Happy Halloween! (or close to it. :p Like, 12 more days.)
October 31st
"Get your foot out of my face!" B gave a muffled growl as I shoved myself off of him and into the attic. A gust of dust clouded in my face as I sneezed. Hauling myself up the square in the ceiling, I dragged onto the attic floor.
"I'm up," I assured B. With a lively bounce, he climbed into the ancient attic with me. Brushing the gathering of dust drifting on my purple plaid shirt, I coughed. B waved away the dust circulating around his face.
"This place smells like Roger," he commented contemptuously. "Ancient and fowl." Shaking my head at him, I stepped around the room. Boxes stacked on boxes, worn out sheets folded in wavering piles against the wall. The window had a slight crack in it, a cool breeze blew through.
"It's ancient for one thing," I cringed at the awful odor. "When's the last time someone's been up here?"
"Decades, I assume," B shrugged. Strolling over to an open box, he reached inside and pulled out a book. "'The Black Pullet?'" he read aloud. Turning it over, he furrowed his eyebrows. "'Of dubious origin and with no claim to antiquity, other than purporting to incorporate the wisdom of the past…'" Flipping through the worn pages, he rolled his eyes. "This is talks about "Black Magic" and stuff. Weird," he muttered, tossing it back into the box.
Kneeling beside another box, I scoured through it. "All of these books talk about supernatural stuff. Like that stuff actually exists."
B crossed his arms and sighed exasperatingly. "What are we even doing up here anyway?"
Picking up a fake spellbook, I flipped through the pages. "Oh, just wandering…" Eying a chest under the window, I returned the book and sat on my knees beside it. "And maybe I'm looking for a costume for tonight's trick-or-treating."
B smirked with understanding and knelt beside me. Opening the large green chest, I gasped with delight. Costumes and outfits were packed inside. Some of the clothes were for boys and others were too big. But most of them were exactly my size.
"I bet," I thought aloud, "that these belonged to orphans who once lived at Wammy's House. They must've forgotten all this stuff when they left."
As we rummaged through the chest, B found something he could use for his costume.
"An old knife?" I asked, confused.
"Yeah!" he replied, scanning over it and feeling it with his fingers.
"What's your costume?"
"You'll just have to wait and see."
About five minutes later, I found my costume. "Holy crap," B breathed in awe. "That's beautiful!" I laughed. "For a girl," he added quickly. "It'll look even more awesome on you."
Lifting it out of the rusty chest, I walked back to the square opening.
"Hey, where you going? There's tons of more things to go through!" B called after me.
Plopping to the ground, my feet dangling down. "I'm going to my room. Hasn't anyone told you girls take forever to get ready?" With a light laugh, I slid out of the attic.
Evening came quick. The sun was almost touching the horizon. It was time for trick-or-treating. Who knows why we still do that even though we're teens. To me, it's still pretty fun.
From the window of my room, I peeked to the kids gathering at the fountain. All of them wore creative, delightful costumes. Mummies, 90's hippies, witches, and some dude dressed as a hobo.
In the front of the group, lingering by the fountain, were my four friends. L was dressed as a vampire (how suiting) and Cinder was dressed as a witch. She was wearing a sparkly black dress with a pointy hat. Held to her side was a wooden broom.
B was dressed in a white bloody shirt and jeans. In his hand was the knife from the attic. Oh, I get it; he's a serial killer. Hollow looked like a werewolf.
Downstairs, the food hall was empty except for one person. "Hey A," I said. He jumped, startled.
"Oh, hey Winter," he said. He was sitting at the table, reading. I sat down next to him.
"Aren't you going to come with us?" I asked.
He shook his head quickly. "Nah, it's not my thing. I'll just stay down here and study."
"Don't you think you study too much?"
"No," he snapped back. "There's no such thing as too much when it comes to being L's successor."
I nodded my head slowly, understanding. "Oh, so that's what the constant studying is about." His eyes were skimming his book, but I knew he was listening. "Can't you just stop for one night and have some fun?"
