sinister device caused our energy to grow. We even left the convention early to attend Jeremy's party and get some drinks in before getting down to potentially speak to some entities from the other side.

The three of us remained in costume as we exited the hotel. Why wouldn't we? It was convention weekend! That meant that every fun activity had to be performed in costume. It was the unwritten law we had created for ourselves over the years that we attended these types of festivities.

We chose to walk since the nighttime streets were active, and La Quinta was not very far at all. I called Jeremy to let him know that we were traversing Orlando's active surroundings to make it to his party. Many cars honked at us as they passed us. We were three young ladies in revealing yet awesome outfits—it was to be expected. And we'd be lying if we said that we didn't enjoy the attention.

We arrived at La Quinta within fifteen minutes or so. We entered, received some looks in the lobby (remember: we were still in costume, and now amongst "commoners" as we called them!), and headed straight for the stairs. The three of us arrived at the second floor, and proceeded down the hallway in search of Room 215.

It was almost midnight. We attempted not to make too much noise on the floor, but our excitement was palpable!

It was not long until we found the room, which had the door propped open. "Oh wow!" my sister, Day exclaimed. "Jeremy left the door open for us and everything."

"That's nice of him," I said. "He must really want to get straight to partying."

We laughed, and I stepped forward to push the door open. As soon as I entered, I immediately noticed how quiet everything was inside. No music, no anything! Not even other voices, which was strange since Jeremy's friends were supposed to be here!

What I did see was a boy (about ten years old or so) sitting on a bed in front of a TV on the other side of the room. He was looking directly at us. I then noticed the suitcases around the space in front of the door.

It was at that moment when I realized...

...this was not Jeremy's party!

An older woman's voice to my left confirmed that thought. She appeared to have noticed Allison and me inside the room already because we were in the front while Day remained in the doorway. The woman was approaching us in a towel, and all she said was three words that we three repeat to each other to this day many years later:

"Oh my goodness..."

The woman's tone of voice, and the expression she held when I glanced up at her: they became ingrained in my mind because I knew that she was not expecting us three to be inside her room when she stepped out of her shower!

I made no hesitation in turning around and exiting the room while Allison and Day both pushed each other back outside. Not even milliseconds after our departure did the woman shut the door, lock the door chain, and the top lock!

By the time I turned around, Allison was on the floor and against the wall in a fit of laughter. I had never seen her laugh so hard. Day was laughing too, trying to process what had happened since she had seen the least.

She had just been entering the room when Allison shoved her back out into the hallway after all.

"What just happened?" I asked, watching Allison turn redder and redder as she struggled to breathe through the hilarity. "Oh my gosh. Didn't Jeremy say Room 215?"

"That's what you said that he said!" Day answered. "Maybe he's drunk and forgot."

I called Jeremy then. I had to know what was going on. While Allison was repeating to Day what we both saw and heard in the hotel room, the party host answered the phone.

"You said you were in 215, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah," Jeremy answered. "We're all here drinking. Where are you?"

"We're in the hotel in front of 215. We saw the door open, and thought you left it open for us since you knew we were coming. Are you sure that's your room number?"

"I'm pretty damn sure."

I could hear Jeremy getting up to go to the front of the door in his hotel room and check. I also heard music and other voices—elements that had obviously been missing in this Room 215.

"Yep," he ended up saying. "215. And you said you're here?"

"Yeah. 215. I'm looking at the room number right now. Some woman and her grandson or something were inside there, and we looked like a bunch of strippers entering her hotel space!"

This caused Allison to laugh harder while on the floor. "She was probably thinking, 'Somebody on this floor ordered some hookers, and they came to my room!' There's something that boy's never gonna forget!"

"'Hotel Management, I want to know who ordered the Strippergram!'" Day added, impersonating an older woman's voice.

Now I started laughing, imagining what that woman could have possibly been thinking to this moment. In retrospect, the happening had been extremely funny, but the mystery remained:

Where was Jeremy, and how was he not in Room 215 in La Quinta hotel?

It appeared like we didn't need a ouija board to make the circumstances a little freaky.

Jeremy himself had been chuckling at what I told him during our ordeal. Then he asked, "Are you sure you're in La Quinta?"

"Yeah. We went directly to it. There's even another sign that says the name here in the hallway. You said the one down the street, right?"

"Yes. On the other side of the block."

"That's the one we went to. The one not far from the Red Lobster."

Jeremy then paused. "No, not that one!" he finally said. "The other La Quinta! There's another one on the east side. You went to the west one. They're both close to the convention!"

My back hit the wall, and now I found the situation even more humorous. "Oh my gosh! Are you serious?" I looked at the other two beside. "He's in the other La Quinta at the opposite end of this one."

"What?" Day asked in disbelief. "What are the odds that the same exact room leaves the door open just like that?"

"Right?" Allison asked through small spasms of laughter. "And because of that, it causes some lady to say 'oh my goodness' in pure horror."

I shook my head and laughed at her. Then I spoke into the phone. "Yeah, it's really weird that the same room number as yours in this hotel left the door open, making us think even more that it was the right spot."

"Crazy how that works," Jeremy remarked. "What are you guys gonna do though?"

I looked at Allison and Day. "I think we're gonna call it a night, and meet you at the convention tomorrow. It's already been an adventure as it is. We can do the ouija board later."

And we did actually...

...but that's another story—another story that Allison, Day, and I still repeat as often as we randomly text and DM each other: "oh my goodness."