Gram drew in a breath, nodding several times. “Great, great. Don’t forget to grab the extra—”
“—skewers for the finger-foods,” Aunt Aimee finished for her, rolling her eyes. “Go, Mom. Stop stressing.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be great,” I told Gram with a smile. “Take a breath.”
“Take a breath,” Gram echoed, huffing a little, but did breathe in through her nose. “Can you grab the door?”
“Wait!” Aunt Aimee ducked back behind the wall, and when she emerged, she was holding a thin-bristled black broom. It was the one that we usually swept the kitchen with. “Since you don’t have a hat to make it obvious, you need to have this.”
I ducked to hide my wide smile as she passed it to me, my heart full. “Thanks, Aunt Aimee.”
The costume I wore was so much more comfortable than the normal princess getup Gram liked to shove me in, and when I’d put it on and looked at myself in the mirror, my heart could’ve burst.
Gram stopped, about to pass through the doorway, turning to look me in the eye. “I should’ve let you be a witch sooner, huh?”
Gram had outdone herself. I’d dressed in a shadow, a garment of darkness so much like me that I couldn’t wipe a smile off my face as soon as I’d put it on. The black dress hung down to my feet, pooling there, making it look as if I were rising from the ground. Small shoulder pads had been sewn under the long sleeves, lace-covered to make it look spookier. The lace accent was also on the hem of the sleeves, and it tickled my skin. The layers of the dress slipped gently against my legs as I walked, the smooth fabric like silk.
All in all, I loved it.
“Come on,” Gram said, stepping out further into the Halloween air, the costume she’d worn to Mrs. Avery’s tea party flowing with her. “Let’s go give them pumpkin to talk about.”
My smile stretched to a full-blown grin, and I shook my head. “Punny.”
I’d predicted that Halloween would be a chilly one this year, but Mother Nature had gifted the Village of Hallow a beautifully tempered atmosphere, chilly enough to be seasonally right. Enough of a breeze to rustle the leaves along the ground, adding to the air of the spooky night.
I trailed behind Gram hesitantly, almost wanting to hide behind her as we approached the park. Despite my positive attitude over my outfit, nerves tried to devour me. Would I stumble upon Lucas—or, more specifically, Lucas and Hailey? I tried to tell myself that whatever happened, everything would be okay. If he was with her, that would be okay. And if he was alone…it’d be okay.
It didn’t feel okay. More like nerve-wracking and world-ending.
Gram looked both ways before we crossed the street, giving us a good view of how many people were crammed into the park’s boundaries. Monsters and vampires and witches and doctors—all the costumes under the sun—flitted around the space, mingling, having fun. The Halloween Boo-Bash was open to all ages, going from seven-thirty when trick-or-treating ended until ten at night. It was almost eight now, and the celebration of Halloween was in full swing. I even saw Delia running around with a few other kids from town, wearing the princess dress Gram and I had given her. She hadn’t noticed me, laughing as she chased a boy in a homemade frog costume, with green jeans and a green sweatshirt, trying to reach out and grab his shoulder.
With a secret smile, I continued to trail Gram.
Whoever had decorated the park deserved an award. Someone had scattered pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns tastefully around the benches and picnic tables, and thick wads of fake spiderwebs hung from the tips of tree branches. Purple-and-orange neon lights rounded the perimeter of the stone fountain, glowing onto the sidewalk.
We found Uncle John in the section of the park that had been cordoned off for food, and I grinned when I saw his simple costume. He wore chef’s whites complete with an authentic-looking toque blanche on his head, and I had no idea where he’d gotten it.
Donnie looked so much like his dad—they both had the same crazy hair, same goofy grin. When Uncle John spotted us, he lifted his palms. “Whatcha think, ladies? Pretty cool, huh?”
“Very on brand,” Gram agreed as she came closer, chuckling. “Though, you don’t match Aimee very well.”
“I thought she could dress up as a mouse, but she vetoed that idea real quick.” Uncle John winked at me. “Who knew Gram had a gothic princess costume?” he teased.
I put my hands on my hips. “I’m a witch.”
“If the broom fits,” a familiar voice said from behind me, and Donnie stepped up, grinning.
The costume he wore exceeded my expectations. Donnie ended up being the salt to Phoebe’s pepper, because he had on a white cone-shaped costume, completed with a silver hat that acted as the dispenser on his head.
With Donnie by my side, I could almost pretend the nerves disappeared. Almost. “Where’s your date?”
“Bathroom. I saw you and Gram and wanted to come say hi. Did you know they’re letting adults into the bouncy house?” He rubbed his palms together, excitement dancing across his face. “It’s going to be amazing.”
Gram took stock of everything on our table, from the zombie cookies to the mini hot-dogs wrapped in bacon. “I’m going to see if Aimee needs any more help hauling the rest over.” When she turned to face me, though, something caught her attention. Something behind me, over my shoulder. “Blaire.”
I instantly knew.
I let out a shaking breath as I slowly pivoted on my heel, facing the party of people. From where I stood, everything was in plain sight. The black-and-orange balloon arch that hung above one of the park entrances—the idea totally stolen from Mrs. Avery’s tea party, I was sure—the ample amount of Halloween decorations scattered around, and even the glowing orange cloths that covered a few waist-high tables. I could see everything.
Especially the boy who stood probably fifteen feet from me, dressed like royalty, stiff as a statue.
Lucas couldn’t have been any more wrong about the costume his mom had laid out for him. “Lame,” he’d said. “Tight pants.” But it wasn’t lame at all, and his pants weren’t too tight. They were crimson red, with little gold stripes running down the leg. He wore a royal blue overcoat with tassels and shoulder pads. A red sash ran diagonally across his chest, secured at his waist. On his dark head of hair rested a golden crown.
He definitely looked like a prince, so much so that it took my breath away. My heart spurred faster in my chest with the step I took toward him, leaving Gram, Donnie, and Uncle John behind without a second thought. A frantic beat pounded against my ribs, leaving the world uneven, like everything had started listing to the side.
When I got to the edge of the cobblestones, mere feet from Lucas, I stopped. The clocktower bell tolling above us as it reached the hour.
“You got your Halloween wish, I see.” Lucas smiled, teeth and all. “No princess costumes for you.”
Energy jolted through my body, humming, unable to keep fully still. I rubbed my fingers over my nails, the smoothness calming me, if only fractionally. “I owe you an apology,” I said to him. “I need to apologize about what happened—about our breakup.”
Lucas dragged in a shaking breath, and then he held his hand out. “Come with me.”