"Unlike you," A remarked, "things don't come easy for me. I have to work for the things I want. Being his successor is pretty challenging."
"Yeah, says the one who got first successor by natural genius." Standing up, I brushed past him. Before leaving I mumbled loud enough for him to hear, "Some people don't understand what they've got until they've lost it." I don't know why I said that.
Outside, I strutted to my friends. They looked at me in awe as I approached. Tonight I was wearing a 1950's poodle skirt with a pink chiffon scarf. I'd washed it and added sparkles, which every dress needs.
L's eyes twinkled as he saw me, causing me to blush slightly. I scanned Cinder's outfit. "Huh," I said with a smirk. "Fits your personality perfectly."
Rolling her eyes, she folded her arms. "Are we going or what?"
Wammy took us Wammy kids to the heart of Winchester. We stayed in two groups; one with Wammy and the other with Roger. Since B and Hollow were in our group, we had to stick with Roger which Cinder wasn't happy with.
As the night went on, we gathered more and more sweets. L peered into his bag with eyes of enjoyment and delight. Nudging him, I dropped more candy into his bag. He looked at me with wide eyes.
"What was that for?"
"I don't like the liquorice or suckers." He shrugged.
Ambling down the street hours later, everyone stared at their full sacks of candy with pleasure. It was a good night.
"Oh crap," muttered Cinder. Looking around, she glanced at Roger. "I dropped my hat. Can we go back and get it?" She gestured towards us five when she said "we" meaning no Roger.
Roger narrowed his eyes thoughtfully for a moment before grunting, "Hurry up. The rest of us will wait here."
Hollow, B, L, Cinder, and I retraced our steps. As we searched the sidewalk, B moaned. "This'll take forever just to find that stupid hat."
"Shut up B," Cinder retorted. A smile grew on both of their faces. L and I exchanged suspicious glances.
"Hey," shouted Hollow. "There it is!" His finger pointed directly up a tall tree. Cinder groaned loudly.
"Ah great. I'll get it." Then she began mounted up the rough tree. Hollow raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure that's safe?" he questioned.
She rolled her head. "Don't care. I want that hat," was her struggled response. Ascending to the first branch, she huffed. The black hat hung farther away at the edge of the branch.
B shifted uncomfortably and moved beneath Cinder. He fidgeted with his hands, a jittery hum came from him. L just observed quietly, a blank expression fixed on his adorable face.
Cinder stretched her arm out to reach for the hat that was barely out of her reach. B slid beneath the tree as she moved above him. Inching forward, she scaled the branch slowly. With an extended arm, Cinder reached for her hat.
Suddenly, the thin branch below her snapped loudly, scaring the crap out of Cinder. I gasped as she stumbled on the shaky branch. Then, she slid off it. Her hand was still stretched out, and as she fell, the tips of her fingers brushed the hat off the branch.
L grabbed my arm as she fell off. Hollow called to her. B was beneath Cinder. When she fell, he held out his arms and caught her small body before she hit the ground.
I sighed with relief and L let go of my arm. Hollow closed his eyes and sighed. B and Cinder gasped briefly before staring into each other's eyes. "Thanks," Cinder breathed shakily.
"No problem," B replied confidently.
Hollow gaged. L remained silent, but a spark flashed in his eyes. I cooed adoringly at them. "It's like a movie scene. How romantic…" Cinder shot me a glare as B let her down gently.
Walking over to her hat, she plucked it from the ground and placed it on her head. "There, now my outfit's complete." Winking at B, she strided down the street. He followed her hypnotically.
The three of us rolled our eyes and followed them. Cinder could be such a flirt, but I know she likes B. It was obvious he liked her. I sighed. Our teenage years…
The five of us ambled down the sidewalk, a snapping noise echoed in front of us. I leaned closer to L. A loud pop jolted us to a stop. B narrowed his eyes, but shook it off. "It's just Halloween," he assured us. "Watch out for pranksters."
