At exactly 2:30 PM, the bell rang out across Oak Hollow Middle School, signaling the end of the day and freeing the students for the weekend. But it wasn’t just any old weekend; it was October 30th, the day before Halloween. An excited buzz filled the air as the students hurried out of their classrooms, chatting with each other about the costumes they had bought and how much candy they planned to eat. Everyone was eager to get home and put school far from their minds as they waited in anticipation for the following night.

  A couple of students bumped into Jesse Grahame as they rushed out, making him lose his balance. He was able to catch himself on the wall, but his hand snagged on a fake cotton spider web, accidently pulling it down, along with the paper maché black widow that came with it. The whole school had been decorated all over with bats and spiders for the past two weeks leading up to the holiday, and hopefully after tomorrow, they would be taken down.

  Honestly, he was ready for Halloween to be over with.

  “Boo!” a voice yelled from behind as he tried to fix the decoration.

  Jesse jumped. He spun around to find his best friend, Siobhan Anderson, muffling her laughter.

  “Haha, very funny,” he said, rolling his eyes.

  “It never gets old,” she agreed. She loved to tease him about how easily startled he was, almost as much as he loved to tease her about her height.

  He gave up on the web, letting it fall to the ground, before he and Siobhan joined the current of students flowing out of the school.

  “Are you ready for tomorrow?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” They had made plans to go trick-or-treating this year, just like they did every year. In Jesse’s opinion, the copious amounts of candy was the only good part of the holiday.

  October wasn’t exactly Jesse’s favorite time of year. He liked Autumn and chilly weather and pumpkin pie and even some Halloween things like dressing up, but it was also the month of horror movies and creepy monsters, things he did not enjoy. It might have sounded stupid to say, but scary things scared him.

  “I overheard my sister talking to some of her friends,” Siobhan started nonchalantly. “Apparently, over in the east side of town, there’s going to be this big Halloween event with actors dressed like zombies and killer clowns.”

  “No.”

  “But I didn’t say anything.”

  “No, I’m not going to some zombie clown rave.”

  She blew some of her brown hair out of her face. “Party pooper. Aren’t we getting too old for trick-or-treating though?”

  “So we should milk it while we still can.”

  She couldn’t argue with him there.

  “Move it,” was all the warning they got before they were abruptly pushed to the side, a tall figure stalking past them.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Noah Talbot was in seventh grade, same as them, but he towered over almost everybody in the school, including the eighth graders. There were even rumors over if he was a middle schooler at all. As he walked, students stared and whispered to each other, but aside from the permanent scowl fixed on his face, he never gave any indication he noticed them.

  “I swear he gets taller every time I see him,” Siobhan muttered, brushing herself off as they followed him out of the building.

  “Or you’re getting shorter,” Jesse teased in revenge for her scaring him earlier.

  “Shut up.”

  They stepped out the open front doors of the school and into the grassy common area, where dozens of students milled around waiting for their rides, passing the time by talking or playing on their phones.

  “C’mon,” Siobhan said. “I want to get home early to put the finishing touches on my costume. How’s yours coming along? Do you want my help?”

  Siobhan was a wiz with makeup, but while most other girls spent time perfecting their eyeshadow and lipstick, she instead loved creating horror effects. She could make bumpy lizard scales, or bloody werewolf bites, or even robotic joints, all with a few brush strokes and some latex. While Jesse found the stuff revolting, he could still appreciate his friend’s talent.

  “Nah. This year I wanted to keep it simple and classic.” He was going as a vampire, and not one of those sparkly vampires from teen movies. His costume consisted of a blood red waistcoat and spiky cape, complete with the most realistic fake fangs he could find. Might as well go all out, since he never knew which Halloween would be his last.

  “You sure you don’t want just a little embellishment? Maybe some puncture marks on your neck?”

  “If you want someone to practice on, why don’t you use your sister?”

  “Can’t. She’s not dressing up this year. Says it’s for babies.” She glared over at a large patch of grass where several students gathered to hang out. In the center was Adrienne, Siobhan’s older sister, surrounded by other popular girls as if she was holding court. She was only a year older than Siobhan, but she looked like she could already be in high school, carrying herself like she was more important than everyone else.

  Siobhan turned on her heel and started walking towards their neighborhood.

  “Aren’t we going to wait for her?” Jesse asked, jogging to keep up.

  “She can walk herself home, since she’s so mature.” She waved her hands for emphasis, then shook her head, casting all thoughts of her snooty sister from her mind. “Anyway, wanna come over to my place? I got a new tarot deck; I could give you a reading.”

  “You know I don’t believe in that stuff.” The occult was more her thing. Personally, it kind of freaked him out.

  “I don’t really either, but it’s still fun. Besides, if you don’t believe in supernatural stuff, why are you so scared of it?”

  He shrugged. “I know Freddy Kruger isn’t real, but that doesn’t make it any less terrifying when he appears in that alley way.”

  They came to the intersection that separated the residential area of the town from the school. Jesse pushed the button for the crosswalk light, a necessity to survive the speeding cars blatantly ignoring the school zone limit.

  As they waited, cars rushed past, dragging with them dust, leaves, and a crumbled-up flier.

  “Ugh, litterbugs.” Siobhan stooped to pick it up.

  “What’s it say?” he asked, out of curiosity. She smoothed it out and he leaned over her shoulder to read:

  Block Party on Moonset Drive, All Invited! Halloween Night, From Five O’clock to Midnight. Costume Contest, Haunted House, and More!

  “Hey, that kinda sounds like fun.” She turned to him. “Maybe we should do this instead of trick-or-treating.”

  “I don’t know…” Though the block party did sound infinitely better than the zombie clown thing she had suggested earlier.

  This time she wasn’t backing down. “No, no getting out of this.” She pointed to where the flier said, “haunted house.” “We’re going to go to this party and you’re going to face your fears and learn that Halloween isn’t so scary after all. Please,” she added for good measure.

  “But the candy.”

  “I’ll buy you some snacks while we’re there.”

  “Okay, deal,” he relented, if only to get her to stop staring at him with her big brown eyes.

  “Yes!” She pumped the air with her fist. “This will be the best Halloween ever.”

  As the crosswalk light turned green, letting them pass by, Jesse couldn’t help but wonder what he had just gotten himself into.