Autumn was in the air. With a small town, it was easy to sense it. Colorful leaves fell from the dying trees and littered the streets and sidewalks, later to be a nuisance to adults and a delight to children. Carved pumpkins with candles lighting their faces were on porches, some more than others. And, as it happened, it was October. Halloween drew nearer with each day and some of the teenagers and children were already treating every day like it was the holiday.

As for Wirt, he didn't care much for the spooky season, more so after all his time in the Unknown. But his brother wouldn't cease until they went to every single costume and design store in town, in search of the perfect outfit. One that could top the elephant, perhaps. And, as always, Jason Funderburker ( the frog ) accompanied them. Despite Wirt's protests, and he had tried various times, the name had stuck above all the other hundreds of names.

With a small sigh, the tall teen sat on one of the chairs against the wall of the store, possibly there so other tired patrons who were forced to be there could sit. He watched lazily as his brother ran around the store with reckless abandon, totting his frog with him. Everyone in town had long given up telling him to leave the animal outside. It made him happy and it was harmless, so why not? Besides, the adults usually found Greg to be too cute to scold.

A quiet giggle made him look up but he found no one there. Confused, he looked around and saw no person close to him. Finally, he looked a bit closer. A young girl with glasses was laughing quietly behind a rack of costumes. Seeing that he had noticed her, her eyes went wide and she quickly ducked behind the clothing.

Wirt's cheeks and the tips of his ears burned red as he looked away and scrunched up his shoulders. All this with Greg was really embarrassing him, but it wasn't like he could just let him run around town by himself.

"Greg!" He hissed at his younger brother as he ran by, who stopped and looked at him in confusion, hugging Jason tighter to his chest. "Please stop running around, you might knock someone over." He never liked yelling at or blaming his brother, since that was what got him into the Unknown in the first place. He was only a kid, after all, it's not like he really knew what he was doing.

The younger brother nodded and smiled, giving him a thumbs up. "You got it, Wirt!" With that, he laughed and went off again, this time at a slower pace, continuing whatever made up game he was playing.

Feeling pins and needles creeping into his legs, he stood carefully. He didn't like the feeling of his legs falling asleep, so he decided to walk around the store a little and see if there was anything that really caught his eye. Though costumes and Halloween wasn't his strong suit, there could be some clothing that could pass as casual around in the store. He walked up and down aisles, his hand gently rubbing against the different fabrics as he passed and scanned them.

He paused and saw a light green turtleneck sweater that caught his interest. With a small smile, he went closer to inspect it. It was clearly more of a Halloween sweater, with a light orange pumpkin on the front, but he could pass it off as an all-fall attire. And it could be cozy in the winter.

"Boo!" A sudden voice shouted though it was soft and quiet.

With a yelp, Wirt dropped the hanger and the sweater all together and flipped around to find a cheesy ghost mask in his face. It was pulled down to reveal the girl from before. Now up close, he could see she had freckles across her nose and below her dark brown eyes. She smiled, revealing a gap between her front teeth, and laughed for a moment.

"Sorry.." Her voice was soft-spoken, "It's just- well, you looked so stiff, I thought I'd help you relax a little. I didn't mean to scare you so much." She adjusted her glasses a bit, moving her light brown curls behind her ears. She held out a hand. "My name's Amber.."

Though still a bit spooked, he let out a small nervous laugh and shook her hand. "I-I'm Wirt." His voice cracked at the end of his sentence and he immediately regretted it. He bent down and picked up the sweater, dusting it off. "Nice to meet you... I've never seen you around school though.."

"I'm homeschooled... I don't get out of the house much. But I've seen you and your brother around. I've always wanted to talk to your guys, you both seem really nice..." She smiled at him and her face became pink as she did so. "I saw you guys at Sara's Halloween party last year, but you ran off before I could work up the nerve to talk to you. Your costume was really neat and I wanted to ask where you got it. I work here part-time and I've never seen something like it."

Wirt could feel his face heat up. "O-oh, thanks. I- I, um- I actually kinda made it myself..."

Before Amber could respond, Greg came up to the both of them, grinning big. "Hey, Wirt! Who's this? Are you a secret clothes store witch?" He held up Jason to her, "Jason, meet the secret clothes store witch!"

The brunette brother resisted the urge to slap the palm of his hand to his face, squeezing his eyes shut waiting for the utter humiliation that would befall him. Instead, he heard soft laughter. Opening his eyes, he saw the girl was bending over, shaking the amphibian's leg.

"Very nice to meet you, Mister Jason! And who's your friend here?" She played along with Greg's game with ease. She stayed bent slightly so that she was able to look the young boy in his eyes easier.

"Oh, he can't talk like a human. Not yet anyway, I'm still trying to teach him." The young boy moved the frog until it was against his chest. Before Wirt was able to stop him, he kept going, "Well, he did talk once! He sang if that counts! It was on a boat with a ton of other frogs, and there was a big frog band, and then we slept in the mud."

"Greg!" Wirt's voice came out a bit sharp, startling both the girl and the boy. He cleared his throat and tried a strained smile. "S-sorry, he's probably talking about a dream he had." He gently patted Greg's shoulder, attempting to laugh. Greg was always letting things slip about the Unknown. Thankfully, most people just wrote it off as his childish imagination, but Wirt's social anxiety still went into overdrive whenever it was brought it up.

"Oh, it's fine! I have a little cousin, she's the exact same way." Amber smiled kindly, straightening back up. She tilted her head towards the checkout and pointed a thumb towards it. "So, uh- If you guys have found everyone you want, I can check you out?"

"O-oh, yeah, uh- G-Greg, find a costume-" His younger brother held up the cheesy ghost mask that the girl had been previously wearing, "Okay, uhm- G-good, yeah, I think we've got everything." He clutched the pale orange sweater tighter to his body as he followed Amber, scared he'd fumble around with it and make himself look even more stupid.

Amber got behind the counter and took the mask from Greg's hands first, quickly scanning it. "Woah, you got a steal here! I think this is the last mask for today, I bet it'll look great on your little frog friend." She handed the mask back to him, facing and making eye contact with Wirt.

Quickly, he glanced away, beginning to feel his face burn up. He held out the sweater, feeling like his hand was on fire as hers brushed against his while she took it. There was the beep as it was scanned. "And that'll be ten dollars and twenty cents."

The tall boy dug through his pockets until he found the money their parents had given him. He set it on the counter and took the sweater, anxiously tapping his foot as a receipt came out. She handed it to him, wishing the both of them a happy Halloween.

Finally, he felt as if he could breathe again as the brothers stepped out into the autumn air. The cool wind felt good on his burning face. "She was nice!" Greg chirped, his frog croaking in what he could only assume was agreement. Not trusting his voice to not crack, he simply nodded in agreement. He took Greg's hand in his as a safety precaution and began the walk back to their house.

Later, when he was setting up the sweater in his closet, the receipt fell out. He bent down to pick it up and throw it away but paused seeing writing in red pen on it. He picked it up and held it closer, only to find a blush making its way across his face and he read what was written.

It was really nice meeting you, Wirt! I hope I can see you again!
- Amber

And beside her name was a heart and a smiley face.

He didn't think he'd be able to breathe correctly for a little while.