We nodded nervously. Continuing our return back to Roger, we eyed the dark areas around us. Suddenly, a dark figure stepped out of the shadows. He was draped in a black cloak. It looked like he was carrying a small gun.
B started randomly freaking out. "We're gonna die! He's gonna kill us! Oh, gosh, I never savored my last jar of jam!" Cinder squeezed his hand.
The man stepped closer to us and aimed the gun at us. His finger moved for the trigger, but my instincts kicked in and I kicked the gun from his hands. He gasped at the unexpected event and took a quick step at me.
Lifting my foot, I smashed his foot with a hard stomp. He grunted loudly. Then, I grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back. He gasped at the sudden pain. Shoving him to the ground, I kept his arms restrained. His face was smashed on the concrete.
Cinder clapped her hands slowly with an evil smirk. Strolling up to us, she kneeled down to face the man. "Who are you?" she spat.
He grunted shakily before answering, "I'm just an over pranker. I wasn't going to hurt you. The weapon is just a water gun painted black and filled with jam."
B perked up and picked up the gun, repeatedly squirting it in his mouth. Hollow rolled his eyes. "Let him go," he mumbled. Releasing him, the mystery man rubbed his arms. With narrowed eyes, he walked back into the shadows.
Laughing it off, we joined Roger and the others, acting as if nothing happened.
It was around 10:00 p.m. before we got back to Wammy's. The five of us remained downstairs as the rest of the kids trudged off to their rooms. Spreading our sweets out on a table, we began to devour them, L the most.
Halfway through, L sighed with contentment. "This has been a great birthday," he smiled to himself and continued snacking on his sweets. The four of us immediately stopped to gape at him.
"It's your birthday?!" we shouted in unison.
Gulping his chocolate, he nodded slowly, a bit taken back by the sound. "Yes, but there is no need to yell in unison." I blinked and face palmed.
"Why didn't you remind us earlier? Or at least tell us when it was?" asked B, a little perturbed.
"Well," L said slowly, "I really didn't want to bother anyone with the commotion. It's merely a sign of older age. Besides, being fourteen is nothing to celebrate."
Standing up, I held his face, placing the side of my head on top of his. "Oh L. I can't believe you… Come on."
I lead everyone, including L, out to the fountain. Digging my hands in, I smiled at him. "Remember this?" Grabbing the small switch at the bottom, I pulled it, releasing a burst of light into the cool night.
Everyone stared at the rapid colors in awe. Above us, the stars shined brighter than normal. We laid down on the grass to gaze at both scenes. I held L's hand and whispered in his ear, "Happy Birthday L. I promise that I'll make it up to you somehow."
He leaned closer. "Oh, no need. I've already got my wish." He glanced at everyone laying around him, gazing at the beautiful light show. "All I've ever thought was 'I'm perfectly fine being alone. I don't need anyone' when what I really needed was this." Squeezing my hand, he nestled beside me. "Friends…"
I felt bad for L. He's fourteen and we're the first friends he's had; we only met months ago. Yet, we've bonded a lot in those months. I know L wouldn't trade that for anything.
That got me to thinking about my friends; Harper, Gabe, Bailey, Ryder, and Eli. I've been friends with them since kindergarten. I've thought awhile and realized that maybe the friends you first meet won't always turn out to be beside you for the rest of your life. That may differ for L, because heaven knows I won't leave him forever, but it's like that for me.
The friends I made in Minnesota are moving on with their lives, without me. And I'm moving on with them too. It's not like I'll ever forget them. Heck, maybe we'll visit each other someday. But for now, we're apart.
The friends laying around me are the ones I'm making memories with. Who knew that my grandfather ran an orphanage. Who knew I'd be best friends with the smartest kids there.
L. I'll make it up to you for not celebrating your birthday properly. Tomorrow I'll go into town with Wammy and get the thing every person, especially L, would want for their birthday: cake.
