Trick or Treat
"Come on, Jeremie!" Aelita insisted. "It's Halloween!"
"I'm not in the mood for trick-or-treating," he said coolly, staring at his computer monitor. "I want to keep working on this program." He paused. "Plus, we're kind of old to be going out in costume, begging for candy."
"I never got to go when I was younger," she said quietly. "You know how eccentric my father was."
"Sorry, Aelita, I just… Not tonight."
She scowled. "Fine! I'll get Odd to go with me; he loves this stuff."
She stormed from his dorm room, slamming the door behind her.
"Sure, I'll go with you!" Odd exclaimed, beaming. "I have this perfect zombie costume I've been wanting to try out."
"Ugh, don't remind me," Ulrich mumbled. "Remember when Kiwi was possessed by XANA and infected everyone with that zombie virus?"
"Yeah, but that was in the past," Odd said casually. "XANA's gone."
"Well, I'll go," Yumi chimed in, standing. They were in Odd and Ulrich's room. "And, I think we should ask Sissi and William. They're technically part of our group now."
"I don't really have a costume," Aelita said glumly.
Yumi smiled. "Don't worry, I have some stuff at my house. Come on." She looked to the boys. "Tell Sissi and William. We'll meet in an hour at my house – we can go from there."
"Is Jeremie coming?" Ulrich asked.
Aelita shook her head. "He's being totally lame – he wants to work on this dumb program he's writing." She paused, looking down at her shoes. "Plus, he said something offhandedly about us being too old for trick-or-treating."
"You're never too old for candy!" Odd exclaimed.
After the girls left, Ulrich turned to his roommate. "Do you have anything I can borrow? I don't have a costume either."
"I have a red cape. If you wear all blue, you can be a discount Superman!"
Ulrich sighed. "Alright."
The boys met up with William and Sissi at the gates, the group departing to make the short trip to Yumi's.
"What are you supposed to be?" Odd asked Sissi, smirking.
"I'm Marilyn Monroe, you idiot!"
"Where'd you get the wig?" Ulrich asked.
"Thomas Jolivet snuck it from the drama department for me." She turned to William. "What are you?"
"A vampire," he answered. "But, uh, I don't have fangs."
Ulrich rolled his eyes. "You're so lame."
They arrived at the Ishiyama's to Hiroki opening the door. He was dressed as Captain America, shield and all.
"Yumi! Your friends are here!" he shouted, squeezing past the group and out into the darkness. "I'm meeting up with Johnny for trick-or-treating. Bye!"
The girls appeared, both of their costumes in the same league as Odd's in terms of effort. Aelita wore a long dress with bell sleeves, and a small tiara placed atop her head, in a nod to the times everyone had called her "princess." Yumi wore a black dress and a pointed hat – she was clearly a witch.
Yumi looked to William, arching an eyebrow. "What are you supposed to be, a magician?"
"I'm a vampire!" he shouted.
"Okay, let's go," Odd said. He passed out an empty bag to everyone.
"So, we just ring peoples' doorbells, say trick-or-treat, and then we get candy?" Aelita questioned, unsure of herself.
"You've really never been trick-or-treating?" Sissi prodded, eyes widening.
She bit her lip. "I… didn't really have the best childhood."
"Here you go," an old woman said, putting some candy into each of their bags. She looked at William. "Oh, are you a magician? Do you know any magic tricks?"
"I'm a–" He let out a sigh, exasperated. "Never mind."
"This is amazing," Aelita said in wonder, surveying her bag of candy, almost full to the brim. "I just wish Jeremie had come along."
"Let's hit up a few more houses," Odd suggested. "It's getting kind of late."
"I swear, if one more person thinks I'm a stupid magician…" William mumbled.
"You should've had fangs," Ulrich deadpanned. "At least with my outfit, the idea's kind of there."
"Come on!" Yumi shouted. She was ahead of them. "Aelita, you've been collecting candy in two bags to give one to him, remember?"
"I know, but it's the principle of the thing," she said, sighing. "It's fun, though – I'm glad we could all go out!"
"Hey!"
They all turned around, spotting none other than Jeremie, running toward them. He was dressed as a Jedi, complete with the cloak and lightsaber. He also had a full bag of candy.
"Jeremie!" Aelita exclaimed, hugging him as he reached the group. "I thought you were writing that program."
"I was, but then I got to thinking," he started, catching his breath, "you were right. I need to have more fun. And, this might be our last year to go trick-or-treating."
"Well, I was going to give this extra bag of candy to you when we got back to school," she started, "but, seeing as you already have your own, I think I'll just keep it for myself."
"I…" He was dumbfounded. "Okay."
Once the night was over, they all met back up in Jeremie's room, emptying and organizing their bags of candy.
"Here, I don't like gummies," Sissi said, putting her bags of Sour Patch Kids and other gummy candies in a separate pile for everyone else to take. "I'm more of a chocolate person."
"Do you want my Almond Joys and Mounds bars?" Yumi asked her. "I'm not a huge fan of coconut."
"Sure! Thanks!"
They looked to Odd, eating his third Mars Bar, not in any hurry to stop.
"Are you sure you don't have two stomachs?" Ulrich asked dryly.
"Hey," his roommate said with a mouth full of chocolate. "I have a fast metabolism!"
"I'm glad we all got to do this," Aelita said, unwrapping a piece of chocolate. "I had a lot of fun."
Sissi smiled. "It was definitely worth it. I haven't been trick-or-treating since I was little."
Aelita turned to Jeremie. "So, what really made you change your mind?"
"I was actually able to finish the program I was writing earlier, so I decided to change into my costume. The rest was easy." He blushed. "Plus, I knew how much it meant to you."
"Well, thank you." She leaned in and pecked him on the cheek. "I really appreciate it."
And she did. It was the first time, other than her occasional DJ gigs, that she felt like she was really human – even though she'd had her memories back for quite some time. Even though she didn't grow up with the most stable family life, Aelita was glad to have such a fantastic group of friends by her side.
She only hoped they'd all want to go trick-or-treating again next year.